Table of Contents
✝️ Report on the Children’s Meeting at Carryduff Primary School
Tuesday 17th February 2026 – “The Little Maid and Her Best Advice”
(Third night of the 50th Anniversary Celebratory Meetings marking the beginning of the Killynure Road Children’s Meetings in February 1976)
The 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Killynure Road Children’s Meetings continued on Tuesday evening at the Carryduff Primary School Assembly Hall, where children, parents, and members of the fellowship met joyfully to give thanks for the Lord’s continued blessing across five decades of gospel work. The evening’s theme was “The Little Maid and Her Best Advice,” drawn from the story of Naaman in 2 Kings chapter 5.
🙏 Opening of the Meeting
The meeting opened with a warm welcome from Rev. McLaughlin, who thanked God for allowing everyone to meet again in peace and safety. Although numbers of children were smaller than the previous night, he reminded everyone graciously that “the Lord knows all about that.”
The first hymn was the well-known children’s chorus “A Ruler Once Came to Jesus by Night”, which fittingly reminds every hearer that “Ye must be born again.” Everyone stood for the hymn before Mr Anderson opened in prayer. He gave thanks for the Lord’s presence and asked that His Word would find a place in every heart, particularly among the young: “May we learn it, Lord, and hide Thy Word in our hearts, that we might not sin against Thee.”
🎶 Joyful Singing
The congregation then enjoyed several lively choruses which brought smiles to all ages:
- “A Way Far Beyond Jordan” — celebrating the believer’s hope of Heaven.
- “He Made the Stars to Shine” — led with great enthusiasm by Brother Chris Killen, who demonstrated the actions with joyful energy.
- “I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land that Outshines the Sun” — sung with heartfelt joy, filling the hall with vibrant voices.
Rev. McLaughlin commented afterwards that such choruses brought back happy memories for many who had attended or helped in the Children’s Meetings fifty years ago in the old Killynure Schoolhouse.
📖 Memory Verse – Proverbs 3:5‑6
The chosen memory verse for the evening was:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
Rev. McLaughlin explained that these words of King Solomon give timeless counsel for life — the key message of Scripture summed up in one command: “Trust in the Lord.”
Those gathered repeated the verse several times, each time with some words covered over, until they could say it perfectly without looking. One side of the hall competed against the other to see who could say it the loudest and clearest! The laughter and energy filled the evening with delight.
💬 Testimony – David Crawford
Brother David Crawford, aged 24, from Carryduff, gave a sincere and moving testimony of how the Lord saved him when he was a child.
He shared that although he grew up in a Christian home and attended children’s meetings and Sunday School, it was through a sermon preached by Rev. McLaughlin in the old meeting house that God truly convicted him of his sin. The preacher said plainly: “Not everyone on earth will be in Heaven — only those saved by the grace of God.”
That night the question “Where will you spend eternity?” stuck in David’s mind. After several days of thinking and speaking with his mother and grandmother, he knelt at his bedside and prayed, asking the Lord Jesus to forgive his sin and save him. He was only eight years old, yet the Lord heard that prayer.
David also spoke honestly about coldness in his teenage years when he chose the wrong friends, but during the COVID‑19 lockdowns God renewed his walk with Him. Since then, David has served in youth outreach, holiday Bible clubs, and even mission work in Romania and Kenya, as well as helping faithfully in Carryduff Free Presbyterian Church.
He closed by challenging the congregation:
“Where will you spend eternity — Heaven or Hell?”
The simplicity and directness of his message deeply touched everyone present.
📜 Bible Reading
Following the testimony, Brother Ryan Malone read 2 Kings 5:1–14, recounting Naaman’s healing from leprosy and the faithful witness of the little maid in his household.
🎶 Theme Chorus – “Rolled Away”
Everyone then took part in the week’s theme chorus, “Rolled Away,” full of cheerful motions that reminded everyone how Jesus rolled away their sins forever. The singing was joyful and full of energy.
Rev. McLaughlin followed with a short object lesson connected to the history of the Killynure Road Children’s Meetings. On the previous night, he had shown a slate portrait of the old Killynure Schoolhouse; tonight, he produced a school bell once used there to call the children in from playtime — much to the amusement of all. He promised a special prize on Thursday for any child who could name all four historic items revealed during the week.
📖 Message – Evangelist Chris Killen
Theme: “The Little Maid and Her Best Advice” (2 Kings 5)
Text: 2 Kings 5:1‑3
Evangelist Chris Killen then rose to bring the evening’s main message. He began by reminding everyone that for fifty years, the same simple gospel which changed lives in 1976 is still changing lives today. God still speaks through His Word, and He still uses little things — small moments, small people, small words — to accomplish His mighty work.
🕊 “God Uses Little Things”
He began gently, saying:
“Our God is not limited to great armies or famous preachers. He often works through little people, little words, and little deeds.”
He listed several of these “little things” in Scripture:
- A little man — Zacchaeus, who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus.
- A little lunch — the five loaves and two fishes that fed thousands.
- A little lad and a little maid — children who remind us that no one is too small for God to use.
He reminded the children that sometimes God’s greatest servants are quiet and unnoticed, like Edward Kimball, a Sunday School teacher who led D. L. Moody to the Saviour — and through Moody’s ministry millions have since heard the gospel.
