I recently spent time with Koffi Ahonon, country director for Compassion Togo. He’s an impressive guy, and deeply passionate about Jesus and the gospel. It turns out he knows personally one of the main projects where we’ve sponsored children, and it was great to hear about it first hand.
I spent some of our time together interviewing him about life in Togo and the impact of our child sponsorships, so if you’ve ever wondered …
What difference does my sponsorship make?
What is the real impact of sending a letter?
What are the challenges of poverty the children face day by day?
… check out this video for the answers to these questions and a whole lot more
Thanks to all who prayed about the various things I highlighted in my last blog post. Here are a few updates:
Insieme
Insieme (Italian for ‘together’) was the Commission Italy conference I spoke at last weekend, along with Chris Kilby from Life Church Southampton. We were connecting with two churches in Ladispoli, near Rome, who are looking into Commission.
It was a joy to connect with these Italian Churches and spend time with them in worship, prayer and teaching, and also to get time to talk with the Italian leaders about the future. Our teaching on the grace of God was well received and impacted people’s lives and faith. Thankfully there were good people on hand to translate as we went along. We also got the chance for a (brief) visit to Rome on one day to take some selfies and also to enjoy some great food.
Some of the Italian leaders are now hoping to join us at Commission Festival this summer as a next step in our developing relationships.
Newcomers Lunch
Our Newcomers Lunch on Sunday went really well. It was attended by 63 adult guests (!) in addition to the table hosts and a number of children. Like Woking as a town, the guests represented a wide variety of nationalities and backgrounds, which we always love to see.
Dub led the event through brilliantly and the majority of those who attended will now come to our Belong, Believe, Become course too. It’s good to see new people joining us each week, so please be on the front foot to befriend them. Why not make it a personal goal to meet at least one new person at church every Sunday morning?
Training Scholarships
Recently we promoted the Commission training courses, which enrol each September and are a superb way to grow in your faith, and connect more widely with our Commission family of churches. Lots of people have expressed interest, however we’re aware that, for a few, the course fees might be a barrier, so we’re delighted to launch our Welcome Church training scholarships 😀
We’re offering a limited number of scholarships for those who otherwise would not be able to participate in a Commission training course for financial reasons. Most of the scholarships will cover 50% of the course fees, although there may be exceptions where we can offer a larger scholarship. Sadly, it’s unlikely that we will be able to fund every application.
To be eligible for a scholarship you must:
Belong to Welcome Church
Be serving in one of our teams
Be in need of financial support to attend the training course
Commit to attending all the training sessions for the course you’re applying for and to submitting all assignments as required
If you’d like to put yourself forward for a scholarship, please apply here.
Applications will be reviewed on a ‘rolling’ basis, and decisions will be made by a panel. If you have any questions regarding scholarships or training, Christopher Hawes would be happy to chat to you.
We hope this means that everyone who wants to, has the opportunity to participate in these excellent courses.
And finally …
I know that parking on a Sunday can sometimes be tight, but let’s at least try not to imitate this unfortunate driver who accidentally left their vehicle at Welcome Church over the weekend 😃.
Apparently no one was hurt, but sadly we do have a bit of a repair job to do now! Police are aware and the vehicle should be recovered soon.
Remember, you can stay up to date with what’s happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog to get it straight to your inbox each week.
Here are some important items of Welcome Church news that we’d love you to know and to pray about – including a trip to Italy 🇮🇹.
Alpha
We currently have 30 guests attending Alpha on Wednesday evenings, and a further 6 guests attending a daytime Welcome Tots mums’ Alpha course. The topic this week is “How Can I Have Faith?”
The Holy Spirit Day, which we run as part of the Alpha course, will take place on Saturday 1st July. Please pray for every guest to encounter Jesus and start a journey of faith
Newcomers Lunch
Our Newcomers Lunch is on this Sunday, and currently more than 40 guests have signed up to attend. Big thanks go to Hazel and her team who will be cooking the meal. Please pray for Dub as he leads this event and for our guests to grow in their sense of connection to Welcome Church and to start to feel like ‘Welcome Church is their church’.
