Grand Finale

On Monday night, the Atticall community gathered at their Gaelic clubhouse for a talent show. This had been arranged by Zak, Peter, and Paul Cunningham, the coach of the Gaelic team. We weren't really sure how many would show up, but they slowly began to file in. Soon there were over a hundred people in the clubhouse.

There were 7 different musical and dramatic acts, and afterwards Stephen stood up for a few minutes and explained very clearly why we're there: we would love to see less people identify as Protestants and Catholics and more identify as Christians and simply followers of Jesus.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we said farewell to the Atticall folk as the last day of programming finished up. In the morning one of the teens made a profession of faith after talking to a team member about John 3:16. This was unprompted and simply came after talking about the implications of the verse for eternity. Pray that the profession would grow and the initial signs of faith would blossom into God-fueled faithfulness as the Northern Irish team follows up with her.

While several stayed back to work with the Irish language program (and memorize John 3:16 in Gaelic!), the teens caught a ride to Country Fried Chicken, a restarant in Kilkeel. Afterwards they walked down to the beach, where people were thrown in, and great fun was had by all.

Last night we gathered for our last meeting with the teens... about 15-20 or so came out. Dawn shared her testimony, and Zak spoke on God as a judge, reading from Matthew 25:31-46. Both were used by God to point to the reality of judgment... although not many deep conversations happened after that, we trust that God's Word does not return void, but it accomplishes all he purposes for it.

Today the teams are gathering at the beach in Cranfield and then preparing a thank you meal for our host homes. Pray that

• the Northern Irish would be given opportunities and remain faithful to followup with the young girl who professed faith in Christ, and all the others who have heard the Word this week.
• the team would look to Jesus as our comforter and friend in these days when we're saying goodbye to so many new friends.
• the relations between the two churches (Kilkeel and Mourne) and the two communities (Kittys Road and Atticall) would be strengthened in weeks and months to come, and that genuine love would abound.