Well, folks, could I just take this opportunity to warmly welcome you to our prayer meeting and Bible study. It'll take just a different form tonight. We do have a deputation, the Reverend David McMillan, who's the minister of our Armagh congregation. He's also the representative for the deputation for Uganda, and we're going to see something of the work there and also of the challenge that will be presented to us. So we're delighted to see you all, and we want to warmly welcome you in our Savior's name. And also to those that are listening on the various social media platforms, Sermon Audio and Facebook and YouTube, we're glad to welcome you again. It's an online community there, and we know that you're very faithful in tuning in and supporting us here in Cumber. We do appreciate that and we trust that you will stay for the duration of the deputation. Once the Reverend Macmillan has finished, then we will end our broadcast and then we will get down to a season of public and private prayer. So we will be cutting the service short tonight in the sense that we do have a prayer time afterward, and I'm sure online viewers would appreciate that. So we warmly welcome everyone. We trust the Lord will be with us and richly bless us. We're going to sing together the hymn, O for a closer walk with God, a calm, a heavenly frame, a light that shines upon the road that leads me to the Lamb. For those at home using the hymn book 416, and the word should come up on the screen, We'll stand together singing our very best place. ♪ That calls her on with love ♪ ♪ And hell by her deadly frame ♪ ♪ A light to shine upon her own ♪ ♪ That leads me to the man ♪ ♪ There is a place in Israel ♪ first I saw the Lord. There is a soul refreshed in Him of Jesus and His Word. Unmistakable arms I once enjoyed, I've slain their The world hath never failed. Return, O thou holy God, return, sweet messenger of grace. ♪ I hate the sins that make me poor ♪ ♪ And holy from my breast ♪ ♪ The dearest I love I have known ♪ ♪ For e'er have I known thee ♪ ♪ Help me to tear it from my throat ♪ ♪ And worship only thee ♪ ♪ So shall my hope be close with thine ♪ ♪ Answering, I pray thee ♪ ♪ So pure a light shall mark the road ♪ ♪ That leads me to the Lamb ♪ That was good singing. I do appreciate that. The Mass doesn't seem to restrict the volume, and we're thankful to the Lord for a people who want to sing unto the Lord. And the Lord inhabiteth, as Sam has said, the praises of Israel. And that means the Lord dwells among a praising people. And we sometimes can criticize others who are a little more lively, and we can be just a little bit conservative. And I'm not pushing for all that liveliness in our meetings, the less the flesh has to do in worship, the better. We know that. But there are times whenever we can lift our heart and we can really sing it out and sound it out, good old hymns like this, so for a closer walk with God. It's really a prayer that we've been praying that we would have that close walk with the Lord. So let's unite our hearts together in prayer. Maybe some have come to the meeting tonight, no doubt. It's been a very busy day for you. Maybe there's quite a number of things occupying your mind, and in many ways, it's been a rush just to get here to the meeting. Different commitments, family, and work, and yet here you are in the house of God, no better place. And we trust the Lord will draw nigh and bless you, and that He'll take away every distraction and every wandering thought and bring everything into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and we will have what we've just asked for in prayer closer walk with God. Loving Father, it is with joy and thanksgiving that we enter into thy most holy, sacred, and righteous presence. We stand by blood alone. We realize, O God, that we do not approach thee in any established righteousness in the name of any denomination, We enter into Thy courts on the ground of the finished work and the precious shed blood of the Lamb. We stand in union with Christ in the righteousness imputed of Thine only begotten and well-beloved Son, giving us acceptance before God and on the ground of that atoning work, we stand justified by faith alone, in Christ alone. And we come, O God, in our first duty and task, to acknowledge Thee as the true and the living God, and to worship Thee for who Thou art, not just for what Thou hast done, and Thy works are glorious. And yet, Lord, we come to worship Thee. We come to give Thee thanks and praise for who Thou art, the Creator God. We recognize, Lord, that we are the work of thy hand. We recognize, O God, that hast formed us in the beginning in Adam, and breathed into him and us the breath of life, and we in him became a living soul, and we rejoice that we owe everything to thee. Lord, everything we are and hope to be, Lord, we'll We pray that we might recognize that it all comes from thee. Every good and perfect gift comes through Christ, the mediator. Lord, you cannot bestow upon us any good, any righteousness, any blessing, benefit, except through the mediation of Christ. And we rejoice that we have one at thy right hand. We can worship thee not only in the trinity of thy sacred persons, but we can set forth even in prayer and worship our blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And we thank thee for the Redeemer of God's elect. We thank thee for the Saviour of the body and the Saviour of the world. And we rejoice, our Father in God. and God so loved this world that you gave thine only begotten son, and we rejoice he was willing to leave the glory and splendor of heaven and tabernacle as a true man amongst men, God veiled in human flesh. We thank thee, O God, two distinct natures in one unique person, the mediator between God and man, the redeemer of God's elect, and we lift our hearts to thee in thanksgiving for so great salvation. We thank thee, Lord, for thy wonderful works to the children of men, and for temporal and spiritual blessings. We acknowledge it, for mercy seen and unseen. We worship thee, and we thank thee, O God, above all things, for that greatest work of all, when we consider creation and the universe, the sun, moon, and stars. We think of the glory in the earth, the firmament. We think of all that thou hast created and to think that there's something more glorious than that, and that is the new creation. We thank thee for the new birth, for the regenerating of our souls. We thank thee, O God, for giving us life and quickening us in death. We thank thee, Lord, for a soul out of the grave and out of the pit of hell. We lift our hearts to thee, Lord, and thank thee for redemption's work, the atoning sacrifice. We have been reading in Leviticus about the repeated offerings, and we thought about, Lord, how often they had to sacrifice morning and evening a lamb, and on those many other occasions. And when men and women sinned, they came with their offering, O God, to the very altar. bless thee that Christ offered himself once for all and he made every Old Testament Lord priest redundant. We thank thee he is the fulfillment of the old economy and we lift our hearts in praise and thanksgiving to thee that we stand upon a finished work tonight and we rest upon the atoning sacrifice of Christ and this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever he sat down at thy right hand and he is our living head he is our great exalted high priest, and he ever lives to make intercession for us. And already today, Lord, it lifts our hearts to think that he has remembered me before thy throne. We thank thee like Israel's high priest of old. He has carried us upon his shoulders. We recognize in the breastplate we are dear to his heart. And we thank thee, O God, that he himself says, I have engraven thee on the palms of my hand. and we rejoice we will never be forgotten of the Lord. And Lord, we thank Thee. We praise Thee and we bless Thee. And we ask, Lord, humbly and reverently, for an intensified sense of the divine presence. We have felt Thy nearness this past while. We have had Thy blessing resting upon us. And we recognize it and we're not... Oh, I'm thankful, Lord. Lord, we're certainly not showing a spirit of ingratitude. We acknowledge it, and we're so grateful for it. And Lord, we pray for greater times, and we really do mean that. There has to be more than what we have as a church and as a denomination and as a body of thy people. Lord, there are greater heights and deeper depths, and we believe, Lord, there's an exhaustible