Monday, July 28

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 evangelism sessions, the gospel sermons during the meeting, Kelly's ladies Bible class (forthcoming), and the edification through fellowship is having what we hope will be a very positive impact on the member's of Christ's church in this part of the world. The fact of the matter is that most people in this country can only be reached and converted to the truth through sustained and consistent effort over time. We're content to be aiding in the sowing of seed with God giving the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-7), perhaps at a much later date.

Earlier in the day, we made our trek to the great city of Belfast. We had long been looking forward to taking a guided tour through this historic city. We decided to take a tour on one of the double-decker open-top buses. The weather was a sunny 71-degrees (farenheit), a positively perfect day for the tour. Click on any of the photos in this post to see a slideshow with brief captions explaining what you see. The history of this city -- especially during the time of "The Troubles" -- is fascinating. We walked around in certain parts of the city after the 90-minute bus tour was over to get a closer look at some of the most famous sections of the city. We stood in the very spots where news cameras captured the aftermath of so many of the atrocities of the 1970's and 1980's.

Belfast is a bustling city now with what appears to be a bright future. A once non-existent tourism industry (for which there were obvious reasons) is now flourishing. With something like a 1,000% increase in hotel business over the past decade, all the grandest old vacant buildings are being converted into luxury hotels to accomodate all the travelers. I would recommend Belfast to anyone looking for a unique and historic spot.

Tonight is the third of the four-night gospel meeting. Look for another update tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

-- Ryan & Kelly

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