Latest News & Prayer Points – Jan 2020

“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”

In Edinburgh we will gather on Monday 3 February 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.

·         Discussions have been progressing regarding the final account for the phase 1 restoration of the church. We do not have the final numbers available but are nearly there! Please pray that this would be resolved in a fair and honouring manner for SCC and the contractor.

·         Phase 2 – Interior of the church: The way it is looking we will not have enough money to complete the interior fitting out of the church. The additional costs associated with the first phase eg new roof, new kitchen and toilets, etc, has reduced the money available. We are now discussing the best way forward. One of the options is to carry out the work in the same way we did the Dundarroch Cottage restoration. This would mean using a mixture of volunteers and local tradespeople and publishing a list of materials needed with costs so that our Friends of Sannox and others can give a donation associated with specific building materials. Please pray for us as we decide the way forward. It is still our intention, at this point, to have an Easter celebration no matter where we are with the interior restoration!

·         We will be sending out a separate note on this in the near future.

·         Please continue to pray for an increase in monthly giving to cover the loan repayments of £1100.00 per month.

·         One way to increase our giving is through more people staying at SCC. Please continue to spread the word and encourage more people to come to SCC.

REMINDER

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 has sent out details for the day that begins at 10 am and end at 4 pm in the Lighthouse Church, Troon. We have had a few hosts and new people booking but would like more! Please come and contact Heidi at admin@sannox.org. We want lots of new hosts and as many current hosts as possible to attend. It will be a time of celebration, thanksgiving and information. The event last year was a great day.

The holiday club is being organized by SU in partnership with Lamlash Church of Scotland. At the suggestion of the local church, SCC approached SU to ask if they needed any help as we would like to be involved. This fits with our desire to look for ways of serving the local communities on the island. The organizer responded enthusiastically and is delighted that we are willing to help. So, this is a plea for people to come and be part of the Holiday Club on behalf of SCC, working with SU and the local church. The theme is “Wonder Zone” with 5 daily themes:

·         We have a great world to wonder about

·         An amazing God who created the world

·         Jesus the light of the world

·         We are created and special

·         We are not robots and have a choice to make

Please consider helping, it would be great to send a team from SCC. If you can help email Heidi at admin@sannox.org and she will liaise with George with respect to the organizing.

The programme will depend on the completion of the church interior, so we are keeping this under review until we know the building schedule. Please keep this in your diary, plan to come to the event and bring others. We will confirm details soon.

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, details will follow – note the date.

Advance Notice

Andy Hall will lead 5 Bible studies from the book of Ephesians on the Holy Spirit. More details to follow but if you want to reserve a place on the weekend and accommodation in Dundarroch Cottage then email Heidi at admin@sannox.org

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. The ACT Management Team are meeting on the 14 February 2020 to consider our application, so please pray for that meeting. 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.

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. You are our ambassadors. We want to strengthen links with other organisations, such as SU and Pray for Scotland and the Holiday Club, mentioned above, is a great way of doing that. 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 at admin@sannox.org.

·         We also need someone to look after our social media plans and policies. If you can help, or know someone who can help, please email Heidi at admin@sannox.org.

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.