Another briefing from Madagascar

Hi everyone.
Because Kerry is a teacher and I'm a student we can't cope with extended periods of activity so last week we took a trip with our friends Joe and Elise from Kenya to the south west coast of Madagascar.

We started out travelling by taxi-brousse (a 15 seater Peugeot van) to Antsirabe 3 hours away. We were met there by pouring rain and incessant pousse-pousse drivers. A pousse-pousse is a cart with a seat pulled by a man. They took us to three hotels before we found a hotel with rooms and then had a standup argument about the cost. It didn't help that one of the drivers was drunk. The next day we left very early to go to our next stop, Fianarantsoa.

The taxi-brousse ride there was very pleasant and we arrived in daylight to find the area around the station (Fianarantsoa is a town where the train actually runs) packed with people attending a concert for a candidate in the presidential elections. We had a wander round the city and before dinner we found another rally going on for the incumbant president, Marc Ravalomanana. I asked a woman if I could have a poster and she happily obliged but there were many strange looks because a. I was white and b. a man. It was a women's rally, you see.

Joe was a little more blatant and asked for a free bottle of orangeade because the president owns a dairy and soft drink company here, Tiko. Ravalomanana is also the vice president of the church, the FJKM, which I am working with here.

He was elected last time because he was not the former dictator, Ratsiraka, but he also promised to improve the roads. We found that he had kept that promise later in the journey. Our guidebook says that the road south from Fianarantsoa is in very bad condition so we hired a driver and a car to help us get to our next stop, Parc d'Isalo - a huge National Park.

Our driver, Paul, and his car - a Peugeot 505 called the Jolly Jumper- were great and we stopped off at a woman's collective producing fabric goods and at a paper factory run by local women. It was great to see these projects and gave Kerry and I many ideas for Akany Avoko which attempts to do similar things with the older residents.

Far from getting worse the road improved because it has recently been relaid. Driving south we passed though grasslands and plains with hardly anything around for miles. I saw village after village seemingly without churches. This made me think about the missionary endeavours of those who came before me with the LMS and of the church here. If these villages on the road had not heard the gospel, what of the villages away from the road in the great mass of Madagascar. Of course, the hearing of the gospel does not need the presence of church buildings so this could be a false conclusion.

We also stopped at a small wildlife reserve where we saw ringtailed lemurs and stroked an old brown lemur that also doubled as our guide. Great stuff. Then, in the middle of nowhere we stopped in a gathering of some 10 houses on the height of the plain. We were met by lots of kids and by the Malagasy Bob Dylan who serenaded us with out of tune blues and gave us rum. We managed to extricate ourselves long enough to give some sweets to the kids.

My highpoint of this visit was to enter one of the houses where an old woman and her daughter were weaving straw mats. I sat with them and had a conversation wholly in Malagasy with them. This was what I love doing. Meeting people in their homes and making a connection with them. I can't wait to start that type of work after Christmas with a local pastor.

We came to the Park at a decent hour and we stayed in bungalows overlooking the mountains that framed the Park. Not bad for £6 a night. Parc d'Isalo was everything you could expect and more. Lemurs, sheltered glades, a natural swimming pool, long hikes in 40 degree heat and then watching the sunset through a natural window of rock. God has blessed this country with some amazing wildlife and scenery and I praise him that I have
had the opportunity to see it.

We ended our trip on the beach in a resort where the people did not have the same warmth that we have experienced elsewhere here. We were left to ponder if that is the result of tourism or they've always been like that.

Although we had a great time we were very happy to be back, although from bright solid sunshine we came back to find that the Akany had been hit by a hailstorm. It's never happened in at least 60 years and it decimated trees and the side of our kitchen. The kids were very excited that they had "orana glacé" -frozen rain- but it was very strange. A great example of the contrasts on this great red isle that has truly captured our hearts.

 

Couple of pieces of business:

If you've sent us things could you say when you sent them because we're yet to receive them.

