Church News - January 2026
Happy New Year from Ireland; Nita's 60th birthday family reunion; Christmas celebrations; building purchase progress
January 2026
Happy New Year from Ireland. Never forget that it is the year of our Lord, 2026! Amen! On the very day of my wife Nita’s 60th birthday in November, ALL of our 9 grandchildren but 1 came home! There were 19 of us together for 2 weeks! Oh how wonderful it was to have everyone together, and laugh and hug and talk and reminisce and go on trips together to all the places we visited as a family so long ago! It was the most pleasantly exhausting two weeks of our lives! Nita said at the end, “Next time I turn 60, I am going to THEIR houses!” Heh heh heh! Nita and I are so blessed by God!
Christmas in Ireland! During the Christmas season, our church folks first gathered for our family-style Church Christmas Dinner — a wonderful start to Christmas! The next week, 40 of us went and sang praises to He who was born King of kings and Lord of lords in a large Shopping Centre in Cork! We do this every year! Dozens and dozens and dozens of people stood and listened, and enjoyed all the emphasis on a simple kind of Christmas. So many times people clapped at all the Christmas carols and hymns that we usually take for granted! The next Sunday, our Church’s children performed a great Christmas Play. Then on Christmas Day, we gathered together again for Christ’s Birthday with more than 100 attending and just singing and worshipping our great Saviour. One of our men named Trevor preached, and we all knew Christmas was accomplished this year! Then on the last day of the year, on December 31, we had a wonderful New Year’s Eve Service together as a church body, preaching, playing games, singing, fellowshipping, and most of all praying for God to help us stay faithful and fruitful during all of 2026!
Progress on building purchase… That “open door” (Revelations 3:8) across from our church is patiently waiting for us to purchase by faith! We only need about $140,000 to purchase this $400,000 building! Woohoo! Our church has already raised $10,000, and several churches have given over $14,000! We are on our way! Would you pray about helping us buy the building so we can expand? If you want to know more, please contact me!
What is ahead… Now that it is January, we are preparing for the national Irish Christian Men’s Camp in April as well as constructing our Gospel float in the Patrick’s Day Parade!
I remain your friend and fellow-servant,
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
