Take 100 burgers....
TAKE 100 Burgers , the Euro 08 cup final, 30 children, pizza, Bible heroes and fruit salad - mix them all together and what do you get?
Answer: A summer programme run by the Church of the Pentecost , Mount Merrion in East Belfast. Mount Merrion has started reaching out to their neighbours in the Cregagh Estate, the vast majority of whom have no church connection.
Over June and July they have been running a special summer scheme for local residents - and it have put a smile on plenty of faces despite the poor weather.
The Euro 08 cup final saw the church give away food at half time in one of the packed venues where people gathered to watch the match and when Outreach worker, Steve Plumb, explained the food was a gift from the church they got a big round of applause. A few weeks later one of the men Steve met that evening made his front garden in Cregagh Estate available as the venue for a community BBQ enjoyed by over 60 people, with forty not having any church connection. 100 burgers and 80 sausages disappeared in a little over 2 hours. One local resident came back to the group when they were clearing up to thank them for an enjoyable evening.
Children's Worker Johnny Crymble ran a two week programme for children, with 27-30 children attending each day. They learnt new cookery skills - making Fruit Salad, Fruit Smoothies, Pizza (from scratch) and Flapjacks.
The second week modeled a Kids Klub programme that is planned to start in the autumn. This week focused on the Armour of God and looked at people in the Bible who are seen as Junior Heroes; the little boy who feed the 5000 and Samuel when God spoke to him about Eli. There were 30 children on average at this scheme. One of the girls said, 'Junior Heroes was amazing, I loved the games and the fun we had when the leaders played the games as well.'
Parents really appreciated the different programmes and one said, 'It's been brilliant that the kids are made feel so welcome, they just can't wait to get back the next morning.'
Anyone moving to Belfast looking for a church where they can make a real difference would be very welcome to join the small but growing congregation at Mount Merrion.