Winchester Baptist Church Magazine by Melissa Jay

From the Editor, By now the smell of Christmas is starting to fill the air. Shopping aisles that have been promoting and reminding us that the BIG day is looming and looming fast, are beginning to bustle. Budgets are being made (or broken) and the lists, wrapping paper, cards and ribbon are being marched unmercifully out of dark cupboards ready to be reborn for yet another festive season. By the beginning of January, the excitement will have died away and routine will once again take back its reign at the headship of our lives. And this is where we sit in this edition. Starting at the beginning of the season and throughout until we draw breath at the end and congratulate ourselves for ‘making it through’ another Christmas. So a fitting theme for the unfolding within these pages is ‘Journey’. We hope that as you sit and read through all the reflections within these pages that you will remember, look forward to or even take hold and begin to plan those parts of your own journey which are yours to direct. We don’t always get to choose which direction life takes us, circumstances are sometimes based just as much on others as on ourselves, but we dictate our choices and these are the signposts which ultimately direct the path our footsteps turn into. So our prayer for you as you ‘journey’ this Christmas season, is that you will pass through it in the company of those you love, that you will lie down at night in peace and that each day will be met with hope and accompanied by joy. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year where great expectations will be met.

Melissa

Winbap Family News

Meet The Students

Book Review

Meet The Member

Carolyn’s Kitchen

Advent Reading - Hope

Kenya - A Trip To Remember

My Argentine Adventure

Advent Reading - Love

The Journey

Advent Reading - Joy

Advent Reading - Peace

Perfect Beach Weather Film Review

Don’t forget you can read this and past magazines in full colour by visiting www.issuu.com and searching for Winbap.This is your magazine. If you would like to make any submissions to the next edition, please email them to winbapeditor@gmail.com by the 11th January. If you have any photos to include please do so as a .jpg attachment to your email. Thank you.

Are we nearly there yet? LEADERSHIP LETTER:

TIM WILLIAMSON

“Are we nearly there yet!? The seemingly endless and excruciatingly irritating question asked of many a parent during a long car journey. In life there are many journeys we undertake; from the major journey of progressing from childhood through adulthood and into old age, to the daily commute to work or the school gate.” As we near the month of December one is increasingly asked the question, ‘are you ready for Christmas?’ Preparations for Christmas can take many diﬀerent forms depending on your circumstances or seasonal routines. I wonder, how are you doing in your preparations for Christmas - are you nearly there yet? Have the presents been bought? Have you remembered to lift out that old box of chocolates at the back of the cupboard to give your child for their teacher?

Have you started to write to those on your Christmas card list yet? Have you even started a compiling the Christmas card list!? Have you arranged which family members are hosting everyone for Christmas day, Boxing Day or New year? There is so much to remember, so much to do, time us running out, are you nearly there yet? As we reflect on that very first Christmas and the journey made by Joseph and Mary as

they travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the decreed census, one can’t help but wonder how many times they asked themselves the question, ‘are we nearly there yet?’ According to googlemaps their journey by car today would take you around 1 hour 45 minutes. Two thousand years ago by donkey I suspect it would have taken considerably longer – depending on the reliability of their satnav! This journey of a common

carpenter and a simple peasant girl is one of the most powerful stories in human history. As books go out of print and stories fade from memory, the journey of Joseph and Mary and the birth of a baby boy inside a common barn continues to bless and inspire hope in people around the world. Not only is their journey a source of hope and joy to the world, it is a timeless message of God’s faithfulness for those who are willing to be obedient to his call. With the benefit of the gospels we know that God was faithful to his word that was previously spoken into Joseph and Mary’s life and all that was promised to them came to fulfilment in the birth of their precious child. However, when they set out from home on their long and arduous journey it would be likely that there was an element of fear and uncertainty for them as they considered what might lay ahead. This brave young couple had yet to stop at the hotel on the way to Bethlehem and flick through the Gideon’s New Testament found in the draw of the bedside table and learn of the thousands of angels, worshipping shepherds, wise men, special star and that everything was going to turn out ok in the end. Try to imagine yourself in Mary’s sandals for a minute. We totally get it that this life inside of Mary was the Son of God, the Messiah and the saviour of the world. But to Mary and Joseph he was still their new born child. At this point in the journey Mary was still an expectant Mum to be, she still had to give birth and would have had to deal with all the associated worries that every soon to be mum has identified with. All the while the words of the angel Gabriel echoing in her ear, ‘Mary you have found favour with God, do not be afraid, for the Lord is 3

with you and no word from him will ever fail’. (Luke 1:28,29, 37) As a group Christ’s followers, seeking to be obedient to call of God in our lives, we too at Winchester Baptist Church find ourselves on a journey. We stand at a junction point in our journey as we seek to appoint a new Senior Pastor. As we strain our eyes to perceive the view towards the horizon ahead there may be some of us that succumb to the fear of what is yet to be, those aspects along the way that are at this moment in time unclear and uncertain. As with every journey, there is a beginning, middle and end point. Last year saw WBC celebrate 150 years of faithful witness to Christ. Some of you will have read Paul Tipple’s fantastically updated history of how God has led us as his people in this city. In this booklet we can look back over our journey and read the accounts of previous ministries, programmes, missions and ministers. There are those in our congregation like Paul, Ken & Barbara Reveley, Peter & Jean Davies and Barbara Pratt who can testify to the faithfulness of God in our midst over half of our 150 year history. Stories and accounts where God has clearly led and guided us on the journey, through the key moments in our life and witness: living testimony that he has indeed been faithful to his word. A deep and firm realisation of the past faithfulness of God to us as his people is essential as we anticipate the birthing of a new phase in the life and witness of our church. It is to God that we are to give thanks for where we are as a fellowship of believers today and it is to God we are to look as we continue our journey forward. When I was going through the

ordination process with the Baptist Union, one experienced Baptist pastor asked the question: ‘How many Senior Pastors does it take to change a lightbulb?’ The answer being, ‘one to hold the bulb and the rest of the church to revolve around him!’ Whilst the appointment of a new Senior Pastor is important as it is their hand on the rudder as we enter the uncharted waters of the future, we also need to remind ourselves afresh that it is Christ who is our head and that the life of our church does not revolve around the Senior Pastor alone. As a pastor I feel one of the signs of a healthy church is one that continues for flourish, grow and thirst for the Lord’s presence in our midst, even when their pastor is on sabbatical or they are in a time of interregnum. Moving forward as the people of God at WBC into his amazing calling upon us, we recognise that at this present point we may not know the future. However, may we take encouragement from the fact that we know the one who does know the future and therefore may our hearts, minds and souls be at peace. May we like Mary and Joseph hold tightly to the word of the Lord to us. May we too know that we have found favour with God, may we be fearless because we know that the Lord will be with us. May we have confidence in a God who never leaves or forsakes, whose plans are to prosper us and give us hope for all that he is going to do in and through us as we are obedient to him. May we remind ourselves that the one who calls us is faithful, and he will do it. May we together, press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

The same yesterday, today and forever... This article is the written version of the sermon delivered by Joanne Meharg on the 28th October. God is the one who saves us. It was His actions in the death and resurrection of Jesus that made our salvation possible. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the one who having begun the good work in us will complete it. We rely on the mercy of God not our own ability or good works. The evidence of God at work in us is not our own achievements but fruit of the Holy Spirit. There is stuff God just does as only He can, yet he doesn’t do it to us but rather with us, a partnership between us the created and God the creator. We have a responsibility to open ourselves up to God to allow Him to search us, to chose not to conform to the worlds patterns but to be transformed, hungry and thirsting for righteousness. We each do this in different ways, sung worship, meditation, journalling, study, art, long quiet walks, bible reading, washing up. What matters is that we encounter God and through these encounters we allow Him the space to help us grow into the people we were designed to be. People are given different gifts and talents...

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Eph 4:12-13) It should be our purpose to attain not only our own maturity but also that of our fellow believers. There are lots of places to do this some of which are for a season, others a life time. Here are a few ideas: Sunday services Small groups Prayer triplets Accountable friendships Mentors

Expect God to change you. Expect other people to change with God’s help. Encourage and support others in their expectaion that God is at work and changing them. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

All of them carry a risk if we are truly vulnerable, but the result is worth it. Reading the New Testament letters it is clear just how excited the writers are that the readers are growing in their faith and character. I was once asked ‘how is the Joanne of today diﬀerent from the Joanne of a year ago?’. The most exciting part of the question is that the asker expected me to have changed.

Joanne Meharg

FAMILY NEWS

DECEMBER JANUARY 2012/13

Winbap Eli Stewart graduated from Moorland’s Bible College on the 19th of October, with an MA in Applied Theology Youth Family and Community at Christ Church Priory in Bournemouth.

