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May 2012

Something Specials Going On

- at Kings Park Baptist

Kings Park Baptist Church, Glasgow, on a Thursday night, is a hub of activity. Alan Donaldson and I recently had the privilege of visiting them and were so encouraged by what we saw that we wanted to share it with you! If you were to walk past Kings Park Baptist between 7:00-8:30pm youd be forgiven for thinking that the local youths have overrun it! In the main sanctuary a kids club runs with a traditional mix of games, worksheets, tuck shop and God Slot. All the children have a brilliant time. The leaders, including the minister, John Hodgkins, all have different roles, from running the tuck shop to getting down on the floor with the children as they do the worksheets (the only time it is quiet!), and it is evident that good relationships are being formed. God is clearly at work. The God Slot gives opportunity to share the message that Jesus loves them, as young leaders creatively communicate using puppets while the kids sit enthralled. Moving through to the back room the scene is chaotic, but its organised chaos. Liz, the churchs part-time youth worker, is to be found in the middle of a group of teenagers from the local areas, laughing and chatting away. It is obvious that she has a special bond with the group, with her love and passion for them shining through. As the programme starts, the young

people are soon caught up in games and quizzes. There is a prayer wall, to which their attention is drawn, times of sharing and, later in the evening, a time for people to worship, which for some of the young people is still a very new thing. Liz has spent time developing some young leaders within the church and they too lead many things from the front, at times dealing with potentially difficult issues with ease. They have a growing passion for the young people in the area, and I couldnt help but see the leadership potential in them, and the missional lifestyle that is being developed. At around 8:30pm the youth band arrives to practice, and others get ready to take to the streets. A team from the church, including some of those who have already been involved in the clubs, get ready to go out into the local Holmbyre Estate armed with cars full of food. The team have been working with Teen Challenge, though without a bus on the night we visited. They simply arrive in cars, open their boots up and work from a planned location. The compassion the team have for each person they encounter is deeply moving. While some stay with the cars, talking with people feeding and praying for them in the street, others pay home visits to people with whom they are

building relationships. Encouragingly, there are plans to develop this work further. What happens on a Thursday links into what happens in a monthly contemporary evening service they hold, helping them develop inter-connected relationships. It was a blessing to be with the church and see how they were actively seeking to be intentionally relational, unashamedly missional and creatively rooted

in the community. Something special was taking place, hard to express in words, but clearly visible. As a Baptist Union of Scotland family we are able to support this by giving them a grant to help develop the work in which they are involved. Please pray for them as they engage with their community, and be encouraged by what is going on this area of our nation through your support. Mo Gibbs

The Forfar Files ...

The House in Buckie We were praying this past month for Stephen and Julie to sell their house in Buckie, they are having many more folks round for viewings but have not yet received any formal offers. Thats progress, but lets continue to pray for that one person, couple or family for whom its the right purchase, that an offer will be made soon. Community Involvement Meantime the family is settling well into Forfar life, Matthew at school and Nathan with his own activities... toddlers group with Julie is one of them and Stephen is helping out one day a week in The British Heart Foundation shop as a means of serving and getting to know the community. Steering Group The first meeting of the Steering Group takes place Friday 27th at 10.30am, please pray for wisdom.

Julie and Stephen Oyarzabal

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Published by the Baptist Union of Scotland, 48 Speirs Wharf, Glasgow, G4 9TH, admin@scottishbaptist.org.uk. Charity Registration No:SC004960

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May 2012

Leven Church Team Bound for Lebanon

with Hadaths childrens workers to provide a childrens club for the local community. It is exciting to think that the Baptist Union of Scotlands kids programme Deep Sea Discovery is right now being translated into Arabic so that they can teach children in Beirut about Jesus. This is an exciting opportunity for the team and the church family at Leven and they are busy raising funds to help send the team to Lebanon arranging cookery
The Team at the Ready!

evenings, quizzes and even zumbathons! Theyve even painted parts of the church in training for the building at Hadath. The team are also fascinated by the prospect of learning from brothers and sisters in Beirut as they minister to their local community of many different faiths. They hope to come back with more insight into mission in a different culture and with much that can bless our Cid Latty, of own Scottish Cafe Church environment.

