O'Neill Family

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CALLED TO GO…

EUROPE, a sleeping giant being reawakened by the Spirit of God. A continent that sent missionaries to the rest of the world, now in desperate need of missionaries to take the good news of the gospel back. A call of God to the nations to enter the fields that are ripe for harvest. A call, we are answering.

It started in 2017, when Danica and I had the opportunity to minister at my brother in law’s church in Austria. When we set our feet on European soil, it immediately latched onto our hearts with a call to come back. But all in God’s time…

Fast forward to the second half of 2018 when we had the opportunity to join our current church, Every Nation Somerset West, on a mission trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Walking the streets of the city, my wife and I both felt the same stirring we felt in 2017, only stronger with a more definite urgency.

What we saw in 2 days in Belfast revealed a darkness under the surface of Irish charm that we haven’t seen up close before. Human trafficking, loneliness, isolation and religious intolerance are only a few things we experienced during our short time there. All of this is underlined by the massive divide that religion has forged between the people.

But, there is hope.

There is a generation of people rising up that are looking to God for the future of Ireland. They are seeking relationship over religion, community over disconnection, and faith over failure. There is a people crying out to God for revival in the land, and He will answer that prayer.

After we got back from Belfast, we knew that in some capacity, we would head back. Over the next few months we spent a lot of time in prayer. During which time we also had some people we trust prophecy over us about “being called to the nations”. And so we arrived at a fork in the road. To go, or not to go?

God gripped my heart and changed the course of our lives with one question:

“Do you need so many confirmations that it doesn’t require any faith to follow Me?”

And, BOOM, we were on a trajectory straight for Belfast.

Speaking to our leaders about our intention, they had a lot of peace about this decision. So we approached Johann, who is the Senior Pastor at Every Nation Belfast, to hear if they would take us. He was excited, we were excited, there was a lot of excitement. Yes, the unknown can be exciting, the possibilities endless, but we were mostly excited about how God had orchestrated all of this at the right time, and behind the scenes. He has a plan, and we get to be a part of it!

At Every Nation Belfast we will be doing the following:

I will be overseeing and building the worship ministry which Danica will also be a part of.
Danica will be very much involved in the “Global Cafe”. A ministry under the refugees that are in Belfast. This has always been such a huge part of my wife’s heart! We can’t wait to get stuck in.
We will be supporting Johann and Adrea Vizagie (Senior Pastors) in ministry. Enabling them to do more of what God has called them to do.
I will be flying the Every Nation Music banner high wherever we minister. Also intentionally working with the churches across Ireland and Europe to build relationships, write songs (hopefully some in Gaelic) and connect with our global EN Music family.
I will be overseeing Sunday Services. Building and leading teams that make Sunday church happen and grow.

These are only some of what we will be doing. Our heart is to get involved in whatever God has for us and whatever is needed to build EN Belfast and see God’s kingdom come through that church.

So, here we go on the road less travelled. Trusting in a faithful God to get us to where we are going, where He is sending us.

We can’t do this alone though. And why would we want to?

We would love to invite you into a Kingdom Partnership with us. Knowing that our fruit will be your fruit and our harvest, your harvest.

If you would like to get involved with us, please head on over to the”Blog Posts” menu at the top of the HOME SCREEN and read our “Kingdom Partnership” post to view the different options. And also, please subscribe at the bottom of the “HOME” page to get updates directly to your inbox.

We are beyond excited to see what God is going to do in and through us. We are equally excited that you might be joining us on the journey!!

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions – brian@ensw.org

May God bless you all,

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoë

It’s beginning to look at lot like Christmas

Dear friends and family, we are so excited to share some of the news from our wee island with all of you. It has been a busy few months, but it has been fruitful and we’ve grown a ton. Thank you for your partnership in what God is doing in and through His church here in Northern Ireland and beyond.

