Dear Precious Friends in the Ministry!
Summer has been wonderfully busy here on the Emerald Isle! Preaching away in both churches here, as well as faithfully soul-winning, and discipling the believers should be enough, but we strive to do as much as possible to minister to everyone possible, especially because the bright days are so few in number compared to the rest of the year. We have published several new tracts and handed them out to people in over 13,000 area homes since Spring, and we have seen God bless with new visitors, and solid growth. I just thank God for using us, and blessing our efforts. I do pray for much more fruit though!
Vacation Bible Schools. We held VBS’s (we call them, Holiday Bible Clubs), in both of our church locations – the one in Ballincollig was “quiet” with only a dozen kids coming out, but the Club in Mallow went very well! As always, these Clubs are just about all the Gospel that these kids will be allowed to get until next year’s Club! It is so heart-breaking to see the grip of the world on their homes, so pray for these young people, and their families!
Victory Youth Camp. What do you get when you mix together: Six days, five nights, seven souls saved, ten preaching sessions, sixty-two kids, fourteen Camp Counsellors, sixteen hours a day, two guitars, a violin, a piano, two cowboy hats, a bunch of King James Bibles, and the Holy Spirit of God? You get Victory Youth Camp! Wow! We had one incredible week, and how we ALL wished we could have let it go on another whole week – it was the best ever! We studied the great Biblical concepts of getting out of Egypt, getting THROUGH the wilderness wanderings, and getting INTO the Promised Land of God’s will! We called it, “Leaving Egypt Behind” and the kids firmly settled on pressing forward for God! There just is no greater joy than to see that preaching the truths of the Bible still transforms lives – young and old! Pray for these young people to turn our Irish world completely upside-down for Christ in the next ten years – they can do it with God’s help!
Greg Durham family Leaving - Replacement Missionaries needed! The Durham family have finished working with us after a year and are moving out to start a church, and we need another family in here fast! We just have too much going on for only one of me to handle, and the folks here really love preaching and need attention to grow like they should! Pray for someone to respond to God’s call to come over here to Ballincollig and Mallow and “help us” help them (Acts 16:9)!
We Dropped-Off our Oldest Daughter at Bible College! Yes, Sharon is now settling into her classes, making new friends, and enjoying every minute of it at West Coast Baptist College, in Lancaster, California! It has been a real adjustment for us, first losing her to College, and then having her live so far away from us on top of it all (8 time-zones away) – we miss her dearly here, but the Lord has a way of causing others to rally and fill the shoes of those who press on for God, and so several people in church have stepped forward to help with teaching Sunday School and with music which Sharon helped out in so marvellously. Keep our daughter Sharon in your prayers for God’s will and use!
Prayer Requests
· Upcoming Events to pray for! I have a big Gospel Presentation in Cork City in October (it’s in the planning stages); I will be preaching in Wisconsin at the end of October; pray for our many evangelistic Christmas events; and our regular soul-winning programme – folks, we stay busy, but we always need God’s blessing that only comes by humble prayer!
· There are dozens of people we are continually working on to get saved. Please pray specifically for Stella, Sandra O’C, Sean H, Nora OK, Michael M, Ken D who is seriously ill, and many others – please pray that our efforts bear much fruit in these lives here! Pray also for the folks who have recently gotten saved and started getting discipled, that they grow and become very strong in their faith in the Lord Jesus!
· Finally, keep praying for us to be able to buy property here in Ireland! It seems so impossible, but we don’t look at the prices anymore – we just keep knocking on the property doors by faith, and asking God to do a miracle – because that is what it will take!
We Love you, and We Thank God for you all!
Bro. Craig Ledbetter and Family