Message from our Pastor
In case you haven’t noticed all the government and media hype, 2012 is Olympic Year as far as London is concerned. The eyes of the world will be on this city as it hosts one of the biggest events going. In previous years, most notably in Sydney and Vancouver, hosting the Olympics (summer or winter!) has been a springboard to growth in churches in those cities and beyond.
As individual Christians and corporately as HEC, we have a wonderful opportunity to use this event to bring glory to our Lord and Saviour.
One way of joining in on an individual basis is to provide hospitality in your own home (during the Olympic or Paralympic Games) so that an athlete’s ‘support family’ i.e. family members, team officials, personal coach or friends critical to their support, can afford to make the trip through the gift of accommodation and hospitality, and benefit from the help of a caring host family. If you are interested in opening your home for a week, please see me. It is a wonderful potential for witness or, if the person/people are Christians, a great time of fellowship and encouragement.
We also have a team from the USA coming to join us at the end of July for a week of mission. Please consider how you might be part of this! The team will require accommodation, events will need to be supported, resources and planning will be required, etc. Can I even encourage you to think prayerfully about taking some time off work that week in order to get involved more fully?
We have the US team leader, Pastor Jeff Brewer, with us for a few days at the end of this month, when we will have the opportunity to meet him, to hear him preach and to discuss a plan for the week in July.
In advance of Jeff’s visit is our week of prayer, from the 5th to the 11th of this month. This will focus not just on the Olympic Games opportunities but on the whole life of our church, and on the worldwide Body of Christ. Please come along to as many of the dates on the enclosed programme as you can.
Without prayer, running an Olympic mission or anything else is pointless. We must come before our Lord and ask His guidance and blessing on all we do.
Alan