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ChristChurch Wrexham May Key Events 1st Celebration at ACRC/ ACT/ Youth/ Discovery Church

ChristChurch Wrexham

Newsletter May 2016

Relay Don’t forget to check out our new website!

5th Ascension 6th/7th – Leaders Training in Warrington 8th Leaders Meeting 10th CCW Prayer Tower 15th Pentecost 18th CCW Newcomers Evening 19th Huddle and Core Leaders 21st ACT tabletop sale 21/22nd Feeding the Roofless 25th Base Camp Extra 29th No Morning Celebration – Missional Communities

Welcome to the May edition of the ChristChurch Relay magazine.

Scripture Focus for May Luke 24:50-53 - The ascension of Jesus 50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. Acts 2:1-4 The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

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Leader’s Log

Thinking practically about the Ascension In our stream of Christianity, the new or free churches, we often miss the importance of the Ascension. We celebrate the major Christian festivals, enthusiastically embracing Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, but make little or no reference to Ascension Day. However, Paul in Colossians 3:1 urges us to live our lives now as if we had already died, had risen, and had ascended with Christ.

There are great benefits for Christians because of the Ascension as it means: • Sin is dealt with through the cross - Colossians 2:14 • Death is defeated through the resurrection – 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 • Jesus is the world`s true King not Caesar – Romans 1:4 • Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place for us – John14:2 • The Holy spirit has been sent to dwell in us, empower us and equip us to live in God`s world, God`s way – John 16:5-15 • There is a man in Heaven at God`s right hand ever living to make intercession for you and for me – Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25 • The risen ascended Christ gives gifts to His body the church - Ephesians 4:7-16 • Christ will return to judge the living and the dead – 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5 As Paul encourages the Philippians, and also us, we are to live now in the light of these great truths (past, present and future). The Ascension declares glorious truths about Jesus Christ but because of all that Christ has done, is doing and is yet to do it also delivers power to live now. This informs and impacts our belief, behaviour and belonging and so provides power and encouragement to live in God`s light and strength now. The Apostles Creed reminds us of these great truths. The Apostles Creed I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

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He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

Let us prayerfully meditate upon these great liberating truths this Ascension time. As we do so let’s be open and ready to be used by God, through the power of His Spirit to ever make known, through word and deed, Jesus Christ, the world`s TRUE and ONLY saviour and king. Love and prayers, Every Blessing,

GARETH

Gweini Prison Conference by Rhys Williams The Gweini Prison Conference was held on 13th April in St Mark’s Church on Caia Park. With the opening of the new prison here in Wrexham next year it was an opportune moment for the churches in Wrexham to come together to talk and discuss what could be done together. The event was well attended with over 50 delegates from across the full church spectrum. Paul Cowley from Caring for Ex-Offenders (caringforexoffenders.org) gave the keynote address. He spoke of his own experience of serving a prison sentence and his subsequent journey to faith at the age 40. We were challenged from Jeremiah 29:11-14 and Romans 5:1-5 to be “hope carriers” in all aspects of our lives. Often those who find themselves in prison have long lost any hope due to their circumstances. Our mission as Christians is to bring the inspiration of hope and the love of Christ to all, in all circumstances. We heard from Rev Alan Pierce Jones, part of the chaplaincy team at HMP Berwyn, about the work of the chaplaincy and the vital role that it plays in maintaining a link between a prisoner and his or her family. A number of charities and organisations gave input as to their work in prisons around the country and also with mentoring and befriending prisoners upon their release. Prison Fellowship, Reflex, UCB, Yellow Ribbon Community Chaplaincy and Caring for Ex-Offenders all explained the vast range of work that can be done, from letter writing and visiting to prayer groups and mentoring. There appears to be many avenues open to the church here in Wrexham to answer Christ’s call as laid out in Matthew 25:39-40. As Mother Theresa said, “Each one of them is Jesus in disguise”. If you would like any further information please let me know ([email protected]). Please remember that we have a couple of CCW members in residential care. If you have time you can always visit. Malcolm Griffiths is in Emerald House and Graham Williams is in Chirk Court House.