My mobile number here is +261324245299

Love to you all, off to Kenya on Wednesday to get a new visa. Prayers for easy arranging of that most welcome. Keep praying for Akany Avoko and for the country as a whole as it goes to the polls on Dec 3. A general tried to take over the country but was laughed out of town. Unfortunately one soldier was killed but don't rely on the BBC for your information on Madagascar because for some reason it seems to be against the president and that's been confirmed by many wiser observers than me.
Take care,
God bless,

Phil

Worship through drama

     I am aiming to put together a Worship Through Drama team.  This would be for anyone who would like to have a go at doing some drama within the church services.  I think we will be aiming to do perhaps one drama sketch a month and I would probably not need every volunteer from the team to be involved each time so it would not be too much of a commitment.  If you might be interested, any age at all, please either see me at church or give me a ring on 01909 564404.  Let's use our gifts for the glory of God!

Jo Hudson

City of Sanctuary News

What can I do?

We have a new page on the website at www.cityofsanctuary.com called 'What Can I do?', listing some practical steps you can take to help make Sheffield a City of Sanctuary.

One of the suggestions is to put a link to the City of Sanctuary homepage on the website of any supportive group with which you are involved. This is a very important way of reaching potential supporters, so please do this if you can. We will soon be adding links to supporting organisations on our own 'Supporters' page too.

You can also find contact details for getting involved in voluntary work with asylum-seekers and refugees.

Sanctuary Information Project Training Day

This is our new project to help asylum-seekers who cannot get a solicitor to gather evidence to support their asylum claims. We are working with the Northern Refugee Centre and the drop-in computer centre Access Space to get this running some time in the New Year, but first we need to test out how it will work with a real team of volunteers. We are running a training day on Saturday 20th January from 10am to 4pm in Sheffield city centre. Volunteers will learn to use the internet to find evidence relating to individual asylum-seekers' situations that can be presented in court. If you would interested in being involved in this
innovative project please contact me. It would be especially suitable for anyone with an interest in IT, foreign languages, Law or world events. We are currently applying for funding to get the project started, and I will keep you informed of progress.

Awareness Raising in Schools

This is a new project of the Northern Refugee Centre to offer refugee and asylum-seeker speakers and trainers to work in schools with staff and students on raising awareness about the reality of life as a refugee in the UK. It is relevant to many areas of the National Curriculum and is free!

Contact Helen Todd for more details on 0114 241 2783

Council Motion for Destitute Asylum Seekers

 

On Wednesday 6th December at 2pm, the Liberal Democrats will put a motion to full Council expressing concern at the growing number of destitute asylum seekers in our city and calling on the Government to introduce legislation to enable asylum seekers to work and support themselves and the economy. Church Action on Poverty is appealing for supporters of the motion to join them in the Gallery of the Council Chamber, meeting inside the Town Hall entrance at 1.45pm.
Contact David Price 255 2226 or Shaun Smith 234 3580 for more details.

 

The South Yorkshire District Women’s Committee – Sheffield

The Sheffield branch of the South Yorkshire District Women’s Committee has worked in the area for many years. It consists of representatives from all the U.R.C. and Congregational Churches in Sheffield. Originally formed in the days of the London Missionary Society, the women of the local churches worked to support the work and witness of this Congregational missionary movement. The ladies welcomed and provided hospitality for missionaries from overseas during Sheffield’s “Missionary Fortnight” and throughout the year organised Garden Parties, Missionary lunches and various sales such as the Morning Markets to support the work of the L.M.S.

Over the years, of course, the missionary movement has changed considerably and the need for the kind of support that the women provided is no longer there, as all such funding comes as part of the U.R.C. administration as a whole. The women of the district now only meet at Lent and Advent Services and hold a rally
With the Rotherham branch every other year. One continuing feature over the years has been support for the U.R.C. Yorkshire Women’s Assembly in Scarborough. The only active financial support it gives within the denomination is to the Friendship Fund.

Sadly, it was agreed at the last meeting that the Committee should be wound up. It was a difficult decision as much fellowship and good will have been enjoyed at the meetings and events when we have met. However, Rosie Hawksworth had made the decision to retire as Secretary, it has proved increasingly difficult to find anyone to take on the responsibility of President, and the church representatives have reported increasing difficulty in persuading their congregations to support events. As “Districts” in the U.R.C. will soon cease to exist anyway, it was felt that this was the appropriate time to make this decision.

The Chairman, Revd Brenda Hill, felt that we should hold our Carol Service as our closing event and that it should be a service of celebration.

We warmly invite everyone to join us at this Service on Wednesday, 13trh December at 11am. It will be held at Central and will be followed by a light lunch at a cost of £2.50.

