Bringing God's grace and healing love to people with life-disrupting problems

Prayer Letter
June 2009

Dear friends

The time has come for a new newsletter! It seems to roll around so fast and there are always so many areas that need prayer. Thank you for continuing to support us in this way.

STAFF

Please pray for the two new staff members starting over the next few weeks - Sian on Monday 29th June and Steve on Wednesday 1st July. We are really excited to have them both on board. Please pray that they quickly grasp their new roles and fit in well with the ethos and culture of CCM.

PREMISES

Please continue to pray for us as we seek to move to bigger premises. We are struggling to find somewhere that will meet the complex needs we have as an organisation - and somewhere that won't need huge amounts of renovation to be habitable! We are vastly exceeding our capacity in the coffee shop and would love to have enough space for more tables and chairs, an outside space where people could sit down with their food and have a chat and somewhere that allows more space to actually serve the food.

Currently, we have asked for one property to be surveyed and are looking at another. Please keep these things in mind as you prayerfully bring our new building to the Lord.

COFFEE SHOP

The coffee shop is still managing to serve 300-400 people a day despite the lack of space! They are doing a brilliant job - please pray for all the staff and volunteers who work in the Wild Goose; that they would be blessed for their service, and also that they would have many opportunities to talk with people about matters of faith and pray for anyone who needs it.

PEOPLE

Please pray for:

• H - she has made a commitment to Jesus in the past. We are unsure of her living situation but know that she is under some significant strain at the moment, and is having some relationship problems. Please pray that she will be able to turn to God at this time and remain strong in him.
• C - he is an ex-volunteer here at the Goose who has recently relapsed and is in a pretty bad place. He had been in recovery for some time so it is really sad that he has gone back to his old life of addiction. Please pray for opportunities to talk with him and pray for him.
• L - she was in a dry house but was asked to leave after lapsing due to some significant family troubles. Please pray for her as she finds her feet again.
• L - is struggling with her significant relationships at this time and needs our prayers. Please pray for resolution and safety.
• 16 year old woman who has been living in a squat since she was 12½. We are now working with other agencies to get her into secure accommodation and to start to rebuild her life.
• A lady in her 50's who is fighting hard to tackle her alcohol addiction. Please also pray for her family.
• A 55 year old man whose support house is closing down and needs our prayer as we try to arrange detox. and rehabilitation.
• There are a lot of new young people in the area, mostly living in squats but who do not have serious problems with drugs or alcohol at present, but who could easily find themselves drawn into that world. The numbers are increasing and Alan would like to find out why.

Give thanks for:

• J who has been sober for about 70 days and has just given his life to the Lord.
• Another of our clients who has been clean and sober for about 18 months. He has just finished his first year at Bible College and Alan will be going to his end of year graduation.
• 16 year old D, who moved into a Christian Community a few months ago, has just completed his GCSE's.. Please pray for his continued protection as he moves on.

LITE

B, from the LITE course, was baptised on Sunday (28th)! Praise God for her commitment to him and pray that this will be the beginning of a new season for her. B has a lot of complex issues including addiction and depression. Please pray that this baptism would be the beginning of a new life for her and that God will break the ties that bind her and set her free.

There are 2 weeks left until the end of this current LITE course. The current participants will be moving on.

• A is moving away - please pray that he will find constructive ways to fill his time.
• B is hoping to find some voluntary work in his local area.
• S has just finished a work placement which went well and would like to follow it with some paid employment.
• H (a previous LITE course participant) would love to get some work in a charity shop - please can we pray that doors will open for her.
• A was a late-comer to this LITE course so we would love for him to stay on and complete the 16 weeks with the new intake.

The LITE course took a trip to Noah's Ark Farm last week which was brilliant! Everyone had a great day out and Andy took some pretty funny pictures (even if he does say so himself!). Thank God for good weather and for his amazing creativity that was so evident in the vast array of flora and fauna we saw!

SAFER BRISTOL

The meeting with folk from Safer Bristol took place. We were talking about quite detailed aspects of drug and alcohol treatment at times, and coming at the subject from very different positions. While it was difficult at times, the time was very much worthwhile. We need to produce some better statistics if we are to demonstrate that the moral course of action is actually the most economic strategy too. We were asking them to maximise each person's chance of success by selecting the rehabilitation service which is most likely to work for them, as opposed to selecting the cheapest treatment available. But, even if we are right in this, it will cost more money in the short term, and this is not an easy message in the present circumstances. If you are interested in praying in more detail about this issue, some notes from the meeting can be made available - just contact the CCM office.

Thank you again for your continued interest and prayer. You make more of a difference to the folk we meet than you can possibly know.

Every blessing,

Paul Hazelden
General Manager
Crisis Centre Ministries