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Easter Reflection from Sue Allen Crucial....defining, critical, of great importance, at a turning point....just some of the definitions of the word. The events of the first Easter weekend were crucial and it's interesting to note that the word itself has its root in the Latin 'crux' which means 'cross'! Maybe the fact that it is not so high- profile in the world is in part down to the fact that it's hard to sanitise. In the lovely Nativity scenes that proliferate at Christmas, with sweet-smelling straw, soft-eyed, adoring animals, cherubic angels, gentlysmiling mother, and attendant worshippers it's very easy to lose sight of just how momentous and earth-shattering a moment that truly was. It's much harder to 'clean up' a rigged court, blatant greed for power and torture that led to the horrific death at the crucifixion. However, the story that began with Jesus' birth has to come to its crucial climax at Easter in order that the great Plan to reconcile man to God and make way for New Creation can be fulfilled. That's why the Walk of Witness with its drama and spectacle is important. If just one person asks 'What's this all about' then it is worth doing. And it was a good God's Friday with a truly diverse congregation drawn from all ages representing many different streams of Christianity from the town and beyond worshipping together at Trinity. The service itself was solemn but not overly sad, rather it brought us together to remember and give thanks but also to look forward with hope because Sunday Resurrection was already a fact. The walk was impressive and the drama engaging and many along the route stopped to watch or walked alongside or joined in the singing. We are perhaps a bit wary of speaking out our faith and witnessing to others of all that God is and does, but joining together in this way is one way in which we can stand united and lift His name high.

GOOD NEWS FOUNDATION - Orgovány, Hungary. The Good News Foundation (GNF) was set up in 1990 by Charles & Agnes Ficsor. Orgovány is a village in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. It covers an area of 99.19 km2 (38 sq mi) and has a population of around 3-400 people. It is an agriculturally based culture with high levels of poverty. The GNF is a church and a charity based around a family vision serving the poor & marginalised, reaching others with the gospel through: writing, publishing & distributing Christian literature relief / aid work (e.g. shoeboxes, clothes) education (particularly children and youth) generous hospitality aid work and evangelism amongst the gypsy population being ecumenically open and focused FIND out a little more at: http://oromhiralapitvany.hu/

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It has always been a complete FAITH VENTURE and started in the family home, where everything given away is free. God has blessed and honoured their vision and dedication, with the work growing considerably over the years. They now have numerous buildings providing accommodation, a church sanctuary, offices, storehouses and family homes!!. The Church associated with the foundation was planted in 1995 and is nondenominational; embracing and seeking authentic biblical, Holy Spirit filled Christianity. People travel considerable distances for Church, retreats and conferences. There is a great hunger and thirst for the Christ centred, spirit filled Christianity that is on offer. The church in Orgovány was planted in 1995 and they recently planted a second church in Izsak around 10km away. This church plant is led by Kori & his wife Sylvi and is made of predominantly Romany gypsies though the original and on-going vision is for a mixed church of Hungarians and gypsies. In recent years Charles has handed over leadership of both the church and the charity to his son Donat and he is assisted in this work by a team of 4 leaders and trustees. Russ and Lesley Howell (CCW apostolic advisors) have been involved with the GNF for over 20 years and over the last 3 years Russ has re-started his regular 2-3 visits per year. I have joined him on one of these visits in each of the last 2 years. In 2014 to assist with a conference on Listening and more recently in 2015 to lead a small team from CCW to do street work and evangelism in the Izsak church plant. It was a real pleasure and privilege to work amongst these delightful people who were so hungry to discover more about Jesus and the bible. Gareth plans to return regularly on annual trips and more recently he has been challenged by God to think through more thoroughly what a long-term commitment to GNF might look like (particularly the Izsak church plant). He is now asking the question of ChristChurch whether this is a journey and partnership in the gospel we should be embarking on together. More next month. Love & prayers, Blessings, Gareth

Cefn Mawr MC Update We held another craft-based outreach at Ty Mawr Country Park on Easter Day, at the invitation of the staff there. Called "The Real Easter Hunt", we helped visitors to discover the real Easter story and God's love in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We