The Big Summer Picnic
Plans for the Welcome Church Big Summer Picnic on Sunday 9th July are coming together well (click here to sign up). Please pray for good weather on the day and that we have a lot of fun. Everyone is welcome to attend, but do please sign up on the link above so we know you’re coming.
Welcome Works
Welcome Works are the various ministries that we run as a church, to help people in need in all sorts of different ways. Three of these to particularly pray for this month are:
JOB CLUB: Our Job Club team is led by Neil Willis. Those in attendance are taught the key skills they need to handle job interviews and job applications so they can find and keep employment, often for the first time. The current course has 16 guests
FRESH START: Our Fresh Start team is led by Dawn Wallace. It helps people overcome low level addiction and make a fresh start. The current course has 4 guests
GET ONLINE: This is a brand new service for us, and starts this month. The team will be led by Steve Barter. Get Online helps people to learn basic computer skills, and learn how to access the internet safely, including such things as shopping and paying bills online – something many of us take for granted and rely on every day
Please pray for each of these courses, including all those who are in attendance and the teams who are running them. The goal of all of our Welcome Works is not only to help people in need – which is a great reflection of Jesus’ heart as revealed to us in Luke 4v16-21 – but also for them to encounter Jesus through us.
Office Team Wellbeing
We have had a couple of challenging incidents over recent weeks with members of the public acting in unhelpful ways towards our office team. I won’t go into details, and we do have sensible procedures in place, but please do pray for God’s loving protection over our office team day by day.
Italy: Insieme 2023
On Thursday this week (the day this blog comes out) I will be flying off to Ladispoli in Italy to speak at a conference called ‘Insieme’ (which is Italian for ‘Together’). The conference is for some Italian churches who are in the process of getting to know and perhaps join our Commission family of churches.
The theme of the conference is ‘Enjoying The Grace Of God’. I will also get to enjoy the company of Norman and Jane Bave, formerly of Welcome Church, who now live in Italy and will be in attendance at Insieme.
Please pray for me while I’m away, and also for Jo who is speaking at a Conference at Kings Church Epsom on Saturday. Please pray for Chris Kilby from Life Church Southampton who is leading the Insieme conference, and also pray that we would all be able to discern together what the future might look like in terms of these churches and their growing link to Commission.
I’ll be flying back on Monday, and remember, you can stay up to date with what’s happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog to get it straight to your inbox each week.
In January, due to growing numbers of children attending Welcome Kids each Sunday, we launched “Welcome Kids Seniors” (WKS), a new group aimed specifically at children in school years 5 and 6. They meet at The Cube each Sunday morning and are seeing God do some amazing things.
The group is led by Harriet Code and her awesome team. I wanted to share what’s been going on since then, in their own words.
What Harriet says:
“Since we started WKS, we’ve seen our year 5 and 6 children grow in confidence, in friendships and in their own relationship with God. The numbers attending each week have grown too.
“It’s a really exciting time opening the Bible every week, immersing ourselves in God’s word, and asking questions about what it means for us today, as well as what it tells us about God. We’ve been trying to encourage the children to ask questions and consider their own thoughts and opinions in relation to what we’ve been discussing, and it’s been great to see them come to church with their own questions. They are an amazing group of children and it’s a really exciting ministry! “
What the kids say:
“I feel really valued – everyone has an opportunity to share something”
“It’s a mix of things: we have fun games, we go more in depth and there are comfy seats!”
