Pete & Christine’s News Nov 2017
Dear friends,
“Busy” is the new excuse, but it can be fatal to our walk with God. I have found that if I am too busy for the right things, then I am just too busy. (Christy Wimber, “Transformed” © 2017)
What a month! Join us on a whirlwind resumé of October before we take a peek into the coming month.
Chessington – it meant an early start to reach Chessington by 9:00am. In addition to offering prayer and pastoral care, we were asked to speak briefly about Count Everyone In and, at short notice, to run a 2-part workshop on ‘whole life worship’. We were led to speak into real situations facing some of those present. God is good!
Know and Grow Training – we’ve spent many hours on this and are now almost ready to deliver the first two modules at Basingstoke Baptist Church on Saturday 11 November. The closing date for bookings is Friday 3rd November and the cost is £15 per person. Why not join us? See details below.
March, Cambridgeshire – with an almost record turnout at Fenland Community Church’s harvest thanksgiving there were too many wheelchair users to count! It was encouraging for Ed and Marilyn Kerr to welcome several support staff for whom it was their first visit. We spoke about being thankful and saying thank you. We were sorry not to see Rosy Bray, who had recently had stitches in a knee injury.
Social media – we’ve got a website at last! See www.counteveryonein.org.uk (https://www.counteveryonein.org.uk/) and you can also keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks are due to Ian O’Donnell of Real Point www.realpointdesign.co.uk for making these happen.
Southsea – a pioneer day of praise, worship and workshops was organised by Janneke Klos and her team at King’s Community Church. It was an excellent opportunity for us to promote the New International Readers Version – Accessible Edition, as well as meeting people from groups around Portsmouth, Southampton and the New Forest. We have so many lovely friends.
Pete’s meetings with the Global Board of Biblica last month were exciting and informative. Mat Ray (Livability), Gordon Temple (Torch Trust), Mark Arnold (Urban Saints) and Pete were hosted in Belfast and enjoyed a formal dinner at Stormont Castle. It was encouraging to hear what is happening around the world. Don’t forget, you can buy your own copy at https://www.biblicaeurope.com/our-work/the-accessible-bible If you enter ‘PW’ in the discount box, it won’t help you (sorry) but it will benefit Count Everyone In (CEI)
And now for November
Friends of Jesus celebration day – for some months now, at the invitation of Helen Davie and group leaders in Herts, Beds & Cambs, we’ve been working with them to plan a day in Stevenage for groups in the area. We shall speak at the morning and afternoon celebrations as well as running a couple of workshops.
Friends with Count Everyone In – in response to requests from people already running, or about to start, church-based groups for adults with learning disabilities, from 1^st November we are launching “Friends with Count Everyone In”. Individuals, groups and churches are invited to become “Friends”. There will be a range of benefits such as prayer support, advice, use of the CEI logo, branded garments to buy and access to a developing pool of resources via a ‘members only’ section of the website. In return we ask for a regular or one-off donation. Do get in touch if you are interested.
Busyness – Count Everyone In continues to grow far faster than we had ever imagined and with so much going on it is easy to feel stretched and even a little too busy. It is important to remain healthy in our relationship with God as well as with each other, not to mention physical, mental and emotional health. With our wellbeing in mind, a number of caring friends and family members have cautioned us against taking on too much and they will be relieved to learn that we have listened and are beginning to plan more “time off”.
Here are some November dates (otherwise working from home):
Thurs 2 Skype with partner organisations in Additional Needs Alliance
Fri 3 Meeting about Word Alive 2018
Sun 5 St Nic’s
Tues 7 Day Off (Christine’s Birthday)
Thurs 9 Visit Christine’s Dad then CARE reception, Oxford
Fri 10 Meeting about Catalyst 2018 (Newfrontiers)
Sat 11 Know & Grow training day, Basingstoke Baptist Church
Sun 12 St Nic’s
Tues 14 St Nic’s Encounter Prayer Meeting
Wed 15 Day Off
Thurs 16 St Nic’s ‘Bite Size’
Sat 18 Celebration Day, Stevenage
Sun 19 Details to be arranged
Wed 22 Visit Christine’s Dad, then homegroup
Fri 24 Day Off
Sun 26 Details to be arranged
Mon 27 ‘Meet Monday’ barn dance, Upper Bucklebury
Wed 29 Homegroup
In 2018 Count Everyone In will be at:
Word Alive, Prestatyn 7-12 April
Catalyst Festival, Stoneleigh 27 or 28 May
Spring Harvest Holidays, France 4-11 June
Keswick Convention 3-27 July
Westpoint Event, Exeter 4-26 August
We continue to be blessed and supported by friends at Thirlmere Church in St Albans, our church for more than 40 years. Please pray for them as they go through times of change. St Nic’s in Newbury continues to be an inspiration to us through Sunday worship, teaching, fellowship and our homegroup.
Thank you for continuing to support in so many ways. We are grateful to God for this encouragement. Do drop us a line and let us know if and how we may pray for you.
Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to others. Do keep in touch and thanks for praying – we need it!
