Refresh Centre? - Confused No More!

Following our last Members’ Evening when we had a long discussion about the proposed new "Refresh Centre", Frank and Lynda (Tythe that is) got together, with lots of questions, for an afternoon. The word "confused" came up more than once in the meeting so we thought we would have a go at dismissing the disorder, jumble, upheaval or however else we can describe it.

At the end of their time together both felt it had been a positive time and the need now was to stop talking and "DO" something. No more ideas or plans, let’s get on with it.

Q - Linda Will we lose our status as a church if we become a Community Centre?
A - Frank NO. We will not lose our status as a church nor will we lose our name, Belvedere Baptist Church. We will still be linked up with the family of Baptist Churches expressing the common held beliefs and values. Linda said that most people today do not relate to church. Frank agreed and said our hope is that many people will start relating to us as “the Refresh Centre”. The desire is to make it easier to connect.

Q - Linda What is wrong with what we already offer the community?
A - Frank We need to be honest that we are not connecting effectively with the older generation, or the youth. I want the Refresh team to respect what we have and build on it. The problem is that we do not have anything in the day time for the older generation. We do have the women’s meeting which is growing but its traditional “church” format would not connect with most people.

Q - Linda The church has agreed that the two church halls need to be used more, but do we have to make a business of them?
A - Frank No, but we do need to be good stewards of what we have. All is God’s and if business can be used as part of our mission that is good and it can release funds and workers. With a centre overseeing the work it will be different than when we simply hire out our buildings to organisation or businesses before. Now all partners, (organisations or businesses) will not only have to agree our ethos but also our aims as a church. We will be committed together in prayer.

Q - Linda That’s good. What is a partner?
A - Frank. A partner in the Centre will be any organisation or business with Christian leadership having the same ethos and vision as us. They will have the same goal of transformation of our village for God’s glory and the salvation of its people.

Q - Linda What was your reaction to the lack of monies pledged for the Centre Manager position?
A - Frank In a word: disappointment. I do not think it was a lack of confidence in Peter, nor do I believe it was God saying it was wrong. My feeling is that it was more about communication and pressure of other things at the time.

Q - Linda Will the business side of church life (the centre) become a headache for church members?
A - Frank No, it will be a blessing as it will take away from the church the worry of looking after the buildings.
Linda. That’s good - we can then spend our time at Members’ Meetings on more important things.

Q - Linda What powers, if any, will the church have after a business is set up on our premises?
A - Frank Ultimate ownership will always be with the church representative. Any partner not fulfilling it’s agreed contract will after discussion, if not changing, have that contract terminated.

Q - Linda How much extra finance are you asking the church members to find?
A - Frank I do not honestly know. The emphasis at the moment is start up; £15,000 for a manager. You could add to that the need for a caretaker. If what we do is done well it should attract funding from Trusts, Companies and Government.

Q - Linda What about profit, will that become all important?
A - Frank No. The term for this type of work is called a “social enterprise” - it is a charitable company. All profits are ploughed back into the company.

Q - Linda Now about “Saving Souls.” Do you think people will just come to the centre attend the courses and leave without a thought for God?
A - Frank Yes some will, but some will be touched by God and all will have received “Kingdom Principles” which will help them lead a better life. The experience of CAP (Christians Against Poverty) is they are seeing at least one person “saved” per day.

Q - Linda I am concerned that the church (you know what I mean by that) will become littered with posters and things that will distract my attention on Sunday.
A - Frank The ambiance in the main hall (you know what I mean by that) will always be conducive to teaching and worship. It is my sincere desire that it will be more conducive in two years’ time than it is now.

final Words

Linda - What is important is that we trust you, that your heart is to care for us and not leave us. That you will help us reach out to the community.
Frank - That is my desire Linda. It is also my top priority to build a team that will continue, that we have a leadership team we can trust.

A CHAT WITH

'Aunty' Linda Tythe, who leads the children’s ministry

Linda, you said recently how very important prayer is in your life, so will you share with us about your walk with the Lord?