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were joined by some local families who had been to our Valentine's event - a real breakthrough. We met several people who showed real interest and so we shared something of our plans for starting a church gathering in the area. We explained that it would be different to church as they have experienced it previously or would expect it to be. We now have 10 families or individuals that have willingly shared their email addresses with us so that we can keep them informed. They have recently been invited to a social evening on Thursday 28th. April called "Just Desserts" - a puddings-only food, fun and chat experience. Group members are also inviting family and friends. In March, our gathering of Christians from across the local border-land and several denominations and churches, experienced CaféChurch - a way of doing church that we may use when we begin to have public gatherings for our community. It went well, but as it had teaching that was geared to our level of faith, we plan to do this again in early May, with teaching content that is aimed at non-churched people with less, or no, understanding of Christian faith. We hope to invite our recent contacts to join us, especially if any of them come to Just Desserts. Our group membership has changed a little as one couple have moved house and another couple has joined us. Former CCW member Rachel Simmonds, who moved into Cefn a year or so ago, has also joined us recently, halving our age profile and bringing her openness to new ways of being and doing church, and her experience of working with children and young people. Because of the leap-forward with interest in "church" that was shown at our Easter outreach, the leadership has been prayerfully considering whether we should begin our public gatherings sooner. However, just last week (19 April), we agreed that God was telling us not to rush and to wait until November as originally planned. So... we are working towards meeting in the AquaLounge at Plas Madoc Leisure Centre on first Sundays from November probably using a variation of CaféChurch. In the meantime we are likely to go on meeting each Thursday in CaféChurch fashion, adapting our Bible study style to suit this and offering a separate meeting in another room for any new people who come along, after a shared time for socialising over refreshments at the start. We value the interest and prayers of many CCW members, and the willingness of the leadership to support us financially if necessary. Our founding church, Gwersyllt Congregational, has also renewed its support of every kind, and we will be encouraging the Cefn members to increase their regular giving so that we can be self-supporting if possible. Paul & Gill Day

Fundatia Increderea (FI) Romania - Diary of our visit Spring 2016 Day 1: March 31st. 08.45 flight Manchester to Budapest. One and a half hour delay to take off but Glen, Campbell and Susannah arrive safely and meet up with Karen Budde from the USA. Noticeably warmer than UK. Pick up hire car for the 3 ½ hour drive to Oradea. Usual delays at the border, if they can check they will, but arrive at Hotel Continental Forum by 20.30hrs

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Day 2: April 1st. First visit to the FI office to meet Ligia. Pick up some pretzels and pastries on the way. Spend a couple of hours with Ligia asking her questions about the current state of FI and her vision for the future. She confirms that the Primaria (Town Council) has agreed to extend the lease of the office for another 3 years but has increased the rent more than 3 fold and want 3 months’ rent in advance as a “warranty”. For the future she wishes to see FI having a day care “drop in” type facility for those affected by addiction. Lunch in “Biggys”, enormous salads and overfilled butties, then return to office for short chat with Nelu and Christina before the childrens’ Increderea club meeting. Nelu has been for some blood tests as he has now started new treatment for his Hepatitis C which we pray will be successful. Smaller group of kids than usual but all enthusiastic and involved in the activities with Nelu a big favourite. Day 3: April 2nd. Lovely warm sunny morning spent at hotel meeting with Tommy. Good discussion about his work running the group and individual counselling sessions with alcoholics. He is now studying for a PhD and is recognised as having special skills in his field. He also expresses a desire for a day centre facility and is planning a summer visit to a similar facility in Cluj (a city relatively near Oradea) to see how it functions. Time spent learning about how alcoholics are still viewed as the lowest form of life with little or no worth and about the demands on his time. Also explore options for developing his work and collaborative working with other groups. Another very good pizza lunch in nearby restaurant before afternoon session with Cristi. Always a pleasure to spend time in the company of this gentle man with a great sense of humour! Discuss his work in counselling “co-dependents” and his ideas for the future of FI. He also has a vision for a day centre type facility but recognises that is a huge commitment for FI. After a worthwhile discussion about the (negative) views of the local Bishop in the Orthodox Church towards alcoholism it is heartening to learn he is due to meet another orthodox pastor from a nearby town later that afternoon to discuss his work with co-dependents. We then all visit his church in the centre of Oradea with its beautiful ornate interior followed by a coffee in the sunshine! Back to the hotel for quick spruce up before more wonderful hospitality at Nelu and Christina’s home taxied in the new FI car complete with “personalised” number plate. More food, ably assisted in preparation by Nelu’s mum and Christina’s mum, and time to catch up with Dalia and Lisa while mum and dad bring us up to date with their work in schools, in the Increderea clubs on Fridays and Sundays, the homework clubs on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons

