Broad Haven Baptist Church

News

Walk St. David
Urgent Notice

Volunteers are sought to host Mission Team members, (singles mainly), particularly in the Broad Haven area, and not necessarily for a full week (half week is an option). Also drivers are sought to be available during the week (not necessarily every day). Please speak to Maggie AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you can help in these areas.

The Bible in One Year from Soul Survivor

It's not too late to join in—Buy one from the bookshop Or just read along

Sun: Gen 9:18-11:9, Mat 4:23-5:20, Ps 4:1-8
Mon: Gen 11:10-13:18, Mat 5:21-42, Ps 5:1-12
Tues: Gen 14:1-16:16, Mat 5:43-6:24, Ps 6:1-10
Weds: Gen 17:1-18:33, Mat 6:25-7:23, Prov 1:8-19
Thurs: Gen 19:1-20:18, Mat 7:24-8:22, Ps 7:1-9
Fri: Gen 21:1-23:20, Mat 8:23-9:13, Ps7:10-17
Sat: Gen 24:1-67, Mat 9:14-38, Ps 8:1-9
Sun: Gen 25:1-26:35, Mat 10:1-31, Prov 1:20-33

Daily notes (or video) to go with these at www.soulsurvivor.com/bibleinoneyear

WALK ST. DAVID, 25TH – 3RD OCTOBER, 2010

HOSPITALITY AND DRIVING

As ‘Walk St David’ draws ever nearer I now need firm offers of hospitality and driving…….. even though as yet we cannot give you definitive days of need within the week, but do need to know exactly what you can offer so that I can match ‘need to offer’.

We have several single missioners to accommodate for 9 nights We will need offers of packed lunches and some evening meals in order to spread the load Or as the mission is aimed at gently sharing faith with friends and family, perhaps you might like two of the missioners to join you at a meal to which you invite a few friends for whom you have been praying We also may need one or two extra people to drive the minibus or to use their own cars to ferry anyone around.

If you can help in any of these ways please give me a ring or an email as soon as possible, if not, don’t worry but please pray that enough volunteers are available.
Thank you very much,

Maggie Vickery

July 25th 2010 Greetings from St. David’s

St David's is full of holiday makers at the moment.

We in Y Groesfan, however, are not on holiday and continue to meet each Sunday in our house. We had a lovely time with Lucy Williams last week and we welcomed back a friend who had taken a gap year. Sometime in the next few weeks Geraint and I will host a dinner party for some of the parents we are getting to know. Heather and David hosted a lovely bring and share lunch for local church people last week and it meant more relationships were sealed. A few weeks ago Maralyn hosted a lovely tea in her beautiful garden. Hospitality is the key. We, too, are involved with Walk St David, and trust that God will continue to do amazingly, abundantly more than we could ask or imagine through it. The children are both fit and well (Rebeca is very sociable at 2 and a bit, and Jos is very big and cuddly at 9 months.) Geraint preaches every Sunday and Fiona is on school holidays this week! We send our love to you and our prayers for all you are doing and seeking to do. Geraint, Fiona, Rebeca, Jos

June 30th 2010 Romania Trip

Trip to Salsig Romania leaving at midnight on 27th June from Haverfordwest and returning on 7th July

The team will be Bob Inglesant, Jeff Britten, Peter Jenkins, Sam Brown from the church, accompanied by Darren Llewhelin (who went last year), his brother Mark Llewhelin, and Johnny Oak who is at college with Sam on a plumbing course, all 3 are local men who are keen to come along and help out.

As most in the church will know, last year a work party went to Salsig to do the plumbing and electrics to finish it’s project to build a school, commu-nity and worship centre. A boarding school for disabled children has generously offered accommodation for various work teams during the summer breaks over the years, and the conditions of the toilet and wash facilities have never been good, many of the showers taps and toilets are defective. It is wholly inadequate for the children and staff who live there throughout term time.