MINISTRY UPDATE:

As a church we had the immense privilege of hosting the Every Nation Europe Evangelism Summit right here in Belfast! It was a time of equipping, fire and relationship building. People from all across Europe came together to get more equipped in sharing the gospel and desire more of God’s heart for the nations.

The teachings were powerful and one of the best parts of the conference was that Danica facilitated an outreach on the streets and campuses to share the love of God with people.

Danica and the evangelism team from Every Nation Belfast still continue to go out into the Holylands every week. The Holylands is a diverse community area near the university. It’s called the Holylands because of the street names being things like- “Damascus Rd”, “Jerusalem street” etc.

Just this last week when Danica and one other person went out, they met a young girl who looked really distressed. Danica caught up with her and started talking with her. Turns out it was her birthday and she was all alone. She lives in a hotel and the people there have been treating her really badly. They were able to encourage her and share the love of God with her. Even though there wasn’t a decision the most important part of this was that God had lead them to this girl, on her birthday, and they could share about God’s unfailing kindness and love for her. There are weekly testimonies coming out of the Holylands. The harvest is ready!

We ended the week with a traditional Irish Ceilidh, where a few of the students that were reached on the street the previous day could come and enjoy some dancing and hear the Gospel! What a night!

As most of you already know, Danica now has a new job working for an incredible charity here in Belfast. The charity is called Flourish NI (https://www.flourishni.org/) and they work with victims of all kinds of trafficking. It has been a steep learning curve, but she is so alive in what God has called her to. The impact that she can have in the lives of people is immense and powerful. God has truly placed her in the darkest place to be the light of Christ.

At the conference I met a pastor of another church outside of Belfast. His name is Jonathan. What a God connection. Little did I know that this encounter would lead to a very stretching situation for me… Not in a bad way at all, but he asked me to join their church’s worship night…on PIANO!! Now, I do dabble, but not on this level. Needless to say, I’ve always been one to say yes and figure it out along the way. Thank God for His Holy Spirit. I met incredible people and had a blast. Even though I think the sound engineer muted me on a few occasions, that didn’t matter. What I saw was people of ALL AGES hungry for God! God is moving across the nations!

PERSONAL UPDATE:

The children are doing well. Noah is almost done with his first proper exams and Zoe has grown leaps and bounds this year! We are truly thankful to God for establishing our children in school and community!

Prayer points:

Pray for the Holylands and the people that the team get to meet. There is real need there and we believe for a great harvest.
Pray for Danica as she navigates this new job with all of it’s own challenges.
Please pray for me as I continue to raise some much needed personal support that allows me to continue work at the church and doing what God has called me for.

Financial ask and information:

At this time of year we would like to ask for two things:

If any of you would like to give a one off financial gift and
If you would like to join our team more permanently

Please follow any of the links according to your location:

UK residents:

Stewardship (which allows the government to give an extra 25% for each pound donated)

For this payment, please reference “O’Neill Support” in the provided space.

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

USA residents:

Global service network

https://globalservicenetwork.org/give/?framepath=%2Fgiftcart%2Fgive.aspx%3Fdesig%3D51123001%26frame%3Dtrue

Thank you all again for your incredible support on this journey. We are thankful to be a team partnering in the harvest!

Have a blessed Christmas time!

Love,

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoë

For the HOPE set before us

Seven years ago the Lord spoke to Danica and myself about moving our family from Somerset West, South-Africa, to Belfast, Northern Ireland. God gave us a vision and a mission. Our vision – To see Christ centered, Spirit empowered and socially responsible churches and campus ministries planted and strengthened in Northern Ireland and the nations. Our mission – To serve the Lord with all our heart and all our strength. To preach the Kingdom of God wherever we are. To support and strengthen the leadership team here in Belfast. To make disciples.

None of this has changed. If anything, the Lord has in the past couple of weeks only strengthened our resolve and challenged us about our conviction. Sometimes we become so busy with the work, that we can easily “forget” why we started doing this in the first place. But if we look at the Word of God, all throughout it, we see people who acted with a DEEP conviction from God to bring His word to the people around them. To preach His kingdom in every sphere. So, what is our conviction?

