News
Paul & Rattanaporn in Chiang Mai
In March, we brought Paul & Rattanaporn down to visit Chiang Mai. They were able to stay at the Ban San Faan children’s home. We encouraged them not to look at the beautiful building but at the quality of love and care. Ban San Faan means ‘House of Fulfilled Dreams’, so called because when the children came to the home, their dream was to have a family – and now they are a family! We took Paul & Rattanaporn to visit a large fish farm as we are exploring the possibility of establishing a fish pond at Hoay Maw.
For more information, see here.
Fresh Vision at Hoay Maw
In our recent visit to Hoay Maw we were encouraged to find that Paul has fulfilled his intention to tell the children with “families” that they cannot return next school year unless they pay for school and care costs. When we first started helping at Hoay Maw there were 184 children. There are now 55 children at the home and a further 7 at Joseph’s house.
It was satisfying to see the potential of improving the quality of life for these ‘true orphans’, although also very sobering that most of the children who have left will now receive little or no education due to the pitiful or nonexistent provision of education in remote villages. The family backgrounds of these children also embrace a range of challenges including severe poverty, abusive step-parents, parents with HIV or AIDS, in prison, or with addictions to drugs or alchohol - however - as much as we would love to see care and education provided for all of these children, Hoay Maw do not have anywhere near the adequate resources for this level of provision at the present time.
We have come to a point where we would like to be able to explore a way of establishing a level of regular support for the home in order to provide a stable basic income. We would value your prayers that we would have wisdom regarding the best way to achieve this.
For more information, see here.
Please Pray
● Give thanks and pray for continued development at Hoay Maw.
● For wisdom to know the best way to achieve a regular, basic stable income for Hoay Maw and for God’s provision.
● That we will be able to orchestrate the move to a new house coinciding with our visit to UK.
Love and Blessings
Adrian, Jenny, Tom, David & Jessica
For more information, please visit our website www.ajoliver.org
April 29th, 2008
Powerpack in Thailand
In January we were privileged to have a visit from Heather Thompson of Powerpack children’s ministry. During her stay Heather did training for Bible students in Mae Sae and a training day in Chiang Mai for 50 International and Thai children’s workers. Heather’s teaching included how to encourage children to be ‘God Chasers’ and ‘Nation Shakers’.
For more information, see here.
Staying On
January 31st was the deadline for re-enrolling the children at Grace International School for a further school year. The whole family were united in our decision to stay on in Thailand. We will probably stay on for a further 2 years as it would be difficult to return half way through GCSEs.
“Good News for Modern Wa”
The printing of the Wa Bible has been delayed in order to allow further checking of the text. Four Wa Pastors have convened in Mae Sai.
Their aim is:
- To replace old Wa and Lahu words with newer Wa words as the language is developing.
- To use central Wa dialect. (There are possibly as many as 900 Wa dialects.)
- To simplify some text that is overly complex.
Literacy is very low among the Wa people and there is little Wa literature. The Wa Bible will be used to develop materials to increase literacy.
For more information, see here.
Progress at Hoay Maw
Pastor Joseph has handed over the running of the home to his son Paul and daughter-in-law Rattanaporn. The younger couple are doing a good job in managing the staff and children.
They are aiming to focus on children who have nowhere else to go.
They have no regular money for food and so in the new term, children who have somewhere to go will be asked to contribute to food and school expenses if they are to return. The piglets are growing and the smaller mother is pregnant again. A new crop of mushrooms is growing (thanks to ACC Christmas money) as well as bananas and other vegetables. We have begun looking into a fish pond project.
For more information, see here.
‘Transformers’
A good team has been established for the children’s work at the church here. Last Sunday we had a special mission academy for the children to learn how to lead others to Christ.
Three Thai children became Christians!
Please Pray
- For raising up and training of children’s workers in Thailand and the surrounding nations.
- For the successful completion of the “Modern Wa Bible”
- For continued development of the management at Hoay Maw and the potential for future regular support.
Love and Blessings
Adrian, Jenny,
Tom, David & Jessica
For more information, please visit our website www.ajoliver.org
March 18th, 2008
Saturday 12 January 8.45 for 9.00am at the Wickbourne Centre, Clun Road, Littlehampton. All women welcome (creche available, upper age limit Yr 6). All places must be booked. For more info please call 782744 or 776895.
Tim Lord is our speaker. A bit of a nomad in his youth, Tim’s travels took him to the Canary Islands where he lived in a cave, to being part of a street circus in France and living with the homeless on the streets of Brighton. He is now married to Amanda and they have three children.
December 11th, 2007
| December 1, 2007 |
| 10:00 am | to | 12:00 pm |
Saturday 1st December 10am-12 noon at Wickbourne Centre. Cost £3. Guest Speaker - Joe Gisbey. All men invited. Contact the Church Office to book your place, 782744.
