Dan and Elizabeth Canavan: May 2007
The end to which we are striving is to bring this work to the point of being self-supporting and self-propagating. We are working and praying so that some day the people in this church will be able to; 1) support their own pastor 2) pay for their own building 3) shoulder the expenses of their ministries 4) continue to win souls and disciple believers.
Though we are still a ways from the goal, we are grateful for changes God has brought and the growth that has occurred. The faith promise missions offering was $3,000 last year and might quadruple to $12,000 this year. Also, some have become faithful to the services and have grown in the areas of discernment and commitment. With this growth, we are able to delegate a few areas of responsibility to others.
One family in particular is the Swalkowski family. Ewa and Wojtek (pronounced voytec) were saved at an indigenous Baptist church in Dansk, Poland. A year after Wojteck got saved, they came to Dublin seeking a better life. They attended a liberal Baptist church in town for a while, but became concerned when they detected errors in doctrine and practice. The Lord brought them to us 18 months ago. As they responded to the Lord and his Word, they made some good decisions and have expressed a willingness to serve. Wojtek is now serving in the Sunday morning service as our "usher," along with Andrew and Caleb. His wife Ewa has willing taken over the responsibilities of the kitchen and the tea time that follows each service. Please remember Ewa and Wojtek in your prayers, along with their unsaved 11 year old son Jack.
In our soul winning campaign this year, we are attempting to tell thousands about heaven in 2007. After a long, cold, wet winter, the weather turned unusually warm and we were able to get into a few homes to share the gospel more fully. One such person's home belonged to a woman name Katrina.
Katrina's Salvation - Katrina is a single mom who was somewhat antagonistic when Brendan and I knocked on her door. She eventually recognized Brendan (from when he was a police offi cer walking his beat) and invited us in. We had a long conversation with her about the Gospel. On a call back she invited us in again and we continued to witness to her. Katrina had a lot of questions, and seemed to be under conviction after our second visit. Beth and I went back again a third time and stayed for 2 hours, reviewing the gospel, reading verses and answering questions. After a while, we found that Katrina had already been reading the Bible, and the evangelistic literature we had left with her on the second visit. As we shared the word with Katrina, she stared for a long time at the verses and thought about the implications. Though our focus was the gospel, Katrina knew the Catholicism she had been taught from childhood was wrong and she knew she knew she was a sinner. After a time of deliberation, she placed her faith in Christ for the forgiveness of her sins. Please remember to pray for Katrina's baptism and discipleship as Beth and I seek to help establish her in the faith.
Loyd's Salvation - Several weeks ago we met a Filipino man named Loyd when he, at the request of a friend, visited the services. Eventually Loyd and I were able to meet. Loyd was encountering a diffi cult situation at work (he is a nurse), and was quite depressed. It seems the migrants in this country often have a rough time of it. We talked for a while, and eventually Loyd allowed me to present the Gospel to him. As we sat there on the side of street reviewing the old, old story...of how a Saviour came from glory, a seed was planted in Loyd's heart. He accepted a Bible and promised to read John 3 and Romans 3-5, along with some evangelistic literature. Last week, Loyd came to church, but seemed much more relaxed and peaceful. After the service, Loyd stated that he now "understood." After a few questions it became apparent that he indeed did understand the gospel, and was trusting in the blood of the Lamb of God for his salvation! Loyd expressed an interest in Discipleship and we are looking forward to working with him more fully in the future. Please Remember Loyd's baptism and discipleship in your prayers.
Prayer Requests:
1. Dan, Beth, Andrew, Becca & Caleb - for grace, for peace and for the strength to do the work of the ministry in this challenging environment
2. Katrina, Loyd, Michael, Sean - baptism & discipleship
3. Michael, Jisling, Mark, Philip, Stephen, Linda, Bautista's, Fitzpatricks - salvation
