Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Mission Overseas - Celebration Evenings tell the story of God's work around the world

2nd November 2009

The two recent Celebration of Global Mission evenings provided an opportunity to hear moving stories of how God is working in different parts of the world through our partners and mission personnel.

Those who gathered in Ardstraw Presbyterian Church on Thursday, 22nd October, heard mission reports from Kenya, Jamaica, Ethiopia and Brazil, while those who came to Church House on Tuesday 27th October, heard from Malawi, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Brazil.


In Ardstraw:

Gary and Mary Reid, who are based in Olkinyiei in the Narok District of SW Kenya, spoke of working as a family in reaching out to the Maasai people of the area, and in church-planting and discipling new believers.

In the four years or so since the PCEA Acacia Grove Mission began its ministry, and despite many difficulties and obstacles, God has richly blessed this work.

Over the past three years, the work of outreach and Bible teaching has grown significantly, enabling four churches to be planted in the area. Through these growing churches, and a weekly Bible study at the mission, the Maasai are being taught God’s Word and nurtured in their new-found faith. Practical help is also provided, meeting many of the day-to-day needs of the Maasai.

In speaking of her in work in Children's Ministry with UCJCI in Jamaica, Heather Lennox highlighted the fact that changing values in Jamaican society (as in many other countries) is having a big impact on children as they grow up, shaping their thinking, attitudes and behaviour, and sadly not always in a positive way.

Poverty and disfunctional family units dominate the lives of the majority of Jamaican children. This poses huge challenges for the Church, which needs to find new ways of relating to children and young people when they are still at an age where they are open to the Gospel and Biblical teaching on how they should live out their lives.

During her time in Jamaica, Heather was able to introduce Prayer Workshops for children from as young as four years old, which has led to the formation of Children's Prayer Groups that meet regularly in several places. She was also instrumental in facilitating and encouraging children to engage in peer-to-peer evangelism with some remarkable stories of God richly blessing the faithful sharing of the Gospel by young evangelists.

In listening to Heather share these stories, there was a sharp reminder of the challenge we face here in Ireland and of the need for us too to find new ways of reaching children for Jesus, before they grow up and become indifferent to God's call on their lives.

In Church House:

Rev David Steele, who with his wife, Maggie, and family, has served in Northern Malawi for the past five years, spoke of the many and continuing challenges faced by so many in Malawi in these days.

Despite many difficulties, encouraging stories emerged of hard work and sacrifices made to ensure children gain an education; of young people asking deep and challenging questions, as they seek to apply Biblical teaching to the way they live; of the continuing great need for more trained ministers and church leaders; of faithful ministry, often in remote or difficult circumstances; of the courage of a widow, active in the Church, who is prepared to talk openly about being HIV positive and says she's living postively because of her Christian faith.

Using an image of a collection of many different types and sizes of stones, David concluded with the challenge to believe that God can and will use small stones (us as individuals) in the building of His Kingdom!

Using photographs, maps and two short video clips, Mervyn McCullagh gave some fascinating insights into Indonesian culture and spoke of the challenges facing the Church in the island of Sumba, where he and his Sumbanese wife, Raing, have been serving.

In particular, and in a way that they never envisaged, Mervyn explained how his marriage to Raing and the subsequent funeral of her father, the King of East Sumba, provided opportunities for the Church to find a way for the first time to integrate a truly Biblical and Christian approach to these two important occasions with a strong Sumbanese culture and tradition.

On Both Evenings:

Naomi Keefe talked about the work she's been engaged in for the past four years in Recife in NE Brazil, working with the Christian Centre of Help to the Family (CCHF), an outreach initiative of the Casa Caiada congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPB), and a local Anglican church.

By telling moving stories of individuals she has come to know, Naomi shared how CCHF is reaching out to the people who live on and seek to eek out a living from the municipal rubbish dump in the city of Recife.

Life for the majority of these people is a matter of day-to-day survival, as they compete with each other for whatever rubbish is available; and with street violence and the intimidating influence of drug dealers never far away.

In this context, Naomi and those she works with in CCHF are making a difference by sharing God's love and the gospel message with these needy people, as they seek to help them in many and varied practical ways. Individual lives are being changed; and they in turn are beginning to make an impact for good on their communities.

The Moderator, Dr Stafford Carson, also spoke on both evenings, reporting on the visit he and his wife, Patricia, made to Ethiopia in August and highlighting some of the Christian Aid and Tearfund supported projects that we as a denomination will be helping to fund through this year's World Development Appeal: 'Credit, Where Credit's Due'.

In a country that faces many challenges and where yet again many are going hungry due to a developing famine situation, Dr Carson spoke passionately of what he had seen in Ethiopia and shared the moving personal stories of some of the people he had met.

In concluding, the Moderator commended the sterling work being done by our World Development partners, Christian Aid and Tearfund; particularly in the way they are giving dignity to people, by helping them to help themselves. He encouraged PCI members to 'dig deep' in support of this year's Appeal, at a time when people in the developing world more than ever need our assistance.

2010 'Celebrations'

The next Celebration of Global Mission evenings are scheduled to take place in the Spring of next year. The venues, theme and speakers have not yet been decided but the agreed dates are:

• Tuesday, 23rd March 2010
• Thursday, 25th March 2010

Further details are expected to be available early in the New Year.

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