Week of Mission

Last week was our week of special mission activities. We were able to assemble a team of about 15 mostly students of our own and some from elsewhere to assist us in door to door, tracting and doing a holiday Bible club for kids. We also studied Romans 1-8 and prayed together. A number of meetings were organised for locals to come to. The week was not an amazing success in terms of people coming in, although at least 50 different ones who are not normally with us came in over the week. The best benefits were in seeing how well the young people responded to task and gelled together. Very encouraging.

Holiday Bible Club 2010

We've been having our Children's Holiday Bible Club this week in the church. We held it on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with a Thursday evening prize giving. Around 30 children came over the week, a little down on revious numbers - but we had a good opportunity to present the gospel once again, from the life of Gideon, and made anumber of fresh contacts as well as bolstering older ones. We have a great team of willing helpers and when people are back from college, etc, we can cope quite well with the numbers.

Bible Club Day 3

Our final day went well with the best turn out of the three days in the daytime. Altogether some 50 different children must have come over the three days. In the evening we had a final prize giving and I spoke about the Passover. Around 10 parents or carers came and about 25 children.

Bible Club Day 2

Another good day on the same pattern with around 40 present again.

Bible Club Day 1

We had an excellent first day with around 40 children turning up (about our capacity without a radical restructure of the timetable). Thirty of these are "outsiders" although most we have seen before. (The video is meant to be blurry - just to be safe). We did Moses's early days yesterday, started to learn John 3:16 and finished with the start of the story of Mary Jones.

Escape from Egypt

Our Holiday Bible Club starts tomorrow so we've been getting prepared today. We will have meetings every morning Tuesday to Thursday with an evening meeting to follow. It's on Moses. We hope for a good turn out.

Holiday Bible Club Day 4

I was not able to be at the final meeting this morning as I was lecturing on the cults up in Welwyn. We had similar numbers to the last two days, I hear, as we completed the story of Paul's first missionary journey and made glove puppets, etc. Tonight we had a number of parents in for prize giving and the final session. We gave away over £50 worth of books mostly on Saul's conversion for the younger ones and on William Wilberforce for the older ones. We were able to clear up fairly quickly after with many willing hands. What a good week. We trust that we may see fruit from it in due time.

Holiday Bible Club Day 3

Numbers were down a little on yesterday for the third day of Holiday Bible Club today. We had games and craft and singing and the start of Paul's first missionary journey. The mural is coming on. Just under 40 have attended so far. Let's hope they are all there for the last day tomorrow.

Holiday Bible Club Day 2

We had our second day of Holiday Bible Club today. Numbers were up on yesterday with around 35 attending. We again started with games so that everyone had arrived when we got down to business. We came today to S/Paul's conversion. They also wove paper baskets and played games and we got going on with our mural. The nice weather is helping. (The video is meant to be blurred - in case of any safety fears).

Holiday Bible Club Day 1

Our Holiday Bible Club began yesterday. We had around 25 kids there. I spoke on S/Paul's early life and the witness of Stephen. We're looking at Saul's conversion today. It's hard work but a wonderful opportunity.

Holiday Bible Club

We are having a Holiday Bible Club here next week looking at the ealry life of Paul. There are a lot of these things going on in different churches over the holidays. Do pray.

More details here.

Last Saturday

Saturday was quite a full day as we'd organised meetings in the morning at chapel and in the evening at home.
In the morning we had a Holiday Bible Club Special for children 4-10. We looked at the story of Jonah using the usual elements - story, singing, memory verse, activity sheet, craft and games. We have a good team and it was fairly easy to get organised although may be we should have publicised more. Only 12 came (half churchy kids, half not), which is less than we hoped for but not entirely useless. Some were still away at the end of half term holiday but the main problem is Saturday morning activities.
[Excursus] {My wife mentioned Karate, swimming, etc. I mistakenly thought she meant karate swimming, which if you could organise it would have every kid in the neighbourhood doing it. My wife and I are often on the wrong wave length. She told me she wanted to buy a dress on sale at Laura Ashley that costs hundreds of pounds but she wanted me to see it first. Well, this is unusual I thought but I'm a kind man. Anyway we drive to Staples Corner and I'm surprised because I didn't think any store there sold dresses. Anyway it's a dresser she's after not a dress in the Laura Ashley homestyle shop!}
In the evening about 20 over 15s squeezed into our house for a get together to remember the Reformation. We had a chat and some food and a few games then our friend Luke Jenner kindly spoke on the Reformation and the centrality of justification by faith. This was the second of a series of new meetings we're trying. It seems to work well with a good variety of people coming along.
PS We're decorating, hence no wallpaper

CHBC@CHBC Pics

CHBC@CHBC ends

We managed to get around thirty each of the four days in the end and a decent turn out tonight when the parents or carers were invited to join us too. The actual numbers varied from day to day with around 45 kids coming at least once, some from totally unchurched backgrounds, for which we give thanks. We looked at creation, the fall and the gospel and did a little extra on John Newton. Prizes featured books on these themes. Hopefully we will see several at our regular Friday night work in the coming weeks.

CHBC@CHBC

We had our first day of Holiday Bible Club today. We had a decent turn out of around 30 kids all told

(lots of new faces as well Friday kids and our own church kids). The theme is 'How it all began' and today we looked at Genesis 1. We sang first, then there was the message followed by a quiz (using points trapped in balloons that had to be burst) and memory work (Gen 1:1). We then had some refreshments and did a craft based on the memory verse. There are also activity sheets for them to fill in and then they play games or work on the mural we are preparing. Finally, one of our deacons did the beginning of the story of John Newton. He mentioned that by the time he was 7 Newton knew some 500 Bible verses from his mother. I don't suppose any of us in that room knew that many or anything approaching it. These are different times but it was a reminder of what good can be done with children and what can be eventually be reaped. As my mother used to say - they're like sponges at that age.

We are well blessed with helpers. Besides myself and my assistant Ian and several others we have a little group of teenagers, some already baptised some not, willing to help. We all wear red T-shirts.