Here is the latest newsletter from King's Church Cockermouth. If you would like to know more about anything mentioned in the newsletter, please get in touch at: admin@kingscc.org
Photo kindly given by Dave Stephenson
'In the year that King Uzziah died…I saw the Lord' by Roger Bye
These words seem very timely as we have lived through the events of this last month. We are alive in the year that our Queen has died. It is the end of an era and we genuinely thank God for her steady and faithful Christian witness in serving as our Queen. Her faith and hope in Christ were central to the funeral, watched by millions and we pray that countless seeds of the Gospel were sown across the world. After the death of Uzziah, something even more profound happened. 'He saw the Lord …high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.' Isaiah 6:1-8
Let’s be praying that this would be our experiences, as individuals, as churches and for those who don’t know Him. We pray that many would see the Lord high, exalted and enthroned as the King of kings. This impacted Isaiah in the deepest way possible and was to change the rest of his life. He was undone, he then knew heaven’s touch; sin and guilt were atoned for. Then he was sent on God’s royal commission.
Oh, for such encounters with the Lord in the year that our Queen died.
Eco- Church: Transport by Lisa Varey
Lots of us are fortunate to live in Cockermouth. Its quite compact and has most of what you need in a town. The diagram below shows a circle of radius 1 mile centred on Main Street: (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/fivefactsaboutcars/2016-09-22)In 2014, more than 40% used cars for journeys of less than 2 miles that could just as easily be walked Recently Chris Boardman, ex Olympic cyclist, created a bit of a stir on social media when he suggested people shouldn't use a car for less than a mile.
As you can see (as the crow flies) the vast majority of Cockermouth lies within this circle, yet many of us jump into our cars without a second thought. Sometimes there are good reasons, maybe a disability, or just the weekly shop being too heavy, often it is about time, we assume its quicker in the car, but is it?- maybe its worth trying walking just to see.
I'm as guilty as anyone for being tempted into my car from Brigham- but actually, if I go to Cockermouth on my bike, its not really much slower than taking the car and finding a car parking space...
Linking Lives by Terry, Sue, Kate and Stuart
On the 1st of October this year we will celebrate 3 years of operation in Cockermouth and the surrounding area. From that ‘soft’ start and despite the pandemic we have now grown into a service that last year provided over 4500 hours of voluntary service to our community. As a reminder Cockermouth Linking Lives was set up under Churches Together in the Cockermouth Area (CTiCA) back in 2019 to reach out to the lonely and isolated, who are mainly, but not exclusively over 65’s. We accept referrals via our website or by e-mail or phone, and these come from our many partners, but mainly from Castlegate and Derwent Surgery. Loneliness can strike at any time in our lives, but one of the most common situations is following a bereavement or through becoming housebound.
Our brilliant volunteers are recruited, inducted, DBS checked and trained to fulfil their role in befriending our referrals. They mainly visit for around an hour per week, although a few Link Friends still prefer a phone call. For safety during Covid 19, almost all our Link Friends reverted to phone calls only, but we do find that face to face is the preferred option. Over time, we hope to encourage our Link Friends to attend events in our community so that they can expand their network of contacts.
In the last year we have started two new initiatives to meet this need:
Together @ 2 meets every Monday (except Bank Holidays) from 2-4pm at the Ark, next to the Food Bank on Highfield Road. We play games, drink tea and coffee, eat cakes and biscuits and have a great social time.
Tea @ 3 meets on the 3rd Sunday of the month at 3pm and includes a craft activity, a Christian message and a couple of songs plus of course more tea, coffee, cake and chat. We usually finish before 4pm.
We receive a steady stream of referrals – around 50 per year - so we always need new volunteers. If this is something that you feel you might like to do, please give us a call or speak to your minister or our representative in your church. The chances are you can also speak to one of our volunteers on an informal basis to find out how much it means to serve in this way.
We are grateful to our sponsors who support us with grant funding and to those CTiCA churches, including KCC who are so generous.
Our mission is to ensure that everyone who is lonely in our area hears about Cockermouth Linking Lives – so you can help us in that aim!
For the last few year’s we have provided a Christmas Dinner to those who would otherwise be alone and we will be doing so again this year. If you are willing to help, by providing transport, delivering meals or helping with food preparation, then please get in touch: cockermouth@linkinglives.uk or www.linkinglives.uk/cockermouth or 07957 515140
Mission by Georgia Bell
Hi Cockermouth!
It’s been almost a month since arriving into Redding and registering for school. I’m grateful
and excited to be here. I’ve been settling into living with new housemates, and feel excited for the community that I’ll get to be in this year.
I’m going to begin my full timetable next week, and have signed up for my options. I’ve chosen the missions track (cross cultural training and church planting), as well as a new testament course, which looks at historical-cultural approach/ understanding the original languages. I’ll also get the opportunity to serve every Sunday, working with children with special needs. I’m really excited to see God moving in their lives, and thankful this will be part of the school year for me.
I wanted to thank you all for the financial gift which was sent to me, and say how grateful I am for this. All my expenses are covered now, and this will really impact the year for me.
