Young people from all over Greystones came out this week to join in the fun and fellowship at Coolnagreina Summer Drop-In. Local youth leaders from the Church of Nazarene (Mark Murray) and Hillside Community Church (Jen Barrington) joined forces with the Coolnagreina staff (Jonathan Ellis, Clare Williams, Jessie Fabling and Rachel Morrell) to bring games, stories, crafts, music, testimonies, and the gospel message to the community’s youth.
Student guests and their professors from Moody Bible Institute (MBI) in Chicago, Illinois staying at Coolnagreina also joined in and brought their expertise to the event. Tuesday July 4th the group had a theme night and celebrated American Independence day with the MBI student with red, white and blue face paint and American football. Thursday night professor Brian Smith performed a magic show and concluded with his personal story in coming to faith. This evening the MBI students will perform a drama skit that asks students to look inside themselves and evaluate the state of their hearts.
Perfect weather every night this week allowed for games of football, volleyball, 4-square, frisbee, and other organized youth games. As well as a fire pit with American ‘smores’ and hot chocolate, tea and cookies.
An average of 30 kids per night showed up to the event and numbers steadily grew throughout the week as kids invited their friends to come join in the fun. The number of kids that came to the drop-in brings wind to the sails of Coolnagreina’s vision to start an onsite youth café.
by Jessie Fabling (General Support Worker)