supply with thee, and there's so much more that thou hast for us, and we pray we might enter into it by faith, that we will consecrate ourselves to the Lord, and our service to thee, that we will fill the hand, and we will be busy for thee. We thank thee, O God, for thy work in these days, and for souls that have been converted. We thank thee, Lord, for the evangelistic arm of our denomination, the missionary desire, and burden that many share. And for those who look after it, Lord, and deputise for it, we pray that you'll remember them. Remember thy servant, our brother, the Reverend Macmillan. We thank thee for him. Thank thee for his labour of love. Thank thee, Lord, for thy hand upon him. and spurring his life. And we thank thee, Lord. His work is not finished, and you brought him here tonight, Lord, to deputize for that work in Uganda. And we pray you'll encourage him. We pray, Lord, you will draw near and bless him in his own soul. May he know what it is to be cleansed by precious blood afresh and then filled with the spirit of the living God. And as we view the presentation, as we hear the challenge, as prayer requests come to us, we pray you'll prompt our petitions, Lord. You'll burden our hearts. and help us to increase in the volume of intercessory and Lord supplicatory prayer that we might Lord get through to God and do business and in this house tonight Lord the work of God in Uganda and further afield will be greatly helped and assisted and blessed because we have met with thee we have spread it before the Lord we've talked to thee about it Lord and we have gotten through to God and we've known that the Lord has heard our cry and heard our prayer. So be with us tonight, and remember many other places like ourselves, both inside and outside the denomination, that are meeting in a fashion like this for prayer, lest the reading of Scripture, the preaching forth of thy word, and remember thy people as we gather for prayer, give to us that which we do not possess naturally, and that is the spirit of believing prayer. Lord, hear our humble cry and an answer to our prayer. Father, glorify Thy dear Son. We ask these things in His precious and most worthy name. Amen. But we are delighted, as I mentioned earlier, to have the Reverend David McMillan with us. David and I would be good friends. I'll say that anyway, he might think differently. But we've known each other for quite a while. We've been involved in the Lord's work together and we've done gospel campaigning together. We've had some blessed times and also we've been good friends over the many, many years and it is a joy to welcome him here to Cumber to deputize for the work in Uganda. I'm going to ask him to come now, and he'll take most of the meeting, and then afterward, he'll present some prayer requests, then we'll get down for a little season of prayer. Thank you. You're very welcome, brother. May the Lord richly bless you. Folk, we're going to turn in the Scriptures, please, to Matthew's Gospel. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 9. We appreciate the kind and warm words of welcome. We do count the Reverend Martin as a very good friend. We have been very good friends for many years. We always enjoy our brother's fellowship. He's been a great encouragement to us, a great blessing. his ministry. We always value those times that we're able to sit under his ministry. And as he's mentioned, we have mission together. We had our brother down in Armagh. I think it's coming four years ago now. This autumn, in September, we put up a tent just outside Armagh on the Port of Down Road. There was a good day the day we put up the tent. The weather was dry. And there was a good day we took down the tent, but it virtually rained every day in between. And as the mission went on, as they say in the country, the gutters got worse. But the thing about it was it didn't deter the people from coming. The attendances were quite remarkable in the circumstances. And I think the thing that drew the people to the tent was the sense of the Lord's presence that was known in the tent in those meetings under our brother's ministry. And there were souls saved in that tent as well at that time. So that's just one example of blessed times that we've shared with your minister. So we're glad to be with you tonight. Just to read a few verses. It's just a short section. Just at the end of Matthew chapter 9, The verse 36, let's hear the Word of the Lord. It says, "'But when he,' this is our Saviour, "'when he saw the multitudes, "'he was moved with compassion in them, "'because they fainted and were scattered abroad "'as sheep having no shepherd. "'Then saith he unto his disciples, "'The harvest truly is plenteous, "'but the labourers are few, Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." We know the Lord will bless that brief reading of his word to all of our hearts. It's especially that final verse. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. I am thankful for the opportunity to be with you tonight in Cumber. We always enjoy the visits to the congregation here. We have appreciated your fellowship. It's good to have the opportunity to renew that fellowship tonight. We're here to represent the Emanuel Christian School in Uganda. It's a work that's very dear to our hearts. Our brother George McConnell from Kilkale, for many years the presbytery missionary officer, George and myself were the first two members of the mission board that were asked to go out to Uganda when we were first approached about taking over the school there. That took place just about seven years ago. It was at the beginning of April 2014 that that visit took place. So we've been involved in the work of the school there right from the very beginning as far as our denomination is concerned. Just to point out, the Mission Board now has three subcommittees. That's an indication just of how much the missionary work is growing. There's a subcommittee for Kenya, And the Reverend Harris chairs that subcommittee, an ideal man with his many years of missionary experience in the land of Kenya. There's a subcommittee as well for Asia. And the Reverend Park. the Secretary of the Board, the Chairman of the Missionary Council, a man with a great heart for missionary work. Our brother chairs that subcommittee. And then there's a subcommittee for Uganda, known as the Ugandan Oversight Subcommittee. And I chair that subcommittee on behalf of the Mission Board. We have the responsibility of all of the work in Uganda, but especially what is taking place at the school and the church at Emmanuel. I want to emphasize to you, I want to encourage you all to read. It's a sad thing, a sad reflection. The Lord's people don't read as they should. Paul said to young Timothy, give attendance to reading. And I want to challenge you with that and press that upon your hearts. just at the outset of the meeting tonight. When we were in Wales, living and laboring for the Lord, we were going into 11 schools to bring the gospel to the boys and girls. In the secondary school in Burryport at that time, they had a reading program for the young people. They called it DEAR, D-E-A-R. It stood for Drop Everything and Read. You see, the teachers were very concerned The young people were spending too much time on the computers, the television, on the computer games, and so on. They wanted to encourage them to spend more time every day reading. So they adopted that reading program. The idea was you were to drop everything, didn't matter what it was, and for at least 15 or 20 minutes every day to read. So I want to encourage you to adopt that reading program. It's important to read the Bible. Every day, take that time at the Savior's feet. But in addition to that, I want to encourage you to drop everything, set aside everything for a little while, and read, especially read the great biographies. of the men of God, the women of God, that the Lord has used mightily in his service. If you read the lives of the great evangelists, the great missionaries, it will challenge you. It will stir your soul. It will help to strengthen your faith. As far as Uganda is concerned, the great pioneer missionaries, particularly in the 19th century, were men like James Hannington, Hannington was martyred for the cause of the gospel. Some of you will remember Andrew Foster's farewell service when it was held here, when he first went out to Uganda. I spoke that night, and I spoke on the life of James Hannington. His dying words were, tell