Victoria Baptist Hosts Weekly Prayer for Ukraine Every Thursday

Victoria Baptist Church has strong links with Hope Lebedyn,a church group in a small, poor town in Ukraine where the local church continues its outreach to the community, amidst this war. They serve local Christians and their families but also refugees from Russian bombardment, homes for the elderly and an orphanage. The young pastor is seeing about 200 coming to their Bible study, and many to services daily, yet they are not so far from the Russian border. God has so far made provision for them and whatever they receive in foodstuff or practical items, those are shared with others in need including the local hospital, and families of those serving in their defence.

However, Needs grow as others made homeless then arrive in the area. Because the children are not allowed by law to go to school, or go out without parental oversight because of land mines – sometimes put in toys,- the children are suffering increasingly with stress and anxiety; and so there is still a great need to pray for our brothers and sisters there.

The church in Lebedyn continues to minister to local people and holds youth camps for all ages and a teenage Bible study group. The folk there are hungry for the word of God, and are always seeking more Bibles for all ages, in their own language.
There are many needs for prayer in these times but If this concerns you, and God lays it on your heart, there is a regular prayer meeting at Victoria Baptist Church on Thursday evenings for one hour from 7.30 pm.

In addition there is the following call to pray tomorrow Wednesday 24th especially for Ukraine as Russia has promised another attack, and is getting support and arms from Iran to do that. See the following link.

https://www.worthynews.com/77391-evangelicals-called-for-prayer-for-end-of-war-in-ukraine-on-august-24

Living Out Course Comes To Eastbourne

Kings Church are pleased to be able to partner with Andrew Bunt and the Living Out team as we host the Living Out Course at the King’s Centre in Eastbourne. This should be an invaluable morning to help churches understand how to talk about sexuality in an honest, open and biblical way. We would encourage you to come along. Here’s an invitation from Andrew about the course:

I am a member of King’s Church Bexhill and also part of the team at Living Out (livingout.org), a UK charity that exists to help people, churches and society talk about faith and sexuality.  I’m getting in touch to invite you and your church to join us at an event we are running ‘The Living Out Course’ in Eastbourne on Saturday 15th October, 9.00am-1.00pm.

At the Living Out Course, we seek to show Christians the goodness of the Bible’s teaching on sexuality, we offer some insight into how to engage with the perspectives of our secular culture, and we share practical advice on how to love same-sex attracted people well and make our churches places where those of us who are same-sex attracted can flourish. We do this through teaching, discussion, Q&A and testimonies from the Living Out team. The main event is for all Christians, but we are hoping to run a short additional session specifically for church leaders after a brief break for lunch. You can find out more about the course here and book in to the course here.

How to Pray for Children – Short Course

How to Pray for Children                                                          2 – 3 September

Do you long to pray for children but don’t know how?

ABOUT THE COURSE

Whether you are a parent, a parent to be, work in children’s ministry or would just like to find out more. Discover how to pray in an effective and safe way that will bring God’s wholeness and healing into the precious lives of the children you care for.

Find out more: https://ellel.uk/courses/listing/ellel-glyndley-manor/september-2022/how-to-pray-for-children/

Christian Friends of Israel Invites You To Their Annual Conference

Christian Friends of Israel UK are holding their Annual Conference at Suncoast Church, Eastbourne, on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd September. It is free to attend and will take the usual format of four messages – one on Friday evening and three on Saturday.

The two guest speakers this year are: Jared Compton, assistant professor of Greek and New Testament Theology at Bethlehem College & Seminary, Minneapolis, USA; and Chris Sinkinson, lecturer on both the BA and MA courses at Moorlands College, Bournemouth.

Jared will present three of the four messages based on chapters 9 to 11 of the Letter to the Romans and Chris will present the other message based on his work in archaeology in Israel.

The conference is free to attend, with drinks provided during breaks but delegates need to bring their own packed lunch on Saturday.

The conference brochure can be found at:
https://www.cfi.org.uk/downloads/CFI_Annual_2022_Brochure_Web_v2.pdf

Crowhurst Healing Centre Invites You To Their Thanksgiving Service

You are warmly invited to our Thanksgiving Day on Saturday 3rd September. Thanksgiving Day is like an open day with an emphasis on thanking God for His constant presence and His abundant goodness to us.

