At our special family service on Sunday morning January 31st we were pleased to present cheques for £907.50 each to Mrs. Mary Barrett, representing Helping Hands and Mrs. Krystyna Newman representing Macmillan Cancer Support. Both charities being the focus of our 2009 Autumn appeal.

Mrs. Newman, fundraising co-ordinator for the Scunthorpe branch of Macmillan, thanked the congregation for their splendid effort in raising over £900 for each charity and said that the sum would help the Scunthorpe branch greatly.

Mrs. Barrett passed on John's thanks and spoke briefly about the success of the micro businesses set up by Helping Hands, A small sum of money is given to an individual or family to start up a business and then when that business is in profit the initial capital is passed back for re-investment with another individual or family.

Rev. Lyn presenting cheque to Mrs. Mary Barrett (Helping Hands).

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Rev. Lyn presenting cheque to Mrs. Krystyna Newman (MacMillan Cancer Support).

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Although not able to be with us John sent the following letter which was read during the service.

John writes –

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“Sorry that I cannot be with you this morning to say a personal thank you for your, once again, generous support.

However, my sister Mary, will I’m sure express the gratitude that we at ‘Helping Hands’ feel for the splendid total raised towards the work we are doing in Kenya.

The latest news is that the new school year, has started with many new parents asking for places for their children, so the school is full.

Class one is overflowing and we could easily start another year one class with the enthusiasm of parents who wish their children to be enrolled, numbers are now reaching towards two hundred.

The new year five has been launched, classroom, desks and books provided, plus the appointment of a new teacher, all to make sure that the children get a good start in this new learning year.

Feeding the children is a big issue and one that is welcomed by the children and parents, most of whom would have little sustenance without our help. Many are starving, hard to believe in comparison to our daily lives here in Europe. Our two cooks are kept busy preparing and providing two good meals a day, breakfast and lunch. Nothing is left over, nothing ever refused, all bowls licked clean, all bread crust enjoyed as if they were cream cakes.

This year we have provided school uniforms for the children, it is the law in Kenya that all children must have them. Buying material in bulk and getting local women to sew the dresses and shirts means that we can get the uniforms  at better than half the shop price and also provides work for local women.

The micro businesses we set up are all doing fine, as well as giving a feeling of self worth and a sense of achievement it means that families can now support themselves.

We are not fully sure what this year will bring, we simply trust in God.

Our biggest problem is that the school is situated on rented land and the owner has said he would like to sell the land in the near future. What this will mean to the school is unclear at the moment. Land is expensive and all our money goes towards the education and feeding of the children, we keep nothing back. Again as this is beyond our capability, we have placed this in God’s hands, believing that “He is able”. As the old Methodist hymn says “We’ll praise Him for all that is past, and trust Him for all that is to come”.

I am not sure when I will be over to the UK again to share with you, last year was very busy, being away from home for most of the time. We are not getting any younger and I feel the need to be home more this year. We shall see, God may have other plans for us.

A sincere thank you once again, your help and support means so much to me personally and is of great benefit to the children in Kenya.

John Hollingsworth.

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Our appeal for 2009 once again supports a local charity and an overseas charity and, as last year, the overseas charity has strong local links with this area.

First, the local charity is for the Scunthorpe branch of MacMillan Cancer Support, who have given so much help to several members of our church.

The second charity is 'Helfende Hande' or in english 'Helping Hands' which is an Austrian based charity sponsoring children and supporting the Mtwapa Childrens Centre in Kenya to which our focus is directed. The local connection is via Mr. John Horsewood who, although now living in Austria, is originally from Winterton and lived in Messingham for many years. John's two sisters Mary and Margaret are both members of our church and worship here weekly. John and his wife Sonja visit the centre in Kenya and are heavily involved in the work of the centre

We were pleased this week (December 6th.) to have had John and Sonia at our morning worship, both having only just returned from Kenya. John gave a short talk after the morning service closed, during which he thanked the congregation for their support and updated us on the work of the childrens centre. Schools in Kenya have just undergone their periodic inspections and the centre's school has a very high success rate, with all pupils scoring well above the national average. John has also helped to complete the building of another class room and has told us that the aim is to purchase a further plot of land to extend the school and childrens centre in the near future.

Also this week on Monday December 7th. Macmillan are holding a store collection in the Scunthorpe branch of Morrisons, please support this event if you are shopping there. The lady running the stall was kind enough to give us some balloons and pencils for our sunday school children.

