REGIONAL NEWS
RAFFREY IF YOU NEED ENCOURAGEMENT READ ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON IN RAFFREY Raffrey Juniors are a very small Society who are doing very big things. Please remember these Juniors and their leaders in your prayers. Our CE session commenced in October 2016 with a membership of 4 boys and 1 girl. Our numbers remained low throughout the session, however, we currently have 3 boys who have faithfully given excellent attendance at our weekly meetings. Our first CE evening was a Fun and Food night, followed by an epilogue to introduce our new session. As CE leaders, God has enabled us to teach ‘God’s Big Story’ using material provided by The Bible Society, Northern Ireland. After Christmas, we then taught about Joseph and used his experiences to share God’s message of salvation with our boys. Several of our visiting speakers during the past CE session were members of Raffrey congregation. We would like to thank Rachel Lennon and Mr. Philip Haffey who provided a clear illustration of the Gospel through their Harvest message. Thanks also to Mr. William Jackson who enjoys his visit to CE as much as the CE enjoy having him. Our thanks also to Rachel and Hannah Nelson, who used the story of David and Mephibosheth, to teach the boys about God’s grace. Our session was also enriched by the visits from a number of outside speakers. Thank you to Mr. David Cowan from CEF who re-commenced our session in January following our Christmas break. We would like to thank Miss Angie McKee from CEF, who came along in February and shared a missionary story with the boys. In March, Mark and Ruth Conroy came along with their children, Becky, Ben, Luke and Susanne from our neighbouring Church in Trinity Boardmills. We are always encouraged and touched by their message delivered by the whole family, especially the children. 4 children and 4 adults enjoyed our Christmas trip to Dundonald for Ten Pin Bowling and afterwards to McDonald's. In March we had a trip to ‘We are Vertigo’ for trampolining followed by another visit to McDonald's.
Our fundraising Sports’ Night was held to raise money to support The Bible Society, Northern Ireland. Any money raised was being used to purchase children’s books based on the story of Paul and the Early Church. These books are being distributed to school children through the ‘Amazing Journey’ project. By supporting this project we have helped to spread the Gospel to children all over the Province. Our thanks go to family and friends who helped us raise a fantastic amount of £100.00. We continued to support our missionary, Mary Endersby, by our weekly collection of 2ps. We are delighted with the total amount collected of £70.00. We would like to thank Mr. Thomas Robinson for accepting this money on behalf of Mary. Despite the challenge of holding a CE Service with a small membership we, as leaders, felt our boys deserved the opportunity to praise and thank God for a wonderful CE year. Psalm 107:1 tells us, Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! GOD IS GOOD. Each Thursday night has been a reminder of his love. We are humbled by his steadfast eternal love so this Family Service allowed us, as leaders, to join with our CE boys to give God all the honour and praise that He deserves. We were grateful to Mr William Jackson for speaking at our Service. William, who is a good friend of Raffrey CE, is passionate about its work. We are equally thankful to others who helped including our praise group and the musicians; David Wells and David Robinson who managed the sound system and all who provided a wonderful supper. Special thanks to the parents of our CE boys. It has been a privilege to work with these children who have always been enthusiastic throughout the session and super little ambassadors for God at the Service. CE leaders and helpers David Heyburn (Senior), Lynda Nelson, Jonathan Christie, David Heyburn (Junior) and Zara Thompson joined in the Service. We thank God most of all, for his guidance, direction, and blessing upon us throughout this year. Our prayer is that Raffrey CE will strengthen and that families will be encouraged to get involved. CE teaches salvation. The salvation of a child is a wonderful miracle that all our children need to experience.
THE IRISH ENDEAVOURER
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