Blog

Claire Johnston explains what to expect and why it’s great to come along

Each year St Saviour’s holds its Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). It is an important event in the church calendar and an opportunity for everyone to come together to hear about the life of the church over the past year (2019) and for those on the church roll to vote on a number of different matters.

The meeting has been delayed this year from its originally scheduled date in April due to Covid-19. The APCM will now take place on Wednesday 14 October at 7:30pm in the church. Please note that in order to adhere to social distancing requirements numbers at the APCM will be restricted this year to approximately 40 people (depending upon family groups attending).
The APCM is an opportunity to consider the life of the church, including a formal review of the financial statements. The annual report will also be available. It includes lots of information about how God has been working through St Saviour’s different groups and activities over the last year. Email the office to request copies of these documents. Due to current constraints we will not be printing copies, but if anyone cannot get access to these, please do let us know.

The meeting is also an opportunity to elect members to the Parochial Church Council (PCC), there are several vacancies on the PCC, so if you are interested in joining, please do let myself or Andy know so that you can be sent a nomination form. There will also be elections for the churchwardens and members of the Deanery Synod.

The APCM is a chance to celebrate what God has done, as well as to discuss and vote on things for the time ahead. I hope that you will find coming along to the APCM is a really helpful way to contribute and belong in St Saviour’s, particularly in this year when our opportunities to come together as a church family have been far fewer than normal.

Claire Johnston, PCC Secretary

An update from Phil and Sylvie Good, Church Mission Society

Some of you may remember when Phil and Sylvie Good visited St Saviour’s for our Priority 1 meeting during our World Mission Month in January. Phil and Sylvie told us about their work with the Church Mission Society (CMS) in Beirut. It was both fascinating and challenging to hear about their mission and life in the slums of East Beirut, building relationships with the people they live among, mainly refugees, but also marginalised people from other backgrounds.

This is an edited version of their latest update, including news of the aftermath of the devastating explosion in Beirut port area on 4 August, and Phil and Sylvie’s plans:

From Phil and Sylvie …

It has been quite an intense period with the drama of the explosion at the beginning of August. And we had set apart some time to pray about our future plans. The great news is that God has heard our cry and has met our needs – no buts, no maybes, God is at work. Praise the Lord.

Fundraising update

Firstly the fundraising for our relief work was amazingly successful and thank you so much to all those who gave. We raised more than enough for our budgeted £175,000 and the UK was this time a significant portion of that too, thanks to you.

Effects of the explosion

The explosion affected everyone, even worldwide, but as of now I would say that only the thousands of people who heard the screams and saw the blood are still processing what has happened. The rest of the people are over the shock and feeling very sad and maybe angry and it seems impossible that Lebanon will ever be the same. For us, we have seen the country decline ever since we have been here – there is less laughter and less fun generally. The younger people are especially depressed and seeking to leave the country.

Deep-seated problems

Aside from the explosion, the deep-seated problems remain huge and insurmountable – I mean the crises of Politics and Corona and especially the economic collapse. Talk of the need for food and support for the Lebanese people resulting from the explosion are now attempts to move the conversation away from the real cause of the problems, which is also the cause of the explosion, namely the inept and corrupt government. Though we try to understand the place we are in, we are foreigners here. We bring a simple message that Jesus comes to us and dwells amongst us and brings us Life and hope and will move us towards justice and peace.

Future plans

We are also grateful for your prayers about our future and we have news. We have earlier mentioned the project in the north, near Tripoli, which has a school for the unschooled migrant children. We tried to raise funds for Emil and Reem to restart this school in an unfinished house nearby. Well, we have enough funds to do the fitting out and as we were sitting in it praying, we realised that we could live here and be involved more directly in the work. Sylvia has found the doors that were open for her to work in Beirut were now shut. My work I now do remotely since lockdowns changed the way we work. As the village of Sakhra is only one and a half hours drive from Beirut, we can return to Beirut once a week. I can have meetings at RCB and Sylvie can check up on her refugee friends in Bourj Hammoud, where there are about 10 families she cares for.

As we realised this, we got quite excited about working and living in this quiet rural community with Emil and Reem. We realise that the school needs to become more established, and if we don’t do it, then it may never really get going again. But if we stay for the next three years it is possible that the school could develop into a better and more sustainable operation.

Moving to Sakhra

The next month is very busy because the building needs water, electric and drains, and we need to fix some doors and windows too – all before the end of September, just in case the Government does allow the schools to restart.
We plan to move our stuff up in about a month. Our new life in this rural area will necessitate us having a car and Emil and Reem have a car which they bought for a reasonable cost but now want to sell. So, we intend to buy their car, but to do this we need to ask for help with the cost which will be $3500. The running costs we will fund from our normal income. Gifts for the car should be sent to CMS and marked for the ‘Car fund for Phil and Sylvie Good’.

Prayer requests

So there is much change afoot and there is much to pray for:

• For wisdom and effectiveness in fitting the house out for a school
• For making a place for us to live
• For wisdom in how to start the new school year within Covid realities
• For good decisions about which teachers we can employ and the funds to pay them
• For good relations with our Beirut communities as we move away
• For funds to buy the car
• For good relationships with the new community
• For opportunities to share the security found in Jesus

The village is called Sakhra – this word is Arabic for rock. We find in Jesus a rock of security in the midst of great insecurity. This is our central message.