I’ve set up a Cockermouth whatsapp chat set up that I would like to use to send updates to you all, for any news, prayer requests and testimonies! My hope would be that you can be a part of what I’m experiencing here, and join with me in prayer support too.
To join the Whatsapp group, please use this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/BjLoLWmgR1QDujvs8sFYGk
As part of the year, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry runs mandatory trips which the students go on in March, to serve the global community by engaging in ministry, and being
practical hands and feet wherever needed. I'm in the process of applying for trips, (one will be selected for me) and have selected ones in the middle east and
Asia, which have an emphasis on encouraging and equipping the local church, and gospel proclamation in the community. If you would like to give towards the trip, there will be several fundraising milestones over the next few months to pay off the trip entirely. To secure my place, I will need to raise $500 for November 4th. I don’t yet know which trip I will be going on, but as soon as I find out the exact location and people group, I will send an update. I’m grateful once again to be able to see and be part of what God is doing across the world in his church, and among those who don’t yet know Him! Please pray for:
connections and community, friendships
wisdom, and peace and opportunities for after second year.
For me and Kenji(my fiancee) together!
strength and peace as I serve, and begin studies
A21 - Zoe Fielden
During the Summer I had the opportunity to volunteer for 2 days a week with A21, which is an anti-human trafficking organisation with a mission to abolish slavery everywhere, forever.
During the 10 weeks I was with A21 I received training on human trafficking, assisted in the ‘Reach’ department and helped oversee the UK hosts for this year’s Walk For Freedom. The A21 Walk For Freedom is a silent single file walk that happens every year all over the world, with the aim of raising awareness of human trafficking. This year, there will be 19 walks happening in the UK alone – all on the 15th October! Walk For Freedom Info The training we were given is much like what A21 are currently giving to various law enforcement agencies and other organisations. One thing I learned was that every one of us, every day, has the opportunity to join the fight against human trafficking just by equipping ourselves to know what human trafficking can look like where we are. Watch the ‘Can You See Me?’ Campaign here - 'Can You See Me?' Videos Some quick facts:
There are 40.3 million people enslaved right now in the world, and it is growing – every 30 seconds someone become a slave.
Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes, generating over 150 billion dollars a year, that’s five times what Coco Cola makes globally!
Very few traffickers are ever convicted and 99% of victims are never rescued, making human trafficking a LOW in risk and HIGH in reward crime.
Give me a shout if you would like to chat about human trafficking or have questions – I may not know the answer but I can find out! admin@kingscc.org
Thank you by Katie Beresford
A massive thank you to everyone who has given me money towards my Youth With A Mission (YWAM) mission trip. I will update you all soon on how the trip is going.
India Newsletter by Dave Cheeseman
After living and working in rural India in 2016, I continue to partner with three charities helping schools educate the poorest children in India and support a variety of community initiatives to alleviate poverty and bring hope. Every month I send out a newsletter with information about my current work with each charity and where I need support with a particular project. If you would like to receive these emails, please contact admin@kingscc.org amd they will forward your email onto me. I would just like to share about an URGENT issue from one of the charities I work with. Reynold runs an orphange for 23 children. It's really lovely secure place, I stayed there back in Feb 2019.
A law has been passed stating that all roofs constructed from wood and tiles have to be replaced in schools and children's homes. This comes after a school fire in Tamil Nadu where many children were killed.
Reynold has had an engineer do a complete breakdown of costs and he has already got a $15,000US grant from a charity. I am going try to raise the money for the tiled floor.
We're hoping to do something special, we are going to create a HOPE-FLOOR. We're looking for people to sponsor one or more tiles and write a note of hope to the orphans - it could be a bible verse, a quote or a message from you. We will write your message on the underside of the tile. When the tiles are laid all these HOPES will be forever under the gfeet of the children.
Each tile laid costs £1 and we need 2500 tiles. If you would like to sponsor a tile please get intouch at the email address above.
Thank you.
Litter pick Youth
On Monday 3rd October, Mobilise and Move youth group did a litterpick around Highfield. They did a brilliant job and collected a lot of rubbish. They finished the night off with hot chocolate and cupcakes at the Hub. A big thank you to Allerale council who lent us litter pickers so the young people didn't need to touch the rubbish and then picked up the bags of rubbish we had collected the next day.
Book Suggestions
Small Town Jesus by Donnie Griggs
Small towns are big mission fields that are almost totally neglected by modern church planters. City ministry has become, for many, the definition of godly ministry. But what about the millions of people around the world who live in small towns? This is not just a book, it is a call to take the gospel everywhere, big or small, because that’s what Jesus told us to do.
No Well-Worn Paths by Terry Virgo
An autobiography by Terry Virgo, and the story of Newfrontiers. This fascinating account tells of Terry’s conversion as a teenager, his subsequent baptism in the Spirit and his call from God to serve him as a Bible teacher and church leader. Much more than history, this is a behind-the-scenes perspective full of gracious reflection on events and fresh insight for the future.