Midsummer 2010

From the Editor

The title, or ‘theme’, at the top of the first page of this issue of the Magazine is “The Spirit at Work”. Reading through it you may think at first that there are no articles about that in this issue. But you’d be wrong!

We have articles about the Spirit at work in individual people’s lives. Two people were baptised in May and three in June; one of them (Cheryl, baptised in May) gives her testimony of how the Spirit has been working in her life.

A large part of this issue is devoted to the annual reports given at the church AGM on 26th May.

These all portray how the Spirit is working in the corporate life of the church, from young people’s activities to work amongst internationals and work among the homeless. Our pastor Jim Purves also provides his annual “Review of the Year” in which he outlines how the Spirit is working among the congregation.

Yes, the Spirit is at work among us! Pray that God will continue to do amazing things.

Robert Mill

Pastor's Report

I want to begin by saying what a privilege it is to serve as pastor of a congregation such as Bristo and to thank those who have served as deacons and whose term has now ended. The last fifteen and a half years have passed quickly and change has been constant and encouraging. How matters have moved on from when, on arriving, I found we had only one deacon! I am delighted that we now have an expanded group of deacons to serve the congregation during this very important stage in our congregational life. We thank Barbara for her period of diaconal duty now completed, and pray God’s wisdom and guidance for those now elected for a term of three years to serve with Paul and Sam – Andrea, Brian Wilson, Craig, David Polland, Daniel, Matt and Robert. I very much look forward to working with this team in pursuing service to our Lord Jesus Christ through our congregation’s life and ministry in coming days.

This last year has been an exciting and challenging one in the life of Bristo, seeing the further development of ministry and shaping of expressions for the way ahead. Two special features of this have been the growth in ministry among internationals and initiatives concerning the Bristo buildings.

A year ago we had two interns, David Purves and Tanya Alexeeva, whose leading of the Monday Night Badminton Club had transitioned it into an International meeting, now known as iFriends. This international flavour to Bristo was enhanced by the growing ministry of the team that runs the Tuesday afternoon Home from Home. Last summer, the arrival of David Nemeshegyi and Pedro Gonzalez to join Tanya as interns enhanced our international ministry. David has brought his Biblical skills to add to the preaching team and leadership within Cell Group, Pedro willingly assisting Brian Wilson in refurbishing the sanctuary and also joining with Tanya and Agnes Nemeshegyi in participating in the Praise Band. It has been good to have these folks with us, and we are blessed that some will still be with us after finishing their intern year.

With regard to our plans for building redevelopment, progress has been facilitated by good team work among the deacons and among members of the Property Group. Planning and practical tasks all concerned. We are especially appreciative of help rendered from those outside our congregation, including personnel from Scottish Churches Housing Action, 3D Reid Architects and Phil Myerscough. Presently, our main building is being marketed as part of this process, and we look to the Lord to lead us as to how we might better use our resources for ministry and mission in the coming months and years. Our involvement in the Care Van has been an important part of this, and now we will seek to develop other ways in which we can bring Christian presence and witness into needy areas of the city. The vision of a Community House is before us, and invites further exploration in the months ahead.

The ministry of the members is a key focus in the mission of any Baptist congregation, and I praise God for the way people at Bristo serve both outwith and within the church in many and varied ways. Within our own internal ministries, I want to thank Matt Baines and his team for his ongoing leadership and ministry of the work with teenagers within and associated with the congregation, in the It Club on Friday nights, and also Ryan Gladwin for assisting both in preaching and in much appreciated pastoral support to folk while I have been absent on teaching and holiday trips abroad. Linda Watson and her Sunday school team have been faithful in serving the children and in arranging catalyst activities in the two Bar-B-Q’s we have had, with others planned in coming months. Brian, Stuart and others have done sterling work within the fabric of the building, and Leszek has worked hard and well on the gardens outside. I have also to give thanks to all who participate in ministries, such as expressed through the praise band and preaching team, and indeed in many other less conspicuous yet equally important ministries, expressed in various tasks and duties faithfully executed and performed.

