Friday Club Starts Again!
By Tricia
From Early Beginnings
Originally a home Sunday school in Cloughleigh, this ministry was started in 1983 by an American missionary couple called Jim and Jean McCarthy. As the church grew the Sunday school was changed to a Friday evening, and was named “The Friday Club” and the name remains today! Invitations were extended to neighbours’ children and thus Friday Club became an outreach to non-believers as well as for our church children. As numbers increased, the Club moved to the newly built hall in Cloughleigh, where it is still held to this day!
At the moment we have 5 teachers, Margaret, Grace, Carrie, Tricia and George, working on rotas for bible teaching, memory verse, crafts and games. Carrie and George are our musicians and between 20 - 25 children come weekly for the hour from 6.30 - 7.30 pm.
Typical Running Order
After registration at the door, the children are welcomed before Carrie and George lead off in song. The children love this part and end up dancing and singing at the tops of their voices to fantastic songs praising the Lord. Two favourites at the moment are “Waves of Mercy” and “The Lord told Noah to build Him an arky arky (… out of barky barky!)”.
Next the children sit (hopefully quietly) and listen to the lesson for the evening. This coming term we will be teaching on Elijah, then how God delivers His people from slavery, death, disease and starvation and we will end with stories of Jonah. After the teaching the children have a memory verse to learn and are brilliant at memorizing scripture!
Finally, we do an activity/craft they can take home and end with games.
The Children Who Attend
Most of the children are from non-Christian homes. Discipline can sometimes be a problem, but by reciting Club rules each week and ensuring they are strictly adhered to, behaviour has improved greatly.
Some children come from very difficult backgrounds and it can be strenuous teaching them God’s word and demonstrating His love towards them. Only a handful of church children come, but they have learnt patience and kindness towards their peers - some who come from unstable homes and have uncertain futures.
It is often heartbreaking to learn of the hardship and sadness in some of their lives but the little bit of attention we show is absorbed and underneath their tough exteriors we see children who have had to grow up way before their time. Often, the only kind words they hear are those we hurriedly share during our hour together.
Free Bibles
A wonderful idea that took shape last term was to offer Bibles to all the children. They have to get permission from parents, but so far we have given out approx. 20 Bibles and we have the same number again ready for this coming term. The children love having their own Bibles and the wonderful thing is that God’s word is being bought into their homes. Please pray that they are used often!
Our prayer is that these children will remember God’s word as they grow older and that the Lord will reveal Himself to them in His perfect timing.
More Help Needed!
We are limited to the number of children we can accept each week due to a shortage of helpers and sometimes children have to be turned away as we have reached our maximum child:helper ratio.
We are looking for people who have a heart to share the Gospel to join us at Friday Club. What better way than to plant seeds in the hearts of children? If you are interested in being part of this ministry, please contact one of the team members mentioned above.
Friday Club is a rewarding experience, hard work, but no harder than the bigger picture when we look to our Father in Heaven and see the patience, kindness and forgiveness He lavishes upon us daily. How many times do we moan and groan and act in an ungodly manner – and yet our Lord and Saviour loves us anyway. How can we not show these children love and share with them the wonderful news of salvation? May God bless our work and send us people to share in the ministry.
Proof of Success!
Margaret told me of a woman who emailed her from America recently, looking for a church in Ennis. It turned out that she was one of the children who came to Friday Club when it was held at Nailer and June’s house all those years ago. The woman is now a born again Christian, so the God we serve is a faithful God and the seeds we plant WILL NOT return void.
Mt 19:14
