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CARING FOR LIFE EMMANUEL GOD WITH US Sharing the Love of Jesus DECEMBER 2018
JP S JOURNAL BY JONATHAN CEO Caring For Life EMMANUEL GOD WITH US Dear friends of Caring For Life I pray that this prayer letter finds you in good heart I say that because I know a number of you are not in good health at the moment But we know don t we that even though our bodies waste away our hope and our hearts grow stronger because the time of Christ s coming grows nearer So I pray that your hearts are well and that you shall all know the peace of God which passes all understanding and the joy that comes only from knowing loving and following Jesus For all of us Christmas is upon us again and I can hardly believe how fast the year has passed by At Caring For Life we have been busy preparing gifts and planning meals and parties Thank you to those of you who have been so kind in sending us presents to give out and for those of you who have sent special one o gifts towards the extra costs of Christmas We shall do our very best to give those in our care a really special time and above all we pray that they shall all come to know something more of God s love for them in Jesus His precious Son I don t know about you but I get quite distressed at the way Jesus has become less 1 and less a part of Christmas Jesus seems to have got lost in all the festivities and fun A dear friend of mine has boycotted a well know sandwich chain because they in one of their Christmas TV adverts had a sausage roll in the manger instead of Jesus To some that may seem quite funny and a good way to attract new customers but to us who have faith in the centre piece of Christmas Jesus it is a heartbreaking thing to see because we know it s a good example of how so many address this time of year
Well that s not how it will be at Caring For Life at Christmas Jesus will be at the forefront of everything we do and He will be the One we seek to bring glory to in all that goes on over the Christmas period and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel which means God with us What a comfort and a blessing it is to be reminded that God is with us We never need to struggle alone because God is with us When I was thinking and praying about what to write in this month s bulletin this lovely song came to mind He is with us every moment of every day He is with us in the big moments of life as well as the tiny and seemingly insignificant moments of life He is with us on the mountain tops and with us in the deepest and darkest of times Jesus name above all names Beautiful Saviour glorious Lord Emmanuel God is with us Blessed Redeemer Living word Isaiah prophesies in chapter 7 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel What a comfort and a blessing it is to be reminded that we never need to struggle alone because God is with us As we know he is talking about Jesus In the first chapter of Mathew s Gospel you will also remember that the angel of the Lord comes and speaks to Joseph He says to him that Mary will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus and in v 23 The virgin will conceive God is with us and He is here to save us He is here to redeem us and remake us I hope that reminder encourages you So many people in our world want to make a name for themselves don t they They 2
JP S JOURNAL CONTINUED want power fame and glory but Jesus name is the Name above all names He is the Beautiful Saviour of the world and He is the glorious Lord of all who confess His name Our nation seems to be in absolute turmoil at the moment We seem to be in a real mess There are so many issues going on around us that it takes people s focus away from the bigger issues of life and death although in some people s minds the issues our nation faces have become that big We must never lose focus of the fact that God is with us and never forget Jesus words when He said that He would never leave nor forsake His people As we approach Christmas let s all pray and consider how we may use this time of year to highlight the truth that God is with us and that Jesus came to save us Let s pray that the Lord would move mightily and powerfully to win the lost for His glory This will be a busy time for us at Caring For Life with the many food hampers and 3 presents being delivered along with the Christmas meals and gatherings Despite these things it will also be a time of fear isolation and sadness for some in our care Please pray again with us that in the midst of these things the light of God s glory will shine into the hearts and minds of these precious and greatly loved men and women at Caring For Life Pray that Jesus won t just blend into the background but that He will become for them their personal Emmanuel their Saviour their Rock of salvation Dear friends may the Lord bless and keep you may He work in us all what is pleasing to Him and in Jesus name we ask these things So as our chair of trustees Bill Bygroves often signs o his letters Yours in the battle
