FortMac September Edition

September Letter
Lesley Carroll
The kids are back to school and the road works have
started! I’ve just arrived home from Rwanda and that
was one of the headlines on the news this morning. So
before we know it all is back to the winter swing of
things. Church organisations will be beginning their winter programmes, Becki will getting into her first winter’s
work with us and Sarah has arrived from the USA to join
the team of workers at Fortwilliam & Macrory. Richard
will continue with us this year but he will also be managing family commitments and will have to be more careful of his time. Mark has gone started onto his degree
course full time and will be unable to be with us just as
much as over the last couple of years. He hopes to be
able to keep on with Football Club and we are keen that
he does because he has become something of a mentor
for the young people. Please pray for and take the time
to catch up with our staff. It makes a world of difference
to them. Many of you will be planning what to do over
the winter months too. Some of you will be involved in
leadership in the congregation and others of you will
attend the organisations. Your support for each other is
what makes the congregation a community. I would encourage you to think about joining in where and when
you can, not least on a Sunday morning when the
church family gathers in worship of the God who loves
us with love that never fails.
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I begin the year with Rwanda in my mind. The church
there is strong and enthusiastic despite all that Rwanda
has come through. In 1994 the genocide there left between 800, 000 and 1 million people dead in just a
matter of weeks. Many others fled. Over the years since
then the government and the churches have focussed
together to work for unity and reconciliation. Giant
steps forward have been made and there is inspiration
for us in our part of the world. Later this year the World
Development Appeal will take Rwanda as its country of
focus, together with neighbouring Burundi. I look forward to being able to talk some more about Rwanda
and its people. In the incoming months we will be continuing to make every attempt to fill our vacancies treasurer, clerk of session and other posts too. If you are
able to help in any way then please come forward. With
a leadership in crisis because of personnel there is a big
challenge to us as a congregation to give serious thought
to our lives together at Fortwilliam & Macrory.
Blessing for the work that lies ahead of us.
Lesley
how well everyone listened to the stories and engaged with
prayer.
2013
The evening sessions tended to follow a particular theme and
mostly incorporated a type of competition between the
groups. I found myself suddenly becoming the official archery
instructor for the kids despite the fact I had only ever
attempted archery twice before. The archery was part of the
medieval themed Monday night. On Tuesday night there was
a photo challenge which also gave the groups a chance to
make a Harlem Shake video. Wednesday night was based
around, ‘I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here’ which meant a
lot of messy games and some dodgy food challenges for the
leaders, thankfully I was playing the role of Ant so avoided
that, phew. Thursday night was the team challenge night and
the night when six leaders would be gunged, we were led to
believe that the leaders of the teams that got the fewest
points, would be gunged. In the end the names were drawn
randomly, but five of the six leaders happened to be new to
the team which was a bit suspicious, thankfully I managed to
avoid being gunged and was responsible for actually gunging
someone. Friday night was much more relaxed and allowed
the kids a chance to take part in a talent show which was
quite impressive.
Jason Sime
In July I spent a week volunteering at New Wine Ireland in
Sligo. New Wine is a Christian conference aimed at families
and takes place in many countries. In Ireland it is organised by
the Church of Ireland and many of its leaders tend to be from
Willowfield Church of Ireland in East Belfast and Lisburn Cathedral. The conference is aimed at families and there are
separate events for different age groups. The adults attend
main stage worship in the morning and evening and can
attend various seminars throughout the day. While the main
stage session is running there are also four other events running for different age groups. There are two youth groups,
one for 14-18 year olds and the other for 11-13 year olds.
Then there is the kids group which is for children aged 5-10.
The other group is the crèche. I was volunteering as one of
twenty leaders making up the Kids’ Team.
The conference itself ran from Sunday to Friday but the leaders were there from Saturday to Saturday. The Saturday was
spent simply setting up the venue and ensuring the team
knew its duties and the Sunday was spent registering people
for the different programmes before starting everything on
Sunday evening.
