This summer 21 young people went to Randalstown to serve God. God answered so many of our prayers and he moved mightily both in the lives of the team, and in the lives of those we met.

We started each day with our own quiet times and team devotions to allow our relationships with God to grow. We also looked at the book of Jonah together in the evenings as a team Bible study.

Each morning a few members of the team were involved with a Bacon Buttie Bible Study where we explored ‘little words with big meanings’ such as grace, love and holiness with some of the teenagers.  We also had bacon butties! Other members of the team were involved in community work, for example we had a coffee morning, visited a nursing home, visited some elderly members of the congregation, and showed God’s love to people in the town in a practical way through some random acts of kindness.

In the afternoons we had a football academy and the team were able to share testimonies with the boys each day after playing a game of football. We also had girly activities e.g. nail paining, hair braiding and crafts and we allowed the girls to ‘grill a leader’ each day, allowing the girls to get to know us better, and allowing us to share what God has done in our lives.

In the evenings we had a kids club. Our theme was ‘Mega Quest’ where we looked at God’s big plan for the world through stories, memory verses, quizzes, crafts and small group times. We saw how God had created the world, yet because of our sin God needed to send Jesus to rescue us.

We then had an event for teenagers where we looked at the gospel each night through a movie title, for example, we used the title ‘Love Actually’ to look at how God showed he loved us by sending his only son to die on the cross.  Each night we had some games and then a testimony and a talk. Other members of the team spent some time in the local estate and in the town looking for teenagers who we could invite back to the church.

On the Saturday we held a community event in the church. It was  great opportunity for the church to get involved with those we had met during the week. We had a barbecue and some face painting  and inflatable fun!

God did so much in Randalstown during the week. God challenged and encouraged the team and many of those we met, and He changed lives!  He really showed us that he can do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine!