Latest News & Prayer Points – Dec 2019

“Today I choose to stand in this place you have called me to,
And I declare that You are a Mighty God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
Your Kingdom shall endure and will never be shaken.
Open the windows of Heaven and pour out Your promised blessings in this generation.
Revive us, restore us and heal our land.
Thank you for going before us to open the way and remove all obstacles.
Increase our Faith, stir up Hope and keep us grounded and walking in Love.
Thank you that You are creating a dwelling place for God and man here; in Sannox, on Arran, for the nations.
Amen”

May we take this opportunity of thanking you for your support and prayers in 2019 and in the name of the Lord Jesus we bless you, your families and the people you come in contact with for 2020. May it be a year of breakthrough for you and for the Kingdom. As we begin a new year, our 8th year of operation, may we walk together, following the footsteps of the Father and seeing His Will unfold at Sannox Christian Centre (SCC) for Arran, Scotland and the nations.

Prayer points:

In Edinburgh we will gather on Monday 6 January 2020 at the home of George and Fiona Hazel starting at 8 pm prompt. We will be joined by folks on Arran and across the UK and abroad. Join with us in prayer and thanksgiving for what God is doing at SCC.

Stewardship Loan

Our prayer was to have the loan funds in our account by Christmas but this was looking unlikely due to on-going legal issues. However, breakthrough happened on the 18 December, final papers were signed on the 19th December and the funds arrived in our account on the 23rd December. An amazing Christmas present! The Contractor has been paid for his work on phase 1 and discussions are on-going with respect to the pricing of phase 2. Our prayer is that we will have enough money to complete the interior of the church for Easter 2020. Please pray for these discussions between Stuart, our Quantity Surveyor and the Contractor; time and money are tight for an Easter completion.

·         Having secured the Stewardship loan we are now committed to the repayment of £1100.00 per month. Our monthly giving has increased by around £200.00 for which we give thanks. Please continue to pray for increased monthly giving to cover the monthly cost of the loan. ​                    ​​

·         One way to increase our giving is through more people staying at SCC. The yearly bed nights are increasing – 199 in 2017, 309 in 2018 and 336 in 2019. Give thanks for this increase and pray for more people to come. You know that we operate on a donations policy so that finance should never be an issue for anyone wanting to come to SCC. The Directors keep this under review and so it is interesting to note that in 2019 the average donation per bed night was £33.00. Our suggested donation per person per night is currently £30.00.

Note change of date

We are so blessed by the hosts we have and want to thank and honour them and build on their foundation. So, we are holding another Hosting Open Day. This is for existing hosts to come and give us feedback, to pass on their experiences and expertise and for those who are interested in hosting. Our aim is to have hosts on site all year round, so please come to the event, share your experience and learn more about hosting. Heidi, is sending out details for the day soon but it will begin at 10 am and end at 4 pm in the Lighthouse Church, Troon. Please come, respond to Heidi at admin@sannox.org and put the date in your diary. We want as many current hosts as possible to attend to listen to their experiences and lots of new hosts. It will be a time of celebration, thanksgiving and information. The event last year was a great day.

The programme will depend on the completion of the church interior, so we are keeping this under review until we hear from the contractor. Please keep this in your diary, plan to come to the event and bring others. We will confirm details next month.

·         Theme – “Celtic Treasures – Light from the past to inspire and illumine our lives today”

·         Dates – Monday 29 June to Thursday 2 July 2020

·         Content – Roy Searle, of the Northumbria Community and an advisor to SCC, will explore the riches to be found in the stories of the Celtic Saints and their relevance to life and faith today. The retreat will run from mid-afternoon on Monday through to after lunch on Thursday. A monastic rhythm of prayer will frame each day with Daily Offices, teaching sessions and lots of time to relax, reflect and enjoy the beauty of the Isle of Arran and the Sannox Christian Centre.

·         Costs – Details will follow shortly.

·         Accommodation – The retreat is open to all but if you need accommodation places are limited at the centre so book soon. This time of year is very busy on the island therefore our recommendation is to either book places at the centre or book B&B on the island as soon as you can. Also book the ferry early as that gets very busy. The local tourist office can help with accommodation.

The AGM begins around lunchtime but details will follow –note the date.

At our last Directors’ Meeting on 21 December 2019, we discussed future events at SCC in 2020:

·         As the local community base grows we believe SCC should be working with the local community and offering events for the island, especially in winter. A number of ideas were discussed and we are praying about these before deciding what to offer. As part of this thinking we have asked to join Arran Churches Together, not as a church but as a Christian organization on the island. This would enable us to offer events under the banner of ACT. We are already working with one of the church leaders discussing a retreat for ladies from the island. Please pray for us as we think on these things.

·         Alpha weekends, hosted by SCC or self-hosted.

·         Christian leaders and workers retreats, offered 3 or 4 times a year as mid-week events. We have been approached by a couple of Christian organisations interested in these retreats.

·         “Blessing Weeks” – teaching on blessing, as this is part of SCC values – we are still discussing this.

·         Weekend events of worship, rest and restoration.

We continue to spend time with those on Arran who are committed to SCC. God is building community on the island. There are two existing prayer gatherings that we are linking into. Pray for the local Christian community as they grow together and build His Kingdom on Arran. If we are able to join Arran Churches Together this will also help build links with the community. The work that Barbara is developing with CAP and other community services and work in the creative arts through Arran Open Studios, the local Art and Mind Group and creative writing are also part of our plans. We are supporting the food bank. Pray that our relationship with local churches and the community grows and strengthens in 2020 and that we develop events to God’s plan and timing, leaving space for Him to work.

As mentioned above, more people are hearing about SCC and coming to stay. Please continue to spread the word about SCC to your networks and friends. It is so encouraging to see new Friends of Sannox signing up to our network. Just before Christmas we got a letter from a minister in Stoke-on-Trent wanting to join as a Friend of Sannox. You are our ambassadors. We want to strengthen links with other organisations, such as SU and Pray for Scotland. We are also keen to forge links with churches, so if you are interested in a link with SCC and/or want one of the team to come to your church to tell the story of Sannox, then please email Heidi on admin@sannox.org.

Our IT Group is doing fantastic work in the background on our cloud storage, web site, emails, Friends of Sannox database and GDPR, making sure our systems are fit for purpose. Give thanks to God for them – they are a God given asset. Regarding the web site, we have had some spam intrusions which our IT advisor has been working on. We think we have solved the problem but please keep going to our web site to check it and give us feedback on what works and what doesn’t. We have also added testimonials to the web site and are looking at adding comments received from guests to a comments/reviews page. If you would like to add a testimonial/comment or know someone who would like to do this, contact Heidi on admin@sannox.org .

The Directors have agreed to revise our giving by discontinuing the Storehouse Fund and merging it into the General Fund. Our giving programme remains the same and our policy of blessing through giving also remains the same. However, there was confusion about the Storehouse Fund so we are simplifying the process. Those who currently give to the Storehouse Fund will be getting an email about this and any action to take. In the future all giving will go into the General Fund.

We bless you, in the name of Jesus, to receive all that the Father has for you and thank you for your continuing support of His work at SCC. May we see more and more people being rested, restored and revived at Sannox in 2020.