Articles

A Passion for People, as told to Mary Dwyer, by Noel Kenny, Rialto Community Church

It was only weeks after Noel and Sharon found Christ that they began full-time ministry, and they haven’t stopped for the past 17 years. “We had to tell everybody”, Sharon says, and that began in their own community, with kids’ clubs, right in their own sitting room. These clubs grew until there were children everywhere, seated on every possible surface of the room…wanting to know about the Jesus that the Kenny’s had found. From the beginning, God has led them to be a part of their community, to laugh and cry with their neighbours, to be involved in community committees, buildings, and businesses, and to fill needs that weren’t already being filled. 

Like places for teens to hang out.  Noel believes you have to be with them, not just talk to them. Rialto Community Church, where Noel and Sharon are leaders, has seen lots of teens saved.  They have also had to bury young teenagers.  Recently, Noel was at the local church at such a funeral, down in the back, in a church from which he previously had been barred.  But the new priest approached him and said, “I hear you’re a big man around here.” Noel replied that he didn’t know about being a big man, but he had a big heart of love for Dolphin’s Barn; and gave his testimony to the priest. Almost immediately someone came up to speak to Noel, and Noel gave HIS testimony to the priest. One after another, people from the community came up the Noel and shook his hand and thanked him for the part the church had had in their lives. That priest saw the power and the love of God that day. 

Later, RCC had a memorial service for that young man, at their R2E (Return to Eden) café, a café for youth. The team at the café bought a Man Utd. jersey which 150 teenagers who had come to the service, signed; and it was framed and will be presented to the mother at an upcoming fashion show on the 1^st-2nd of November. This fashion show is being put on to help raise funds for this family, as three weeks after this young man was buried, his 26 year-old brother died of cancer, and they are trying to help this widow with her burial bills. At that café, many teens gathered to remember their young friend, and these young people, who are never allowed to cry in their culture, were able to weep for their friend. A safe place in the neighbourhood.  

RCC has opened a new youth café in the old Fatima Mansions (which will mean they will automatically be allowed to open one in the new Fatima Mansions).  There was a day, when Noel grew up, that the Fatima kids and the Dolphins’ Barn kids would not mix.  But RCC has had events where you see those from Dolphins’ Barn and Fatima Mansions having fun in the same room!  Another safe place. 

Youth have rarely aspired to go to college in the area where the Kenny’s grew up. College was a place for other kids, some other part of Irish society, but not for them.  But what if the meaning of “college” was transformed?  RCC started using the word “college” to describe any furthering of education. Noel said, “Part of this would consist of going for literacy classes, which we termed “going to college”. At one of our kids’ clubs, we asked the kids what their dreams were. It was great to hear their aspirations in life. I was bringing them to a place were I could address schooling, and said to them, ‘You would have to go to college to fulfil those dreams.’ I asked each of them from both clubs, boys and girls, if any of their family or cousins had gone to college. We had one who had a cousin who had gone to college. So we endeavoured to have young people come and talk about college, and in doing so take away the fear and lack of belief in themselves. You see, this was then confirmed by lots of mothers who were going to English classes etc, so when the kids asked mammy “Where are you going?” they were told that they were going to college. From there, our café team has been doing "grinds" with some of the youth and they did well in their Junior Cert this year.”  A community’s vocabulary and values can be transformed when the church permeates the community. 

What impact can a church have on its local businesses?  Because of events in Dolphin’s Barn, the bank, shops and other businesses started moving out of the community.  The church began to pray about this situation, to pray for these businesses.  The community needed these shops and banks! One of RCC’s ideas was to give pre-wrapped muffins in baskets, and take them around to the businesses close by. The message was “We’re praying for the prosperity of your business in our community.” And this ministry has had its effect; it has changed the climate for business in Rialto.

Recently, RCC has actually had to stop a ministry to the homeless in their community.  At one time, there were some in the church that wanted to go down to the canal every Thursday night to give soup and sandwiches to the homeless there.  Relationships developed and the gospel message was both acted and spoken. So why would a church stop such a ministry? Very simply, because today there are no more homeless in the area. Every one of these people has found homes, and some have found Jesus. Noel mentioned, “On New Year’s Day, we hold our annual dinner where we invite all those who can be contacted to a meal/fellowship and a bit of sing song.”  

One month, the church focussed on evangelism and began to divide into evangelism teams. Each team had to think up a creative way to evangelise, and come up with all that was needed to implement their idea.  One of the teams decided to visit a near-by shopping centre, where they set up a table. Noel relates what they did, “With two boxes covered with our church logo, some cards with ten lines on them, this was our prayer request table. People came along out of curiosity, and some came and said they couldn’t believe that we would care enough. Without exaggeration, we promised we would pray for all their needs on a certain date. They could sign their name if they wanted, but we prayed for thousands of requests, people trusted us with their deepest needs, and we brought these petitions to our Father in heaven, who could do something about their needs. We thought and prayed that the least that people would know is that we love them enough to go and pray for them, but the joy of it all is, that love is not the least, it’s the greatest.”

Speaking of their church experience, Noel says, “There are no sacred cows.  When something isn’t working, we throw it out.” He says they’ve made lots of mistakes and put on events that turned out to be dead ducks, where no one attended. And have had their share of sorrows.  As already mentioned, they see a lot of deaths in their community.  One young girl recently died, the day before she was to meet up with Noel to chat with him about what was on her heart. Why does this hurt so much?   

Because Jesus gives those in RCC a passion for people.  For every kind of person.  Recently, I heard Noel say that if we are to be like Jesus, we will have a passion for people.  And he gave a list of people, beginning with the letters A-Z, whom the church needs to be passionate about.  It was humorous, but it also brought tears to my eyes. Because he spoke about the down-and-outs, the misshapen, the corrupt, the destitute, the addicts, the corporate businessmen, the babies, the rebellious, the hard-hearted, the faint-hearted, the ugly and the beautiful… and I thought, this is the heart of Jesus towards his creation.  He sends his children into their communities, fired by his passion for all kinds of people.  And if they allow him to use them there, the community cannot remain unchanged.  Let it be so.