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LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS EMMANUEL S FRIENDS Sharing the Love of Jesus APRIL 2020

JP S JOURNAL BY JONATHAN CEO LIFT UP UP YOUR HEARTS EMMANUEL S FRIENDS Dear friends We pray that you all are being kept safe and above all kept in the Lord s love I hardly need to say it but we live in sad and uncertain times don t we Our prayers and thoughts go out first of all to those who have lost loved ones due to the crisis and to those who are currently fighting the virus We pray though that through the current situation eyes are lifted heavenward and hearts would ask the big questions of life and search out the Saviour of the world These times are unfortunately causing considerable concern for us at Caring For Life as they are for all of us We are having to adapt our support to some of those in our care and on a daily basis we are needing to tailor how we manage both our staff team and also our beneficiaries Our biggest priority is to keep people safe from becoming poorly and to enable those 1 most isolated to continue to receive care and support Sadly however projects are being affected and for some a phone call and a delivery of food is all we can offer at the moment Last Lord s Day one of my deacons led the service and he read from Psalm 46 where David sings God is our refuge and strength an ever present help in trouble Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God the holy place where the Most High dwells God is within her she will not fall God will help her at break of day

That Psalm is a lovely reminder that the Lord is with us and the Lord is for us When life seems so bleak and the future so uncertain the Psalm reminds us that there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God Let s all be still before the Lord and pray that His love would become enlarged in us and that the nation might turn to Him in its distress so that He becomes for them a fortress as He is for us In this month s bulletin you are going to read Dear friends our hope is in Him and His love is some things which are sure and certain His everlasting arms are strong really sad It does sadly go with the territory and safe so no matter what happens to us if we and you will read things are in Him the future is bright which will make your heart feel glad That goes with the territory too That reminds me of Jesus words to the But in the good and the bad we know the Samaritan woman when he said that he Lord is at work Hallelujah offers unquenchable water leading to eternal life Dear friends our hope is in I also want to remind you all of what Paul Him and His love is sure and certain His said in Ephesians 6 12 everlasting arms are strong and safe so no matter what happens to us if we are in Him For our struggle is not against flesh and the future is bright blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the powers of this dark The Psalm finishes with these words world and against the spiritual forces of evil Be still and know that I am God I will be in the heavenly realms exalted among the nations I will be exalted in the earth The Lord Almighty is with us the We are in a battle we are in a war but our captain is Emmanuel the Saviour the King God of Jacob is our fortress 2

JP S JOURNAL CONTINUED of kings To Him we bow the knee and we follow Him to the end I want to leave you with the words of a wonderful song It is a song of comfort and also a battle cry just like Psalm 46 I hope it s a blessing to you Lift up your hearts Emmanuel s friends And taste the pleasure Jesus sends Let nothing cause you to delay But hasten in the good old way Chorus after each verse For I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul For I know I have and I feel I have A sweet hope of glory in my soul Our conflicts here though great they be Shall not prevent our victory If we but strive and watch and pray Like soldiers in the good old way Though Satan may his powers employ Our happiness for to destroy Yet never fear we ll gain the day By marching in the good old way Ye valiant souls for heaven contend Remember glory is at the end Our God will wipe our tears away When we have run the good old way And far beyond this mortal shore We ll meet with those who have gone before And shout to think we have gained the day By marching in the good old way May the Lord bless and keep you our dearly loved brothers and sisters Love to you all in Jesus name Please do read the back page of this bulletin for an important message Food parcels go out with a handwritten note of encouragement

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT We know it will come as no surprise that regrettably we have had to cancel Open Day on 20th June Our Supporters Day in July remains under review With government advice being updated by the day at the time of writing it is hard to ensure that the news we are giving you is up to date We greatly value your prayers for these very specific needs All those who would normally attend daytime projects on the Farm All projects have had to be closed due to the vulnerability of those we support For the Being There team as they seek to support people through phone calls taking food parcels picking up prescriptions and medicines and in a myriad ways but not home visits For Tindall House and Wendy Margaret Home as the residents are at home all the time for their health and wellbeing Pray for wisdom creativity and ability to support vulnerable people in new helpful ways For staff working from home to remain encouraged For great wisdom health and strength for the Exec team during this crisis For God to meet our financial needs as all areas of our ministry will be affected including our social enterprises Through all this we pray for you our dear supporters including all who will be very socially isolated during this time We will stay in touch by any means we can

