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February Prayer Letter
Hi everyone!
Thankyou for your continued prayer support. It was good to see lots of you again over Christmas. Lots has happened in Kidderminster since Christmas, it would be great if you could pray for some of the things included in this letter.
The big news in St Georges Parish at the moment is that Nick Barker the Canon is leaving just before Easter to become an Archdeacon in the Diocese of Auckland in Durham. He has been in Kidderminster for over 20 years, so it will seem really strange for everyone when he leaves. He will be really, really missed here in Kidderminster. Pray that Nick will settle quickly into his new job and also pray for Hugh Burton, because he will be the only Vicar running the 3 Churches in St Georges Parish.
Since September the Pathfinder club seems to have flourished, with about 25 teenagers coming to the club every week. The group do lots of fun activities in a friendly Christian environment. When Nick leaves at Easter we will need another adult leader to be the anchorman for Pathfinders, otherwise the club might have to close. Please pray that we can find someone who is suitable for this position. The CYFA group also seems to be gelling together well. At the start of the school year lots of the members were new to the group, now the group seems to be a lot more settled and we can have much deeper discussions. Please pray that we can find someone to be the permanent leader of the group, because at the moment the leader is rotated every week. One of the biggest problems in the Parish at the moment is teenage gangs hanging around outside St Chad's Church. Some of the St Chad's congregation are feeling intimidated by them. However it is really important to make everyone feel welcome to the Church. Prayer that the teenage gangs feel welcome at the Church and that large barriers don't form between the congregation and the teenage gangs.
A real encouragement recently has been the children's clubs. The Spennels Lunchtime club that I do with Peter Cooper the children's worker has grown since we first started doing it in September. We now have twice as many children compared with when we first started the club and we also use a much larger classroom, so we can do a wider range of activities. Some of the Children from this lunchtime club have gone to Pathfinders and the Jubilee club as well. Thank God for the great progress that has been made at Spennels School and pray that the club keeps reaping rewards. The Jubilee Club is also doing well at the moment. We have a good number of volunteers and the children at the club seem to behave a lot better than they did at the start of the year. Each week the Bible stories seem to go down well and the games and craft activities have proved to be fun and original. Thank God for the great progress that is been made this year with the children's groups. It really feels like the Church is integrating with the children in community. Please pray that the children's ministry in Kidderminster continues to be successful.
The toddler groups at the moment are doing well. At St Georges Church there has been Christmas and Christingle services for the Parents and Toddlers groups. These have been successful despite the toddlers sometimes running off round the Church. Some of the parents are now more aware of the Church and some have gone to services, which is really encouraging. Please pray that those parents who have gone to Church for the first time recently enjoy the services and keep attending.
Since Christmas the old peoples group called Young at Heart has remained strong despite quite a lot of people been ill. A couple of weeks ago 30 members from Young at Heart went on a bowling trip to Worcester, which was really successful. The home visits have been a bit of a struggle since Christmas, because I keep catching notorious Kidderminster colds. Please pray that my health remains good so that visiting the elderly isn't affected.
The home group that I go to has gone well since Christmas. All of the sessions have been on unlike before Christmas and the attendance has been quite good. We have just finished studying Romans and we are soon moving onto the Lent course. The leader of the group will be away for 2 months in Australia, but we have enough people in the group who would do a great job leading it. Please pray that the sessions continue to go well and that we learn lots of new things about God in the term ahead.
The attendance at St Cecilia's Church has been quite poor since Christmas with the congregation size one week close to 20. The children's group has only been on once so far this term. However despite the small congregation size St Cecilia's is a really friendly, caring Church where everyone knows each other. This example should be followed everywhere. Please pray that people see the great gift St Cecilia's has and are drawn to coming to the services.
As for fundraising we are marketing the Careforce world quiz across St Georges Parish at the moment. 50 copies have already got sold and that doesn't include the congregation at St Chad's and St Cecilia's yet. There is also the possibility of other Careforce volunteers selling the quiz at their Churches and the quiz might be sold at Knowle one week as well. Please pray that the quiz is successful so that lots of money can be raised for Careforce.
Last week was the Careforce Refresher Course week. All 85 volunteers from around the UK got together at the Quinta Centre. There was really great worship, talks and workshops and also the chance to chill out with the other volunteers. It was fab to meet up with the other volunteers again. There was even a person from Knowle Parish Church there doing 2 of the workshops. Please pray that conference has reenergized all the volunteers so that we feel really motivated to serve in our placements. Also pray that the W Midlands area group will also successfully meet up soon. The W Midlands area group consists of Hollie Roeber, Victor Rincon, Yina Quique, Ses Springett, Althea Wright and me.
Thankyou for reading this prayer letter and praying for me. I have enjoyed the gap year with Careforce so far and as I enter the second half of the gap year I hope that I continue to enjoy it. Thankyou for all your support.
From Jonathan
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