We are starting off with a picture of the Dawson Mission Sunday School trip in the year 1955. The first thing that struck me about the photo is how the children are well dressed for this special occasion. This was obviously an important event in the social calendar for the residents of West Carron. There are as many adults as there are children and I assume that many of these are parents of the children. We can see the old-style coaches in the background. I started going to Sunday School in Stevenston a few years later and Sunday School trips were a 'big thing'. On a Saturday afternoon in June it was common to see Stevenston shore crowded with Sunday School trips from various parts of Ayrshire, Renfrewshire or Glasgow. I doubt very much if these children would have travelled as far as the wild west of Ayrshire. I have some other pictures of Sunday School trips and they are labelled as being at Burntisland in Fife. They must have crossed the Kincardine Bridge as this was before the M9 motorway and the Forth Road Bridge.
Don't know the date of this picture but I reckon that it is more recent judging from the way the children are dressed. The children are obviously enjoying being on the beach.
The price of the petrol given in decimal currency dates this picture after 15th February 1971.
I have been given access to a whole range of lantern slides which were used for illustrating Bible talks at the Mission as well as giving the words for the choruses and hymns which were being sung. I am impressed with the quality of the slides. I ran a Monday Club at Bethany Hall, Stevenston after 1982 but I did not have such high quality illustrations. I used an overhead projector and most of my slides were hand-printed on acetate with a stylus. By contrast, these slides are probably from the 1940s or the 1950s and they were produced professionally - the name Lizars (Opticians) is visible on some of them. This shows a real commitment to the work with children. In an age when televisions were in their infancy, or did not exist, the children would have been excited to see these colour images.
This is an illustration of Jesus healing the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman which is described in Matthew 15: 21-28.
This is from Holman Hunt's painting called the Light of the World. His title is based on John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. The artist portrays Jesus knocking at the door of an individual's heart. There is no handle because the handle was inside the door. The crucified Saviour will not force himself into a person's life against his or her wishes. He is waiting for us to open the door and let him in. We used to sing the chorus
At the heart's door the Saviour's knocking
At the heart's door, fast closed by sin.
Won't you hear him, gently knocking
Draw the bolt and let him in.
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