“I like that the questions are more complex”
“We get to have more open conversations”
“I can share my own thoughts and everyone’s ideas are listened to”
“The leaders are amazing”
“I know the people in seniors much better now and our friendships have become much stronger”
What some of the WKS team say:
“I love the games, and seeing the kids relate to each other and enjoy being at church”
“It’s great seeing the relationships that are building with the kids from different schools in a Christian environment”
“I like the breakout groups where the children think of ways they can be kind to kids at school and outside of church”
“I love the ‘eureka’ moments when a part of the gospel becomes so clear to the kids that they take over with their own explanations and answers”
Some final words from Harriet:
“When I think about what we’re trying to do in WKS, we want to encourage the children to be confident in their thoughts and opinions, to have a safe space to question their ideas, and to independently think about God’s word. It’s really exciting to think that we’re on this road, and this became evident during the recent Welcome Kids Weekend Away.
“During the Sunday meeting at the weekend away we shared (with permission!) how some of the children were going through a tough time with health issues, bereavement and more. They all showed real emotional maturity as they poured out their support, respect and concern for one another and then surrounded the affected children and prayed for them. For me this was a moment of awe, pride and genuine thanks to God. They really are an amazing group of kids!
Encouraged? I certainly am
You can stay up to date with what’s happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog to get it straight to your inbox each week.
We have some great opportunities, starting in September, for people who want to grow in their walk with God and explore their future calling:
Welcome Church Internship Program
This year we’re offering a one year internship program at Welcome Church, starting in September and running through to Commission Festival in 2024. This is a fantastic opportunity to LEARN about yourself and about God’s plan for your life, to SERVE the church and our local community, and to GROW in your character, faith, skills and gifting.
Our Internship year is aimed primarily at Christians who are in the 18-25 age bracket (though we’re happy to chat with anyone) and is linked with the Commission Internship Program. It includes a mix of practical experience and theological training.
We have up to three places available, based in our Welcome Church offices, focussing on one of the following three areas (although other areas of interest could be discussed):
Children’s and/or Youth Work
Comms and Social Media
Outreach and Social Action
If this sounds like something for you or for someone you know (perhaps even someone in another church), please get in touch with Christopher Hawes by email to express an interest (click here)
Commission Theology Training
In addition to the Internship Program there are also some great opportunities, for everyone who wants to, to receive some theological training. Commission, the group of churches we belong to, offers 4 levels of Theological Training:
Level 1: Theology For Life – this runs once a month on 11 Saturdays across the Calendar year at Hope Church, Winchester. Whether you’re a brand new Christian wanting to learn as much as you can about Christianity, or a well established Christian wanting to deepen your theological understanding, this course is an excellent place to start.
Level 2: Training for Leadership & Ministry (TLM) – this runs once a month on Saturdays from September to July, over a two year period. The course aims to do more than simply ‘teach’ theology; it is also intended to train and equip you to lead others. TLM is Commission’s core programme for equipping and coaching new and emerging leaders in our church family and helping people grasp our shared vision.
Level 3: Graduate Diploma In Theology – Partnering with Union School of Theology, this course facilitates rigorous theological study at a graduate level, alongside a cohort of other leaders from Commission Churches. The Diploma is accredited by The Open University, and is designed for people stepping into formal ministry, as well as for leaders already in ministry who missed out on formal theological education.
Level 4: Masters Degree In Theology – Partnering with Union School of Theology, this course provides advanced theological study, at a Masters level, alongside a cohort of other leaders from Commission churches. This course is validated by The Open University, and is aimed at current leaders who want to grow through serious theological and applied study.
For most people in Welcome Church levels 1 and 2 would be the best place to start, but we wanted you to know about all the options. If you want to know more about any of these, please check out the details via the various links above, and please also get in touch with Christopher Hawes by email to express your interest (click here)
Scholarships
We know that some of these courses can be expensive and, whilst this will not be an issue for many, please be aware that if funding is a challenge you can apply for a limited number of ‘scholarships’, funded by Welcome Church, for Levels 1 and 2, that will help towards the course fees. Please contact Christopher Hawes for more details about this.
Christopher and I spent yesterday evening at the House of Lords. To be fair we were invited rather than summoned, but what were we doing there???