That God sent us to this distant nation as part of His plan to preach His Word through whatever vehicle is available to us. The we are not THE answer, but we are part of the plan to point to THE answer, which is Jesus. Something that He’s placed within us, is needed for the people here. He’s designed us and appointed us for this place in this time. We do all of this because of His great love poured out for us, and that there are people around who have never heard about this. About the fact that there is a God that gave His Son for us, so that the power of sin and shame can be broken over our lives and that we are His children and He loves us. And that one day, we will spend eternity with our Saviour. THIS is the HOPE set before us. None of what we do is in vain. Every seed we plant is with purpose and we believe that we will see a harvest!

We thank God for what he is doing here in Northern Ireland. Even though things might look bleak throughout the world, we can see and feel God moving in a powerful way. We are seeing an increase in young people seeking Jesus. Tired of religion and playing games and seeking an encounter with the King of Kings. He is so faithful to meet people wherever they are. We are seeing people come to repentance through the kindness of God. The harvest is truly ready! We thank God that we can be a part of it here in Belfast. We praise him for each of you as well, because we know He isn’t only moving here, but all over the world and each of us has the opportunity to put our hands to the plow and get involved in His work.

Praise report from our side – A few months ago Danica needed to start looking for a job outside the church. We’ve been praying, and she’s been applying. She had an interview a bunch of weeks ago, but unfortunately that didn’t pan out. But just last week, she went for another interview, and she got the job. It will be for a charity here in Belfast as a Anti-Human trafficking case worker. If you know my wife at all, you’ll know that this has been something that has been on her heart for years, and God has now opened the door for her to minister to some of the most broken people around. Please continue to pray for her as she steps into this new season.

The kids are also doing really well. Noah just started High school and Zoe is in P6. They are settled in their new years and we thank God for that!

We want to thank each one of you for your partnership in the Gospel and would like to ask you to stand with us in faith for the following areas:

As Danica is starting a new job, there are some personal adjustments that we’ll have to make in terms of our schedules and transport etc. Please pray for wisdom as we get settled into a new rhythm.
Please pray for our church. Currently as a church we are trusting God for breakthrough in our finances. We have a lot of work to do here in Belfast, and we need money to operate. We are fully looking to God for provision and to move on the hearts of Kingdom investors to come alongside us. If you feel lead to contribute to the church in a once off or monthly basis, I’ll add the details at the end of the email.
My personal financial support team. I’m in a season of upping our support and I’m trusting God for open doors. Just for some more clarity and explanation, Danica’s new job will help us personally as a family where we’ve been very tight for the past few months. My ministry support team is for my salary that comes through the church. And currently as in point 2, we are trusting for a breakthrough.

Please reach out if you have any questions. We’ll be very happy to spend some time with you and explain anything that may be unclear.

Just finally… I’ve mentioned it before, but we cannot stress enough how blessed we are by every one of you getting even more involved in the Kingdom of God through prayer for us and the church, and your financial support. We are a team, and we do this together. Our fruit is your fruit! Thank you.

Love,

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoe

If you would like to contribute to the church, here are some different options:

UK residents:

Stewardship (which allows the government to give an extra 25% for each pound donated)

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

PAYPAL

2. info@enbelfast.org

USA residents:

Global service network

https://globalservicenetwork.org/give/?framepath=%2Fgiftcart%2Fgive.aspx%3Fdesig%3D51123001%26frame%3Dtrue

Tampere – Finland

Dear friends, please pray for myself and our Lead Pastor, Johann as we travel to Finland today.

There’s an outreach team currently working in Tampere and we’re trusting God that this will turn into a church plant. Reaching the nations!

We’ll be spending 5 days with our friends on the ground in Tampere hosting a Freedom Day, doing a worship workshop and leading the Sunday service. We’ll also be baptising someone! Praise God!

Please pray that we’ll have safe travels, a fruitful time and that God will protect both our families while we’re away.