But what of the future? I believe this is the most exciting time I have witnessed during my ministry as pastor of Bristo. We have many people within our congregation keen to serve the Kingdom of God, a large and able diaconate, and before us in the next months more baptisms and applications for membership than ever before. There are areas we need to develop in. We need to look at how we might further embrace our growing ministry among internationals, to look at fresh ways of developing children and family ministry, and to prayerfully seek what other areas the Lord would enable us to develop outreach and missional activity in. As I look forward to my sabbatical leave in the autumn, I am delighted to have the pastoral ministry covered by Bill Clark as interim moderator and chair of deacons’ meetings, with Tima Cheprasov serving as interim pastor in my absence. I have asked Bill to lead the diaconate through a time of reflection, in my absence, on what structures and styles of stipendiary ministry will best serve the continued moulding and development of the Bristo Congregation in the Lord’s service in the coming years.

This is a season for carefully plotting a path forward in the footsteps of Jesus. A season for planning to move forward with boldness and focus. Being aware that we have an enemy who seeks to debilitate and destroy, whilst giving thanks for a Lord who has overcome the enemy and who will protect and enable us as we move forward in God’s purposes. Let us focus on the character of Christ’s ministry and persevere along His path. And remember that the resurrected Christ will visit with the power and enabling of the Holy Spirit as we prayerfully seek to serve and follow in His name.

I thank all who have given support and help to me as pastor in this past year, and pray that God may continue to bless and enable this congregation in what lies ahead.

Jim Purves

Baptisms

On Sunday 30th May we had a beautiful baptism celebration of Jess Tait and Cao Yuan (Cheryl). The church was packed as many friends and family members came to enjoy that moment with our sisters. Both of them shared their testimonies where they told us about how they experienced God and how He has changed their lives. Through the baptisms they participated in Jesus’ death and resurrection and showed their commitment to follow Jesus. Jim also reminded us once again in his sermon that being a Christian is not about believing in Jesus but about following Him, being His disciple. It was a lovely and uplifting experience altogether.

Lucy Kurtyka

On Sunday 27th June we had another baptismal service. This time three young men, Tokede, Olubukola Olumuyiwa (‘Buki’), Richard Allison and Tafadzwa Msengezi (‘Taz’), were baptised. Each was interviewed by Matt Baines, who through the ‘Journey’ materials for young people had been influential in leading two of them (Richard and Taz) to the point where they felt they were ready for baptism. All three gave moving testimonies of how God had been working in their lives. Buki is a student from Nigeria who discovered Bristo while travelling from home to college, as a result of seeing our “Jesus is the missing peace” sign on the front of the building. Richard and Taz are of course the sons of members of our fellowship, Jim and Linda Allison and Hosana Bankhead respectively. Pray for all three young men as God continues to work in their lives now that they have taken the important step of surrendering their lives to Him.

Robert Mill

Wedding

Michelle Casey and Andrew McNeill were married in Bristo on Saturday 1 May by Rev. Jim Purves. Andrew is Jeanette Lumsden’s son. We congratulate the happy couple and wish them well for the future.

Memorial Service

A memorial service was held in Bristo on Saturday 8 May for the life of Elizabeth O’semaye Onifade, who passed away on 30 March. Elizabeth was the mother of Daniel Onifade. The service, which was attended by a large number of Bristo members and relatives and friends of Daniel’s family, was conducted by our minister assisted by three African pastors. We extend our sympathy to Daniel, Ute and the family.

Cherly's testimony

When I told my first Christian friend, Jo, that I wanted to know more about God, I never thought that it would change my whole life thereafter.

I joined her Bible study group. The first passage we read was Genesis. A story of how people became separated from God because of sin. That made sense, for I knew that no one is holy. But then it talked about love. What is that? I had no idea. I have never been taught what love is. I left home at the age of 14 to study in a key school, where I was isolated because I was not a good student. I was also not so attached to my family; on the contrary, I was tired mediating between my parents after their divorce. Relationships were pointless, and they never lasted. I rejected those who cared about me, refusing to have close relationships with people. I didn’t want to love or be loved. Keeping a distance with people made me feel safe. Someone once said to me, “when people walk by you, they could feel some force pushing them away”.

