Here is the King's Church Newsletter for April. We hope this finds you well. If you have any questions or would like to know more about anything you're reading, please get in touch at pastoral@kingscc.org
Enlarge the place of your tent! by Roger Bye This instruction found in Isaiah 54 is sandwiched between a massive promise and remarkable revelation. The promise is of being fruitful and seeing God’s family grow, despite all our natural weaknesses and inabilities. The revelation is of who God is – our maker, our husband, our redeemer…God of all the earth! He is Lord of all, and He loves us passionately and forever. Remarkable! These Scriptures are very relevant for us as we’ve been praying for a building. A building is never the vision but rather to serve the vision of seeing God’s family grow in all ways and seeing His love and truth spread through the community and beyond. At the last prayer meeting we shared an important update about premises that really hit the spot with ‘enlarging the place of our tent.’ Although the building is under offer, we are stirred to keep praying for God to act. He is God of all the earth!
Let’s keep asking for Him to make a way, to open doors and for His favour to be revealed. Let’s pray!
An Update from Safe Families Cumbria Team - Naomi Fielden
Here at Safe Families, we are so thankful for the Church and God’s people. We have truly been blessed this season to witness families being met in the midst of their need in a really difficult time.
Meals have been made, friendships have been forged and isolated individuals have been brought into communities even now, while social distance is still a huge part of our everyday.
We had a wonderful story recently of a volunteer who took two young boys to the park every Saturday while their mum was recovering from an operation. The wonderful mum gave Safe Families a call to tell us that the boys now count down to when the volunteer is coming and her six-year-old often asks “Is it Saturday yet?”. It has been amazing to see relationships like this grow!
Thank you!
We want to thank you for being a church that partners with Safe Families so incredibly well, we have wonderful volunteers from King’s church that are reaching out to families in need of support, making everything we do possible.
Prayer Requests
We would love you to pray for:
- More volunteers to support the volume of families being referred to us.
- Our families to feel a sense of belonging.
- Our volunteers who are supporting families to feel blessed and refreshed.
- Getting involved
If you would like to get involved, either by donating monthly, volunteering, or becoming a prayer partner, please visit: www.safefamilies.uk or email: naomifielden@safefamilies.uk
Naomi, Lynn, Ruth and Jess, Safe Families Team Cumbria
Working Away From Home Through Lockdown - Riccardo Giagnoni
I had to travel all through the first lockdown for my job. The area I cover is the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The companies I work for produce things like cables, fibber optics, medical tubing, central heating tubing, mains water tubing in fact any product that is round. I make sure that all the instruments used to manufacture these products are reading accurately and working properly.
I think the thing I remember most was that most people were scared as there were so many uncertainties which over time affected me, I turned up to one factory in the North East which closed just as I turned up as they had their first case of Covid. My workload increased considerably as every company I went to wanted me to fill out loads more forms and risk assessments for COVID-19 and even then no one was really sure if any of these measures would work or be effective for both for me and the people I would work alongside.
It was nice to drive down the motorway with no traffic but after 300 or 400 miles it got quite lonely. Going into a service station was even weirder, there were 4 cars and a police car, the only shop open was a sandwich place and the petrol station. It felt like everyone had been raptured apart from myself. I did wonder sometimes if I was on a film where everyone had been taken by Martians.
I also I had problems getting a hotel. Most had been closed the only ones open were near hospitals which are not near industrial estates. They were only taking key workers. I am a key worker with docs to prove it which you needed to show to the hotel reception, and it was down to them who they thought was a key worker. Most of my companies manufacture product for the NHS. But in the early days it depended on what hotel I was in staying in, some of them which I had booked would suddenly close down overnight and when I turned up I had to look else where. When I did manage to stay, I would see some key workers in the car parks with no social distancing then when they came in they would be drinking in their rooms, banging doors and being loud. Many of the restaurants were closed so getting food was difficult, some places put a microwave in my room so I’m now the expert on ready meals. I then tried to do some of my customers in one day driving 500-700 miles round trip but and it just exhausted me. In the end it was either sleep in the car somewhere or sleep in my tent. So that’s what I did planning my trips around fells for the night and making sure I stuck to the 1 hour exercise rule this wasn’t possible when I was in the south
The last issue for me was staying safe while seeing so many people. One week I was down south all week and went to 6 or seven factories who employ several hundreds of people. In each factory over a day I would go past and talk to as many as 30 or 40 people. These places are hot and noisy so staying 2 meters apart was sometimes difficult.
In this situation only God could protect me which He did. There was so much uncertainty, I felt overwhelmed much of the time, but God made me to have been alive at this time and so therefore I knew He would be with me and help me. I was so appreciative of all the prayer I had from the house group and friends which I could feel as I went around the country. If it hadn’t been for Him I don’t think I could have coped.
Charitable Incorporated Organisation by Patrick Sharman
The word “Trust” was so much simpler to describe our constitution that served us well for 40 years but in many ways the “CIO” as I will describe the new constitution will simplify operations in current times.
Thank you so much for the very prompt response to switching the standing orders to the new bank account and returning gift aid forms. The response has been very encouraging. The most common question is:
“Do I need to return standing order forms if I have done it online ?”
Answer is No thanks, but please do return gift aid forms (if applicable) as this enhances gifts by 25% for which we bless the government (how often have you heard that said! But it is entirely biblical)
Please bear with me if I send one individual reminder to you in a month or so’s time to folks who have used standing orders in the past. There will be no follow up after that. The trustees are truly humbled by the support this church family receives from the faithful. THANK YOU!
Alpha Online @ Kings - Brenton Horne
We are hosting an Alpha online course starting from the 10th May at 7:30pm. This is a great opportunity to invite friends, colleagues, neighbours or family members who would like to explore the Christian faith in an open and friendly environment. Invites have been sent out on email but if you would like more invites or more information please contact: alpha@kingscc.org .
Please be praying for the Alpha course and get in touch if you would like to help out in any way.
Suggested Books
Planet Wise by Dave Bookless
I was in the act of throwing away my family's rubbish while holidaying on a beautiful island when I heard God speak. I could easily have missed it, but an inner whisper asked, "How do you think I feel about what you are doing to my world?"' Since the day God challenged him, Dave Bookless has been on a mission: to share with others the compelling biblical case for caring for the planet God made for his glory and his people's enjoyment. This is not another book on green issues to make you feel guilty. The message is that there is hope. God can take your small and insignificant efforts and multiply them in his great plan. Dave takes us right into the heart of his family and shows how living simply, besides honouring God, can be an exciting adventure.
Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas
Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of the abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759 -1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce s extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament. At the centre of this heroic life was a passionate twenty year fight to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833. Metaxas discovers in this unsung hero a man of whom it can truly be said: he changed the world. Before Wilberforce, few thought slavery was unjust. After Wilberforce, most societies in the world came to see it as a great moral wrong.
Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
The offer of 2 free books of Roger’s highly and most frequently recommended book is still available – no takers as yet!! Contact him if interested at roger@kingscc.org