Thank you again for being a part of our team! Labouring together in the Kingdom of God.

Bless you all,

Brian

Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Hi everyone! Just a quick update and prayer request from our side –

I’ve just arrived in Edinburgh where I will be receiving MPD (Ministry Partnership Development) training. As most of you know, when we started this journey to move to Belfast, we needed to raise our own financial support. Honestly, we had no idea what we were doing, but God was still faithful and made a way for us to be sustained. 4 years later, and God is still providing. To tell you all the truth, I was always only “slightly” on board with MPD because to me it felt like the stereotypical missionary posture of looking for a handout, but as I’ve started working through the material for this training, God has shown me how this is not a “begging” posture, but a kingdom posture. It’s a way for us to put our trust in God as our provider, but also for the people that partner with us. God remind us in His Word that it isn’t only the receiver that has his/her eyes on God to provide, but an act of worship for the giver to do the same. There are a lot of people that aren’t in full-time ministry, but want to sow into the Kingdom, and this is a way to do it. There are also people that are called to full-time ministry, but the church they are working for just can’t supply everything they need. This is a way for the body of Christ to operate together to advance His Kingdom!

Thank you to each and every one of you for being a part of our team. We can’t tell you enough how much we value and thank God for your sowing in obedience. The fruit here in Belfast is also YOUR fruit. It’s Kingdom fruit.

Prayer requests:

Please keep me in your prayers as there will be a lot of information received AND transformation that will happen this week.
Please pray for Danica and the kids as they have a busy week while I’m away.
Please trust with us for new doors to open for Kingdom partnerships.

We love and appreciate you all!

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoë

GIVING INFO:

If you would like to start giving, or know of anybody that would like to, here are the details:

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.

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

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Greetings from Belfast to all our friends and family! It’s that time of the year again where we pause to look back at what has been and to then look forward with expectation of what’s to come. I have to tell you, 2024 has been a FULL year. Full of grace, favour, growth, challenges and breakthroughs.

Since our last newsletter, Danica lead a mission team to Tampere in Finland. It was part of our Every Nation Europe Evangelism Conference. They were there for just a bit more than a week and here is some feedback from their mission:

This is the amount of conversations and salvations and follow ups we had from the mission…

7 people prayed the salvation prayer on campus
1 lady came to the Sunday service and gave her heart to the Lord
1 student gave his heart to the Lord during a one to one session and is slotted into the EN outreach group.
1 person prayed the salvation prayer in Helsinki.
1 friend of a student on the seminary campus came to the event, gave his heart to Jesus and is joining the EN outreach group.

One student was reached on campus who was looking for an EN church. She is slotted into the EN outreach group and was filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time. She started speaking in tongues for the first time.

10 people who we engaged with attended the event on Thursday night.

In total 11 people gave their hearts to Jesus.

In total around 28 contact details were given and agreed to meeting with Vince and Marie.

Around 70 students were engaged in meaningful conversations on campus.

God is so good!

There is a strong base in Finland and an open door for the gospel!!

Our Evangelism team has been going out weekly to the Holylands here in Belfast. In the past 2 months there has bee 3 salvations who all agreed to follow-up meetings. The Holylands is a mix of ages, cultures and ethnicities. A massive harvest field, but also a place that needs a lot of prayer. Please keep the team in your prayers as they trust God for an increased harvest in 2025.

Here are some things that we are looking forward to in 2025:

Evangelism training conference in January for Danica and Andrea
Freedom day training in Tampere, Finland for the team there. Johann and myself will be going to strengthen and encourage the team.
Songwriting workshops – with the possibility of starting them further abroad in England, Scotland and hopefully Wales.
Hosting our Every Nation Europe Evangelism Conference here in Belfast in November.

There is a lot to be thankful for in 2024, and you, our friends and partners are right up there! Without you we wouldn’t be able to be where we aer and do what we do! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Danica and myself keep praying for you and your families! May your hearts become even more sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit and see Him do even greater things in and through you in 2025!!

