Our journey to CEF was never our intended goal! This may sound strange to some because this is where we are currently serving. Our journey or calling was firstly and always will be to God and to serve Him with all our heart soul mind and strength. Serving God amongst boys and girls is where we felt able. CEF, a children’s mission that we already knew something of, was who we approached and with whom we took the next step.
Our time with CEF started at the beginning of 2014 with a number of friendly and encouraging chats over coffee and dinner with CEF leadership. An ‘open door’ of opportunity lay in-front of us and an opportunity that we took together with faith given to us by God.
At this point too I should say that we both had well paid secure jobs in teaching and IT, and the thought of leaving these and the idea of working with a faith based mission was a big decision. Reassurance and wisdom from God, friends and our own church leadership however has proved faithful. From day one and until now God has provided everything we as a family have needed although that is not to say that there will never be a time of want (Philippians 4:11-13).
After having completed the CMLC in Kilchzimmer in 2014 and returned home we began to work alongside the Belfast team for our training period. Living in Mallusk, 10minutes outside Belfast, this was a practical area to be placed in and we were delighted! Declan and Amanda Curley, who we had trained with at Kilchzimmer were also placed as candidates in the Belfast area which was great as we were able to share experiences and help one another.
Coming into CEF as candidates and being part of CEF for the first time we both saw the commitment and responsibility of being part of the CEF family. It was clear to see the level of responsibility the organisation took to maintain its standards and ultimately effectiveness to spread the Gospel. This could be seen in the culture points, financial responsibility, child protection, regular workers meetings not to mention the Easter and Autumn conferences. The camp facilities that CEF have are a fantastic resource and exceeded all my expectations. The reporting and statistical work that is required provides a chain of accountability for the whole organisation and is used to plan for the future.
The working day and week are different to most secular jobs as we quickly found out. Evenings and weekends are often worked and the diary fills up quickly!
Candidacy can be a busy time, and although we were not directly responsible for running GNCs we were still going through a learning process of preparation and time management. We also had a desire to be involved in as much variety of the work as we could, to add to our learning. The summer was a busy time, with camps, 5DC’s. During this time the girls were able to come with us to some of the camps and for others stayed at home with family. It was a busy time but very rewarding and worthwhile.
As always we wanted to remember that our own personal relationship with God comes first. God doesn’t need us to fulfil His sovereign plan but He loves us enough to let us be part of it.
We have depended on Gods peace and sovereignty during our candidacy period and with faith continue to do so for the future. The candidacy or training period is an important part of coming into the work of CEF and we have enjoyed this time and hope to use what we have learned in the future.