Mwanga, he was the king of Buganda at that time, that I have purchased the road to Uganda with my own blood. There was also a man called George Pilkington, Pilkington came from an aristocratic family in southern Ireland. He was greatly used in Uganda. He was the man that was primarily used to translate the scriptures into the Luganda language. That's the main language in the area where our school is. And he also saw revival. He saw a move of God among the Ugandan people during his ministry there. The man especially I want to emphasize to you is a Scotchman. by the name of Alexander Murdoch Mackay. Henry Morton Stanley, remember, he was the journalist that found David Livingstone in Africa. Whenever he had heard that Alexander Mackay had died, he said that he was the greatest missionary since David Livingstone. So that's quite a recommendation. He was given a name by the Ugandans, Mzungu Wakaze. which means white man of work. Even they could see, they could recognize that he was a man of industry. He was a laborer. He was a worker. He was there to do a work for God. And may that challenge our hearts tonight as well. Mackay said that his heart burned for the deliverance of Africa. In that one statement, you can feel, you can sense the great burden for the souls of that great continent that he had. Alexander Mackay died suddenly, died quickly, died from malaria. Malaria is still the second biggest killer in Africa next to AIDS. He took malaria, and after just three or four days of illness, was called home to heaven at just 40 years of age. It's a challenge to us. There's no guarantee that any of us is going to live to be old. But let me tell you how he was called to be a mission in Uganda. Henry Morton Stanley, he came back from Africa with a message. A message from Matesa. He was the father of Mwanga, the king of the ancient kingdom of Buganda. So Stanley came back from Africa with a message from the king of Buganda. And the message was this. Uganda wanted missionaries. And, brethren and sisters, that's still the case. That's still the same tonight. I bring that same message. It was first given 160 years ago or thereabouts. I bring that same message to this meeting this evening. Uganda wants, Uganda needs missionaries. And I want to urge you to take that upon your heart and pray. You think of the souls, the souls of the vast continent of Africa. There's something like 1.3 billion souls in the whole of Africa, in the 54 nations. That's a statistic or a fact that many people don't recognize how many countries there are actually in the continent of Africa. If you think of Uganda alone, almost 44 million souls. The half of them are under the age of 14. Just take that in. Half of the 44 million citizens of Uganda under the age of 14. Two and a half million of them are orphans. Most of them orphaned because of AIDS itself. So there's a great need. There's a great work. You think of the chorus that we often sing, untold millions are still untold. We could modify that, we could amend it a little, and we could say, rightly say, Untold billions are still untold. Untold billions are still outside the fold. So I stress to you tonight, men and women, as we come to speak to you about the work of God in Uganda, it's a nation that wants and still needs missionaries to reach all of those lost souls. And I want to ask, put the question out this evening, are you willing to be a missionary? Willing to surrender your life? willing to train, go to the college, study, and then go out as a missionary on the foreign field to spread the gospel on some foreign nation, some foreign land. You know, at the time that Alexander Mackay surrendered his life, he was living in Germany, just outside Berlin. He had a good job. He had a very good salary. He had great prospects. He had a great career ahead of him as an engineer. But he gave it all up, placed it all on the altar in obedience to the call of God to give his life to missionary work in Uganda. Uganda wants missionaries, brethren and sisters. Is there one here tonight, and you'll dedicate your life? You'll surrender your life tonight to be a missionary in Africa, to be a missionary in Uganda? The Lord says, son or daughter, Go work today in my vineyard. You've been waiting, halting, delaying, holding back long enough. Go work today in my vineyard while you've still time, while you've still health, while you still have the opportunity. Do you remember the great challenge of Joshua at the end of his life? Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve. Will you obey the call of God in your life? Samuel Zwemer, if you want to read a good missionary biography, read the story of Samuel Zwemer. He was a missionary to Muslims. They founded the Arabian Mission. He became known as the Apostle of Islam. Let me tell you how Samuel Zwemer came to be a missionary. Let me tell you one of the details that led him to give his life to missionary work as a young man. During his senior year at college, Robert Wilder was one of those that was used to find the student volunteer movement. It was work that he was involved with in the early stages with D.L. Moody. Robert Wilder came to the college where Samuels Weimer was studying. In his senior year, he came to hold some meetings. Now, just think of this. He came to that college to hold meetings to present the great need of laborers for the mission field. And as he spoke, he had a map of India on the platform beside him. India was very dear to Robert Wilder's heart. He was born in India. His parents were missionaries to India, Presbyterian missionaries from America. In fact, his father was called Royal Wilder. Royal was his Christian name. So he had a map of India beside him on the platform. And in front of the map, he had a metronome. Those that are familiar with music will know that a metronome is the little fellow you set on the piano that helps you to keep the time. Well, he had the metronome sitting in front of the map of India, and he had the metronome set so that every time it clicked, it marked a person dying in India who had never heard the gospel. And Samuel Zwemer was so affected that night in the meeting, as he heard the challenge, so affected of the thought of souls being lost without Christ. that he made this pledge, God helping me, I purpose to be a foreign missionary. And I ask you, brethren and sisters, as you think of souls dying without Christ, you think of how many have perished out across the earth in the short time even since this midweek service commenced a few minutes ago. And may that touch your heart tonight. so that you pledge yourself, pledge your life to be a missionary of the gospel as well. Another great life story to read, C.T. Studd. Remember, he was the famous cricketer that surrendered his life to missionary work. It's quite a story. He was a missionary in China, a missionary in India. Laterally, the latter part of his life, he was a missionary in Africa, founded the Heart of Africa Mission. In fact, he died in the Congo, and that's where he's buried. There's many things we could tell you about C.T. Studd, but the thing I want to emphasize is he wrote a poem, among many other things in his lifetime. You may not be familiar with the poem. several verses of it. But I venture to say that most people in this meeting tonight are familiar with two lines in that poem that are repeated in every verse, every verse of it. The first verse of the poem goes like this. Two little lines I heard one day while traveling along life's busy way, bringing conviction to my heart and from my mind would not depart. Only one life. It will soon be past, and it's only what's done for Christ that will last. May the Lord write that in your heart tonight. We need workers, brethren and sisters. We need missionaries. May the Lord give you that burden. I urge you to pray. Pray with us for laborers. Pray for missionaries for East Africa. East Africa needs workers, Kenya as well as Uganda. One time, we had five missionaries in Kenya. Miss Russell came home last year. She's still been involved in the administrative part of the work there. She intends to retire from that at the end of next month. The Pattersons will be the only missionaries then that we have for Kenya. They're planning to go out, in the will of the Lord, later this year. but we expect that this will be their final term of service on the field. So the board is praying the Lord will give us five missionaries for Kenya to replace the five that not that long ago we had laboring for us there on the field. So East Africa needs workers, brethren, and sisters. And you think of this verse that we've taken as our text, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest. You think of the question, how do you solve the problem of a lack of laborers in the work of God, whether it's at home or on the farm field? How do you resolve that problem? Well, that's what the Savior's teaching is here. You resolve it by prayer. You lift it up before the Lord. You plead with Him that He will send forth laborers. Isn't that what we need? Not so much those that are sent by the presbytery or the mission board. And in the scheme of things, in the plan of God, the presbytery, the mission board, all have their place. Ultimately, what we need is those who are sent of God. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth. He'll reach down. Maybe in this meeting tonight, put his hand on the life of a man or a woman. Touch your heart, burden you, that you'll surrender your life. Lay your all on the altar for God. So, pray, brethren and sisters. We need you to pray that God will send other laborers forth. Let me finish with this just before you see the video. Oswald J. Smith. If you want to do a little bit of reading, look for some of the books of Oswald J. Smith. It was the late Reverend Ellis Fleming that first introduced me to the writings of Oswald J. Smith. He showed me a copy, loaned me a copy of Oswald J. Smith's book, A Passion for Souls. It's a book that, if you read it, it'll bring a real challenge to your heart. As a denomination, we owe a debt to Oswald J. Smith. One of my predecessors in Armagh, Dr. S.B. Cook, came to faith in Christ under the evangelistic labors of Oswald J. Smith when he was visiting in Belfast holding a gospel campaign in McQuiston Presbyterian Church in the city way back in 1949. And it's quite a story how Dr. Cook came to Christ that night. I'll not take the time to tell it to you this evening. As a young man, Oswald J. Smith was converted in the famous Massey Hall in Toronto under the ministry of an even more famous evangelist, Dr. R.A. Torrey. Almost from the beginning when he was converted, he wanted to be a missionary, wanted to go and labor for the Lord. He had that desire, that burden burning in his heart. He applied to the mission board of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and when they considered his application, they refused it. They turned him down. You can imagine he was bitterly disappointed. The reason why they turned him down was on health grounds. From his childhood, from his infancy, he had a very weak constitution, a weak body, weak frame. He'd often been ill. And they didn't think that his health would stand up to the demands of the mission field. He was a young man, headstrong, foolish. He thought that these men, that they lacked vision, they lacked wisdom. And he decided he was going to go to the mission field anyway. Didn't matter what these men said. The story, if you take the time to read it, he tried four times in four different parts of the world to go as a missionary. And every time what those men feared came to pass, he took ill. His health broke down so seriously. that he had to come back to Canada to recuperate and to regain his strength again. And when it happened the first time, when he got his health back, he thought he would go again. And the same thing happened the second time, and he came back, and then he went a third time. Four times he went. And the fourth time, he realized that the men on that mission board weren't as foolish, weren't as short-sighted, didn't lack the vision that he imagined. He realized They were a lot more mature and wiser than he had given them credit for. So what he determined was this, and I want you to take this in your heart tonight. He realized it wasn't the will of God for him to go. And I have brought the challenge to this meeting for laborers, and I pray God will touch hearts, especially among the young people, to surrender your life. But it's not the will of God for us all to go to the mission field. Oswald J. Smith determined this. If he couldn't go to be a missionary himself, he would spend the rest of his life sending substitutes in his place. And he became a great missionary statesman. He traveled around the world challenging young people in meetings like this to give their life to missionary service, did all that he could to raise money to support missionaries on the field. He was the founder and pastor of the Great People's Church in Toronto. At one time, they were supporting over 400 missionaries from that one single congregation. They had a great missionary convention every year where the missionaries came and reported and they raised funds to support them. You know, if you read that book, Passion for Souls, it'll tell you. If they were, say, spending $100,000 every year running the home mission, they were giving away seven times that in the same year for missionary work. Some years, as much as seven times the amount they spent on the home ministry. They were giving away to foreign missions, $700,000, just to give you an example. So he gave his life to sending others. So if it's not the will of God for you to go to be a missionary, maybe you'd love to, just like Oswald Smith. Maybe it's something you've had in your heart for many years, but you've had to realize it's not the will of God for you. That doesn't mean you can't have a part. You can labor with us in this great work. You can give support, the prayerful support, the practical support to those that are able to go to be missionaries of the gospel. So pray the Lord will challenge your heart tonight. We'll have a little video to show to you about the school. We'll ask the fellows to show that to us now. When they have finished, I'll bring just a few comments, a few prayer requests to you just before we get down to the season of prayer. But go ahead, fellas. Thank you. One of the great pioneer missionaries to Uganda in the 19th century was the Scotchman Murdoch Mackay. The last article that he wrote before his sudden death was on the vital question of how is Africa to be evangelized. One answer to that vital question is to reach the children of that vast continent with the message of the gospel. And in recent years, the Lord has opened to us in the mission board a great door of opportunity to reach especially the children of Uganda with the message of the gospel. Uganda is a landlocked country with a tropical climate that sits right on the equator in East Africa. Winston Churchill described it as the pearl of Africa. It is a very significant fact that Uganda has the world's youngest population, with 50% of its nearly 43 million citizens being under the age of 14. In 2014, a door opened for the Mission Board to take over the witness at the Emanuel Mission Station. And the Lord's work there at Emanuel includes the ministry of both the church and the Christian school. Our primary objective is to see a strong church established in the area. And the Emanuel Church is a busy outreach center. The main activities of the church are two Lord's Day services, an afternoon Sunday school, and a Sunday afternoon outreach in the local community. There is also a midweek prayer meeting and Bible study. It is our desire through all these activities that the souls of many Ugandans will be won to Christ and then develop spiritually in their walk with God. We have also a vision to see other churches and Sunday schools planted in the local area and throughout Uganda. In addition, we have a burden to train young Ugandans who have shown a desire to serve the Lord and to send them forth to preach the gospel. In 2019, a group of young people from our churches in Ballymunny and Macrafelt went out to Emmanuel to conduct a vacation, a Bible school. They put a lot of effort into planning and preparation and also prayer for those meetings. And that prayer was answered in a tremendous way. The Lord came down. There was a real move of God in the school at that particular time. Every day children were being spoken to at the meetings as the Lord's servants presented the gospel. In total, a hundred children were counseled for salvation. So this was a really special time of blessing at the Emanuel School. The Emanuel School was started in 2004 with just 16 children. But the Lord has blessed the work in a remarkable way. And now there is almost 400 children enrolled at the school. There are over 100 children in the nursery department, nearly 230 children in the primary