Here are some prayer request from our side:

Please pray for the team in Tampere, Finland. There is a strong foundation there and we are trusting God that as they grow, we will be able to establish a Christ centered, Spirit empowered campus reaching church in Tampere. Every Nation Belfast will be the overseeing church for this plant.
Please continue to pray for our evangelism team as the go out every week and also prepare for the summit in November.
Pray for the people they reach in the Holylands to continue this journey of faith by getting into a discipleship relationship.

Thank you all, also, for your giving!

If you wanted to consider a possible additional gift towards the ministry we do here in Belfast, please see our info below:

GIVING INFO:

If you would like to start giving, or know of anybody that would like to, here are the details:

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.

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

Have a blessed Christmas and a favour-filled New Year!

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoë

Autumn Ministry Update

I wanted to start this update with a massive thank you from the four of us. Thank you all for carrying us in prayer in these last 3 months. It has been a time of learning. A time of expanding and strengthening. A time of pruning and growing. But most of all a time of deepening of our roots in God. It’s not always easy, but it is ALWAYS worth it.

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to meet with a diverse group of people and have very different kinds of conversations. Not all of them about God, but underneath them all there was a seeking of God, whether they knew it or not. But the hurt that they’ve endured in some form or the other has made God a distant figure, seemingly untouchable. But as a church we are called to reach out, listen, point to Christ but ultimately to live by the Spirit so that people can see a REAL God at work and nearer than they could ever imagine!

The church here in Belfast is doing really well. God is adding to His church all the time. Would you please continue to pray as we trust God for more leaders to help disciple the new members of our church.

Danica will be leading a mission team to Finland in November. This is part of our Every Nation Europe Evangelism summit. As a church, Every Nation Belfast, we have felt God lay the nation of Finland on our hearts. So we are trusting for a future church plant in Finland, which we will oversee. There is already a group going on campus lead by the wonderful Vince and Maricar. Please continue to pray as they meet new people for God to reach the hearts and touch the lives of the students and people in Tampere, Finland.

I’m heading our to our School of Prophesy in October where I will be helping to oversee the worship for the conference. This isn’t only a time for music, but a time of relationship building as we’re trusting God to strengthen and build our relationships across Europe. There is such a move of God throughout the continent, and we are all better together. Please pray for this to be a fruitful time of ministry and building.

A quick family update:

The kids are back in school with Zoe being in Y5 and Noah in Y7, which is his last year of primary school. They are doing really well. We love seeing them thrive. Danica and I are doing well. We are trusting God for a wee family break sometime in the future.

Prayer requests:

Please continue to trust with us for God to open doors as we seek to grow our partnership team. With new visa rules, our deficit has grown, but we know that He is our provider and that there are kingdom investors all around looking for opportunities to sow. Belfast, Ireland and Europe is good soil, and we’re trusting God for a great harvest.
Please pray for the church as we grow. To disciple well, to lead well, but most of all to love well.
Please pray for wisdom as we minister in our city. Danica is leading a team that evangelises in one of the neighbourhoods every week. I am meeting a lot of people that desperately need the love of God to break through the hurt of loss and disappointment. They need an encounter with the Spirit of God and to experience His lovingkindness.

There is a lot more happening than I can write down, but I wanted to say thank you again for enabling us to be here, to do the work of the Kingdom and to see Jesus transform lives.

His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Blessings and love,

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoë

GIVING INFO:

If you would like to start giving, or know of anybody that would like to, here are the details:

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.

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

Spring Update

It’s been a while since our last update, and I want to thank you all for keeping us as a family in your prayers. It’s been quite a difficult and stressful time for us, but the Lord has been so faithful yet again. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we forget His faithfulness, yet He always steps in and carries us when we feel we cannot walk anymore.

The reason for the stress these past few months have been with our visa extensions. I made a mistake on our first application which caused a big knock on in the whole process. That included extra finances, uncertainty about the decision and just a general “downcastness” in my spirit.

