Mr Albert McAuley, Home Mission Work

"Sure Albert could talk to anyone." These are the words commonly used by many people in the Ballymoney district and further afield to emphasize the gift Mr. Albert McAuley has for engaging people in conversation easily. One of Mr. McAuley's earliest converts was Miss Patsy Torrens (now Mrs. Wesley McDowell). Patsy and her friend accepted a lift from Mr. McAuley at Ballymena. Soon the conversation turned to the things of God and the need to be saved. From that time onwards the Holy Spirit began to work in Miss Torrens' life and in April 1970 she accepted Christ. Mr. McAuley traces his call to door-to-door work to a Harvest Thanksgiving service in Ballymoney Free Presbyterian Church in 1976 where Dr. Bob Jones (Junior) was the preacher. He was sitting in the creche of the church minding his son, Nigel. As Dr. Jones talked, he told the story of a convicted murderer facing execution. He was visited by the prison chaplain, who told him how Christ had died for him and how he could have his sins forgiven. The convict said, "If I believed what you say you believe, I would spend the rest of my life crawling over broken glass to tell men and women about Jesus." Through these words God spoke to Mr. McAuley about the great need of spreading the Gospel.

A mission conducted by Rev. Kenneth Elliott followed the Harvest weekend. At the conclusion of the mission Rev. Cairns met the Church session to discuss the possibility of someone doing visitation and door-to-door work. Mr. McAuley recalls that the moment this was mentioned, his heart began to thump so loudly that he thought someone would hear it. A decision was made to pray about the matter and then meet again in a month's time. At the next meeting there were no firm resolutions but Mr. Norman Taylor spoke, suggesting that "maybe there is someone here who could do the work."

Mr. McAuley continued to be burdened for the unsaved. One day, while working in a field near Limavady, he told the Lord that, if He wanted him to leave the contracting business to go to talk to people about their soul's salvation, then he was willing to go. At that moment he experienced great peace and sought the Lord for guidance. The problem he faced was that he was in partnership with his brother, Samuel. Having decided to go to talk to Rev. Cairns about the difficulty, the thought came to his mind of doing two days a week. Mr. Cairns was very happy with this arrangement. Mr. McAuley sought the Lord for further guidance and found it in Jeremiah Chapter 1, verses 17-19: "Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee." When the matter was brought to the Session, they were in full agreement with the door-to-door visitation taking place twice weekly.

Mr. McAuley commenced the work on 1st February,1977. When the devil tried to discourage him, God's Word from II Corinthians Chapter 4 verse 7 was a real comfort: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us."

He recalls that his first visit was to the home of a Christian lady whose daughter was unsaved. While he talked he invited them to the Sunday evening Gospel service, and they came, as did others from that housing estate. Some of them came to know the Lord.

In the early months the work was mainly centred in Ballymoney. Mr. McAuley visited every house, irrespective of religion and this included the ministers and priests. He also visited many sick people of all denominations in hospital and had the joy of pointing many to the Saviour.

Another aspect of his ministry was to encourage people, whose children did not normally attend Sunday School, to send their little ones along. As a result of this, the Sunday School increased greatly.

Mr. McAuley continued to go out two days a week for eleven years until God spoke to him about full-time service through Philippians Chapter 3 verse 13: "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind.." and Luke Chapter 9 verse 60: "But go thou and preach the kingdom of God." He wound up the business and commenced full-time on 1st February,1988.

One of the first calls was to a man who was ill. As he was in the contracting business, a conversation was soon started. The man testified to having listened to Mr. McAuley preaching in the open-air meeting at the Diamond in Ballymoney on the subject of Hell. As they talked the man acknowledged that he was not saved, that he lived a rough life and had no time for church attendance. After explaining the way of salvation, Mr. McAuley had the joy of pointing him to Christ.

Later in that year, at the September Presbytery meeting, Mr. McAuley was appointed as a representative to serve on the Free Presbyterian Church Mission Board, a position he still holds to the present day.

On occasions Mr. McAuley has been asked to meet Jehovah's Witnesses and has spent hours refuting their doctrines. It has been a source of great joy to him when those who were adherents to this teaching have turned to accept Christ.

He has also spent a lot of time in evangelism in Mosside, Ballycastle and Rathlin Island . The visits to Rathlin have been fairly frequent. The Lord has given him favour with the people and they have welcomed him into their homes. Children's Bibles have been placed in many homes and Mr. McAuley has built up a unique relationship with the residents of the Island .

When asked if his work is difficult, Mr. McAuley says that humanly speaking it is, but when the Lord goes before, that makes all the difference. His zeal for the Lord's work is evident.

"I wish I could convince young people that no pleasure in the world can be compared with the joy of the Lord's presence. The secret of this is to give your life fully to the Lord."

May the Lord spare him for many more years so that he can go forth and lift up Jesus to the gaze of a perishing world.