This Summer our team have been busy bees, not only all around Northern Ireland, but also further afield. Today, a few of them share their experiences and stories across different camps and mission teams.
'This summer I served on a two week mission team on the North Coast of Ireland. The mission is called Portballintrae CSSM and is run by Scripture Union Northern Ireland along with many other camps and missions which aim to share the gospel with kids and young people across the country.
This is my 3rd year on this particular team in which I worked specifically with 12-14 year olds.
This year I got a group of 12 year old girls to lead for bible studies in the afternoon section. These girls had just finished their 1st year of Secondary school and were absolutely wonderful. I spoke with the girls I was leading I’d often feel daunted looking toward the world they will be growing up in as teenagers and, before too long, young adults. I wanted to shield them from the darkness that is so prevalent in our world today. Humbly you remind yourself that you are incapable of such a momentous task and instead you have to fall at the feet of Jesus and pray for their protection and spiritual growth. Over the two weeks the girls became more confident with their prayers, at the end of some sessions I was blown away by the sincerity, honesty and boldness that some of these 12 year olds prayed. One of the most amazing moments was having a parent come to me at the end to say their daughter had bought a new bible and was reading it with zeal everyday. She was badgering her parents with questions about what certain words meant and questioning them about how many times they had read the whole bible. To see these young girls enthusiastic about the word, setting up a Whatsapp group to encourage each other and challenge each other through the year and share how they are gonna be confident in Christ while at school is so humbling and amazing.
Don’t underestimate young people, fight for them, encourage them, challenge them, you have no idea the impact you are making or what they will bring away from bible studies. Above all else pray for the kids and young people you come in contact with, pray that they will not be disheartened when summer camps stop and they are back to ‘reality’'
- Rachel Bruce
'This year was my fifth consecutive summer serving with Grace and Peace Community Church in Philadelphia at their annual summer camp. Camp runs from 9am to 4pm for four weeks and a team from Edenderry CE serve alongside members of Grace and Peace and young people from the local City School for the first two weeks. Camp caters for children aged 4-10 years old and has classes such as Bible, Art, Team Building and Story Telling as well as daily trips to the park and pool. The lessons that I have learnt from my time in Philadelphia are endless and every year that I return I continue to be challenged and encouraged. My faith grows stronger and Jesus is made bigger in my life through the experiences that I have shared there.
If I could sum up Grace and Peace Community Church in just one word it would be love. Love is abounding in this church and the sense of community is like nothing I’ve experienced elsewhere; and not only does this love exist within the four walls of the building, it flows into the local community to connect with and reach out to individuals and families across South Philadelphia. Only because of the love that is poured upon us by the church community are we able to serve the kids at camp so passionately. And only because of the love that God has for us can any one of us encounter such love.'
- Claire Acheson
'Kilbroney Girls Adventure Camp this summer far surpassed all my expectations. A whole lot of prep had gone into this one week in July, and I was initially nervous starting out... especially with taking on a new position of leadership this year and also because we had struggled to get enough campers to run this in the first place. But God showed me that this was HIS camp, not mine. Every fear I had was calmed and resolved by his hand and provision. This seemingly small girls camp turned out to be the perfect little family of sisters, hand-picked by God to be present this week. I can’t even begin to describe the fun and laughs that were had, so just take my word for it that we had THE BEST time. But more importantly, God showed up and worked. The age range for this camp was 12-16, so a lot of these girls were coming to experience true adult faith for themselves for the first time, as before they were maybe just used to hearing about God in Sunday school or GB or youth club. It was such a blessing and privilege to help these girls discover God’s heart for them personally and make their faith their own. We got to see these young girls really truly go deeper in their faith, explore and ask questions about Christianity and engage in prayer, bible study and worship. Seeing each girl connect with God and being impacted by His saving grace that week is something I will never forget and always treasure. God carried, ran, upheld, planned and provided spectacularly for this entire camp, and all glory goes to Him- He completely went above and beyond all expectations I had for the week. Praise Jesus!'
- Lucy McMechan
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