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Weekly Diary

Sunday

Family Service & Sunday School - 11 am

Evening Worship - 6.30 pm

Communion: 1st Sunday   Evening                        3rd Sunday  Morning

Weekdays

1st Monday      Music Group             7 pm

Wednesday      Midweek Meeting      8 pm

Thursday         Girls' Brigade            6.30 pm

Friday              Boys' Brigade            6.30 pm

Church Address: 699 High Road, London, N17 8AD.
 
 

17 September 2002

Last weekend Pat and I went for a short break - Walking for softies! We stayed at a very nice hotel, but were amazed to see a Christmas tree in the reception area. Just September and a Christmas tree up already. It was there to publicise the festivities the hotel was offering over the Christmas period, and urging the public to book early to avoid disappointment.

I have a very mixed view about Christmas. On the one hand I love the celebration, the Christmas dinner, the carols, the many rich and intriguing images that we have at that time. On the other hand, I sometimes feel that that which is uniquely Christian has been hijacked by our commercial, materialistic, self-seeking world. I sometimes wish we had been able to copyright the word 'Christmas', and only allow it to be used in a Christian context. Like a health warning on a packet of cigarettes, I would wish every shop display the sign 'Jesus said, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions"'.

So here I am, starting to look forward with joyful anticipation, and on the other loathing the crass commercialism of the next few months.

But then I think, what an opportunity we have a Christians to witness at this time! In general, people do not have a very good image of the church as an institution, but that all changes at Christmas.

I have a son who does not profess to be a Christian, and only rarely attends church, but I am sure that he and all his family will be present at the Christmas morning service. And there are many like him. They still value the family. They want to develop loving families, and they see Christmas as a family festival. Nativity services, with young and old taking part, are heartwarming. What an opportunity we have been given to lift up Jesus.

Start preparing now to invite your family and friends and neighbours to our Christmas services. You will not have a better time in which to do so. Make certain that we keep Christ at the centre of Christmas.

Love to you all,
 

Roger Collins.
 
 

CHURCH FAMILY NEWS.

We miss Carl & Mickey's grandmother, Mrs Ward, and her regular attendance. Please pray for her health and for Mrs Hilda Gosling, who has also been under the weather of late, as well as Miss Lena Starling and Mrs Pearl Nevers, who have both recently been out of hospital.

Our sister in the Lord, Mrs Jackson, left to meet Him in August. Please pray in support of her family during these days, including her grandson Reme, who attends our Sunday School. Pray for Joyce McKenzie, who has also had a family bereavement recently; our thoughts are with you. Bear in mind the shut-ins in our fellowship, including Mrs Eileen Wood, Miss Mabel Johnson, Mrs Hazel Whitehead, Janette's nan, and Miss Olive Persson.

Welcome back Verley and Ruby, having returned from Jamaica! We bid farewell to Mrs Shirley Peart and Mrs Velma Patten as they leave to that same sunny isle in late September. The fellowship would wish that God might bless you even more than you have been a blessing to us!

Two flyers are in preparation by the Pastoral Care Team to add to the visitor's card, which they have started handing out. Pray that we will reach out and rein in people for the Lord with this card and with pamphlets to come: a general evangelistic tract, and the guests' follow-up card!

Our Pastoral Care Team is available to help and is especially eager to hear about anyone who has been missing from our fellowship or who has been ill, that they may be given a visit or prayer or spiritual encouragement. The team members are:
Thornton & Leola Reid ; George Wheeler ; Grace Tyzack ; Hilda Gosling ; Clare Lee ; Margaret McGlynn ; Gloria Bipta
 

COMING EVENTS.

Church Anniversary

The momentous 175th Anniversary of our church is ours to celebrate on 13th October! We will have this special occasion marked by Rev. Peter Wortley, retired, conducting both services and our Brigades parading in the morning. Rev. Wortley was President of the Baptist Union for 2001/2002, Secretary of the London Baptist Association from 1977-2001, and has been a Baptist Minister since 1960. He also conducted our church re-dedication on the 170th Church Anniversary after all the refurbishment i.e. new roof, new railings, etc.

