“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against a wall.” (Ps.18:28,29)
It seems lately that there are many things to discourage us and cause us to lose hope. We often have to remind ourselves that it is GOD’s work, not ours and He can do with it what He chooses. It seems that lately He has been taking many good people away from our church due to various circumstances and when a church is already small, that really hurts. It’s been an extra long and disheartening winter (we know you understand since it’s been the same on the “other side of the pond”!).
And so, we take time to remind ourselves of what God has done and is doing. Lately, we have had several new people coming regularly to our services. We are welcoming 3 new members (2 of whom are our new colleagues, the Lees). It’s been very good to have extra willing workers!
Girls’ club on Saturday mornings is going well with 20 or more girls attending each week. Because many of our girls are from Muslim homes, we must be very sensitive in our gospel presentations. Please pray for an extra measure of wisdom as we teach and exemplify Christ’s love in our actions and attitudes. Rachel and I are often quite tired at the end of club but in a good way! We praise God for this opportunity to invest in the lives of these young girls.
The men are starting up a boys’ club on May 4th. For weeks one of Karen’s Pakistani ladies has been asking when it will start. She has 3 boys who are quite excited about to come. Karen often has opportunities to share bits here and there with the ladies she teaches and visits – these opportunities come in surprising ways. Little by little…
Keep praying for open hearts and more in depth conversations. We had some come from the community to assist in our annual Big Tidy Up of the local park. This has been a good way to connect and reconnect with people. Many more people from our community are accessing the various programs taking place in our church building, such as exercise classes, job club, after school club, Indian dance group, various community forums and committees, organic gardening club.
With thanks for your prayers and support,
George and Karen King
Birmingham, United Kingdom