But, like I said, God humbled my heart once again by reminding me that I can’t do any of this in my own strength, and He is always near. Everything is now sorted and we are looking forward to this next season of ministry! Praise God!

We’ve seen an increase in church attendance over the last few months. What I love about what God is doing in our church is that He is really meeting people at their lowest and turning their lives around completely. So, we’re finding less people coming to church that are just church hopping, or tired of one way of church and looking for something fresh, but we are seeing the lost, rejected, down and out, meeting Jesus and being transformed by His power.

EVANGELISM – Danica

Evangelism in the holy lands

We as Christians are called to go into the darkest places in our cities to share the light. And this is something we are growing in, something we are trusting God to bolden us in and to give us momentum in. We have been going into the “holy lands”, a very dark, desperate and beautiful area in the centre of Belfast. Amongst the mess, chaos and confusion, we have seen hope, joy and restoration taking place. Please pray with us that this team will grow in numbers, in boldness, in faith and availability. Just yesterday a friend of ours shared the love of Jesus with a Muslim in a café. She heard him say that God has given up on him. She went over to him, and boldly said that God never gives up on us. This man gave his life to Jesus, and is coming to church on Sunday!!! This power and boldness we want to see every day in our communities, but especially in the holy lands. Thank you for your prayers and faith that are knitted together with ours to see God’s kingdom come here in Belfast.

Finland – Danica

In 2022 at our Europe evangelism summit in Gent, I was playing the cajon during one of the worship sets and all of a sudden I was so overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit. I started shaking, got warm all over and did my real ugly cry. It was beautiful! In that moment God dropped in my heart “Finland”. Meanwhile two evangelists from Europe felt the call to scout out Finland, Tampere. And so our journey at EN Belfast began in reaching Finland. We have connected with wonderful people there that have moved from the Philippines to serve as missionaries. We are now working with this couple helping to plant an Every Nation church in Tampere!! And our next Europe Evangelism summit will be in November in Tampere! After the summit I will be leading a mission to reach the campus students of Tampere with the Good News. Please pray with us for, once again, boldness, faith, and wisdom. We are trusting God for many salvations, healings and an outpouring of His joy!

As many of you know, we have a football group at church that serves to give refugees, newcomers etc a community and connection, and certainly a lot of fun too! Unfortunately we’ve had to say goodbye to one of our new friends this past week. He is moving over to England, as he got a job there! So, it is bitter sweet. It is incredible to see people established and moving forward, but we will miss him a lot!

We are having a “Journey to Freedom” seminar this weekend. We are trusting God for even more people to encounter His Spirit and be set free from sin, shame, past hurt, trauma etc. He is the Healer! So far, there are 51 people joining us. Some are from our church, and some aren’t. Trust with us for people to have open hearts to receive what God wants to give them.

We’ve just started a new small group/life group in West Belfast. This is such an answer to prayer and a real important door into the community. We have been sent here to Belfast to be ministers of reconciliation, and we are excited about what the future holds! This group is full of passionate Jesus followers, spreading the good news of Jesus wherever they set their feet. Inspiring!

Johann and Andrea, our lead pastors, and their family will be heading on Sabbatical this Summer. Would you pray for Danica and myself as we lead the church in their absence. We know that we are doing it in God’s strength, but also we have an incredible team of leaders that make the work light.

Thank you to every one of you for supporting us through prayer, encouragements and finances. God has been very good to us! Thank you for helping to carry us as we’ve started our new lives in a new country. We feel encouraged and strengthened by your prayers.

If you could continue to pray for us to reach our financial goal of £2000 p/m, we would really appreciate it. We are still about £900 p/m off.

If you would like to start giving, or know of anybody that would like to, here are the details:

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.

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

Our family is doing really well. The kids are winding down for Summer, but have a bunch of sporting activities to get through before that. Danica is just incredible and a rock to us as a family! She just had her birthday last Friday, and we are beyond grateful to her for the mom and wife that she is, but mostly for her love for Christ that she lives out and models so well!