The intention this year is to completely refurbish two bathrooms with about 10 showers, 7 toilets, and 3 or 4 banks of sinks with associated taps and plumbing of water supply and sewerage. It is a big project but one of the major challenges will be obtaining the necessary supplies. Shopping in Ro-mania is not as simple as it is here, and the team would value prayers regarding obtaining the right supplies needed and at good prices, as well as the Lords blessings as they travel. Bob

Brecon Update from Ifor Wed April 25th 2010

Penny and I have settled into Waterloo Cottage in Erwood (originally built in 1816, one year after the battle of Waterloo). It's a lovely place and we are blessed and fortunate to be here. Our ducks are in seventh heaven in that they now have clean running water to swim in, as well as the seven foot waterfall further upstream. The neighbours are very friendly and helpful, even to the extent that one of them brought over a barrow load of logs for our fire! When we first arrived we were quite taken aback with the warmth of the welcome,with 8 or 10 people knocking on our door to say hello during the first couple of weeks. I met more of the locals when I went to the pub to watch the rugby, and Penny met a completely different set of locals when she joined the WI. We must have made an impression somewhere because I have received the great honour of being invited to open the Church and Chapel fête in July!

We have also found a warm welcome in the chapels we have visited, with everyone pleased to see us, and many promising to pray for us in our new venture. Although God has given us some clear ideas about what he wants us to do, we felt it was best to concentrate first on getting to know people before we rushed into any organised events or groups. We go to different chapels every Sunday and I have preached or led a Bible Study on 7 different occasions so far, as well as sitting in the congregation and getting to know the people. I was invited to share our calling at a meeting of the Congregational Church, and also invited to the inauguration of the Talgarth Free Church, a result of the Baptist, Presbyterian and URC churches in Talgarth coming together. Sadly the total membership of the new church is only 12 people, a sad reflection on the state of the chapels in this area. We have also spent time with people from three different house churches in Brecon, Builth Wells, and Llandrindod, and met for coffee with a number of Christian contacts, as well as meeting with the ministers of the Rads and Monts Association at their regular fraternal. We spent the best part of a day with a group from a Catholic church in Hay, and have joined several other groups for prayer. We have had quite a few meals with people round about, and are planning to invite others to us when Penny has fully recovered from her operation. This week we helped out at a New Wine Cymru Kingdom Intensive course in Cardiff. It was a timely reminder that our call to Brecon is to start new work, which includes sharing the Good News that Jesus is King, and that he is as powerful and relevant today as he was 2000 years ago.

It's been quite frustrating for Penny having to convalesce after a big operation, at the same time as moving into a new house and starting a new job, not to mention all the preparations for Katie's wedding on Mar 27th. Having said that we are slowly sorting ourselves out, buying some new bookcases and managing to unpack about 40 boxes of books! We can now see the colour of the Study carpet.
We are extremely fortunate that both Baptist Unions are fully supportive of our calling, and jointly funding my salary. Nick Bradshaw from the BUGB and Marc Owen from the BUW are part of a support group which has been set up, and they will both be taking part in our Commissioning Service at Watergate Baptist Church in Brecon, 5pm on Sunday May 16th. You are very welcome to join us and stay for refreshments afterwards. It would really encourage the Brecon churches to see a good crowd joining together on that occasion, and it would encourage us as well!

PRAYER POINTS
• that we would continue to meet and build relationships with people across Breconshire
• that God would lead us to 'people of peace' who might be open to hosting Alpha etc
• that we would be led by God and not rush into doing things because we feel 'we ought'
• that Penny's healing would continue and her frustration would not!
• that our own walk with God would deepen day by day and that we would hear his voice

Encounter 2010
15th May Folly Farm
A brilliant night for all ages
Fun fair rides (free), worship and speaker
Family ticket £10 Individuals £3
see Marion or Sally and get your name down

Encounter 2010 Website

14th March 2010

New Alpha Course
Starting date Thursday, 29th April 2010 6.30pm

Please will you let Christina know if you are aware of anyone who is hoping to come along to the Alpha course . Registration forms are in the porch or contact Christina on (01437) 710934, click the above logo for more info

Two Services are BACK!

from March 28th we will be having 2 services: 9.30am and 11.00am.