These brief fifteen-minute prayer meetings are for anyone who would like to come and support the work of the young people in church through prayer. Meet on our Anniversary, Sunday 13th October, and on 8th December in the sideroom (behind the sanctuary) at 10:15 am.

On Saturday 19th October at 12.30, the Girls' Life Brigade 100th Anniversary services will be held at Tottenham Baptist Church. Parking has been arranged next door, in the Sports Centre, at a charge of £2. For further information please speak to Belinda Plunkett or to one of the other GB Officers.

Battalion Church Parade

The Haringey Battalion's Church Parade will be held at our Church on Sunday 27th October at 11 am. Our speaker will be Mr Brian Smith. It will be good to have the parade marching along the High Road, reminding all who see them that not all young people are trouble but are decent, fun-loving and many help in the community locally.

Vi Maddison

Children's Light Party 31st October

Instead of focusing on the darkness of Halloween, children ages 5 to 10, come and celebrate the light of Jesus Christ again this year! Join Janette and others from 6:30 pm to 8 pm.

Remembrance Sunday 10th November

As usual, our Remembrance Day Service will commence at 10:45 am so that we all can be in our places in time for the two-minute silence. The GB and BB will be on Parade and our speaker at the morning service will be Mr John Westbury.

Vi Maddison

Church Members Meeting 20th November

All of TBC's organisations will report at this, our Annual General Meeting, held on a Wednesday - not on the usual Tuesday - at 8 pm. All church members are warmly encouraged to attend, as ever, and let the Holy Spirit speak through you to build up the body of the Lord at TBC!

Barn dance

Looking for more fellowship in the Lord? Come and have a laugh and be ready to swing your partner in our barn dance, on 23rd November from 7 pm until 10 pm. You are never too young or old to 'Do Sa Do' or 'Swing your Corner'. Wear your checked shirts if you can and come have a bite to eat. Everyone welcome and price to be announced. Even if you come to sit and watch (and laugh!) it would be great to see you there...

White Webbs Band

On December 3rd from 8 pm to 10 pm, this band will once again pay us a visit. This is always a most enjoyable occasion, so please make note of this date and come along to support and encourage the band. (Remember, Malcolm used to play in this band!) There will be no charge for admission, but there will a retiring offering towards their expenses.

Vi Maddison

Lighting up People's Lives

At the time of going to print, I have not yet contacted the Matron at the Almshouses but we are hoping to make our annual visit there on Sunday 15th December at 3 pm. I will confirm this in the notices one Sunday.

From Ivy & George

We would like to thank everyone for their love and support when my father and George's brother died. Thank you for your prayers. May God bless and keep you always.

Ivy Legore & George Wheeler
 
 

Singing with a Cause

This year's Family Gospel Festival at Broadwater Farm took place on Saturday 7th September 2002. The event was a fantastic uplifting experience! The audience was enthralled by talented solo artists and choirs.

The purpose of the event was not merely to bring people together to be spiritually uplifted, but also to raise funds for sickle cell and thalassaemia research.

The event this year raised over one thousand pounds for sickle cell and thalassaemia research and I would like to thank everyone who supported this event.

Next year's Family Gospel Festival will be held on Saturday 13th September. May God bless all who attended and/or supported this event and those who will benefit from the sum raised.

A Reminder

Just to remind all church members: if you should change your address or telephone number please remember to tell me so that we can keep the church records up-to-date.

Val Paskell
 
 

Thank Offering 2002

On Sunday October 13th, we shall be celebrating our 175th Church Anniversary and we shall be taking up our Thank Offering this year to go towards the alterations to the Church buildings and Disability Access. There will be letters and envelopes available for your contributions. Please give as the Lord has been generous to you over the past year.
 
 

Brandon Baptist Church

At the beginning of the year, Brandon Baptist Church had great problems with their roof, which had been refurbished 10 years before. On hearing about their plight and their appeal for funds to rebuild their roof, our Church felt great sympathy for them.