Whether you decide to join us for the whole day or come and go as you wish we pray that you would experience the tangible presence of God during your time with us.

There is no charge and no need to book but if you would like to let us know you are coming or require some more information please contact us on 01424 830204 or enquiries@crowhursthealing.org.uk.

If you can’t be here in person the Thanksgiving Service at 11am will be broadcast live from our YouTube channel @CrowhurstChristianHealingCentre

Thank you!

Family Hubs and Your Community

News from Churchworks

As East Sussex is one of the 75 areas across England where the Government are launching family hubs, we would like to invite you to this online meeting in Sept.

Its a personal invitation to the Gather Movement and Churchworks Commission online Family Hubs webinar with Andrea King, Director of the National Centre for Family Hubs, on Thursday 22 September 10-11am.

The government-funded roll-out of Family Hubs will provide a ‘one-stop shop’ of important family support services across social care, education, mental health and physical health needs in each Local Authority, targeting especially the first 1,001 critical days of a child’s life and school readiness. The funding criteria specifically states that Family Hubs should involve local voluntary and faith groups. This provides us with a unique opportunity to engage.

This webinar is your opportunity to see how churches in your area can get involved to support families in your communities during these challenging times.

You will leave with a clear way forward about how to collaborate with other churches, how to start a conversation about Family Hubs with your Local Council’s Children’s Services Director, and the possibilities to co-design services in the new Family Hubs together with public services and the NHS.

You may also like to pass this invitation on to another church leader who might want to register for this event.  To register, simply reply to markcowling@gathermovement.org or go to Zoom and we will send you the zoom link for the webinar meeting.

We do hope you will be able to join us for this significant opportunity to see a united church play its part in serving our communities.

Eastbourne Community Land Trust Seeks Supporters

ECLT – Press Release for Eastbourne Churches

Eastbourne Community Land Trust (ECLT) reveals an excting new plan for affordable housing in Eastbourne. You could be a part of our first shared ownership scheme to build five Modular Construcion houses in Langney.

Already ECLT has raised three quarters of the £1 million+ with a combinaion of grants, donations and a mortgage offer. The Council have supplied the site for our five very low energy-cost houses, using airtight construction and super insulation.

Now we need your help to raise the rest of the money to complete the build in 2023. Any resident of Eastbourne could be eligible for one of these fantastic affordable new homes.

Other informa9on

Eastbourne Community Land Trust (ECLT), with the help of Eastbourne Borough Council, has exchanged contracts for the purchase of a redundant garage site in Biddenden Close, Langney, where we will build five affordable houses for joint ownership with local families.

The total cost of the project will be in excess of £1,000,000. We have received donations, grants and a mortgage offer, which covers three-quarters of the expected cost. Our task this summer and Autumn is to raise the rest of the money, so we can build three 3-bed and two 2-bed houses in early 2023.

The freehold of the houses will be held in perpetuity by ECLT, so when a family want to move on, their share of the property is bought back by ECLT and the house offered to another ECLT member on a new shared ownership contract. This means the houses will always be offered to ECLT members at affordable prices, relevant at the time contracts are agreed.

ECLT was established in 2018 by two Christians who share a passion for tackling the affordable housing crisis. We are a Community Benefit Society, recognised by HMRC as a non profit-making exempt charity, and will hold these houses in trust for people resident within, or with strong ties to Eastbourne; i.e key workers, other family members in the town etc. All our trustees have been working as unpaid volunteers for nearly four years to get where we are now.

We need your help to raise the rest of the money needed and to build the houses One of them could be for you or one of your family. Society Membership costs £1 and entitles you to be considered for a house.

The houses are modular construction, designed and built in Newhaven by Boutique Modern, who have just finished 12 flats in Langney Road for the Council. The houses are incredibly energy efficient, with a heat recovery system and heavily insulated. Even with the latest round of energy price rises this autumn, we expect that the average total fuel bill will only be one third of a conventional house. Construction times are very fast, with the house modules arriving on lorries and being craned into position, once the groundworks are completed

Eastbourne Community Land Trust is a non profit -making charity, creating affordable houses for people in Eastbourne; the freeholds being held by ECLT in perpetuity for the benefit of the community.