Lyndon Letter November 2023

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see more young people trained for servant-hearted leadership in the public square, ever more fruitful relationships with parliamentarians across the UK, and God’s people being equipped and inspired to be a prophetic, influential, caring and committed voice.

Rev Lyndon Bowring CO-FOUNDER

I’m so inspired to see the faith, commitment and talent of CARE staff that are taking the ministry forward. Please pray especially for Ross Hendry, James Mildred, Louise Davies, Philippa Taylor and Julia Grant who serve as the Senior Leadership Team. May I encourage you to get behind them, as so many of you supported Charlie and me all those years ago?

As you may remember, I try to make only one direct financial appeal each year. Your faithful ongoing support is vital to CARE, so if you were in a position to increase your regular giving this would mean more to us than we can say. Please remember we only ask you to give to CARE’s ministry after you’ve responded to the needs of your family, local church and other ministries close to your heart.

Thank you again for standing with us!

Yours because He is Lord of all,

November 2023

Rev Lyndon Bowring CO-FOUNDER OF CARE ANNUAL APPEAL As 2023 draws to a close, we have much for which to give thanks to God! We’ve seen His faithful provision in so many ways and have been able to grow our team with some fantastic new people joining us! But, like many charities, we’ve also faced increased financial pressures. As we look in faith towards 2024, there are some significant challenges as we seek to continue investing financially in our highly regarded Leadership Programme and increase our impact in terms of our policy work and resourcing local churches. I’ll say more about how you can continue to partner with us financially later in this letter.

THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION! This year marks CARE’s 40th anniversary and recently nearly 600 CARE supporters joined us in Westminster Chapel for an uplifting Thanksgiving Celebration as we remembered God’s faithfulness over four decades. Graham Kendrick and musicians led us in worship, Dr RT Kendall and Glen Scrivener spoke, we prayed for our nations and we heard Ross and members of the team outlining CARE’s vision for the future.

CAREORGUK

CARE.ORG.UK

CARE (Christian Action Research & Education) | Chief Executive Ross Hendry | Co-Founder Rev Lyndon Bowring 53 Romney St, London, SW1P 3RF | 020 7233 0455 | mail@care.org.uk | Charity No: 1066963 | Scottish Charity No: SC038911

How deeply grateful we are for your prayers, involvement and support of our ministry over the years. We couldn’t have done it without you! I also want to pay tribute to Charlie Colchester, my co-founder. Humanly speaking CARE would not be where it is today were it not for him. I’d also like to mention some of CARE’s leaders over the past 40 years: Raymond Johnston, Peter Holmes, Anne Townsend, Ian Prior, Nigel Williams, Roger Smith, Dan Boucher, Nola Leach and so many others who’ve poured themselves into the work and mission of CARE.

GOD’S FAITHFUL PROVISION

Lyndon Bowring and Charlie Colchester in 1983.

am enclosing a remarkable booklet that our team has put together telling 30 inspiring stories of just some of the nearly 400 graduates who have come on this unique Programme over the last 30 years. Charlie and I could never have known, when we began the Programme, how strategic it would be.

How we thank God for its impact!

In 1983, Charlie Colchester and I were incredibly privileged to begin the ministry of CARE. In those early years there was no money for our salaries, but thanks to the commitment and generosity of a small number of individuals who believed in our vision, we ‘lived by faith’. At the same time, we approached Sir Cyril Black, one of our supporters, and asked if he would be willing to fund a dinner to launch CARE. John Stott, one of CARE’s patrons, agreed to be our guest speaker. His address that evening was on the theme of Christian Leadership and forms the closing chapter of his famous book ‘Issues facing Christians Today.’ It’s as relevant today as it was 40 years ago!

The London Anglican Diocesan Financial Board offered us the basement of a disused vicarage in the heart of Mayfair, rent-free – albeit with its cracked Victorian plumbing and lack of direct daylight – on condition that we would vacate the property once the Board decided about its future. In the end we were able to stay there at no cost for the first five years of CARE’s existence! This gave us time to recruit supporters, raise necessary funds and develop CARE’s vision to engage Christian individuals and churches, and work within the Houses of Parliament. Our strapline in those days was ‘to proclaim Christian truth and demonstrate Christ’s compassion’ in our needy world.