My baptism, although the church heating broke, it was really great. I decided to get baptised at the New Wine Summer Conference 2012, half way through a tiring week helping in a children’s group. An Australian lady prayed for me, and afterwards she asked me if I had been baptized. I realized that I needed to, so I prayed about it and I felt God wanted me to, so I did! Coaching

What is coaching? Most people associate coaching with a coach in sports, who is there to train the athletes to push their performance ever forward. However, the concept of coaching is also widespread in business for executives and managers and is even becoming more popular for individuals in their private lives as well; the latter is known as life coaching.

Barbara Klampe graduated from Winchester University with a B.A. (HONS) Primary Practice on the 7th of November at Winchester Cathedral.

Essentially, coaching is a goalorientated personal development process that results in lasting, sustainable changes. ‘Coaching’ literally means ‘transporting’ a person from one place to the next. I think of coaching as partnering with clients in a thoughtprovoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The role of the coach is to drive the process that will allow the client to make the change and reach their desired outcome.

Nicola Langdon graduated from Winchester University on the 7th November at Winchester Cathedral.

Congratulations to Janet Jones on her 5oth birthday in November.

“The journey makes things valuable not the title. Learn to enjoy and value the process of what God is doing” Bill Johnson

Coaching is available to anybody who wishes to change something or who has a goal they want to achieve. The range of areas one can be coached on is limitless. Just about every issue or challenge can be coached on. As long as the individual wants to change something in their life, coaching can help. In my practice, I have both business clients as well as private clients. As a life coach, I’ve coached people to make changes in their relationships with family and friends, children and husbands, preparing for a baby to arrive - the changes in the parent’s relationship - the changes to work

-life balance and family and friends, as well as weight-loss, changing careers and dealing with life-changing situations, just to mention a few. At the moment I’m also coaching a student on being successful in their studies.

“The difference between coaching and therapy is that coaching is forward looking, goal and action orientated. Some people are even considering life coaching to be their way of keeping a competitive edge to their colleagues in a very competitive world.” As a business coach, I’ve coached people on honing leadership skills, developing a team, positioning oneself for promotion, starting a new job, going back to work after maternity leave etc. Many organisations use coaching as a development tool to stretch their people and to make behavioural changes. One HR manager told me that he would far rather invest in coaching of an employee than in sending the person on a training course as coaching drives

sustained ever-lasting changes and development. And if some behaviour is holding an employee back from the next promotion, the business case for a coach rather than hiring a new person from outside or replacing that person is financially appealing. Through global research it has been estimated that the Return on Investment (ROI) of coaching is 5-7 times of the cost and the changes in individuals, teams or organisations are long lasting. I am passionate about helping people succeed and exceed even their own expectations of themselves and I thoroughly enjoy going on that journey of change with them. It is fulfilling and a calling I believe God has put on my heart. I believe God wants us all to fulfill our potential as individuals and in our walk with Him. If you have any questions about coaching feel free to come and talk to me about it, but make sure you have enough time set aside as I can talk for hours on the subject! Sys Aitkenhead SA People Passion p: 07702255414 e: sys @ peoplepassion . com i: www.sapeoplepassion.com

Apologies to Sys Aitkenhead, the email address included in her article from the last edition was incorrect. The correct email is sys @ sapeoplepassion . com

Advent

HOPE

Advent is associated with preparing for Christmas: the first coming of Christ. Advent looks forward to the second coming of Christ. Christians are hopeful about the ultimate future that God will give to his whole creation: a future in which all wrongs will be put right and everything will be renewed. Just as Genesis says there is one Creator who made everything (although it does not attempt to explain how), the book of Revelation looks forward to a time when God will “make all things new” (again, no clues about how).

The advent hope is for the whole of creation centred on Jesus. Advent hope is a big picture, but we often reduce it to manageable proportions, e.g. by concentrating on hope for an individual believer after death. Depending on Jesus gives us sure hope for life beyond death. I know that is a real comfort, but in the New Testament hope is not only individual but also something more corporate. Parables suggest it’s more like a big wedding reception than a private function. We also dumb-down advent hope by thinking of the human spirit floating from the body into some sort of immaterial realm. Actually, the Bible talks holistically about human nature (rejecting the Greek idea of body and spirit). Do you really believe in the resurrection of the body? Sometimes we limit the advent hope to only being about humans. In Romans 8 Paul speaks of the whole creation eagerly awaiting a time when it will be set free. God has not made a disposable creation, but a world that he cherishes and will renew. As believers, we are in the vanguard of that process. It’s a high calling!

Lord Jesus - as we prepare for Christmas, we remember that you are coming again and we want to get ready for your return. Thank you for the certain hope we have of eternal life - with all your people - and for the fact that we are the first fruits of your new creation. Help us to live up to that high calling! Amen.

WEEK ONE HOPE Cliﬀ Turner

KENYA - A TRIP Di Wills

In August, Charley and I ventured into the unknown when we travelled with the Hurrell family to Kenya. We used our time there working with children in a Nairobi orphanage and school. The children assist have no alternative safe place to stay with families and most are rescued from the streets. They care for 180 children and teenagers. We also spent time with Masai children in a rural school in Loitoktok, which is near Mount Kilimanjaro. The organisation “ABC Children’s Aid Kenya” run both projects it was a honour to spend time working with the children and their staﬀ.

mother abandoned them, makes a living pulling threads from nylon bags so they can be re-sold. Other families we visited were two sisters, one of which makes a living as a prostitute, a family of four, their two year old daughter had been hit by a motorbike the day before, she was visibly hurt and they could not aﬀord to take her to hospital for x - rays or treatment. And it goes on. They’re living in such poverty. It was really hard to see…However some of these families have children sponsored by ABC and go to school, and some board at the orphanage…they have hope for a better future..

On our second day we visited six families living in the slums of Nairobi. Families of up to six people living in tin shacks no bigger than a garden shed. Open sewers running between homes full of rubbish and filthy water. One family we visited , consisted of a grandmother looking after her two grandchildren, after their 7

The Orphanage - The welcome we received was amazing. The children sang and danced, they just accepted us. They loved Charley, Hannah and Josh and the littlest ones took our hand and lead us into the classroom, then climbed up onto our laps for cuddles.

We spent the first few days running a morning programme for between one to two hundred children at the orphanage. They were from two to sixteen years of age and that was a challenge. We told the story of Esther and used drama, puppets, games (some of which were very messy) and taught the children songs which were also translated into Swahili. We also had an encounter room. Using craft materials we had taken with us, we made crowns. (The children loved the stickers and used them as earrings.) In the afternoons, we played blind volley ball, which was very popular with the staﬀ and became very competitive. As well as parachute games, Joshua taught the children Four Square. Charley and Hannah painted faces and varnished nails and we made friendship bracelets and blew bubbles. It was pretty busy... Phew!

TO REMEMBER We were able to spend time getting to know the children or having cuddles with the babies (popular with Charley and Hannah). We travelled down to Loitoktok in the second week with members of staﬀ from ABC to work with the Masai children. It was not only a very diﬀerent setting but a huge cultural shift. We needed to wear skirts, cover our shoulders and not show our knees. It was also important that we showed respect to the elders in the village. No hand shaking allowed! The illegal practice of FGM and early marriage also continues. ABC run a safe house for the girls, and the economic decline means there is a great need in rural Kenya. Again we received an amazing welcome and we were led to the classroom where the children singing and dancing were dressed

in their traditional clothing and their beautiful, beaded jewellery. The classroom had bare stone walls, no windows or doors and a sand floor which meant dancing was a very dusty activity. The children were slightly older and spoke some Swahili and Masai. Again we ran the programme in the morning, David set up an encounter room in one of the old classrooms which was nothing more than a grass hut. They loved the singing and danced very enthusiastically to ‘Frego’ (Fire). The children were encouraged to listen to God, they then drew pictures or wrote what He had said to them. This was humbling, some of them were physically touched by the Holy Spirit. In the afternoon we again played. The dust and acacia thorns were a challenge to our poor feet. The time was used getting to know the children, playing football and volleyball. Charley and Hannah

painted faces (lots of lions), and I blew bubbles. Most of the children had never seen bubbles before and their faces were a picture! We also painted their fingernails, both the boys and the girls. The best thing we did...sharing with the children that God really loves them and wants to be their Heavenly Dad. Funniest thing we did...The Sketch. I am not a good actor ask Charley. Scariest part for me...visiting the glue sniffers in the slums - The Market. The Masai women were so scary! What I will remember...the children. So many, so beautiful, so much need. The mango juice, friec potatoes for breakfast, giraffes lots and lots of giraffes! What I would like to forget...Pit Latrines. Yuck! 8

Having just spent 8 months in Argentina, I think it’s safe to say that my view on many important things in life has changed!! Not only does living away from your home, the things you know and the people you love force you to mature, but it gives you a different perspective toward the things you value in your life! So, what did I get up to??

