�Precious Memories�

Pictured at the final service at Beanstown Mission Hall are L to R: Jim Hamilton, Derek Greenaway, Rev Ronnie McCracken, Trevor Matthews, Margaret Sharkey, Robert Watson, Rosemary Campbell and Wesley Campbell.	Robert Watson pictured welcoming the large crowd of well-wishers to the final service at Beanstown Mission Hall.

Beanstown Mission Hall, on the Beanstown Road, Pond Park was packed for a thanksgiving and final service on Sunday afternoon 27th July. The hall will regrettably soon be demolished due to major road reconstruction in the area.

Faithful committee members have maintained the hall and arranged speakers and singers for the many gospel missions and meetings held over the years. The current committee members are Mr Robert Watson and his sister Mrs Margaret Sharkey and the special service provided the opportunity for them and many others to give thanks for the faithful Christian witness carried out in the hall over 88 years.

Jim Hamilton opened the meeting in prayer. Robert Watson led the service and in welcoming everyone, thanked friends for the support given. He said that sadly no more meetings would be held in Beanstown but added that meetings would continue in other mission halls. Although numbers in recent years have been small, he gave thanks for the many meetings and times of fellowship held in the hall for a long number of years. Robert went on to give thanks for his Christian upbringing under Godly parents who had been faithful members of the Beanstown Prayer Union for about 70 years and said that in his home, at the age of just 11, he trusted the Lord as his personal Saviour. A keen writer of Christian verse, Robert concluded by sharing one of his poems which both he and Margaret felt was an appropriate way to end the closing chapter in this important milestone in the history of Beanstown Mission Hall.

As we think of days gone by
And these days how time does fly
Think of where your soul will be
In the long, long Eternity.

So come to Jesus, He�ll be your friend
For in His Word you can depend
He will wash away your sin
If to your heart you let Him in.

Oh listen to the Saviour�s plea
For on Calvary He died for thee
And in Heaven He wants you to share
Of the joys and glory there.

Margaret Sharkey gave thanks for many happy memories of the hall where both she and Robert received much of their childhood Christian education and where they have had the privilege to serve the Lord as committee members. She also gave thanks for the Christian influence of her parents and for former Beanstown organist Mrs Violet Wallace who held the well-attended children�s meetings on Friday evenings. Margaret recalled the special service held each year when all the children took part saying, �It was in those early years I came to trust Christ as my personal Saviour and I will never cease to praise Him for all He has done for me�.

The preacher was the Rev Ronnie McCracken. In his address he spoke of how God makes everything beautiful in His time and emphasised the need to make every day count for eternity. Ronnie said that this important milestone at Beanstown is not the end - the work will go on and that at the great reunion we will see Jesus face-to-face. Using the words of the hymn that followed, he concluded by saying, �God be with you till we meet again�.

Rosemary Campbell presided at the organ. The hymns were, �To God be the glory� and �God be with you till we meet again�; soloist Derek Greenaway sang �The old fashioned church� and �Precious memories�.

Pictured at the final service at Beanstown Mission Hall is Mrs Violet Wallace whose late husband Andy was a founder member. Included in the photo are her son Paul, daughter Eileen and granddaughter Amy	Pictured at the final service at Beanstown Mission Hall are lifelong members Miss Lily Abbott, Mrs Peggy Montgomery, Mr Wesley Campbell and Mrs Maud Clarke.

During the service, 95-year-old Wesley Campbell, the sole surviving founder member of the Beanstown fellowship, gave a brief history of the mission hall. He recalled that in the early 1900s, Mr William Orr, a member of Magheragall Presbyterian Church began holding afternoon meetings in the living room of his home at Ivy Hill Cottage on the Ivy Hill, Derriaghy. When he moved to a small farm at Beanstown he had no room on his farm large enough to hold meetings so he approached a Miss Boomer, and asked for permission to rent part of a hand loom weaving shop in a row of buildings on the Beanstown Road. She approved and a Sunday afternoon Gospel Meeting commenced there in about 1920. Very soon this meeting place became too small so he rented the room next to it and took down the dividing wall making one large room. Wesley went on to explain that in October 1923, the Faith Mission Pilgrims were invited to hold a Gospel Mission in the hall. Led by Miss Joan Harper from Scotland, the six-week Mission was so popular that separate meetings were held for children in order to accommodate the numbers of adults attending. During the Mission the fellowship at Beanstown witnessed a �Mini Revival� and as a result of this, the Prayer Union was formed. Wesley concluded by giving thanks for many happy memories at the Mission Hall including his most special memory of all when on 26th October 1923, at the age of just 10, he became a Christian during a gospel mission held in the hall, led by Faith Mission Pilgrims.

Also expressing thanks were Faith Mission Director Trevor Matthews and former Faith Mission Director William Porter, who also recalled precious memories of gospel missions and other special meetings held at Beanstown down through the years.

28/07/2008