I went for a walk recently with my good friend Rachel and our kids. It was after a heavy down pour of good old Manchester rain! Josie and Daniel were suitably armed with wellies and believe me they made the most of each and every puddle we walked past. It didn’t matter to them if the puddle was pathetically small or a lot deeper than anticipated.

They jumped in each one with the same purpose and determination to make the biggest splash that got them and everyone else as wet as possible. In the evening I was laughing to myself remembering the looks of glee on their little faces. God spoke to me and said this is what He wants from His church.

He wants us to treat every opportunity and task we face with the same determination to make a splash. Change the way you view your life. Each day is filled with God given opportunities to see lives changed. Jump into the life that you have been given, determined to make a splash and an impact, and watch as people get wet all around you.

When Josie and Daniel were jumping into the puddles, whoever was stood close by got soaked as well (usually me and Rachel and the occasional unsuspecting stranger!) God’s goodness, love, mercy and abounding grace don’t exist to keep us cosy. They are supposed to spill out and overflow to reach those who don’t yet know him all around us.

Those puddles were irresistible to our 3 year olds! God wants our daily lives as diverse as they are to be irresistible to us. These puddles can be seen to represent the overflow of His Holy Spirit and the splashes are seen as blessing, healing, words of knowledge, encouragement and love for those that we meet every day. The list could go on. As we actually tune in to this we will see the harvest.

‘Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord’ (Colossians 3:23). I don’t believe that God intends us to work with stern faces. We should be bringing life and joy to our work situations. Before we left the house with the kids we prepared wellies, waterproof coats etc. so that the puddles could be enjoyed to the full with no holding back. If we begin each day with an ‘attitude of gratitude’ (as Roger Aubrey would say) laying down ourselves and ready to receive and flow in the Holy Spirit, then we will be prepared to do whatever He prompts us to.

Jane Barrow

Ladies VIP Night 2009
(Photographs from the night to follow soon!)

On Tuesday 20th October King’s Church hosted its first Ladies VIP night of the academic year. These events are always an amazing and powerful time when the Church comes together to show the love of God to the people of Manchester. It was such a privilege to again be involved in an event that I see as a great demonstration of God’s purposes for our city, not only providing for people’s physical needs, but welcoming them into a family and letting them encounter Jesus in a very real and relevant way.

On the night we had minibuses go out to collect the women from various hostels around the city. When the women arrived they were greeted by a drinks reception and a host of smiling faces. The night involved providing the women with a two-course meal while chatting to them around the table and spending some time getting to know them. Judith Ude then performed some songs that she had written about her own journey with God and Emma Champion gave a powerful testimony about how God has worked in her life and has healed and blessed her. A gospel message was spoken by Kate Hancock, and there was a time of prayer for the women that wanted to respond.

After this, the women were able to go through to the clothes and pampering rooms. They were given the chance to choose from an abundance of clothes that had been given by people in the Church and had some fun having have their hair, nails and makeup done. When the night was over the women were driven back to their hostels in the minibuses. We had about forty women guests at the evening in all, some that were driven in from hostels and others that had heard about the event and just came along, some that had not been to any Church events in the past and some faces that were familiar from the last VIP night!

I have been hearing more and more testimonies coming back from the night about how much the women enjoyed and felt blessed by the event. I know that some of them were very responsive to the word spoken by Kate and that women from the Church were able to lay hands on them and pray with them. One of the best moments of the night was after the meal when Judith had finished singing and some of the girls just picked up the microphone and started singing themselves! One girl began to sing a beautiful song about Jesus being her redeemer. It was a very powerful moment and it was amazing that this girl was able to sing and bless us, even as we had blessed her.

One of my favourite things about VIP is just seeing the whole Church family coming together and their complete willingness to serve and get stuck in with every part of the night. The night couldn’t have happened without the amazing group of people that were there showing God’s love to the women practically by serving food and cleaning up, but also just in taking the time to talk to them and get to know them.

My vision for the future of VIP is that we would continue to build relationships with the women that come to VIP and that we would not have to wait until the events to see these women. I know that many seeds have been planted in the VIP nights that we have had so far but my hope is that we would see more people coming to know Jesus and being added to the family.

Jo Lawrence

I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42: 6b-7

God has called us in Matthew 28:19 to go and make disciples of all nations and many have gone out into the mission field to do this, but sometimes the mission field is nearer home here in our own nation, and for some of us in King’s Church that mission field is in our local prisons.

Over the last year a small group of King’s Church members have been going into a young offenders institute near Warrington to share the gospel with young men who by their own actions have found themselves confined at Her Majesty’s pleasure. These young men range in age from 18 to 25 and many have already been in prison more than once.

One Sunday each month, working alongside a group of like-minded believers from churches across Greater Manchester, we host a morning service in the prison chapel. The response to the lively praise and worship and punchy but challenging gospel that is preached has been amazing, and we have seen many young men respond to the message of hope that Jesus brings.