With my eyes open and with my eyes closed He talks to me. Thoughts just pop into my mind and I just love talking to him, but it brings out a serious side of me and family and friends find it difficult, as they like my lighter side. However I believe God has given me this lighter side as life is much easier to cope with when you smile and I love to smile and to see others smile and hear their laughter. I also love to blame others for leading me astray – but they really do but don’t realise it. I think at times I have been hard work for the Good Shepherd. (Editor’s comment - Sorry Linda, but I cannot let you get away with the accusation that others lead you astray, as I know that I am one of those about whom you are talking. As in most situations in life, it is six of one and half a dozen of the other and I refuse to take all the blame!! I am not saying that I am innocent but ….)

It is well known that on Sundays, with Junior Church, and on Monday evenings, with Girls’ Brigade, you work with children but let’s have a “Linda’s Walk Thru the Week’ so that we can hear about what you get up to, at work, rest and play, during the remainder of the week!

Around the Church
Well, as you have already said, I am at Girls’ Brigade on Monday evenings, and on Wednesdays I host a Home Group and also lead it when Alison is not available. On Thursdays I go to Women’s Own, where I periodically give talks, and, as I am on the Committee, I help lead some of the meetings. As you know it’s Tots’ Club on Fridays and, although I do not go every week, I am regularly there helping Sharon with this really successful group. It has really taken off due to advertising it with a board on the pavement with balloons tied on to it, and fliers being taken around the shops. The mums love it and Sharon does very well; she puts a lot of work in and has a reasonably good back up team, but would appreciate more people as helpers. You don’t have to be there every week – once a month would be a big help; so if anyone reading this feels they can come along please have a word with Sharon.

Now we come to the weekend – I lead the 9 am prayer meeting every Saturday and it is encouraging that more people are coming along now that the summer months are over. Once a month I do Coffee Morning with Janet Self. We take it in turns to make the scones, but I have to admit I spend quite a lot of time shirking responsibility as the prayer meeting often runs over, but I do clear up!! Though, I must be honest, during the morning my pastoral side takes over and I spend time in the hall, rather than in the kitchen, chatting to people. But I do my bit at the end when it is clearing up time!!! On Sundays, once a month I am on the door welcoming people and I also count the collection - but they have never allowed me yet to take it home! As my name is Tythe I think I should receive tithes!!(Good try, Linda, but I don’t think that will work!) I work with the 3 – 8 year old children on two of the three Sundays in the month, which involves preparing any craft activities, story telling, etc. I also need to organise who will be out with the children each week and make sure they are aware of what is going to be happening.

Outside the church
On Tuesdays I usually go swimming and meet John and Glenys at the baths – not much swimming done but loads of chatting and we do get a good soaking! Once a month, on Wednesdays, I go to “Circle of Friends” and a lunch, which saves me cooking! “Circle of Friends?” It is just what it says, Freda! - a group of people that gather together at the Welling Masonic Hall, about 40 of us. We have different speakers and I go because I like to mix with different people; they are all retired and come from all walks of life and are very interesting to chat with. I also use this day for washing, shopping, housework (a little), gardening, chatting with neighbours and visiting friends.

On alternate Saturday afternoons I work at “Neutral Ground,” which I have been doing for about eight years. This is a place where parents who do not have custody of their children have access to them for a few hours. My job is to oversee the visits and do all the necessary paper work. Sometimes a parent may have difficulty with the visit for various reasons, so then you help them out by maybe helping the conversation to flow between the parent and the child, by playing a game to ease the situation, and we even have to help men handle their babies because they have never had any experience of this in the home. It can be quite upsetting when it comes to saying goodbye, both with the children and the parents, so we are expected to step in and ease the situation in these cases. We do have success stories, when the two sides become more amicable and trusting towards one another and the child is allowed outside access, which is really the ideal scenario for everyone. When I am not there my daughter drags me to the shops and leaves me sitting on a seat outside because I am worn out!

and the difference it makes to you in your life knowing Jesus as your Lord, Saviour and Friend?