Hadath Baptist Church and artists impression of it after renovation

Leven Baptist is the only Scottish church to be sending a team overseas with BMS in 2012. The team of eight from the Fife church will be heading to Beirut in July for two weeks to work alongside the members at Hadath Baptist Church (HBC), and Arthur and Louise Brown, BMS missionaries who have been in Lebanon since 2005. HBC describes itself as a church working towards becoming a church of the community. It is a

church that desires to address the real needs of those around them and wants to provide multiple entry-points into the faith community of HBC. Having undertaken a community survey, HBC wants to adapt their building to make it fit for purpose to serve the needs of their local community. The Leven team will, therefore, be involved in general labouring, plastering and painting on this ambitious project. The team will also be working

Creating Prayer Spaces in Schools

Rev Stephen Hibbard shares the experiences of Sheddocksley Baptist Church, Aberdeen.
which reminds them of how special they are in the eyes of God. There are spaces where they can reflect and let go of worries by dropping a stone into water or they can write their sins in the sand, say sorry, then rub them out. One of the spaces focuses on global poverty and some of the schools have supported our own project in India by sponsoring a child and have given donations. Teachers were surprised by the openness of the students and also the depth of the issues that many of them are dealing with in their day to day lives. I thought it was useful as it helped me get a lot of things out that were bottled up inside.
S5 Pupil

An example from the Prayer Spaces in Schools website of a classroom set up with prayer spaces

Over the last few years we have built relationships of trust and support with a number of local schools. We have now completed a week of Prayer Spaces in Northfield & Hazlehead Secondaries and in Quarryhill and Kingsford Primary Schools - with plans to visit Fernilea in May. A whole classroom is transformed into a creative space and, over the week, the pupils themselves add to its life by their prayers and art work. This concept is catching on across the country and is being well

received as it fits so well into the new Curriculum for Excellence. Simon Dennis, our Assistant Pastor, and Anna Riach, our Children & Family Worker, have been key in opening the doors to these schools. It has amazed me how receptive the students have been to engage with the Prayer Spaces. They can connect at their own level and in their own way, either emotionally or spiritually. The Spaces vary from a simple Prayer Wall, where requests can be written, to looking in a mirror and listening to an MP3 player

asked for a permanent space and we are continuing to develop our links by discussing a possible mentoring scheme. All of the schools were keen to repeat the venture and it may become part of their annual programme. I sense we have an emerging generation that are more of a blank page waiting to be written on and, as we give them an introduction to spiritual expression, they are open to engaging with God and are grasping the relevance of faith to everyday life.This gives me great hope for the future.
Stephen Hibbard, Senior Pastor, Sheddocksley Baptist Church.
A new way of talking to God

It gave everyone the chance to voice their opinion and ask questions that were on their mind.
S5 Pupil

It gave me a feeling of being at peace for once in my life.

S5 Pupil

One of the schools started a weekly Scripture Union group as a result of Prayer Spaces, another has

Published by the Baptist Union of Scotland, 48 Speirs Wharf, Glasgow, G4 9TH, admin@scottishbaptist.org.uk. Charity Registration No:SC004960

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May 2012

Notice Board
Baptist Reading Group 2012
On Friday, 1st June, at 7pm for 7.15pm, the Group will be holding their launch evening, to pick a few books to read over the Summer.. This evening get-together will be in the home of Dorothy McQuaker, at 107 Alloway Drive, Kirkintilloch, G66 2RL. (Easily accessible from M8, M9 M80 A803.) We normally choose 3 or 4 books and have email Dave Bookless summer and meet on a discussions over the Saturday in eary September for a 'feedback' day. Further info from George Petrie 01506 856271 geopetrie@yahoo.co.uk

The Aberdeen Passion 2012

Pulpit Swap
Pastor David B. Freeman, of Weatherly Heights Baptist Church, AL, USA, 256-881-6882 www.weatherly.org, would like to do a pulpit swap with a Scottish Baptist minister in the summer of 2013. Please contact him direct if you are interested.

Masterlife Request
Selkirk Baptist Church is looking for an up-todate version of the Masterlife Discipleship Course. If anywone can help, please reply to Iain Harris on iain.harris@aol.co.uk or at 01750 21787.

URGENT APPEAL Sports Day Helpers Needed

Sports Day is an amazing time when churches from all over Scotland gather together for a day of fun activity. It is only able to run through the help of brilliant volunteers. Could YOU be one of those volunteers? Below are some of the types of jobs you could get involved with: Timing swimming lanes Helping at the long jump or the high jump Refereeing or umpiring events like netball, football and badminton We desperately need more volunteers so, if you or someone from your church would be able to help, please get in touch with me. You need to be free to be at Stirling University on Saturday 2nd June between 11am-5pm, or 6pm if you want to stay for the awards ceremony. You can contact me at the Baptist Union of Scotland offic on 0141 433 4554 or email mo@scottishbaptist.org.uk

