Church Outreach
MARK CHAPTER 16 V 15
"And He said unto them. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"
The desire of our Church Outreach is to exalt the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by reaching out to young and old with the good news of the Gospel. The Lord helps us to do this in various ways. Below are some of our Church Outreach Activities.
THE DOOR TO DOOR OUTREACH WORK
Our brother Trevor Kane in March 2001 felt he was directed by the Lord to move from Coleraine to Portrush to live. The Lord had given Trevor a burden for lost souls after he read Psalm 119:130 "The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple." These words challenged Trevor and it wasn't long before the Lord directed him to Portrush Baptist Church where he teamed up with eight others who had a desire to evangelise Portrush Town. They accomplished this in two and a half years. There is now a team of five who have faithfully called at homes in the rural area's of Portrush this year distributing Gospel Tracts along with John's Gospel booklets.
The door to door Outreach starts in April and finishes in October and during the summer months annual major events take place in Portrush attracting large crowds from all over the world. This is a good opportunity for others from the Church to join with the outreach team to help in Gospel tract distribution at these events. The major events are - The North West 200 Motorcycle Road Race, The Raft Race, The Air Show, Zap Cat Speedboat Racing and the Milk Cup Football Challenge. The Outreach Team are very much aware of the Saints prayers and the Lord's undertaking, as they experience great liberty around the doors with good contacts being made.
Christmas Tract - 2004
Easter Tract - 2005
Our prayer to God is that He will bring you to a saving knowledge of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and that you will trust Him as your own and personal Saviour. By way of guidance and help you can request a Gospel Package which contains a welcome letter from our Pastor, details about our Church weekly services, a Johns Gospel Booklet, and a Gospel Tract. A Bible is also available to those who request one. Just send your details by emailing outreach@portrushbaptistchurch.org and we will send the Gospel Package to you completely free.
Door To Door Evangelism - 2007
Trevor Kane and the team continue faithfully in this work to reach the lost with the Gospel. They experience help from the Lord as liberty is given when speaking to people about their need of the Saviour and as Gospel tracts and Saint Johns Gospel booklets are freely received. The Outreach Team meet at the Church for prayer each Monday at 7.00pm.
Church Open Air Outreach Programme 2007
This work starts on Sunday 24th June at the West Strand Carpark and continues each Tuesday and Sunday (weather permitting) until Tuesday 7th August.
The Holiday Bible Club 2007
Well the overwhelming feeling about this year’s Holiday Bible Club would be that the people prayed and God answered. It was truly a memorable week and one which I’m going to tell you a little more about now.
The Club ran from Monday, 2nd of July running through to Friday, 6th of July. As usual we went out to distribute invitations around the local caravan parks and housing estates on the Saturday morning prior to the Club beginning. It was a damp morning which saw a small team going out with 400 bright and colourful invitations to give out. As a result of the weather a lot of the caravan parks were pretty empty and therefore a lot of the invites were not given out. So I must admit I wasn’t expecting much when Monday morning arrived but God really answered prayer and brought 52 children into the hall bright and breezy and full of life. This number rose to 62 during the week and we are truly thankful to God that he showed us that we can do our bit but ultimately it is down to him and he really brought the children in. Another real encouragement this year was that we had a higher percentage of local children attending the club with 38% of the children being from the town. We do appreciate the children that are on holiday coming to the Club (and we had children from at least 11 different towns in Northern Ireland with us this year but we really feel that this is a great outreach opportunity for the church locally and one which we hope will bring children in to the church Sunday School. Perhaps you could remember this in your prayers.
Our morning began with the singing of choruses which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Our time was then committed to God in prayer. We then moved on to our memory verses for the week. which were 1 John 4:9 and John 1:29. The verses were broken down word by word and explained very carefully to the children so that the children not only memorised the verses but understood them and how they applied to their lives. Again I have a little clip of the children reciting these memory verses on Friday which I think you will agree shows just how well the children memorised these verses. Special prizes were given to these successful children.
Our lessons this year centred around the theme of God’s Wonderful Salvation. It was a pleasure to be able to tell the children through various new testament stories that Jesus loves them and died for their sins and is now offering them this wonderful free gift of salvation. The children listened intently every day and this was clearly evident when they were able to expertly answer the questions during the quiz.
We then split up into groups. This year we had 3 groups: one group of 4-5, one groups of 6-8 and one group of 9+. The time was used to complete their booklets and the children also had time for craft making. I can’t underestimate the value of these crafts as they always have a clear gospel message and the children are very proud of their works of art at the end of the week and I’m sure take great pride in showing them off at home. Who knows the parents and others who will be challenged through these little crafts?
Before finishing we had the distribution of prizes and another chorus - time permitting. It was a pleasure to be able to give the children each a donated Christian storybook along with their prizes at the end of the week. This act of generosity did not go unnoticed both by the children and their parents. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who gave of their time to the Club. I say this every year but I mean it so sincerely, without you it wouldn’t be possible to hold the Club.
We also recognise that we can make all the plans and preparations for holding the Club year after year but without the prayerful support and interest that you all show we would be wasting our time. Throughout the week we had no problems with behaviour or hitches with the programme and this we recognise is all due to God answering all our and your prayers.
We are so glad to have had this opportunity to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to over 60 children during this week and we are trusting God to water His word and that it will bear fruit in coming days or years. So please keep praying for these little children and that contacts made locally during this week will draw children into the Sunday School.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”.
Proverbs 22:6
I also read about a month ago a little poem at the end of my daily reading and it is one that really challenged me.
Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today;
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in His way;
He has no tongue but our tongue to tell men how He died;
He has no help but our help to bring them to His side. Flint
It reminds us that we are God’s foot soldiers and if we don’t get up and do his work who will? If God can use someone like me he can use anybody!
S. Gervais
5 Day Clubs Children Gospel Outreach
Monday 2nd to Friday 6th July from 7.00pm Outreach teams from the Church visit housing estates in Portrush bringing the Gospel message to the children.
* Pray also for others in the church who will be giving of their time in various outreach work for the Lord this Summer *
Church Missionary Outreach - CEF
Stephen and Grace Chambers
Check out the latest on Stephen and Grace Chambers and the Gospel Outreach to the children of North East Ulster through the Holiday Bible Clubs, 5 Day Clubs, Good News Clubs and Summer Camps etc. for 2007.
The Saturday night Youth Club outreach which runs from October - March has been very encouraging as a goodly number of young people from various areas of Portrush come along, and after the activities listen to the Gospel message before they leave for home. Most that come in are not saved. Please pray for this work.