My Argentine Adventure It wasn’t all just a holiday in some far away country that, unlike England, is blazed with 40.C heat!! After feeling God call me to short term mission with Latin Link, I was placed in a children’s home in the north of Argentina bordering with Bolivia. Although my original placement here was meant for 6 months, I actually ended returning to the Salta Capital, the main and beautiful city where all the other Latin Link members were, after only one month. This was because there 9

was no role for me in the children’s home so I was left without contributing anything it felt, and although I was up for a challenge, we felt it best for me to be put in a more active placement were my gifts could be used and I would have more things to do. On returning to the city, I was placed in a lively church that I already knew through my first month of language training in Salta Capital. It is such a beacon of light, in a very poor

neighbourhood where people literally have nothing, which has been bringing such joy, happiness and hope to the community over the four years it has been opened. God really did deliver on my request of wanting a full timetable of activities to do!!!... I was working every morning in the nursery the church provided for struggling families, every afternoon in a feeding programme giving out milk and bread to babies right through to teenagers, was in the worship band, part of a

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cell group, involved in the young adults group, was a Sunday school teacher and was one of the leaders of the pre-teen youth group! I know... LOTS of things to do!! Although helping in the nursery and “Copa de Leche” feeding programme was really fulfilling as I was helping out where the church most needed volunteers and people to take responsibility. My highlight was definitely helping to lead the youth group! When I was first told I was going to have this responsibility my heart skipped a beat!! Never before had I helped out in a youth group, let alone lead one… in Spanish! I thought I was going to be fighting a losing battle, but God really showed me new gifts in leading, relating to the children and forming friendships, and having a good laugh!

Thank you for all your prayers, support and blessing as a Church which helped enable me to be able to go to Argentina. Although for now I am back in England to further my studies, I don’t think this is the end of my Argentine Adventure…

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Another highlight was being able to go on the church run yearly outreach week up in the moutains, discipling the people and running childrens activities in a small village that was six hours from another church and had no church nor leaders to help spread the Word. One women walked seven hours carrying a two year old and holding the hand of her four year old to come see us as she heard we were visiting and wanted to know more about God.

Although my experience had its diﬃcult times, I can confidently say that God never left me, and through all times was with me. The whole 8 months was such a blessing, where I learnt new things discovered new characteristics of God and felt like I had given to a small part of God’s kingdom in the Church “15 de Septiembre”.

The pre-teens youth group was the main aspect where God really challenged me in, helped me grow and allowed me to enjoy in my time away. On coming home I heard that seven of our 10-12 year olds then got baptised… Absolutely incredible! Emily ‘Millie’ Smith

f o k c o t S g n i k a T y e n r u o the j

my children were younger. I remember praying diligently for a friend in the Near East throughout her missionary trip, around 3am every night, (when I wasn’t wrestling with pillows and retrieving breast pads - sorry TMI!!)

with God and the verses I’d read and heard preached upon over the previous 10 years. I was too sick to concentrate on new sermons, and often too sick to re-read or discover new ones. And thus the importance of looking back as well as forward blew me away…

I smiled when I remembered the weekly prayer triplet meetings when my eldest, barely 2, would come over, lay hands with us, and pray his own babbling prayer with the odd ‘Amen – play now!’ thrown in.

I became a Christian at University, and I was very, very blessed to be surrounded by Christian people who later became friends. They took me along to their various Churches and I settled on a traditional, evangelical Church called Ebenezer. I often thought that the name seemed a little well depressing, and the building was also a dark grey stone that never looked particularly inviting. But the people were wonderful and one day I discovered its meaning…

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In Restore ( our women’s Monday group – ladies you’re all welcome!) we are challenging one another to seek out ways of becoming more intimate with God. We are a diverse group of multi-tasking, multi-employed, multi-aged women for whom routines can be altered or totally upended at any time – shifting sands come to mind!

But I was also aware that it has recently been a season of frequent and hurried ‘Arrow Praying’. When I perhaps leaned too heavily on the ‘cast all your cares upon Him’ verses, whilst leaving much less time for ‘rejoice and give thanks …’ My heart would do so, but spending quality time together became tricky.

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I decided early in the term to take a step back and consider my Christian walk thus far. What came immediately to mind was the number of seasons I had travelled through.

I know it sounds like a cliché and perhaps over used, but ‘seasons’ do exist. Some last a brief moment, others’ many moons. But I sought to work out how our relationship had grown and developed. I recalled moments of real intimacy as I chatted to Him during routine night feeds when

During my severe morning sickness I recall saying one day that I could no longer pray. I felt so weak and exhausted, and just a little sorry for myself, and I finally admitted that I needed others to pray for me not just with me… It was then that I drew heavily on the journey I’d already walked

Thus far the Lord has helped us… At a recent January service Becca and Tim led us over the river Jordon. We each picked up a stone or pebble and were invited to lay it at the front, or to take it home. A reminder of the fact that God has thus far been with us…What a powerful truth. Our 2 stones now sit in the bathroom, and are

a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness. I wondered at the time if that was the best place for them, but in hindsight it has been the perfect spot - As a family we seem to have spent an awful lot of time with sickness in our bathroom, creating steam rooms, or using the facilities!! Thus during good times and particularly hard and heartbreaking times, God is Faithful. He always has been and He always will…

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The Wednesday Morning Prayer Group

The Wednesday morning prayer group was established over 10 years ago now after a number of us came back from New Wine with the desire to pray for the church and our City. It is only as we look back that we can see the journey we have been on. Over the years more people have joined us (and some left - as circumstances dictated). However until very recently our structure has always remained the same. Worship (one song), a Bible passage and then praying into situations in our church or City, for specific people and events and from time to time world situations. We have tried to listen to what God was saying and this would come by means of verses of scripture, prophetic words or pictures. Looking back now we can see how God has answered so many of those prayers.

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A Journey is an act…a choice both physically and mentally. Do we choose today to walk in His ways? To humble ourselves and seek Him in prayer? To find time to just be with Him? I pray that as a church facing a new adventure together we would all be able to take time to take stock, prick up our ears, delve into the recesses of our minds and remember how good God is.

In October I finally managed to set up a new routine of spending some intimate time with God, but alas our youngest has also just decided that clutching his teddy and crawling up to bed after lunch is definitely not for him! In comes the potty, out goes the naps! And thus my quest to find a space with God, and carpet cleaners, continues… MARI CLIFTON

To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.

Over the summer this year most of the group was touched in some way or other and this has reflected in how we approach our prayer times. We are no longer static in where we sit. We no longer have a set agenda but try to discern in what direction the Holy Spirit would lead us. That is not to say we are not upholding those within our fellowship who need a touch from God or events that need prayer cover. It is just a lot freer. Worship plays a larger part. We sometimes break into song in the midst of what we might have once termed “our prayer time”. We still read a passage of the Bible and that and/or our songs can lead us into prayer. God still uses the prophetic to guide and encourage us. As we open up more and more to him God is changing us. Maybe we are learning the truth we often sing “send revival, start with me”. Sheila McAulay

There are times in a person’s life when, regardless of the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees in prayer.

Victor Hugo -

Chinese proverb 12

Meetthe Stude nts Kathryn Morgan 19 yrs old

Where are you from? Cheltenham, Gloucestershire How long have you been coming to Winchester Baptist Church? About a year. What’s your favourite… Thing about WinBap? I don’t want to single one thing out because it’s the church, a body and a whole that I really enjoy. Home-cooked meal? My Mum makes an amazing minced beef cobbler with these beautiful cheesy scones on top! It is made the first night I am back 13

Bible verse? Romans 8: 38-39

What was your dream occupation as a child? To be a Teacher. Funny how things work out!

TV Program? X Factor, I have tickets to see the tour in January!! James Arthur to WIN!!

If you had a day to do anything, what would you do? Go to Canada to see Grizzly Bears fish for salmon.

home every time with out fail.

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Course studying: Primary Education with Mathematics subject specialism.

If you found yourself on a desert island, what three things would you take with you? 1. A good book to read (or a few), 2. Very practically: food 3. Some pillows or blankets or something homely to make it comfortable.

A journey is best measured in friends and not in miles.

Tim Cahill

Advent

LOVE

GOD LOVES YOU. God is love and He showed His love to us from the beginning of creation (1 John 3:1). As a token of His love, he sent Jesus to us for our salvation and to reconcile us to Himself ( John 3:16; Romans 5:8). This divine love (AGAPE) is everlasting ( Jeremiah 31:3), not like human love and is not dependant on our past or present circumstances. God wants us to love Him too and this is not only in our hearts, but both also in words and actions (1 John 4:19).