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and the summer camps. Their enthusiasm and dedication to changing the lives of the many young people they encounter is very clear. They recount their recent experiences of dealing with teenagers addicted to so-called “spice drugs” which are synthetic cannabis like drugs. These are causing serious problems with tragic links to a possible suicide. They also would like to see a day care type facility opening in Oradea. Day 4: April 3rd. Another beautiful sunny day starts with a visit to Nelu’s and Christina’s church which is in a Community Centre and a service very like ChristChurch Wrexham complete with worship group and at least 3 songs well known to us! Pentecostal church with the majority of the fellowship between 25 and 45 years old and the Sunday School is led by Christina. Karen, from a Roman Catholic background, well impressed by Campbell’s singing along in English to the Romanian songs. We are then joined by Ligia and her husband, Vali and taken to their home for Sunday lunch and more wonderful Romanian hospitality and of course, food. We then head back to the hotel for a rest and a chance to share our views and on what we had learned over the previous few days and to formulate our thoughts to feed back to the FI Romania team. In the evening Campbell and Glen return to the FI office to witness the Sunday evening teenagers club overseen by Nelu with help from two volunteers from his church who lead a discussion on part of the bible (some of the 10 Commandments) followed by an exercise in making smoothies!. It is great to meet up with Benni who attended the summer camp back in 2009 and was a favourite of Dorothy. He is a volunteer at the group and also at the homework clubs. Around 12 teenagers attend and are vocal and involved with plenty of opinions being expressed. Day 5: April 4th. Morning spent gathering our thoughts and then we return to the FI office in the afternoon after Nelu has returned from a visit to a school in Arad over 1 ½ hours away. Fi had been invited to do a lesson (on addiction to alcohol, drugs and smoking) and this demonstrates how important the group are to providing such education in this part of Romania. Meet with the whole team and present our views and some ideas for the way forward for FI. Everyone, that is the FI Romania team, the FI UK team and FI US led by Karen has a responsibility to take the work forward. We then adjourn for a meal together to talk further, share ideas and look at the obstacles that need to be overcome. Day 6: April 5th. Early start as Karen and Susannah head off to Budapest by train (4 hours) for a brief stay there before heading home. Campbell and Glen take a trip into the country to enjoy the wonderful sunshine (25-26 degrees!) and go swimming at Baile Felix in the spa pools both inside and outside! Then return to FI to visit the homework club where 8-10 teenage volunteers assist younger children from troubled home backgrounds not just with homework but are there to listen to and

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come alongside these children who suffer physical and verbal abuse regularly. The children are also given sandwiches, pretzels and other items from a bakery which donates them to FI (they are going to go out of date). Day 7-9: April 6th – 8th. The beautiful sunshine continues as Campbell and Glen visit more of Oradea which is undergoing a bit of a transformation with buildings being renovated and pedestrian areas being created. Indeed even a café culture with people sitting outside is certainly developing in the city centre. Still a way to go as behind the façade there is clear evidence of neglect and the apartment blocks in which most people live are still a bit faded and unappealing. Time to catch up with the teenage volunteers who meet with Nelu once a month for coaching and mentoring in their role of mentoring the younger children. Farewells said to Ligia, Nelu, Christina and Tommy and an exchange of gifts between the FI UK and Romanian teams before the long and boring drive back to Budapest through Hungary, which is flat and pretty featureless. Flight back home to and watches turned back 2 hours from Romania which makes it a very long days travelling. A very worthwhile trip and some challenges for us as we look ahead. It is now 20 years since FI was established by Susannah and Karen, Campbell joined up in 1997 and it has achieved some wonderful things over those years. We are however now all at different stages in our own lives and need to re-evaluate our roles and responsibilities. We have discussed new ways of reporting and recording the work of each member of the team in Oradea to fully recognise the extent and demand of the work. It is clear that the roles of Nelu and Christina extend way beyond the school lessons with much work involved in the after school clubs where young people i.e. the volunteers are being given opportunities to learn new life skills. The children’s and young people’s clubs are essential in shaping young lives and the camps are another positive way of bringing real change. The counselling work is well managed and the support for people that Tommy and Cristi provide is unique in that part of Romania, there is no other group working with alcoholics in Oradea or Bihor County. They also provide much unrecorded support through the many, many phone calls they receive. Opportunities for collaborative work with other groups in Romania do exist and the intention is for these to be explored more fully in the next 12 months together with potentially some new support groups. We also need to raise the FI profile here in the UK and Susannah has started this with her plan to run 12 marathons in the next 12 months! She will gratefully receive sponsorship so have a look at her blog on https://12in12marathonchalleng.wordpress.com for up to date information on how to support her. The summer camps are in August so be prepared to dig deep in your pockets to help send some young folk to an experience of a lifetime. Thanks for reading this, please contact Campbell, Glen or Frank to find out more.

