spark ing passion for the Gospel across the UK

August - September 2013 / Issue 59

Mission: possible for Cardiff churches

Summer outreach

Heather says farewell 8 10 W

in an

iPad 4

!

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Whilst some Christian mission groups specialise in particular forms of outreach, Counties evangelists thrive on a wide variety of opportunities. Our evangelists are natural entrepreneurs, and this is clearly illustrated in the following pages. Mike Thomas has been cultivating relationships between leaders of churches and casting a vision for creative outreach in his part of Cardiff. Several evangelists are regularly reaching out to large crowds at the agricultural shows and engaging with people of all ages and backgrounds while they take a ‘day out’. Through their long term commitment to developing disciples of Jesus, Rob and Sarah Watson have demonstrated that our evangelism has life-long implications as we seek to nurture healthy and growing relationships with Jesus Christ.If we can help you or your church with more effective or creative evangelism, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, as we’d love to serve you. And let’s not forget, to pray that God will use us in our everyday workplace – just like Heather Smith.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2.9 ESV)

Thank you for your continued interest and fellowship with us,

Please pray on!In Christ,

Evangelistic entrepreneurs?

John Wilkes, Evangelist - CEO

Counties (formerly Counties Evangelistic Work) is a Registered Charity No. 264278 and a Company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales No. 1041761

Counties exists to present ‘Life in all its fullness: locally & nationally’ through our full time evangelists, exhibitions and resources, in Biblically faithful and culturally relevant ways.Address: Counties 30 Haynes Road, Westbury, Wiltshire BA13 3HDTelephone: 01373 823 013 Email: office@countiesuk.org www.countiesuk.orgThank you for your valued partnership.

Editor: Helen Rimmer helen@countiesuk.orgDesign: www.relevantdesign.co.uk

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Contents

Please introduce Counties to your friends by following us on Facebook and Twitter

Facebook ‘Counties Evangelism Network’ Twitter ‘@countiesuk’

News4 Win an iPad in film competition5 Outreach at summer shows

Features6 A year of mission in Cardiff8 Young disciples

Regulars 10 New pastures for Heather Smith11 Community visiting training

4: Film competition.

5: Volunteer Catriona Davies with youngster at the Royal Welsh Show in 2012.

10: Heather Smith says farewell.

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Counties is looking for talented young filmmakers who can showcase the work of an evangelist through a short film.The Take 3 film competition is open to under 21’s who can capture the work of their local evangelist in a short 3-minute film.The film could focus on an evangelist’s testimony, the work of a summer camp or holiday club, highlight GSUS Live or the Life exhibition or film a day in the life of an evangelist. John Wilkes, CEO of Counties, said: “The film can be in the style of an interview, a fly-on-the-wall documentary, a drama sketch, use humour, a music video or even a cartoon. “Entrants can be as creative as they like! We are looking for young people to engage in our work and get excited about what we do.”An iPad 4, with a video editing app, is up for grabs for the winner and cinema tickets for the runners up. The winning film will also be promoted through Counties website, social media channels and publications, as well as at national conferences.The films will be shortlisted by the public on Facebook, with the ten films with the most likes going through to the judging panel round in October.Expert judges include Deborah Issit, writer and director of popular films Nativity! and Nativity 2, XXX from Full Measure Films – who produced? BBC1’s hit drama series Call the Midwife, Andy Toovey, internationally recognised filmmaker and John Wilkes, CEO, Counties.

Win an iPad 4 in new film competition!

News

How do I enter?• You must be 21 years old or younger.

• Entrants under 18 must have permission from parents (an email giving permission from a parent with a contact number to office@countiesuk.org)

• Entries should be made by 1 October 2013 by uploading your film to YouTube, then emailing this link with your name, age, address and phone number to office@countiesuk.org

• Public voting via a Just 3 Facebook page will take place in October.

• The top ten of these films will be judged by our panel of experts later in the month and the winner will be announced.

Please help us promote this competition to young people in your church! Free flyers and posters are available from office@countiesuk.org

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“The show provides real opportunities for us to have great conversations. Often we are a link in the chain and we do not know the outcome but there have been many times over the years where we have seen people come to church as a result of a casual chat and then later they have come to faith.”The outreach also includes a BBQ night for fellow traders. Phil continued: “After the show has closed to the public we run a free BBQ. Last year we had 230 traders join us and it was a great way to get to know them, break down barriers and hopefully give them the chance to see that we are just ordinary people – but with an extraordinary God.”

News

Volunteers entertain children with puppets.

Volunteers ready to serve up food to traders as part of the BBQ night.