It is difficult for some people to accept this love of God or express their love for Him. Have you been hurt or disappointed by somebody, your parents or a church in the past and is this affecting your relationship with God? Unlike human love, God will never disappoint you. He loves you irrespective of your past or present. He wants you to live in His love and wants you to be in love with Him. When you are in love with God, you will obey His words (1 John 5:2), produce fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22), love other Christians (1 John 4:11; John 13:35), and reflect His love to unbelievers (Deut 10:19). Are these evident in your life? If not, ask God to help you to experience his love and live in love with him. Confess any known sins, forgive anyone that has offended you, get rid of any bitterness in your heart, and do not allow any condemnation in your life. God loves you and He wants you to be a channel of His love to this world.

Our Father, thank you for your love for me. Thank you for Jesus whom you sent as a token of your love for us. I love you too. Help me to know you more and to always be in love with you. I know I should love other Christians, my family and unbelievers. At times, this is diﬃcult, I need your help and enablement to do this. In my conversation, countenance, character and conduct, help me to be a channel of your love to other Christians, my family and unbelievers. Holy Spirit, teach me to be in love with you and live in your love every moment of my life to the glory of God alone. In Jesus name I have prayed. Amen.

WEEK TWO LOVE Lawrence Olujide

BOOK REVIEWS

Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He ‘awakens’ to find himself in a surreal world, a ‘living’ landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt. It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to authenticity and perhaps, redemption. The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to ‘see’ through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is “blind” to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerge to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart? Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?

WM Paul Young ISBN 145551604X

*WM Paul Young is the author of the popular best seller, ‘The Shack’.

This powerful series of Bible notes for men is written by Carl Beech who heads up CVM, together with two diﬀerent ‘guest’ contributors in each volume. TV survival celebrity Bear Grylls has commended the Manual and encouraged Christian men in the UK to get on board. He said: “The Manual is powerful, personal and relevant - it has helped me a lot to live my faith day by day” Each book contains 60 days of readings, notes and prayers leading men of all ages into a deeper faith and closer walk with God. Available from CWR, Amazon on Kindle and as an ebook from CWR.

carolyn’s kitchen I am currently making lots of fresh soups at my café, Leaf & Bean, 3A Stockbridge Rd. This soup is a popular one & great for this time of year. If you have an apple tree in your garden & are fortunate enough that it has produced fruit this year, you can use the apples in this soup.

Simple Parsnip and Apple Soup Se r ves 4 Pr ep ar at i on t i m e : 4 5 m i n ut e s C ook i ng t i me : 4 5 m i n ut e s wha t you nee d : 50g (2oz) butter 5 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks 1 large Bramley apple, peeled and cut into chunks 1 Litre (1 3/4 pints) vegetable stock 600ml (21 fl oz) milk Salt and Pepper

h ow you do i t : •

Melt the butter in a pan, add the parsnip and apple, cook for 5-10 minutes.

•

Add the stock, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the parsnips are cooked.

•

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

•

Add the milk - it may curdle, but don’t worry.

•

Blend until smooth, then return to the pan.

•

Season to taste, reheat gently for five minutes, then serve.

*Recipe taken from New Covent Garden Food Co, Soup for All Seasons

e h t t e e M r e b Mem Anthea Disney Where did you grow up? I grew up in Bramdean on a farm, and had two sisters. One older ( who unfortunately died aged 42) and a younger one. I went to boarding school from aged ten, which I didn’t enjoy at all. I found all the restrictions, didn’t suit me, as I had spent my life until then doing what I loved, walking around the farm and watching nature. Did you gain any higher ed qualifications? I qualified as a Nurse, in my teens and early twenties, which I returned to after marriage, and the children had all started school. I have three daughters, Emma, Victoria and Sarah. Who are now grown up, married, and have given us five wonderful grandchildren. What was your first job and on what did you spend your first pay cheque? My first pay packet, as a Student Nurse, was just fourteen pounds for a month’s work, after board and lodging had been taken out. I can’t remember my parents any presents, but remember catching the train home to see them. When did you become a Christian? I became a Christian thirty two 17

years ago, following advice from a friend to look to Jesus, for help in solving my problems. Prior to which I had been brought up a Catholic and didn’t know the Lord. What has been your favourite job so far? I’ve had many jobs, which I enjoyed, working in hospitals, nursing homes and nursing private patients in their own homes. But the job I have enjoyed most, was helping in the local hospice. What’s been your best holiday/ adventure so far? My most remarkable adventure, was at the very beginning of Romania’s freedom and Ceausescu, driving a 7.5 tonne lorry, across Europe full of medical equipment and aid. This we had all collected locally, and were amazed by the amount of aid we were given. The kindness and generosity of the Romanians, who had very little never ceased to amaze us, and always made us very welcome. Such that they gave up their beds to us, and slept in chairs. Many incredible miracles happened prior to going to, on the way and in Romania. Such a miracle was, that when one of the drivers locked his keys inside his cab, there was no way he could

get back in. I tried the key from my front door key from our house at home, and it opened up the cab. Next day we tried again when everything was alright, and it just wouldn’t work. I travelled back again two months later with more aid, but this time with a diﬀerent crew of people, because we found such need for basic needs, such as clothing, medical kit, dental apparatus, medicines etc. What’s your favourite bible verse(s) and perhaps your least favourite? One of my favourite Bible verses is “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (I shall not be in want.) Psalm 23:1 When you’ve faced diﬃculties in your life what has helped you through? God has truly blessed me, in life, with a remarkable family and very caring Christian sisters, who listen and pray for me when needed. I was very blessed with my mother, who was always very philosophical. One of her favourite sayings was, ‘Today is the tomorrow you were concerned about yesterday, and all is well.’ And also ‘I shall pass through this world but once, so that any good that I can do for any person, let me do it now, for I may not pass this way again.’ Both my parents were always concerned for other people’s wellbeing and encouraged us to do the same. I am very grateful for that, as my life has been rich with so many incredible experiences, and having me so many interesting people. My new venture as a City Centre Chaplain, I find rewarding as people are now beginning to trust and open up to me.

e h y T e n r u o J

By now Nabulungi’s journey was nearly over, she could already see the long queue of children lining the road next to the banana plantain like the frayed edge of a cloak. Relief spilled over her, not unlike the water splashing out of the mucky tap, children dancing around it as if the words joy, love and happiness were splashing out of the tap. Now she too longed for the silky coolness that the water brought with it.

Marie-Louise

This story can be compared with our walk with God through our life. We start oﬀ not knowing God so well and not really understanding his love for us, just like Nabulungi started oﬀ in a poor home, but the further she goes the closer she gets to the water. In the same way we gradually build up our relationship with God and at the end of our life are hopefully ready to enter into heaven and experience God’s eternal life. However the road to get there is not easy, there will probably be times when we think that this really cannot be God’s will but then later on we find out what a good thing that has produced in our lives. The way to heaven is a road full surprises, good and bad, but at the end the peace and joy of meeting God again in heaven is worth it.

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Not only would not bringing back the water mean trouble for the family it would also mean no school for Nabulungi, which rarely happened but when it did she was deeply upset, because she knew

how important it was to go to school. Her grandmother had told her this many times before when she was just a little girl because she couldn’t read or write and had grown up in a poor family. However, this background meant that now Nabulungi was also born into a poor family and her Grandmother was trying her best to get all her grandchildren educated.

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Picture this - The hot sun already beats down on Nabulungi’s dark skin, bringing with it’s sweltering heat, tiny beads of sweat, even though she isn’t even half way yet. This is an uncomfortable journey but she is accustomed to it’s regularity; every morning after an early breakfast of pineapple she is ushered out of the door to fetch the water before school starts. Carrying a dirtied yellow jerrycan in both hands, this is the supposedly easy half of the walk, getting to the water, but the sun has no mercy on those who have no protection. Mentioning this, neither does her mother when the water is not brought back, especially now with the new baby to add to the long list of children in their family who are constantly hungry or thirsty.

Journeying David Strutt When I was asked to write about “journeys”, a whole raft of thoughts came to mind, mostly unhelpful and only vaguely inspirational. But I recalled a middle-of-the-night bad dream of a journey from Land’s End to Norwich when, with a car full of young children and eyelids that wouldn’t stay open, I struggled with every driver’s nightmare - total inability to stay awake and be alert to the demands of a long motorway drive, and an equally absent capacity to go to sleep for half an hour while pulled over in a service area. Each time I parked I was wide awake! Two minutes later back on the road, I was so cross-eyed that I couldn’t tell which of the thirteen lanes ahead I should be in. Overwhelmed by the tiredness of a full day packing up from a holiday and a delayed ferry crossing, I felt utterly trapped. That ghastly sort of check-mate situation which in one swift, paralysing move can lift you right out of your normal mode… ‘I’m a competent human being who can cope with most things’, and just as quickly dumps you into a foreign, frightening territory where your default capacity to overcome disappears out-ofsight over the horizon. (If you are ever in that situation, by the way, stop, eat a massive full English breakfast, or two, and wait for the sun to come up after which your normal biorhythms will take over and cut you some slack to get through!