Prayer points:

Please pray for Johann and Andrea as they head on Sabbatical. Pray for rest and restoration deep in their spirits.
The Journey to freedom course. Pray for the presence of God to be tangible in the building. Lives changed.
Please pray for the Evangelism team reaching out in the Holy Lands. God’s hands and feet.
The mission to Finland. That God would put the nation of Finland on people’s hearts!
Please pray for our financial provision. We are trusting God.

We love and appreciate ever single one of you! Please reach out to say “Hi!”, ask questions, or let us know how we can pray for you!

Blessings,

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoe

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 –

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.
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!
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:

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.
Our student ministry is really taking off. Please pray for a full-time campus minister to join us.
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.
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.

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

USA Feedback

It’s almost Christmas Day and I wanted to take a quick moment to let you all know how it went with my trip to the US and to say thank you for your continued support in what Danica and myself are busy with here in Belfast.

For those who don’t know, I went to the US for 12 days at the start of December. Danica and I are trusting God to increase our monthly ministry support by sharing the vision and trusting God to add people to our journey where His Spirit moves on their hearts.

This was such a whirlwind trip in many ways:

It happened really fast
I travelled all across the US in 12 days
Met the most wonderful people on this journey
God spoke so often and so clearly

Here is just a little snippet of what happened:

INDIANAPOLIS – INDIANA

My first stop was Indianapolis, Indiana, where I met Papa Jon for the first time. Papa Jon is the father of my good friend, and the leader of the Every Nation Church in Indianapolis – City of Lights, Jon Owens. Spending time with this man of God really showed me how to love the person that’s in front of you. His undivided attention and genuine-ness was so contagious and reminded me of how God sees us even in the midst of a million things happening.

I had the opportunity to share about what God is doing in Belfast at their Sunday service and, I have to say, worshiping with family from across the globe was a special experience.

I also met an amazing man called John as well. His passion for the things of God and seeing his kingdom come was really inspiring to me. I unfortunately didn’t get a pic with him.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

This was supposed to be a more “relational” connect time, and it was that in spades, but God had a few extra plans that blew me out of the water. With one quick “hi” in the hallway of the office building I got connected with one of our newest partners. Ministry is built on the pillars of relationship!

I got to spend some time with my friend Justin. The wisdom this man carries is just beyond my understanding. I was standing in his office, listening to him speak about the future and his passions, and I had to stop my jaw from dropping open. I thank God for humble leaders like this in our movement!

MIDLAND, TEXAS

I met Chris for the first time when he came to South-Africa to record our last Wholehearted Album in 2017. A very gracious host, along with his wife, Sheila, and their three sons, I had an amazing time seeing what God is doing in and through Mid Cities Church. Through the very talented Chris I met a bunch of awesome worship leaders and songwriters. God is surely making room in Midland/Odessa for a mighty move of His Spirit. I was encouraged to see how they are following the leading of the Holy Spirit and seeing the fruit of their obedience!

RENO, NEVADA

There is a LOT I can say about the Holmans, but to sum up my time there I wanted to use the word “enriching”. Both Pst Bret and Jorie are wells of wisdom and passion. They pour themselves out for the kingdom in Reno, and I believe with all my heart that God is planting Life-Giving seeds through their ministry. They took me under their wings and taught me so much! I am ever grateful! I had the opportunity to share at their church – All People Church - about the work God is doing in Belfast and through the work of His Spirit we added 2 more partners to our team. God is doing a mighty work in the States and I am grateful to have been able to step our of my bubble and experience it!

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

The last day and a half of my trip was just for me to process and see some sights. Because my flight back to Dublin left from Chicago, I had the privilege of spending the night in this beautiful city. I ended up not taking too many pictures because, honestly, I was exhausted. But I could just take some time to reflect on the 11 days gone by and what God is busy with. All in all, my trip was insanely fruitful. Relationships, relationships, relationships!!