GIVING A SPECIAL GIFT It s such a joy for us to see the wonder on people s faces when they read the Bible for the very first time Some of the ladies and gentlemen we support have only recently begun to read the Bible They are amazed by what God s Word contains and by how God speaks to them through it study she expected just a few people to request a copy The forest of hands waving in the air and the level of excitement shown was an unexpected and brilliant surprise For some years we have also been aware of the need for suitable daily Bible reading notes for adults who may struggle to read or have a learning disability We have sought suitable notes which we will soon be giving away 50 could help people read a easy read New Testaments to those who little every day and take them systematically through attend Bible studies at Caring For Life a book in the Bible Thanks to the generosity of some supporters who heard about a specific need we will soon be giving away 50 easy read New Testaments to those who attend Bible studies at Caring For Life and to others who ve asked for a copy When Cath showed the easy read New Testament to folks at the Being There Bible We have now produced our own notes on the gospel of Matthew but need to do a trial run to see if they are understandable and helpful before making the full set of notes available What a special gift to place into someone s hands an easy read New Testament and special notes to help them spend time with Jesus every day 4
PAST PRESENT BY GAYLE Pastoral Director One of the great privileges of my job is meeting the new people who want to come to the farm for the first time become so much a part of the Caring For Life family so quickly In Dennis case however it s maybe not much of a surprise We recently had a referral of a young man Dennis who was interested in a place on the agriculture project We o ered him an appointment to come and meet us one morning at 10 30 The plan was that we would meet with Dennis and show him around so that he could decide whether he wanted to come to the farm Long serving sta members at Caring For Life remember Dennis as a little boy who came to the farm each Christmas Day many years ago with his Mum and his other siblings His Mum was unable to provide the family with a Christmas Day at home for a number of years and so she brought little Dennis and his siblings to celebrate Christmas with their Caring For Life family At 8 15 that morning we were surprised and delighted to see that Dennis had already arrived He was so keen to start that he had arrived in time for breakfast This was all the more impressive when it emerged that Dennis had walked five and a half miles to get to the farm and had left home before 7am One of the great benefits of long term gospel work is the opportunity to share Jesus love many times over and with each new generation We ve been blessed to sustain a long and positive relationship with Dennis mum who continues to be supported by the Being What a joy it is to get to know Dennis There team What a joy it is to get to know Dennis as a young as a young man in his own right and to man in his own right and to share Jesus love with him each week share Jesus love with him each week It seemed appropriate that day to abandon our usual procedures and allow Dennis to stay all day and join in with the agriculture team since he was so keen to get here Dennis is now a regular fixture at the farm arriving early before breakfast cheery enthusiastic and rosy cheeked from his early morning walk It s wonderful to see this young man throw himself eagerly into the farm projects and 5 Please do continue to pray for the vulnerable families we support We long to see each generation reached with the gospel and won for the Saviour And please pray for Dennis on his long walks each day to and from the farm We are delighted that he feels his time at the farm is worth all that e ort Please pray with us that it will be the love of Jesus that draws him to Caring For Life and not just the sheep and the cows
One of the great bene ts of long term gospel work is the opportunity to share Jesus love many times over and with each new generation 6
BEING THERE AT CHRISTM BY ESTHER Senior Pastoral Administrator Caring For Life s Being There housing support team have been meeting and gradually getting to know new people over the past couple of months as well as continuing to support many others The situations they encounter can be deeply sad Sometimes a person is so at risk from people who are preying on them that it is not appropriate to mention their situations in this bulletin A person may have to change their identity and move up and down the UK to escape Our sta were saddened to see the state of one young man s flat when they first met him It mirrored the disturbed cluttered state of Colin s mind tears All Cath could do at the time was to leave her number with the lady The lady did ring Cath and poured out the predicament that she and her young daughter were in The Being There team is now supporting this vulnerable family The mum Karen couldn t believe that Caring For Life could help Again and again she explained the problems she was facing and Cath was able to say It s OK we can help with that Karen and her daughter no longer go hungry because Caring For Life is able to supply regular food parcels Neither will they miss out at Christmas as the Being There team will ensure they have gifts for both Karen and her daughter along with a special Christmas hamper Our prayer is that the light of God s love will shine through all we do and that we will be able to share with these precious ladies and gentlemen the wonderful truth of Emmanuel God with us this Christmas We have begun the long journey of getting to know him but Colin is no longer alone and we will ensure that this coming Christmas is utterly di erent from the very lonely times he has experienced in the past One day when Cath was at a housing o ce she saw a lady across the room in floods of 7 Colin and Karen and so many people like them usually dread Christmas It s a deeply lonely time for people who are utterly isolated Just seeing endless Christmas adverts on the TV showing happy family scenes or tables laden with Christmas food heighten the loneliness many of those we support experience at this time of the year They feel di erent to the rest of society outsiders looking in on a di erent world Many have never known a Happy Christmas that is until they came to Caring For Life