I also thought of the 50-mile weekend arduous training marches I used to do with a 56lb pack on my back, thoughtfully topped-up with bricks by a barking sergeant major who was intent on totally annihilating one’s spirit – not to mention mind and body. I well remember the discovery of aching muscles which, as a budding biologist, I knew were anatomically non-existent!

The psalm reads…

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You; In whose heart is the pilgrimage to Zion! Passing through the Valley of Bacah They make it a place of fresh spring water. The early rain also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength…

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Pastoring those who are journeying and needing careful, tender shepherding is very diﬃcult to achieve well and fraught with pitfalls. The skill of being an able pastoral person is not to know the answers for someone embarked on their particular journey, nor to be well-versed in the formulas of God, but to hear from God and to see what He is working in that person’s life and then to seek to guide them to perceive what God may be doing, and journey with them in it… if you are welcome. That’s diﬃcult, not least because God’s permissive will, may not be what we would choose for them.

Psalm 84 speaks of ‘Passing though the valley of Bacar they (the pilgrims) make it a place of springs.’ It’s a lovely Psalm which I have preached on so many times. The valley of Bacar (pronounced Bawkaw) was the valley of weeping. It grew balsam trees. To understand this Psalm you need to know that when you strike and wound a balsam tree it weeps gum-like sap… the source of the precious scented oil. We may not like the concept but our wounding and our struggling can produce beautiful aromas, and this is the subtext here:

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The answers to these diﬃculties and struggles seem so easy… just sleep! Just wake up! Just put one foot in front of the other…others have done it before! You can do it too! They are, of course, particularly easy responses to make if you happen to be a bystander. Have you ever mentally commented on someone else’s life struggle with a superficial, ‘I know the solution for you, friend.’ No! Of course you wouldn’t dream of doing that! Only I do that! Facile thought processes and constructions that can even weave their way into my prayers…. ‘Lord, if you could just persuade them to see it this way, (my way, actually) all would be well.’

He may be allowing things to come to them on their pilgrimage that you would never build into your game-plan for them… not in a million years!

Listen to God’s words to Abraham. “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you and will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens…”

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Whoops! Perhaps we were just a little hasty… maybe lacking a little understanding of the depths of the journey this precious old saint was on that day? Can we be honest, please; we would have tried to stop it, wouldn’t we? So, departing from my initial thoughts about my midnight drives and treks across the Brecon Beacons in February, I turned to that most diﬃcult territory… when our very lives aren’t shaping as we thought they would. I leave you to fill in your own circumstances as you wish. All I would say from my quite long experience of counselling and prayer ministry is that the analogies of being cross-eyed in the wee small hours and not knowing how to put one blistered foot in front of the other are not bad as parallels go. They pretty well describe how you can feel at those times of life. As Christian friends who may be seeking to come alongside folks in their turbulent times, we need to be so wise. I have been very open about many of my personal struggles. I use them to try to illustrate preaching, particularly when speaking of ‘adversity’. I am a man of faith, really I am, but sometimes our loving God is not necessarily doing what you think He is doing and, should you ask me, I may not necessarily join you in praying for the quick way out… the ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ prayers! I have learned that over and over again. Days that felt as

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If we are honest most of us will recoil from the idea of our God who will allow struggles to come into our own lives, those of friends or family. But we know He does. You see we would have climbed alongside Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22) as they ascended the mountain, possibly volunteering to carry the wood for the oﬀering and, at a particular point, when we realised what was afoot, would have whipped out our phone, called our trusted intercessor friends and pleaded with them to fast and pray as Abraham had clearly lost the plot! “You just cannot believe what he is about to do!”

barren as dry grass blowing in the desert wind can suddenly be filled with succulent, lush colour… a revelation from God that I would never have dreamed possible… and would certainly have missed had I been given my way. We don’t choose this sort of journey but we did choose to totally surrender our lives into the safekeeping of a faithful, eternitycommanding, loving Father with an undertaking to trust Him for all our days. Psalm 84 concludes, speaking of God giving His glory and His grace to the person of wholeness… “How blessed is the man who takes refuge in You”

“I am an exciting

adventure” claire forlani

The door is closed. There is no room. Our Brother Christ is born outside the inn. O God our life, You found Yourself excluded, crowded out, out to the edge of life, where folk who do not have the powerful passwords that open doors struggle to make do with almost nothing, and yet bear love and hope amid the straw. And as we, misguided, seek You where we’d like to ﬁnd You, Open our eyes to the star that still shines to lead us out of our comfortable churches out of our circles of contentment out beyond the closed doors of our hearts to the darkness where the star will come to rest. And there, where people feel themselves redundant to requirements unwanted at the party left out in the cold we will ﬁnd you, bearing love making Your centre at the edge room where there is no room.

No room: An approach Kathy Gallway

FILM REVIEW It’s been nine years since cinemagoers said goodbye to the world of Middle Earth with the release of ‘The Return Of The King’, and it’s taken almost all of this time to bring The Hobbit to the screen as a follow-up project. For much of this time, the development has been mired in complexities – there was a long squabble over who owned the film rights, writing and directing duties have been passed around, actors have hinted that they may not appear before signing up, and others have signed up only to disappear. It’s odd, therefore, that the situation eventually appeared so obvious. The first of the Hobbit films, ‘An Unexpected Journey’ will be released on the 14th December. Peter Jackson, writer, director and visionary producer of The Lord Of The Rings fulfils each of these positions again, joined by the cowriters who worked with him first time around, and a large number of other crew members who are also reprising their roles. Many 23

of the stars of the earlier trilogy - Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood and others – have returned to New Zealand for filming over the course of the last couple of years, and the footage that has been publically released so far promises a film that will fit fairly seamlessly with the Middle Earth we first saw over a decade ago. Added to the cast this time are Richard Armitage (Spooks, Robin Hood) at the head of a troop of adventurous dwarves, Benedict Cumerbatch (Sherlock) as the voice of Smaug the Dragon and, in the tile role, Martin Freeman (The Oﬃce, Sherlock) who is about to leave the world of vaguely recognised character actors forever. Thrillingly, for a particular level of nerd, Sylvester McCoy, formerly of Doctor Who, takes on the role of Radagast the wizard.

The story – though if you’ve read this far, I find it unlikely that you won’t know this – centres around the original adventures of Bilbo Baggins in the company of twelve dwarves on a quest to retrieve their stolen hoard of treasure from a dragon in the mountains. Alongside this, we’re promised a huge amount of extra story taken from Tolkein’s appendices detailing the events in Middle Earth that led to the beginning of The Lord of The Rings. So much additional story was filmed, in fact, that during the summer, New Line announced that two Hobbit films were becoming three Hobbit films. Considering the havoc this would have caused to the editing process and the merchandising plans, it’s a firm sign of their confidence in the film’s success – a confidence it’s not diﬃcult to share.

Jon Senior

Don’t wanna go the other way – driven by acoustic guitar, this upbeat track tells of the struggle we all face in trying not to follow the way of the world and keep to our faith.

