April Bristol Report
Dear friends,
The weather during the bulk of April was just like summer and we revelled in it, the children played in the park and people worked in the garden and thought that it was summertime. Then Woops it has poured with rain for the past 10 days and everything is sodden. I guess it is called springtime.
The past month has been enjoyable in many ways. Over the weekend of 21/22 April Pauline and I were in Brandon , Suffolk a 5-hour journey from Bristol . On the Saturday they hosted a ladies day with the men preparing the food – and of course I was immediately put to work. I preached there on Sunday and we enjoyed the fellowship so much. I preached for the church there 1976-81 and we have been able to go back most years and visit, there is a little of our hearts that still linger there.
On 27 I conducted the funeral service of Mrs Margaret Parker a local lady.
Starting 15 April we started a 6week preaching series from Hebrews 6:1-2 appropriately on the third week 29th Vicky Nelson and Mike Egerton were immersed. Vicky has been attending services for about 3 months and Mike for 4 months, his wife Pauline was immersed last year. Both are lovely people.
On 2 May, 14 of our church members went to see Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang at the theatre here in Bristol . Many performances are now being shown in Bristol before going to London and of course people are enjoying this.
On 4 May we were in Nottingham to host a “Passover” meal. This is something that we have been doing for several years in different congregations and lets people go through a simulated Passover meal and lets them understand the meaning of Passover more and how a modern Jew would understand some things, 36 attended and we prepared a full meal.
After church on 6 May 16 of us set off on our annual church holiday. This is a wonderful time of fellowship and outreach among our mature people. This year we went to Saundersfoot in South Wales . The weather was terrible but group dynamics kicked in and with so many laughs everyone had a good time. This is an important part of ministry among us. Many of the people that went on this holiday live by themselves and some do not get a chance to go anywhere else in the year so the break is vitally important. Each day we visited different craft centres, stately homes, gardens etc then in the evenings we had quizzes and finished the day off with a time of praise and prayer.
This past Saturday 12 May we were in Loughborough for a meeting with those interested in the work in Malawi . This past spring Paddy Boynes the Director of the British Bible School and four brethren from the church in Morley in Yorkshire went over to visit the work that we have been involved in. Malawi is somewhere you go to and come back changed. The poverty is striking and humbling and we are thankful that others can now tell their story of visiting the country and they can run along side our own. Right now the brethren in Malawi need another form of transport, their small truck has broken down and is really beyond repair. To buy something strong like a Land Rover will cost US $32,000. Please pray that will be provided.
It almost seems as if I have not been at home much this month, we have certainly been running all over the country but that is the nature of ministry sometimes. The local work has continued as usual, on Tuesday nights the adults have been studying Luke and on Sunday mornings how our Bibles came into being. We continue to have visitors in our services and we are making plans for an evangelistic thrust later in the year.
Later this month we shall host students from Harding University , Searcy Ark. This will be our usual two week campaign of out reach at this time of the year.
Pauline and I are both well but a little tired as we are going 24/7 it seems. God is good and we are thankful to all who support us both financially and through prayer.
We send our love to all and trust all is going well with you.
Trevor and Pauline Williams, Bristol England