World Horizons Update

CORNE & DAVID’S NEWS - MAY 2012

France Overland at Easter...

After a couple of years’ worth of chat and prayer and recruiting and visits to Nottingham, we finally set off on 30th March with the first student mission trip from Joshua’s church (He is the church Student Pastor).  It took a lot of administration and persistence and flexibility but we were off, together, Marseille bound!

But first a detour to Strasbourg to meet with a couple of missionaries who work amongst people from all over Europe who are connected to the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights.  This couple spent a day with us explaining the purpose of each EU Institution and some specific things we could pray about in each place.  The group highlighted this as one of their most significant times of learning & prayer.

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Marseille – 850,000 people, the second largest city in France, approx. 5% of the population from the Comoro Islands and approx. 9% from the Maghreb (Morocco & Algeria).  Both of these people groups are almost entirely Muslim and unreached with the Good News of Jesus Christ.  What an opportunity this represents for mission to Muslims in France!

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This was my first visit and we connected with several WH staff and an excellent, lively, mission minded French church – I was very impressed, WOW!  This French speaking church was made up of many nationalities (though majority French), had members from all age groups, had some Muslim background believers in Christ, was looking to reach out to its local French and immigrant community and was involved in mission trips to Algeria and Libya that month.

We spent a day in the city and went up to a high place to worship and pray over the city, had an afternoon swim at the beach, helped with the boys and girls school classes during the week, were hosted by members of the church, walked around the community giving fliers for the Easter church service and organised an English evening.  An English evening was just what Joshua (American) and I (Scottish) were prepared for!

The evening involved games, a quick English language lesson and cooking 50 baked potatoes and making various toppings.  A couple of mornings were spent in the community again to invite locals to the evening.  The church said it was great to see so many new faces, including 2 local

Muslim families - one of these women was so happy that she was the last to leave & gave everyone a big hug.

‘Mission’ and ‘evangelism’ don’t need to be tough or hard work!  An invitation to an evening with food, then a simple friendly chat at the dinner table as you eat.  This simple and natural expression of love can change people’s lives!

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Clothes for Africa...

In February Corne felt strongly to do something 'small' to raise some money for the famine in the Sahel region at the moment.  

World Horizons have strong links to local communities and churches in Burkina Faso and Niger and are well placed to help some of the most at risk including widows, orphans and the sick.  Grain prices have doubled in some areas and will continue to rise.

So all the money raised goes towards buying emergency grain for those hardest hit by the current food crisis.  It is currently £40 a sack of grain.

So we (Corne and a small team of helpers) held a Swishing Party on the 5th May - IT'S A CLOTHES SWAP PARTY - for those wondering.  We had lots of cakes and STARBUCKS coffee (donated by our local Starbucks) It was generally a great atmosphere and Praise God we raised £821!

                                                 People queuing for grain in Burkina Fas

                                                               Annelie enjoying playing in the Glen.

                                                      With friends at our new house-group

I am a Friend of God

Abbie taught us this new song on Sunday - simple words with a profound message for us all.

Where are this crew going?

They are off to Belfast for the weekend!

Fun times!!!

The Spell Begins to Break...

At times we feel things will never change. CS Lewis is a powerful writer. We were reminded of this part of the story in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:

"It seemed to Lucy only the next minute (though really it was hours and hours later) when she woke up feeling a little cold and dreadfully stiff and thinking how she would like a hot bath. Then she felt a set of long whiskers tickling her cheek and saw the cold daylight coming in throught he mouth of the cave. But immediately after that she was very wide awake indeed, and so was everyone else. In fact they were all sitting up with their mouths and eyes wide open listening to a sound which was the very sound they'd all been thinking of (and sometimes imagining they heard) during their walk last night. It was a sound of jingling bells.


Mr Beaver was out of the cave like a flash the moment he heard it. Perhaps you think, as Lucy thought for a moment, that this was a very silly thing to do? But it was really a very sensible one. He knew he could scramble to the top of the bank among bushes and brambles without being seen; and he wanted above all things to see which way the Witch's sledge went. The others all sat in the cave waiting and wondering. They waited nearly five minutes. Then they heard something that frightened them very much. They heard voices. 'Oh,' thought Lucy, 'he's been seen. She's caught him!' Great was their surprise when a little later, they heard Mr Beaver's voice calling to them from just outside the cave.