school, and almost 60 young people in the secondary school. The mission station was officially reopened under the auspices of the Free Presbyterian Mission Society Africa at a special meeting on the 30th of April, 2017. Shortly afterwards, the mission board was successful in obtaining NGO status in Uganda, which allows us to operate our own activities in the country. In answer to prayer, the Lord faithfully provided the missionary personnel needed for this work. Stephen and Ruth Miller went for three years and helped to establish the work on the ground. They have now returned to Northern Ireland. And we ask you to pray that the Lord will send another labourer to fill the vacant pulpit at Emmanuel. After 17 years of dedicated service in Kenya, Miss Noreen McAfee felt called to move to Emmanuel to take up the role of Principal. Miss McAfee has a very heavy responsibility at Emmanuel as she oversees the three departments of the school and also the work of our 32 members of staff. It was very hard to leave Kenya. but I knew in my heart that the Lord was leading me to Uganda. I had already visited Emmanuel a couple of times, so I had some idea of the work that lay ahead. In some respects, school is school wherever you go, but of course, each situation is unique. You have new missionaries, new staff, new parents, and new pupils to meet. and the Lord has graciously added to each of these groups in the past few years. At Emmanuel, we largely follow the National Curriculum for Uganda, which offers Maths, English, Science, RE and Social Studies at primary level. The Secondary and Social Studies are then divided into individual subjects when the students move into the Secondary Department. A typical day starts with morning assembly at 7.30. Classes begin at 8 and run through until 4.30 when we have our afternoon assembly. It's a long day but it's broken up with a cup of maize porridge at morning break and some maize, beans and cabbage for lunch with meat and fruit on certain days. The school feeding programme is a real lifeline for the children. since food is scarce in many homes. On Saturdays we have morning lessons and then some chores and sports sessions to enjoy. While most of our students are day scholars, we do have over 90 in the boarding department. They are mostly older children in the examination classes, but we also have some who come from a distance or from very difficult home situations. They stay with us throughout the term and then we organise for them to go to a home for the holidays, even if that means giving support to the household. Most of our families can only afford a small contribution towards the cost of the child's education and some can pay nothing at all. Many need assistance with items such as stationery, uniform and boarding supplies through as we try to teach them some basic hygiene. Sickness is never far away and often we have to step in to see that our children and others in the community get the medical care and attention they need. That is the reality of working in a poor and needy area. We are grateful to all who give us both prayerful and practical support We really couldn't do it without you, and we trust that the Lord will reward you abundantly. We're also grateful to the Lord for his grace and mercy in every aspect of school life. We've already presented three classes for the primary leaving and O-level examinations, and we thank God for helping our candidates to pass well, some of them with distinction. The students have also done well in games, with some teams participating up to national level. We've been able to appoint headteachers for both the primary and secondary departments and a social worker for our Orphaned and Vulnerable Children's Programme. We've also appointed a school management committee with representatives of the mission board, school staff, parents and local community. The primary school licensing process has been completed and we are awaiting final approval of our application for full registration. There is still much work to be done but whatever has been accomplished is undoubtedly the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. In order to meet the requirements of the education authorities in Uganda, a lot of work was required on the buildings to bring them up to standard. It was a great encouragement to the mission board when Mr. Andrew Foster heard the call to come over into Uganda and help us and to devote his many building skills to further the work of the gospel there. One of the biggest things that we had to do for the local government at the school was to update the toilet facilities and it was quite a big undertaking and so we ended up digging a way down into the ground over 5 metres and creating about a 90,000 litre tank for the sewage. There was a team who came out to help with that, and it was really important that they came. It really helped us and encouraged us, and it was great for camaraderie sense as well. That was probably one of the highlights of the three years, just to work with a team from whom those who love the Lord and really want to see the Lord's work progress for His great name's sake. When I arrived, one of the first things that we did was renovate the old kitchen. Solongo, the cook, worked in terrible conditions. He was cooking over, really, a couple of open fires inside a decent-sized room. The kitchen now has a new roof, four stoves, tiled floor, somewhere for the chef to cut things and get ready, get the food ready. I'm pleased that we were able to do that and the thing looks completely different now. He really enjoys working in there, which is great. The water harvesting project was a big one, one that we really enjoyed. Previously there was some guttering there and they were trying to collect some water, but really it wasn't maximizing the potential that we had. And so we want to thank the churches, those that helped sponsor new tanks, and for those that even come out and help me put the new guttering up. It's just a massive difference. And I hope the children will use it wisely. And yeah, it'll help support the water well that we have as well on site. Originally all the rubbish and waste on site was just been thrown into a hole in the ground and so we decided that we would get something built that would burn all the rubbish off site that we needed to get rid of basically. It was a project that I enjoyed and some of the children even helped me with it which was really nice. As the school continues to grow we do need more space and one of the things that the mission board came up with was to buy a container and so we have renovated one there recently. The container arrived bare shell and from there really it was a matter of cutting windows and doors into it, putting the floor in, getting it all painted up and then we made some shelving for it. Something that would mean that we didn't have to put walls into it to divide it up but it would give us flexibility even for the future if we needed it for a different purpose. It is now four offices. It will look after Hannah and Noreen and the two head teachers that we have on site. And as the school grows, we need to develop and expand and solve some of the logistic problems that we do have there at school. The amount of work that Andrew has completed over the last three years has been absolutely amazing. In addition to all of this work, a bore well was drilled at the school to provide clean drinking water for the staff and children. This meant that the children no longer had the long walk every day to the swamp to fill jerry cans and they are now drinking clean water. These two factors have made a massive difference to their lives. A play park was also erected to give the children some recreational facilities at break times. As a result of the generosity of the Lord's people, from time to time we're able to provide some special gifts for the children. These gifts include clothes, shoes and boots, sports equipment and sports kits. As road conditions can often be difficult and treacherous, good and reliable vehicles are essential. Our first vehicle in Uganda was the second-hand Toyota Landy. It has served us well for a number of years, and Andrew has kept it in very good condition. But in 2019, it became evident to the board that an additional new vehicle was required. and through the generous giving of many believers, a new Toyota Hilux was purchased. To all who contributed so liberally to this appeal, we want to express our sincere thanks. There are two main villages in