He gives me new strength every morning and I know that I never have to face anything alone. My happiness comes from Him and my sadness is endured with Him and my church family are great; only they never help with the washing, shopping, housework, gardening, but they are willing to listen. Knock! Knock! (Sorry, Linda, I walked out without washing up my coffee cup!!)

You obviously get up to a lot during the week, so do you have time for any hobbies?

I do paint and read and I like to write the odd poem, which doesn’t always rhyme or make sense, but it is from me! Whilst I was with Linda she read something she has written but lack of space!!!!!!

Have you a favourite Bible Verse?
Well, verses actually! They are Romans 9:38-39

Kazakhstan Report

I asked Stephanie Ross, as leader and the other team members, to write a report about their visit and they write:

Stephanie Ross:
It has been three weeks now since the team returned from Kazakhstan and have no doubt settled back down in to the routine of life here. It seemed odd for me to drive down the A2 for the last week with all the cars silently staying in lane compared to the jostling, hooting and some might say ‘manic’ driving we witnessed in Shymkent! I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the trip with you and thank you for all your support during this time.

A team of seven from BBC went out to Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan to work alongside Crossroads, predominantly an aid distribution organisation, with this site serving central Asia. Alongside container shipments, they also serve the local community by working with orphanages, rehabilitation centres, schools and one-to-one care of the poorest people in the city. The team members were myself, Sylvia Payne, Spero Mifsud, Mary Mifsud, Jill Grant, Sue McCarthy and Matt Harris. Due to work commitments Matt could only stay with us a week and, as a qualified teacher, was snapped up by the English centre to help train the teachers and assist in lessons. The rest of us had a schedule involving renovating the café and conversation classes with the students at the English centre. As a group we had some time out from this to visit the local orphanage and rehabilitation centre and spend some time with our friend Rosa from Salem school. Unfortunately I was ill on the day the team went to the rehab centre but I understand it was a humbling and emotional day so probably one worth asking the others about when you get the chance! Also on the site is the Caring Hearts centre, a physiotherapy unit that works with cerebral palsy children and other special needs. We were able to visit the unit and play with the children whilst chatting to the volunteers that work there and also the locals that work with them. We had great fun working alongside the Crossroads team and helping them in their work, as well as speeding up progress on the café renovation work. During the conversations classes it didn’t take long for the students to start asking why we had come all this way and so we had many opportunities to share with them about our faith and church family back home. There are so many stories that we could tell about our time out there so please speak to the team for more details, we will all be glad to share with you!

Thank you to all those from BBC who gave us letters to open during our time there; these were a great source of encouragement and once again reminded us of the wonderful family we are all part of. Thanks to those who phoned us and kept in touch through email and texts, it was wonderful to know there were people praying for us everyday. Thank you to the church for allocating us a budget to work with and for all the financial donations that came in; they helped us to get there and also helped us to bless and encourage our brothers and sisters in Shymkent. Thank you, thank you, thank you and may the Lord bless you all!

As for my personal experience this trip was a challenge for me, I was fulfilling a calling I’ve had for the last year or so. Since I returned from Kazakhstan last year I knew I was being called to go back, there was a feeling of unfinished business, like I needed to learn more about the place and the people there. I knew I was not to go back to the school but spend some time on the Crossroads site and looking in to their work. It was great to witness God working in another part of the world and the faith that the team have out there, working under difficult circumstances every day, to see God glorified in their local area and further afield. The team has a similar vision for the site that we have for the Refresh centre here, to create a place of refreshing and safety for the local community and in turn share the love of God by serving on a one to one basis with people. They want to call their site the ‘Oasis’, yet another vision of water and one of God’s amazing co-incidences; bringing people of similar vision together to grow in Him, even over thousands of miles! I know that we as a team were blessed by working alongside people with such confidence in their Lord and the way he provides for the work they are doing, and sharing with the local believers so that we may encourage them in their faith too. It was one of those times when you realise that just the simple gift of giving time can make such a difference and be such a blessing to so many. The relationships that have been built on and new ones that have started will continue in to 2010.

