Latest News & Prayer Points – Mar 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”

·         Give thanks for our Friends who support us in so many ways. We bless you and pray for you in the name of Jesus.
·         Pray for united and extraordinary prayer across the church of Christ.
·         Stand against the clouds of fear threatening our land and declare that God is our Father Almighty, the God of Light and Hope. Pray for light and hope to flood across the world and our communities.
·         Consider lighting a Candle of Hope.
·         Give thanks for the release of resources to refurbish the interior of the church and pray for the final bit of finance to buy the oak flooring and the AV system to complete the church when we are able.
·         Pray for the day to day finances of SCC to cover our costs over the next few months.
·         Pray for wisdom as we discuss and plan for the future in the uncertainty.

Prayers for our Friends

We appreciate all of our Friends who support us in so many ways. We are praying for each of you by name through this difficult time. Please contact us if you would like us to pray for specific things at admin@sannox.org. These will be kept confidential.

Prayers of unity and Candles of Hope

Many of us have been sensing a heavy sense of fear affecting people across the land. People are seeing things that they thought were important disappear. The fragility of life has been brought home and people are resetting their lives and questioning their values and priorities.

In all of this, as we approach Easter, Christians stand in the light and hope of Jesus. There is sense of community and hope as we discover new means of communicating and serving. Pray for Scotland and 24/7 Prayer are both calling on Christians to stand against this cloud of fear and declare God’s hope and light through Jesus. There have been other prophetic words on the same theme.

It seems to us that God is calling for unity in His body, the church of Christ, so that He can release something new and with it His promise of blessing. We are being called to agree the Lord’s plans to turn this situation around and bring hope and light to the world. We are being called to stand against the plans of the enemy and pray that they will be de-railed. We agree that “This is not inevitable” – God can change things. So:

1.     Let’s pray together in unity that God will turn the situation from clouds of fear to light and hope. Agree that what we hear on the news about the future is not inevitable – we serve a loving God whose hand is outstretched to help and save.
2.     Some of us are continuing the practice of putting a Candle of Hope in our window each night from 7 pm. You may remember we were asked to do this for the National Day of Prayer on Mothering Sunday. This ties up with us praying together in unity – it is a visible sign of hope and light. We heard of one lady who is doing this and was thanked by her neighbour, who found it comforting and asked why she was doing it! Picture Candles of Hope from now to Pentecost across the land. Please consider doing this if it seems right for you.

We are exploring the possibility of setting up a Zoom virtual prayer gathering on Monday 6 April 2020 at 8 pm. This could be exciting if we can get the technology right, with friends from Arran, Scotland and the rest of the UK joining together in prayer for our friends and family, the people who are serving us on the front line, our communities and our churches. Once we figure out the details, we will circulate the link later in the week, with instructions, so you can join us. You will need to download the Zoom app to participate.

The contractor is progressing well with the interior fit out of the church but this will come to a halt soon due to Government guidelines with respect to COVID-19 and lack of materials. We will re-commence when it is safe to do so. The good news is that we have sufficient funds at this point to pay for the works. However, this does depend on our regular giving and gifts being maintained as there is no income from guests.

As mentioned last month, there are four items that were not included in the price submitted as these were still being discussed. We are pleased to say that we have received donations to cover two of the items – the cooker and the heating panels – which is great and so we only need funds for the oak flooring and the AV system:

Finished oak flooring

We have been strongly advised by a fund raiser that it is important to fully complete the church in order to showcase what we have done for funding organisations and visitors. This is important as we begin to seek out funding for the manse as the next stage of development. Cost of the flooring is £3000 including VAT.

Audio-visual System for the church

We need an AV system in the church for presentations, words of songs, etc. Cost – £1000

Pray for the resources to be provided to finish the oak flooring and fit the AV system so that the church is ready for when we open the centre.

As you know we have had to close SCC until further notice. This means we have no income from guests as we move into our busiest period. Thankfully, we have our regular givers who give monthly and one-off gifts from time to time. However, we need to manage our finances wisely – minimizing our costs where we can and exploring ways to increase our income over the next few months. The actions we are taking are as follows:

·         Reducing staff costs by “Furloughing“ staff where we can to apply to the Job Retentions Scheme for the 80% salary grant for the next 3 months.

·         Reducing administration staff hours to a minimum whilst keeping the centre live on-line.

·         Minimising costs wherever we can.

·         Applying to the Third Sector Resilience Fund for a grant.

·         Preparing financial figures for Stewardship and our bank in case we need to ask for loan payment deferrals and/or an overdraft facility.

·         Asking you, our Friends of Sannox, to consider setting up regular monthly donations, however small, to help us over the next few months or slightly increasing your existing monthly donation. We realise this may not be possible for many of you in these times so please don’t feel guilty if you can’t do this. We thank you for all you have done in the past and will do in the future.

Pray for our finances that God will provide all we need.

Easter Lamlash Holiday Club – 6th to 9th April 2020 – This has had to be cancelled.

Easter Weekend – 10 to 12 April 2020 – Events on the island and at SCC have had to be cancelled.

Midweek Retreat led by Roy Searle – This is under review and may have to be postponed.

Bible Study Weekend – Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August 2020 – This is under review and may have to be postponed.

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. Be blessed and protected in all you do for the Kingdom, in the mighty and beautiful name of Jesus.