Read on to find out:
Big Ben Suit Selfie
It was great to have Tim Robertson from Compassion UK speaking at Welcome Church a couple of Sundays ago. Between us, as a church, we sponsor 265 children through Compassion – mostly in Togo. You can read more about that amazing work by clicking this link. If you want to sponsor a child please let me know; we have a few child profiles from Togo available, so please just ask.
Invitation from an MP
Because of our church’s connection with Compassion in Togo, Christopher and I received an invitation from Tim Farron MP (no politics on here please 😉) to attend an event at the House of Lords in celebration of all that has been achieved through the ‘Different Path’ appeal. The event was to mark the three year point of this initiative, and reflect on all that’s been achieved. It was also a chance to visit the House of Lords, which is an impressive place.
Different Path
‘Different Path’ was a UK Government “matched funding” appeal to support child survival in Togo through Compassion UK. As a church we raised £40,000 pounds for this in 2019 as part of our building project. This money was matched by UK Government Aid to make it up to £80,000.
Overall the appeal raised more than £2.2m and has saved and improved many lives by providing vulnerable mums with medical support, health screenings, hygiene supplies, nutritional supplements and education. This all helps to protect women during pregnancy and ensure that their babies have a healthy start in life. The Different Path appeal has now exceeded all of its targets, which is an amazing result; I’m glad we were able to be part of it.
Some Highlights
Some highlights of our visit:
We met Koffi Ahonon, the National Director of Compassion Togo, who is both a really nice guy and an impressive leader
We saw The Speaker’s State Coach, which was made in the 1600s but appears to be in better condition than my car
We watched a live debate from the Strangers Gallery in the House of Lords (not as lively as one might hope … 😉)
We also took a selfie or two along the way 😀😀
Meeting Koffi AhononMy next car?“No photos to be taken in here please Sir”
You can stay up to date with what’s happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog to get it straight to your inbox each week.
Welcome Kids had a great time away at Walton Firs Activity Centre in Cobham last weekend … and I know some parents enjoyed the extra peace and quiet at home too 😃
60 kids from school years 3 to 6 attended the weekend. They were blessed by dry weather, which was a big answer to prayer at the end of a very wet April! The kids had a packed schedule from 8am to 9pm each day, staying in ‘sleeping pods’ in the forest overnight (see pic)
During the weekend they took part in a lot of fun activities including high ropes, crafts, buggy building, capture the flag, rounders, silent disco, a very popular tuck shop, a bonfire with toasted marshmallows & hot chocolate and lots more.
Some highlights included:
Caving: hunting for “fossils” and things that were hidden in an underground cave structure
Nightline: a blindfolded obstacle course completed as a team, learning to work together and help each other
Challenge the leaders: leaders completed various challenges that usually involved getting extremely messy
The weekend had some excellent spiritual content too
There were three main teaching times which looked at:
Getting to know God the Father (by looking at the story of the Prodigal Son)
Getting to know Jesus (by looking at Jesus as The Good Shepherd)
Getting to know the Holy Spirit (by looking at some Bible stories revealing what happens when people are empowered by the Holy Spirit)
Some of the Welcome Church Worship Team were at the weekend, leading times of praise and worship that engaged all the kids in singing, dancing, contributing and praying for one another. The year 6’s were able to spend time with some of the Welcome Youth leadership on Saturday evening, who came to join for the evening, in preparation for this age group moving up to Welcome Youth from September.
Some comments from the kids
“I feel like the worship was really good and we got to know people more”
“The activities were really fun and we got to spend some time getting to know each other”
“The talks were really good because they explained parts of the Bible really well and I feel like they helped me get closer to God”
”The talks were really touching and helped me understand God’s love a bit better”
A Big Thank You
25 helpers were involved in putting the weekend on and I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to them all, most especially to the dream team of Harriet Code, Crispy and Darren Forsdyke who pulled it all together.