Mary Mifsud:
I just thought I would try and answer your two questions! How has Kaz changed me? I don't really know if it has. I would like to think that there is a great big difference in me but I don't see it. I think I will look at people very differently now. When we first got there I felt that everyone was looking at us with suspicion - come to think of it I wouldn't blame them would you, we were a bit of a motley crew. After we had been there for a while and we got to know some of the students we must have looked more relaxed and the people were much friendlier with us. One of the things that stood out a great deal was the fact that the people were so polite. If a woman got on the bus a man or boy would stand up for them; it was a bit like England was years ago. It will be a shame if they change but they are bound to, worse luck.

The things I most enjoyed were too many to list. Oh, all right I will name one or two. I have all ready said the people were very polite and eventually very friendly. When we went to the rehab center the people were so open with their testimonies that it was quite emotional that total strangers were so comfortable in front of us that they told us of the reason that they were there and how GOD had so changed their lives - it was great. Another thing that was really great was being able to help the people at the center and find out what they did. We were absolutely gobsmacked. They didn't think that what they did was enough, but believe me they helped so many people and organisations it was amazing. There was a fellow there who had been working on the cafe for the last seven months and it was such a mess that he was really losing heart but after we had helped for a while he could see an end to it; well Spero did a lot of the work, a lot more than us. The conversation classes were really good, they all got the hang of dropping their t's and they loved it, so did I. The drivers there were so good they could have made a movie and it would have been a box office hit.

Oh, one of the things that will always be with me is watching the cook, Rahan, make Besparmak which is a Kazak meal of horse meat and a pasta but to see her make the pasta was absolutely unbelievable; it needed to be seen to be believed. One of the students there gave up her time and took us to the bazaar. She was a really nice girl and couldn't do enough to help. Another thing that I will never forget Kazakhstan for is the fact that I got a chest infection on the last week but it didn't lay me up for weeks, which is what usually happens; I know that I was being looked after. Thank you, Lord, yet again.

Jill Grant:
I do feel I have changed - I feel more sensitive towards foreign people in our country, I would like to explore another part of the world and would show more interest when others tell me of there travels. I feel softer hearted towards others. I feel Colin and I have grown closer. I was aware of my spiritual side more. When I read the Bible it is coming more alive. I am even more troubled by this generation. I just feel that I have been woken up. I enjoyed most of the experience, the variety of the different things we did, meeting the Crossroads team and sharing fellowship. There was a real unity between them, and they gave everything up to follow God and serve him in a different country, having a taste of what it was like for the early disciples. I enjoyed listening to the students talking about their culture, beliefs, their dreams and ambitions. As a team we really got to know each other; there was a feeling that we were a family and we enjoyed having a laugh, our prayer times and sitting down to some lovely meals and relaxing and just being ourselves.

As Sylvia Payne said when God speaks to us there is always change! She said that when they came to Belvedere she felt that the Kazakhstan part of their lives was finished and she certainly did not envisage that it would continue here. But God had other plans! Sylvia feels in her heart that God said that the doors were not to be closed. He wanted them to stay open! How right that is, because there are now folk in our fellowship who have a heart for Kazakhstan!
Sylvia continued by saying how really good it was being with the church folk 24/7, that she had been able to visit the rehab centre for the first time, having a good time of sharing God’s grace as well as seeing everybody again.

Matt Harris:
shared that because as a group they prayed every morning and every evening as well as lunch time, there was much more reliance on God in his life than he had had before. He continued by saying how amazing it was to visit Rosa’s school – seeing what has been done in its building and in its development and to feel the atmosphere in the place, how you could tangibly feel God there, and how he was excited about the possibilities it has for the future as well.

Sue McCarthy:
said that for her it was a cultural shock when they arrived as it was coming back here – the exact opposite. She said how she was now so aware of what goes on in Kazakhstan, particularly in Shymkent, how it is such a poor country, how she feels very blessed that she does not live there permanently and how she would never be the same because of her experience. Sue enjoyed most working with the children in the school, talking with them and asking them questions, which they were able to answer in English! Her visit to the rehab centre was a very humbling experience, where they were able to chat with the ladies and learn how they became Christians, thanks to an interpreter.

