Reflecting Upon and Remembering 2016
We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. Reflecting upon 2016, I am so grateful for what the Lord has done through us this year. Although there have been some difficult times, we have seen more abundant blessings than we have in years past. I can truly see God’s hand has been on our move last year into a building in the city centre. The previous years in Limerick, we saw an occasional visitor at the hotel. This year we have seen 50 visitors come to our meetings, not including the 22 children who came to our Holiday Bible Club in July. In addition, we were able to get out nearly 10,000 Gospel tracts, present the Gospel to hundreds, and see 5 people make professions of faith. We are so excited to see what the Lord will do in 2017! Please pray for us as we seek someone to fill in for us so we can come back to the States for a short furlough in the fall.
November – In November, we saw 10 visitors come to our meetings. It began with a Brazilian couple. They enjoyed the meeting and began inviting loads of friends from the local language school. This couple has been a great blessing and very helpful. Our college students have continued to be faithful. On Thanksgiving our American college student, Hannah, had a visit from her sister. During her stay, Kelly brought them around the Limerick area to see many of the historic sites. Then on Thanksgiving Day, they both came to our home to celebrate the holiday with turkey and pies.
December – In December, Kelly and Hannah worked at purchasing items, decorating the church, and making Christmas packets to give to people during the holiday time. Then on one Saturday, we traveled down to Ballincollig, Co. Cork, to help the church there with singing in a shopping centre and handing out Gospel tracts. Our three boys zealously took to the task of giving each person passing by a stack of Christmas-themed tracts. As we were driving back to Limerick, Hannah saw that we were traveling through Blarney and mentioned wanting to go to the castle, so we pulled in and granted her request. She kissed the Blarney Stone, and then we stopped for pizza afterward. The Friday before Hannah flew back to the States, we had a special activity for college-aged people. At the activity we played Limerick City Monopoly and ate pizza. Starting in November, Kelly began preparing the children in our Kids’ Bible Club for a Christmas play. When Christmas Day came, we had 3 visitors, and the children did a wonderful job with their play. I mentioned a man named Richard in our last letter. He is not returning my calls and seems to have been offended by some of our beliefs. He did go home with a tract about a nun who was saved called “I Never Heard the True Gospel.” Please pray that he will consider his eternal soul, turn from religion, and trust the Lord as his Saviour.
Soul Winning – The new married couple from Brazil brought a lady named Hellen with them. She was confused, thinking that she needed to be baptised to be saved. Kelly spoke with her concerning this for quite a while one Sunday night. A few weeks later, she approached me on a Wednesday night and said she wanted to be saved. With the help of the wife speaking Portuguese, I was able to present the Gospel clearly to her, and she prayed, receiving the Lord as her Saviour. Now she is excited to be baptised, so we will need to borrow a baptistery and probably wait until the warmer months. We also have another man who wants to be baptised.
Please continue praying for these needs:
1. Our support level is at 95%; please pray that it would increase.
2. Co-laborers in Limerick
3. Someone to fill in during our furlough
4. Protection over the ministry
Last, I would like to thank all of you who sent encouraging Christmas cards and special Christmas offerings. Both were a tremendous help. I also thank many of you for your faithful prayers and financial support. May the Lord bless and bring fruit to your accounts.
In the campaign for Irish souls,
Keith Hamilton