Pastoral Notes from Alison - July 2009

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It’s summer!!!! Hmm?-  where you say, “Well,  apparently summer happened here in England on Tuesday the 16th June!!” (according to the pilot that flew Neil, myself and about another 200 or so passengers back from Cyprus)

We have just returned from a lovely two-week holiday in Cyprus where it was wall-to-wall sunshine, 24 hours a day (well, I think I did sleep at night!!)

Over the two weeks we spent there I did a lot of ‘people-watching’, something I love to do when there is no limit on how long you can make a Sprite last!!  What I noticed mainly this time was the fact that ‘family’ in Cyprus means something.  We attended a street festival on the first couple of days we were there, and it was amazing to see how many ‘family’ units were around - all generations moving together like a pack, from babies to the elderly, all being looked after by the whole group - something I feel we have lost in this country.  In Cyprus, there is no real social service to care for anyone, so the responsibility falls to the families, and, in the main, they take that very seriously.  Over the following weekend we found the same - no festival then but still huge family groups enjoying time together. It was very evident that this was important to all concerned.  It reminded me of that passage in 1 Timothy 5 where we are charged to look after our relatives.  Paul sees this as very important, so that the Church would be able to look after those who have no one else.  We are charged as a church to care spiritually, emotionally and physically for one another.  And in this society, where so many families are fragmented and all over the world, we as a church can offer that listening ear, support and encouragement.  As a Church family we are fairly good at this but there is always room for improvement.  Don’t wait to be asked if you feel someone could do with a listening ear or some encouragement.  Allow God to use you as His hands, feet and ears!!

Our young people will have mostly finished their exams now, which brings a time of anxiety as they wait to hear results.  Please pray that God will give them His peace and patience at this time.  Enable them to relax for a bit to enjoy the summer and to know that they have done their best.

Continue to pray for the housebound and lonely.  Ask God to give them his comfort and peace, and as they watch summer come into bloom that they will remember, in seeing God’s creation, that he is always with them.

For those who have been bereaved recently we pray that God will comfort and support you as you grieve the loss of your loved one.

Pray for SPACE - a time when the Church is open to the community, especially those working in the town for ½ an hour on a Thursday.  Over July and August, SPACE will happen on the 9th and 23rd July and the 13th and 27th August (12.30-1.00pm).  Please pray that people will find a quiet reflective space in their day here.

Three of our young people are off abroad this summer to help those less fortunate than ourselves.  Lauren and Natalie are off to Morocco to climb a mountain but, more importantly, to help in the renovating 35 houses in a village called Tissaldai.  Work includes painting, decorating, building – anything, from parts of the houses to roads.  Tim is off to Kenya to help at Egerton Primary School’s link-school in Kenya.  He will be involved in teaching, coaching sport’s activities and painting buildings.  All will be doing some very worthwhile jobs, so please pray that God will protect them as they journey there and back, and while they carry out the jobs they have set out to do.

Lots a luv n stuff, Alison.