Ministry Update

A very warm “hello” from the O’Neills here in Belfast. We pray that you are all doing really well?!

We’d love to give you all an update about what God has been doing here in Belfast and a look at what is coming up.

Over the past few months God has really been adding to our church. We’ve seen a lot of growth not only in numbers, but in the Spirit. God is moving and restoring broken relationships, healing wounded hearts, setting the lonely in family and setting the captives free. As a spiritual hospital we are thankful to God for using us to co-labour with Him in His plans here in this beautiful city.

With the increase in numbers we’ve really had to establish our discipleship growth-path to make sure that from foundations to leadership we have resources and courses that can help equip our people to grow, thrive and live in their God given calling and purpose.

We just came out of a weekend where we ended our 3 part Follow Course. Follow 1 starts with the invitation to COME to God and deals with our identity in Christ and who God is. We shared with people from the Word about the Father-heart of God using the example of the Prodigal Son. As the course material says – “what you know about God will determine whether you run to Him or from Him.”

Follow 2 is the establishing part where we learn to GROW in our Faith. We want to see people established in their faith with strong biblical foundations.

Follow 3 is the “going” part of the course where we establish LEADers to take up their God given purpose and live it our wherever they find themselves. God has given us gifts and talents to use for His glory. Not in our own strength, but by the POWER of His Holy Spirit.

We had 15 people complete the course and we’re excited about what God is doing in all of them and we can’t wait to see what He will do through them all.

Our Sunday services have really been a place of “Common Ground” as we see people from different cultures and religious backgrounds come in, feel welcomed and safe and encounter the love of Christ. As a church we are called to be ministers of reconciliation and it is only in Christ that we can be ONE! That is why we believe that being CHRIST-CENTERED is paramount to everything that we do.

We have a lot of exciting things coming up –

1. Freedom day – where we deal with all the things that we sometimes miss in our own lives that hinder us from growing in our Faith. I’ve been through this twice already, and it is always freeing! Christ is in the business of setting the captives free, and we’re trusting to see more freedom in our lives and the lives of the people in our congregation.
2. Baptisms – We praise God for the people who come to us after services and want to be baptised. People with a conviction to declare to the world that their old life is dead and buried and that they are raised to a new life in Jesus Christ! We’ll be baptising 4 people on the 31st of March!
3. Leadership 215 – This is a theological course that we are running to help people grow deeper in their understanding of the Word and ultimately of God. We have about 7 people currently going through this course. We are trusting God for an even deeper hunger for His Word!

As a family we are doing really well! Both our kids have birthdays in these two months, so the excitement levels are HIGH!

Danica is involved with our European Scout 2024 project where we, as EN Europe, are taking 2024 to scout out nations where we don’t have a church and sending a scouting party to go and see how we can reach students and possibly start churches. As EN Belfast, we have had Finland on our hearts and we are going on a scouting trip later in the year along with some of our other EN Europe churches to connect with people in Finland.

Prayer Points:

1. Please pray that we will continue to disciple people well so that they also in turn disciple others. God is adding to the church and we want to be good stewards of the people that He entrusts to us.
2. Our student ministry is really taking off. Please pray for a full-time campus minister to join us.
3. Please continue to pray for our finances as we trust God to raise a further £500 per month for us to continue the work here in Belfast. I’m including our giving link at the end of this update.
4. Please pray that we will lead with wisdom, grace and love.

Blessings to you all and thank you again for your continued support and prayers,

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoë

US GIVING

GIVING LINK – http://globalservicenetwork.org/give/51123001/

UK & OTHER

https://www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/20175434

Please give through our Every Nation Belfast Stewardship Account.

1. Follow the link and click on give.
2. Register a giving acc or give as a guest.
3. In the dropdown list select “Staff/Pastoral Support”
4. Enter amount to give, select “once off or monthly”
5. Please reference – “O’Neill Support”