Sent out by CFC in 1994,she leads a full-time staff of three and a team of 20 volunteers – many of them from CFC - who work alongside the children and young people at the drop-in centre.
Providing practical advice, love and support, through a comprehensive programme of recreational, educational, cross-community and citizenship-based initiatives, the Blue Houses encourage them to achieve their potential in a changing world.
What’s it all about?
In a nutshell, the aim of the Blue Houses is to love people and to see them become the fullness of what they were created to be. To achieve this the team does whatever they can – just by being available to people and through programmes and opportunities -providing space for people to meet Jesus in their everyday lives and have the opportunity to fall in love with Him.
What is the principal purpose of your mission?
Our main purpose is to serve the local community by helping young people reach their potential through faith, hope and love. We do this by providing opportunities and programmes, within a safe environment, that meet their social, spiritual, educational, physical and emotional needs. We also promote opportunities for reconciliation to take place, enabling healing in the lives of individuals and the community. Everything is founded on building meaningful and long-term relationships with the young people and their families.
What does your mission involve?
We run a community drop-in centre which offers a safe space within the community for children, young people and family members to meet informally or take part in a variety of programmes and activities. This includes children and youth programmes, sports ministry, issue-based group work, social action projects, prayer initiatives, work with young offenders, discipleship and mentoring and extensive work within the local schools.
What is a typical day like for you?
We don’t really have a typical day. But each term we run a weekly programme which includes children and youth programmes, sports ministry, issue-based group work and much more. On top of our scheduled activities a lot of our time is spent with people calling into the centre. This means being interruptible and having time to spend with people, often supporting them through the difficult issues they face. Our time will also be spent planning, fundraising, speaking at events, training, developing our volunteers and networking.
What were your expectations when you started?
Ballysillan was a very different community when I started to the one it is today. I didn’t really know what to expect other than that it was going to be a steep learning curve as I had limited youth work experience and was very unfamiliar with this type of community and the issues people faced.
At that time, the Silverstream estate was continuously on the news due to paramilitary activity in the area which made people extremely suspicious of anyone new coming to work in the community. Despite some of the terrible situations I experienced around me, it was my strong belief that this was where I was meant to be that kept me here.
Having grown up in Portballintrae, working in such a troubled environment was a very new experience for me. Despite the obvious differences, it has always been a place where I have felt completely at home and quickly came to have a deep love for.
Are there any moments that you would like to share to encourage people back home and those considering mission?
There are so many moments and it’s very difficult to pick. I suppose the sense being on a mad adventure sums it up. My heart has always been to see young people’s lives transformed by Jesus so they can grow to be influencers and leaders within their community and beyond.
Over the years we have seen many of our young people become Christians. Many of them have gone on to work with young people because of the difference the Blue Houses and leaders made in their lives by simply loving them and believing in them.
Do you have any advice for those considering mission?
I suppose my advice is don’t limit mission to something you have to go to another country to do. There are hurting people with a need for Jesus all around us!
When I first started working for Ballysillan Youth For Christ, I thought it would be my training ground for a couple of years before going off to do the ‘real’ thing that God had planned for me abroad. I soon realised that committing to work with young people in a disadvantaged part of our city was what God was calling me to do and where He wanted me to be.
Anything we can do to help?
There are various ways you can get involved in the Blue Houses. We are always looking for people to volunteer with our programmes, get involved with our prayer initiatives, receive our newsletters, support us through prayer and financially if you are able.
Why not come along and visit the centre with your cell group and spend a night finding out more about the work of the centre and meet some of the kids and take some time to pray for our work and the local community - we would love you to partner with us!
Is there a particular verse that has inspired or encouraged you in our journey?
Matthew 6 verses 25-34 have always been special to me personally and a key reminder that no matter what I face that God is in control and can be trusted.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
And also Ephesians 3 v 20
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen”
An opportunity to serve our partners UCCI through general maintenance work and building repairs. The work is not complicated, the trip will be inspiring.
An opportunity to minister to women and help them fulfil their destiny for themselves, their families and their nation through training, equipping and empowering.
About CFC