the area around the mission station. These are Nisalu and Chimbala, with a total of approximately 600 families. Most of these people are very poor, and we want to help them practically as much as possible. As a result of a Missionary Council project in 2019, a community bore well was provided for each of these villages. The wells were dedicated at special services that were used as a means of outreach to the local community. I love you. I love you. Another way that we have been able to give considerable help to these two communities is through support from the Mission Board's Emergency Aid Fund. On three separate occasions in 2020, through the coronavirus pandemic, food and other essential provisions has been given to help the families in these villages. A big challenge that we were presented with was to produce gospel literature in the Luganda language. Luganda is the main language spoken in the area around Emmanuel by approximately eight and a half million people. During the COVID lockdown, three of our secondary school teachers devoted a lot of time to translation work for us. They translated all five of the mission board's children's tracts, Dr. Alan Kearns's greatly used booklet, A New Beginning, and a new adult tract entitled, Stop Trying to Save Yourself. This literature was printed for us by Pepper Collective and shipped by Every Home Crusade to Uganda. Every Home Crusade is also providing us with 5,000 copies of the Gospel of John in Uganda. This literature will be of great help to our missionaries in their outreach program in the local area. As you can see, a tremendous amount has been accomplished with your help and support in a very short space of time. And we want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped us to advance the cause of the gospel at Emmanuel. To those who have gone to supply the pulpit, and also those who have been part of the various work teams to install the solar power, to renovate the missionary accommodation, to build the toilet block, to help install the water harvesting, and who have been involved in installing the mains electric. Also to several of our churches that have financed various vital projects. We thank you all sincerely for laboring with us. Now, as we look to the future, we have a great vision, a vision to see every area of the work expanded and developed. Let me stress that we need your help as we seek to continue this great ministry in the future. First and foremost, we need your prayers. Let me ask you to pray for our missionaries and staff and for all that goes on at both the Emanuel Church and school. Also pray for me as the chairman of the Ugandan Oversight Subcommittee and all the members of that committee who give so much of their time to labor along with the board to advance the Lord's work in Uganda. The work at Emanuel is great. There is the supporting of our missionaries, overseeing all the activities of the church, the welfare of our 32 staff and almost 400 children, the management of the Ugandan NGO, and providing practical help for the local community. For all of these responsibilities and more, we need your earnest prayers for the Lord's direction and provision. Prayer cards are available. Please take one to remind you to pray for the work at Emmanuel. It takes approximately £1,000 a week to keep the Emmanuel School running. Therefore, we also earnestly appeal for your financial support. Gifts can be given through offerings at deputation meetings, Also, gifts can be sent directly to our Mission Board office. Flyers have been printed with all the details of where to send your donation. In addition, gifts can now be given by using the donate button on the Mission Board website. One vital way that you can help to support the work of the school is through our child sponsorship program. It costs £120 per year to sponsor one child. Many individuals, churches, Sunday schools, children's meetings, youth fellowships, ladies' meetings and even businesses are sponsoring children at Emmanuel. This sponsorship makes a massive difference to the lives of the children. An annual sponsorship newsletter is sent to all our sponsors to bring them updates of how their support has benefited the children. Because of your support, much has been done for the Lord in Uganda. The witness of a church is being maintained. A whole community is being evangelized and educated. Gospel literature has been printed. Facilities have been improved. the community has been supported, but much more remains to be done. Therefore, in closing, as you consider the work at Emmanuel, let me exhort you all, in the words of the Saviour, to lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. Just to stress to you folk that the Mission Board has undertaken itself to raise the money to run the school, and also for all the financial support that's needed for the building projects, any of the capital work that's being carried out. I stress that to you for this reason. Sometimes we're asked, why are we doing separate deputation meetings for the school? whenever our Ugandan missionaries to go around to do their own deputation meetings. And that's the reason the missionaries have the responsibility to raise their own support. But the mission board has undertaken itself to raise the money that is required to run the school. to maintain the school from day to day and week to week. I want to take the opportunity tonight to thank you here at Comber for your very generous support in the past of the ministry at Emmanuel. We know that as a congregation, you have been very liberal in your support of all of the missionary work of our denomination, but especially the missionary work in Uganda. And I trust that you'll have been encouraged, as you've seen the video this evening, to see what has been accomplished, to see the great progress that has been made, even in the very few years that we have been involved with the work there. The fosters from your own congregation That gives you a very close tie with the work in Uganda. I want to take the opportunity tonight, just in front of their home congregation, to say to you that we commend them as a mission board for the work that they have done at Emmanuel. They are committed to the work there in Uganda long term, and we're very encouraged as a mission board by that fact. They have accomplished much already. In fact, we're quite amazed at the amount of work that they have accomplished in the short time that they have been there. And we believe that the Lord will use them in an even greater way in the future. They have now the challenge of Hannah having to obtain the settled status here to live in the United Kingdom in days to come. That's going to take a period of five years in total. They have to be here for six months of every year over the next five years, up until September of 2025. So we're going to see a wee bit more of them over these next few years here at home. But they will be busy. They will have a lot to do for the work in Uganda, the ministry there at the school and church while they're home here in Northern Ireland during those periods. They are planning to return as soon as possible, in the will of God, if it's possible, even before the end of this month. Travel in the present is a challenge. There are so many restrictions that are in place, particularly for international travel. And remember that they're also going to be returning this time with little baby Rachel. So we do want to thank you. for your support of the fosters. And we ask you earnestly to take them upon your heart. They do very much need your prayers as they return to take up the work of God there. Remember Sister Miss McAfee. She's there on her own. She's the only missionary that we have on the field at present in Uganda. That has been the case since the Fosters came home on furlough last summer. Miss McAfee is carrying a very heavy workload at present. Please pray for her, that the Lord will give her strength and help. It is our plan as a board to bring Ms McAfee home. Once the fosters get back out again, get settled for a few weeks, we would like to bring Ms McAfee home for at least a month, just for some rest. It is now over two years. Because of the restrictions, the pandemic, the difficulties with travel, it's now been over two years since Ms McAfee has had a break, so it would be very important for her to have some time of rest. The church at Emanuel is a very busy outreach center. I just highlight again, the pulpit is vacant. In the light of the message we brought