Tom has been serving as an Irish mission worker with Kilkenny Presbyterian Church (his home congregation) since September 2006 and has responsibilities for evangelism and discipleship.

Tom's work involves sharing the "gospel about Jesus Christ" (Mark 1:1), training others to share the gospel, and seeking to make disciples of Jesus Christ in many different contexts: Christianity Explored courses / Bible studies in homes and community centres, one-to-one Bible studies, door-to-door visitation, serving at Kilkenny Christian Bookshop, children's summer Bible club, market outreach and StreetLight outreach. He is also an elder in Kilkenny Presbyterian and is involved in various aspects of pastoral care.

"I love opening the Bible and speaking with individuals or groups, big or small, about Jesus," says Tom. "I'm convinced that God uses his Word to bring people to faith in his Son. Door-to-door visitation and the other outreaches provide great opportunities to meet new people, listen to them, hear where they are at, and to bring them God's Word. You never know who, by God's grace, will be the next person to respond to the message!"

Tom was born and raised in Co. Carlow near the village of Borris, about 15 miles from the city of Kilkenny where he now lives. He is married to Helena, and they have two grown up children and one grandchild. 

Prayer Points

• Pray for those who attend the Ossory Park Bible study, and Christianity Explored courses, and that more people will attend and come to know Jesus as Saviour and be built up in their faith.
• Pray for door-to-door visitation, for Tom and the others involved that they would meet those whose hearts have been prepared by God.
• Give thanks for the congregation of Kilkenny Presbyterian and its work and witness in the community, and pray that God would open many more doors for the gospel.
• Pray too for Tom, for wisdom in all he does and for his personal walk with Jesus.

A United Appeal video highlighting the work of Tom Dowling and his outreach work into the Kilkenny community.
United Appeal - Community Outreach in Kilkenny (2015) from Presbyterian Church in Ireland on Vimeo.

Latest Report - July/August 2023

What's the Story?

During late 2022, an initiative was launched that allowed evangelical churches in Ireland to sign up to be a part of a nationwide outreach. Called What's the Story?, the initiative sought to answer from the Bible some of the big questions that people have about life and God. The team involved produced testimony videos, apologetics material, tracts, banners etc. along with a website and an interactive online map highlighting participating churches for those who wished to connect. Kilkenny Presbyterian Church signed up to be involved. 

One of the activities we undertook was to run a six-week series of meetings in a local community centre. Preparations were made, lots of houses visited, invitations given out, conversations had and promises of attendance received. I'd love to say that many people from outside the church turned up to hear the Word of God, but that was not the case. When the event launched, all those who attended were people we already knew, who had a connection to the church and who, of course, we were very glad to have. 

We were much encouraged that one lady who had recently begun attending church came to most of the meetings, and when they were over, she continued to attend church and a follow-up Bible study in the same community centre. A couple of weeks later, she professed faith in Jesus, and has begun to have a desire to see family members and others come to Christ. Please pray that she will flourish in her faith.

The What's the Story? team also produced a series of six tracts, which sought to answer various questions such as "Is there anyone out there?" and "Is there hope in the face of feath?" During door-to-door visitation, many people were open to choosing a particular leaflet from the set and engage in gospel conversations. Some wanted to take the whole set of six - they were that well received. 

As a welcome gift, and to make people aware of what's going on at the church, we delivered specially printed What's the Story? copies of John's gospel, along with information about the church in a couple of new housing estates in the city. In July, the plan is to use the material as part of a children's club, which we will run in a community centre we haven't used before. 

Many thanks for partnering in this work. In all of this we are confident that God's Word will not return void.

Your prayers are very much appreciated.

Please pray:

• For continuing gospel conversations with various people.
• For those who received tracts, booklets and gospels.
• For the lady who professed faith.
• For the July children's club plans: children to come along; enough leaders to be available; and most importantly, children to come to faith in Jesus.

To download a printable PDF version of this report visit the Mission Reports listing at the top.