Dearest Friends,
BLESSINGS AND PRAYER REQUESTS
1. A young lady in Dublin refused the band’s CD and the Gospel tract they offered, because she said she was a pagan. We do not know her name, but God knows her name, and we ask you to pray for her. I did some reading about paganism in Ireland and found out that it is growing, and that more and more young people are seeking spiritual solutions in worshiping "mother earth". They are disillusioned with what they know about Christianity, though most really know nothing about Jesus. This young woman represents thousands of thousands of people who are living in deep darkness. Please pray that God bring many of these people to walk past our programs in the towns of Limerick and Tralee where we are headed next.
2. In the past 2 days in Galway, we have seen 3 people ask Jesus to rescue them. Their names are Billy, Dermot and David. David particularly touched my heart because he had spent a good part of his life living in so much brokenness. He had considered killing himself. His arms bore the scars of where he had cut himself in despair. He is only in his twenties and was so hopeless until today. Please hold all of these men in your prayers and ask God to deliver them from the temptation of drinking that has so long ruled their lives.
3. As I began one of the stories today, I said, "If you like this story that I am about to tell and would like to read more stories like this, then come and see me when I finish. I will give you a Jesus Storybook Bible." The story went amazingly well and I knew that God was pouring His Spirit on my poor words. When I finished, the children lined up to get the Bibles. We ran out. I want you to pray for every one of these Bibles and each of the children who received them. God knows who they are. More, would you pray for the families and ask God to use these Storybook Bibles in the lives of the parents so that they fall in love with Jesus.
4. We had a number of Muslim ladies at one of our puppet shows and Heather was able to talk with them. She had Arabic on her computer because she works with Syrian refugees in Istanbul, Turkey. The ladies really understood very little of what they had seen in the puppet show and with the band, but they had felt compelled to stay. It was so sweet to me that God had Heather there who was able to speak to them about Jesus in a language they could understand. One of the ladies knew nothing about Jesus and was so happy to hear what Heather had to say. Please ask God to give them a deep desire to learn more about Jesus Christ and how they can know Him.
5. I was very blessed by the people that God sent to work with us in Galway. We need people who will walk around in the crowd and hand out literature and CDs and strike up good conversations. My former French director, Anna McIlwaine (now Anna Costello), and her husband Padraig came and helped us. This was such a blessing! Padraig had so many conversations with people who just wanted to know more about what they were hearing. Being around Anna reminded me of all the adventures that God had given her and me in years past. It made me grateful all over again for God’s blessings. The best part of good friendships is that you can be apart for a long time, see one another, and it’s like no time has even passed.
6. It has not rained at all on us while we have been in Galway. Praise God! We finished all of our shows in Dublin without any rain, and now we’ve finished all of our shows in Galway without any rain. Since we are setting up on the street, it is essential that we have no rain. Please pray for good weather in Limerick and at the Rose of Tralee festival.
7. The crowds were more responsive than we have ever seen before in Galway. We had a few hecklers but we would stop and pray and God would calm them down, or they would go away. For the first time, I did not see any parent take a child away from the story when I mentioned Jesus’ name. There was one young couple with a small son in a wheelchair that made part of our team cry. We have free CDs and wonderful children’s literature but they would not take anything, because she was a Muslim. However, they did stay and listen to a good part of the program. Please ask God to use what they heard to bring them closer to Himself.
In Jesus,
Linda
for Reality and The Agape Puppets