There have been some open air water baptisms this year where a number of the young men have been able to publicly display their new found faith in front of the whole prison community.

In February we began a discipling class on Tuesday evenings and this has provided a forum for some challenging questions, particularly from among the Muslim inmates who occasionally come along. In fact we have had one or two who have made a decision to follow Jesus, praise God.

We have also begun a drop-in session on Tuesday afternoons where the guys can come along for a one to one chat. These sessions are really valuable as many of these young men have never had the opportunity to just talk and be listened to. Some of the toughest-looking characters are really broken on the inside, but when the Holy Spirit begins to move upon them you can almost see them changing in front of you.

We recently spent nearly three hours talking with two guys sharing all kinds of deep stuff and then at the end of the session they were both prayed with for Baptism in the Holy Spirit. When they came back for the evening class you could already see the difference in both of them.

We thank God for the opportunity to do this wonderful work and for the blessing of seeing lives changed as they encounter the love of Christ.

Robert Herbert

Here is the latest update from Noralv and Tone who work in the Philippines on how the relief work is going after the recent typhoon.

We have now given help to more than 3000 families. This means that 20,000 people have been touch by the love of God over the last two weeks. It is a great privilege to be here right now and be able to extend the help from God’s people. We have a fantastic team from Norway helping us.

They were joined by a team of young people from China that arrived two days ago. The Chinese team was thrown right into the work here in our relief operations. Next week they will stay at our base in Mindoro to be trained there. One truck after the other has left our base here to help ease the burden for the flood victims.

The team is packing food and soap to give to the victims and you can smell the soap all over the mission house here in Cavite. In a meeting with the mayor we looked at the long term help in relocating the people along the river.

We are coordinating with churches in the flood area. They are themselves badly affected and have little resources to help in the situation. That’s why it has a great effect when we come alongside them, helping them to reach out to the people in their area. Our social workers survey the area together with the locals to find those in most need, to comfort them and give them hope.

We also work with the local Social security office to make sure we coordinate everything to maximize the help given. Everywhere we are able to share the gospel and demonstrate the love of God in a most tangible way.

Pray for Gemma and Jovelyn, our social workers, as they work very hard to coordinate everything and find the neediest people. In the midst of this, all the other programs are going on as usual in the ministry.

Just to mention; the first 7 days of October twenty two babies have been born in our maternity clinic here in Cavite. We are grateful to God and give him all the glory!

Noralv Askeland

Amplify in Acts is a meeting held monthly on a Friday at 7.30pm. We gather to look into the book of Acts and learn what God has to say to us as individuals and a group. Acts speaks about the power of the Holy Spirit made manifest in the lives of believers and how it transform others’ lives.

This week (9 Oct) we looked at Acts 3 and 4. After reading a chapter, the floor was open for people to chip in their insights and share what God revealed to them through the verses.

Ant Myers shared about the importance of placing ourselves in the ideal position to receive, as demonstrated by the lame man at the gate of the temple called Beautiful to ask for alms (Acts 3:2).

We learnt that we are a people called to be extraordinary and supernatural even though we may seem ordinary in the world’s eyes (Acts 4:13). As we operate in the gifts of the Spirit and possess faith that can move mountains, we are able to see miracles unfold and change lives. Another interesting point was that this miracle was accompanied by salvation. As the lame man was healed and started praising God, 5,000 men were added into the kingdom (Acts 4:4).

Judith Ude spoke about the rewards of sowing a seed into someone’s life. While Peter and John were imprisoned, the work of salvation continued to flourish and many came into the kingdom. She invited us to exemplify the church in Acts by being united in one mind and spirit, reporting any significant event to the church, be it a miracle or a need so that we can pray together (Acts 4:23).

So much more insight was gleaned from the scriptures that evening and it was truly a blessing to come together to study the Word.

On the whole, it was an exciting evening as God spoke through His Word and ignited the passion in us to actively pursue the mission He has set out for us, knowing that we are equipped with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

Janice Tan

As a Church we have supported the emergency relief work in the Philippines through Noralv, who is an Apostle working there to extend the Kingdom of God. We sent two thousand pounds from the tithe and others have given individual offerings. Here Noralv reports on the aftermath of the typhoons and how our support is helping those in need.

“People are still in great need! Yesterday we went into Manila to one of the areas that are still flooded. Pasig is one of the lower areas in Manila and in some places the water reached up to our waist. We had armed military escort, and brought food supplies to many families. The army trucks are the only transport vehicle that can carry the amount of food we were bringing and manage the amount of water we were travelling through.

On the way in we saw a dead man floating in the river. In the same water children are playing. The water is so dirty you cannot see far below the surface. When we got to the house we were supposed to hand out food from, we realized there was too much water there so we had to do it in the street from the army vehicles. Over 500 of the neediest families were given food supplies.