We were able to help. We sent a donation and, eventually, they were able to start work on Tuesday 2nd April. Tiles were removed, trusses were straightened and the diagonal bracing was added. By Thursday the 25th, they were finished. On Friday 26th, the decorators got to work and they finished on Friday 10th May, just in time for the wedding on the 11th. Sarah (who had been at Brandon for virtually the whole of her thirty-year life) was to marry Tim and it would have been disappointing to have to go elsewhere for the ceremony!

Most of the invoices are now in although they are still waiting for one. The total cost comes to £45,500. They believe they have received gifts to cover this cost.

They say that it's only thanks to all those gifts they have received that they were they able to complete this task and they say a "thank-you in Jesus' name for your generosity - we could not have done this without you!"

Les Paskell
 
 

Remember such as the least of these...

Please don't forget that the Shoebox appeal is going to help the children in Kosova, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Macedonia and the deadline is October 13th. Our shoeboxes are going to be distributed by Smile International to help children in need. We managed to raise 48 shoeboxes and it would be great if we could better it this year!

Shoeboxes can be for any child aged from 3 to 16 and needs to include new and unbreakable items such as toiletries, toys, clothing (scarves, footwear, etc.)The box and lid need to be wrapped in gift paper separately and joined with an elastic band as they are going to be checked by Smile before shipping. Please label your box stating the age of the child for whom you bought the gifts, and whether you wish it to be given to be boy or girl

Janette Whitehead
 
 

This magazine is your magazine! Help shape TBC whichever way the Lord leads you. Write, tell, e-mail or dictate to the editor any articles, quips, etc. that you want to share, or speak to him about any issues you would want in these pages!

Jose Jurado Aranda First Floor Flat 63 Becket Avenue London E6 6AE Tel: (020) 8471 8289 or leave message E-mail: tbceditor@hotmail.com

You can also read Focus online at: http://freespace.virgin.net/jamesimac.mcglynn/tbc.htm
 
 

BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY NEWS.
 
 

Reaching out in India

After working in India on a BMS Action Team in 1998, Louise Taylor made a return visit this summer with the BMS India Summer Team, reuniting with some of the street children she had worked with.

'Four years ago I went to India for six months with a BMS Action Team and worked in Calcutta for Emmanuel Ministries - an evangelical Christian outreach organisation with numerous projects in Calcutta. I met a boy called Heider there, at a project called "The Pavement Club" which provides non-formal education, breakfast and lunch for around 70 street children.

'Heider was around 12 years old, was very small and hardly spoke English. He was quite mischievous and cheeky, but quite fun - I used to call him "cheeky boy". During my six-month stay we became friends - outside the Pavement Club we often used to walk barefoot through the bustling streets. Heider was one of the street kids that I thought about and often prayed for when I came back.

'It was amazing to return to Calcutta last month with the eight other girls making up the BMS Summer Team and experience frontline mission again - teaching, playing, washing and ministering to the street children.

'I felt so blessed to see prayers answered - some of the kids had really blossomed and had grown up through the Pavement Club, and then they themselves had begun teaching there. God was at work here. These were children living in poverty, from the slums, and now they were able to earn some money through the teaching work - some had actually opened a savings account.

'But there was no sign of Heider. People at Emmanuel Ministries told me that they had not seen much of him but had heard that he was often in trouble. I was really concerned for him, remembering how mischievous he was before. And then the most amazing thing happened. At some point, Heider had seen me in the street and had remembered me from the BMS Action Team four years ago. He came to Emmanuel Ministries and asked to see me. I was advised to meet him with Timothy, a worker from Emmanuel Ministries, partly for safety but it turned out to be a complete blessing because Timothy translated for us.

'Heider and I spoke: he had dropped out of the Club to try to find work. He was now about 16 or 17. He got involved with gangs, had been in prison, and before he told me I could tell from his eyes that he had been taking drugs. He began to open up and speak about the poverty of his family. He broke down and cried. It was very emotional. We talked some more. I told him that God loved him and that we loved him too. Heider invited Timothy and me to meet his family. Heider's home was one tiny room in a slum where he lived with his mum and dad, grandma, six brothers and one sister. I was quite nervous: I thought the family might be annoyed and think, "Why are you interfering?" But they were grateful. We spoke to Heider's grandma, and as we left she hugged us and Timothy translated to me: "she says that she's your grandma too."