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BY GAYLE PENNANT Pastoral Director everyone every day lots of times round here at the minute Like everyone else in the country we at Caring For Life have been following all the government guidance about hygiene and hand washing to help combat the Coronavirus greetings to replace hugs and handshakes and even having a staff member with green paint on her face hands and table to demonstrate virus transmission We have been trying to encourage and embed good habits and higher levels of vigilance among our beneficiaries while maintaining a positive and encouraging approach It was quite funny recently when two of our gentlemen had their birthday and we were singing to them during lunch Many folk were spotted miming hand washing during the singing of the song as if it was impossible not to This has included creating a playlist of songs we can sing while washing our hands once we all became tired of singing Happy Birthday twice having great fun devising elaborate foot tapping and elbow bumping As you can imagine we have been seeking God s wisdom at every stage as we ve tried to achieve a very careful balance attempting to raise awareness while at the same time containing anxiety 5

Advice is being updated on an almost daily basis and by the time you read this no doubt there will have been many further developments overall aim of this is of course to point them to the love of the Saviour It has struck me as ironic though that as the country discusses social distancing and self isolation those are the very things that so many of our beneficiaries are sadly experts at I love it Everyone is so kind and so friendly I ve never met such kind people I was talking to a lady at coffee time last week on her very first day at the farm She is a very anxious It has struck me as ironic though that as the lady and hadn t been at all country discusses social distancing and selfsure that she would manage to attend By coffee time isolation those are the very things that so though she was beaming and many of our beneficiaries are sadly experts at when I asked how she was finding her first day she said So many of our folk would rarely see a friendly face if they didn t come to the farm or have a visit from one of our staff or volunteers In fact one of the very reasons we exist is to combat social isolation and to give people an experience of love and friendship in a family context And the How sad that this has been her experience of the world And what a privilege we have to welcome her here at Caring For Life So please do pray for those who are already pretty much alone in the world and then need to self isolate Pray that they ll know the presence of the Friend who sticks closer than a brother and come to see that it s His presence that makes all the difference The above article was written just before the government announced the serious social distancing measures that meant we needed to close the farm projects and try to support our precious friends from a distance This is a difficult and upsetting time for so many in our care What a blessing though that God is in control and that we can rely on him when times are tough Thank you for your prayers

SPRING IS HERE We are very privileged to spend our days here on a beautiful farm where we see daily evidence of God s wonderful creation all around us and as always Spring is a very special time at the farm For many of our beneficiaries the farm is like another world so different to the environments in which they live and it is a great joy for us to be able to share the beauty of creation with them It is sad that with our annual Springwatch competition having only just been announced with a superb design by David on the Centre noticeboard our dear folks are now no longer able to attend their projects at the Farm It really is their farm their horses their sheep about to lamb and so forth Some love to be the first to see frogspawn a wild daffodil and ducklings or to hear the curlew All the glory of nature will continue but it will be a very quiet farm compared to the usual buzz of a busy Centre or all the chattering on projects But we will find creative ways to stay in touch with all our beneficiaries including reminders that Spring is here showing them the wonder of all that God has made telling them the stories of Jesus and of the glorious meaning of Easter The gardens are burgeoning with spring colours as cheery daffodils and dainty rockery tulips flower and the early cherries produce their blossom The trees and shrubs are alive with the busy chatter of garden birds collecting nesting material and joyfully singing to their mates JAKE