I mentioned earlier that I, and the other two leaders, found
our group very difficult at the beginning of the week, but by
Friday it was clear that we had made some significant progress. One particular boy, Joel, had been to New Wine since
he was a baby and had never engaged with any activities, he
was ten this year, but on the Wednesday night he joined in
with singing and dancing for the first time, a fact which made
his father cry. A big challenge for us was getting the young
people to engage in prayer so I explained that praying out
loud was not necessary and simply asked the boys to open
their hands and put them in the middle of the circle we were
sitting in. Another leader told me that Joel put his hand in and
quickly took it away again when he saw another boy looking
at him. However, that still felt like progress but the next day,
not only did he participate but he encouraged the other boys
to put their hands in the middle! Another personal group
highlight was when another boy, David, who also did not engage well, decided to become a Christian at the end of the
week.
Without a doubt the Kids’ Team was the hardest worked
team at the conference. In terms of structure there were
three sessions each day; morning, afternoon and evening.
The morning session was very structured around groups. The
groups were worked out by age and I found myself working
with a small group of just six guys, which was not a lot as
some groups had fifteen kids and there were around one
hundred kids in all, but three of the six kids had some form of
behavioural disorder. There were three leaders working with
this one group and at the beginning of the week it was incredibly difficult work. It was perhaps slightly more difficult
for myself as I was not expecting to be with that group, I had
actually been allocated a different group and so had spent
the previous day and a half learning twelve different names.
When working so closely with one group it is difficult to see
The afternoon sessions saw the small groups become three what else is going on but I made an effort to get to engage
big groups and rotated between activities which included out- with as many young people as I could.
door games, crafts and Bible time. The outdoor games were
undoubtedly the most popular but the Bible time was a highlight for most leaders, we were all really impressed by
Continued on Page 3
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Book Review
On the Wednesday, which we were initially told would be
our half-day, we were asked to lead Messy Church. Messy
Church is a recent initiative where families are encouraged
to engage in craft activities as part of sharing their faith,
this was the first time some physical activities were incorporated into this as well from the programme.
The kids were encouraged to engage and tell us stories of
their own churches. Every leader was inspired by a story
from a seven year old girl. She told us all (120 odd), about
how her church organises prayer walks where a couple of
young people accompany a couple of adults on the walk.
She told us of one story when she prayed for a young girl
to be healed after she was diagnosed with cancer and
how, six months later the church received a letter from
the girl’s mother telling them she had been healed. We
were all so impressed by this seven year old girl’s willingness to participate in something like this and her desperation to share her experiences.
No Ceiling to Hope, Patrick Regan
‘If you walk along the street and look
down at the ground, you often focus
on the grey concrete slabs. They are
dirty and depressing, lifeless and
miserable. But if you look harder you
might see something else. Anywhere
there is a gap between the concrete
slabs there are signs of life.’
I had the privilege last year of hearing Patrick Regan speak at Youthwork the Conference.
Regan established the urban youth charity XLP in London
in 1996 in response to a stabbing in a local playground. His
passion, commitment and sheer determination to see
young people turn their lives around is both humbling and
inspiring. Regan’s book is heart breaking one minute and
heart-warming the next. The stories Regan includes
emerge from his own experiences engaging with people
from London to Los Angeles, Bolivia to Belfast. The author
will take you through stories of gang members, drug addicts and those simply struggling to make ends meet.
However, he will urge you to look beyond this, to see the
hope, courage and compassion in the face of despair, hurt
and brokenness.
