Keswick Market Report
31 August 2024

Tom O'Donnell and Robert McGibbon

What a busy day we had. I put this down to the glorious sunny weather we had (after all the rain) and the last weekend before the children were due to go back to school.  There were lots of different people calling at the stall.  Outstanding in my memory is an elderly gentleman who regularly calls so we had the privilege of tellling him the good news of God's way of salvation.

Second there was a much younger caller,  a lad of just seven years, who spent a long time at the guessing box. He identified all the objects in the guessing box and followed this up by telling a Bible story connected to one of these.  We then told him the message of why Jesus came to Earth to die for our sin.

Next was a lady from Stirling in Scotland.  As she was a fellow believer, we gave her some tracts and flipper flapper books to use at her church.

A group from Malta gladly took away some flipper flappers and copies of ,"what the Bible teaches."

Another group from Newcastle upon Tyne, enjoyed playing with the guessing box before making their way back to their wild camping.

Tom was in his element when there were so many from Liverpool.  Philip was bold enough to ask many questions about the Bible.  his girl friend was a Muslim so this led to questions about which was the true religion and was God the same in every religion,  What an opportunity to explain why Jesus came to deal with our sin.

A lady accompanied by her daughter looked around the stall and explained she read her Bible at times  and had several favourite verses.   nowadays she uses her mobile to see different versions. We gave her a copy of the New King James Version to help with understanding.  She promised to read this when she got back home at Liverpool. Do pray for this lady and her daughter.

Andrew from Preston, does some Sunday School work at his church so we gave him flipper flappers and a few tracts.

A huge group, who were staying at Bassenfell Manor, came by with nine children pushing their way to the guessing box.   the adults with them were patient in alllowing each child a chance. Later two girls from the same group came too. Good job it was the end of the day  as we had run out of  childrens tracts, booklets and sweets.

Please will you pray that the Lord will open hearts  to His Word which people;e have taken with them, especially Jenna who now has a new Bible.  God says His Word will not return to him void so please pray for the seed which has been sown this Summer on the market or at Shows will yield a plentiful harvest. 

Imagine a perfect day of witnessing whilst .at Keswick Market .  What is desirable? Good weather .... perfect, Plenty of people/  Keswick seems to draw people from all over the UK  and even beyond. Some come for walking or climbing but others just enjoy the scenery.  It was also half term for some schools , finishing the break; for others just starting so good for  family holidays ; some again  bringing their dogs with them.  (Good job I had brought a big bowl for the  dogs' water and plenty of what we call the dog tracts entitled Mans Best Friend.) All these I have spoken of previously talked about but today was special because I was working with Rusty from the meeting in Kirkby Stephen for the first time.  We were certainly kept very busy!

It would be impossible to mention everyone who  came to the stall but here are some that I remember:-

1.  The fist group were a family from Shrewsbury with their 3 children who loved the guessing box and who could cite bible stories to match the objects they had discovered in the box. It was good to share the gospel with their parents and encourage them to try sharing the gospel with people in their own town.

2  Later we had two girls who were from the North East visit us.  They too were able to tell us  several Bible stories.

3. Later again a Scottish family called by. Again their son and daughter quickly got into the guessing box and  by their answers we could tell they had some instruction from a church as they knew more than can be taught in schools due to the National Curriculum.  The children were given literature to take away to read.

(I really enjoyed talking with these two families as we compared stories of our church life and they were really interested in what we were doing and thinking over how the could do a similar work in their home towns.)

4.  A lady from Chorley came to thank us for being on the market. She volunteers at a Christian Bookshop.

5. A younger lady asked for a Bible  and we explained that she certainly could have one but she must promise to read it.

Please remember these groups of people mentioned above in prayer.  Think over the children whose parents take them to church with them, that they will come to trust in the Lord Jesus. Particularly pray for the young woman that she will read her bible that she was delighted to receive.  (Psalm 119v 130 the entrance of thy words giveth light : it giveth understanding unto the simple.)