The Iona Team is Back in the U.S.A. …with Northern Ireland In Our Hearts

We had a wonderful two and a half weeks on the Emerald Isle.

As beautiful as all the scenery was in Northern Ireland, the people we met — each face and personality — were even more wonderful.

We made forever friends at the Kilmore church (near Crossgar).  Pictured above are the youth trying to keep a giant beach ball up in the air. Pictured below are children who attended the Holiday Bible Club.

We made more forever friends at the Ballygawley church. Pictured below are children and workers at the Holiday Bible Club in Ballygawley.

During our week in Ballygawley we got to minister to the Eternal Youth Club (senior saints). They fed us an amazing lunch and all the tables were decorated with red, white and blue and American flags.

On Thursday evening in Ballygawley, we were served pavlova and tea.  Each slice of pavlova had a fork stuck in it with a handmade flag, and ours were American.

The people will continue to be in our hearts and in our prayers.  We were treated so well by all we met and were treated to some wonderful sights throughout Northern Ireland.  We are so grateful for each of you back home … for your prayer support and financial support.  We couldn’t have done it without you!  We will never forget the kindness of the people there, and we pray that God will multiply our efforts there for His glory!

 

Mission Complete at Ballygawley

We finished up the holiday Bible club In Balleygawley on Friday night. It was a wonderful time filled with song, praise and worship, much activity, and even a cookout barbecue. Our team has put in countless hours over the last two weeks in two churches, and it has been a wonderful time of service to the Lord and also receiving from Him through the blessings of those we were ministering among. From the children who attended the Bible clubs, to the host families who provided not only housing but meals and transportation, to those who conducted the Bible schools in the local churches alongside us, we received the utmost in hospitality and friendship, and we established relationships that will remain for many years to come. It is always very hard to say goodbye to those who have become so dear to us. Those at the Kilmore and Ballygawley churches have become just that.

I don’t know how much you can tell from this picture, but they were standing on the church wall waving at us as we drove away. We pray God’s blessings on them as they continue to minister and build the kingdom in Northern Ireland.

Three Days of Holiday Bible Club at Ballygawley & We’re Heading For Our Finale

Wifi access has been extremely slim this week, so much harder to get our information to the blog. We have had three wonderful days of Holiday Bible Club at Balleygawley Presbyterian Church. We have seen an average of around 85 children each night come through the doors and be excited to see what God has in store for them. We were able to minister to young mothers who have children under two years, on Tuesday morning. This morning we ministered to the “Eternal Youth Club” aka Senior Saints while they bouled. We are in the home stretch with our ministry and would appreciate your prayers as we “finish the race.” We are thankful for each prayer and for the support we have received. God has blessed in marvelous ways through our work here!

We Are In Ballygawley!

We have been in Ballygawley since Saturday and this is literally the first time I have had wifi in order to do a blog post.  So, we went to the seashore at Belfast Lough on Saturday with 2 large and 1 small busloads of church people.  We had a wonderful worship service Sunday morning and the team led worship on Sunday night as we read scripture, the girls danced and the adults sang special music.   It’s amazing how the Lord brings things together even when we think we’re not prepared.

Holiday Bible Club is in full swing now.  We had 82 the first night and 86 tonight.  Please pray for stamina for the team as week 2 our energy is much lower.  We love you all and appreciate your prayers!!

 

Starship Kilmore Flies Off to Ballygawley

As beautiful as Ireland is, the people are even more wonderful.  We have loved being in the Kilmore church and working alongside the members to put on the Holiday Bible Club.  We have had a marvelous group of children to work with and have loved every minute of it.

Each child recited our Bible verse this evening, our last day here, and did it very well.  They learned all about Daniel and how he was faithful to God and how God was faithful to him. Each night, the team performed a drama called “Starship Kilmore” which led into the activity time, and we learned a song all about how Daniel learned to trust in God.

 

The girls, so far, have danced, talked, and/or given their testimonies in eleven different schools!  God has given us so many opportunities to share about our love for Him and His love for us.  The hospitality of those in the Kilmore church has been magnificent.  The women have prepared the most wonderful foods and tea for us.  We have had two gentlemen who have literally driven us all over the countryside to both the schools and sights… castles, lakes, seashore, and even a monastery today.

Tomorrow we will leave for Ballygawley.  We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us there.  We would really appreciate your prayers for the health of the team at this stage of the game.  We have literally not stopped all week, and most of us have not had a full night’s sleep since before we left home.  Please pray that the Lord would strengthen our bodies and minds to finish well the work He has for us here.

Praise Report… and Have We Ever Been Busy!!

We are working in the Kilmore church this week with the Holiday Bible Club.  We are excited to have had a wonderful crowd of children to minister to.  They are learning about Daniel and also learning Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear for I am with you, do not be discouraged for I am your God.  I will strengthen you.  I will help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” (NLT)

We are loving seeing the beautiful Irish countryside and eating the wonderful food prepared for us by the church people here.  The hospitality of those we have met has just been extraordinary.  We have had tea and biscuits (cookies) at nearly every place we’ve visited, we ate traditional Irish stew for lunch yesterday, and they have overwhelmed us with the many sweets and other goodies native to the area.

The girls have danced in three schools so far and have had opportunities to share the love of Christ there through both testimony and the lyrics of the songs they are dancing to.  They will be performing in two high schools tomorrow.  We would really appreciate your prayers for them, as these are some challenging times for these particular high schools.  We trust God that as we share His love, He will plant seeds in some of the hearts that will take root and grow.

We also got to visit Northern Ireland’s House of Parliament, Stormont, today and had a lovely tour by John McCallister, a member of Parliament who is from the area we are working in, and even had tea on the balcony.

(The photo above is of our team and in front center is Margaret, one of our lovely hostesses here.  We also have two amazing drivers who pick us up and take us all the places we’re going each day.  One of them, Malcolm, took this photo.)

Please continue to pray for our stamina as our days and nights have been completely filled with activity.  Please also pray for the children we have been ministering to this week and will be ministering to next week, that their hearts would take hold of the truth of God’s message of love and salvation.

 

The Remainder of Our Team Is In Ireland!

Praise the Lord for safe travels for our ballet girls and moms!! We arrived safely in Dublin around 7:30 am Dublin time (1:30 am in Alabama). Thank you so much for your prayers. Pastor Mark from the Kilmore church met us at the airport. We are excited to get to Kilmore with the rest of the team to begin meeting and ministering among the people here!

Remainder of Team Flying to Ireland Today

The ballet girls finished up the last performance of “You Are Special”last night. We praise the Lord for two wonderful encore performances and no serious injuries. The girls and moms will be flying to Ireland today. We would apreciate your prayers for stamina for the team and safety.

Arrived

Gregg, Melissa, Megan, and I arrived (with all of our bags) in Dublin around 8 a.m. local time (6 hours ahead of central time zone). Tomorrow the four of us will worship with the congregation of Kilmore Presbyterian Church and do a little sight seeing. Also tomorrow the other nine will begin their journey to Ireland. Please pray for them as they travel.

In Christ,
Elise

Praise Report of God’s Faithfulness!!

Psalm 36:5-7 “Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!  And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”

Thank you all so much for your prayers!!  God is mighty – surpassing even the red tape of the U.S. government 😉 – and has shown His faithfulness to us; He has heard our prayers.  Our mom received her passport today!!