Keith and Kelly Hamilton Prayer Letter: Summer Bible Camp, a Restored Life, and New Visitors

Thank you for reading this letter. Your prayers and support are what make our work here possible and help us reach souls. In addition to our ministry, we have been giving eight to nine hours a week to two new works in the west of Ireland, but as they have grown in numbers and the people in their faithfulness, we can see it is time for us to begin refocusing our time toward our ministry and family. We are excited to see these new ministries thriving and to know that we got to have a small part in them. We will still be able to help for a little while, just not as frequently.

July

I had scheduled for some Bible college students from NBT (Neighbourhood Bible Time) to come and help us with our Summer Bible Camp at the end of July. I assumed we would be in a building by then, but that was not the case, so I was frantically trying to come up with solutions for them to come. When several ideas fell through, I contacted Bro. Andrew Day, who is in Ennis, and asked if he would be up to the idea of combining efforts and having the Summer Bible Camp in Ennis, since our countryside location would not be ideal. He was enthusiastic about the idea, and it was good, because I had 3 teens and a child who would be able to attend, and he had 5 children and 3 teens who would be willing to attend, so it was a larger core group than if we did it alone. I quickly found a local football club, got fliers and posters made, set up a Google form for online signups, made a website, and threw hundreds of euros into Facebook advertisements. Once we got the fliers, people began distributing them in the Ennis area. We ended up having a great week. By the end of the week, we’d had 33 in the Summer Bible Camp, with 19 new visitors, and 21 in the Teen Rally, with 7 new visitors. The NBT evangelists also had a great spirit and were a great blessing. At the beginning of the month, we got to fellowship with some of the other missionaries in Ireland at an annual Fourth of July barbecue at Powerscourt Waterfall in the Dublin area. We had a great time and brought a piñata for the kids to enjoy at the end of our time there. Aside from the two evangelists, we didn’t have any new visitors for the month of July.

August

At the beginning of the month, I took Kelly to a nice restaurant for our anniversary, which had been on July 27. We had been busy with the Summer Bible Camp and Teen Rally and had to postpone our celebration. Keenan got to go and help Pastor Andrew Canavan in Galway with his Summer Bible Camp and spend more time with the NBT evangelists. It was during his birthday, so they bought a cake for him. When he got home, we celebrated with a trip to a Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum, dinner at a local restaurant, and then cake and presents at home. At the end of the month, one of our church members wanted to host a barbecue at her house for everyone, so after our services on a Sunday afternoon, we got to enjoy a lovely dinner at their home. I had mentioned in previous letters that Kelly and I were counselling someone who wanted help with the depression and fear they were facing. They could not manage to bring themself to church. This person was in a bad way, but after 11 weeks of being in the Word of God and with other spiritual help, they were finally able to overcome their fear, step out and attend church for the first time in years. They were saved but had not really been to church for years, so this was an incredible hurdle for them to get over, and we are thanking the Lord for the work He did and for using us to help them. Since then, they have been attending nearly every week, faithfully walking with God, and have even gone out soul winning with the church. We are so delighted for the Lord’s using us to help restore a believer. We had three new visitors in church during the month of August. I also finished our verse-by-verse study on the book of Revelation, and I am now moving to the Psalms. I recently subscribed to an online social media advertising and contact system for the church to get our name out more efficiently in the area and to build online contacts. Please pray that the Lord will use this and help draw people to our services, since we are currently in a hidden countryside location.

Soul Winning

We continue getting the Gospel out on Saturdays and have not had any significant conversations, but one of our recent visitors was a moderate Turkish Muslim man, who was very accepting of all faiths. We tried several times to tell him the Gospel, but he was resigned to his belief that all faiths are equal and we all worship God. I pointed out that Jesus said, “. . . no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” However, he ignored it. As people adopt this new ecumenical religion of the “People of Faith,” you can see how the world is moving toward the time when the antichrist will be able to easily convince people to lay aside doctrine for universal unity and join a one-world religion during the Tribulation. I’m praying that the Word of God will bring fruit in his life and that he will eventually get saved.

Please pray for these needs:

1. Co-laborers in Limerick
2. Protection over the ministry
3. A new building in the city
4. Guidance and wisdom moving forward

Last, I thank everyone who took the time to send encouraging emails, letters, birthday gifts, and offerings and for your faithful prayers and support.

For the souls in Ireland,

Keith Hamilton