I want to thank each one of you for being a part of our team here in Northern Ireland. I know we can’t always be with you in person, but know that you are all in our prayers and thoughts!

God is still adding to our team, and if you know someone that you think would be interested in joining, please reach out to me. I would love to connect with them!

What we are still trusting God for in 2024:

Our children and my visa is expiring at the end of January. That means that I need to apply for a renewal in about 3 weeks. This will cost us roughly £7000 all incl. Please pray with us as we trust God to help us achieve this seemingly impossible goal.
Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to raise support for the work we are doing here in Belfast, Northern Ireland. If you would like to know what God is busy with here, please reach out. I would be thrilled to share with you.

If you are in the States, and you’d like to support us monthly or with a once off gift, you can do so through our giving platform “Global Service Network”. Please note that all donations are tax deductable.

https://give.globalservicenetwork.org/51123001

If you are in the UK, you can give through our giving platform “Stewardship”. If you are a UK tax payer, you can add Gift Aid to your gift which adds 25p for every £1 of your gift from the government.

https://account.stewardship.org.uk/gift/start/20283992

Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts!

Please let us know how we can lift you and your family in prayer.

Blessings,

Brian

Autumn Update

I can’t believe how fast this year is flying by! So much has happened, and so much is still to happen. As a family, we hope you are all doing really well, and we keep praying for you, even though we don’t always get a chance to connect. You are always in our prayers.

We had a wonderfully blessed time at the Every Nation GO 2023 conference in Cape Town. Our hearts are stirred once again to Love God and Love People! It was great to see old friends and get to share this experience with new ones. What a lovely family moment!

We’d like to give a short update on what lies ahead for us, because this, for us, is miracle season and we want to ask all of our partners to fervently trust with us for the months ahead.

As some of you may know we, as a family, are on ministry support. That means that most of our monthly income comes from outside of our local church. It comes from people who are sowing, not only into our lives, but are partnering with what God is doing here in Northern Ireland. For us, personally, our support makes up about 90% of our income. We are so blessed by our partners’ generosity and always thankful to God for aligning our path with theirs.

Also, most of our current partners are from South-Africa, and in the midst of economic difficulty, they still give faithfully and cheerfully. Unfortunately, in all transparency, with the exchange rate constantly going up, it means that our monthly income keeps going down. So, we need a strategy. This is not all doom and gloom because we believe that God will provide even as He has been providing. We believe that we are here for His purpose and He will make a way.

Hence, here is the first thing I would ask you all to pray for:

I am planning to travel to the US at the end of November for approx. two weeks where I will see potential partners, partner churches and hopefully get to connect with some strategic people. Please pray for open doors, open hearts and great connections. We really need this. We need about £750 per month extra to help us to break even.

Then, even though I can’t believe how fast this year has been going, what’s even more astonishing is that we’ve almost been here in NI for three years! Amazing! It feels short, but at the same time it feels like we’ve been here forever. Again, God has done SO much in these past three years and we are looking forward with expectation for what’s to come!

With it being our three year anniversary, it also means that it is time for our visa renewal. My, and the kids’ visas need to be renewed for three more years in January. This will come at an astronomical cost of +- £7000. I know that with God all things are possible, and our spirits are at rest in His plan, but you can understand that in my human mind I’m just thinking, “Lord, this is something only you can accomplish” while I’m trying to fight down stress and anxiety. So:

Please pray for peace in our hearts as this deadline comes up and also that God will make a way where there seems to be no way. We stand in faith for our Island and know that God wants us here for His purpose. So, please pray with us for a breakthrough in this area.

Just a note that we are doing well. We are happy and God is establishing us. Even though things may look different, we are here to serve in which ever way He needs us to. May He ever be the one that directs our steps even if it is only one small one at a time.

Lastly, I would again just like to thank each of you for being a part of this journey with us. This is as much your fruit as it is ours.

In Belfast as it is in heaven!

Love,

Brian, Danica, Noah and Zoë