| January Prayer News
“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year – Give me light that I may tread safely into the unknown – and he said – Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be better than a light and safer than a known way.“ ‘God knows’, Minnie Haskins, 1908. Firstly, may we bless you in the name of Jesus and pray that 2019 will be a wonderful year as you follow the footsteps of Jesus. As we start our 7th year of operation we look forward to the January prayer gatherings. In Edinburgh we will gather on Monday 7 January 2019 at the home of George and Fiona Hazel starting at 8 pm prompt. We will be joined by others on Arran and across the UK and abroad. Please join with us as we begin 2019 in prayer and thanksgiving for what God is doing at Sannox. “Today I choose to stand in this place you have called me to, We continue to say this prayer together so that the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, might be glorified and His light, love, peace, forgiveness and power might sweep through the Isle of Arran, the rest of Scotland, the United Kingdom and the nations of the world. Summary Key Prayer Points: 1. The first Team Leaders’ meeting on Saturday 8th December 2018 had to be postponed because of bad weather. We are planning to meet on Friday 11th January 2019 at Sannox. Pray for George and the Team Leaders as they plan the development of their teams and the management of SCC. Pray also for a Team Leader for the SCC Ministries and Events team. There will also be a Directors’ meeting that afternoon before the “Blessing” event. 2. Renovation of church roof and manse – The scaffolding has now been erected and work will start in January. A new shed was built by a group of volunteers to house our tools and materials and the manse had been cleared – a huge task. Continue to give thanks for the appointment of John Thomson Construction Ltd to carry out the first phase of the restoration of the church and manse. Pray they may be blessed as they work at Sannox. Continue to pray for the release of the rest of the £40,000 needed to fund the contract works. We have already received cash gifts of £4,300, £200 and £200 and an interest free loan offer of between £5,000 and £8,000. Give thanks for these gifts as God starts to release the resources needed. Pray for the rest of the £40,000. 3. Pray for increased regular monthly giving to support any interest free loans we are offered and the operational costs of SCC. To date we have received around £300 extra per month – our need is an additional £2,000 per month. 4. Pray for the first event of 2019 – the theme is “Blessing through the Presence” and it will be held in Dundarroch on Friday 11th January and Saturday 12th January. Please support our first event and encourage others to do so. More details are given below. Pray for the Directors as they plan the rest of the 2019 programme. 5. Pray for our hosts as they consider dates in 2019 and for new hosts. Pray for the planning of our second event – “Hosting the Presence” on 8/9 February 2019. 6. Pray for the building up of Christ’s community on Arran. Detailed Prayer News: 1. Contract for the Church roof and manse |
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a. The contract has now been signed and the scaffolding has been erected! It is already generating interest on the island. Early in the year there will be an article in the Banner on the visit of the Canadian and American descendants of people from Arran. This will be followed by an article on the first phase of the restoration of the church. As you know the contract is for just over £100,000 and we need an extra £40,000 to cover these costs. Give thanks that the Lord has started to release funding. As mentioned above, we have received cash gifts of £4,300, £200 and £200 – with gift aid about £6,000. We have also received an offer of an interest free loan of between £5,000 to £8,000. So we are a quarter of the way to our target. Pray for the Lord to bring in the rest. |
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| b. This contract will restore the church and vestibule roof and bell tower, strip out everything from the church, including the asbestos and renew the church windows. It will also remove the roof, floors and windows of the manse, leaving the stone shell which can then be treated for the dry rot.
c. The last piece of demolition will be the removal of the church floor in preparation for the new floor incorporating underfloor heating. It would be great if the funding could allow the contractor to remove the floor as this is the last piece of demolition. After that it is renewal of the buildings. d. Once the church roof and windows are restored we can paint the church. Could it be that a shining new bell tower and church could be ready for Easter 2019 at the end of April? e. Once this contract is completed we need to plan for the refurbishment of the church interior and the building of the temporary kitchen and toilets to serve the new church building. 2. New tool and storage shed – A group of us gathered at Sannox between the 3rd December and the 8th December to build the new tool and storage shed. We had to clear the manse for the contractors and so needed somewhere to store materials and tools. |
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| The shed is built between the laundry and the caravan. We had a wonderful time working in the rain, sunshine and the dark with floodlights but we got it finished and we cleared the manse. We are so thankful for the time and skills people give to do this work. It is always such an encouraging time. More opportunities to join in during 2019!
3. Monthly giving – Continue to pray for an increase in monthly giving. Any interest free loans need to be supported by an increase in monthly giving, and we need to cover the growing costs of operating the centre as more people come and we offer more events. As you may know we need at least an extra £2,000 per month. To date we have been given around £300 per month. Please pray for increased monthly donations. 4. 2019 Programme of Activities – As we enter 2019 we are excited that the monthly programme of events will start in January and run through the whole year. The first event is on the 11th and 12th of January so please consider attending and encourage others to come. At the moment we only have a few booked on the course so please consider attending. We are trying a new format to make it more accessible for people and the details for the first three months are as follows: a. 11/12 January 2019 – Blessing through the Presence – led by Andy Hall: b. 8/9 February 2019 – Hosting the Presence: c. 1/2 March 2019 – Worship in the Presence: Moira Shirreff and others will lead sessions on worship through creative arts i Friday evening – welcome, introduction and worship d. The rest of the year: e. Action: Please consider signing up for the first three events and tell others. You can book by e-mailing Heidi at admin@sannox.org. The January course will start on the Friday evening at 7.30 pm and end on the Saturday evening at 4.30 pm as there is a 6 pm ferry. If anyone wants to stay over for the Sunday, for a period of reflection, they should let Heidi know when they book. The events will normally be the first weekend of the month, although January and February are different for operational reasons. The events will be shaped and led by the SCC team and will be held in Dundarroch Cottage so places will be limited to around 20 people. Pray for us as we develop the programme. 5. SCC Vision and Values – The Directors agreed to develop a framework based on the SCC vision and values that would allow us to test any new ideas and ministries. This framework defines the culture of SCC and clarifies what SCC is about. Please pray for us as we develop this framework in 2019. 6. New Board Members – Please pray for new Board Members with the right skills. Also pray for the involvement of younger people in all areas. 7. Hosting at SCC – We continue to welcome our hosts to SCC and give thanks for the blessing hosting is to our guests and visitors and to the hosts themselves. Hosting the presence of God is fundamental to what God is building at SCC and we want to have hosts on site all the time. If you are interested in hosting come to the hosting event on 8/9 February 2019 as highlighted above and contact Heidi at admin@sannox.org. We need to start filling up the hosting diary now! 8. Executive Director report – Please pray for George as he manages the operation and development of SCC and visits churches on and off the island. He met the pastor of Dumfries Baptist Church on 1st December who is planning to bring a group in 2019. George is also visiting Bute Baptist Church and Strathkendrick Baptist Church in the near future. 9. Lastly, please continue to pray for the building up of Christ’s community on Arran. Pray for the churches and their Ministers and staff and for all Christ’s people on the island that they may experience a new and powerful blessing of His Spirit. 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 2019. |