Margaret M Dale

Church Meetings

The Church Meeting on 12th November agreed that church meetings next year will take place on Wednesday evenings in the summer months and on Sundays during the winter months, with possible exceptions for particular reasons. The dates of church meetings for 2007 will be:

Wednesday January 10th at 7pm
Sunday March 25th at 12 noon
Wednesday May 23rd at 7pm
Wednesday July 18th at 7pm
Wednesday September 19th at 7pm
Sunday November 25th at 12 noon

The meeting scheduled for January 10th will have as its main item a discussion about the revised Synod structures now that it has been agreed to dispense with District Councils. We hope that members and friends will make a special effort to be at this meeting so that our thoughts and suggestions can be submitted to the Synod Clerk for consideration.

Prayer for the Week

Commencing Monday January 8th at 7.45am, and on Mondays thereafter until further notice, there will be a Prayer Breakfast held in the Norfolk Room, the aim of which will be for those who are able to gather together and pray for those who are involved in all the various Christian activities which take place in and around the city centre. These might include those who work for Christian Aid, SCCCC, SCEC, Churches Together in South Yorkshire, the Industrial Mission, the various Chaplains at the universities and other locations, the Wilson Carlyle College, ASSIST, the Archer Project, Ben’s Place, St Wilfred’s etc etc. The breakfast will not be elaborate but will be adequate and we hope that there will be those who feel moved to be part of this activity either regularly or “as and when”. Even if you can’t be there please recognise this as an activity which Central is engaged in and therefore which involves us all.

Bob & Ann

Big Sing

The BIG SING which was held on the 25th November was superb and it was really good to see the church full and to hear such wonderful sounds. We are very blessed to have Philip Jakob living and working within our city as he is a great source of inspiration in word and in music.

Many thanks for supporting this event and for supporting ASSIST through this event which raised a total of over £400 .

Bob

Carol Service – Tuesday 12th December at 1pm

Please come and join us for a very special carol service that will not only allow us to sing some of our favourite carols but also will have as guests the choir from Woodhouse West Primary School. This will be a very special service and it would be even more special to have the church so full that we have to fold back the screens and overflow into the hall. Please make a special effort to come and join in this festive occasion.

Bob

Nativity Service

Once more we look forward to the service on the 17th when our children from Junior Church will present for us a nativity play and we will also have the opportunity to sing our much-loved carols. There is likely also to be an infant blessing during that service for a young couple from Slovakia so please expect a slight East European flavour to part of the service.

Carol Service for ASSIST

We are invited to join the congregation at St Marie’s Cathedral for this carol service that will include an offering for ASSIST. This has been planned as a ‘Churches Together’ carol service and will involve representatives from various churches, I think. I know that I’m involved as I’ve been asked to give a short address as I did last year (not the same address!). Please come and support this service if you can.

Service of Lessons and Carols

The Sheffield Youth Orchestra will lead our music this year at this carol service and it should be a joyful time for us to hear familiar readings and sing our much-loved carols. Please come along and why not invite someone else to come with you.

Christmas Eve Service

The service at 10.45am on Christmas Eve will be a joint service with the Central House Church and there will be an item by a joint choir/singing group together with participation by members of both fellowships. This is shaping up to be a great occasion when we can worship together and celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ as a joint congregation. On a purely practical basis the car park is likely to be very full that day and it would be helpful if car-sharing could be arranged to prevent undue congestion. It would also be even more helpful if drivers could park neatly and ideally not in the neck of the car park so that we can squeeze as many in as possible. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter. I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be mince pies after the service!!

Christmas Day Service

This will once again be a joint service with our Methodist friends and this year the service will take place at the Victoria Hall and it will start at 10am

Sylvia's Thank You Party

It is now almost a year since Sylvia had meningitis and during the time of her illness and recovery we were overwhelmed with cards, letters and phone calls of support from many people both in Sheffield and elsewhere. Sylvia has wanted to do something to say ‘Thank You’, but also to have a celebration for having recovered completely from this very frightening disease. She has chosen Saturday 3rd February for this event and it will take place at Central at 3pm to which all are invited though she would like you to let her know if you wish to come. There will definitely be food available (it wouldn’t be a party without it and it wouldn’t be Central without it!) but there will almost certainly be other things too to make the event go with a swing. We hope to see you there.