'It was such an amazing opportunity to return to Calcutta and see the work God was doing through Emmanuel Ministries, and what he had done through us to help the children. It was such a privilege to meet Heider again. I went into the slum one last time to say goodbye. He threw his arms in the air and hugged me. Emmanuel Ministries have arranged to help him through one of their drugs rehabilitation projects. I praise God for the opportunities that he has given me.'

Louise is 26 and lives and works in North London where her home church is Christchurch in Cockfosters. She and 63 other people, ages 18 to 71, from UK churches made up the six BMS Summer Teams that went abroad this summer.
 
 

BMS responds to Sri Lankan government calls BMS for help

The Sri Lankan government has requested the help of BMS partner, The Sri Lanka Evangelical Alliance Development Service (LEADS), to aid with the resettlement of displaced families following a ceasefire between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger rebels after nearly two decades of fighting.

More than 100,000 internally displaced people are trying to return but LEADS reports that many homes have been completely destroyed or are now uninhabitable. Sanitation is also becoming a major problem. The Sri Lankan government asked LEADS to provide temporary shelter and sanitation for 120 families. A £11,000 BMS Relief Fund grant sent to LEADS will cover the cost.

BMS World Mission has worked in Sri Lanka for almost 200 years, mainly in education, printing, translation and church work. More recently, BMS has been supplying annual grants and sending short-term personnel to work with the five BMS partner organisations, which run some 600 projects throughout Sri Lanka.
 
 
 
 

BMS Relief to Southern Africa

During August, the Church decided to allocate the Communion Offerings to BMS Relief Fund in Southern Africa and also retiring offerings on one Sunday. The total for this Fund amounted to £283.30, which has now been sent to the BMS. Thank you to all those who gave to this worthwhile cause.
 
 

We found this prayer in a church we visited while on holiday in Cornwall:

Submitted by Anne & Jim Tarrier
 
 

SMILE PLEASE WE'RE IN BULGARIA!! (PART II)

One of the experiences that I treasure the most was our visit to the Roma Gypsy Baptist Church in Radimir. There are about 170 members, including 40 children, 30 youth, and 23 who have recently been baptised. They are situated in a very poor area with an unemployment rate of 95%, yet they are so committed to the Lord They meet in a flat and as they are too numerous to fit in the room they have a token system: they are given a yellow, blue or green token and, depending on its colour, they attend on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Sundays!!

Again, we were given a very warm and loving welcome as we shared in their Sunday evening service. The children and the youth group sang to us and we met Dida and Dimcha - the woman and man who started the church five years ago with just the two of them. Dimcha is the young man who leads the church on a part-time basis. He works full-time to support himself, which means that he cannot afford to work full-time at church and is not available to attend church leadership training although he and Dida have attended some courses at the Bible School. He would only need just over £100 per month to be able to be a full-time leader at the church but such an amount is inaccessible to them. The church would love to reach out to their local community and become involved with social action projects - as well as bringing more adults and youngsters to Christ.

It was a great privilege to share time and worship with these people and with all we met in Bulgaria. Their commitment to and love for Christ is seen so clearly in their worship and in the practical ways they reach out to others in need even thought they do not have a lot themselves. The Bulgarian people, and especially the Bulgarian Christians, have endured extremely difficult and oppressive times, yet the numbers in the churches we visited are increasing wonderfully. We, in the West, can learn a lot from them!

I would just like to say a huge 'Thank-you' to everybody who prayed for this trip and me. It made such a difference to be upheld in love and prayer and - I'm sure - helped me and all of the team to be kept safe and used more effectively during our stay.