14th February 2010

Beyond Sunday—To ensure our fellowship are kept up to date with events, etc. the BS will now be emailed to all those on the Church database every week. If you are not on the database, but would like to be, then please contact Christina on (01437) 710934

The Church minutes and agenda will be issued similarly. At the moment, the paper copies of BS will continue until people are familiar with the new system, but it is hoped that those on the electronic mailing list will use their electronic copy and not pick one up at the Church service.

BUW Conference, Carmarthen is 18/19th June. Please collect an application form from Glenys Evans. Deadline for applications 30th April.

'Congratulations to Andrew Stammers who has passed his Greek exam'.

1st February 2010

Business as usual.

Preaching and teaching from February.
Business as usual.
From February onwards we will be following a number of series in order to maintain continuity of ministry and growth as a fellowship.
Learning from the work of our involvement in the Pembrokeshire Preaching team we have set up teams of people who will take responsibility for delivering the these series and bring us into the presence of God so that he can challenge and encourage us and develop our future as a fellowship.
This will be supplemented by visiting preachers and teachers.
The team has been meeting and preparing for this role and will be having additional training and input on the Biblical material

Francis and Phill

31st January 2010

The End of an Era

Ifor & Penny Leave for Brecon.

Today is a strange day in the life of our church family. I pray that both Ifor and Penny, and all of us, will look back to this weekend as a time when we began a new journey, listening for God's word to us and following in the footsteps of our Lord and Saviour. He said, "Love God, and Love your neighbour as yourself", and if we all follow that advice we will not go far wrong, Yona

Leaving

22 November 2009

Andrew Stammers Update

Thanks to all at BH for prayer support for the Baptism service. The service went really well and I believe God touched a number of people deeply.

I managed not to forget the vows or hit the head of the 6'6'' man on the edge of the pool! I spoke on how the spirit of God came down on Jesus after his baptism like a dove. The dove being (as per the original Greek) a 'Rock Dove' which is more at home in rocky desert places - Spirit of God can still come into us even though we are not perfect; we kind of offer God at times a desert habitat, however he prepares us and uses us.

Many Blessings

Stammers

September 23rd 2009

IFOR AND PENNY’S CALL TO BRECON

What I am about to relate is a ‘God Story’. It started many years ago when I first became aware that the churches in the Breconshire Assoc were in dire straits. I have watched the situation in that County go from bad to worse over the years, to the extent that there are now 20 Baptist churches with not a single full time minister between them. The churches average 8 members, most of whom are very elderly, and some of these churches only meet once a month.

At the end of March this year Penny and I spent two days at Ffald y Brenin retreat centre, praying and planning for the next stage of the work at Broad Haven. On the second day we stood before a large Cross erected on the hillside, and we felt led to give our whole life and ministry back to God, to do with as he pleased. What he did do was rather unexpected. The following night I woke up at 3am and all I could think about was Brecon. It was as though God was downloading in my mind a strategy of how to start a new work throughout the County of Breconshire. I was so excited by these thoughts that I couldn’t get back to sleep. I got up and made myself a drink and started writing down what I felt God was saying. There was so much that I never went back to bed! Later that day I shared this with Penny, saying that I felt God was calling us to move to Brecon and start a new work there. Over the years Penny has shared some of my concern for Brecon but she did not agree that it was time to leave Broad Haven. She wondered whether the church here could release me a few days a month to work in Brecon, but I felt we needed to move. We agreed to disagree.

