Knockbracken & Dromore GO Teams

Matteo Plebiscito from the Glasgow RP Church went on two GO Teams in Northern Ireland this summer. We asked him to write about his time on those teams.

Knockbracken RPC GO Team – 18th-24th August

The 2024 Knockbracken Go Team was made up of 9 people from other congregations, with various people from the congregation helping throughout. On that note, it was a huge encouragement throughout seeing such a united church family and getting to know them.

The fellowship with the Team was also top notch and I thoroughly enjoyed the free times we had. The boys slept in the Theological College and the girls in the Covenanter Bookstore; both just across the car park from the church.

Most days followed the same format: Holiday Bible Club in the mornings and leaflet distribution in the afternoon. In the evening, it would be either helping at the Youth Club for older children, or some form of outreach (door to door, distribution, open air). The Bible club had a short, Olympics themed talk sandwiched between games.

For my first Irish GO team it was an enjoyable experience. I’d highly recommend the team especially for the variety of work that is done – I had been more used to leaflet based teams.

A few people came to the guest services advertised on the leaflets. Please pray that they would continue coming and be led to Christ. Pray also for the children that attended the Bible Club, that what they heard would bring them closer to Christ and that those who don’t go to church may also be a witness to their families.

Thank God for the witness that Knockbracken RP is in South Belfast and pray that it may go from strength to strength in the Lord.

Dromore GO Team – 24th-31st August

It’s been a number of years since Dromore had its own GO Team, making it all the more a privilege to participate in this year’s. Team members were: Eva Loughridge (Milford & Letterkenny RP); Ábel Bajkó (Bailliesmills RP); and myself (Glasgow RP). The team also included two Dromore members, Tim Frazer and Jessica Gamble.

The leaflets we were handing out contained invites to guest services and advertised the “Hope Explored” course organised by the church. Every house in Dromore got them, and we also covered parts of neighbouring villages. People were generally receptive of the leaflets, and there was no real hostility. This wasn’t a big surprise as there are many Protestant churches in Dromore.

Dromore RP shares a parking lot with a nursing home and every now and then take the opportunity to witness to the residents. We sang some Psalms with residents and printed out some sheets so they could follow. Rev. Dunwoody delivered a short message on Psalm 1, and we had some chat with the residents before leaving for more distribution.

On Wednesday, the Lord’s provision of good weather around rush hour meant we were able to sing some Psalms in the town square at its busiest moments. Rev. Dunwoody briefly expounded each Psalm before singing. We had some conversations with bystanders afterwards. Later, we headed up to Belfast and said our goodbyes to Eva, who had work the next day.

In between finishing Dromore up on Thursday, the church hosted a seniors’ lunch. The local First Presbyterian minister gave his testimony . It was an amazing story that started in Ballymena, went through Hollywood’s industry, and ended up in the ministry. Mr Philip Cousins provided us with some live music. The Gamble family from the congregation opened up their home for a super barbecue in the evening, and we parted with Ábel.

What was left of the team leafleted some of Gamblestown, Donaghcloney, and Blackskull before lunch at a café to seal it up.

It wasn’t a large team, but it didn’t need to be – we had great communion together. The size of Dromore also means there was time to knock on some doors when distributing. I’m not too used to that, so I definitely learnt something there.

It was also pleasant seeing a Presbyterian minister among us. It’d be good to pray that Dromore RP could keep up good relationships and cooperation with other churches especially as there are so many in a small village.

The congregation is also hoping to expand its building and is waiting on approval from the local council, so pray everything may go smoothly. One of the elders, Raymond Gamble is starting his studies forthe ministry so pray that God may raise up a man (or men) to join the single elder left.

Obviously, pray for people to come to both the services and the Hope Explored course. And pray that the visibility of the church in the village will increase and that it will remain a faithful testimony in Co. Down.