Please let me know if you would like to find out more about the work of Smile International. They are always looking for people to take part in their trips and there are many other ways that you can support them in sharing the love of Jesus around the world

Janette Whitehead
 
 

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot erase a single word we said.
Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and perhaps its poor performance. Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendour or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

This leaves only one day - today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time.

Submitted by Junior Deane
 
 

'Hold Fast to That Which is Good'

I have been reading this book and I would like to share this version with you. When we get knocked down with sorrows, difficulties, hardships, misunderstanding and frustrations, someone asks what difference does it make to be a Christian. The answer is that a believer has a perspective on life that assures us that we will always be a conqueror.

A Sunday School teacher once asked her class to point out some of the virtues they should seek to follow. Among those given were love, forgiveness, honesty, etc. One small boy said, 'Miss! You have missed one out: the way to take things on the chin'. He was right! The author, Selwyn Hughes, says, 'When life hits a Christian hard on the chin, it tilts his face upward to look on the face of God'.

Muriel Grant
 
 

A friend passed this little verse onto me, and I think you'll enjoy reading it. She took it from Francis Gay's Friendship Book:

Submitted by Pearl Nevers
 
 

'I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God'.

Eph 3:18-19
 
 

SPECIALLY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Fill in the Blanks - Stories of love in the Bible!

Jesus taught us to love everybody. The Bible tells us stories about how much God's people loved each other! Do you know their names in these stories? Fill in the blanks!

Sarai's story - she was later called Sarah
Sarai and her husband left to Egypt because the land they were in had a famine. But her husband feared that the Egyptians might take Sarai and get rid of him, because she was so beautiful! They decided to pretend that they were brother and sister. The Pharaoh ended up taking her as his wife! So the Lord God made serious diseases appear to Pharaoh and his household! Then the Pharaoh gave his wife back...

Do you know what was the name of Sarai's husband in this story? Hint: God later called him Abraham, and you can read the story in Genesis Chapter 12 starting at verse 10.

A __ __ __ M

Rachel's story
This man fell in love with lovely Rachel, and worked for her father for seven years just to marry her! After serving the father for seven years, he was tricked into marrying Rachel's sister, Leah, instead! He was later able to marry Rachel also (that was allowed then) but was told to work for her father for another seven years, and he did so...

What was the groom's name? Hint: he was later called Israel, and the story is there for you to read in Genesis Chapter 29, verses 10 to 30.

__ A __ __ B

Rebecca's story
Abraham wanted to find a bride for his son. She would have to come from among his own people, because that's what the Lord wanted. So Abraham sent his chief servant to look for a bride in the land where they were from The servant asked the Lord to show him who that bride should be. Now Rebecca was a very beautiful maiden, and she was also a young relative of Abraham's. She drew water at a well for the servant when he asked her. That was the sign the servant had asked from God - she even offered water for his camels!

The servant told Rebecca and her family why he was there and they all thought that she should meet the suitor - even Rebecca agreed! They later got married...

What was the suitor's name? Hint: The story is in Genesis Chapter 24.

I __ A __ __
 

Answers next page!
 
 

Being on Time

Why are so many people late every Sunday morning? Our service starts at 11 o'clock - not ten minutes past or half past or even five to twelve. Would you be late if you were going to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen? So why are you late to meet the King of Kings?

A concerned contributor
 
 

Littlehampton 2002

On Saturday 17th August 2002, 3rd Tottenham and 1st Chelsea girls set off to camp. Also with us were Joan and Tracy Stokes. After the previous week's rain, I did wonder what sort of weather we would be getting for the week, but I did not worry as always the Lord had smiled upon us and blessed us with sunshine - although we did have 10 ins. of rain one afternoon. Janette Whitened arrived on Monday (on crutches), and took our worship time, the theme being WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). This set us up for each day, where we packed a very full week visiting Arundel Castle, Butlins, swimming, the caves and waterworld at Hastings, beach days, games, shopping and the BBQ. Not forgetting the highlight of the week: the fun fair on the end of Brighton Pier!

