O'Gormans to Ireland

2009-02-24T13:23:00.001-08:00

Thank you to those of you who prayed, it was a night of real victory! There were a lot of people on Main Street tonight. I have never seen anything like it. Leigh and I got down there a little after 11 and preached to quite a good crowd who were hanging around outside the pubs. I preached about 10-15 minutes. This was interrupted by one angry girl kicking the small battery amplifier over. We put the batteries back in and kept preaching. While I was preaching Leigh had a witnessing opportunity with three band members that had just played a gig in one of the pubs. I finished preaching and we talked to some of the people who had been listening. Most of them were antagonistic. One young man told me he was going to try and get me into the Catholic high school one day to speak in religion class! We then went to the car park to go home and met three teenagers. WE thought we were finished, but the teenagers turned out to be the highlight of the night. Two were pretty drunk and foolish, but one named Keon listened to the whole gospel and came under clear conviction. He understood his sin and need of Christ. He was visibly burdened as we spoke. He did not cry out to the Lord there in the car park, but he was close. Praise God for this clear divine appointment! Pray he will be saved and we will have further contact with him. He is 17 and his parents are very catholic, so pray also that they do not react and shut things down. It was exciting to see God clearly working. He brought Keon along and guided us to him. I sensed the Spirit enabling me and giving me utterance as I gave the gospel. This is one of the best witnessing opportunities we have had on a late night outreach. Praise God for answered prayer!

This is the verse the Lord gave us in prayer before we went out this evening:

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:23&24

Praise God that we did see His wonders in the deep tonight! Thanks again for praying; please do not stop.
Oriel O’Gorman

2009-02-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

Please pray for us tomorrow from 11pm our time. A well known irish rock band will be playing a concert here in Arklow, and main street will be thronged with people. Oriel and Leigh (a dear man attending our church who has a heart for the gospel) will be taking to the streets to preach to people and witness to as many as they can. Pray God will pour out His spirit, people will be convicted, Satan’s blindness removed and people saved. Thank you for continuing to pray for us.

2009-02-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,
Here is an update written by my coworker jonothan Barber:

Friday, February 6, 2009
Satan Spoiled!
We had an interesting thing happen today. A young woman named "Laura" called and said that she had heard us preach on the street before and was wondering if we would be out preaching at the park today. Oriel said that we hadn't planned on it, but that we could. He invited her up to the house to talk about the Lord, but she said that she had family with her, and they wanted to hear us at the park. Oriel said that we would meet her there at 2:30 and preach the Gospel.When Oriel hung up the phone, we weren't sure what to think. Here is someone out of the blue wanting us to come preach the Gospel. A few things didn't add up, and we all had an uneasy feeling about it. If it was true, it was a huge answer to prayer. We had been praying for people to call us, and we had been praying for people to come to the park specifically to hear the Gospel. However, all us of wondered if this could be a ploy of the Evil One. We all wondered if our beloved "Rowdy Girls" could be behind this (Jan, Lisa, Marie, and Casey). All of these girls have hardened their hearts to the Lord. They have been in our house multiple times under the sound of God's Word.We decided to go to prayer and seek wisdom from the Lord. The Lord brought us to confidence that either way, He would get glory through it. We realized that even if it was the "Rowdy Girls" enticing us out so that they could terrorize us, God could still turn the situation on Satan's head. We received