Ideas for sharing Gospel at community events:• Provide free refreshments!

• Start small but think big.

• Don’t preach – be friendly and smile.

• Be prepared to engage in small talk, some will lead to meaningful conversations.

• Use puppets or other visual displays to engage people.

• Work as a team and support each other.

• Provide good literature.

• Expect results.

Karen Erwin enjoys the face painting in the marquee.

Show-stopping outreach!

Friendly chats mixed with free refreshments and puppet shows are just some of the ways volunteers reach out and share Jesus at a popular agricultural show.Thousands of people descend on the Royal Welsh Show each year to visit the many stalls, sample local food and drink, as well watching the various animal shows and livestock parades.Counties evangelists Martin Erwin & Phil Davies help to lead a team of volunteers from churches across South Wales and the Midlands to provide a marquee for visitors and traders alike.Music, puppet shows, children’s crafts mixed with testimonies and Christian literature are all on offer for people who pass by the marquee.Phil, who has been involved with leading the outreach for more than 20 years, said:

Young people in Merseyside have celebrated the success of a four-year discipleship course.Led by Wirral evangelist Rob Watson, the weekly group has seen faith renewed and strengthened, churches unite, local mission accomplished and friendships blossom.The teaching and training programme called ‘Discipleship’ has been run for the past four years in Prenton, Wirral, with around 30 people between the ages of 18-30 meeting regularly to study the Bible, pray, worship and lead outreach in local homeless projects.Grace Watson, 21, who is training to be a nurse at Chester University, has been on the course since the beginning. She said: “The course has been great as we have got deeper in our walk with God and our faith

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Features

The Discipleship group enjoy a weekend away in North Wales. Rob is pictured on the back row, second from right.

Go and make discipleshas been strengthened because of it. “It’s not just your usual Bible study, it’s challenged us all to step up to the game and be more expectant before God and having Bible knowledge out there in the real world which we can draw upon.”Other young people include Andy Briggs and Jen Stott. Andy said: “Discipleship has been a blessing to me. I personally have really grown in my faith, learning more about God, reading more of the Bible, and putting my learning into practice through mission with a local homeless charity and being a youth leader at Christian camps.”Jen, 22, added: “It’s been so encouraging and exciting to be part of a large group of young people from a variety of different churches and backgrounds. I feel I have taken a big step in my faith and feel closer to God than I ever have!”

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Features

Making disciples: Rob discusses the Bible with team.

“Discipleship has been a blessing and a life support.” Ian Mills

Thinking of setting up a discipleship group? Here are a few tips from Rob:• Find a hospitable venue which is easy

to access and doesn’t cost too much money.

• Create an atmosphere of safety where people can air their views without being judged or people jumping down their throats.

• Keep it friendly and fun.

• Be contemporary - keep the Word of God at the very core of it all, presented in a relevant way.

• Keep it simple – we don’t use study material, we simply read the Bible together, discuss and put it into action!

Helen Thornhill, 29 who has been a leader with Rob Watson on the course, said: “I guess the thing that’s stood out most for me is how much the group has matured together both physically and spiritually. It never ceased to astound me how, week after week, this group of young people kept coming back for more, some travelling a fair distance each time. “As a leadership team we never put on anything particularly clever or special, so I know that all this is down to God, and their individual hunger or curiosity for more of Him. I love how each individual has grown, be it a little or a lot, and just praise God for the work that He’s doing in and through them. “I truly believe He’s been in this from the start, after all there would be no point to it without Him, and I’m just thankful that He saw fit to let me be a part of it. It’s been a blast!”

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Features

Churches communities through year-long mission campaign

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Features

A group of churches sharing the same postcode in Cardiff have joined forces to bring their communities together through the Gospel message.

A year-long mission – called I CF3 - was launched in January in the CF3 postcode area of the Welsh capital with the goal of transforming lives and restoring communities.Counties Cardiff evangelist Mike Thomas has been working with leaders from seven other churches in the area on a concentrated effort of outreach events. So far this year, the I CF3 team have held curry evenings, photography exhibitions, community picnics, coffee mornings, fun days and mega messy church sessions. A huge fireworks community event is planned for later this year.Mike said: “The areas in East Cardiff are quite insular and people don’t tend to go into the other areas. Through I CF3, we wanted to unite all the areas in this postcode.“The churches have always kept each other informed and prayed together but we have never worked together on a focused campaign of mission and evangelism.“So far we have seen a real encouragement from the turnout at events and we feel the church is getting itself noticed. It’s also been great to see churches uniting and working towards one purpose – to share God’s love in a practical way.”Martyn Pennington, centre manager at the Christian Beacon Centre, added: “This campaign is not about the postcode but the people. There are more than 37,000 people who live in East Cardiff and we hope that through working together we can make Jesus known in our neighbourhoods and make a real difference.”For more information visit lovecf3.org.uk or email thomas@countiesuk.org

