A little about Adam and Andy…
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Name: Adam Eakin
From: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Name: Andrew Brown
From: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Adam’s Interview
My name is Adam Eakin and I am nineteen, from Belfast. I have one brother and one sister who are both at university. I enjoy football, Ju-Jitsu and any other sport that I get the chance to play! I am currently taking a year out and am working in Jims youth centre through an organisation called Youth For Christ.
Andy’s Interview
My name is Andrew Brown, I am twenty-one, and I am from North Belfast. My interests include: playing football, go-karting, studying and debating theology, and eating good food! I have two sisters and three brothers. I have just finished studying for a degree in theology and philosophy at Queen’s University in Belfast. I am delighted to be chosen by God to serve him this year in Kilkeel!
My Year in Kilkeel
I still think a lot about the different people I met last year in Kilkeel. In many ways, it was the best time of my life. Not just because I had a “great time” with everyone, which I did. It was also the best time because, through all the events and experiences, I found God. Let me explain.
I came to Kilkeel with a lot of theology, or at least a lot of “right answers”, from my background. But I wasn’t so good at relating to other people. So one of the reasons I did y-1 was to develop the social side of my personality. I got more hopeful about this whenever I came to recognise a very deep-rooted problem in me of thinking myself to be better than others. Of course I am better, I would assure myself. I was counting on it. But I was slowly becoming convinced that I did not need or want to have this dark side of religion in my life. As it turned out, this ‘superiority’ was simply a cover I used to hide the rubbish image I had of myself, for fear that that image would get “found out.”
So the year was really a journey of coming to terms with myself. At the same time, it was also a journey of coming to terms with Jesus. I began to see him for who he really was, and is. I had no doubt who was the superior one then. Jesus really is the best. I can’t describe how good a feeling it was to know that, while I concentrated on loving and serving others, I could count on him to make my life a success. And in doing this I didn’t need to know what others thought about me, because I knew who I really was. I was with God—and that was all I needed. Really.
So I then began to recognise the natural and unique beauty of every person in JIMS. I began to see what each had to give, to me and to the world. Perhaps I could even make a unique impression on their lives—by just being myself. Probably for the first time I found myself actually loving others. I seen a little “bit” of God in each of them, and so I began to actually love God too.
Now, after y-1, I’m getting new challenges. For example, how to love my family, or how to communicate truth. For a few months after y-1 I experienced a new sense of freedom (nothing to do with being released from section five, of course!). I mean I had a deep sense of peace about my life, I felt at ease with other people, and I had more joy than ever. I can now identify with those bible verses. They’re not just about Peter’s story or Paul’s. This is my story! And it’s about God’s glory.
Of course it wasn’t all as simple as that. But you get the gist.