Wayne Isaac Cody Chesnutt started performing when he was hardly into his teens, on-stage in his Atlanta hometown as support for acts that his dad was representing as their manager. He then headed up his own, the Crosswalk, and had been oﬀered a recording contract with Hollywood Records, and recorded an album, Venus Loves a Melody. Then suddenly, the label released Chesnutt from the deal, and his band broke up. Disheartened, Chesnutt retreated to his bedroom, where he wrote and recorded in two years three dozen songs that became his double-disc 2002 debut, The Headphone Masterpiece. A motley collection of songs with odd lyrics, and encompassing soul, hip-hop and rock, it saw him heralded as an exciting new talent. Chestnutt has a chequered history of womanizing, gambling and crack cocaine addiction that have taken their toll. The 10 years since his acclaimed debut saw him struggle with fame before retiring to the security of his marriage and family, and kicking his drug habit. Landing on a Hundred is his latest album, vintage soul with a 10-piece band, recorded in Al Green’s old Memphis studio. It is album about personal

redemption, mistakes and finding salvation from the rediscovery of his Christianity. Since I Found Thee starts with some funk guitar laying down a rhythm before we hear layered vocals that immediately show the similarity of Chestnutt’s voice to the great Marvin Gaye. A song of change, of how the realization of the wrongs of the past and a willingness to seek forgiveness can save us – “I was a dead man, I was asleep, I was stranger a foreign land till I met thee”. Some lovely mellow bass is evident in a the verses ( each one announced by Chestnutt), backed up strings and nice backing vocals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =qOaHkEquvKs&feature=related Don’t follow me –such a sad song, a heavy slow appeal to his son not to follow his father’s example. A realization of our human weakness. Violin is used to emphases the sadness of this song, a father realizing that he has lost one of the great privileges of being a parent, to be a child’s hero, of setting an example of the life they should aspire to. “Follow the stars, follow who you are, But whatever you do, don’t follow me, I might steer you wrong”

Multi-track vocals (reminiscent of Peter Gabriel on So) and clapping over a soulful bass line mimicking the refrain, drives this song along, it’s stop-start rhythm seems to mirror the nature of our faith at times. “I suppose I could feel the kind of demons, I’ve been thinking of something in the storm is appealing, my will is decreasing but I’m trying not to fall, trying not fall but I feel like I’m losing it, help me God I’m losing.” Love is more than a Wedding day - in these days when marriage is as disposable as the other trappings of a consumer society, this is Chestnutt’s own expression of his realization of what his marriage means. After so long spent denying the things he committed to when he married, it’s a song of admitting that ego needs to be left at the church door. Started with some funky piano, this is a soulful, understated ballad that almost cries out for the big band treatment. This is an album full of social comment, personal confession, and great soul, that shows great versatility, inventiveness and style.

Cody Chestnutt plays Bush Hall in London on 18th March, 2012. Contact Wayne if you’re interested! 24

Life is full of journeys. Journeys to work or school, journeys to friends and family, journeys to events and holidays. All of these little journeys are part of the larger journey that we make through life. Our journey starts when we are conceived, and ends when our hearts finally stop beating. Christians also embark on another journey, a journey of faith. Everybody’s personal journey with the Lord is different. Everyone begins their journey in a different way. Yet we are all striving for the same thing – to grow in our faith, and become like Christ. “We walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (RSV) To progress in our journey, we have to release control of our lives to God. In life, we are given a series of choices, much like a computer game. Each choice made will influence the next choice, and so on. Even once you have made the choice to become a Christian, you still get given choices. Some choices are easy to make, and some are harder. Some choices are so small and insignificant, that you don’t even realise how they will influence your life. On September 11th, 2001, lots of Americans made small, insignificant choices. The head of one of the companies that had offices inside the Word Trade Centre woke up to find his 25

wife ill, so he took his son to kindergarten. This made him late for work. One worker from the World Trade Centre forgot that it was his turn to bring in doughnuts, so he turned back and went to buy them. This made him late for work. One lady who worked in the World Trade Centre spilt her breakfast down her top. She decided to change her top, but this made her late for work. One man heard the telephone ring as he left the house to catch his bus to the World Trade Centre. He shut the door and picked up the phone, even though this made

shoes that morning, to walk to the World Trade Centre. Halfway along his journey, he started to develop a blister, so he went into a chemist to get a plaster, though this made him five minutes late for work. All of these people are alive today because of a small, insignificant decision. Nineteen people that morning had been given the choice – go through with their plan to fly planes into the World Trade Centre, or to abandon their plan. They chose to go through with their plan. God then gave many other people choices. He created scores of unexpected traﬃc delays, subway delays, and commuter train delays. Because of this, of the 50,000 people who

Life: A Journey of Choices

Abi Bettle

were meant to be at their desks at the time the planes hit, only 20,000 were. We will never know how many people that day were saved because of a little choice they made, like stopping to buy a plaster, or getting stuck in traﬃc. Have you ever taken a diﬀerent route just because it “felt right”? Or stopped to chat because you “felt you needed to”?

him late for work. One lady, on her way to the World Trade Centre, found her car wouldn’t start. Instead of getting a bus in, she decided to wait for a mechanic, though this made her late for work. One man put on a pair of new

So next time you find yourself stuck in traﬃc, miss a bus or get held up for a few minutes, don’t get stressed. You made the decision to go that way to work, or to take a particular bus, or to talk to a certain person, and that decision may just have placed you in the exact place that God wanted you to be that day. May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things, and may you remember their possible purpose and thank Him for them.

JOY – “Emotion evoked in us characterised by gladness or delight.” Psalm 16:11

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with Joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand”

Advent

JOY

JOY TO THE WORLD

The Hymn of: Isaac Watts (16741748) in three verses expresses what he knew and hoped the world would come to know – salvation, recognised in creation and that our God reigns in love.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her king; in every Heartfelt joy: Trish experienced heart prepare him room and heaven this each Sunday when she and nature sing, and heaven and taught little children in junior nature sing and heaven and heaven church in Germany. She was do- and nature sing. ing what God wanted her to do; she felt enabled and He blessed Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns! her with joy. At the time she did Your sweetest songs employ while not want to work with young fields and streams and hills and children. Had she refused she plains repeat the sounding joy, would have missed out on that repeat the sounding joy, repeat the wonderful experience. sounding joy. Philippians 4: 4 Circumstances: Joy as an emotion deep within can be activated by us that we may rejoice no matter what happens.

He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness, the wonders of His love, the wonders of His love, the wonders of His love.

Galatians 5:22. Joy as a fruit of the Spirit: This should grow in us as we grow in the knowledge of God.

May the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ change our whole countenance and being. Let His joy be our strength.

May our inward and outward emotion and appearance be influenced and changed by our Joy in Christ Jesus. He delights when we as His children seek to be in His presence to share our times with Him. To permit Him to share in our delights or loss; to lift our spirits, warm our hearts and still our fears. Like the perfect Father He is He is always seeking to give the best of good things to us His children. He desires that none may be lost and that all peoples should know Him as their Lord and Saviour. It is His will and desire that His truth and certain presence be Joy to us. Lord we praise, rejoice and thank you for this your precious gift.

WEEK THREE JOY Roland Burberry

from Jacey and Ed

Dear Friends. I can’t believe we’ve now been in Stratford for 3 weeks – sorry not to have written before this. Firstly a HUGE THANK YOU for all the greetings and good wishes and the lovely send off you gave us before we left. Ed & I were enormously touched by the kindness and generosity you showed us, and it was a hard thing to suddenly realise we were actually leaving behind such wonderful friends. The picture is just brilliant, and though we can’t have it on display in this temporary home (not allowed to make holes in walls!) we’re looking forward to hanging it in our eventual home. Packing day on the Tuesday was quite eventful – our removal men hadn’t been told there were 4 floors to pack and remove, and it was quite a task with only 2 guys. The neighbours across the road having a loft conversion done had a delivery of blocks and sand etc. half way through the day. I leave to your imagination the sight of massive lorries and workers jostling for space in our narrow road. Then one of our removal men said he couldn’t continue working because he was in such pain with toothache. I took him to our dentist, who removed the offending tooth. After a couple of smokes he was back on the job! The company then sent an extra 2 men to help finish the job. That meant an additional removal lorry in the road ..... ! They were loaded and left by 7.00pm. We had spent the day cleaning as they emptied cupboards and rooms, so were fairly tired ourselves when we went for a final meal out in Winchester. It was strange sleeping on air beds in an empty house that had been our home for 32 years. The next day we were up at 5.00am to do final cleaning and pack the car for our departure. We arrived in Stratford at our temporary home to find the removal men waiting to unload and they worked like Trojans through the day. By tea time the lorry was empty and we were surrounded by stuff. We kept handy the chocolate biscuits for the neighbourhood ‘Trick-or-Treat’ children, and it seemed a good time for us to arrive and meet people. There were no breakages or damage and little by little we’ve found things that were packed into strange places.

Ed’s organising skills meant that most things were more or less where we wanted them, and interspersing the days of cleaning and unpacking with outings and exploring we’ve gradually sorted this house and made it feel like home. Our neighbours are very friendly. One senior couple came in for a coffee on the first Sunday evening and told us about the church they attend on the south west side of Stratford. Another couple with student age children came in and gave us a welcome to Stratford gift, a gift, plus a card she had made – a hand-embroidered butterfly!! On the morning of Remembrance Sunday we walked into the town for the memorial service at the Parish Church. It was lovely in its solemnity, intimate and very meaningful. All feels very right about our move here; though still unknown, the future is something we’re very much looking forward to, with our wings open! We’re enjoying the countryside and new places and getting the feel of the culture on offer as well as the local political environment – many similarities to Winchester! The second day that we were here we looked in the local paper properties page. A house in a nearby market town had just come new onto the market within our price range. I said “That’s our house!”. We looked at its details and booked a viewing, made an offer and by the end of the next week had our offer accepted. Now the legal process is in train and the vendor wants to complete the sale before Christmas. How’s that for a ‘God that goes before you’? Without endless commitments in the diary we are really finding the time to BE, and we feel very privileged to be in this situation. The words keep coming to me : “Drop Thy still dews of quietness ‘til all our strivings cease Take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess The beauty of Thy peace, the beauty of Thy peace.” We think of you all as you go forward with new ventures into the future that God has planned for you. May you rest in Him and be blessed.

