It seemed like the nine-strong team sent to Limavady
Methodist Church had known each other forever! We began preparing as a
team for this weekend in March (under the leadership of David and Carole
Lambe) and before we knew it the Lay Witness Weekend had arrived.
We arrived at the church on Friday, focused and prepared
to be used by the Lord in whatever way He wanted to use us. We were very
conscious of the fact that unless God did the work, the work would not get
done! We had to be available, open and sensitive to the Holy Spirit's
leading and marvel at His handiwork!
A packed weekend's programme had been arranged beginning
with Friday night's meeting. On Saturday there was a men's breakfast,
coffee mornings, visiting in the afternoon and an evening meeting. On
Sunday the Sunday School met, then the morning service followed
culminating with lunch for all.
Limavady Methodist is a small church with around 25 people
regularly attending worship on a Sunday morning. We found that the church
had done their homework in preparation for this weekend and all the
opportunities to meet were very well supported. We were greeted by some of
the friendliest people we could have hoped to meet. From the moment we
entered the church on Friday evening the warmth of their welcome and the
ease with which we were assimilated into their church family was
astounding.
The team were extremely united and it became obvious that
the Lord had handpicked them for this church. As each member shared their
testimony a deep sense of God's presence was evident and it quickly became
clear that there was a two-fold purpose to this weekend: to build-up,
strengthen and encourage the Leaders; and to meet personal needs within
the congregation.
As the weekend progressed the Holy Spirit revealed things
to the team that they could pray into on behalf of this church and an
important work was done through Spiritual Warfare for this church.
We had the privilege of speaking privately and praying
with many people about issues that were important to them and we knew that
God was at His work. The time spent in fellowship was very important
during this weekend as it enabled relationships to be established between
the team and congregation, which made sharing about our faith so much more
meaningful to those we spoke to.
One very important privilege we had was to speak to the
Leaders and pray with them before we left. Although there had not been a
huge rush to the communion rail at the end of the Sunday morning service
we knew without doubt that the Holy Spirit was moving powerfully in His
own gentle but appropriate way.
We left the church excitedly anticipating wonderful news
about their Sunday evening service. Carole and David received a telephone
call from Chris Frazer (the minister) and his wife Nan late on Sunday
night with some wonderful news.
As they do not usually have an evening service they had
been unsure how things would go. There were at least twenty people at the
evening service - nearly all their congregation- and the meeting did not
finish until 8.45pm as people were queuing up to share what the weekend
had meant to them. One lady also became a Christian at this service.
This was my first experience of being a team member on
such a weekend and I have had a wonderful time. It was a very special
weekend where friendships cemented very quickly as we all relied on God to
use us and empower us to do His work. It made me more aware that we were
just ordinary people speaking about how an extra-ordinary God helped us in
our everyday experiences and I was once again amazed at the impact that
those testimonies had. While there is something very special and exciting
about going to another church as part of a team it made me think about the
impact there would be in every church if its members were to do just this
more often as a regular part of their worship service, being used as
vessels for the Holy Spirit to bring blessing, challenge and commitment to
those on their own doorstep.
Stephen Orr
For Carole and I, this was our first time in leading a team
together, and what a privilege it was. Although at first it was somewhat
daunting, it was also very exciting finding out whom God would choose.
Isn't it wonderful though, when you read various responses from other
lay witness week-ends, that everyone can say the same thing "the
team was God chosen". So it is no surprise that this is exactly how
we felt, with:- Nigel Woods, Eveline Sheerin, Helen Sweeney, Kenneth
Porter, Jacqui Galbraith, Daphne Hamilton and Stephen Orr. Each very
special in their own way and each very much Spirit filled. Stephen in
his letter has covered virtually all the events of the week-end. However
a little further news received from Rev. Chris Frazer on Wednesday night
12th May. That a lady who had hosted one of the coffee mornings,
rededicated her life to the Lord on the Monday evening, and then led
another person to the Lord on the Tuesday. The Lord's Holy Spirit is
surely moving in a powerful way. We look forward in anticipation to
hearing what He has in store for those wonderful people (His people) in
Limavady.
David
Lambe
It
all started last September when Chris Wilson suggested at our Leaders
Meeting that we host a Lay Witness Weekend. We had discussed this on
previous occasions but now the time seemed right to proceed.
At
that time I was not really convinced that this was the right time but I
became more enthusiastic after we had a meeting with two members of the
Steering Committee. I was so encouraged by the way that they shared
their experiences that I began to get a sense of the Holy Spirit
speaking to me through their words.
We
started making the arrangements to have the weekend in early May 2004
and the Steering Committee began praying for a team for Limavady to be
brought together. Little by little the weekend took shape. Team Leaders
were appointed and then the rest of the team.
We
had our part to play as Prayer Partners were arranged between the team
and our church members. We also met each Wednesday for some weeks
leading up to the weekend for prayer. We prayed about encouraging church
members on the ‘fringes’ to take part but I also felt that the Lord
was leading me to pray for our own Leaders as I sensed that we all
needed a special blessing in this venture.
So
there was to be a lot of prayer before the weekend actually took place,
even extending to selecting host families for the visiting team and
homes in which to arrange coffee mornings. I was amazed at how the Lord
took care of everything. I felt that he had just hand-picked that team
with Carole and David Lambe as Team Leaders and matched them to their
hosts and sent the right mix of leaders to each of the coffee mornings.
That
feeling became stronger and stronger as the weekend progressed.
The
Team arrived on Friday evening 7 May and within a very few moments we
felt that we had known them all for ages.
The
Friday and Saturday nights were really special as the church members and
some friends and family and the team became much closer through their
sharing of personal, often very moving, testimonies and the wonderfully
uplifting praise. I felt this particularly on the Saturday evening when
at one point Nigel Woods, who was leading the worship, stopped in the
middle of a chorus and prayed for the Holy Spirit to come among us and
touch us. I personally felt a special touch from the Lord at that point
and I know that others felt the same. What a wonderful feeling; what a
wonderful night for us all. On Sunday morning the team continued to
testify and invite us to renew or make a commitment to God.
We
said our goodbyes after the team had prayed with individual church
members, and with a laying-on of hands with the leaders and our
minister, Chris Fraser, and his wife Nan.
On
Sunday evening we continued as people shared their personal experience
of what the Lord had done for them over the weekend. There was a great
openness and willingness to share, so much so that we did not want to
leave the church and go home. People recommitted their lives and we were
overjoyed when one of our members received Christ into her life as her
personal Saviour. Praise God.
We
wait prayerfully in anticipation of how the Lord wants us to move
forward with a new sense of excitement for the tasks that lie ahead.
Valerie
Cartwright
Senior
Society Steward
