In September 1987 Olive and I went as a newly married couple to serve the Lord in Cork, although Olive had already been serving in Cork for a year. We had met at the Whitefield College of the Bible in 1984, got engaged early in 1986 and spent a year apart from May 1986 – May 1987 while I filled the pulpit temporarily in Port Lincoln, South Australia. The work in Cork was small and slow, but we did see the Lord move and some folks profess faith.
In May 2008, we both became exercised about moving on from Cork and taking on a more itinerant ministry. The morning after a positive meeting with our Mission Board, the Lord made clear His will through my daily reading in Acts 8:3. Matthew Henry’s comments could not have been any more relevant to the situation at hand: “Their work was pretty well done in Jerusalem, and now it was time to think of the necessities of other places..”
At that time, Dr Paisley had acquired a fully equipped motor home for evangelistic use in the Irish Republic which was used in the early days after we moved back to Northern Ireland again. This has since been replaced in my ministry by a small camper van. However, the basic work is still the same. In the warmer months (between May and late October) I visit places further afield where I can stay over for a few nights at a time. These include cities like Galway and Dublin and also at the RC Marian Shrine at Knock in County Mayo. The cold winter months are usually spent in door to door evangelism round the border counties of Cavan and Monaghan.
Part of the work also includes involvement with the Consider Christ campaign in the Irish Republic where I have been involved with additional outreach and preaching etc. On the home front, I have many preaching opportunities both within and without my home congregation in Bethel FPC. Olive also teaches in the Sabbath School and helps with the children’s meetings.
