Summer News and Prayer Update from our Mission Partner(s) Dave Casson and Lucy Slavin working at St. Peter’s, Rock Ferry
Please pray for particularly for:
Our holiday club at the end of the month for primary age children. It’s based on the story of Joseph, and we will be having lots of fun in an Egyptian setting. Please pray for good numbers of children (we have over 20 now and would like maybe 40ish), for the leaders (we have a great team coming together), and for the contact with families. We are inviting them all to a holiday club service followed by BBQ on the Sunday.
For Lucy and me as we review our work with young people and how to move forward after the holidays. We are not certain now how best to structure the groups with the limited leadership that we have, so wisdom and a couple more leaders would be good!
The team at the Barn (Church Plant). We have a core of 25 coming along most weeks, and we would value prayer as we think about initiatives to reach out more into the immediate area around the school.
Thank you, Dave & Lucy
News & Prayer Update from Mission Partners – Joshua and Miriam Mbithi at Neema Children’s Home, Eldoret, Kenya
The newsletter contains lots of updates about the Neema School as well as many of the children we have prayed for for a number of years.
The school system in Kenya is undergoing a major change which changes life for many children in January and the way that the Neema school itself runs.
News and Prayer Update from our Mission Partner – Jess Parkhouse working with CAP Wirral
We held a CAP BBQ event on Saturday 16th July in Christ Church Vicarage garden. There were roughly about 80 people that attended including children/teenagers.
The weather was fantastic and it had a really good relaxed vibe throughout the day with great food, games & socialising, and the feeling was everyone who attended had a great time. It is so good to be able to offer practical and personal help to our Mission Partners as well as pray for them and send money.
In other CAP News –
Jessica Parkhouse is becoming the CAP Wirral Debt Centre Manager from September with Moira taking a temporary debt coaching role.
CAP Wirral are currently supporting over 50 families in the area and there is still a need for befrienders to join CAP Wirral. If anyone is interested in finding out more information, please contact Cecelia in the office.
Moira & Jessica would like to thank the congregation of Christ Church & St Michael’s for their ongoing generosity and support and for hosting a brilliant CAP BBQ event. The support is appreciated and benefitting families across the Wirral.
Baptism of Ivy Twist
It was wonderful to welcome Ivy into the family of Christ at her baptism on Sunday 17th July and as a church we receive her with joy!
As we rejoice together we also pray for Ben and Alisha and Ivy’s Godparents and we stand with them in their promises to help her to take her place within the life and worship of Christ’s Church.
Women’s Breakfast with Christa Trollope
Romans 8: 28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
On Sat 2nd July between 50 and 60 women from St Michaels and Christ Church sat down to a delicious cooked breakfast and had the opportunity to catch up with friends before Christa Trollope, our speaker for the day, was introduced. Romans 8 v 28 is a promise from the Bible which has been a great encouragement to Christa throughout her life and one to which Christa bears witness.
Please click here to read a longer report about the events and stories of the morning and to get a preview of the speaker for our next Womens’ Breakfast in October
Parish BBQ
God gave us wonderful weather for our Parish BBQ on Sunday, and the church family had a great time enjoying well-cooked food and sun-baked fellowship together.
There’s nothing like a church family for diverse intergenerational love and commitment to one another, all with our Lord Jesus Christ in common. In the morning services we had reflected on being ‘living Stones being built into a Spiritual house’, and then we went into the garden and put it into practice.
It was also brilliant to be able to share some extended time with two of our Mission Partners. Sena and Jane Ounate-Lare planting churches in Caen, Normandy with Crosslinks and Dave Casson/Lucy Slavin (and their families!) living out the love of Jesus in Rock Ferry, Wirral. It is wonderful when we can make our partnerships in mission personal!
We long to take the energy we get from great times together like this into the everyday, as we live out our lives together as a spiritual house in this parish, Making Jesus known and growing together in Him!
It is encouraging to meet and talk with other Christians
Hebrews 3:13 reads, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called, “today”, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
On Thursday 7th of July Parish Administrator Cecelia Oliver and Assistant Warden for Christ Church, Lois Millington, were enjoying the 2022 Eisteddfod in Llangollen when they spotted Terry Waite CBE. Cecelia remembered praying for Terry whilst he was held captive in Beirut in the 1980/90s and felt prompted to speak with him.
She said, “You are living proof that God answers prayer. I was one of thousands who prayed for you. God bless you!” Terry replied, “Thank you very much! Bless you.”
This short interaction was a great encouragement and reminder that God is at work! So, encourage one another daily!
News & Prayer Update from our Mission Partners – Dave Casson & Lucy Slavin St. Peter’s, Rockferry
Hello all at Barnston Parish, thank you so much for your continued support in prayer. Here is a small update of things to pray for to help grow God’s kingdom and of ways God has been good to us in Rockferry:
Kidzone, the primary school age midweek group at the Church building and at the Barn, has got very stable numbers of children who want to come and are eager to learn more about King Jesus. It has become more settled and has regular attendees, one of which tried the service at the Barn this week. A few weeks ago we held a jubilee party at the Barn and many of the children from these groups came along with people from the surrounding area.