I believed that to love would equate with sorrow, until one day I had severe depression. If you have seen anyone suffering depression, you’ll know what kind of life I had at that time. Oh I am phrasing it wrongly: it shouldn’t be called LIFE, it was more like surviving. Convinced that I was a failure and no one in this world loved me, I found my life worthless. Feeling completely lost and abandoned by the whole world, I couldn’t find a reason to live. My teachers and classmates worried about me, but no one could do anything, even the therapist I went to see. He could only give me medicines and talk to me. By then I had studied the Bible for some time, but didn’t know that I could turn to God. I liked the words in the Bible, but this God was just so against my knowledge. Somehow, during that time I was not interested in anything at all, but the Bible was still attracting me. It was the only thing that could make me feel calm.

When Jo heard of my situation, she wrote to me asking what had happened. I thought that was just “British politeness”. But when I told her how I felt about life, she replied very patiently. She encouraged me that whether rich or poor, successful or not, I am valuable and special in God’s eyes. She explained that it is in knowing God’s love and knowing she’s living for Him, that gives her meaning, purpose and hope. That’s really a strange way to comfort people, but it did help me. For the first time in my life I had a desire to be loved. Although I couldn’t see or feel God’s love, I felt the love flowing from her. I realized that love is something wonderful, it soothes, comforts, and brings hope. Why is her life so different? Is it because of the God she believes in? Can He make my life like hers?

I tried to pray to God, not knowing if He actually exists. But every time I prayed to Him, I felt a great peace deep in my heart. When I had an illness or problems I asked Him to help me, and amazingly He answered my every prayer. He did help me. I couldn’t see Him with my eyes, but I did see Him and felt His love with my heart. He is real. He cares about me; He takes away my worries and solves the problems I had. He’s the one that I’ve been looking for all those years. I decided to accept Him as the Lord of my life.

It was a hard decision for me and I have struggled for some time, but it has proved to be a correct decision. Once I asked God to enter my life, I received so much peace and joy from Him. His love filled a hole in my heart and made me alive. The questions I had about meaning of life stopped haunting my mind. I’m not saying that God told me the answer directly, but that they are no longer questions for me: I am now complete. And what is more wonderful, His love brings not only satisfaction to my heart, but also changes to my life. He breaks the walls around my heart and melts my apathy. I became more gentle, kind and joyful. I was afraid to love others because of the fear of getting hurt, but now to love is not as frightening. I am willing to love others because God loves me first. I am willing to forgive those who hurt me because God forgives me, a sinner. He taught me how to love by showing me what true love is. When I look back, I know that He made me new. His unchanging love is still changing me.

So today here I stand, giving thanks to Him for finding me and accepting me as His child; for accompanying me through ups and downs in my life. I know that there are still rough patches and dark times in my life ahead, but He will never leave me. His endless love, grace and mercy will be with me all the way. Finally, this might be a weird way to put it, but I want to say that God loves me, and I’ll love Him back. I will follow Him all the days of my life, live for Him and glorify His name.

I’d like to end this testimony with one of my favourite verses: Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!

Cao Yuan (Cheryl)

deacons' elections

The following were elected as deacons as a result of the recent ballot and were appointed to serve for three years from the AGM on 26 May 2010 :

· Matt Baines
· Andrea Mill
· Robert Mill
· Daniel Onifade
· David Polland
· Craig Smith
· Brian Wilson

Andrea, Craig and Robert were re-elected; the others were new appointments although David has previously served on the diaconate. Pray for them as they begin their new terms of service with the continuing deacons Sam Kawamura and Paul Watson.

We also give thanks for the service of Barbara Toal on the diaconate over the past three years.

Robert Mill

EXPRESSIONS WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN

Emotions play a huge role in our everyday life, and no doubt our life would be a dull and insipid experience without them. However many of us find it very difficult to identify and express our emotions. Therefore the expression workshop for women organised by Andrea Mill on Saturday 8 May was a fantastic opportunity to experience the world of emotions. We not only had a chance to identify different emotions but also could explore how we can express our feelings in a healthy way. It was a very interesting experience as there were women of different ages and backgrounds and each one of them had something unique and valuable to share. We were free to express our thoughts or concerns out loud in front of the whole group or when working in pairs.

