Prayer Letter
October 2001
Praying for Crisis Centre Ministries,
its work, staff and
clients
in the context of Bristol's inner city
areas.
Huge apologies that you've not had a prayer sheet for a couple of months, and thank you to those who've asked me what's been happening.
BRIDGEHEAD LUNCH
Bridgehead is now on Wednesday lunchtimes - we're calling it 'Bridgehead Lunch'. It's a sort of discipleship group for clients who've become Christians, and we are also inviting people who are interested and want to know more. Though I've known that some of these people have never been introduce to God or the Bible and therefore have no foundational knowledge, that has been something of an eye-opener again with this group. We can take nothing for granted in terms of what people know, and it's interesting to hear comments which confirm that some are informed by the media and consider what they see on a video of, say, Jesus Christ Superstar, to be as accurate as what they read in the Bible or hear in church or from us. There's no doubt that God is touching people lives. This week one person became a Christian and two others who are already Christians were asking for help in their lives generally as well as with their relationship with God. The issues raised in the lives of these people are tragic and we do need God to come into the situations.
COFFEE SHOP
Sam Colgan has just recently been appointed to the position of Pastoral Care Co-ordinator. This is an exciting appointment, as Sam will be responsible for the pastoral elements of the coffee shop (as the job title suggests) which will include following up contact with clients and helping to pick up on people who otherwise might get lost between the various resources which are available. She works alongside Jayne, who is catering co-ordinator, and the 30 or so volunteers involved in the coffee shop. It is these people who have face-to-face contact with clients and your prayers are vital for these contacts. People's lives and difficulties are complex; the various services available are good but sometimes are not able to meet the needs.
We would very much like to be able to open the shop on Fridays and we are planning towards this. Practicalities include additional volunteers and those willing/able to take some responsibility. Please pray for us as we plan for this.
LITE
LITE is going well. The revised course seems to be hitting the right spot and the students on the present course are enthusiastic and responding well. There continues to be the issue of commitment and consistency with a number of people who have expressed an interest in the training (all enthusiasm one day, but not turning up the next!)
We have yet to secure funding for the course, though the general funding for The Crisis Centre is presently covering the costs of running LITE (we definitely have a miracle working God). The negotiations for funding are proving constructive in their own right as we are in contact with other organisations - Christian and secular - which are providing training and related services to our client group and we are aiming to work together with them to provide a fuller resource and hopefully also the ability to pick up on people who might otherwise become lost between the different training opportunities.
We do now have a number of volunteers involved with LITE - an answer to prayer! Andy needs an Assistant, and the funding to pay this person.
NETWORKING
This is an interesting area at present which has considerable potential. We are working together with 5 other groups (Christian and non-Christian) to recruit volunteers. There's a meeting at the Council House on 8 November at 7.30 pm regarding this - you'd be very welcome.
There is also now a Homeless Forum under the umbrella of BCAN - Christian organisations and churches involved in providing food for the homeless. It is so good to be in a position to explore how we can work together and what this may mean.
In addition there are two different funding possibilities for LITE, both of which involve working together with other groups to make joint bids. We seem to be 'in the market place' alongside other groups, with all that this involves (including hostility and reservation towards us as a Christian organisation).
We are also encouraged to be developing close links with a number of churches. The original vision was that the ministry would come out of the unity of the churches in Bristol and this has been expressed in various ways - through financial and prayer support and also the involvement of volunteers throughout the ministry. As well as this, there are some close relationships developing with church leaders; we are grateful to God for this and ask that you please pray for these relationships to grow, and for one of the outcomes to be to the benefit of Bristol and our clients.
PROPERTY
We are tremendously grateful to God and to our supporters for the generous donations we've received in respect of the property, and some of the necessary work is in hand. We are very grateful, too, for the property which God has provided, yet also aware of the restrictions. This is something we've mentioned before and we would so much value your prayers regarding this. A larger, more accessible property very near to our present location would be ideal; at present we have no financial resources whatever for this. At the same time we need to make the best use of the property we presently have which involves repair work specifically to the basement.
GENERAL
Andrew Kellett, the minister of City Road Baptist, has agreed to become chaplain to Crisis Centre Ministries. He has the support of his deacons with this. He will be available to clients (and will be working alongside Sam in this respect) and also to staff and volunteers. This is a brilliant provision for the ministry and we are hugely grateful to God, City Road Baptist and Andrew. Please pray for him in this role and also regarding how this may affect his other commitments.
At our recent AGM, a new Council Management member was voted in - Jill Thomas. Please pray for her as she takes up this responsibility. One member resigned at the AGM and there are two others planning to retire from the Council of Management in the near future. We'd appreciate your prayers as we explore encouraging new people to become involved at this level.
Trudie Lane
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