Bob & Sylvia

Bob and Sylvia would like to thank you all for your love and support this year and would like to thank all who have played their part in any way in helping Central proclaim the love of Jesus both through the activities which have taken place at church and elsewhere. May you all have a very happy Christmas.

Christmas minibus trip to Chatsworth

There will be a minibus trip on Tuesday 19th December to Chatsworth to have a festive lunch together at the Coaching House Café/Restaurant. The minibus will leave Central at 10.30am and though this is filling up very fast there may be some who would like to come and join us by other means of transport and enjoy the fellowship together.

Advent

Our Services in Advent will focus on People, Places, Pursuits and Presents. 
 
On Sunday, 10th December, all the congregation will be asked to place a label on the maps of places significant to them.

On Sunday, 17th December, the “young people” are invited to bring an item as a symbol of their work/leisure time to lay in front of the Advent candle or Christmas tree before  the service.

Our charitable giving over this period will go to CART – the Christian African Relief Trust, which is a charity based in Bradford. The items are packed into containers and shipped out to Africa. We hope that many of the people who come in for coffee in the Norfolk Room will want to put gifts for this charity under the Christmas tree.

Items requested are children’s books (Ladybird size), pens, pencils, rubbers, pencil sharpeners, stationery – in fact, anything that will be useful in an educational setting.

There will also be an opportunity on Christmas Eve for worshippers at Central to add to these gifts in the Service. (That doesn’t mean you can’t add to it at any other time!).

Christmas Greetings

The following send Christmas greetings to all at Central. They will be making charitable donations instead of sending cards.
Irene Palmer
Michael and Margaret Riley
Janet Wright, Mark Potter, Stefan and Sam
Anne Judge
Irene Toone
Vina Walton
Don and Cynthia Walker
Brian and Sheila Worthington
Dorothy Murphy
Anne Lawson
Bill and Jill George
Kathleen Head
Gladys Hallows
Ivy Cox
Tony  and Angela Bentall
Hilary Wignall, Jake and Harry
Dorothy Snidall
Andy, Jo, Sam and Toby
Philip and Ann Hammond
Norah Hopkinson
Geoff and Kathleen Manterfield
Mary Evans
Debbie Hamilton
Maurice and Vi Hall
Peter and Joan Spinks
Margaret Williams, Kate Helen and Claire
Derek and Shirley Newman and Zuna
Alice Craig
Dorothy Bagguley
Denis and Gladys Adams

Some mildly interesting facts (compiled in the USA)

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to  beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule  of thumb"

Many  years ago in  Scotland , a new game was invented.  It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ls Forbidden"...and thus the word  GOLF entered into the English  language.

 

The  first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV  were   Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Every  day more money is printed for Monopoly than the  U.S.Treasury.

Men  can read smaller print than women can; women can hear  better.

Coca-Cola  was originally green.

It  is impossible to lick your elbow.

The  State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:  Alaska

The  percentage  of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get  this...)

The  percentage of   North America that is wilderness:  38%

The  cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven:  $6,400 

The  average number of people airborne over the   U.S. in any given hour: 61,000 

Intelligent  people have more zinc and copper in their  hair.

The  first novel ever written on a typewriter:   Tom  Sawyer.

The  San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National  Monuments .

 

Each  king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from  history-

Spades  - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds  - Julius Caesar

111,111,111  x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

If  a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air,  the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the  person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all  four legs on the ground, the person died of natural  causes.

Only  two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles  Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't  added until 5 years later.

Q.  Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A.  Their birthplace

Q.  Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A.  Obsession

Q.  If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would  find the letter "A"?
A.  One thousand

Q.  What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers  all have in common?
A.  All were invented by women.

Q.  What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A.  Honey 

In  Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you  pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on.  Hence the phrase... " good night, sleep tight."

It  was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a  month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with  all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today  as the honeymoon.

In  English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old  England when customers got unruly, the  bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's  where we get the phrase "mind your P's and  Q's"

Many  years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle  baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a  refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the  phrase inspired by this practice.

~~~~~~~~~~~AND  FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~

At  least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their  elbow!

IAnd last, but not least, may you all have a blessed and peaceful Christmas  with all the joy that the birth of our Saviour brings.