We are planning to do a holiday club in August for one week. On the Sunday after we will hold a holiday club service with a BBQ after to encourage families to join us on a Sunday morning.
Sunday club, another primary age group held during 3/4 services a month in the Church building, is very positive at the moment. Although it has its struggles only having 3/4 children most weeks, it surprises me that I have the privilege to have a more in depth and challenging conversations with the children. They now encourage & challenge each other to stand up for Jesus in school. It would be nice for more children to attend but I’m keeping my heart thankful for who we do have.
Please pray for our visiting preachers. And that we keep getting them.
Little Stars our parent and child group is low on numbers but again conversations are great. Please pray that we will get who God sends and be happy for it. That God would use the group to grow His kingdom.
Love in Christ, Dave and Lucy
Chris Murphy and Margaret Greenwood at the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast
“On Tuesday 5 July I attended the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast at Westminster Hall with our local MP, Margaret Greenwood. The event was organised by Bible Society and the aim was to raise the profile of the Christian faith in the public arena.”
“It was great to see Christians from a range of denominations and across the spectrum of Christian practice meeting with MPs, from every political party, and praying for the persecuted church, for religious freedom, for those in government, and for our local communities.”
“The keynote address was given Rev’d Les Isaac OBE who set up the Street Pastors Initiative in 2003. He spoke about how sometimes unbelievers may not like Christian beliefs but that when Christians live out their faith in humility, and with gentleness and respect, we can have a profound effect on our community and gain a certain credibility amongst those who may be suspicious of Christianity.”
Chris also provides details of how you can watch or listen to excerpts from the breakfast and subsequent seminars on you tube or Premier Christian Radio.
News and Prayer update from our Mission Partner – Neema Children’s Home
Joshua and Miriam testify to the goodness of God in providing for them despite difficult circumstances such as the effects of climate change. Please do read, download, print and pray for Neema.
Book Review:The Heart of Anger by Christopher Ash and Steve Midgley
Would you like to become more skillful and humble in the face of your own anger or wish you would respond differently to the anger of others?
We all struggle with anger at times. The triggers that set off anger may vary but the rage that is triggered always reveals in some way what the angry person truly values and treasures. Anger rises in my heart when something I value is threatened or taken from me. The Bible particularly highlights four kinds of treasure whose loss or threatened loss triggers anger. They include control, possessions, sexual intimacy and delight and reputation.
This book helps us to understand what the Bible has to say about sinful anger- revealing that anger is the sinful response when something we value more than God is taken away or threatened. It gives us biblical examples of sinful anger and God’s righteous anger. Read it and be encouraged by how the gospel of Jesus can transform a heart of anger into a heart of love. For any questions or if you would like to order a book through our bookstall, do contact joannahill@barnston.info .
Have you visited our Bookstall at Christ Church Barnston lately to check out our available books for loan or to order? The book list is not exhaustive and so if you are interested in a book which is not on the stall please do ask.
Caring For One Another – New Course from September 2022
Do you long to be part of an interconnected group of people who entrust themselves to each other? A group where you can speak of the pain or struggle we all feel at times and know that someone will respond with compassion and prayer. You can share your joys and know that a friend rejoices with you, you can speak of your sorrows or ask help for your sinful struggles and know that someone will pray.
We all need to be able to bring our struggles to the Lord and to each other so that the church can be strengthened and the onlooking world can witness wisdom and love in action. However, since we are aware of our own problems, we could easily think that caring for others is best left to those who are more qualified. During this course we will discover what it looks like when ordinary, needy people care for other needy, ordinary people in everyday life. However weak or unqualified you feel, if you are trusting in Jesus rather than yourself, then you are qualified!
We would love you to join us so please do get in touch if you would like to be part of the Caring for One Another course which will run for 8 weeks from September.
Contact Joanna Hill on joannahill@barnston.info for more details.
Bereavement Fellowship Lunch
We held our monthly Bereavement/Fellowship lunch in the Parish Hall at Christ Church on Tuesday the 14th of June. This is a wonderful event in which to gather with others who have been bereaved, some very recently and others longer ago, to receive a warm welcome, a listening ear, an arm round the shoulder and companionship/conversation. As a church we love to provide hospitality, love and welcome in the name of Jesus.
Our Vicar, Chris Slater, opened in prayer to thank God for all his goodness and provision, then lunch was served. The menu consisted of Baked Ham, New Potatoes, Courgette & Tomato Bake, Peas, Meringue Nests with Strawberries & Cream, Tea, Coffee and Chocolates.
In July the Bereavement/Fellowship Lunch takes place on Tuesday 12th. Please do join us if you would like to. Enquiries can be made through our Parish Office on 0151 648 2404.