It was the case that we were the leaders of the Kids’ Team
for the week and that the week was primarily for them but
it was also a fantastic experience for the leaders involved
as well. It is always great when a group of young Christians
come together, strong friendships are made and we all
manage to learn things from each other and become even
more inspired and stronger in our own faith. Sligo 2013
was one of the best experiences of my life and, if there is
anyone reading this who has ever considered getting involved in something similar I would encourage you to do it
as soon as possible. Also I apologise for making this so As a youth and community worker I love this book belong but I really did not want to leave any of it out, I have cause it reminds me that no young person is ever a hopealready left too much out.
less case, or an individual beyond transformation and
change. As a Christian it reminds me that God’s compasFor more info on New Wine Ireland’s Summer Conference check sion, and grace is unconditional. In certain circumstances
hope seems illusive and perhaps even non-existent.
out http://www.newwineireland.org/
Therefore this book is for everyone and not just youth and
community workers. It is a book for everyone because it
holds as its core message that no matter how dark, desperate or hopeless a situation may seem, there is always
hope, however small. What is required are courageous
and determined individuals to grab hold of it and use it to
transform the lives of those around them.
Regan reminds us that each time we see grass growing
through the cracks in the pavements, life exists, love conquers and hope prevails.
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Garden Opening Ceremony
Saturday 31st August 2013
‘Time can be a messy healer.’ The quote grabbed my
attention straight away as I sat having lunch last Sunday
afternoon in Little Wing on the Lisburn Road. There was
no author given. Yet there was something in those few
short words that spoke of something profoundly reassuring. The day before I was standing in the Community Garden at Fortwilliam as celebrations got underway for the
culmination of this innovative and intergenerational project.
The project which was overseen and facilitated by our
Bricks to Bridges worker Richard aimed to bring together
people from a wide range of backgrounds including young
people referred to us by the Youth Justice Agency and As people began arriving, the BBQ was fired up by our
members of the congregation through gardening and de- own Alan Smyth who ensured everyone was well fed
signing an art piece.
throughout the afternoon. Guests also had the opportunity to walk around the various parts of the Garden includAt 10.30am on Saturday I stood in the peace and the quiet
ing the allotment where it people were able to pick blackof the Garden in the bright morning sun. There were only
berries and even the odd spud! However, at the heart of
a few others working away but in place last minute changthe opening ceremony was the recognition of the hours of
es. At 12.00pm the tranquillity of the Garden was transhard work and dedication that had been put into creating,
formed in a hub of chatter, laughter, noise and celebradeveloping, maintaining and growing the Garden.
tion. It struck me how such a place could be used for time
out and personal reflection but also be somewhere to The art piece designed by the Walking Group to reflect
share with family, friends and neighbours. To think, to the different symbolic images of church life looked stuncelebrate, to hope, to dream.
ning displayed on one of the Garden walls and certainly
highlighted the creative gifts of some of our church family.
Back to the quote. It got me thinking. Time can be a healer but saying it in that way suggests time has a definite
beginning and end, which can leave us feeling discouraged and disheartened if things do not work out or the
hurt does not disappear. Yet in recognising that healing
and restoring fractured relationships can be messy can
also enable us to realise that restoration is possible.
Becki McDonald
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What’s Happening
Please see weekly hand-outs
for additions or revisions.
September 2013
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Key:
1 YAG Lunch
Fortwilliam
Macrory
Off-site
2
3 Bowls 7.30pm
4
5 Gardening
6
11.00am- 1.00pm
7
8 Second Sunday
Choir– 10.30am
JAM, Crèche, Bible
Class
9
10 Bowls 7.30pm
11 Badminton
(TBC)
12 Gardening
13 Football Club
11.00am- 1.00pm 6.00pm
14 Walking Group
(TBC)
15 Choir– 10.30am
21 Walking Group
(TBC)
22 Choir– 10.30am
28 Walking Group
(TBC)
29 Choir– 10.30am
BB 6.45pm
16
17 Bowls 7.30pm
Committee Meeting
7.30pm
23
24 Bowls 7.30pm
18 Badminton
(TBC)
19 Gardening
20 Football Club
11.00am- 1.00pm 6.00pm
BB 6.45pm
25 Badminton
(TBC)
26 Gardening
27 Football Club
11.00am- 1.00pm 6.00pm
BB 6.45pm
JAM, Crèche, Bible
Class
JAM, Crèche, Bible
Class
JAM, Crèche, Bible
Class
30
Crèche
Readings
Second Sunday
Articles for Fortmac Magazine
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