“The churches have always kept each other informed and prayed together but we have never worked together on a focused campaign of mission and evangelism.”Mike Thomas

Photos © Lathan Ball

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Churches across the country will be marking the centenary of World War One in August 2014.As part of the commemoration, Counties would like to collect stories from people who remember loved ones who served in and lived during the Great War. We want to hear how their faith helped them during this time. Can you remember any stories from relatives about tent missions during this time or have a letter from a loved one sharing a special Bible verse? Please get in touch by emailing helen@countiesuk.org

World War One stories?

Heather says farewell

Regulars

Essex evangelist Heather Smith is moving on to pastures new after 20 years with Counties.Heather, from Chelmsford, has taken up a new post as a ‘Careline Officer’ for Basildon Council.“I would like to thank everyone for their generous support during my time with Counties,” said Heather. “I have made some wonderful friends and I’ve had the opportunity to share Jesus’ love at shows, youth camps, holiday clubs, schools, Sunday services, mid-week groups.“I am grateful to those churches which used me in my early days, as I was learning

on the job! They continue to be a great encouragement to me. Please pray that as I settle into my new job, I will be a light for Christ with my colleagues and clients.”John Wilkes, CEO at Counties, added: “Heather has proved herself able to relate to a wide range of people and communicate the good news with passion and clarity. She has faced many challenges in her various evangelistic roles, and tackled them with courage and dignity. “We are delighted that God has opened the door to this new sphere of service, where she will continue as a ‘full time Christian worker’”!

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Counties has joined forces with Outreach UK to help churches reach out in their communities through door to door ministry.A new course has been launched by evangelist Colin Johnson to help churches connect with those outside the normal orbit of local church contacts. The first joint training session took place at a small evangelical church in Birmingham, which was looking to reconnect with its local community. The training included listening skills and relationship building, contextualising the Gospel for today’s culture, and a practical element for those who wanted to take part. Colin said: “We believe door to door visiting should be totally non-confrontational and based around a ‘good neighbour’ approach - which we have found is very effective. Let’s rediscover the lost art of walking the streets and claiming back our parishes!” For more details on the course contact johnson@countiesuk.org

New training for community visiting

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Regulars

Colin Johnson hopes the training will encourage churches to re-connect with their community.

Join us for prayerPlease join us in praying for our evangelists and the work of Counties on Tuesday, 8th October, at the Gospel Hall, Minerva Street, Bridgend, CF31 1TD, 7.30 - 9 pm. Email office@countiesuk.org or call 01373 823013 for more details.

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1. Charles & Elizabeth Addoco2. Will & Lynne Andrews3. Tim & Joy Ayrton

Tony & Ruth Hood4. Kevin & Anita Baldwin5. Jonathan & Heather Brain6. David & Lindsey Brown

Andy & Isobel Hodson (CPI) Paul & Vanessa Willmott

7. Ian & Sally Carr8. Tim & Charissa Cooke9. Ivor & Angela Cooper

Bob & Rita Telford10. Clive & Fiona Cornish

Mike & Janet Thomas11. Tim & Katrina Cracknell12. Gordon & Penny Curley13. Ray & Carol Dadswell14. Phil & Sheila Davies15. Martin & Rachel Erwin16. John & Rachel Hardwick17. Colin & Linda Johnson18. Matt & Claire Merriam (CPI)

Mike & Su Strange19. Matt & Nicola Rich20. James & Naomi Richards21. David & Katie Symons22. Robert & Sarah Watson

ETP - Evangelists Training ProgrammeCPI - Church Planting Initiative

Seniors and widows

To contact your local evangelist please call 01373 823013 or visit countiesuk.org

Grace AndersonTom & Madelene BathgateJean CampbellGeoff & Isobel CarrRoger & Hazel Chilvers Lionel & Mavis Clargo

Rose GearyStephen & Jean GillhamVictor JackAndy & Miriam JelfsPhyllis JenkinsJohn & Hettie Hall Wendy Iliffe

John & Jane MartinElsie NewmanDennis PierceRuby PowellDick & Betty SaundersMargaret StokesGladys Whittern

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15 9

11

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Your local evangelists

Pray for our ‘vacant’ counties