short space of time the set had to be installed, The 6th and 7th April 2012 saw the first the lighting rig, all the sound equipment, band Aberdeen Passion at Aberdeen Exhibition and An appreciative client!choir set up. There was only time for one and Conference Centre (AECC). It was the dress rehearsal on the Friday afternoon before culmination of over a years work and the the first performance on the Friday night. By contribution of more than 150 people. The this time the first 2 performances were sold out script was written by Bridge of Don Baptist the Aberdeen Passion had finally caught the Church member Andrew Sykes in December 2010. He was joined by fellow BODBC members attention of the North-East. Several articles in local press featuring superb photographs by Frazer Ramsay and Alan Campbell, who formed Graham Dargie from Kings Community Church the Steering Group to co-ordinate the whole in Aberdeen, helped raise the profile. process. As they investigated passion plays in And so over 3 performances, the truth of the other cities and discovered that there had not been one in Aberdeen in living memory, they felt Easter story was seen by nearly 2200 people led to be more ambitious by holding the event God moved powerfully to move and touch many there and the results are still being seen now. in a large local venue (800-seat capacity) and So what next? There is a strong feeling that the calling it the Aberdeen Passion. As often Aberdeen Passion 2012 should not be the last! happens, Gods plans are bigger than ours! The process then began of finding a cast of over 40 to fill all the roles and putting together a live Scottish Baptist College band and choir modern songs by the likes of Take That and Snow Patrol were used with the Thanksgiving Service lyrics re-written to fit in with the story. Key people were identified to take on vital roles To mark the end of this academic year, the such as band leader, choir leader, stage students have organised a Thanksgiving manager and sound engineer. It was also Service, to take place at 7.30pm on Tuesday decided to employ the services of a professional 1st May at Central Baptist Church, Paisley. lighting specialist. A budget was also We look forward to seeing many familar faces established and a treasurer appointed. It was from the churches, who have been so clear that this should not and could not be supportive and welcoming towards students purely a BODBC event, but rather should and staff. The College could not exist without attempt to draw people from as many churches your involvement! This year's speaker is as possible across all denominations, so recent graduate, Rev. Mo Gibbs, and there will contact was made with over 200 churches also be time to chat with her, students and across the North-East of Scotland. staff over a tea or coffee after the service. It was difficult to get the word out to the The College is currently taking applications Christian community about the Passion for the fresh, newly-validated courses starting because this was a new venture. Cast roles this September. Do you know of any potential were still being filled a month before the students who could be encouraged to join you performances and churches were visited to for this evening? An informal glimpse into the spread the word right up to the last minute. In life of the College may just help someone reach addition, tickets had been on sale since the a decision to explore study options. start of November 2011 ticket sales were very Thank you, again, for your support. slow at first and only picked up real momentum With warmest regards, in the last month. Isabella Stevenson But then the planning and preparation was over, Scottish Baptist College and everything was moved to the AECC. In a very

PLEASE NOTE: The events advertised in our publications or on our website cover the wider Christian scene in Scotland and do not necessarily reflect the involvement or endorsement of Baptist Union staff or any specific knowledge about content.
Published by the Baptist Union of Scotland, 48 Speirs Wharf, Glasgow, G4 9TH, admin@scottishbaptist.org.uk. Charity Registration No:SC004960

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May 2012

Prayer Link for May

Sunday 6th
Rev Graham Bell, Chaplain, Glenochil Prison. As well as his work at the prison, Graham also co-pastors, along with Rev Mo Gibbs, St Ninians Community Church, Stirling. Please pray for him with this challenging workload. Rev Nick Blair, Chaplain, Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. Im now drawing towards the end of a very busy term during which there have been some encouragements. 110 boys and staff signed up for a Lent Challenge, reading a portion of Mark's gospel every day through Lent. They got an e-mail every day with a word of explanation, some thoughts and a prayer. Numbers at our SU group remain strong. Many staff are very sympathetic to faith and supportive too. Pray for the ability to remain fresh and juggle a full-time teaching role with Chaplaincy (and, of course, being a husband, and a Dad to three!) I also have a role as Officiating Chaplain to the Military with the 3rd Rifles for a couple of hours a week. They are being deployed in Afghanistan until October so prayer will be especially appreciated. urgent prayer requests would be:Pray that the Lord will clearly guide us to the place where He would have us serve in Christs name. Pray that the Lord will provide the building from which He would have us serve. Pray that the Pastor, deacons, members and friends will come together to earnestly seek the Lords will with regards to the future for our church. Pray that in the Lords grace we may be privileged to see souls saved in Greenock and added to the church. Hamilton: Rev Derek Hutchinson. Join with us as we give thanks to our Father in heaven for a real sense of moving out and moving forward as a church family. From this month, May, we will be off-site from our Church building for at least four months. Refurbishments, which have been long planned for and prayed for, are now taking place in our Kemp Street premises. This has given us opportunity to develop new relationships within our own congregation and forge new links with our immediate sister churches at Motherwell and Larkhall. Pray that we will experience fresh new vision of our calling to be salt and light in Hamilton and beyond. Pray for our Associate Pastor, Graham Shearer, as he and Sarah and family move to Musselburgh later in the summer. We will greatly miss them. Give thanks that, under their care, we have been provided with a growing network of young men and women with a sincere desire to live for God. Please pray that the vacuum left will not only be filled but will be filled to overflowing with even more vigorous growth. In this vein we give thanks for recent baptisms and conversions. Pray for the continuing growth of our church leadership team, and the church family as a whole, particularly as we seek to re-vitalise team ministry throughout the church. Pray also for an outreach week to be held in August based at our Exodus premises in Hamilton.