The next day I was at a Baptist Union of Wales (BUW) meeting where the situation in Brecon was discussed in depth. Everyone was very concerned and agreed that something had to be done. At the end of that meeting I approached the Church Life Secretary, Marc Owen, and asked for an appointment. When he asked what it was about I said it was about me and Brecon, and at that point I choked up with emotion. We agreed to meet some weeks later. At that meeting Penny and I were still in disagreement. Marc was excited to see someone was sensing a call to Brecon, but could see we were at odds with each other and suggested that we go away and pray about it.

The following week I travelled to a conference in California with some other Welsh church leaders, and some interesting things happened. On the very first day three different people, in the morning, afternoon, and evening, all prayed over me and said the same thing. They all said that God was giving me strategies or blueprints for a new work. At the end of that week each of us received prophecy from a group of people who didn’t know us, and that prophecy was recorded on tape and given to us before we left. Listening to that prophecy I felt God was confirming the call to Brecon, but I knew I might be just reading into it what I wanted to hear. On my return I encouraged Penny to listen to the tape. She did so and ended up in tears because she felt God was clearly calling us to Brecon, but she didn’t feel at all ready to leave Broad Haven. A week or so later I attended a ‘feedback’ meeting of those who had gone to California, and I shared with the others what I felt God was saying, and asked them to pray about it. They didn’t need to pray. One by one they all confirmed that they felt this was clearly from God.

One of the group had visited Broad Haven for the first time some weeks earlier. He had walked into the chapel and turned to his wife and said, “Ifor is not going to be here much longer. I felt it as soon as I walked in.” Another member of the group had been praying for me in California and had felt God saying that he was shaking my roots and preparing me for a move. I didn’t feel it was fair to share all this with Penny, so I left it with God. God however, was doing his own work in Penny’s heart. She became increasingly aware of the strong pull to Brecon and one day she went up into our bedroom and let go. She handed over to God the strong sense of call to Broad Haven that she had had for over 20 years, and asked him to lead. I was out visiting at the time and she sent me a text saying, “I’ve just let go. I feel like jelly”.

The next morning was amazing. She woke up after a good night’s sleep and felt completely at peace. She realised straight away that her sense of call to Broad Haven had gone. Disappeared overnight. Suddenly she could feel the strong call to Brecon that I had known for the previous seven weeks. We phoned Marc Owen and arranged another meeting, this time with Marc, Peter Thomas the General Sec of the BUW, and also Nick Bradshaw, the Regional Minister for the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB). We shared with them the strategies that God was giving us, and our joint sense of call. They were thrilled and excited, and we discussed how this sense of call could be facilitated. We agreed that I was not being called as a minister to one of the Breconshire churches, but that both of us were called to start a new work in different villages throughout the County, by seeking out “people of peace” who might be interested in hosting an Alpha course or similar, and using their own networks of friends and family to draw a group together. Part of the strategy was to continue to support these groups afterwards, so that any new Christians could be discipled in depth, and where appropriate, encouraged to repeat the process. In time these groups could be brought together for celebration and teaching, and lead to the formation of a new “church” to serve the whole county, meeting locally in different homes or halls.

Peter and Marc felt that it would be right for the BUW to appoint us to this task, and for the BUW to pay my stipend direct, employing me as a church planter to establish a new form of church in the county of Brecon. Nick was also keen for BUGB to join in this initiative, and offer their endorsement and support. This proposal was presented and endorsed at the Superintendents Meeting on the morning of Sept 23rd, and then presented to the Ministry Board of the BUW and approved that afternoon. At the Church Meeting at Broad Haven that evening I told the church of our sense of call and offered my resignation as minister, with effect from Jan 31st, 2010.

I have written this letter because I wanted everyone to hear the full story of our call to Brecon, but there is another story unfolding even now, which is equally important. God has a new chapter in store for the church at Broad Haven. What we have all built over the years is the foundation for what God wants to do next. Every member of the church has a key role to play in the coming months and years, and God is already preparing the next person to lead the church. Let us go forward together in faith and love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. It has been a wonderful privilege to be your minister for the last 21 years, but God is calling us all to move on to the future.
Ifor