If you had a child at the weekend away, why not ask them about what they learnt and what they enjoyed? If you missed out this year, remember to put the dates for next year in your diary now (3rd to 5th May 2024), and make sure to book as soon as the event is advertised; it’s likely to sell out fast again.
You can stay up to date with what’s happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog to get it straight to your inbox each week
There are some key things coming up at Welcome Church that we would love you to know about and to pray about:
The Welcome Kids Weekend Away
This weekend (28th – 30th April) is the Welcome Kids Weekend Away . This year they will be at Walton Firs Activity Centre in Cobham. This is the first time we’re using this new venue and we’re hoping for a fantastic weekend of fun, games, activities, worship and teaching. The theme of the weekend is “Get to know God”.
60 children from school years 3 to 6 will be attending, along with 25 leaders. Here are some things to please pray for:
Pray for good weather because lots of outside events are planned
Pray that the children stay safe and have a good time
Pray that they meet with God and that their faith in him grows
Pray for the leaders who are giving up their weekend to serve this event
Pray that everyone gets some sleep
Don’t forget: Welcome Kids will still be running on Sunday morning to serve all the children who are not at the weekend away
The Alpha Course
Our next Alpha Course starts on Wednesday 10th May. Each week Alpha creates a brilliant opportunity for people to explore the key questions of faith over a nice meal. Obviously we love it when people invite friends to Alpha, and you are welcome to attend yourself too – just let us know.
Please pray:
For people in your life who you would love a chance to invite to Alpha
For lots of people to accept invitations
For people to meet with God and grow in their faith
For the course leaders and table hosts
For all the practical details, including the meals
If you want more details about this Alpha Course or want to sign up please click here
Some other prayer requests
Our main prayer requests are around Alpha and the Welcome Kids Weekend Away, but if you have time to pray for more then the please consider the following:
Compassion UK are with us this Sunday (30th April). Please pray that lots of children are sponsored and set free from poverty
Our ‘Freedom In Christ’ course starts on Thursday 11th May. It’s not too late to sign up for this. Please pray for people to encounter Jesus and find new joy and freedom in their relationship with God
Mike Deavin and myself are meeting with the architect of our building later this week to talk about future possibilities that could give us more space. Please pray for wisdom as we meet
As a church we launched a partnership with Compassion UK in 2019, focussing on Togo in Western Africa.
As a bit of background, Togo is one of the least developed countries in the world and Compassion work in partnership with local churches in that country to see children released from poverty in Jesus’ name. They bring a lot of this about through a sponsorship model, through which you can sponsor a child and build a relationship with them through letters, photographs and prayer, and that’s where each of us can connect personally.
Compassion are Christ centred, Church based and Child focussed – values that connect well with us at Welcome Church. Jo and I have sponsored children with them for many years now, and it’s been a joy to write letters to those children and receive updates, photos and letters in return. We’ve seen the first children we sponsored grow up from infants to young adults, and they will soon graduate from the programme.
For those who were not with us when we launched our partnership, we did two main things at that time:
Firstly, we gave people the chance to sponsor a child in Togo. Many people responded to that and 184 children are now sponsored by people who are part of Welcome Church.
Secondly, we gave 10% of our June 2019 Building Project Gift Day to a UK government backed “matched funding” initiative for Compassion to fund Child Survival Projects in Togo.
This is vital work because at present in Togo:
1 in 20 babies die before their first birthday, mostly from preventable causes
1 in 58 women also die due to pregnancy or childbirth
These are shocking statistics, and Compassion are working to change this through their Child Survival Projects (CSPs). These CSPs are run by local churches in Togo. They work with mothers throughout their pregnancy and for the first year of the child’s life to provide:
Medical support
Vaccinations
Basic provisions – including safe water, hygiene kits and nutritious food
Education on how to care for a child, remembering that many of the mothers are little more than children themselves
Skills training to teach work skills that can help them earn a living
Spiritual support and mentoring
We gave just over £40,000 to that appeal which, due to the matched funding initiative, was doubled to £80,000. As a result of that giving a new Child Survival Project was opened through a Togolese church called Lumiere Epserance (which means Light and Hope).