Engagement Diary for May

1 The Scottish Baptist College Thanksgiving Service takes place this evening. Pray for Rev Mo Gibbs, who is guest speaker. 2 Alan Donaldson attends a Scottish Bible Society reception in Parliament today. Today is the deadline for entering this years SPORTS DAY. Pray for Mo Gibbs and the group tasked with drawing up heats, etc, from the information in these forms. 4 Jacqueline Primrose and Mo Gibbs attend the Baptist Union of Great Britain Assembly. Alan Donaldson attends the National Church Leaders meeting. 6 Judy White is with the church in Pitlochry today, whilst Jim Purves preaches in Partick Baptist Church. 8 The DNA group meets this morning. 9 Alan Donaldson, Jacqueline Primrose and Jim Purves attend the two-day meeting of the Fellowship of Baptists in Britain and Ireland. 10 Mo Gibbs and the Sports Day Task Group meet this evening. 12 The Scottish Baptist Lay Preachers Association has its conference today, at which Alan Donaldson will speak. 13 Alan Donaldson preaches at Granton Baptists Anniversary Service. 15 The Accreditation Conference takes place today. 17 The National Team meets for a Strategy Day. 18 John Greenshields pays a weekend visit to the church on Tiree. 19 Alan Donaldson is with the Wick church for its Anniversary Weekend. The Scottish Baptist Womens Fellowship Thanksgiving Day takes place at Wishaw Baptist Church. Pray for SBWF President, Andrea Voysey, and all those taking part or attending. 20 Jim Purves preaches at Denny Baptists Anniversary services. 22 The two-day Residential Council begins at Gartmore House. 24 The National Team meets today. 27 Alan Donaldson preaches at the Anniversary Services of Boness Baptist Church. 28 John Greenshields attends the two-day National Settlement Team meetings in Didcot. 29 The Unions trustees meet today. 31 Mo Gibbs attends a Serve Your Local School meeting today. Other prayer requests outwith the Prayer Link, but from our Scottish Baptist family, can be found on our websites new Fellowship of Prayer page at http://www.scottishbaptist.org.uk/content/ fellowship-prayer If you'd like to submit an item for prayer, please send it to admin@scottishbaptist.org.uk

Sunday 13th
Granton, Edinburgh: Revs Ian Dickie and Garry Ketchen. We are encouraged by our work with the local community around us as we seek to be a Church for the community. We have made great strides in connecting with our community and building relationships through events, our internet cafe and our ever growing work with the children in the area. Our prayer focus has been and is that we see fruit coming from these relationships in conversions and the building up of His church. Please pray with us. Pray for us also as we seek to connect with a new housing development being built on our doorstep. Grantown on Spey: Rev. Rick Moeller. Pastor Moeller is now into a second year of ministry here and God continues to bless the church and its people. Praise God for:two recent baptisms and new members during the past year. answered prayer regarding the health of members of our congregation. financial blessings. Please pray for: the wife and family of the minister.. the weekly 'Road to recovery' meeting. our ability to take God's word into the local community.

Sunday 27th
Harestanes, Kirkintilloch: Please pray for the church and its pastor, Rev David Vogan. Hawick Baptist: Bob Baxter, Interim Pastor (part time), Mike Mcleister, Community Pastor (part time) Thank God for the way our outreach work continues to grow. Pray for the work of our recently appointed P/T Comunity Pastor who sees so many opportunities, open doors to school etc., and does not have the time to follow them all up. Pray that in the right time God will guide us to the right man or woman to take over as pastor of our church. Pray too for the students from the Scottish Baptist College who are filling our pulpit at the moment and for us as we prepare to take 16 children and young people for a weekend to Spree in the Borders.

Sunday 20th
Greenock: Rev Paul Coventry. Greenock Baptist Church is very much in a state of evolution, earnestly seeking the Lords will for our future. As a result, I believe that our most

Published by the Baptist Union of Scotland, 48 Speirs Wharf, Glasgow, G4 9TH, admin@scottishbaptist.org.uk. Charity Registration No:SC004960