The participants I had a chance to talk to found the workshop a very interesting and enjoyable experience. They really enjoyed the fact that they could openly discuss and share their thoughts concerning emotions and also that we looked at them from God’s perspective. Yet another participant said that after the workshop she is able to express her feelings at least for herself even though she still might not be able to express them to others, which is a step forward for her.

I believe that after that workshop we are all amazed by the fact that it is a liberating experience to be able to talk freely about our emotions and also that it brings people together more. After all we live in the world were people wear masks and superficiality is daily life so let us break that ‘rule’ and be real and true and honest about our emotions, a God-given part of our personality.

Lucy Kurtyka

Fishing Trip

On the 5th of June iFriends (International Club) and people from Bristo Baptist Church went fishing at Markle fishery at East Linton. It ended up with a fish party that we had in the church on Monday, two days after the trip. Mahboob from Kashmir, who loves fishing and does it quite regularly, and I were responsible for the event.

In the beginning it was quite hard to gather people because many of us had never fished before and didn’t know what to expect. A few weeks before the trip we got an email from Mahboob with instructions on what to do and what to take with us. All we had to do was to follow the instructions and pray for the weather. After many weeks of planning and preparation, finally we did it!!!

The weather was absolutely wonderful! Leszek, our Polish friend who goes to Bristo, said: “The weather was really sunny. Even after a couple of days my skin was still red and white around my eyes because I had had my sunglasses on! Brian was laughing at me and calling me a panda.” I myself had sunburn as well, as I didn’t use any sun protection for a while. Fortunately the majority of the people who went with us were more sensible than me.

We had 15 people all together! Most of them went fishing for the first time in their life, but we all worked as one team! Leszek said: “It was a really amazing fishing trip. I was surprised that people from different countries, religions and cultural backgrounds can have such good fun all together helping each other. For example Mahboob, who was helping everyone especially the children David and Michael, treated them like his own sons. I caught only one fish but it was enough to make me happy. I will never forget this trip.” It was amazing indeed! Even an old fisherman whom we had never met before was helping us with fishing rods and sharing his own experience and special tricks. People were chatting, sharing their food and catching fish.
When I asked Diego from Spain to share his opinion about the fishing in one sentence he replied: “Awesome!!!” He also said that the fishing day was a good experience and the weather let us enjoy the nature. And I agree with him! Awesome is the right description of the fishing day we had!!!

Unfortunately not everyone caught a fish that day. One of them was Richard, from Scotland. In spite of that he still enjoyed the time. He said: “I’ve never been fishing before so this was a new experience for me, and I loved it a lot. It was also a great opportunity to spend time with others from the church, and also those who come to the International Club. I didn’t catch any fish, unfortunately, but in the whole group we caught more than enough fish which we shared later!”
After the fishing we all decided to have a fish party at church, at our club. As we didn’t know how many people would be coming, I was a bit worried about the food for everyone. Miraculously it was more than enough food. Almost everyone brought something. The food was absolutely delicious!!! As everyone who went fishing with us is really special and was helpful in different situations they each got a gold (plastic J) medal and a wee handmade card. It was amazing to see that these little things made people happier and a little bit more special.

I’m really thankful to God for giving us perfect weather and giving us free time to enjoy His creation, protecting us from accidents and helping me and Mahboob to organise the event and find the right number of people, giving us a chance to catch some fish and to cook a tasty meal on Monday, helping us to work as one person and making our friendship stronger and for many, many other things He does for us!

Tanya

Property Group

The members of the Bristo Property Group over the past year have been Stuart Rendle, Brian Wilson, Robert Mill and Craig Smith. We were also delighted to be joined in the few months of 2010 by Leszek Kurtyka who looks after the Church gardens.
The team meet monthly, and have been together for a number of years now. We have good relationships and work well with each other. This is a group of folk who love the Lord, who are also pro-active and happy to take ownership of tasks; willing also to see them through to the finish.
2009 - 2010 has been a good year for the Property team, with quite a number of jobs dealt with and completed. These include:
· replacement of the Manse boiler (which was 25 years old)
· arranging for signage to go up onto the notice boards at the front of the church. Many thanks to Caroline Connell for her eye catching designs
· improving the fire safety signage around the church and liaising with the Arch school to arrange fire drills
· repair work to the plumbing in both the Gents toilet and the Baptistry
· implementing the various requirements of this year’s follow-up Health and Safety inspection
There are also a few items that are on-going, one of which is the Church garden. This is kept very tidy and well tended by Leszek, and it has attracted very positive feedback from people within the church.

Craig Smith

Praise Band

This year we have been blessed with many musicians and this allowed some of us some time off from the rota. I am genuinely pleased with the musicianship of people involved and the work and commitment these people put into the Sunday services. We have had a practice morning once in this past year where we learned many new songs and fellowshipped together; with some good organisation this could become a regular feature. Recently we had a look at the sound desk and fixed a few problems so we are looking forward to an improved aural experience for the band and the congregation.

This coming year, we are going to be losing Agnes, Pedro, Tanya (the interns) and Richard going off to university. This will create a vacuum in the band but I do believe we would be able to find people in the congregation that would fill the gap. We are always looking for new people to play/sing and also we are looking for people to operate the PowerPoint during the service. Please let us know if you are willing to volunteer, training will be given. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved and ask the members of the congregation to do likewise for their hard work. Thank you.

Sam Kawamura

Sunday School

Sveta and Tanya continue to teach the younger age class with David, Eva and Lennox. This class continues to use the ‘Go Teach’ material which has proved very successful with this age group. Lucy and Linda lead the older class with Cyrus, Michael and Tafadzwa, using Scripture Union ‘Light’ material. Michael moved up to the older class just after the Easter Holiday. Both classes include a time of prayer, which the children participate in after discussing prayer requests.

We have continued to explore ways in which the children can take a more active part in morning services and they took part in Christmas and Easter dramas, along with adult actors.
We had barbecues at Yellowcraig and Vogrie Country Park last summer. These were well attended and similar events are planned for June and August this year.

The Sunday-School will break on 27th June (last session) and resume on 22nd August. The crèche will continue to run throughout the summer holiday, when required.

Please continue to pray for the Sunday School and those working with young people in the church.

Linda Watson

Bethany Report

The people at Bristo were this year involved again in both the Bethany Care Shelter and the Bethany Care Van.

Bristo is one of a large number of churches that actively support the Care Shelter. We are also one of the larger contributors to the service in that we provided the church as a venue for ten nights during its months of operation, between November and April. On two of those nights ‘Team Bristo’ provided the food, which we cooked on the premises, catering for between 40 – 50 people. We provided a main course and dessert, and served the food to exceptionally hungry service users.

Both of these nights were fun and full of fellowship as we cooked, served and then tidied up.
It’s worth noting that this service took on a particular importance to the service users this year after the closure of the Council’s Cowgate night centre this winter. After its closure the numbers coming to the Care Shelter increased fairly significantly.

Bristo also continues to contribute a team to man the Care Van every month, to serve rolls, soups, teas and coffees to service users as part of a consistent Christian witness on the streets.
Some people might be surprised to know that not all the users of the service are homeless. These are people who were homeless at some stage in the past, but who continue to come to the van to continue with relationships they’d had previously on the streets.
Although this is a fairly low-key ministry, the beauty of it is that it meets the basic needs of homeless people at the point of their need, and it does it on a consistent basis.

Our thanks go to Bethany and also Edinburgh City Mission (who partner with Bethany to provide the Care Van) for giving Bristo the opportunity to minister to the poor and vulnerable in Edinburgh and so align ourselves more fully with the heart of our Lord.

Craig Smith

YOUNG PEOPLE’S MINISTRIES

Encounter

Encounter was a cell group for our older teenagers. Over the previous years, attendance had steadily declined. As of 2009’s AGM we had a core group of four members. Of those four, one child has since stopped attending church at Bristo, and of the remaining three we would usually see only two at the most on any given Sunday evening. When Encounter took a break over the Summer holidays, it was decided in dialogue with these three that we would not resume the group in the autumn. It was not an easy decision - Encounter was an enjoyable and positive group - but we agreed that it had run its course. Each of those remaining teenagers, Adam, Lena and Richard, are committed to attendance and participation in the life of the Church. Richard now attends the Tuesday evening Cell group and the new ‘Journey’ course.

