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Award winning resources developed for local drug education projects by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland are being used by a church missionary in Romania.
Nigel Craig, originally from 1st Presbyterian Church in Newtownards, has been working amongst the ethnic Hungarian population of Romania teaching English. His work is concentrated amongst students in the Reformed Church College, Oradea, many of whom are training as teachers, social workers and musicians.
Using the "Score" video which won the acclaimed Andrew Cross award in 1999 and was produced by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Nigel is encouraging English students to find out more about the danger of alcohol and drug abuse. Nigel is also using the "Get Real" information pack which was produced by drugs charity Hope UK and used by Presbyterians in a volunteer scheme working with drug abusers and their families around Northern Ireland and Dublin. He comments:
"There is so little in the way of clear drug information here in Romania. Drug and alcohol abuse is also a major problem around Eastern Europe, many of the graduates who leave this college will encounter this menace in their professional lives. I have found the material produced in Ireland very adaptable to the circumstances here and hope that it will have a beneficial impact on the students."
In a seperate development, the Presbytery of Ballymena have called Presbyterians from thorughout the area to prayer in reponse to growing concern about the drug situation in the district. The prayer meeting which will take place in Kells Presbyterian Church, Tuesday 21st March at 7.30pm has been organised by Rev Brian Boyd, who states; "We believe that God alone holds the answer to this problem, our weapons are spiritual, not temporal."
Issued by Martin McNeely, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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