On the last afternoon we had a trip on a speedboat out of Littlehampton and across the bay. We also had some special visitors on Wednesday: Jed, 1st Chelsea Chaplain, and Malcolm and Marie. When Jed was asked if he played rounders and did he cheat, he replied: 'Of course not - I am a Minister!' The girls said, 'Well, Malcolm does!' and he was put onto Kelly's squad, while Jed was put onto Alison's squad... Janette umpired the match and Kelly's squad won (but I am not sure about the cheating).

The girls did have a wonderful time: the two Brigadiers/Squad leaders, Alison McGlynn and Kelly Plunkett, who worked very hard; Tony, mini-bus driver/chef for the week (one girl came home and told her mum Tony's cooking was better than hers!); Janette for taking worship; Joan and Tracy. The two best campers of the week were Emma Hall, 3rd Tottenham, and Katie Swain, 1st Chelsea. My thanks to those who kindly gave us donations in money and food supplies and for all the prayers received this week.

Belinda Plunkett
Captain

BUILDING ON A SURE FOUNDATION

The reasons for writing hymns are many and varied but surely there cannot be many like 'The Church's one foundation', which was written as the result of any argument! Although certain personalities were very much to the fore, it was not a personal argument, but a theological one. In the 1980's, the Bishop of Durham caused quite a stir in the Church of England when some clergy thought his views on Christ's resurrection didn't concur with some of the articles of the Creed. But back in 1863, Bishop John Colenso of Natal was deposed and excommunicated because of his unorthodox views on the doctrine of eternal punishment, and his suggestion that Moses might not have written the first five books of the Bible. In those days, South Africa must have seemed even further away than it does today, but when the news reached Britain it sparked off a tremendous row with some clergy calling Colenso a heretic, and others calling for his re-instatement.

One young curate, Samuel John Stone from Windsor, was outraged that a Bishop should question what he considered to be the fundamentals of Christian belief, and so he wrote a hymn on each of the twelve articles of the Creed defending the traditional view. The ninth article reads, 'I believe in the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints', and it is on this that 'The Church's one foundation' is based.

Of course, it's been chopped, changed and added to over the years, which we have come to expect, but it is a hymn often used on grand occasions, as the tune is one that lends itself to a procession, with its air of stateliness and dignity.

There is a story attached to the naming of the tune 'Aurelia'. It was composed by Samuel Sebastian Wesley at his home in Winchester for another hymn, 'Jerusalem the Golden', and when he'd finished it he rushed into the drawing room where Mrs Wesley was entertaining some guests, sat down at the piano and played it to the assembled company. His wife immediately christened it 'Aurelia' from the Latin for gold, and Dr Wesley was heard to exclaim, 'I think this will be popular'. And he was absolutely right!

Submitted by Vi Maddison (taken from 'More Hazel's Hymns')
 
 

Meeting Nicodemuses today

A young lady was sitting across from me on a train. By the way she looked at me, she seemed to want to start a conversation, to get to know me better perhaps. But there's no-one good in me except the Lord and His Spirit (John 19:17; 15:5). I sensed how the conversation might have turned. I reached into my bag as I was about to get off the train and, looking at her, left a leaflet about the Lord opposite her. I thought that this was the best way at the time I could introduce her to the man she really needed to meet and didn't know it.

Isn't this something any Christian could do?

Let's help each other to witness about the Lord and encourage each other by writing about any mission inspirations or thoughts, or by telling some of the witnessing you have done in your community or beyond on these pages. Please write or tell your witness stories or thoughts on evangelism to the Focus editor.
 
 

A Decalogue on Football May Help
From a letter to the Baptist Times

About why football is regarded by certain Christians as 'so good':

1. As with the apostles, football is played by a team of eleven men.

2. The Apostle Paul sets an example by striving for the goal (Phil 3:14).

3. Paul is content whether he is home or away (2 Cor 5:6).

4. The performance of the England team in the World Cup is best understood in the light of Romans 7:15, 'I do not understand what l do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what l hate that I do'.

5. Concerning the offside rule, 'I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited' (Romans 11:25).

6. Concerning managers, in 1 Timothy 3:4, Paul gives some advice about an overseer in the Church, 'He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect' and 'must also have a good reputation with outsiders'.

