July-august Prayer Letter

July/August ’09 Newsletter

Address: 101 Stevens Rd., Greenback, TN 37742

Temporary Phone: (865) 856-7407 · E-mail: [email protected]

Dear Family and Friends, We wanted to share with you highlights of the past couple of months; in addition, news from Ireland and a few prayer concerns.

Baby News We have some very exciting news – Our once family of two has now increased to three. We’re expecting

Goals for 2009: God still continues to press on our hearts the vision

a baby! Darleen is 11-weeks a long

to deepen our walk with Him, raise a godly family, and

and is doing very well. Last week

serve Him on the mission field. Taking pen in hand, we

we had the privilege of hearing our baby’s heartbeat for

wrote out what we feel God wants us to make every

the first time. He/she is doing well! (Our due date is

effort to accomplish this year.

Jan. 16th, 2010.)

Of primary importance, we have committed this first year solely to our marriage. Our aim is to seek Christ

BMW Visit

first in our relationship, seek to better understand each other and strength our relationship, and grow in a Christ

Biblical Ministries Worldwide is a church-planting

saturated love.

mission organization that serves independent churches.

Second, prepare for our little one!

BMW missionaries began church planting in Ireland in

Third, continue studies on the Irish culture and

the mid 1970’s. The first of this month, we traveled to

pursue missionary training workshops, as the Lord

Georgia to meet with the field director and talk about

allows.

possibly joining their team. We were blessed by BMW’s kind hospitality and encouragement to us. We are prayerfully considering joining the BMW team and would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and guidance.

Lastly, continue researching ideas for a mission organization to team up with in Ireland. (Continue on next page)

Ireland Prayer Target Please join us and pray for the county of Cork. Pray for the Irish Church to have Cork purpose and vision in raising up believers committed to holiness in Christ. Also, pray for the Bellincollig church, located at the heart of Cork County.

News From Ireland Hi, my name is John Mahony and I’m a Christian living down near the south coast of Ireland in John with Pastor Ledbetter’s son. a town called Ballincollig! I was born a Catholic like most people in Ireland, but I got saved at the age of 20! On an island of about 6 million people, I am blessed to be part of one of the 20 or so Bible-believing Baptist churches. Compare this to the state of Indiana which is similar in size to Ireland. There is lots of room for more churches to be planted here! Condition of the field and the need With the ongoing scandals of abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in Ireland, materialism and also the current trend of atheism because of science falsely so-called, many people have no interest whatsoever in discussing anything “religious”. It is also considered patriotic to be Catholic because of our historic struggles with Britain! Satan

certainly uses every angle to blind the minds of them which believe not (2Cor. 4:4). Salvation In Ireland, trusting Christ as your personal Saviour is very costly. As it says in Luke 12:51-53, a new Christian is immediately thrust into a very difficult situation and is truly tested if their conversion was genuine. New believers must learn fast to trust in the sufficiency of God’s grace, the need to study to have answers for their spouses, children and others, and also not to neglect the meeting together as a church whenever the doors are open for preaching, edification and exhortation! Current work in the Ballincollig church I am currently working under Pastor Craig Ledbetter. We average 80-90 people on a Sunday morning and we are considered one of the bigger churches here (just to give you an idea compared to America). We are also blessed to have two other missionaries, the Eberly’s and the Hamilton’s helping us right now. I am working with the teenagers, discipling them, and praying that God would cast down strongholds through His word (2Cor. 10:4-5). My Dad runs a Reformer’s Unanimous ministry which reaches out to those overcome with addictions. We also host a nationwide Men’s Retreat and Youth Camp to reach out and affect the whole country for Christ. This is the work and the fruit is lives transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, broken marriages reconciled, whole families saved, teens and kids living for Christ, the addicted overcoming by the blood of the Lamb, precious souls growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. (2Pet. 3:18)

Even though Ireland is just as modern as America, and probably not as far gone morally as the rest of Europe, the country still desperately needs the Saviour. Not the false Jesus of Catholicism who is still dying on the cross, not the god of money, or the god of science, but the only One who can save to the uttermost and still does! Matt. 9:37-38; Acts 26:18; 1Thes. 5:25

We thank John for his report on the current work in Ballincollig. Last summer ’08 (and summer ‘05) Kevin had the privilege of visiting Ballincollig Bible Church.

“Má thugann tú taitneamh don Tiarna tabharfaidh seisean duit mian do chroí” (Salm 37 [36]:4, Irish Bible). “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4).

In the Service of our Lord,