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XL Mentoring We are a charitable organisation working with young people in the Wrexham area who are struggling to engage with mainstream education. Our belief is that the issues many young people face today require a relational response and that mentoring a young person is a powerful way to see change happen. We train volunteer mentors to meet with a suitable young person once a week to provide them with a consistent and persistent role model who will have a positive and lasting impact upon their lives and futures. XLM Wrexham started in Jan 2015. Over the past year we have run 2 training weekends with over 30 attendees. These events were put on to train mentors in how to develop positive and meaningful relationships with young people. To date we have run 4 mentoring relationships with young people from Ysgol Grango and we have 3 currently ongoing. I recently had the pleasure of attending a national event in London that promoted the charity and its work throughout the UK. The event was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who have endorsed the project nationally and the wider work of XLP in London. Over the next year we are looking to expand the influence of the project in Wrexham by working with more schools and youth clubs. In order to achieve this we need to be able to recruit more mentors, develop relationships with referral agencies and secure sufficient funding. Please pray that: • The right connections will be developed to expand referrals. • That the right people would be prompted to volunteer. • That funding streams would be secured in order to expand the work of the project. If you would like more info then please feel free to have a look at the xlm.org.uk or have a look at and ‘like’ www.facebook.com/xlmentoringwrexham/. ACT Update – we are continuing with our regular pattern of getting together (dates on the calendar). However, the group has shrunk since the beginning of the year as people have been released to set up the Youth and Cefn Mawr groups. We are planning a tabletop sale and celebration on 21st May at ACRC. We would appreciate anyone who can help serve tea and coffee or provide cakes 1.30-3pm. You can also book a table via Lynn at ACRC 359795.

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Christianity Explored Update from Lucy Fogg th

On Sunday February 7 the International Christian Fellowship Wrexham (ICFW) began hosting the Christianity Explored course at the Methodist Church, Regent Street. The version of the eight week course was one designed for internationals whose first language is not English but we were joined by English speakers who wanted to make the journey with us. The numbers attending started in the teens but then shot up into the twenties by week five as we were joined by two recently arrived asylum seeking Kurdish families who pored over their recently acquired Sorani and Arabic New Testaments. Two young sons of one family were able to translate for their parents but did not continue attending every week. Altogether we had six different nationalities participating with five different languages spoken! The version of the course, written for those without English as a first language, had explanations of scriptural words such as vision, faith, forgiven, Son of Man as well as more common English words such as receive, debating, and laid. Over eight weeks we looked at the questions ‘What is Christianity?’ ‘Who is Jesus?’, ‘Why did Jesus come?,’ ‘Why did Jesus die?’ ,‘Why did Jesus rise from the dead?’, ‘How can God accept us?’, ‘What does it mean to follow Jesus?’ and finally ‘What next?’ Over the eight weeks four of us took turns in preparing and leading two discussion groups followed by a short DVD summary by Rico Tice. The course is laid out with questions and a booklet to write answers in. The challenge for us was to understand and put into clear, simple English the gospel, the good news about Jesus, who He was, what he said and all he did for us. For me this became a great joy and reviving task which I would thoroughly recommend to Christ Church to consider doing at some point. We never get too mature or advanced in our faith to focus on the person of our Lord Jesus and the simple truths of our faith. In fact, I believe it is imperative we do this more frequently. Over the weeks it was encouraging to see, for example, one participant taking great care to write his answers beforehand and be visibly moved as he responded to the course content. Another spoke of understanding so much more of how God loved her and what Jesus had done for her even though she had attended church since a child. The baptism of three of the participants on Easter Sunday was a highlight and great joy as they responded in faith to the claims of Jesus in their lives. Of course, for them this is just the beginning and the task for all of us is to continue to encourage, support and pray for them as they begin following Jesus with all that means as a consequence of their commitments. We hope and pray that it will not be long before there are others who wish to express their commitment in baptism too. The challenge for us is to communicate these truths to those with even less command of English. We need and would greatly value your on-going prayer for this.

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If you have any queries please call Gareth Jones - ChristChurch Senior Church Leader on 01978 354805, or see www.christchurchwrexham.org.uk [email protected] www.facebook.com/christchurchwrexham twitter @ChristChurchWxm

we meet at the following locations Acton Community Resource Centre Overton Way Acton Wrexham LL12 7LB

Hightown Community Resource Centre Fusilier Way Hightown Wrexham LL13 7YF

Our postal address is ChristChurch, c/o 7 Heol Penally, Little Acton, Wrexham, LL12 8JT