7. Concerning penalties, 'A hot-tempered man will have to pay the penalty, if you rescue him you will have to pay it again' (Proverbs19: 19), and again, 'Penalties are prepared for mockers' (Proverbs 19:29).

8. Concerning the throw-in, it is used as a metaphor in a threat, 'Pick you up like a ball and throw you into a much larger country' (Isaiah 22:18).

9. Concerning transfer fees, 'You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body' (1 Cor 6:19-20).

10. Concerning the one player who holds the team together and is the oldest, 'The Lord is my keeper' (Psalm 121:5).

Submitted by Jim McGlynn

By Revd V.R. Sumner, Ferring, Worthing, W Sussex
 
 

Bible Society is saying a big 25th anniversary thank you to the 15,000 members of Bible-a-Month-Club. Club members from all denominational backgrounds helped raise an amazing £15 million since it began. Thanks to the Club's supporters, men, women and children all over the world who did not have a Bible now do. In return for a regular gift, Club members receive prayer cards and other information about the countries and the Bible projects the Club works.

When the Club began in 1977, the first project was to provide paper to Christians in Romania, then still under Communism, for the printing of 150,000 New Testaments. Now there is a Bible Society in Romania, as well as Societies in many of the other former Communist countries. Club Coordinator Nick Bridges says: 'Projects this year include some in Romania, Belarus and Moldova and it's a timely reminder that, with the collapse of Communism, many of the restrictions on Bible work have been lifted. Prayer has always been a special part of the Club. We'd like to thank all our members for their faithfulness in giving time, money and prayers to this work.'

Another featured project in 2002 is the Bangladesh Bible Society literacy programme, helping people to read and write - while improving their Bible knowledge - in more than 100 churches of seven denominations. Mrs Nondo Rani, aged 45, explains the programme's impact on her: "I lived in darkness and now have come out from it through this class by writing by own name, reading the Bible, listening and understanding the tapes and daily lessons from the literacy course."

To join Bible a Month Club, call Carol Nichol or Dan Leakey on 01793 418100, or look at www.biblesociety.org.uk/bamc
 
 

A captivating one-man show performed by veteran actor and broadcaster David Kossoff was a highlight of Bible Society's involvement at Greenbelt this year. The show took its place alongside a programme of storytelling performance, ceilidhs, biblical text telling, workshops, seminars and worship at The Telling Place - a partnership of Bible Society and the Northumbria Community.

The packed audience at Greenbelt warmly received the 80-minute performance of As according to Kossoff. It combined Mr Kossoff's personal storytelling journey with his celebrated retelling of Bible stories.

The storytelling team particularly wanted to invite Greenbelters to play an active part in some sessions, sharing their own stories and storytelling. Chris Stacey, a 31-year-old computer consultant from Swindon, relates: 'At one point someone told a story to convey the story of the Prodigal Son using sign and body language and that was striking I found myself excited by having things which in the written word I understood to one extent suddenly coming alive in a whole new way'.

The storytelling initiative is just another way Bible Society is developing creative, credible ways of making Bible heard.

I'm afraid I have only one item of news to pass on this time...

Those of our older readers who remember NANCY RAY (née JOHNSON) will be saddened to hear of her recent death. Having spent the last year or two in hospital and nursing and residential homes in Walton-on-the-Maze, Clacton and Colchester after suffering strokes, Nance is now in the presence of her Lord. She was an active worker in our church until she left the Tottenham area, living for many years in Clacton and, later, Walton. Although she was still busy working in her local churches, she retained a lively interest in Tottenham Baptist.

Her sister NORA was surprised by - and very much appreciated - the presence at the funeral service of three other former TBC members who also now live in that part of the world: EDNA BENTLEY (née WILSHER), FLORRIE WATKINS (née HUMBERSTONE) and MABEL HUGHES (née TURZIG). What is it about East Anglia that attracts 'Old Tottonians'?

Please remember Nancy's family in your prayers.

Lena Starling