a second call from "Laura" during our prayer meeting asking us where we were. We weren't late, so we just told her that we would be there at 2:30 as we had arranged.Well, we headed out full of faith, not having a clue what to expect. We drove by and nobody was in the park. We circled around and came back. As we drove through the park we saw our "Rowdy Girls" duck into the public restrooms. They were obviously prepared for war, with plenty of wet toilet paper. We waved and went to the back of the lot. It was a beautiful day for preaching, and we didn't want to give Satan the opportunity of driving us off, so we parked, grabbed the mic and speaker, and went to the park. Sure enough, the girls threw the wet toilet paper and ran off. We just gathered it up and threw it away (we learned this from the last time--if we don't throw it away, we'll see it again). Oriel started preaching, and Rebecca and I spent the hour fielding the flack of our friends so that Oriel could preach. I don't really know how to describe that hour. It was a real spiritual battle being played out in front of us. The girls would shout at anyone who stopped to listen to Oriel's preaching. They would run down to where the people were and try to drive them off. Oriel rebuked them and kept preaching.A man named Derrick came into the park to listen. I left Oriel to go talk to him. No sooner had I sat down and began to talk, but the "Rowdies" ran over literally jumped on me. I had one on my lap, one next to Derrick, two behind me flicking my ears and doing anything they could do to disrupt, and one began licking Derrick's ear (no, they did not know him, and he didn't have a clue who they were). I couldn't believe Derrick stayed, but he did. Eventually, the girls calmed down a bit and took a rest (they went in spurts--their antics take so much energy they have to recharge now and again). During this time I had a wonderful time with Derrick. He is still unconverted.All in all, the girls did everything they could--wet toilet paper, snowballs, they cracked the ice in the fountain and broke pieces of it over my head a few times when I wasn't looking, they threw it at me and at Oriel while he preached. I dealt with them as strongly as I could, rebuking them according to God's Word. Every now and then they would leave me and run over to where Oriel was preaching in order to disrupt the hearers. Several times the girls came at me with fists (three of them at one time!). They weren't punching hard. Most of the time, the girls where just "having fun" with us, but occasionally, when the preaching would sting their hearts, they would drop their facade, and their hate for us and God would come out. They HATE us with a passion.Satan always overplays his hand. Oriel's preaching was being annointed of the Lord. Several people stopped to hear the Gospel. God really gave him liberty and boldness in declaring the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and God's answer through Christ. It really was a glory time. God's Word instructs, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2Timothy 3:12). Honestly, it wasn't much compared to what the Disciples of Christ received.At the end of the day, despite all of Satan's efforts, several stopped to hear the Word of God, many more heard and took leaflets as they passed, and we had multiple opportunities to go through the Gospel with people. Rebecca was able to take a young woman into the coffee shop accross the street and go through the entire plan of salvation with her. Pray that God will open Jennifer's eyes to the simplicity that is in Christ. She's close. Eventually, the "Rowdy Girls" gave up and left. I took over the preaching for Oriel who was going through the Gospel with a fellow who is about to face an operation that has a 50/50 chance of taking his life. Pray for him.We ended in victory! We stood our ground. Praise the Lord for His abundant grace. Thank you to all of you who pray. WOULD YOU ALL MAKE THESE GIRLS A MATTER OF DAILY PRAYER. THEY ARE TOOLS OF SATAN TO HINDER THE GOSPEL IN ARKLOW. WE ARE PRAYING DIRECTLY AGAINST THE DEVIL IN JESUS NAME. WILL YOU CLAIM THE DEFEAT OF SATAN WITH US IN THIS MATTER?

