Carrickfergus 2005 Team

(left to right)...

Graeme McNeill, David Blevins, Douglas Rowe, Lindsay Gibson, Sheila Mulligan, Derek Gillespie, Angela Lipsett, Heather Clements, Ruth Logue, Valerie Livingstone, Ronnie Strong, Andrew Gibson.

Angela Lipsett, team member for the first time, writes:

The Carrickfergus weekend was amazing!!

I have to confess, I knew virtually nothing about the Lay Witness Movement until I was first invited to be one of the team scheduled to go to Carrickfergus. My first concern was “What exactly would I have to do?-” never one to jump on board until I have all the facts! Once it was explained that Lay Witness involved a team of twelve, testifying as to what God has done, and is still doing, in their lives – I couldn’t refuse.

1 Peter 3: “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” 

I can’t pretend I wasn’t a little fearful – I was! Meeting the other team members at our preparatory meetings helped a lot. Six of the team were also ‘first timers’ and it was somewhat reassuring to discover that each was as nervous as I was.

We got on very well as a team, ably led by Ronnie and David. Our advance day trip to Carrickfergus assured us that we would all be made most welcome. I felt, (as I’m sure everyone did) a tremendous sense of responsibility that we should be all God intended us to be, in that place, and for His purpose.

The weekend was a blessing from start to finish – the shared mealtimes, shared testimonies, and team devotions, coffee morning fellowships, praising God together, and ministering to one another.  My hosts, Jim and Etta, were delightful, and made me feel completely at home.  Meeting my allocated prayer partner and making so many new friends was an added bonus.

Colin Fisher, from Carrickfergus church, writes:

It’s always interesting, when it comes time to write up the record of any project, to see which aspects of the project stand out in one’s mind, and for what reason. Equally, it’s important to applaud those things that went well, and learn from those that weren’t perhaps as successful. Now, before anyone thinks that I have just stolen the opening paragraph from the latest edition of Project Management for Dummies, let me put your minds at ease, and affirm that the ‘project’ I’m referring to is the Lay Witness Mission to the Carrickfergus society which took place this October.

Speaking as one who had a remarkable lack of knowledge of Lay Witness in general, I believe that puts me in a very useful, if not unique, position to assess the weekend, as I had no real preconceived idea about the experience. I use the word experience’ deliberately, as I think that the weekend evolved’ from a function which one attended to an event which one experienced. [A very poor analogy would be that of the difference between watching a football match played by relatively unknown individuals, and following them throughout the season, watching them evolve’ into a team.]

Strangely enough, that analogy lends itself to the team in another way, in that we were privileged to be the hosts of Ronnie Strong’s ‘Dream Team’ of 11 individuals (Ronnie being the manager, of course). Ably assisted by his team captain’, David Blevins, these two individuals took a group of ten people, from different societies and backgrounds, but united by a love for Jesus, and welded them into a powerful, prayerful, and potent force. I’m sure that many of them will not forget their time in Carrick, if only for the team unity and spirit they built.

But results, I hear you cry, what about results? Well, there were results, and, I believe, there will be results to come, but to try and quantify the success or otherwise of a weekend like this in simple number terms, eg people saved, moved, or touched, or in such a brief fashion, does a disservice to those who worked hard both before, during, and after this mission. To really understand it, we need to look at three aspects (like all good sermons) - the preparation, the prosecution, and the potential.

PREPARATION

The foundation stones for the success of the weekend were laid some nine to ten months before the event when the Carrick leaders decided to invite a team to our church and, providentially, Ronnie Strong was chosen to lead the team. There followed several months of ‘team’ selection, and the forging of links with prayer partners in Carrick. As the time of the weekend grew closer, team-bonding sessions took place, followed by visits to Carrick’s home ‘pitch’, where the links already established were developed into bonds of friendship. There is little doubt that this preparation was pivotal to the ultimate success of the weekend

PROSECUTION

It was obvious from the start that part of Ronnie and his team’s preparation had included meticulous and prayerful planning of the weekend, from the praise at the fellowship meals, to who spoke at which meeting. It is also important to note that a fair amount of preparation had been done by the Carrick society, which meant that the practical everyday things fell into place naturally. One of the points made at our evening celebration after the team had dispersed was that the team were just ordinary people, albeit with an extraordinary Lord. This is surely the strength of Lay Witness, which is in essence ordinary people talking about Jesus.

Different people will pick different highlights or memorable moments, but among them would be the sound of voices raised in praise (especially at the men’s breakfast, but perhaps I’m biased), the tremendous sincerity and passion with which each of the team members gave their own testimony, or perhaps the sharing which took place in the more intimate surroundings of the coffee mornings spread around the borough. As far as G-Force is concerned - or Sunday School to the less enlightened - it’ll be a little while before the visit of the ‘Chicken Police’ is forgotten.

The testimonies were powerful, the praise uplifting and the timing was providential, coming as it did almost a year to the day after the Carrick society had held a special weekend in Armagh to deepen relationships with one another and with God.  It also was timely in another way, as it precedes the task of rebuilding which faces Carrick in the not too distant future.

POTENTIAL

So what was/is the outcome - was it just a spiritual ‘high’ for a couple of days - a feel good factor in the life of Carrick? I don’t think so - the weekend was an integral part of a process, a plan if you like, which started some time ago when we embarked on our rebuilding project, but the effects will still be visible or important in the months ahead, just like the foundations of a building. Our text was ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain’ Psalm 127: v1 (NIV), and we believe that God worked mightily through the individual members of Ronnie Strong’s team, and continues to work through the lives affected over both the weekend and the long months of preparation.

To return to the starting point, let’s applaud the things which were done well, like the preparation, the prayer, the planning of the testimonies, and the sheer sincerity of the people involved, and as for weak points - well, somehow I can’t remember any of note. That’s not to say that there weren’t any - few of us would make any claim to perfection - but they were certainly dwarfed by the positive aspects of the weekend, and if anything, they were practical rather than spiritual.