Aim: Ireland - It’s a Heart Thing
MAY:
MAY/JUNE:
May arrived and left faster than April. The month was packed with preparation, organization and many guests for our events. With the Belfast Prayer Walk and the Pentecost Conference back-to-back within a week, saying time has been a whirlwind is an understatement, but no less powerful in the spirit. God moved mightily during our prayer walk as we focused on many important locations throughout Belfast. The prayer walk prepared the atmosphere for the Conference and the Power of God continued to anoint and and breakdown barriers.
Belfast Prayer Walk: 11-13 May
Many thanks for all the prayers going into this event. For the event we had some visiting UPC Great Britain and Ireland saints that traveled with us.
The weekend started off Friday night with fellowship and meetings followed by a time of prayer. We had some fun activities to get everything started but by the end, there was a powerful spirit of God that moved into our meeting room.
Saturday the Black Taxi Tour took us to many key places of segregation throughout the city of Belfast. We were blessed with four tour guides from both sides of the conflict: Protestant and Catholic. We were able to pray with all of them at the end of the tour. It’s amazing to see how far Belfast has come in these recent years. Despite the blending of the cultures that has begun between Protestant and Catholic Irish, the tension still runs between them. Please, continue to pray for this country as God continues to heal the wounds left from the past. There was a powerful presence of God as we prayed at Queen’s University, Stormont and City Hall in Belfast. I am excited to see where the Lord will take Belfast in the coming years and we are believing for a might move not only to open doors at the university but also in governmental seats!
Belfast Pentecost Conference: 18-20 May
A week later we had our Pentecost Conference. Saints from our churches in Belfast, Dundalk, Dublin North, and South Dublin arrived to attend the gospel concert on Friday night and stayed through our Saturday sessions.
Our music and worship leaders Bryan and Stephanie Pound were amazing and anointed as they ministered that weekend. Our worship team was pieced together: Harvest Bible College students Samuel Sanni and Melina Fuentes came in from Glasgow, Scotland; Bro Adrian Hall from London, The Pounds from Virginia, and then Melissa Baker (a fellow AIMer to Belfast) and myself. Despite our distance God was able to move mightily and bring all of us together as a group (in no small part due to Bro Pound’s exceptional musical skills).
There was one portion of the preaching that stood out most to me. Our theme for this year was “Filled.” During the Saturday evening session Bro Adrian spoke about our expectations. Ephesians 3:20, “Now until him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us...” Who is setting the expectation? We are. When we know WHO our God IS, WHOSE we ARE then we know how far and how high our expectations can go. Many times we limit and confine ourselves to things we know or what we believe only we can do when God can do so much more through us if we would just BELIEVE in EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY. It’s down to us and what we expect. Your expectations define your limitations.
This year I was able to assist with our children’s ministry sessions during the Saturday Morning Sessions. They were a great success (partly due to the fact we had slime involved). We started off with only our younger kids but after the break we had some of the 13 year olds ask if they could join. We learned about the “slimy” situations we get ourselves into by disobeying, lying, cheating and stealing like Jacob deceived his father and stole his brother’s birthright. We can get into situations that constantly create more of a mess for us because we choose to deal with them our way, when God’s way is always better. We also learned that with a little bit of added detergent (soap) the slime hardens and becomes solid as a rock. When we begin to add God into our slimy situation, not only does he wash away the “grubby”, “sticky,” “messiness” of slime, he turns our situation into a solid rock, something we can build on, even when we are the ones slimed by someone else.
Please keep our contacts in your prayers. We have started 2 Bible studies with families who were in attendance that weekend and 1 other family will be starting Bible study with in the next week. We have made many other connections with families and individuals who have been attending our regular ANCA (All Nations Church Alive) services and events. Please pray that God continues to touch and move in their lives as they grow into a deeper, closer relationship with Him.
June 8-12: Revival Conference in Milan, Italy
This trip started with an adventure. We received notification the day before we were to fly out in the early evening that our flight from London Heathrow Airport to Milan’s Linate Airport was canceled. Apparently Italy’s airport personnel were on a strike and they were canceling additional flights to make sure they had people there to cover flights coming in. Pastor Joe was on the phone with the airline and was able to get us rerouted from Dublin to Helsinki, Finland and from there to Milan. God had other plans.
