Updated Aug 2019 News

“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”

Dear Friends of Sannox

George recently spoke at Strathendrick Church in Balfron, updating them on what’s going on at SCC. After he spoke there was a great time of sharing. The fellowship has supported us from the start and they are a great encouragement. One person told us she says the Sannox prayer every day. This reminded us of the importance of the words of this prayer, written in 2012 as we started this journey together. Let us continue to pray this prayer, asking God to open the windows of heaven and pour out His promised blessings on this generation.

This Prayer News is the promised update from the earlier August edition.

In Edinburgh we will gather on Monday 2 September 2019 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. We are working with a growing group on Arran who are keen to meet monthly to pray for Sannox. If you are interested in joining this group please email us atadmin@sannox.org. Please join with us in prayer and thanksgiving for what God is doing at Sannox.

The first phase of the restoration of the church is almost complete and the church looks amazing. The slating of the roof and bell tower is complete, the new windows and doors are fitted, the concrete floor is laid and the outside of the church has been painted.  Before and after photographs are shown below.

BEFORE

AFTER

We are delighted to announce that Stewardship have offered us a loan as per our application. This is over 15 years at a cost of £1,100 per month. This will enable us to meet our commitments with respect to the first contract, including the additional work on the church floor and the foundation and roofing of the new extension and the materials for the new extension. We are in discussions with the contractor about completing the fitting out of the church and are hoping the loan will cover this as well. This is wonderful news and we thank God for releasing these resources. Stewardship has been very supportive, although rigorous, throughout the process and it has been a joy to work with them. It will be so exciting to see the church completely refurbished and already we are sensing an increased interest and excitement on the island about this. It will be an important resource for us and the community.

Having accepted the conditions of the loan we ask you to pray for increased resources to cover the monthly cost. Our existing finances cover this expenditure but there is not a lot to spare so we need to ask God to release an increase in monthly giving and/or one-off gifts that can pay off part or all of the loan. With Stewardship there is no penalty for early re-payment of all or part of the loan.

One of the most expensive items of the internal fittings is the purchase of chairs. This can be many thousands of pounds. However, a couple of weeks ago we received an e mail from Ferniehill Evangelical Church in Edinburgh offering us over 100 almost new chairs as they are building a new extension for their church including new chairs. You will see from the photograph that they are ideal and very comfortable. Give thanks to God for this provision.

We had 19 people helping in various ways with the building of the new kitchen and toilets to serve the refurbished church. It was an amazing time and we now have a large kitchen, fully accessible toilet and general toilet to use for events held in the church. We had good weather and no accidents, so thank you for your prayers. We also had a lot of fun and some great conversations and times of worship. The next Work Party will be to paint it so look out for that announcement soon. Some photos are shown below.

Arran Open Studios

This was again a great success. The numbers were down from last year, possibly due to the good weather, but we had about 60 people visiting and had many significant conversations. The church was used for the first time for crafts. Pray for all those who came that they will remember all they saw and heard.

6 – 8 September

Song writing workshop led by Jim Farrell, Francis McFaul, Adam Walsh and George Hazel. A weekend of worship through music releasing new songs from Sannox for the Kingdom. A separate email was sent out about this last week. If you need further information or to book email admin@sannox.org. Feel free to come for just the day, or the Friday and Saturday.

Opening and Rededication of the Church

We want to have an event for the completion of the church restoration. This will include a period of 24/7 worship, an open day for visitors from on and off the island and an invitation to local ministers and their teams on the island and from North Ayrshire. We had hoped to have this at the end of October but we won’t know if this is possible until after the meetings with the contractor. Please pray for the Directors as we plan this important event.

Future Events – Continue to pray for these themes:

• Alpha weekends, hosted by SCC or self-hosted.
• Christian leaders and workers retreat offered 3 or 4 times a year as mid-week events.
• “Blessing Weeks” – teaching on blessing, as this is part of SCC values.
• Weekend events with worship and rest and restoration.

Last month we sent you a link to the new leaflet (click here for a further copy). This is a reminder to please send this on to your networks to encourage people to:

• Join as a Friend of Sannox
• Book a visit to the centre
• Come to our events

This is important given what we have said about increasing the use of SCC and our support base. We are strengthening 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.

God is building community on Arran. He is calling people to come and live on the island and we know of about 6 people who have either moved or want to move to the island. Pray for the existing Christian community on the island and for the Ministers of the churches that they may know a fresh outpouring of His power and presence.

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 2019/20.