After a very wet and miserable few months the flock of hens are really enjoying ranging free in the paddock they re a lovely sight We re excited to be welcoming a new staff member to lead the project later in the month an answer to our prayers One young lady who wasn t able to attend the farm recently said I hope the chickens don t miss me give them a hug from me CHRIS We are nearly through calving our 17 cows and so far it has all gone very well with all cows calving all by themselves which reduces the workload on us We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of about 100 lambs in the next few weeks It will be a busy time but filled with joy and excitement for all involved STEVE On the woodwork project everyone has enjoyed helping to construct a picturesque arbour for the conservation area around the top pond It houses a beautiful bench overlooking the pond and the sensory gardens beyond The arrival of spring has also seen the usual increase in sales and production of our ever popular wooden planters JED

GOD WHO IS NOT DISTANT Over the past few weeks words and phrases that were rarely uttered before have become part of our everyday conversation Social distancing and self isolation are now concepts that are at the forefront of all of our minds It s difficult though isn t it God made us to be social beings We exist and thrive in community in relationships and in families So the thought of closing ourselves off from all our loved ones and surviving alone for a period of time is a daunting one And indeed it can present challenges to our mental health and well being Many of you may know this from experience by now and at the time of writing many of our beneficiaries are about to experience this No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us For I am convinced that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future nor any powers neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD ROMANS 8 V 37 39 9 For a number of our folks they will be facing total isolation without any friends or family to look out for them or to be concerned for them For some they will isolated in rather grim inadequate flats and houses which are neither cosy nor comfortable And sadly for a few they will be much more vulnerable to predatory individuals in their community God s supernatural protection is essential for us all but very especially for many of those we support Let s keep one another in prayer in these changing times and let s be amazed afresh at the blessing we have of being able to rest secure in the hands of an unchanging Saviour And what a blessing that the God of the universe does not isolate Himself from us His creatures Instead He draws near to us and gives us the blessing of His presence

PARTNERING CHURCHES we simply do not have enough people to go out and about We really want to make sure country and meet supporters who are praying that we keep connected with our supporting for Caring For Life Being able to update you churches and so we are keen as we are able to on what the Lord is doing here at Caring For start producing short films that can be shown Life as well as hearing your own stories of in church giving people fresh information God s grace and strength in times of difficulty and joy these are times of real encouragement and stories to encourage and inspire them as well as matters for prayer to us This would of course be in addition to our first When staff go out on a presentation they are choice which continues to be presentations always sent on their way with beneficiary and staff prayers from the morning prayer time at the farm The following day we so often have Request for prayer We know that as we start cause to give thanks for the having to cancel presentation visits we will encouragement it has been and the support that has been shown feel the effect in relation to income Please One of our ladies gives thanks pray that the Lord would meet our needs every day for you our precious supporters We realise churches may not be meeting for There are a number of presentation some time but are happy to send films for use visits planned for the coming months in other settings for pre recorded services and and we are praying that many will still so forth be able to go ahead Of course this is sadly looking increasingly unlikely as the If you belong to a church that would Coronavirus spreads but we will be in close appreciate a film update when it is produced touch with churches where visits are already please do get in touch planned Pam Parkinson Even when there is no crisis going on there Support Coordinator can be times when we are unable to plan pam parkinson caringforlife co uk extra presentation visits to churches because We love to visit churches around the 10

URGENT NOTICE To keep abreast of the latest news at Caring For Life please look on a regular basis at either the Caring For Life web page or Caring For Life s Facebook page We will be giving regular updates throughout the ongoing crisis and as the situation develops Due to a significant shortfall in our monthly income we are having to take drastic measures whilst seeking to maintain the same level of support to those in our care Please would you pray with us about this immediate need and please would you maybe consider how you might be able to help And to all of you who are standing with us during these uncertain times we thank you in the name of the Lord Thank you from everyone at Caring For Life Pseudonyms are often used throughout these bulletins to protect the privacy of individuals Due to the sensitive information in this bulletin about individuals may we remind you not to leave it lying around copy reproduce any contents without permission or pass it on to others If you know of someone who would like to receive a copy please ask them to contact Pam on 0113 2303610 or pam parkinson caringforlife co uk to be added to our mailing list Thank You