Mission to NI

As part of my Cornhill course I went to Ballycraigy Congregational, a church in Northern Ireland, on a Mission week. The experience was fantastic. It was really good to have the opportunity to do ministry in a different context and learn new things.

The hospitality shown to us was incredible and we all felt very welcomed and loved there. The week was really busy, with something happening every day. We went to a couple of schools to do kids assemblies, RE lessons, and SU studies. We were involved in different ministries of the church like boys brigade, youth groups, prayer meetings, and Bible studies.

We also helped running different an evangelistic event for children called ‘Messy church’. This was really well attended, with 30 of the kids that came (with their parents) not being from a Christian family. My teaching responsibilities there focused on leading the Bible class with the youth before the morning service and preaching in the evening service. I enjoyed the Bible class, we covered the last of the 10 doctrines by Mustard Seeds on the topic of Heaven and Hell. It was really encouraging to see the youth so engaged with the topic and the lesson.

Preaching in the evening went well, especially considering that it was my first time before a congregation on a Sunday. I also think people managed to understand my accent all throughout the sermon. Give thanks for the great opportunity that this has been, for all that I learnt during my time at Ballycraigy.

Adrian - Cornhill Scotland