"It's all right," he was shouting. "Come out, Mrs Beaver. Come out Sons and Daughters of Adam. It's all right! It isn't Her!" This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited; I mean, in Narnia - in our world they usually don't talk at all.


So Mrs Beaver and the children came bundling out of the cave, all blinking in the daylight, and with earth all over them, and looking very frowsty and unbrushed and uncombed and with the sleep in their eyes.


"Come on!" cried Mr Beaver, who was almost dancing with delight. "Come and see! This is a nasty knock for the Witch! It looks as if her power is already crumbling."


"What do you mean, Mr Beaver?" panted Peter as they all scrambled up the steep bank of the valley together.


"Didn't I tell you," answered Mr Beaver, "that she'd made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn't I tell you? Well, just come and see!"


And then they were all at the top and did see. It was a sledge, and it was reindeer with bells on their harness. But they were far bigger than the Witch's reindeer, and they were not white but brown. And on the sledge sat a person whom everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe (bright as hollyberries) with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest. Everyone knew him because, though you see people of his sort only in Narnia, you see pictures of them and hear them talked about even in our world - the world on this side of the wardrobe door. But when you really see them in Narnia it is rather different. Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly. But now that the children actually stood looking at him they didn't find it quite like that. He was so big, and so glad, and so real, that they all became quite still. They felt very glad, but also solemn.


"I've come at last," said he. "She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch's magic is weakening."


And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still."


(From The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Chapter 10, The Spell Begins to Break)

Love the Lord your God...

On Sunday morning Maureen reminded us of a familiar but very important verse:

"Love the Lord  your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind."

You can find it in Luke 10: 27, but it is something of a common theme in the Bible and a quick search on Google shows that it comes up in a few other places too!

We then sang the words in this great song by Lincoln Brewster:

As you listen and maybe sing along - take some time to consider and ask God to show you, "What does it mean for me to love God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind?"

April's Messy Church

What happens when all the chocolate is gone? That was the question we set out to answer at Saturday's Messy Church - or more accurately, What happens after Easter? What does Jesus death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead mean for me?

So our theme was relationship with Jesus and we had a lot of fun finding out how easy it is to talk to Him! As always there were plenty of colourful, messy, creative crafts to have a go at. We painted candles, made giant cardboard cutout people, paper plate faces, photo frames to put a picture of someone we are praying for into - and a whole lot more!

James seemed to have a lot of fun leading us in two great songs - Whoopah Wahey! and Jesus is my Superhero. Then Anne and Michael did a drama that showed us we can talk to Jesus anytime, anywhere, about anything! We don't have to use fancy words or go to a special place or be a certain kind of person. Jesus is always ready to listen to us no matter who we are or how young or old we might be.

Then it was time to find out what the hard working kitchen team had prepared for us this time - homemade burgers! And, as always, plenty of cake for dessert...

The next Messy Church is on Saturday 26th May, 4 - 6 pm. Invitations are available in Priory Lane - who will you invite to come along?



Messy Church logo copyright Bible Reading Fellowship 2011

World Horizons

We had a very special service last Sunday morning as we shared with David and Corne Storm, their family and friends, in the dedication of baby Annelie. There was even a Skype link with South Africa, where Corne is originally from, during the dedication!

David and Corne work with World Horizons on a full time voluntary basis. This welsh based organisation seeks to work in partnership with the UK church to see indigenous church planted in areas of the world where it has never before existed - places for example like Tibet, Turkey, Morocco, Sudan, Iraq and north-west India. For more information on World Horizons, check out their website at www.worldhorizons.co.uk

Corne  is currently on maternity leave & loving being a full time mum, making lots of friends with other mums and babies. David is part of a small team running an adventurous short term missions program. This mainly involves prayer focused trips to the Middle East & North Africa that are usually aimed at the 18-30 year old age group. The overland trips, where they drive from Wales to North Africa, often have a strong emphasis on discipleship, envisioning people for the nations, nurturing faith and first time evangelism to unreached people groups. The fly-out trips often meet with local believers before heading into unreached areas of the country to pray, worship, and to ask God to build His Kingdom and send long term mission workers.

David has just returned from an overland trip in France with a group of English students in early April. They connected with French churches and missionaries in Strasbourg,Bourg and Marseille to learn from them, pray with them and work alongside them for a short time.

David, Corne and Annelie are currently enjoying a two week break in Scotland. Please pray that this will be a good family time of rest and refreshing for them, and that God will continue to bless and direct their work with World Horizons on their return.