at the beginning, we need laborers. We ask you to pray for a man for that pulpit, that the Lord will touch one of our ministers, some young man perhaps coming out of the college, to go forth and take up that pulpit. The preachers currently speak to the meetings there via Zoom. It's amazing what you can do through technology. The Reverend Ferguson has undertaken most of that ministry for us since last October, from the time that the churches in Uganda were able to reopen. So they project the Reverend Ferguson live up onto a screen in the church, just like the screen behind your pulpit. One of the young men, one of the secondary school teachers, stands at a reading desk like this down at the front. He translates what the Reverend Ferguson says into Luganda. There's a laptop over in this corner that's turned round so that the Reverend Ferguson can actually see the congregation. And it's amazing that the strength of the internet signal out there to allow us to be able to do that. Some of the board members have helped to give the Reverend Ferguson a break. The Reverend Kerskaden, in the Corregari Church has also been helping out. And the ministry has gone down well. We have 90-plus on a Sunday morning that are coming out to hear the Word of God in those circumstances. But we do need a man for the work there. And whenever travel opens up again, It is our intention to send men out to help supply the pulpit, just as we have done in the past. Just to highlight the literature project that was mentioned, that literature now has been shipped. As we sit here tonight, it's en route. out to Uganda, pray that it will arrive safely, without any difficulties, getting through customs and so on, and that the Lord will use it mightily as we get it into the hands of the people out there. Just to stress that The sponsorship program, it's very important to us, £120 per child per year, helps in so many ways, providing clothes, food, education, medical care. We're able to take the P7 children on a trip. We would hardly give that consideration, going on a school trip. But that's a very big thing for those children out there. Until we started, That annual trip for the P7 children, virtually all of those children in the school had never been on a trip in their life. Uganda is a landlocked country. The only beach in Uganda is at Lake Victoria. And whenever they took them to stand on the beach at Lake Victoria, it was the first time that some of those children had ever been to the beach. Miss McAfee said, when they took the first trip, the day after the children were lining up outside her office just to stand and say, Thank you. Out there, they address the lady teachers as madam. Thank you, Madam McAfee, for taking us on the trip yesterday. It really touched Miss McAfee's heart just to hear the little children speak. So the sponsorship helps in so many ways, especially spiritually, makes such a difference. Remember, there's a newsletter sent out each year to keep the sponsors up to date. We encourage you to consider the sponsorship It would be a great help to us, even if everyone here tonight were just to sponsor one child. If you'd like to do that, contact our sister, Mrs. Glenda Graham, down at the Mission Board office, and she'll be able to assist you with that. Remember, we did bring prayer cards. They're available at the door. You can covenant to the school as well, just the same as you covenant to the missionaries. And there's the flyers that give you the details of the mission board office and how you can send gifts down to the office just for the school. There's a few extra of these, so please take a few more for some that aren't here tonight. Even others outside the denomination that you think would be interested in the ministry of the school, we want it to be as widely known as possible. But we do thank you sincerely for the opportunity to be here tonight and to present this great ministry to you. Thank you, Mr. Martin. Well, I would just like to, on your behalf, thank the Reverend David Macmillan for a very good deputation, outstanding, a powerful presentation, and challenged us here in the church. And it certainly has made things a little clearer, and the need of the work has been well presented as a tremendous deputation. I felt a real blessing in that deputation, and we do thank God's servant very much indeed. If there's a single person who could come to this house tonight and tell you to read this man, the most qualified man in the free church, that could tell you and I or could preach on the subject of reading. He's the most well-read individual that I've ever met. He's a walking encyclopedia. I think the only one coming near him would be the Reverend Ron Johnson. He certainly knows quite a bit, but he's well-read. And what he's telling you to do, he practices himself. We see him on the Presbytery nights at the Presbytery meetings in his study, and it's just surrounded like a bookworm. And he certainly would have an interest in reading, and no doubt, maybe at some stage, he may even start writing. If he hasn't already done that, I'd say that's something he would be looking at. So I want to thank him very much indeed. It was a New Tribes leader one time, and he was speaking at meetings, and oftentimes he mentioned that every time he heard a missionary speak, or some delegate from a mission board, or a deputation meeting, and the challenge went out, he said these words every time. I, in my heart, stood forward and said, Lord, I'll go. Every time. He never went to the mission field. As David said, he stayed at home. But every time he heard it, and I'll never forget him saying that in the meeting, every time. There's never a time, he says. I don't hear that challenge, but in my heart, I stand forward and say, Lord, I'll go. Send me. I'll go now, Lord, right now. It wasn't a time. And, you know, we don't hear the missionary challenge in these days. We don't really have that thrown out and thrust on our people for folks to respond to it. And I trust within your heart, even if you never go, you'll be saying, Lord, here am I. Send me. Send me. Now, if we can't go, we can give. And tonight, there'll be an opportunity to give. There's some literature available tonight that will give us a little more insight. I think there's a card there just outlining, as we saw it on the screen. There's also a little pamphlet as well on the table, just so you can lift it on the way out. There's some posters there I'm not sure I'll be able to put on the board or wherever they can go to. But I'll just highlight the work for us. I think the least we could think about tonight would be one week. I think it was £1,000 a week that I saw to run the school. Now, it's not much, but maybe tonight we could give that £1,000. And maybe that would just be the starting point. And maybe there's folks here tonight, and you've come and you've said, well, I've just a little offering to bring. Maybe the Lord has touched your heart tonight. And maybe you say, you know, I'd love to give more when you can. You can come on the Lord's Day. You can go on to the Mission Board website. You can donate through that. There's a leaflet there outlining basically the way that you can give or you can come on Sunday, you can bring a little envelope with your offering in it, you can write on it, the mission board, Uganda, and make sure you delegate it for Uganda, and we will ensure that that goes to the offering. Now I think if we could tonight in our hearts purpose to give a thousand pound. And that would be a one week running that school. And I think that would be the least that we could do here in this house. And I trust it'll challenge all of our hearts tonight. And of course, we can not only go, if we can't go, we can give, but we can pray. And that was a tremendous passage to be reminded about, pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest fields. And we trust the Lord will raise up someone and touch their hearts and that they would go. I was sitting there saying to myself, Lord, I'll go. And I'm sure my wife would say, along with me, I write. Now, she would say, yes, I'll go with you. Or she'll say, I'll stay at home and hold the ropes, go you ahead if you want. But you know, I did respond in my heart. I definitely did. And if I can't go, then I'm going to pray. And it's as good as going, giving and praying. And that work you saw tonight could not be where it is today without the giving of God's people and the praying. that's important. So we trust you will