Today, while Jonathan, Rebecca and Heather were in the park witnessing, Casey, one of these girls believed on the Lord! We give glory to the Holy Spirit for convicting this young lady. Two of her rowdy friends also wanted to be saved, heard the gospel, but had to leave before making a decision to believe. God is clearly working in them. John also dealt with two men, one a drunkard and the other a heroine addict, who are both feeling their need for Christ and seem desperate, open and close to salvation. John gave the gospel to a group of about 7 outside a pub, and the whole group stood listening intently. The Spirit is moving, and we are praying that He continues to. Pray for Casey that she will now stand for the Lord among her friends. Pray also that the others who heard the gospel today will not be able to toy with the decision, but will be compelled to decide one way or the other for Christ. Pray the Holy Spirit would bring them to salvation. PLEASE PRAY IN FAITH! Mark 11:24.
Thank you,
Oriel O’Gorman

2009-02-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

January Prayer letter

2009-02-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Praying Friends,
Happy New Year to you all! What a joy to face the new year on the LORD’s side. We are expecting great things from God in the year ahead. We especially long for His Presence and power in ministry. We wanted to bring you all up to date on what God is doing since we arrived here in Arklow. God has graciously confirmed His will in our sudden return to Ireland through many practical blessings as well as the wide open door of ministry we have found here in Arklow.
The Friday we arrived a pastor in Ireland gave us a vehicle. Saturday we looked at a rental house in Arklow. We were thrilled to find that the house perfectly suited our needs. The house is located in walking distance to the town’s main street, and includes guest quarters for our co-workers (the Barbers), and a miniature “auditorium” for our services. We moved in on Monday! The Barbers arrived safely the following Friday.
We could not be more thankful for the co-workers that God has given us. Jonathan and Rebecca Barber have servants’ hearts and have wholly given themselves to the ministry here in Arklow. God has used them to lead several teens to the Lord. Our efforts in ministry have been multiplied as we have co-labored in the Gospel. We praise God for his gift of unity and fellowship in the Gospel. Please pray that the wicked one will not be allowed to destroy this unity.
December has been a busy, but blessed month. We enjoyed wonderful Christmas festivities with Oriel’s family in Dublin and a New Year’s celebration in Arklow. Yet, God blessed us with significant times of prayer and evangelism. Over the last few months God has burdened our hearts to seek Him in prayer, like the apostles in Acts 2. Realizing the battle for Arklow must be won on our knees , we devoted two very profitable days to prayer. God met with us! We asked for boldness and claimed the victory over the wicked one. Since then we have had many seasons of prayer. God has used these times to purge our own hearts, making us very aware of our complete uselessness without HIS enablement. Please pray that God will protect these prayer times.
Evangelism has been a test of faith and a great joy! Street preaching, door-to-door evangelism, late night soulwinning outside the pubs, and daily-life contacts are the key evangelistic outreaches that God has led us into. During the first evening of door-to door soul winning we visited our neighbors and found out that they were distant relatives to Oriel! They have taken an initial Bible Study. Please pray for the Donegan’s salvation. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons we go street preaching on Arklow’s Main Street. In Ireland’s culture street-proclamation of many sorts is relatively common, yet, preaching is foolishness to the lost. The Lord has begun to strip us of self, and has increasingly burdened our hearts for the several scores of people that walk by. Several people have accepted Christ during these times. We are particularly burdened for a group of teen girls that have wildly mocked and disturbed the preaching. They have listened to the Gospel several times. Today was the first time that we have seen significant conviction. Please earnestly intercede for these dear girls trapped in Satan’s snare (Marie, Jen, Lisa, and Casey). An older man - Ronald, a young mom – AnnMarie, and John are a few other people that seem very close to salvation. Would you consider praying for us throughout the mornings on these days? God has led us into an unusual ministry when the pubs close on Friday night. The pub life here is shockingly far reaching into the society. From desperate, sin-hungry young people to sophisticated older women, the street is crawling with wickedness. This is a group of people with which we would have no other contact. Thus the Great Commission compels us into this ministry. It is hard to put into words all that GOD has done in and through us. Prayer has been a vital part of the Friday night battle for the souls of men. We covet your prayer around your dinner time on Friday evenings. With the time difference this is approximately when we would be out. Please especially pray for physical and spiritual protection as well as God’s outpoured presence and conviction of sin. Yannig, a huge Polish man working as a doorman at a club, seems very open to the Gospel. As a dear missionary friend often says, “May God find us on our knees and in His Word, so as to use us on our feet and in the world.”
In closing, God has blessed our services. At this time we are only having Sunday evening services but are soon moving toward morning services. We have had people at every service! We don’t take this for granted in a new church plant! The last two Wednesday evenings we have met with a few other believers here in Arklow for prayer. These times have been glorious. Please pray that God will now strengthen us in discipleship, an urgent need at this time in our ministry.
Thanks to all of you who have been praying. We have received encouraging emails from several. Please continue to pray for the things we have mentioned, and we will endeavor to keep you updated more regularly. God bless you as you labor with us for Arklow Ireland!
Yours for the Sake of the Gospel and Revival,
Oriel and Heather O’Gorman

2009-01-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

Stormy day in Arklow. We serve the very God that controls these mighty waves.

Praise God!

2009-01-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

God is moving! We have had several divine appointments with people that have read and reread the tract that Jonathan Barber wrote. Pray that Satan will not be able to snatch the seed away.

Tract Distribution

2009-01-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

Please earnestly pray for the tract distribution. About half of Arklow has received the tract! With God's enablement and blessing the rest of Arklow should be finished by Monday. God laid the burden of this tract on our hearts as we have ministered here in Arklow. As we have endeavored to share the Gospel to these dear people, we have realized the overwhelming blindness that has caused the people of Arklow to stumble at the Gospel. A concern over death, being prepared to die, and their relationship with God is almost absent. Over and over we have asked the question, "Have you ever thought about where you would go when you die?" With a suprised face, most have seemingly answered honestly, "No... in fact, I have never thought of it." The tract is very direct about the need to "prepare to meet thy God." Please earnestly interceed with us that the Holy Spirit will use his Sword to pierce the hearts of the people of Arklow. Pray that the tract will get into the right hands in every home. Our burden behind the tract was two-fold. One - that people will have to face the reality of death. Pray with us that the works of the wicked one to give security of life will be destroyed. Two - that those that who are searching for God and for the truth will have a clear Gospel witness. With only a handful of born-again believers preaching the Gospel on the streets of Arklow, the tract multiplies our efforts. Please pray that those that are searching will contact us, or that we will be divinely led to them as we witness.