Our plane was very late leaving Dublin airport and, due to an already short connection time, we missed our flight from Helsinki to Milan. We ended up having to stay in Helsinki for the night and catch an early morning flight into Milan on Saturday. But as always, God’s plan is PERFECT! Pastor Joe was able to complete the Friday teaching sessions via Facebook with Bro Giacalone and the Bible study students while we were stopped in Helsinki for the night. Ministry always finds a way! While Pastor Joe taught, the rest of us were able to meet up with Candace Lindholm. She is the daughter of the the Alphins (missionaries to Helsinki). She and her husband live and work in Helsinki assisting with the church. We were able to have dinner and fellowship with Candace during our stay, a great blessing to us and for her as well. Please keep all of them in your prayers as they work to build God’s Kingdom in Finland
We were able to make it into Milan by 10am Saturday morning and hit the ground running after being picked up by our host Rev. Giacalone. We went straight to the church to drop our luggage off before heading to the first park outreach event which was in full swing.
Despite the heat (a big change from Northern Ireland weather), the youth choir was already singing and walking through the park while the ladies and some of the ministers began handing out invitations to their future gospel concert and tracts on Salvation. Two of the young men spoke between songs and their preaching was dynamite, impacting and powerful. After the first park outreach we were able to check into our Bed&Breakfast and then off to the second church for park outreach in the area. God blessed us with a cool evening while the entire choir sang, people gave their testimonies and we had many visitors to the park stop by. There were a few people refilled with the Holy Ghost and one lady while she was passing through received the Holy Ghost! Full Park Service!
Sunday was just as packed with morning and evening services as the main churches in Milan. The services were just as powerful as the park services the day prior. All it takes is a willing vessel to serve in God’s Kingdom. There were two baptisms that took place during our morning service. The evening service was a 6 year anniversary service for the church in Milan. Since that time they have grown to include many daughter works throughout all of Italy. We were able to pray for each minister leading a church and a daughter work. Their vision for Italy is to have a church in every province.
During the time of fellowship after each service I was able to meet Rev. Mirabella, the pastor of the church in Rome and his family and get to know Bro Giacalone’s daughter, Letizia. Letizia and Gemma were both kind enough to translate from Italian to English for me while I was there. Please keep Leticia in your prayers she has been suffering from fainting spells. Doctor’s have not found a reason for the spells yet, please help me pray that she be healed completely.
Monday we were able to tour the beautiful city and see some of the historical sites. We had our fill (well, our share, I could still go back for more) of pasta and gelato! The saints and The Giacalones were gracious and hospitable. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to build The Kingdom.
June 16: Belfast Ladies Prayer Day
Our Ladies Prayer Day in Belfast was amazing. We had some of our newest church members come out to participate in the prayer walk and the fellowship! Sis. Beeks from Edinborough, Scotland came down with Sabrina (AIMer in Edinborough). We started at The Market and began praying over the jobs and economy of Belfast, for God to preserve and supply during this time when most of the jobs are being relocated to the mainland (England) or elsewhere. After we went to the Justice Courts and Police Headquarters. During the next few weeks, Belfast citizens will be preparing for the July 12th marches. These marches commemorate the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 where King William III, Prince of Orange, defeated King James II. The main march of The Orangemen takes place in Belfast, but there are other counties/cities outside of Belfast where marches take place as well. During this time police and first responders are on high alert. Please help us pray for their protection, safety and wisdom as they stand guard during this time. We finished our prayer walk at City Hall where we prayed for the new mayor and deputy mayor recently elected. We prayed that the mayor would be motivated to make decisions on the benefit for the city rather than political agendas. We had a wonderful time in prayer and fellowship with the ladies both local and those who came from Dundalk and Scotland to be with us.
Looking Ahead: June 30th: Ireland Ministry Meeting, Youth Service
We will be traveling down to Dublin again for a ministry meeting including all Irish ministers. This will be a 1-day round trip but a long one. After the meeting the Dublin church youth group is having a revival youth service. All the youth from our three churches in The Republic will be attending. Please pray for the meetings, but also that the youth will be touched and God to move in a mighty way for them.
July 6-7: Cork Prayer Walk Weekend
We have finalized the target areas for the prayer walk: University College Cork - a few of the students attend our southern churches; City Hall; and The Kingsley Hotel - there will be a gospel concert held there by our Dublin church saints in September. We are praying for connections and open doors. We are hoping to get all the Ireland churches and youth involved in this event.
July 31-August 3: General Conference in Llandudno, Wales
I am expecting a wonderful conference this year as they will be having another Park service and outreach event on the promenade. As this is a district event many of the AIMers and missionaries across Great Britain and Ireland will be in attendance - some even outside of GB&I. Bishop Frances and his team at Life Tabernacle in London are working on organizing this event, registering and assisting guests. Please keep them, the preparations and the even in your prayers.
Thank you for reading:
I would like to thank you all again for your help and support. I will be updating regularly and look forward to sharing more news after our next events.
Please if you have any questions or requests you can email me at [email protected].
Yours Truly,
Dahleen