Blessings, Phil

Keep up to date with the Goods

Phil’s blog: www.philipthegood.com

CMS website: www.churchmissionsociety.org/good

Bev Collum-Mills explains how we can all support safeguarding

One of the things that I especially value about being a member of this church family is the love and care that we try to show to each other. Even during the Covid 19 pandemic, when things have been very difficult, this care has still shone through in many different ways.

Sometimes, as in all families, some members may need our care and protection more than others. As a church we have a responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of children, young people and adults who may be at risk of harm. Legally, we must follow up any concern that someone is being harmed or abused in any way – physically, sexually, mentally or emotionally.

In order to help us to do this, the PCC has adopted the safeguarding policies and procedures of the Church of England. Our Safeguarding Policy can be viewed on our website https://www.stsaviours.net/about-us/safeguarding/ The PCC has appointed me as Safeguarding Officer.

How to help with safeguarding

If someone begins to tell you something that you suspect may involve harm or abuse, certain protocols must be followed:

• Gently stop them and explain that you are willing to listen, but it may not be possible to keep the information confidential and you might have to pass it on to me and I might have to pass it on to people who will be able to help them.

• After you have talked to them, make sure that you write down an accurate account of the conversation, sign it, date it, and pass it to me (these are important in case of any subsequent legal action).

• Contact me as soon as possible via the church office or by email: safeguarding@stsaviours.net.

If you suspect that someone is being harmed or abused in any way, don’t be afraid to contact me for a discreet discussion about the situation.

If you prefer to talk to someone outside St Saviour’s, see the Diocesan website for the relevant contact details, including an “out-of-hours” number. This can be found on https:www.winchester.anglican.org/safeguarding/ or check our Safeguarding Policy (or webpage) for local and national helplines.

‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God […] since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.’ 1 John 4 : 7, 11

Bev Collum-Mills, safeguarding officer

Christine Moyes reflects on the challenges being faced by Teso Development Trust (TDT) during the pandemic

‘… those who hope in the Lord … will soar on wings like eagles.’ Isaiah 40:31

2020 and the outbreak of the pandemic have not only brought greater physical challenges, but also psychological, behavioural, and financial worries. The disruption to livelihoods by the closing of trading markets has been felt by many who now have no way of earning even a meagre income.
One way to learn about what another person’s life is really like is to read or listen to their testimony. This is certainly the case in TDT when we try to consider the issues that challenge the people served by our partner churches.

Salume’s story

We have recently received a testimony from a mother of 11 children which makes for difficult reading. This mother, Salume, is doing her best to organise and manage her large family daily to keep them all occupied. The boys work in the vegetable garden and the girls are involved in household tasks and fetching water. The boys also look for work for the following day. Salume sets herself a daily earnings target of 4,000 Ugandan shillings (£1). This helps pay towards food and medical needs (most of the children have malaria). Sometimes the family eats only once each day or sometimes not at all. Salume always ends her day in prayer.

Mosquito nets have become very expensive and drugs to treat malaria and HIV are in short supply, which, sadly, results in more deaths. The evil one is always ready to pounce and Salume is concerned that some youth are turning to theft, smoking drugs, abuse of young girls, and not helping out at home. Some girls as young as 12 years old have been taken into child marriage. These are indeed dark days, but, through our supporters, we have been able to bring Hope by way of the supply of relief food, seeds for planting, and soap. We pray that the financial support will be forthcoming so that we can continue to support these people in need.

I have been invited to become Secretary and a Trustee of TDT from October after our AGM – all in God’s perfect timing of course as I now have some years’ experience behind me.

Please continue to pray for and support our Ugandan church family members. They need us now more than ever.

God bless,

Christine Moyes, TDT representative

Caz Gatehouse reflects on working in lockdown and planning the Light Party

Wow! The last update I wrote we had just gone into lockdown. How has that time gone for you? For me, although it does seem ages since I have seen you all, in many ways it feels like it has gone very fast. I seem to have kept busy.
Work, obviously, has been very different. My time has been taken up with writing materials to send out to families; emailing and writing letters; planning online Messy Church; filming and editing videos (I say editing, but what I do is very basic editing – Jez and Richard do the complicated bits!!); and having Zoom meetings and training sessions! Whilst my furlough weeks have been spent gardening, going for walks, and doing a few creative things (such as Bible journalling!), along with spending a bit more time with my parents. The time has seemed to fly by, but I know for many of you it has probably dragged on.

Looking ahead

Although we are going to continue with our online services, we are starting to plan for one or two ‘in person’ groups. I am hoping to have a children’s time this week – so by the time you read this it may have happened! With all the guidelines to follow, these may not happen every week, but we are certainly hoping to have them fairly regularly!

This term I would normally be planning for the Light Party, which sadly we cannot hold in church this year.

So instead, let’s all have a Light Party at Home!

Wouldn’t it be great if, as people walked around the streets on 31 October, they saw many homes lit up and displaying signs declaring ‘Jesus, the Light of the World!’? To help this happen, I am working on some packs that will include decorations ideas, games, and crafts, etc. We are also planning to do a video with our UV puppets that you will be able to access online and include in your party! So dig out your lights ready!!

Keep your eye out in the newsletter for updates, or contact me direct if you would like more information on what’s happening within the children and families’ work, or to be added to the mailing list for the ‘Family Time’ material.

Praying for God’s peace, protection and blessings on you all at this time.

Caz Gatehouse, children’s minister

caz@stsaviours.net