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Prayer letter June 2007
Hello,
Thankyou for your continued prayer support this year. I have now completed 5/6 of my time in Kidderminster and there are only 7 weeks left until I finish. As I approach the last half term in Kidderminster there are some things that I would really appreciate your prayers for.
At the moment here in Kidderminster it is the interregunum period. All the groups are still running well due to the hard work of Hugh Burton and Peter Cooper and also the excellent voluntary work of many people. It is great to know that there is another Careforce volunteer coming in September. She is 21 and comes all the way from Lima in Peru. I will now summarise how the groups are going across the Parish.
The children's work is going well at the moment. The Jubilee club now has about 20 children at it every week and we have got to know the children well, which means there is a friendly atmosphere at the club. Pray that the children will really enjoy the fun and games we have planned for them this half term and also learn about Jesus through the weekly talks we have at the club. The club at Spennels School has changed now to a Monday after school instead of at Thursday lunchtime. Due to the change in time the numbers at the club were low when the club first started at the new time. However the last time the club was on the number had increased to a similar number to which we got at the Thursday lunchtime club, which is encouraging. Pray that the after school club really gets established this half term and that lots of children from Spennels School become aware of it.
The Pathfinder club for 10-14 year olds has continued strongly this term despite Nick leaving who had run the club for years. Peter Cooper the children's worker is in charge of the club until the end of this term and we have also benefited from the help of Jim Mudd. Hopefully over the summer a permanent leader from St Georges Church can be found. Please prayer that a suitable leader will step forward to run the Pathfinder club. There is a large demand from teenagers leaving Pathfinders this year and also from teenagers on the Comberton estate to set up a youth club at St Chad's Church. There is a possibility that soon a youth club might be able to get established at St Chad's. A member of the congregation at St Chad's Church has said she would like to set up a youth club for teenagers and at the moment she is discussing the idea with Peter Cooper. Prayer that the discussions are successful and that in the near future a youth club will get set up for the teenagers. Having one would be very beneficial for the whole community. Despite small numbers this term the CYFA group has been successful. The group is settled and we are able to have great discussions about Biblical issues in a relaxed atmosphere. It would be superb if the people who come to CYFA occasionally came more often. There are plans for the CYFA group to go the Revolution Concert in Dorridge Park. The idea is that members of the CYFA group each invite a friend who doesn't go to Church. Pray that there is enough interest in the Revolution concert for the trip to go ahead.
This term the Young at Heart group has kept growing. We went out for a meal a week ago and yesterday we went on the Seven Valley Railway for Ron Bubbs 79th Birthday party. We now have about 30 people at the club with the club being a mixture of churched and unchurched people. The arrangement of visiting members of the Young at Heart group works well. Pray that this half term I find plenty of opportunities to visit members of the Young at Heart club.
The toddler groups this term seem to have had varied success. The St Chads group is flourishing at the moment. There is a too higher demand for the number of spaces at the group. There is a really friendly atmosphere at the club every week and we have done lots of interesting craft activities. Recently we made sunflower windmills. Some parents at the club are interested in finding out more about St Chads Church, which is very encouraging. At St Georges Church the number of toddlers at the club is low and there isn't as much involvement from the parents as at St Chads Church. Pray that the parents at the St Georges toddler group will get more involved in the club.
At St Cecilia's Church the number of children going to the Sunday group called Kids for Christ has grown to about 10. Families who used to come to the Church occasionally now come much more regularly. Pray that these children's will keep coming every week and that also there will be an influx of new children to the Church. Also pray that the Kidderminster Bible basher of the year quiz will get St Cecilia's Church known more across Kidderminster. The quiz raises money for Careforce and the aim is to get as many Churches in the Kidderminster area taking part as possible. The winner gets announced at St Cecilia's on July 22nd.
Recently in Kidderminster there have been conferences to discuss integrating the ethnic minority groups into the community. The main two ethnic minority groups are the Bangladeshis in the Horsefair part of Kidderminster and the Poles. Pray that ways will be found to integrate these groups fully into community life in Kidderminster.
Thankyou for reading this pray letter. It would be great if you could pray for me to remain ambitious in the final weeks despite the fact that I am leaving soon. I have really enjoyed the gap year experience in Kidderminster so far and hopefully the final 7 weeks will be good as well.
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