December 1, 2007 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
| December 8, 2007 |
| 8:45 am | to | 11:00 am |
This event is held at The Wickbourne Centre, Clun Road, Littlehampton. All women welcome (creche available, upper age limit Sch Yr 6). All places for breakfast and creche must be booked. Please state vegetarian or other special diet when booking. For more information please call 782744.
This month Cheryl Jones is our speaker. Married to Bob and with three young sons, Cheryl is also a full-time student at Northbrook College studying the Performing Arts. In her “spare time” she runs the “No Strings” drama club at Wickbourne and is a member of Arundel Players.
December 8, 2007 8:45 am to 11:00 am.
| December 9, 2007 |
| 7:00 pm | to | 9:30 pm |
We are delighted to welcome back Gerard Le Feuvre and the Kings Chamber Orchestra for our Christmas Classical Worship Explosion. This years programme, called Winter Wonderland, features music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Piazzolla, and Le Feuvre himself.This evening is guaranteed to be a most wonderful musical experience with a highly entertaining and humorous seasonal programme presented with the KCO’s unique spontaneity and depth. Sunday 9 December, 7.00 for 7.30pm in the LCS Sports Hall. Let’s make this a special evening with our bow ties, posh frocks, etc. Tickets are £10 and are available from the Info Point or from the Church Office.We are delighted to welcome back Gerard Le Feuvre and the Kings Chamber Orchestra for our Christmas Classical Worship Explosion. This years programme, called Winter Wonderland, features music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Piazzolla, and Le Feuvre himself.
We are delighted to welcome back Gerard Le Feuvre and the Kings Chamber Orchestra for our Christmas Classical Worship Explosion. This years programme, called Winter Wonderland, features music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Piazzolla, and Le Feuvre himself.
We are delighted to welcome back Gerard Le Feuvre and the Kings Chamber Orchestra for our Christmas Classical Worship Explosion. This years programme, called Winter Wonderland, features music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Piazzolla, and Le Feuvre himself.
December 9, 2007 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
Last Tuesday the Queen opened an £800m, transformed St Pancras station and new Channel Tunnel terminal for Eurostar in London. The first passenger paying trains will start running this coming Wednesday.
The magnificent engine shed structure known as the Cathedral of the Railways, was originally completed in 1868, and had the largest span of any building at that time, with a roof of iron and glass. The front of the station has impressive gothic architecture.
The district of St Pancras was named after Pancras, a Roman citizen who converted to Christianity and was apparently beheaded for his faith at the age of just 14 around the year 304. His mother died during childbirth, while his father died when Pancras was eight years old. Pancras - his name is Greek and means, ‘The one who holds everything’, was brought up by his uncle in Rome. St Augustine dedicated the first church in England to St Pancras.
This morning we are looking at Jesus calling the first disciples to follow him. It is said they left everything to follow. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24. This is a continuous challenge.
At most morning assemblies at Chi High for Boys we would recite the prayer of St Richard of Chichester, the last part being: May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly, day by day. That remains my prayer. David Thatcher
November 13th, 2007
The Northern Rock bank fiasco this week has rocked the financial
institutions. I don’t pretend to understand the complexities of it all, but it seems that behind so much is an idolisation of money and wealth. A materialistic credit culture, borrowing often way beyond our means, collect now pay later, is idolatry as blatant as worshiping a Buddha on the mantelpiece.
The teachings of Jesus turn so much of our culture on its head, including our attitude to money. ‘Give us our daily bread’, a reference to the Children of Israel in the desert who collected the manna each day, was how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. When tempted to gather twice as much one day in case the manna didn’t appear the next, the stored food went mouldy.
‘Give, and it will be given to you’, was another of Jesus’ instructions. Paul
said if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly. If you sow generously you will reap generously. Then as you reap generously, you can give generously.
The first Christians exemplified this new culture of giving. They embraced community living, not necessarily living together – there were thousands of them – but they shared life on a daily basis and had everything in common. They didn’t need an evangelism programme, as people continually joined them.
Next Sunday there will be a special opportunity of giving thanks to God and making a Thank Offering in terms of money, money that will be used to help many people. But there is a danger here that once we have given, we can feel we have then done our bit, ticked the box, eased our conscience. God is challenging us to examine our mindset about money all over again.
And it’s not about how much money we have. I’m a widow, a single parent; I’ve only got two small coins – heard that one before? I’ve got just one potato; do I eat it or sow it? Discuss!
David Thatcher
September 24th, 2007
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July 25th, 2007
| July 28, 2007 |
| 10:00 am | to | 12:00 pm |
All men of any age are very welcome to come and enjoy a big breakfast at the Wickbourne Centre. We have a guest speaker, Austin Wade, who will be sharing his testimony. Tickets are £2.00, please contact
the Church Office to book your place (01903 782744).
July 28, 2007 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
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