ROMNEY STREET MARK I When the time came for us to leave, we were thrilled to find 51-53 Romney Street! It was perfect for us, situated at the heart of Westminster, just round the corner from the Houses of Parliament and within walking distance of 22 government departments. There was only one problem – the price was £1.65 million, and we had no money! So, we decided to write to our supporters asking them to prayerfully consider making a loan to CARE which we promised to repay within 15 years.

To our amazement 162 people responded, and in March 1988 we moved in. Today we own these offices outright – a legacy of enormous benefit to this and to future generations.

From the very beginning, Romney Street proved to be a highly strategic base from which the CARE team has been able to impact politics for good throughout four decades. I think of many meetings, prayer gatherings and opportunities to host MPs, Peers and other Christian groups – a key part of CARE’s outward facing ministry has been to allow others to make use of Romney Street, free of charge. I reflect on all the resources made available to Christians and the hundreds of parliamentary briefings and speeches produced by our talented Policy Team.

These resources have helped MPs and Peers to make powerful, evidence-based arguments on behalf of preborn babies, victims of human trafficking, those addicted to gambling and experiencing harm as a result, and children impacted by pornography online. In the Romney Street office, we’re privileged to take your phone calls and provide key information to help you pray and take action. It’s where we’ve celebrated victories like David Alton’s Bill to reduce the abortion limit from 28 to 24 weeks; the defeat of the Rob Marris Assisted Suicide Bill in 2015; and the Government accepting our demands for age verification on online pornography just a few months ago.

And of course, one group who use Romney Street is our Leadership Programme graduates. I

Every Friday, the graduates come together after a week working in parliament, or in the offices of a leading NGO. They spend time praying, learning, sharing and being shaped by some of the finest Christian teachers on leadership, theology and politics. It’s no exaggeration to say we couldn’t run the Leadership Programme if we didn’t have our ama­zing offices.

This lovely watercolour was painted by Charlie Mackesy – author of ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’.

This year, we’ve taken on 15 graduates – one of the largest groups ever! Their names are Aanu, Daniel, Ellie, Flora, Hannah, Isaac, Jonathan, Leah, Lucy, Luke, Molayo, Nathan, Owen, Theo and Titus.

ROMNEY STREET ‘MARK II’!

Up until now they’ve met in our ‘Westminster Room’ on the lower ground floor. It’s the only space big enough to accommodate the usual 10-12 grads, plus the speaker and our brilliant Director, Philippa Taylor. But with this year’s 15 graduates even the Westminster Room is too small, and we had to look at ways to improve and develop our current office space, to sustain both Leadership Programme growth and other activities.

We concluded that what CARE urgently needs is ‘Romney Street Mark II’ – to create a renewed and restructured building to meet the demands of the growing ministry. The estimated cost is £750,000.

This large sum of money would be carefully used to develop a multi-media studio space and technology to maximise our communications and operations work and provide a purposebuilt space that’s fully accessible for people with disabilities. It would also go towards urgently needed repairs to the roof and the basement (which is prone to flooding). Our building would be offered free of charge to Christian ministries looking for a meeting place in the heart of London.

I wonder if you would prayerfully consider making a gift or a loan for this development?

I am reminded of King David, who in later life gathered substantial material and made financial provision to enable Solomon his son and heir to fulfil the purposes of God in his generation, to build the Temple in Jerusalem. In a similar way, would you be willing to invest in CARE’s future, to make the Romney Street headquarters fit for purpose for the years ahead?

PROPHETIC, INFLUENTIAL, CARING, AND COMMITTED TO GRACE AND TRUTH Long ago, Charles Dickens described the area around Romney Street as ‘the Devil’s Acre’ – a place of darkness filled with disreputable inns, brothels and marked by exploitation, violence, robbery and immorality. I love to reflect on the fact that God, in His gracious provision, positioned CARE’s ministry in the very same area where Satan used to have such dominance. The light of Jesus has been shining out from 51-53 Romney Street as we’ve sought to bring a gracious, biblical perspective to laws and legislation.

Our longing as we look to the next 40 years is for this mission to grow and expand. We want to