Jaceyd an Ed

If you’d like to write to Jacey and Ed, their current address is: 131 Longfellow Road Stratford-Upon-Avon Warwickshire CV37 7PR

Perfect

beach

weather

As we write this in the middle of November it is hot, 31° in the shade to be precise, and the sun is high in the sapphire blue sky. Fluﬀy white clouds gently drift into view before evaporating into thin air above our heads. A slight breeze provides a welcome relief to the searing heat. A perfect day for relaxing at the beach. Now we know as you read this at home it will be December, it will probably be cold, wet & miserable. We don’t write this to make you envious. That isn’t the reason (honest!). The observant amongst you will have noticed the one vital ingredient missing from the description above. If we are at the beach, where is the water? Well the answer is we don’t have any in our village. The stream that runs through the donga that we cross to go to work every day is dry. There hasn’t been any significant rainfall for months and now even the taps/pumps in the village & elsewhere in the valley are running dry. Interesting for a country whose biggest export is water! Why are we telling you all this? It’s not to make you feel sorry for us or to make you think that we are enduring great hardship out here in Lesotho. To be honest we have it pretty easy compared with a lot of missionaries. It is relatively safe here, there is no civil war or unrest, we are not in danger of our lives or being thrown out of the country, we can be open about our beliefs, we have food, the usually plentiful spring water is drinkable from the pump (we would pay a 29

lot for that back home) and we are surrounded by stunning scenery. So life here is safe, or is it? There is an added element to life here which is a bit like the unseen shark lurking in the waters waiting for unsuspecting bathers to enter the water. That unseen danger, and one often brushed under the carpet in the UK, is spiritual attack. As most of you know there have been many diﬃcult and challenging times for us since we left ‘home’. Some of these we very much feel have been spiritual attacks. We believe that Heather’s illness has been one such example. Church in Maphutseng has not been easy for us. It is all in Sesotho, with little translation, so it is diﬃcult for us to feel part of the service. It all seems to be

very liturgical, a far cry from WBC! So to help us understand more we had a discussion with Paster Moletsane about the church in Maphutseng & the role of the Holy Spirit. The following Sunday Heather prayed over breakfast and asked the Holy Spirit to show his presence in both our service in Maphutseng & at WBC too. And boy did He show up! Joshua, one of the Basotho workers at Growing Nations preached and after his sermon people who wanted prayer were called to the front. People responded and Joshua prayed for them. But after the service Moletsane asked us to pray for a young man who was struggling with school. We did so under the tree outside the church. The following Sunday two young people asked us to pray for them for their forthcoming exams. We joked that we were starting the

prayer ministry under the tree! It was that Sunday that Moletsane asked us if we would be part of the prayer team praying for all the other students taking their exams the following Sunday. We agreed of course but we never made it to that service as Heather’s illness started the next day.

Once again we want to thank all at WBC for your love, prayers and e-mails, which are so much appreciated. We wish you all a very Happy Christmas & as you look forward to the New Year we challenge you to put on God’s spiritual armour everyday so that you are equipped for the battle in the year ahead. With love & Blessings

Barry and Heather

}

It was six weeks later that Heather finally made it back to church. The day before had been a good one for her so she decided to come along. Before the service Heather said that she found it really diﬃcult praying during her quiet time and a short time into the service the pain came back and she felt awful again. She stuck it out though and just before the end of the service, totally unknown to us, we were both called to the front to pray for the newly elected prayer team of 20 people.

WBC (whilst managing a group of 33 people from Holland!).

Since then Heather has again been struggling with good days and bad days and new symptoms have appeared such as a cough and getting breathless. Ultimately we are trusting God that she will be fully healed and that is what we are praying for.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BARRY MANN

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Our Christmas will be very diﬀerent this year, hot for a start & we will miss being part of the services at City Road. We have been warned that our service here could last for up to 6 hours as they have communion (only served on significant days such as Christmas & Easter) and baptisms too, as part of the service. We are however very much looking forward to having our first visitors from WBC come to stay with us. Carol & Dave Bailey will be with us from the 16–29 December and we are looking forward to some relaxation and fun with them and catching up on all the news from

It has made us appreciate though that whenever we are doing the Lord’s work there is a daily spiritual battle going on wherever we may be. We must hang on to the knowledge that ultimately the battle belongs to the Lord and to help us stand firm we need to commit all that we do to the Lord in prayer. We also need to make sure we are equipped with & put on the armour of God daily. In Ephesians 6:10-18 we are told to put on the Belt of Truth; Helmet of Salvation; Breastplate of Righteousness; Sword of the Word given by the Spirit; Shield of Faith; Shoes as readiness to announce the Good News of Peace and do all this in prayer asking for God’s help.

Sometimes it really is all about the giving and here’s some fun ideas for that ‘hard-to-buy-for’ individual, that keeps on giving long after Christmas Day.

Missed out on one of these? You might still be in luck - Jane Aslet was selling these in aid of Lullaby Charity.

GIF TING

For £60, you can twin your toilet at home, work or school with a latrine in: Bangladesh Burundi Cambodia The Democratic Republic of Congo Sierra Leone UK-based charities Cord and Tearfund have linked up to bring you Toilet Twinning, a unique way to help transform lives in poor communities across the world. When you twin your toilet you’ll receive a framed certificate of your toilet’s twin, containing a photo, the latrine’s location and its GPS coordinates so you can look it up on Google Maps. http://www.toilettwinning.org/what-is-toilettwinning/

Safe water saves lives. It helps families to thrive. It can even kick-start a community. This gift helps set up or maintain a safe water supply with pumps, tanks, taps, purification systems or pipes. It can restore supplies after an emergency and topped with health and hygiene training, this gift is a winner. www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/oxfamunwrapped

http://www.musthavegifts. org/gifts.html? Buy from the catalogue or sponsor a child!

Whilst they were saying among themselves, it cannot be done - it was done! ~Helen Keller

My cousin Mary came to me today. She is with child, Yet she crossed the wild Hill country Just to be with me. There was joy, beyond all reason, at our meeting, And I take this as a sign That between her son and mine Will be deep aﬃnity, Stronger than kinship’s tie. For now I begin to understand this: That my bitter tears, The long empty years And final despair Were not merely a private aﬀair. Even in my fulfilment I had asked: Why was our youth wasted? Why could we have not tasted This joy when we were younger And blessed with strength and vigour? I may not live to see my child full-grown; But I will no longer speculate About the future, I will wait, Like Mary, upon the Lord: Not in anxiety, but in peace, Trusting His Word.

Elizabet h Susan Brown

Advent

PEACE Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. Romans 5 v 1.

Can I really know peace with God? How is that possible? Paul, in his letter to the Romans leaves us in no doubt that it is through ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ’ that we know peace with God. Peace is diﬃcult to achieve. Just look at the conflicts in the world today- the struggle for peace in countries such as those in the Middle East. Even if stable, peaceful conditions were restored today, the price would be extremely heavy in each of those countries. In the same way our own peace with God was hard won, and the price was the sacrifice of the Son of God. Jesus came that we may know peace with God, that our sins, our failings, our hostility towards God might be dealt with once and for all at the cross of Jesus. Part of our rejoicing this Advent is to celebrate this peace that was won at so heavy a price when God chose to come into our world and save us. So what does it mean to be at peace with God? Life is not always as straightforward as we would like it. If you are anything like me life can seem anything but peaceful as we negotiate the busyness and stresses of life. But I know that when I wake up in the morning or go to bed at night I can come before God and pour out my heart to him. I can name my fears to him, my doubts, my failings and I hand these over to God so that they no longer fill me, but are replaced with the knowledge and peace that all is well in my relationship with God.

Father God, Thank you for your peace that came to us through Jesus Christ your Son. Help us to remember the price of this peace so that we never take for granted the blessing of being at peace with you and the joy of being in a relationship with you. I pray that we may all know this peace in our lives as we celebrate your gift to us this Christmas. As we remember the expectation surrounding the coming of the Messiah let us give thanks afresh that Christ came to bring God’s peace to the whole world. In Jesus name, Amen.

