Hi there! For those of you who don’t know us, Jayne and I are full-time missionaries with Child Evangelism Fellowship. We have been sent out from Carrickfergus Baptist to reach children and young people in Co Cavan with the message of the Gospel.
We have three daughters, Jessica (15), Robyn (13), Bronwyn (10) and a very cute Schnauzer called Brodie! Cavan is a beautiful county full of trees and lakes and we enjoy going for walks together, exploring the local area. The girls also enjoy swimming and Bronwyn is doing her Rookie Lifeguard training at the minute. Jess is on the local girls Gaelic Football team which seems to be doing quite well this season. Robyn is great in the kitchen…we love the cinnamon rolls she makes!
Our call to serve God began in 2012 (which is a blog in itself) and led to us completing CEF’s CMLC in Kilchzimmer in Switzerland. After a year of practical training in Belfast with the CEF workers there, we moved to Cavan in the summer of 2016. We can hardly believe we have been here nearly two years already!
A lot has happened in this short time – here are a few highlights…
I have been leading the Good News Club at Cavan Baptist over the past year.
We have been able to make many connections in the area of north-west Cavan with schools and churches. We have been closely involved with Bronwyn’s School through taking assemblies and now even teaching the violin!
We were able to run our first TCE1 (Teaching Children Effectively) training class. This was an 11 week course and there were 10 students altogether, representing four different churches in the county. Many of these students have a real desire to use what they have been taught on the course. One girl has offered her home to be used for a 5 Day Club® in the summer.
There are things that we would love to see develop in the future….
- Further training – there has already been interest in running another TCE1.
- More volunteers – to reach boys and girls in local communities across the county.
- More prayer cells – to pray specifically for the work in County Cavan.
- Lego based Bible club – we are looking to develop this as a means of helping churches reach boys and girls with the Gospel.
Finally, I would just like to say that Jayne and I and the girls really appreciate all of the support that we receive from Carrick Baptist. Whether it is on social media or good old post; from individuals to groups it is an encouragement to us.
Simon