‘Journey’ for Teens

‘Journey’ is a catechetical course written by our Pastor, Jim Purves, for people who are looking to find out what it means to walk in the way of Jesus Christ. It explores such questions as “why are we here?”, “what gives life meaning?”, “what is baptism about?” and “is church membership important?” I have been developing these materials for use with our teenagers. This has been catalysed by Tafadzwa, a young man with a strong desire to be baptised and Richard, who is in the process of seeking God’s will for his life. It has been a pleasure to meet with these young men to study the bible, discuss the big questions of life and faith and pray together.

Café Church

Last December we embarked upon a joint initiative with the youth of Granton Baptist Church. ‘TFT’ Café Church meets on ‘The First Thursday’ of every month in Costa Coffee in Stockbridge. There young people between the ages of 14 to 25 years of age, discuss relevant topics from Christian point of view. It is intended as a space for young people to invite their non-Christian friends to, especially those who would not go near a church building. Of particular benefit to our group is the opportunity to meet Christians from another church and background. Attendance was low at first and has grown in increments. Tanya and Richard have been regular participants, while many of the teens from the IT club have started coming.

When asked what he thought of Café Church, Richard said that he likes mixing with people from other churches as well those who don’t go to any church, the discussion and of course, the hot chocolate!

Please pray that the teens from IT club would attend more regularly and invite other non-Christians.

Matt Baines

IT Club

He has showed you, O humanity, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 (NIV, adapted)

The themes of Micah - God’s concern for justice, mercy and humility - have been core to the times we have shared with the young people at IT club this year. Topics covered have included human trafficking, fair, trade, war, peace and social justice. Discussions have been wide-ranging, deep and often quite personal as the young people would bring their personal frustrations and concerns relating to the topics. It has been a great privilege to see the young people really getting involved in discussion and responding in ways both creative and practical. I personally hope to see more development in the area of social action with this group in the future.

Special events and trips have included cinema trips, bowling, nature trails, meals out and a Narnia themed Christmas Party. The highlight of last Summer was a Photo Safari competition, that took us on a journey of discovery around the Old Town. We really enjoyed having David and Agnes Nemeshegyi acting as our special guest judges for the competition. We have also enjoyed sharing in a walk up Arthur’s Seat and film nights with the ‘iFriends’ group and others from the church family.

We have a core group of ten teenagers in the club, mainly girls in year 5 at high school. It has been good to see Francesco, one of the teen-aged school-leavers, take on more responsibility in the group since the summer. Our coaches this year have been Tanya Alexeeva, James Trimble, Pedro Gonzalez, Adam Connell, Richard Allison and Matt Baines.

We have also received support on occasion from Sveta Barclay as well as Sally and Sam Kawamura. We are very grateful as a group for their availability and friendship. We were sad to have seen Katy Cracknell and David Purves leave us in the Autumn, but pleased to receive correspondence from Katy - as well as a stuffed toy wombat! - and to see David upon his visits. This summer we will be sad to see Tanya and Pedro leave us. We will miss all their hard work and friendly faces.

We would be grateful for your prayers as we seek the way forward for it club. Big changes are on the horizon. I will be looking for new adults to join us as coaches on a regular basis. Most of the group will be finishing high school in the coming year. Pray that this will be a fruitful year and that the teens will continue to take on deepening levels of responsibility in the group, and that they will be challenged to respond in increasingly deeper ways to the call to follow Jesus. Pray for wisdom for the adults in the group to lead the group forward in the most God-honouring way possible.

Matt Baines

iFriends

What is iFriends ?

iFriends (International Club) is a club that is based in Bristo Baptist Church. There is a mixture of Christians from Bristo and people who come to Edinburgh to study or to find a job. It is a sports club where people have a chance to enjoy some exercise, have a nice chat with people from different countries, learn about different cultures and share your own. In addition we have the chance to introduce people to Christ through our fellowship and giving a good example of Christianity.

A Short History

When I came to Bristo in the beginning of January 2009, “iFriends” did not exist. There was a badminton club which was run by David, Adam and other people from Bristo who played there on Mondays. At that time we no longer had many people after the summer.

