Copyright ©All Rights Reserved.
Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD?"
Ladies Conference
Sizewell Hall, January 2008
The last weekend in January has become a special time to look forward to and once again this year just over 100 ladies gathered to spend a weekend set apart to hear just what God had to say to each of them as individuals.
We were fortunate to be able to procure ten places on the Conference this year and once again there was a long waiting list of those not fortunate enough to get their application in quick enough. This conference has become so popular that you have to send your application in by return of post to have any hope of gaining a place.
Our journey on the Friday evening went well and we arrived in the Lounge of the Hall to a blazing log fire and a real “buzz” of everyone greeting friends, old and new!
It was very evident when the five of us arrived in Room No. 1 that still more improvements had been made in the Hall, including a brand new “wet room” for disabled visitors, new carpets plus a new coffee, bean to cup, machine downstairs providing drinks instantly.
It was a busy and full weekend, with various meetings, prayer-times, get-togethers and of course the obligatory walk along the beach to Thorpeness on the Saturday afternoon for the more fit and able, including, I might add, one of the guest speakers! We were so blessed by the weather, being comparatively warm and sunny for the whole weekend.
Our studies were in the book of Jeremiah, most ably led by Sandie Burnett from Frinton Free Church and Reona Joly from Harpenden. Not one the easiest of books to get to grips with, but we came away feeling so much more conversant with what God was endeavouring to show His people in the days of Jeremiah and how applicable those words are for us today in this world that appears to have forsaken God and sadly gone its own way. I personally found the expositions on “The Linen Belt” (Jeremiah 13) and “The Potter’s House” (Jeremiah 18) very helpful and our group agreed that we must seek, with God’s help, to live out what we have learned in the days ahead.
Our good friend, Faith Marsden (a school-teacher from the Sudbury area) led our Saturday evening in some light-hearted entertainment, as is customary on these weekends. She is a very warm and talented lady in many ways and I am sure that there were many aching sides after her various tales etc. so ably related in the true Suffolk dialect, together with a rendering of “Cinderella” with the help of the rest of the Women for Christ Committee.
The food, accommodation, company and weather were all excellent and I believe that what we learned together at Sizewell Hall will have repercussions in many parts of Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire in the coming days and months as we seek to share what we received from God.
Marion Bland
Tanzanian Children in Need
Since my last update on money raised for Steve and Rodina’s Tanzanian Children in need outreach, I am pleased to have been able to pass on a further £52.50 raised from the sale of cards. This means that in the year I have been making cards the total raised is now nearly £120. Again I would like to thank all who have given their support in purchasing the cards. Several times I have been asked to make a card for a special occasion which I have been happy to do, so if you can’t see what you’re looking for then please ask.
Thanks again
Love Ruth Little
Footprints
Today we hear much about Carbon Footprints. Each of us, it is claimed, have a footprint which is determined by the amount of energy we use, and we are encouraged to avoid waste.
Many believe that the changes we experience in the climate are due to the increase in the carbon released into the atmosphere, although others see these changes as long term cycles of change.
Along with our Carbon Footprints we should pay attention to our Moral Footprints. Clearly the moral climate of our country is not what it should be when compared with God’s word (The Bible). We all have a responsibility to seek to improve the situation by our actions and examples.
As Christian believers we must also consider our Spiritual Footprints. Whatever happens in the world around us, be it climate change or further moral decline, we must stand firm in our Faith, looking to our Heavenly Father so that each of us can have a Spiritual Footprint that will make its mark, and not be obliterated by the works of the Devil.
‘Chocs and Socs‘ - A Message from Beacon House
Many thanks for all those who contributed to providing gifts and messages to the homeless this Christmas.
I know I speak on behalf of all the team at Beacon House when I say that many times when we were issuing these gifts the client’s comments were truly humbling. Many told us this would be the only gift they would receive and were therefore keen to ‘save’ opening it until Christmas morning. Many of our truly ‘tougher’ clients seemed genuinely moved.
However the most amazing part of this appeal was the acceptance of the Christian scripture, which was enclosed. Of all the gifts opened I found ‘none’ disregarded in the wrapping paper at the end of the afternoon. God’s word powerful, true and never wasted.
This reminds us of Isaiah 55 -10-1. For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Beacon House approaches 2008 with a fresh anticipation of what the Lord has planned. Clients are hungry and open for prayer. Bibles are now available via Gideons in reception and we are seeking God’s Blessing as we commence a ‘mini Alpha’.
These are truly exciting times. All who are involved at Beacon House who have experienced ‘one moment’ of sharing with a client know that despite how ineffective we often feel when dealing with clients ready to take their own lives due to drugs, alcohol misuse or relationship breakdown, God is ultimately in control and we have witnessed the release in surrender these clients can and do experience.
Your prayers, love and support at Beacon House are truly valued.
Michelle
Click hear to download the
Spring 2008
copy of the Lighthouse Magazine