Spero Mifsud:
The biggest change in me is my outlook towards "evangalism". The people we worked with in Kazakhstan were evangalising on a hourly basis by what they did and not what they said. Their lives and their jobs were a complete sacrifice but in their prayer time, they prayed that they could do even more. Their work was not easy and was filled with trials as obstacle after obstacle are put in the way of what they really want to do. Doing God's work is a rewarding and wonderful thing and any trials you face should be embraced and not a reason to stop. Evangelism is not to preach God's word, it is living it.

What I enjoyed most? I went to Kazakhstan with one purpose, to check out the school and see what can be done to finish off building it. I went in obedience to God's call and not for any personal reason and even arriving at the school, my heart was not there. When I walked in the school there was a calmness and peace throughout the school and the children were lovely. I then walked into the unfinished part of the school and felt a real peace within my own heart even though I knew what it meant for me; to complete the school I will need to raise £30,000. Now that is a lot of money and I have no idea how or where that money is going to come from but I know that this is what I must do to fulfill God's request on my life. This should terrify me but instead I am excited to see what God is going to do.

Christmas – What is it all About?

Hotel stays over Christmas are extra indulgent and really rather childish!! Our favourite hotel was packed out – certainly no empty rooms at this Inn – which meant the dining room was, on occasion, very noisy, with crackers, poppers and paper blow out horns!! However, the sun was shining and the walk along the promenade was very pleasant.

It seemed no one else was planning to go to midnight mass at the (not too far away) Parish Church, so we waited and wended our way there on Christmas morning. The welcome was warm, the organ mellow and the sermon very interesting. The Reader suggested we would all have seen, or heard of the film Mama Mia, and based her sermon on the young heroine’s need to know who her father was!! She held my attention and made it thought provoking.

We were encouraged to ‘go upstairs’ for coffee and found the most amazing large room. In 1990 Holy Trinity, Exmouth, became an ‘Additional Parish Church’ – the ancient, original Parish Church in Littleham Village is still alive and well, dating from 1234. In 1993/4 they seem to have taken off the rear third of the church so ‘gaining’ offices, toilet, foyer space and a coffee shop, which is open Monday to Saturday mornings and on Bank Holidays!! The large upstairs room, serviced by a lift, has a fully equipped kitchen and a startling view of the church through plate glass windows and is available for hire. Upstairs again is another room which is used by the Youth of the Parish.
I wish we had made the effort to go to the midnight service as, at the end of each pew there was a pole – fixed for the season - and on top a circle of, I think, eight candle holders. Evening services by candle light must be very special. Wonder if they have an army of candle lighters and if they can be lit and extinguished from the ground? Must be hundreds of candles – so however, very well done Holy Trinity.

We were invited back to coffee morning on Boxing Day morning and the company was so good we did indeed indulge. I guess they are well used to welcoming visitors. I came home with the interesting history booklet, a ‘magic’ monthly newsletter made on a machine which prints (in colour, too) and then collates and staples!! But then they also are able to pre-record the organ music for services when the Organist is elsewhere and, it would appear, that he then is not missed!! All really technical!! Whilst we were enjoying the Church company, there were 600 people who dashed into the sea and something like 2,000 others who watched the spectacle. Perhaps that is what Christmas means – a very cold dip in rather grubby salty water!!

ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPA’s)

You may recall that Christian Aid’s Trade Justice Campaign fought hard against the European Union imposing EPA’s on some of the world’s poorest countries. Many of these countries (in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific) have still not ratified their EPA’s, refusing to be bullied into signing such unfair deals.

Such countries are vulnerable to these unfair trade deals because of their desperate poverty and the need for money. It is possible for these countries to raise their own cash to pay for their own development, because they have the natural resources and the skills of their own people. However, in many of these countries, it is the multinational companies that are making huge profits from these natural resources. The problem is that many multinational companies are not paying a fair rate of tax on their profits in these countries that are being exploited. It is estimated that such dodges are costing our poorest brothers and sisters US$ 160 billion every year!

If you have access to the internet, would you please log on to www.christianaid.org.uk/tax and follow the link to email The Chancellor. Thank You.
Derek Fraser