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John and Joan Nixon moved to Cork, Ireland, in 1969, to commence a Child
Evangelism Fellowship® ministry there. They became members of Cork Baptist Church,
which at that time was numerically small. [There has been a Baptist witness in Cork since
1640!] The number of evangelical Christians in the city was very very small. Their own
family was also small at that time; they had one child and were expecting their second.
Today the Nixons have five grown up children, four are now in employment and the youngest
one is into third level education doing an arts and crafts course.
Growth of the Cork Baptist Church during those years has been very encouraging. Two
"daughter Churches" have been formed in nearby towns, and the city Church is
looking to establish a further "daughter Church". This would help to relieve the
overcrowding on Sunday mornings!!
At a united service held in a County Cork hotel in September, 1999, about 300 people from
the five Baptist Churches in County Cork attended. Praise the Lord!
John and Joan's vision for Cork was that many of the tens of thousands of children in Cork
would not only be given the opportunity of knowing clearly what the Holy Bible says about
the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but that they would come to true faith in Jesus as
their Priest and their Lord.
John and Joan first tried to share their vision of the "Good News Club ®" ministry of the "Child Evangelism Fellowship®".
The local Christians were difficult to convince that such a ministry could be possible in
Cork.
Child Evangelism Fellowship®; "Good News Clubs ®" are weekly classes, usually held in a local home, where the
Word of God is simply taught through Bible lessons, songs and quizzes to the neighbourhood
children.
They held their first "Good News Club ®" in their
own home in 1969; but after the first club the children were not allowed to continue to
attend! Open-air clubs in the housing estates of the city were more successful but were
only suitable for summer ministry. At present two clubs are held weekly in homes in Cork.
Another approach was made to carry out God's will for the children. A CARAVAN was equipped
as a mobile class room so that the Gospel could be taken to where the children were. Like
the shepherd who went out searching for the sheep that was lost, John and Joan began to
take the caravan out to reach the unreached children right there where they lived!
Over the last 28 years of this ministry the "Good News Caravan" has
become well known across Cork city. Many many thousands of Cork children and young people
have attended the "Good News Caravan" and heard the good news of the Lord
Jesus Christ - the only Lord and Saviour God has given for mankind.
"A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose
me." The caravan and towing vehicle were replaced in 1998. A custom built caravan
replaces the previous 21 year old one. It bears many marks and scars of the stonings and
beatings it receives as it is taken into the housing estates time and time again around
Cork. A surveillance camera inside the caravan monitors the classes. This serves a dual
purpose - it is a deterrent to those who come in with the intention of disrupting the
classes, and it also gives protection from any false accusations that might be made about
the caravan work. This winter the caravan programme is enabling us to have a circuit of
fifty differnt venues around the city. The circuit takes three weeks to complete, and the
same areas are then revisited over and over again in the ongoing three-week cycle of
classes. Often the opposition is agressive and violent but Jesus warned His followers,
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first....They hated Me without
reason."
Another ministry to reach children, and teach them the Gospel of God, is that of the "Good
News Camps". Three one week camps were again organised in the Cork area for
summer 1999. One hundred and six children from 8 years old to those in their late teens
attended and enjoyed the Cork camps. Several came to know and trust Jesus as their
personal Lord and Saviour. Christian children at the camps were built up in their most
Holy faith as they were taught the lessons from the life of Daniel. Other children became
fully aware of the claims of the Gospel but were undecided in their response; but God's
Word is Living and active - it can and will continue to work in their lives. We pray it
will bear fruit for the glory of God in their lives also. Other children heard the Gospel
in their own housing estates during the summer months as caravan classes brought the Word
of God to them.
Since 1986 the good news has also been available on the telephone. The "Good News
Call" provides a different message to be listened to each week in a series of
simple Bible studies from the New Testament. The books already studied in great detail on
the phone messages are the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels of Luke and John.
Now the wonderful message of the Gospel is also available as the "Good News
Compage" on the Internet. There the present series is from the Gospel of Luke.
See the "Good News Compage"
review list, and select the story you would like to read.
In order to be up to date with the weekly message from God's Word, you should make the "Good News Compage" one of your
"favourite" pages and check it out each week!
Thank you for your interest in reading through this profile.
Reaching children for the Lord, Jesus Christ.
John & Joan Nixon, Ballincollig, Co.Cork, Ireland.
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Last Updated 07-05-2008
