Woodvale 2005 Team

Front row L-R
Debbie Geddis , Ruth Kingston , Ruby Lawlor , Meriel O'Mahoney ,Leah McCully , Helen Sweeney

Back Row L-R
Glenn Shields , Dave Lawlor, Larry O'Mahoney, Cecil Mathers, Billy Geddis

Melanie McCloskey was also part of the team but is not in the picture.

Larry and Meriel O’ Mahoney, first time team members, write:

It is very difficult to find the words to describe this weekend of blessing; from the time we arrived on Friday to saying good-bye on Sunday afternoon. This was our first Lay Witness Mission.

One of our team reminded us at our first team get together, that Jesus God’s gift to us is indescribable. So too was His blessing at Woodvale. It really was indescribable. Whenever Woodvale Methodist is mentioned again, we will be reminded of the place where God met with us; where love and joy and blessing flowed like a river.

We received a very warm welcome at the church and found generous hospitality in the homes where we stayed.

The presence of the Lord was very real at the coffee mornings as people bared their hearts and shared their burdens and prayed for their friends and loved ones to be healed. There was a desire to get closer to God.

It was great to hear the testimonies, songs and stories of team members for the first time.  It was very refreshing too meeting new people as we dined together and built new friendships. We were truly made to feel Ambassadors for Christ.

Our thanks to all the team.  They were blessed and anointed. Our thanks to God especially for choosing David and Ruby Lawlor. David had an extra battle to contend with, as Ruby was unwell for a number of days.  It was lovely to see her come and rally the troops on Sunday morning.

One more special blessing was the team lunch on Saturday hosted by the minister at Woodvale Colin Meneely, his wife Barbara and children Paul and Heather. We had after lunch stories together and there was much joy as the team laughed and relaxed.

Our thanks to Billy Weite who was our prayer partner for the weekend and had his own breakthrough when he prayed for us at the Sunday morning service.

The Lay Witness team is the way forward for the churches in Ireland. It reaches out to the lost in a non-threatening way and challenges the church to draw closer to the Lord and to do His good, pleasing and perfect will.