What a fantastic event to be part of! The hall and garden were bursting with people, eggs, crafts, cakes and Easter joy! It was brilliant to host so many families from the local community on Easter weekend.
And everyone sat so well to hear the Easter story too – the big ‘keep-out’ curtain between us and God was torn in two! It’s such wonderful good news!
Do join us at church services and events to discover how this access to God works – we’d love to explore it with you!
Latest News and Prayer Update from Neema Children’s Home
In this letter they send Easter greetings, and share news of time spent bonding whith the children whilst the schools are out. They ask for prayers in finding the right secondary school for 5 of their children and encourage us with their godly responses to the truths of the Bible.
They also include, “The reason Neema exists is because of children who would otherwise not have somewhere to call home and possibly no one to call dad and/or mum. When children come to Neema, we ensure that they feel welcome and valued. Thankfully, we have testimony to that effect.” Praise God!
48 hours of continuous prayer
Christ Church and St. Michael’s are praying for 48 continuous hours in this special Holy Week, and as Ukraine suffers. From noon on Wednesday 13th until noon on Good Friday (15th)
People sign up for 1-hour slots and are given the contact details of the next person praying in order to hand over to them by call or text. You’ll receive the same handover from the person before you.
Please volunteer for a slot on one or both days and play your part. This is being co-ordinated by Bob Jarvis who can be contacted on barnstonbob@yahoo.com – if you include a mobile phone number Bob will contact you by text to let you know your slot.
News & Prayer Update from our Mission Partner – Diego Pacheco
At the Iglesia Christo Redentor, Vitacura they have started an adventure in the gospel of Luke for 2022. We pray for the preachers and the congregation that the time spent in Luke will be of great blessing to the church and community.
They are also preparing candidates for confirmation later this year. We praise God for this and pray for candidates and course leaders through their preparation and for many to come to Christ through the witness of these confirmations.
On April 10th Iglesia Christo Redentor is 3 years old and the church will be celebrating with a Community Roast. We pray this will bring people together from within and without the church and be a fantastic celebration of God’s goodness as well as a great witness to the community.
We have launched our Pray for Ukraine page on this website, with some ideas to help those who cannot find the words to express our desires and feelings to God, along with some Bible passages to spend time in and an encouragement to cry out without words.
There will also be periodic updates from the team co-ordinating our response as a church and those local people able to travel to the Ukraine border with aid.
Hope Springs Eternal! Our Easter Programme for 2022
A global pandemic, climate crisis, rising living costs, and conflict raging on our continent. Recent times have been unsettling to say the least. We may have been shaken, left anxious, grieved, wearied. Life feels fragile – how do we keep it safe? Is there anything that can offer genuine security?
The claim of the Christian faith is that Jesus can do just that. By his death and resurrection that first Easter, he conquered our greatest foe and transformed the present life and future destiny of his people. If true, it writes ‘hope’ over everything.
Join us as we look again at this ‘good news’, consider its credibility, and celebrate the security Jesus invites everyone to rest on. Could it be that even in the face of our frailty, hope springs eternal?
Big RE Day
It was a great pleasure to host a Big RE Day last week for around 180 Year 3 pupils (7-8 year-olds) at St Michael’s. The day which was hosted in partnership with Thingwall Primary School and LTLRE (Learn, Teach, Lead RE) had a theme of Beliefs, Belonging and Identity. There were three sessions for every child to enjoy run by our CYaF worker John Putman, Richard Dodd from Hebron Chapel in Liscard, and Kate Silcock of Flourish Tutoring. Activities included wellbeing and positive mindset training; learning how Christians view the unique identity of each person using their fingerprint, and learning how what Christians believe (especially the Easter story) shapes how they belong together and how they try to live their life. This session focused on our two stained glass windows at St. Michael’s.
The pictures show a flower made up of Prayer Petals in the colours of the Ukraine Flag as pupils responded to stimuli about prayer and considered their hopes for the end of war; and the fingerprint art activity.
Tales that Tell the Truth
If anyone is looking to pass on the wonderful truth about Jesus as well as an Egg to children this Easter why not get them a tale that tells the truth. I can’t recommend this popular series of Children’s Bible storybooks enough. The series is still growing and currently numbers 13 books but each one stands alone as a fantastic way to share Jesus with children.
The books are available as colouring and activity books and in some cases, board books for even younger children. The Good Book Company who publish them even provide a download of the illustrations so I can read these stories in assemblies and church events while showing the pictures on a big screen to all who are listening. At present you can buy the books for £7.64 each or a whole set for just under £60 from www.thegoodbook.co.uk/series/tales-that-tell-the-truth
CAP Mornings – with Mission Partner, Jess Parkhouse
Our Mission Committee Rep for Christians Against Poverty partner Jess Parkhouse is Sam Brassey, who has been able to secure a visit for us from Jess in the coming weeks.
Jessica Parkhouse will be joining us, explaining her role for CAP on the Wirral, and how we as a Church support her in her position.