John with some of the children from the centre. Copyright © J. Hollingsworth 2009

Mtwapa Childrens Centre classroom. Copyright © J. Hollingsworth 2009

As of the start of 2009 the centre cared for 309 children, 159 being orphans with the rest from the poor shanty dwellers.

Please keep coming back as this page will be updated regularly with more information on both charities as well as the progress of the appeal.

Total Raised Autumn 2008  £1600

Cheques to both the Lighthouse and The Centre for Street Children were presented to representatives from both organisations at our Parade Service, 10.30am February 1st 2009.

A big thank you to all who have supported our annual appeal

Rev. Lyn Gregg presenting cheques to representatives of the Lighthouse and Gainsborough Methodist Church (representing Revd. A. Herrick) Copyright © M. Atkinson 2009.

The Lighthouse Shelter for the Homeless, Scunthorpe

The Lighthouse is located on Frodingham Road Scunthorpe and provides a much needed refuge for the homeless in North Lincolnshire. Started by Mr. Russ Westfield the Pastor of the New Life Church at a cost of around £300,000, £110,000 of that being raised by the churches congregation through giving and funraising. The refuge is managed by Mr. David Wooldridge and was opened in October 2007 and in it's first year has seen around 150 individuals, couples and families move on into their own homes, occupancy during the period being around 90-95%.

As well as providing a roof, the shelter offers additional support in the form of practical help in finding accomadation, help with form filling and benefits, job seeking, communication skills and general advice as well as emotional and spiritual support where required. The Lighthouse is currently in then process of launching a Life-Skills Centre to assist clients with basic skills such as cooking or managing finances. Although not an obligation, several clients have begun to attend services on a regular basis.

Mochipa Church, Choma, Southern Province of Zambia

This Church is in a village on the outskirts of Choma. In the past two years their Church has been rebuilt with money provided by the people of St.Michaels Church, Aberystwyth, where Andrew Herrick is Vicar. The new Church was necessary to accommodate the rapidly growing congregation. The Church is being used for worship and also as a school, providing education for the poorest children from the local area. On either side of the Church are shanty compounds (Mwapona and Kabanana) housing thousands of people, most of them living in abject poverty.

The Revd. Andrew Herrick is the son of Shirley and David Herrick who worship at Gainsborough Methodist Church. Andrew was born in Gainsborough and educated at the Grammar School there. From Gainsborough he went to Lampeter University College in Wales and read Theology, obtaining a degree in the University of Wales. From Lampeter he went to Wycliffe College Oxford before being Ordained into the Church of Wales. Andrew is now Vicar at St.Michaels' Church, Aberystwyth where the Sunday congregation is around four hundred each Sunday.

In 2005 Andrew took a sabbatical and he decided to use the opportunity to go to Zambia to see the Church there. In his congregation at Aberystwyth for a couple of years had been a young lady from Zambia and he thought it would be good to visit her Church.

By sheer co-incidence Andrew stayed at Choma in the Mission Guesthouse, this was the old Methodist Missionary's house and where the Rev.Laurence Morley was a missionary in the 1930s. He of course, was minister in the Gainsborough Circuit for many years after his return from the mission field and he spent several years at Misterton where Rev Renee Howling was minister.

Whilst on his sabbatical Andrew was able to send home by e.mail a report on his findings of the real poverty in one of the poorest countries in the world. It makes us ashamed when we grumble about our misfortunes which amount to nothing compared to the sufferings of the Zambian people. It also shows the injustice in the world when we have all that we need, clothes, food and shelter and the people of countries like Zambia have very little.

Andrew went alone on his first trip, but in January 2008 he returned and took Sara his wife with him. He went to see the Church which had been built with money provided by Andrew's Church in Aberystwyth. The old Church was just not big enough for the fast growing congregation and he was pleased to see the new premises and to find that the Church was trying to provide education for those youngsters who could not afford to go to a state school.

The Church has few resources due to the real poverty in the district but nevertheless is doing its best with what they have. This is where the need for funds lies. Street children and orphans need help and this help can only be provided with our help. The church needs £50,000 over the next 3 years to provide accommodation, furniture and staff to provide for the children to give them a hope in life and every penny raised will be a great help.

Every penny donated will arrive in Zambia. The only charge made is from the Bank when money is transferred and this is a very small fee which is met by the good people of Aberystwyth.

Locally the Gainsborough Methodist Church are supporting this project with their annual appeal.

Children form the Mochipa Church, Choma Copyright © Revd. A. Herrick 2008