Stranorlar GO Team

If you are ever on a GO Team, and after returning to a room your fellow team members start showering you with complements, take my advice and run away quickly screaming, “Noooooo I won’t write the team report!”, then you will not find yourself in the stressful position that I find myself in, namely that of having to report the story of the Stranorlar GO Team. Now let me see…… how is it all stories should begin? Oh yeah -

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs and a big bad wolf. Ooops - I think that’s a different story! Let’s start again- once upon a time there were three new and energetic members of the Stranorlar GO Team, namely Roslyn McCollum (Ballyclabber), Anne Somerville (Lisburn) and Lizzy Pinkerton (Kilraughts). They were enthusiastically guided through the week by Stephen Wright (Ballylaggan), who had been on the team for the past three years.

Now comes the hard bit, trying to squeeze into one report all that I would like to tell you about the literature preparation and distribution, the children’s open air Holiday Bible Club at Killygordon, the Holiday Bible Club at Stranorlar each night, the hospitality of the congregation and the fun and the fellowship of the team members, and the food - we can’t possibly not tell you about the food!

Each morning the team came together for a short time of Bible study and prayer led by Stephen, before the intense leaflet folding conveyor belt started up. Once complete we travelled the countryside distributing invites, tracts and videos. The residents of Stranorlar and Convoy are now familiar to the site of Stephen’s car ‘Grace’, motoring about the countryside. Why is she called Grace I hear you say? Well it’s amazing Grace keeps going! Well I better stop slagging the car before I find myself walking home!

In the afternoons we went to Killygordon housing estate for a Holiday Bible Club in the green area in the centre of the estate. On average we had about twenty-five kids all of whom were very enthusiastic, the children were always keen to listen to the story, sing the psalms and learn the memory verses. Even when one day the rains poured down we all stood under a ‘tent’ of plastic sheeting held up by a leader at each corner! This was certainly a new experience for most of us on the team. We were encouraged also by the interest and support of some of the Mums from the estate who stayed and listened throughout the time of the club. The kids also delighted in playing ‘guess the age of the leader’. Now it must be said that some people faired better in this game than others, with Rev McCullough totalling forty years, and Stephen thirty-nine years!

At nights the children’s club was held in Stranorlar Reformed Presbyterian Church, which when the seats are removed conveniently doubles as a hall - ideal for the forty children we had to run off any excess energy (and they had lots of excess energy!). About twenty of these kids were from Killygordon who couldn’t wait till the next day back at the estate, so they even helped arrange a mini-bus to transport them up to the church at night. The games were noisy and enthusiastic, but it never ceased to amaze us how quiet everyone became when it was time for the story. A very definite answer to prayer.

Well the story of our stay at Stranorlar wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention meal times. I have never eaten sooooo much in my life, and even when you decline any more somehow you were persuaded to “gwan and have some more, you know you want to!” Consequently I have managed to gain half a stone in a week (good thing I’m leaving today!).

So it’s now our last morning in Stranorlar, I have heard that wedding dress shopping is the thing to do here, however I think that a forest walk and a trip to the ice-cream parlour is where we are headed! I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have found this week to be both an encouragement and a challenge to my faith, and would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody in the congregation for their welcome and support. So if anyone out there is thinking of what to do next summer, I can recommend the Stranorlar GO Team - “Gwan, you know you want to!”

Lizzy Pinkerton