End of Belfast Outreach- Headed to Glasgow

Hey, hey!

Wow. Our ten-day Belfast outreach has just come to a close as we depart for Glasgow, Scotland today. We had an amazing time see God's work unfold before our very eyes and getting to experience the transformation of lives first hand was unbelievable. God impacted each of us so much and I'll speak for the team: we will leave here with many memories. We concluded our trip last night with evangelism training at New Life City Church and witnessing/hanging out with teens at FEED Cafe. Despite the rain, God took in a harvest that made us jump for joy and eager to hit the streets again:

319 first time commitments and
22 re dedications

Here are a few more testimonies from the team and a lot more to come:

One late afternoon in Belfast, some of my fellow DTS students and myself finished a hip hop dance. I moved to stand in the crowd as I watched some of the DTS students get ready for the drama "Doors." While watching the drama, one of my leaders told me that if the two girls standing not far from me left during the drama, I should go talk to them. So there I stood, thinking that there was no way that the two grils would leave. But sure enough, one of the girls started to walk away from the crowd. I then jogged after her and introduced myself. She told me her name was Donna Mara and she was 12 years old.

While I was talking with her, the girl's friend Marie, who was 11 years old, skated towards us on her roller blades. I asked the two girls if I could share the wordless book with them and they both agreed to listen. I led them to a nearby bench where all three of us sat down and I began to explain what each color represents in the book. During my conversation with them, I told them that God loves them and wants to have a relationship with them.

While talking with them I found out that both girl's went to church but had never asked Jesus into their hearts before. I asked them if they would like to have a relationship with Him and both of them said "yes." Right there in Belfast, the two girls made a commitment to follow Jesus; I was so excited for the girls! Because of my obedience to my leader, I was able to see two girls commit their lives to God.

-Joanna Atkinson

After performing one of our dramas in Belfast, I introduced myself to a man who said, “I’m an atheist. You probably don’t wanna hear what I have to say.” At his surprise, I did. He began telling me about his life story. His mom died when he was only little and his dad walked out on him, so he moved in with his uncle, who died shortly after. The remainder of his family calls him the grim reaper, because everything he gets close to dies. His nickname is the “curse”. Just talking about it brought tears to his eyes. He told me there can’t be a God, because he’s been through too much hurt. He asked why I believe there is a God and I told him, I could give him 100 facts as proof, but the real evidence is the way He changes lives. I said I’ve seen too many miracles for me not to believe in Him. I began to share with him that God can be his Father who will NEVER leave him. I asked if he felt empty, and he told me he has been searching for something, but he just can’t fill that void inside, so I said, “Bro, you need Jesus” and he shook his head and said yeah, I do. After sharing with him proof that God does exist and that He desires a relationship with him, the man began to shake inside and held his chest, saying, “whoa, what was that?” I said It’s the power of God getting a hold of your heart, homey! At the end of our conversation, something clicked and he was like a little boy finding his way back home.

God did a work in both of us that rainy afternoon. He gave a man a new purpose and reason to live, and strengthened my faith in the process!

-April Yates