Some News and Updates
On Sunday 30th April I’ve invited Tim Robertson from Compassion to come and spend the morning with us. He’s going to speak about God’s heart for the poor and bring us the latest news and updates from the projects we’ve supported. There will also be another chance to sponsor a child in Togo if you would like to. It should be a great morning.
I’ve also received the latest written update on the Child Survival Project we funded. It’s a great report with lots of photos and a thank you letter from a mother called Evoda, who has been helped by the project. I’ve attached this report below so you can have a read. Please be encouraged to do that – it will do you good.
As always there’s a lot going on at Welcome Church, so here are a few things to help you stay up to date:
This term we ran both The Bible Course and The Prayer Course
The Bible Course took place on Wednesday evenings at our building. 42 people attended, and 39 of them claimed afterwards that they had “gained more confidence in reading and understanding the Bible”. (93%. Not a bad result 🙂)
Through a combination of videos, group discussions, personal reflection and reading, the course took people through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, showing how the key events, books, and characters all fit together. HUGE THANKS to Christopher Hawes and Luqman & Kimberley Mulam for organising this course, and also to all who were involved in making it happen; we couldn’t have done it without you.
Here’s some feedback from course attendees:
“This course has broken the Bible into sizeable chunks and explained how the book was created. It has given me a framework of how to read the Bible”
“It was so useful to be immersed in a broad overview of the Bible. I was surprised at how much scripture we covered”
“I had a deeper revelation of Salvation through this course”
“It has improved my confidence in a tremendous way”
We ran The Prayer Course in three different groups: one in the building, one in a home and a third as a whole Lifegroup doing the course together. It was an eight-week journey through ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, including practical lessons about how to pray and tackling the questions and challenges we face. A big THANK YOU goes to Hanneke Silvester for organising this course, and also to the different group leaders for playing their part – we appreciate you all.
Here’s some feedback from course attendees:
‘The course has helped me to gain a better understanding of why we pray, its purpose and why at times our prayers are not answered.’
‘It has been so precious to learn more about how prayer can deepen my relationship with God. Some of the practical advice, like being still and pausing to rest in his presence before speaking a prayer, have been a game changer for me.’
Don’t worry if you missed out this time, we’ll run both of these courses again at a future date.
Commission Festival Deadline
We’re going to Commission Festival as a church this year and over 300 from Welcome Church are booked in. Please make sure that YOU don’t get left behind in Woking for the weekend.
For more details about the Festival click here. Prices go up after Monday 10th April, so please book in ASAP. Here’s a link to the booking page. You’ll get a 40% discount if you sign up to serve in some way, and as a bonus we’ll feed you for the weekend for free. All you’ll need is your tent, pillow and sleeping bag! Bring on the sunshine ☀️
Our Easter Plans
On Friday (7th April) we’ll mark Good Friday with a one hour meeting at 7pm. It will include worship, reflections on the crucifixion and communion. There’s no children’s work, but if you have kids who would meaningfully engage with an hour of worship, teaching and communion you’re welcome to bring them. It will also be live streamed at WelcomeChurch.online if you can’t get there in person.
On Sunday (9th April) we’ll celebrate Easter, and both morning meetings will include baptisms. As it stands we have 10 people being baptised, so please pray for them ahead of the day. Easter Sunday is a good opportunity to invite guests to come to church with you: they’ll hear a great Easter message, see some baptisms and find out about lives being transformed through Jesus. There will also be chocolate for everyone (!), so make sure you don’t miss out. Our Sunday livestream will run as normal, but there won’t be free chocolate on the livestream 😀
After Easter I’m taking a few days off, so I won’t write a blog next week. If I don’t get to speak to you personally, I hope you have a great Easter.
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