Camp Craft

The work of a director is not all about evangelism of children there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes that no one gets to see. For instance this week on the build up to our junior camp we had to do some last minute preparations in sourcing cheap painting products for camp craft and then doing some sample craft ideas. This year we are doing rock painting. So after buying cheap acrylic paint, brushes and PVA glue off we went to pick up a pile of stones from the beach and got to work. Above you can see some of the samples that we created.

Castlewellan Castle

It was an early start today as we had a lot to get through. One of those things was checking out a treasure hunt in the grounds of Castlewellan Forrest Park. It was amazing to see God work in the small things. We pulled up in the grounds of the castle and the rain was so heavy that we could not even get out of the car without looking as if you spent 10minutes in the shower. We had a picnic in the car and as James gave thanks for the food he prayed that the rain would stop so that we could do our treasure hunt. About 20 minutes after we finished our sandwiches God answered his simple prayer in a miraculous way by ceasing the rain and bringing up the sun so that we could complete the treasure at our leisure even without the need for a coat. As we drove away from Castlewellan I noticed James with his hands clasped and his head bowed, I asked him what he was doing and James said "Thanking God for giving us a good day so we could do our treasure hunt" thats what prayer is all about. Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, that thou knowest not" We give thanks to God for the great and mighty things He is showing us in these days.

Hamiltonsbawn 5 Day Club

Francis was in full swing at the little 5 day club in Hamiltonsbawn. Her team was given the use of a garage to hold the club in which was a real blessing as the weather was really changeable this week and more often than not it was raining in the evenings. Its good to see that the rain does not keep the children away and it certainly didn't water down the message as they taught from the series "A Saviour for You"

Tandragee Presbyterian Holiday Bible Club

Today begins a run of Holiday Bible Clubs in the County and its the first one that we have an involvement with. There was a wonderful group of around 30 young people who attended each night and it was a joy to be able to talk to them about "Honouring God", "Obeying God", "Praying to God" and "God cares". The group was a younger group but excellent in all areas of the club. It was just wonderful how at the end of the week a number of young people came to us to "thank us for coming to teach them", what a privilege God has given to us.

Clare Glen

Today saw a rest from all the work of planning Camps, Holiday Bible Clubs and going out into the open air for 5 Day Clubs and we went off for a picnic. We got ourselves up, packed up the car and off we went for an afternoon in Clare Glen it was our first trip there and well worth the visit. No trip would be complete without lifting the camera and shooting off a few shots as we walked. It was all a bit of an adventure for James as we climbed up through the trees off the beaten track.

Night Out

Friday evening took us off to Oregano restaurant at Ballyrobert just outside Glengormley to celebrate with David and Debbie as they further make plans towards their Wedding date on 8th August 2008. It was good to catch up with each other again, living down in Armagh means that we don't get to see each other as often as we would like.

The food was great and the conversation was flowing and it was nice to to have a day off and take things easy and wind down and socialize over a lovely meal.

5 Day Club

Our 5 day club ministries began this week as we were invited by Ruth Lavery to join her and Matthew (her son) to head off to Killylea Primary school just outside Armagh city to conduct an after school club in their assembly hall. There were about 30 young people who stayed behind every day to be part of the club. Again it presented a good opportunity to use the flashcard book "God's Wonderful Salvation" to present 5 simple gospel messages.

Camp Planning

Monday and Tuesday evening gave us a wonderful opportunity to meet up with our full compliment of leaders for both our Junior and Inters camps. These evenings were useful to finally nail down our last minute plans for camp and delegate out tasks by way of the meetings and activities.

Now that all those plans have been made we are looking forward to getting the two weeks of camp underway and we are a lot more confident about them. Pray that we would get a few more young people who will commit to attend the Junior camp as we could take about 15 more young people to fill the camp.

Children's day

Today took us to Mall Presbyterian Church in Armagh for a children's day service in the morning and Moira Presbyterian Church children's day service in the evening. Was good to renew fellowship in both churches and be involved in sharing the Gospel with the children and parents who attended.

Lurgan Park Show

Saturday 7th began early in the morning when we made our way to Lurgan park to be part of the show. We packed up our car with 1,300 children's tracts and off we went. We met our team which consisted of Ronnie, Philip, Joan, Lindsay, James and me and we set about giving out tracts from 10am to 4pm. The sun was beating down, everyone was in good spirits and we pray that the light of Christ would shine into the lives of those who received the word of God in the printed page and took the time to read it.