All taped up!

We have had a very busy week getting our boxes filled up with all kinds of things.  They are now in transit to Gallup, New Mexico where we will be reunited at the end of August!

We were only able to pack two of the Notebooks in the shipment as there is a restriction as they have lithium batteries and so we will have to separate them and send them two by two (well at least that is biblical!)

Other than that a whole load of tea bags and biscuits for our 'tea and a chat' stall at the fleamarket have been shipped along with children's games, drama props and other give aways (and our mission teapot!)

Please pray that it all arrives safely and swiftly with no breakages.

10 Bridges Sponsored Walk - Friday 7th June

Thank you to everyone who sponsored the 10 Bridges Sponsored Walk in support of our mission this year.  We were blessed with a sunny evening and left church at 6.00pm and headed up to the city.  

The team (plus Jane and Graham Stanford (Alice's brother and sister-in-law) and Elliemae Hammond) were dropped off at Lambeth Bridge to begin their walk east along the river and crossing ten bridges, going north and south with the final one being Tower Bridge.

The team did the walk in record time and so we were able to stop off for a leisurely coffee before Tower Bridge and when we got to the bridge we had a rare sighting of the bridge being lifted to let a vessel through!


We headed back to Thundersley and were back at the church by midnight.  


Our next fundraiser will be a Quiz Night at TCC on Wednesday 26th June at 7.30pm - tickets available from church office on 01268 754731 or email office@thebeacon.org

God's Provision and Answered Prayer!

On Thursday 25th April, Trev Coates, Steve Hammond and I got together to pray about the forthcoming Beacon Mission to the Navajo.  I can remember that we specifically prayed that God would provide everything that we needed for th

e Mission so that we would really be able to bless the folks we would be ministering to.

The following day Sue and I took an assembly in Abacus Primary School in Wickford on the theme of sharing. During the assembly we mentioned the mission and that we were hoping to be visiting some Navajo schools.

At the end of the assembly we were approached by one of the teachers who asked if we would be interested in taking some notebooks to Navajo as the school wanted to donate them to a worthy cause. In my naivety I thought she was talking about small paper notepads.  As we were walking along the corridor to collect them the teacher mentioned that all the notebooks had been “cleared down, checked and were in full working order.”  I was confused, why would paper notepads have to be cleared down, checked and in full working order.

It was then I was shown a box of 35 Asus Notebook Computers  - all complete with power leads,  operating disks and manuals. Most were still in their protective cases!  I have to admit I was completely overwhelmed and close to tears.  Each of these computers is worth between £150 — £200. 

This is what was being offered to us completely free of charge!

We are so grateful to the school for this amazingly generous gift.

The icing on the cake came when I discovered that we don’t even have to buy plug adaptors for these machines — all of the power leads supplied came fitted with multi-pin adaptors that means they can be used in the USA straight away.

Folks, thank God for his amazing goodness and provision. He thinks of absolutely everything!
 
Chris Govus

New Team Member and other news!

Steve Hammond has joined the team replacing Sylv Winch (who sadly has had to drop out of the team this time around).

We are holding a Curry Night Fundraiser at the Tandoori Parlour on Wednesday 13th March at 7.30pm.  Fundraising is going well but we have a way to go before we reach our targets.

Team shirts and hats have been ordered!  Flights are booked and paid for ... cars are booked and deposits have been paid ... team training is under way with a couple of new dramas in the pipeline and plans to dust off some of the old ones and tweak them.

And the whole team will be involved at all three services at TCC on Easter Day!  Keep us in your prayers.

The team:  Back row, L to R Margaret Larwood, Chris Govus, Sue Govus, Dave Pickett; Front row, L to R Richard Keeler, Colette Keeler, Mark Whitney, Chris Jenkins, Julie Whitney, Alice Pickett.

Team Training - Saturday 2nd February 2013

We took to the bitterly cold streets of Rayleigh to ask the question 'What is love?' and hand out heart shaped chocolates.  On our return we shared a meal of Navajo Tacos followed by Bread and Butter Pudding and then planned some more for our big 'Adventure with God'!

Flights are booked - we will be flying out of London Heathrow on Friday 23rd August and arriving at Pheonix, Arizona where we will pick up two big cars and head north east to Gallup, New Mexico. 

In the meantime we have got a lot of stuff to do including raising funds.  Coming up is an Indian Buffet Fundraiser at the Tandoori Parlour, Thundersley on Wednesday 13th March 2013 - tickets £12.00 from office@thebeacon.org and 10 Bridges Sponsored Walk on Friday 7th June 2013.

www.thebeacon.org

... introducing the team logo for our mission to New Mexico in 2013!

 Watch this space for news of our preparations for our big adventure with God and team preparations.