MAS We ensure that every person we support is cared for at Christmas but it takes a lot of organisation Just making up 150 or so Christmas hampers is a military operation Your wonderful harvest gifts have to be sorted stacked and set out ready for the final Christmas hamper packing but many stages lie between harvest food arriving and the hampers The Being There team plans Christmas parties and meals as well as gathering gifts for every person they support Again careful organisation is needed to ensure that no one is missed out Excitement is already building through conversations in the Centre at the farm Are you coming on Christmas Day Oh great see you there Christmas Day at the farm has become something of a family reunion for many who love to come along each Christmas and catch up with friends they may not see during the rest of the year It is wonderful to know that this coming Christmas will finally be a happy time for some people who just two months ago were anticipating a lonely cold and miserable day Our Being There team will be there for them at Christmas and on into the future Our prayer is that the light of God s love will shine through all we do and that we will be able to share with these precious ladies and gentlemen the wonderful truth of Emmanuel God with us this Christmas 8
THIS CHRISTMAS BY PAM Support Coordinator Throwing a Lifeline Min 10 Donation per gift card Your gifts last year helped our Being There support workers spend crucial time on phone calls to isolated people an average of 20 calls per day per worker and numerous CATH BEING THERE MANAGER texts How would these SAID This is often the first place vulnerable people a person will ring in a crisis They cope without ask us to ring them back as they ve CFL to hardly any credit on their phone Then call on Coffee and Care Min 10 Donation per gift card they pour it all out Your gifts last year helped our Being There team visit and support over 200 people providing housing advice support visits and friendship Knowing that someone cares enough to come see you and take you out can transform your week ONE LADY SAID You ve done more for me in one visit than anyone s ever done BUT THAT IS NOT ALL We were also able to provide desperately needed heaters buggies for babies in vulnerable families carpets for people with nothing and much more Home Maker Min 10 donation per gift card Last year our Home Maker fund provided a wonderful supply of new kitchen equipment duvets pillows and throws for adults and children who desperately needed them
Do something special Buy Alternative Gifts for family and friends and just see the difference you can make You Made My Day Min 10 Donation per gift card When you are enjoying your Christmas Day your gift will enable a vulnerable person at CFL to You can purchase Alternative Gifts by have transport to the farm a full calling us on 0113 2303600 You can send Christmas dinner friendship a cheque to Caring For Life for the total and a very special day of amount you want to donate and specify the their own R FO CHRIST M AS LY N O gift cards you would like posted out to you For full details of the cards please see our website UPCOMING SUPPORT GROUP DATES HOST LOCATION DATE TIME Paddy Val Manning Pam David Young Sian Richard Webb Daphne Wi en Roger Oliver Jean Dandy Andy Ruth Robinson Stephen Margaret West Karl Audrey Faulkner Liz Mike Davison Jimmy Arlene McInnes Mike Eunice Rolfe Liz Cyril Aston Linda Naveiras Marian Paish Co Antrim Harrogate Reading Haverhill Haywards Heath North Leeds Darlington Chippenham Rugby Newcastle Troon Trowbridge Minehead Mid Su olk Mon 3rd Dec 7 30pm Mon 10th Dec 7 30pm Mon 14th Jan 7 30pm Mon 14th Jan 8pm Thurs 17th Jan 2 30pm Mon 21st Jan 7 30pm Tues 22nd Jan 7 30pm Tues 22nd Jan 7 30pm Wed 23rd Jan 2 30pm Sat 26th Jan 3pm Mon 28th Jan 7 30pm Thurs 7th Feb 7 30pm Fri 8th Feb 7 30pm Sat 16th Feb 10am CFL representative attending You can always check the website for a list of the most recent and upcoming support group dates across the country http www caringforlife co uk support groups
FUNDRAISING EVENTS Hook Evangelical Church Sunday School of Rock Winter Concert White Christmas Sat 8th December 7 30pm Including Christmas gift stall Bring friends and family 5 tickets on the door under 12s free Hook Evangelical Church Christmas Carols and Tea Afternoon Tuesday 18th Dec 2 30 4pm St Mark s Church Harrogate St Aiden s Chamber Choir Concert In celebration of John Maureen Hammerton s Diamond Wedding Anniversary Feb 1st 7pm at St Mark s Church Tickets in person from St Mark s Office St Aidan s School Harrogate 8 Adult 5 Concessions See the website for the list of most recent and upcoming fundraising dates www caringforlife co uk fundraising CHURCH PRESENTATIONS Sun 13th January Wed 23rd January Sun 27th January 5pm Pelsall Evangelical Church 7 30pm Wycli e Evangelical Church 10 30am Jennyfield Evangelical Church This is an excellent opportunity to bring along some friends or family who have never heard about Caring For Life to introduce them to the work For to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace ISAIAH 9 6 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