YWAM Enniskillen channel forgiving spirit of Gordon Wilson

People crossing paths on the staircase, others moving quickly from room to room.

Sophie Robinson, Ballinamallard and Abby Knoettgen, Kansas City USA.

There were warm ‘hellos’ and funny one-liners as the residents passed each other in the hallway, while voices and laughter could be heard coming from the kitchen as the lunchtime dishes were washed.

Although the decor and furnishings were just as they had been, the jovial atmosphere in the house was a far cry from the quietness of mourning I had experienced when I had first visited the house a few months prior, following the passing of its last resident, Joan Wilson.

Led into the living room, I was invited to sit down on the same olive-green velvet sofa that I had sat on as I chatted to Julie Anne Hassard, Gordon and Joan Wilson’s daughter, as she warmly paid tribute to her beloved late mother.

This time, I was surrounded by members of the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Enniskillen staff team, who are all so grateful to call the Wilson’s house their new home.

Kayton Ayaia, Texas USA, washing the pots and pans.

On the island of Ireland, YWAM has a special focus on peacebuilding and reconciliation in post-conflict nations.

Gordon Wilson

This focus aligns with the legacy of peace campaigner Gordon Wilson, who had famously said that he prayed for the bombers who had killed his 20-year-old daughter Marie in Enniskillen during the Remembrance Day bombing in 1987.

“The founder of YWAM Global, Loren Cunningham, an American man now in his late 80s, he has a book called ‘The Book that Transforms Nations’.

Martin Torres, Mexico, trimming the hedge.

“It’s to do with the Bible but in the opening chapter of it, he references Gordon Wilson,” said Sophie Robinson, a staff member of YWAM Enniskillen, who is originally from Ballinamallard but is now one of the 10 new residents of No. 8 Cooper Crescent, the Wilson family home.

The YWAM Enniskillen team was launched out of YWAM Rostrevor at the end of 2019. Led by Fivemiletown native Alex Atwell, a home and a base for the team was set up at a property on the Mullaghmeen Road, Enniskillen.

Sitting in the living room of the Wilson family’s home, Alex told The Impartial Reporter how earlier this year, when YWAM Enniskillen found themselves in the position of needing to find somewhere new to live, there was a part of him that wondered if this was “the end of the road” for the team in Fermanagh.

Eric Seip, Virginia USA, putting out cloths on the line.

“Whenever we found this house, it felt like God had a purpose for us here longer term,” he said, explaining that it was only after inquiring about No. 8 Cooper Crescent and then visiting it, that he discovered the connection with the Wilson family.

“We’re not at the end of the road. This is actually a new platform for us, a new season. The legacy of the Wilson family, their focus on forgiveness and peacemaking, we have the same focus so it just felt surreal and it felt right,” said Alex.

Sophie added: “Even from the first night that our staff stayed here, they felt at home. It’s really peaceful.”

As a guest to the house, having slept there for the first time the previous night, Karen Morgan confirmed this.

“I slept like a log,” she laughed, adding: “There is very much a sense that this is a peaceful place to be.”

Karen, who is originally from Northern Ireland, but is currently working with YWAM in Mexico, had travelled over to lead a talk on the topic of interpersonal relationships to the YWAM Enniskillen staff team and students of their Discipleship Training School (DTS).

This year, five students from across the world are taking part in the DTS, which started in July.

Musa Ncane, South Africia and Roberta Burton, Aughnacloy, stocking up the fridge with food.

“Our training is Christian discipleship but with an emphasis on forgiveness, reconciliation and peacemaking,” said Alex, explaining how during the DTS, guest speakers, like Karen, will lead sessions on topics related to these areas.

In October/November, the students will then go on a mission for two months to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Beirut, Lebanon, countries that have a similar history of division and conflict to Northern Ireland.

“We really hope that the things we’re bringing there will be helpful in terms of forgiveness and how to be a person of faith in an environment where faith has been often used as a way to divide people and to create tension and conflict,” he added.

YWAM Enniskillen has been running a DTS every year since launching in the Fermanagh area. Alex explained that even prior to moving into the Wilson’s home, Gordon Wilson’s legacy had been a focus of certain classes.

“None of us are connected to the [bombing] personally, but our ethos of peacemaking is completely connected in a sense,” said Alex, adding: “We have kind of accidentally become aligned with that.”

He continued: “The previous director of YWAM Ireland, he made a documentary and he uses this quote: ‘Religion is like fire and it warms, but fire also burns and we are the guardians of the flame’.

“So how we use our faith has the potential to warm people but it can also burn people if it’s misused and abused.

“I probably would see Gordon Wilson as one of those people who used his faith to warm and not to burn.

“He was a guardian of the flame,” said Alex.

John Stoll, from Switzerland helping out in the kitchen.

Looking to the future of YWAM Enniskillen, staff member Musa Ncane, who is originally from South Africa, said: “The hope is for young people, young adults, to see the gospel through different lenses.

“For me, when I joined YWAM Enniskillen, it was this idea of young people seeing more excitement in the Christian community.

“It’s kind of [sharing] the gospel in a different way, that is not too traditional because what I’ve noticed from being here is that the church can be too traditional for young people, so I think the DTS has been a sort of solution to [this], to actually get involved in the community.

“We’re dreaming of having community meals where we just invite people locally to come and have fellowship with us and just hear stories of peace and reconciliation.”

Sophie seconded this, adding: “Our hope too is to be able to connect people from different churches and to work along with churches that are doing great things locally.

“But we’re not a church, so we’re able to connect with people from different churches or who do not go to church. [People who are maybe not] comfortable in that setting, so we’re kind of fortunate that we can do that.”

So far, YWAM Enniskillen has hosted fellowship get-togethers in the house. Alex, as a musician, has also performed a small concert to an intimate audience in the living room, allowing music to fill the home again, a subtle ode to Joan Wilson’s musical legacy.

Before we left the warm and welcoming home, YWAM Enniskillen staff member Abby Knoettgen, who is originally from the USA, shared her thoughts.

She said: “Living here, I’ve really grown to appreciate [Gordon Wilson’s legacy].

“I was sitting over there watching an interview and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the chair that he was sitting in’.

“It just feels so real when you live here. I feel honoured to live here in a way,” she told this newspaper.