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Dear Friends,
Thank you all for all your support and prayers since our last
letter. Janice, Emma and I have settled into life and ministry
in Morley well. Emma is up and about now and it is hard to
believe she will be two in February - her favorite words at the
moment are good girl, yes and no, milk, book, shoes, bye, night
night and amen after Mummy and Daddy finish saying her bedtime
prayers.
The winter work has been busy, challenging but on the whole
encouraging. We held our Harvest Service on Sunday 7 October.
This year our theme was the harvest of the sea. One of our
Deacons is a local town councilor in Morley and through his
civic contacts we got folks from Morley Elderly Action involved
in knitting 100 woolly hats to be sent to the Seaman’s Mission.
On the evening of the Harvest Service we had the school hall
decked out suitably for our seafaring fishy theme with ships
rigging, fishing nets, and hand made and colored paper fish
attached to the school gym climbing frame. We also got some of
our young people to attach some of the woolly hats to blown up
balloons with smiley faces on so as to display the pensioners’
handiwork. I managed to curtail some of my congregations’ wilder
ideas and forgo wearing the Fisherman’s hat and jacket. What a
joy it was to welcome the members of the Morley Elderly Action
craft group and a number of our other unsaved contacts into that
service where they heard a gospel message preached from Luke 5 v
1 - 11. After the service continuing our theme the fellowship
provided everyone with a harvest supper and this was also a
great opportunity to build relationships and talk to people a
little more informally about what they had thought about the
service and the message in particular. People are still speaking
to me about the Harvest Service and a number of good contacts
are developing as a result of that service. Pray for two unsaved
ladies in particular Sue and Denise and their families who we
continue to have contact with.
Sunday 18 November was a real encouragement to us all as two
members of the fellowship Douglas and Malama went through the
waters of believer’s baptism. Perhaps you are wondering where we
baptised these two folks, for of course in a school hall there
is no baptistery. Thankfully our friends at nearby Staincliffe
Baptist Church allowed us to join with them and take over their
morning service. Again it was an encouraging opportunity to have
a number of unsaved contacts from both churches in the
congregation witnessing and hearing what baptism really means
and signifies and then listening to the sermon on Acts 3 v 19
“Repent Ye Therefore”. Both candidates for baptism had unsaved
relatives in the service and our prayer is that the gospel
witness that went forth that day might bear fruit in their
hearts and lives.
December, as is the case in most churches, was another busy
month. On Sunday 16 December we had our Carol Service where it
was encouraging to see a number of our unsaved contacts once
again in attendance. Then after school on Wednesday the 19
December we held our annual Children’s Christmas Decoration
Workshop it was encouraging to see the school hall filled with
children having fun and enjoying making Christmas decorations
but more than that it was another opportunity to teach the
Gospel and Andrew Devis a local Children’s Evangelist formerly
with the Leeds City Mission brought the story of the real
meaning of Christmas to the children in both song and word. The
Sunday evening before Christmas both young and old from the
fellowship met to go carol singing around the homes of the
elderly and some of our unsaved contacts. This was a great time
of fellowship and we trust witness. On Christmas day as is our
custom we joined with our neighboring sister Congregational
Church Birstall who are without a Pastor for their Christmas day
family service at 11.00am. Also during the month of December
hundreds of Day One Bible text calendars were given out to
residents in the town. We pray that God might continue to bless
the Christmas witness that went forth this December.
That brings things more or less up to date. Currently on Sunday
mornings I am preaching through a series entitled “Great Gospel
Texts.” Please pray that God the Holy Sprit would powerfully
arrest and convict and save those outside of Christ who have
heard and continue to hear these gospel messages. This year
Janice and I have taken over the running of our School Lunchtime
club on Friday’s Chatterbox Extra along with our Student Worker
Erica. Currently we have a well behaved attentive group of year
sixes (mainly girls) that are a real joy to teach. Pray that our
ministry to them might be an effective and fruitful one. We are
currently teaching the 5 lesson CEF series on Joseph. Pray for
Janice in particular as she heads up this vital work. We have 4
assemblies booked for this term in the school we meet in for
Sunday worship please pray for Andy and I as we have opportunity
to speak to every pupil and teacher. Our Thursday evening Youth
Club continues to be a challenge but it is pleasing to see
particularly in some of the young people who have been coming
for some years now a desire to keep coming also there has been
some improvement in the young peoples behavior in recent times.
Pray particularly for Andy, Stephen, Ray, Erica, Janice and I as
we take the epilogues each week that God would grant us the
words to say to these young people that will effect them for God
and the gospel. Please continue pray for our Youth Fellowship
“SAS” who meet each Sunday night at seven. A number of this
group are unsaved and are asking Erica and Lin (the leaders)
many awkward, difficult and at times irreverent and
disrespectful spiritual questions. Pray that they might be
convicted of their sin and find Christ to be the answer to all
their questionings.
Once again this year we will be having our week of outreach and
evangelism with a group of students from Capenwray Bible College
from 1- 9 March. Lord willing various things will be happening
that week such as a Bible Exhibition, Children’s Club,
Pensioners tea, and on Saturdays we hope to park a specially
kitted out Double Decker Bus in the main shopping precinct in
Morley so as to invite families on board for coffee, tea, juice,
biscuits, the story of the Good Shepherd and a free Children’s
book about the Lost sheep. Pray that God would send us the right
group of students that would be united with us as a fellowship
in our vision and purpose for the week. Pray that God would
speak powerfully to the people of Morley through the weeks
outreach.
Finally we are already beginning to think and plan our young
peoples camp (Ages 9 - 12) under canvas which is booked for High
Legh in Cheshire from Saturday 26 July – Friday 1 August. Last
year we struggled to find enough camp counsellors and in the end
we had to go with fewer than really we should have done. Please
pray for adequate leaders and camp counsellors for this year.
With the Lords help we look forward to another term of
challenges and blessing. Please continue to pray for us.
Yours in Christ
Rev David, Janice and Emma Bisset |