“Never think you’re too small to serve the Lord,” Bro. Chris said. “When you place your life in His hands, He can use you more than you could ever dream.”
💔 Naaman’s Problem: A Great Man With an Incurable Disease
Turning to the passage, he painted a vivid picture of the mighty general Naaman — brave, successful, and admired by all, yet carrying a secret shame: “But he was a leper.”
He explained that leprosy in the Bible represents sin — often beginning as something small and almost unseen, yet spreading until it touches every part of life. Naaman’s wealth, uniform, titles, and victories could not save him. He needed a greater healing than the world could offer.
Bro. Chris told the boys and girls, “Just like Naaman, every one of us is born with sin in our hearts. You can hide it behind your clothes, your smile, your achievements, or even behind good religion — but only Jesus Christ can cleanse it away.”
💗 The Little Maid’s Wisdom and Faith
He then focused lovingly on “the little maid.” She was young, far from home, and a servant in a foreign land — yet she cared for her sick master. Instead of being bitter for the wrong done to her, she was kind, faithful, and courageous.
“This little girl didn’t complain. She didn’t grumble. She didn’t say, ‘He deserves his illness!’ Instead, she said, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! She wanted her master to know the same God she knew.”
He explained that this is what every Christian must do — speak kindly, care for others, and point them to the Saviour. “It doesn’t matter if you’re eight or eighty — if you know Jesus, you can tell someone else about Him.”
Her advice was the best advice anyone could ever give: “Go to the man of God. Go where the Word of God is preached. Go where God is.”
🌊 Naaman’s Pride and Humbling
Next, Bro. Chris described how Naaman at first went to the wrong place. He travelled with wealth and soldiers to the king of Israel, expecting a royal welcome and healing through rank and power. But the king could do nothing — a reminder that no earthly authority, no religion, no ceremony can save a sinner.
When Naaman eventually came to the prophet Elisha’s house, he waited proudly outside the door expecting honour and attention. But Elisha didn’t even come out! He sent his servant with a simple message: “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thou shalt be clean.”
Naaman was furious — he thought the Jordan River was dirty and the command beneath his dignity.
“That,” Bro. Chris said, “is the picture of a proud sinner who wants salvation on his own terms. He wants to be made clean — but he doesn’t want to bow his heart.”
Yet the prophet’s message was God’s way — faith and obedience. His servants reasoned with him gently: ‘If the prophet had asked you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it?’ Finally, Naaman humbled himself, went down into the muddy Jordan, dipped seven times, and immediately his flesh was restored “like the flesh of a little child.”
✝️ The Gospel Message in the Story
Evangelist Killen emphasised that salvation today is no different. “The river has changed — but the remedy remains the same. You must humble yourself, admit your sin, and come to the Saviour.”
“Naaman couldn’t buy healing with all his silver and gold, and you can’t buy salvation with good works or religion. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can wash away sin. The proud perish, but the humble receive mercy.”
He called the gospel “the best news in the world” — that Christ died on the cross in our place, bore our punishment, and rose from the dead to give eternal life. Like Naaman after his washing, a sinner who comes to Jesus leaves completely clean.
💬 A Modern Testimony of Hope
To show that God still works today, Bro. Chris told a moving story from his ministry. Ten years ago, he and another brother in the Lord helped a young woman trapped in addiction. She was expecting a baby and utterly hopeless — but they shared Jesus with her. Years later, her little daughter attended a mission camp run by the church, and there, that girl trusted the Lord as her Saviour.
“That’s the fruit of a single seed sown,” he said. “We helped her mother years ago, and God saved her child years later. So, never give up. Keep praying. Keep sowing the gospel seed. God still uses the smallest word, the smallest act, the smallest person.”
🙌 Closing Reflections
As he finished, Bro. Killen repeated his main thought once more:
“The Lord uses little people with big hearts. You can be that little maid in your school, in your home, in your workplace — telling others that only Jesus can make them clean.”
The hall was quiet; many adults looked deeply moved, all listened with wide eyes. The message ended with prayer and the solemn reminder that tonight might be the night someone must come to Christ personally.
🕊 Closing Hymn and Prayer
The meeting closed with the hymn “I Love to Tell the Story.” The voices blended sweetly on the chorus, “’Twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.”
Rev. McLaughlin thanked Evangelist Killen warmly for his faithful preaching and reminded everyone to return the next night for “The Little Boy and His New Coat.” After making brief announcements about future speakers, he closed in prayer:
“Lord, we thank Thee for Thy presence tonight—for the little maid’s courage, for the Word preached, for the children gathered. Bless all who have heard. Help us to go out and tell others of the Saviour who cleanses and saves. Keep us safe until we meet again.”
As people left, the atmosphere was joyful yet thoughtful — thankful for another night of truth from God’s Word, and deeply moved by the reminder that God still uses little hands, little lives, and little voices to do His great work.
🌟 Summary
The Tuesday evening meeting at Carryduff Primary was filled with reverence, joy, and gospel simplicity. The faithful example of the little maid reminded everyone that God still uses small voices and humble obedience to perform great works.
As the 50th Anniversary celebrations continue, hearts are rejoicing in the same message first proclaimed in February 1976 at the old Killynure Schoolhouse —
**“Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” **