Jess will be at the 10:30 service at Christ Church on the 27th of March and the 09:30 service at St. Michael’s on the 10th of April. Please put the date in your diary to make sure you are there to find out more about the work of CAP in Wirral and to find out how you can engage more with our Mission Partners.
Latest News and Prayer Letter from Mission Partner – Sena and Jane Ounate-Lare Church planting in Caen, France& chance to join them on Zoom
Please click here for the full text of our recent letter from Sena and Jane. It contains much more news and information to feed our prayers.
Greetings from France. As a family we are all doing well. We are glad that our son Joshua has settled well in his first year at university and is enjoying his engineering course. He is the first one to leave the family nest and it wasn’t easy for Jane and I.
Over the last few months, by God’s grace we have been able to work through the changes that have affected our status as missionaries in France. We have found working solutions and are grateful for the wise advice of others. Thank you for all your prayers.
We are persevering with the ministry here even though it is challenging – France is a difficult mission field. We are excited that in the last few weeks God has brought several people to us in whose lives he is clearly at work.
Thank you for your partnership, support and prayers. Love from Sena and Jane
The next Crosslinks online prayer meeting is taking place next Monday, 21 March from 7 – 8pm UK time. Sena and Jane Ounate-Lare will join from France to speak about their work and share their current prayer needs then the group will break into smaller groups to pray. It’s a great way to stay connected and be a part of global mission from your home.
To join, enter the following details into Zoom: Meeting ID: 880 1409 6753 Passcode: 206421 or email johnputman@barnston.info for a zoom link.
Prayer and News Update from our Mission Partner – Neema Children’s Home, Eldoret, Kenya
Greetings from Neema. We pray and trust you are all kept of the Lord despite life’s challenges. The Lord is good indeed, He is loving and gracious. All the children, except for Johnston and Boniface who are sitting for their end of High School exam are home for the long end-of-year holiday. Some of the children have been released to be with their relatives during this holiday period as directed by the government.
The mercies of God have followed us. God has truly been faithful to us. A few days ago, the government relaxed the C-19 restrictions. One reason we are thanking God is that God has faithfully protected all the children even those whose immunity is compromised. Also, all the caregivers have been keeping well including Miriam and I for which we are thankful to God.
Please click here for the full text of Joshua and Miriam’s latest news letter and to find out how to pray for Neema more specifically
Induction of Chris Slater as Vicar of this Parish
Sunday March 13th 2022 saw the induction and collation of Rev. Chris Slater as Vicar of Christ Church Barnston with St Michael’s Pensby.
It was a joyous occasion for the church to mark the beginning of Chris and Imogen’s time serving this parish. We echo this prayer, spoken by the Bishop of Chester during the service:
Almighty Father, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified, hear our prayer for your servant, Chris, that he may be strengthened in your service and filled with love for your people. As a faithful priest and true disciple of your Son, the good Shepherd, may he preach your Word, minister the sacraments, care for your people, and lead them in prayer and in mission, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Women’s Breakfast with Amanda Naves, Director of Interns at Biblical Counselling UK
On Sat 5th March, between 50 and 60 women from St Michaels and Christ Church sat down to a sumptuous cooked breakfast alongside a selection of yogurt, fruit and cereal. It was very good to catch up with old friends and welcome new. After explaining a bit about herself (and confirming her accent was indeed Canadian!), Amanda gave us a brief insight into what Biblical Counselling actually is and her role within it. She then drew from her experience to both challenge and encourage us by speaking about perfectionism. We were helped to identify characteristics of perfectionism and it was humbling to recognise a number of these traits within ourselves.
She didn’t leave us there but helped us understand what are the particular influences are on us and the particular dynamics of our heart which can cause us to respond in certain ways. Amanda then helped us to bring Christ to bear in our struggle of perfectionism. It was very free-ing to be reminded that our identity is not rooted in our performance anymore because of Jesus and that we can dwell on the reality that we are united to the perfect one.
Finally we were encouraged to keep going, recognising that biblical change takes place of time “ We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way; the process is not yet finished, but it has begun; this is not the goal but it is the road; at present all does not gleam and glitter, but everything is being purified” Martin Luther.
Do come and join us at our next Women’s Breakfast on 2nd July when our very own Christa Trollope will be coming to speak to us.
NB Handouts from the session are available. If you were unable to come but would like a handout, please contact joannahill@barnston.info
Induction Service for The Reverend Chris Slater | Sunday 13 March
This will take place at 7pm at St Michael’s. Spaces are limited, so please contact Cecelia as soon as possible if you’d like to attend – we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
The service will be live streamed to Christ Church. Please let Cecelia know if you plan to attend at Barnston, to help us organise refreshments after the service. Let’s share in this important event together, as a Church family in person, at one of the two Church buildings! If you can’t attend in person, please don’t worry, the service will also be accessible at home through our YouTube Channel.
