Sunday 04 October 2020
We’ll be marking Harvest at St Peter’s next week as we give thanks to God for his amazing creation and his faithful provision for us.
All our services next week – Picnic Church, the PRAYer Service and Evening Worship – will be focussing on harvest themes.
Obviously, everything this year will be happening against a backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic and all the restrictions that continues to place on us.
However, it will still be possible to bring a gift of items for the North Bradford Foodbank, if you would like to do so, to mark the harvest festival.
The Foodbank is currently asking for a very specific group of items which are in short supply. These are: instant mash, tinned potatoes, bars of chocolate, sponge pudding, instant milk powder, shampoo, shower gel, deodorant and shaving foam.
If you are able to donate any of these items, please bring them (preferably in a carrier bag) to church next Sunday (October 4) and place the bag on the table in the entrance hall as you come into church from the car park. (It will not be possible for us to receive gifts at the front of church during the service under the current restrictions.) If you would like to drop off gifts during the week, this may be possible in the mornings between 9 and 12 – please contact the office first on 01274 400381 to arrange to leave your gift.
If you are not able to get to church and would like to make a financial donation to support the work of the food bank instead, you can find out how to do so on the Bradford North Foodbank website here.
In a normal year at this time we would be bringing financial gifts at harvest for the mission of our church locally. However, in the present circumstances the PCC feel that our mission partners around the world must come first, especially as were unable to hold our regular gift day to support their work earlier in the year.
We will especially be supporting two areas of the world where the need is particularly great:
Sudan
For nearly 30 years we have been offering support to the church in Sudan via Ezekiel Kondo, now the Archbishop of Khartoum. Sudan has recently undergone a major political upheaval with the overthrow of President Bashir’s regime. To add to the problems, the country has recently had torrential rainfall leading to serious flooding in large areas of the country and a shortage of clean drinking water.
We have been able to send a small amount of support so far, but more is needed if a humanitarian disaster is to be avoided. It is astonishing that in the midst of all that is going on, Archbishop Ezekiel has been at pains to tell us that he and Christians in Khartoum continue to pray for us at St Peter’s, so it would be wonderful to do all we can to support them practically at this time.
Brazil
Our links to outreach in Brazil through Ian and Simea Meldrum date back many years. More recently we have also supported Andy and Rose Roberts’ initiative to set up ReVive International and to work amongst young girls at risk. Brazil currently has one of the highest rates of Covid 19 infection in the world, and the differences between rich and poor are very pronounced. In the midst of this our partners are offering refuge to young boys and girls who would otherwise be forced to turn to gangs, drugs and prostitution.
In these circumstances, we would like this year’s Missions Offering from St Peter’s to be shared between these mission partners.
Please think and pray about what God is calling you to give to this harvest appeal, as a sign of your gratitiude to him for all his gifts to you. You can give either cash cheques in a specifically marked envelope in the offering plate at church on 4th October or for the next few weeks. Alternatively, you can make a bank transfer to the church account with the reference ‘GIFT DAY’ – sort code: 05 09 04 Account number: 63343688, Yorkshire Bank, Shipley.
If you would like to find our more about our mission partners and pray for them more regularly, Eric and Anne Parker are responsible for contacts with all our Mission Partners and they issue a bulletin called Mission Matters several times a year which details the latest news on our partners. They regularly update information for prayer on the weekly noticesheet and, if you send them your email address, they will also send you occasional communications about specific prayers needed.
