Tuesday was perhaps our most laid-back day of the trip so far. Bill and I (Ryan) went along with Colin to his weekly Bible study with one of the newest Christians here, Mark. Mark is an impressive guy in that he sought the truth out, studied via the correspondence course the church here offers, and contacted Colin with his desire to be baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27) to have his sins washed away (Acts 22:16). Mark is an outstanding Bible student with a heart as sincere and hungry for knowledge as I have seen. I can forsee great things in service [View Full Entry]

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Monday brought the second night of the gospel meeting. Several more members from area churches were present. To this point, we haven't had a single visitor from the invitations we distributed, which is somewhat disappointing. Nonetheless, we have done what we could. Hopefully, though, we'll have one or two in the final two nights of the meeting. Regardless of whether or not anyone comes as a result of the invitations, we are accompishing the other main task we set forth in this mission effort -- namely, the strenghtening of the local body. The combination of Bill's "how to" personal e [View Full Entry]

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We awoke to a beautiful Lord's day morning. The cool morning air is always a treat when one thinks of the warm, humid air back home. Kelly and I decided to take a walk down the road to Helen's tower (see the July 26th post for a photo). The tower stands a half-mile or so from the Grahams' home, much of which is a good uphill hike through lush forest. The photos of the golf course in the previous post are just the sort of views you see strolling along through what could be an enchanted forest. We saw one tree [View Full Entry]

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A very productive morning this day at the "Ards" market. Ards is short for "Nards," which is short for Newtownards! Crazy stuff. Colin, Kelly, Ryan, and Bill each stood at one corner of the market passing out the invitations to the gospel meeting. Quite a few people engaged us in conversation, which was exactly what we were hoping for. Of the approximated 1,500 invitations we distributed, we could only recall one or two between the four of us that made a remark that was unkind. 'Tis true what they say about the Irish...as a general rule, they are a very warm [View Full Entry]

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WOW!! Just WOW!! What can you say about a place like the Antrim Coast? You've likely seen it among some of the "Top 10" most breathtakingly beautiful lists that are published from time to time. But I can tell you the photos you'll see from us -- and even from professional photographers -- cannot capture one-onemillionth of the splendor of experiencing these sites in-person! I (Ryan) have seen many amazingly beautiful places (Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls, Acadia National Park, etc.), but none have come close to the sights I saw today. Kelly said next to (1) the day she put on [View Full Entry]

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A super-busy day today! We headed out this morning to begin going door-to-door with the gospel meeting invtiation cards. We had a crew of seven canvassing the neighborhoods. I would estimate about 1,000 of these invitations have been distributed to date. One thing we have noticed is the meticulous way in which the yards are kept here. The grass is lush and green, and it seems to always be trimmed to the point that you could putt a golf ball. Kelly continues to be amazed at the vibrant colors of the flowers here...this coming from a girl who, by her own [View Full Entry]

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After a good night's sleep, we were beginning to adjust to the five-hour time difference. Does anyone else sleep better when there is cool, fresh air wafting through a window? You can do that here in the MIDDLE OF JULY! Daytime highs in the middle to low sixties (farenheit), and evening lows in the fifties. Airfare...$900 Fish & Chips...£7.00 Sleeping with the window open in July...PRICELESS!! Today was supposed to be our first day of passing out the invtations to the gospel meeting in the community. The printer did not yet have them finished, so we made the best of it [View Full Entry]

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We're sitting in the living room of the Graham family here in Bangor, Northern Ireland, U.K. at 10:00 p.m local time. Looking out the windows, we can see that the sun is still up -- should be until almost 11:00 p.m. Ireland is far enough north that the summertime days are extraordinarily long. So, let's recap the events of the past two days (which for us have really been one VERY long day!). We flew from Washington DC to Dublin on Aer Lingus. We had two interesting events in the airports: 1 - We ran into a troup of young Irish [View Full Entry]

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