WEEK FOUR P EACE Ben Clifton

Mission News

Mark Cole

WBC financially supports a number of missionaries who work in Lesotho, DR Congo and the Middle East, as well as missionary partners working for the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS). The church has recently pledged significant funding to support a number of our own congregation in missional activities in Russia, Nepal and Africa. In addition, each year we make donations to a number of charities and Christian workers, both local and further afield, which have particular significance for us. Donations will only be considered for inclusion in the Missions budget following a written proposal from a church member giving information about the organisation/person and the reason for the request. There would normally need to be a direct link with WBC or the remit of the organisation would need to fit with the WBC mission statement. We expect that every organisation/person supported through the donations budget would have some direct input in a Sunday service at least once every three years in order to continue to receive funding, and that the member who puts forward the proposal would undertake a

Mission Action Group Board display (at the back of the church) periodically. Proposals for donations from the 2013/14 budget should be submitted to the Mission Action Group (led by Joanne Meharg) by the end of February. Full details of this policy are available electronically or on paper from the church oﬃce. Please note that organisations will remain in the Missions budget for a maximum of three years before a further proposal is required. Currently all of the organisations listed below will be included in the 2013/14 Mission budget: The Olive Branch Boaz Trust Southern Baptist Association Church of the Year Winchester Churches Housing Group Winchester Night Shelter Trinity Centre Winchester Barnabas Fund The Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Scripture Readers Association (SASRA) Prospects Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Ian Thomson (Bringing good News) Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) Bible Society Basics Bank Street Pastors

At this time of year, most of us are thinking about what we would like to be doing in the summer. The church is keen to encourage people of all ages to volunteer for short term service, whether a few weeks or for a longer period in a gap year. All the opportunities are about extending the Kingdom, are thinking about what we would like to be doing in the summer. The church is keen to encourage people of all ages to volunteer for short term service, whether a few weeks or for a longer period in a gap year. All the opportunities are about extending the Kingdom, whether the emphasis is on practical service, or more explicitly evangelistic. There are lots of opportunities advertised at HYPERLINK “http://www.christianvocations. org/”www.christianvocations.org To confirm our support for those who go, funding is available depending on the duration and whether in the UK or overseas. This funding will not meet the full cost of your service as a volunteer so you will be expected to raise funds yourself. Further information can be found in the leaflet Short Term Mission Matters available at the back of the Church next to the Mission board. The Mission Action Group is happy to oﬀer advice and support.

My first contact with MAG was in 2003 what they supported me on my discipleship year based in Essex. It was really important to know that there were people at WBC praying for me. Again in 2008 I planned to visit my missionary brother in Vanuatu, MAG supported me for a few weeks while I helped Scripture Union Vanuatu catalogue and set up their tri lingual lending library.

Since the group’s inception there have only been four chair persons which is not only amazing, but gives an indication of the commitment and desire to see WBC develop its mission objectives. To have seen the Lord working in so many people’s lives and challenge them about both home and overseas service has been such an encouragement. Another really encouraging outcome has been commitment to our four long-term missionaries and the sending of church teams to Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo and Jordan. This has involved raising huge amounts of money but God has honoured our involvement in such ventures.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without delving into the world of mission. Being part of MAG is part of my continuing journey. It’s exciting to see how God uses ordinary but faithful believers to reach out to others. For now my journey includes church mission trips, supporting Iain, Emma and Alice, and encouraging and praying for others involved in mission. In the future …. only God knows.

GROUP

Margaret Heﬀer

WHY ACTION

Now 25 years on I’m still part of the group. Why? When you get involved in overseas mission it certainly is a life changing experience - life is never quite the same again. I remember I was challenged by the chorus of a hymn in 1999 when I went on a Tearfund project to Zambia. It is

MAG – Mission Action Group. MAG – Me And God. It’s part of my journey and it’s still exciting! Catherine Bartlett

MISSION

Joanne Meharg

Mission is exciting. As a young Christian I though mission was only for ‘more spiritual people’ than me, but after mission trips as a student to France, Morocco and London, God started me on an adventure, including a rather extended gap ‘year’ in Kenya, where God surprisingly led me into teaching!

MAG

In January I took over as chairman of MAG as part of my role on the leadership team. I suspect like many of you I didn’t really know what MAG did, I mean I knew of and had gratefully received from the MAG budget, and I’d checked out the notice board at the back of church, even having done one myself. What I hadn’t appreciated was the way this group cares for and supports our long term missionaries through regular contact as well as prayer, this continues when people visit the UK or return home. They also hold dear the importance of world wide mission and prayer one of its members faithfully writing the ‘prayer for the world’ section of the weekly news sheet. My contact with MAG consistently aﬃrms for me the importance of our support for each other and the need to view WBC in its wider context as part of God’s community of saints across the globe.

When the Mission Action Group was formed in 1986 I was already a voluntary rep for Tearfund/ Tearcraft so it seemed a natural thing to join and be part of the group. As the years have passed, it has been great to see the mission activity of the church grow and for it to become an important part of its work and service.

Whats on.... Sunday 10am - Tea & coffee provided afterwards Creche - up to 3 yrs Sparklers - 3 to Yr R All Stars - Yr 1 - 3 Trailblazers - Yr 4 - 6 FRESH - Yr 7 upwards 6.30pm - Tea and coffee provided afterwards Monday Re:store - 10am creche provided

Helen Revans

Tuesday 2.15pm - Tuesday Afternoon Women’s Fellowship alternate weeks - Jean Davis 8pm Church Prayer Meeting (first Tuesday in the month) 8pm Teg Down Small Group (Favour Cluster) Jo May 8pm Location Cluster (2nd & 4th) David & Ann Hook 8pm Favour Cluster South Winchester (Gareth & Catherine Bartlett) 8pm - Kings Worthy Small Group (Connect Cluster) Ben Clifton (Connect Cluster) Rachel Dawson Wednesday 7-8am - Prayer Meeting in Tweedley Room 8pm - Chandler Ford Small Group (2nd & 4th - Favour Cluster) Carol and David Bailey 8pm - Stanmore Small Group Luke & Jo Meharg

Associate Pastor Rev Tim Williamson tim @ winbap . org . uk Mission to Seniors Hannah and David Strutt hannahanddavid @ winbap . org . uk Children’s Ministry Worker Eli Stewart eli @ winbap . org . uk Associate Youth Worker Becca Baxter becca @ winbap . org . uk Pastoral Worker Eunice Nicholson eunice @ winbap . org . uk Elders Sheila McAulay Andy Marshall Carol Bailey

01962 868770 01962 868770 01962 858770

Secretary James Dawson churchsec @ winbap . org . uk Treasurer Peter Howes churchtreas @ winbap . org . uk Bookkeeper Alison Stanbrook bookkeeper @ winbap . org uk Deacons

Thursday

Wayne Isaac

01962 868770

1.30pm - Silver Service (1st in the month) David & Hannah Strutt 7.30pm - The Edge (Yrs 9 and above) Becca Baxter 8pm - Badger Farm Small Group (Honour Cluster) Jean Sweetenham

Mission Joanne Meharg

01962 868770

Friday 9.45am - Real Life Cluster Tony Mundy 10am - Friday Fun (2 ¹/2 - 5 year olds) Diana Wills

Ops Manager Judy Marshall 01962 686770 opsmanager @ winbap . org . uk Winchester Baptist Church Swan Lane Winchester SO23 7AA 01962 868770 office @ winbap. org . uk

DECEMBER SUN

MON

TUES

WED

THURS

D AT E S F O R Y O U R D I A R Y

FRI

SAT 1

PM Communion Service

Re:store Ladies Group

Re:store AM Communion Ladies Group Service

Bible Sunday

Prayer Meeting 7-8am

The Edge

Prayer Meeting 7-8am

The Edge

Prayer Meeting 7-8am

Silver Service

Friday Fun

MON

PM Communion Service

WED

THURS

FRI

SAT

Prayer and Praise Meeting 8pm

6th - Silver Service Christmas Service 9th - All Age - Christingle Service 14th - Unite Christmas Ball 16th - Carols by Candlelight 6.30pm ‘Are we nearly there yet?’

25th - Christmas Day Celebration Service 10am

TUES

AM Communion Service Fellowship Offering

4th - Prayer and Praise Meeting 8pm

24th - Carols round the crib 3pm Midnight Communion Service 11.30pm

Silver Service Remembrance

2nd - First Sunday in Advent Deposits for Weekend Away due in now.

23rd - No evening service

JANUARY SUN

December

Prayer Meeting 7-8am

Bonfire Night

Prayer Meeting 7-8am Church Meeting

Prayer Meeting 7-8am

31st - Farewell 2012 January 1st - New Years Day 2013

Prayer Meeting 7-8am

30th - No Evening Service

7th - Love and Logic Parenting Course begins - CAP course begins 10th - Silver Service

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” ~ Martin Buber

16th - Church Meeting 8pm 18th - Start of Week of Prayer 20th - Pulpit Swap AM Unity Service PM