However, there are still many families in need. And as we were there the word spread and thousands of people came, begging for food. As people have lost everything and the prices of food have more than doubled in the area the situation is critical for many of them and they can get desperate. Here the armed soldiers came in handy. Today we helped an additional 50 families in the Cavite area. The ones that get help are extremely thankful. Every day we are reaching out to people with the most essential help.

Many organizations are helping in the outer edge of the affected area, but are reluctant to go into the inner areas where we went yesterday. It is important to give the help now to prevent hopelessness and sickness. The Filipino army is very helpful and was very good at calming the people we could not cater for this time. We are impressed by the Filipino people coping with this situation. In the midst of the problems they are grateful and praying to God for help. It is a great privilege to be your extended hand to the Filipino people, demonstrating the love of God.

Noralv Askeland

There is still some time to give to this work of restoration. If you would like to send support please talk with one of the Elders.

The Gathering is a meeting for students from across Manchester to worship God together and reach out to our campuses with the Gospel. Last Friday the 2nd of Oct, students from King’s Church, Ivy Manchester, Life Church, Reach, Hope, Audacious Church and other churches from across the city were present.

It felt wonderful being in the presence of other young women and men of God that are hungry for more of Jesus, and also hungry for making Jesus famous throughout Manchester and beyond. It showed me that the power of God truly works within many students today.

Worship

With over a hundred students at the gathering, the praise and worship was very powerful. I felt God move through me and it was awesome.

Testimonies

The testimonies gave us all another reason to give God thanks. I was really encouraged by the young man who testified about going out onto the streets and praying for others. Also the testimony of the man with vocal paralysis, doctors said he would never talk again, but through prayer and the grace of God he got completely healed.

Prayer and Encouragement

The different prayers that we made were also very powerful. There were different stations set up for prayer. The first was ‘Seed of Hope’ – a prayer about the area of your life that you want to grow in. ‘Bucket of Love’ was another station, where we wrote an encouraging note to someone. ‘You’ve Got Mail’ was the station where we wrote a letter to ourselves about the areas of our lives that you want to improve in and open it on the 2nd June 2010. We then did business with God at the ‘Sin Bin’ shredding station. The ‘University Prayers’ was the station where we prayed for different universities to receive a blessing from God. Lastly there was ‘Rewrite the Night’, where we prophetically declared over clubs and different students’ nights.

I believe that God has a huge purpose for the students of Manchester and will use them to see His kingdom increase in Manchester.

Ruth-Anne Burgher

WorldWatch was held at All Nations Centre in Cardiff this year and, as always, the Spirit spoke powerfully through his servants. I only managed to get to the Saturday part but it was still an incredible time of testimony and edification. It’s so encouraging to hear how Christian brothers and sisters are advancing the gospel in the nations, even in the face of persecution.

We heard how Jesus was being made famous in the Philippines, Cuba, Vietnam, and Bhutan among others, through ordinary people trusting in the extraordinary Holy Spirit. That same Spirit lives in us!

We read in Acts 2:47 “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” This is exactly what is happening across the globe: multitudes giving their lives to the Lord and the good news preached, backed up by signs, wonders and miracles.

It inspires me to make a reality of what I hear about in other nations. Multitudes saved, miracles and people being raised from the dead: we should expect God to do those things in the UK, in Manchester and on our streets, just as he is doing across the world. Let’s be expectant that God will do mighty things here, today and though us!

Matthew Harkness

Last week the 18s-30s in King’s Church ran a student café over two afternoons. The doors of Seminar Room 1 were opened onto Sidney Street for people to pop in, have some refreshments and chill out on our comfy sofas.

The purpose was to reach out to the hundreds of students attending the fresher’s fair at Sugden Sports Centre opposite our building. What a strategic location God has placed us in!

The Amplify team were out inviting the masses of students going in and out of the fair. Many came in for free-flowing tea and coffee, non-alcoholic cocktails as well as yummy muffins and cupcakes.

Members of the daytime fellowship helped with the café on Wednesday, and the media team were also out to vox pop students with a microphone and video camera, asking their views on God, Jesus and religion.

It is good to see the Church in the Homes and the church as a whole getting involved and responding to the preaching and prophetic word that is coming really clearly at the moment about mission and harvest.

Here’s what a few of us had to say about the Fresher’s Café:

“I’ve just had an amazing 2 days at the AMP cafe. Over 200 freshers came through our doors to drink tea, coffee & cocktails, many of them wanting to find out about the church” – Ant Myers.

“I’ve had an amazing day at the cafe today” – Zoe Lush.

Many thanks to those who came to help in any way they could; from setting up, making beverages, to welcoming the new students and cleaning up.

If you’re reading this and you’re a new student, we have more free food for you. Come and join us for a free student lunch after the meeting on Sunday the 4th, 11th or 18th of October at 2pm.

Wan Phing Lim