pray. There's a need for a minister to go out there and pastor that church at Emanuel Christian School. There's a need we heard tonight of five missionaries for the field in Africa and we were wonderful and God has blessed this congregation over the years and he's called young men and others out of it to go into the Lord's work and into a field of service. And it would be wonderful if that there was a steady flow from this congregation of young people and others who are willing to surrender their lives and consecrate their service to the Lord. It means to fill your hand. That's what it means to consecrate. Fill your hand doing the Lord's work. and I trust that the Lord will undertake. Brother Macmillan did mention Hannah, and there are some difficulties with Brexit because she's a citizen of the Netherlands, as far as I know, and she's not a British citizen. So this settled status that she has to go through this process will take something in the region of five years, although I think that already a year will be taken into consideration that they've been here in the province. So It means they go over to Uganda for six months and then they have to return here to the province. Now, you would understand the difficulties that that would present for our mission board. It has troubled me when I heard about it. Andrew shared it with me a while ago. And it troubled me because, you know, six months and then having to come back home again unsettled and come back and they've got somewhere to live, they have to live somewhere, they have to at least, I know the mission board will seek to do the best, but the mission board house may be taken in the six months that they come home. And logistically, it's going to be very difficult just to get that. So we do need to pray for Andrew and Hannah. that they not have these burdens or worries about coming home and going back and so on, that the Lord will, if it's possible, speed up the process, and as well as that, that the Lord will provide for them coming home after six months. You could pray, please, for our sister Noreen. I'm sure she is tired and she's out there on her own and I did hear reports that she has been lonely and it has been difficult and we trust the Lord will be with her and do pray for the Emanuel Christian School and that the needs will be met. Tonight's different than raising money for a missionary They raise 70% of their finance and the Mission Board give them 30%. I'm sure the Mission Board would love to be able to give them 100%, but we don't have the finances for that. And the needs are great, and they're coming in fast to us, we know that, and to our denomination. And we've only one little treasure chest, and I know there are many outsiders who would love to put their hand in and take a lot of money out as well, but we have a duty to look after our own people and those that are under our mission board, first and foremost. And after that, then we can give. So I trust that tonight you will remember these needs and you will respond and trust the Lord will bless the literature and that literature in their own language. that will go forth, and there's nothing like the printed word and it going forth, and we pray God will richly bless it, and it rejoiced my soul to hear of those children that came to the Lord during that time whenever those young people were overdoing the work of the Lord. So, pray God's richest blessing upon our brother and those who have the oversight of the work in Uganda, and there'll be other needs presented, but I trust tonight you will pray, and you will, if you can, Give as the Lord prospers you. We'll just take a few moments, and we'll commit ourselves now to the Lord as we would think of the work in Uganda. Pray God's richest blessing upon this work. Father in heaven, it is with thanksgiving and joy tonight that we do acknowledge thy goodness in opening the door in Uganda. And we thank thee, O God, for those who at the inception of it all those years ago. Lord, we think of that couple who gave up their home in England and went over there to commence that work. Thank thee, Lord, that they were able, upon their retirement, to hand it in its entirety into the hands of the free church. And we thank thee, Lord, for the willingness of our mission board under God to take up this work and to shoulder this burden. And we thank thee, O God, that thou hast been meeting every single need. And for that, we are truly thankful. And we pray, Lord, you will remember the need tonight. We think not only financially. Lord, what a burden that is, 52,000 a year just to run that school. And then, Lord, the missionary work itself, and the missionaries raising money, and we've just such a little small pool, Lord, to generate funds, and yet you've been so good, and thy people have been so generous, and we acknowledge thee. We thank thee, Lord, for this, and we pray, Lord, you will continue to finance the work, and you will remember, O God, all the various need that there is. We thank, O God, of the sponsorship of these children. We think of their education, not only in the secular, but in the spiritual as well. We thank God of the ministry there on the Lord's Day through Zoom. And we pray, Lord, you will send forth labourers into the harvest field. Remember this vast continent of Africa. And Lord, we think of the teeming multitudes there are. And Lord, we saw something of that image given to us there as a servant ministered, Lord, just as the little arm moved forward and back, Lord, indicating a soul going out into eternity who's never heard the gospel of Christ. And we pray, O God, that we will pray the Lord of the harvest, that you will thrust labourers into that harvest and you'll raise up young men and women and others that they'll be willing to consecrate their service this day on to the Lord. So hear our prayer and continue to bless Lord our sister Noreen. We pray Lord you'll be with her and the loneliness you at times feel, that you will know the nearer presence of God. And we pray for Andrew and for Hannah. And remember them, O God, in this process they've got to go through. We pray, Lord, it'll please thee to speed it up, that you'll push them to the front. And grant, O God, it'll be looked at quicker than we'd ever thought. And we pray, Lord, you will remember them. as they soon return to Uganda. We pray you'll make those crooked places straight. And then when they go out, we pray you'll keep them in health and strength. Remember little Rachel especially. And we pray, Lord, you will draw near and you will undertake in a very real way. And we ask, Lord, too, that you remember the various items of literature that have been purchased and sent over, and we pray, O God, as they're distributed, as they're handed out, and as individuals read them, that many will come to know Christ as their own and their personal Saviour. Remember thy servants, O God, in our mission board and our missionary council, and we pray you'll give them wisdom, and you'll undertake for them as they deliberate on many issues, and as they have the oversight and the burden of the work, We pray you'll encourage them and that you will give them, Lord, thy blessing. Remember the Reverend Macmillan here and his own work there in Armagh. We pray you'll bless thy servant, encourage his own heart, give him fruit for his labour, and then, O God, outside of that work, as he deputises, as he does other works, we pray thy continual hand upon him. And, Lord, you remember us here in Cumber, and you'll do our souls good. Remember the need here, we pray. Think of the vast, Lord, multitudes around the church, Many children, boys and girls, never go to Sunday school, never come to a children's meeting. A generation that, in some measure, are lost to the Gospel. And we cry, O God, for them. We see a mission field, not only in Uganda, but here in the very town of Cumber. And we pray, Lord, the efforts we're making and the efforts we have planned, that you'll bless it and use it and we'll see many brought to know the Saviour. So, hear our prayer just now and continue with us. And as we leave thy house tonight, may we do so prayerfully and very carefully, pondering the things we have heard and loving Father, in our Saviour's precious name, build thy church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We ask these things tonight in our Saviour's precious and most worthy name. Amen. Let's just sing in closing the great hymn, my Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine. We don't have our.