We were thinking how to change this situation and finally found the solution! We started inviting people from “Home from Home” to play badminton with us. These people started coming every Monday and they invited their friends. When we became good friends we started going to the countryside together, celebrating each other’s birthdays and having goodbye parties as well as making international evenings. We had some traditional meals, music, photos and souvenirs.

One day we decided to change the name of our club because we didn’t play only badminton. At first we had very many different ideas. Then we decided that ‘iFriends’ was the most suitable name for us. Today we have a huge number of friends from different countries.

What we did over the past year

Over the past year we have had a good number of people who come to the club almost every Monday. As we progressed, we formed a team of interns, people from Bristo and international people from the club who do all the setting up, preparations and planning. Diego with other friends from the club started working on our own website, that we are trying to improve just now.

We play badminton, table tennis, pool and other games that are in the church building. We also had so much fun having a trip to Loch Lomond. “It Club” and “iFriends” had a walk in Holyrood Park which was also very enjoyable and exciting! On Saturdays (about once a month) we watch a film and that is a good opportunity for Christians who are not able to come on Mondays to have fellowship with people from the club.

We had four international evenings (Iranian, Russian, Indian and Scottish) that were organized by Bahareh, Tanya, Janu and Brian respectively. In these events we had an opportunity to learn something new from each others’ cultures. We also had Christmas and Easter parties that gave us a chance to share Bible stories and have much fun playing games and eating traditional food for these days!

Almost every Monday or every second Monday we end up having a birthday cake celebrating our iFriends’ birthdays. They were very touched by that even when they expected it! We also play some music and do some art and many other things that are interesting for everyone. Before the end of my internship we had a fishing trip which is going to be on the 5th of June 2010 (see separate article).

The fruit

Going to “iFriends” gives the chance for fellowship between people from the club and church people and everyone participating has become very good friends. We have also seen an increasing openness to Christ among our friends. They sometimes ask us to pray for them and often share their problems and happiness with us. Some of them even started going to church occasionally.

Future plans

I am planning to ask the church and “It club” about having a “Day of Art”. In my opinion, we have many people in our church who are very talented and I am sure that they have something they could amaze us with. I have not decided the date of this occasion yet, but it will be approximately at the end of June. Before I go back to Russia I would like to discuss the future of the club with its members.
Thanks
I am really thankful to God that I have had a chance to serve Him through this ministry. Many thanks to Jim Purves and Bristo Baptist Church deacons for inviting and supporting me here. Special thanks to the Purves family who became my Scottish family. Also thanks to the following: to the team of interns David, Agy, Pedro and David Purves (who helped a lot before he went to Oxford) for their hard work and help; to Brian Wilson who hardly ever missed Monday night (!); to Richard for his excellent work and Matt for helping us to organize some special events together with “It Club”. Finally thanks to people like Cheryl, Adam, Leszek, Lucy, Ivor, Bahareh, Mahboob, Diego, Sveta, Brian and Lena for coming regularly and many other people who became a big part of “iFriends”!!!
The way forward
Generally speaking I am really happy with everything we do in the international club. There may be small improvements to be made but in my opinion the only real issue is how to find new people who are going to organize everything after I go back to Russia. We also need to find somebody who can help Diego in working on the website.

Tanya Alexeeva

PRAYER POINTS

· Pray for the new deacons’ court (for list of deacons see p. 12), that they would be given wisdom to work in harmony to discern God’s will for the congregation
· Pray for those recently baptised — Jess Tait, Cao Yuan, Richard Allison, Buki and Tafadzwa Msengezi — and for the congregation to support them in their spiritual growth
· Give thanks for the work of the interns, Tanya Alexeeva, Pedro Gonzalez and David Nemeshegyi, and that God would bless them as they return to their home countries of Russia, Argentina and Hungary
· Pray for the work among internationals, particularly the future direction of our International Club iFriends begun by Tanya and others
· Our work among young people, particularly Sunday School leaders and pupils and the IT Club for teenagers
· Continue to pray for wisdom concerning the future of the building
· Pray for Christian events and witness in the forthcoming Edinburgh Fringe Festival
· Christian life, discipleship and witness in an ‘age of austerity’ in the Western world
· The work of Bethany Christian Trust and other agencies working among homeless and deprived people
· Our ongoing relationship with the church in Lom, Bulgaria