Yardley Seventh-day Adventist Church Issue 02 Sept 2010

Family Ministries Newsletter

To the second edition of the Yardley Family Ministries Newsletter.

We hope to bring you even more exciting news, updates and information about what’s going on in and around the Yardley SDA Church community!

We have only been able to produce this newsletter because you have been such good readers and have given us your feedback, prayers and donations – We thank you, please keep them coming!

We hope you enjoy your read and encourage you to pass this newsletter onto others once you have benefited from it! God Bless You

Ann & BevFamily Ministries Team

Welcome...

Sunday, August 28th marked a special day in the year for Yardley Church as Felicia Forbes and Daniel [Danny] John were joined together in holy matrimony. Felicia grew up in the Yardley church and Danny has been attending for the past year or so and they felt it best to have the wedding in what is their home church. The morning of the day the rain was pouring down but come 1pm the sun came out brightly just in time for the arrival of the radiant bride and handsome groom. The church was full of friends and family who had travelled from all over the country to witness this special occasion. The ceremony was conducted by Pastors Perry and Sayers – the former knew the groom in his early years and the latter has known both the bride and groom as the last Pastor of Yardley church. The wedding service was both a jovial and spiritual time for the couple and the church at large as they

made a commitment to God and to each other.Following the ceremony the wedding party, family and friends went to Highgate park to take pictures and then onto the Emerald Club for the reception.

This not only marked a special day in the lives of Danny and Felicia but it was also the first wedding that has been conducted in the Yardley Church. The church was tastefully decorated by Anolin Stevens and friends and was more than a fit place to have a wedding. We anticipate that there will be more weddings to come in the future and that as a church we can continue to make best use of the building God has blessed us with.

We would also like to give the newly married couple our best wishes as a church and pray for their continued happiness as a family.

Yardley’s First Wedding!

Contents

Fond Church Memories.......p.2Sharing the Gospel..............p.3Testimonies from PEACE....p.4Activity Page........................p.5Baptisms .............................p.6Youth Success Stories........p.6Men’s Health feature...........p.7Bible Workers......................p.8CEDA Summer Scheme......p.9Aberdaron....................p.10-11The Importance of Prayer....p.12

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Fond Church Memories

Song services, vibrant messages and a sense of community spirit are Sis Stewart’s opening remarks when recalling her past experiences of leaving Camp Hill in the early 1970’s and being involved in setting up a local community church in the Yardley/Hay Mills area of Birmingham.

It wasn’t always a joyous time as Sis Stewart looks back…”I was sad to be leaving Camp Hill but I finally came round to the idea knowing that God would lead us and direct us to where he wanted us to be”.

Sis Stewart became a baptized member of the Seventh Day Adventist Camp Hill church over 40 years ago in 1968, she was baptized by the Pastor at the time; Pastor Brian. After serving at Camp Hill for a few years, like others Sis Stewart took up the challenge by God’s grace to work for him in another part of his vineyard in Birmingham.

Moving from various venues including Church Road, The Co-op

Hall, Kings Road and Waterloo Road to name a few, Sis Stewart recalls asking God “..Where next Lord?”.. But there was no real despair as although the journeys were many, the church brethren knew that God had a master plan.

Memories of worshipping with others such as Bro & Sis Callum, Bro & Sis Lynton, Bro Gibbs, Bro Johnson and Bro Smith – still brings a smile to

Sis Stewart’s face today! And whilst some of these wonderful brethren have gone on before us, some have moved and And others are thankfully still with us today – “I praise God for bringing us through from then until now”!

Sis Stewart is currently not well and awaiting possible knee surgery – please pray for her and her family.

 

This year has been a blessing thus far for the Yardley SDA Church but I still believe that the best is yet to come. In just a months time starting on October 1st we will have a 3 week campaign in the Yardley SDA church aimed at reaching out to the community.

This year we are blessed to have the help of almost 25 young people to assist us as a church in this endeavour – a unique opportunity that we need to take advantage of as much as possible. Having said this though it does not mean that we can all take a back seat and watch while others do the work and I would like to encourage all to get involved as much as possible for when this campaign is over, when the PEACE students have left and when the ASI Youth 4 Jesus bible workers have gone by the end of November then we as a church must continue where they

have left off. There are several ways that each one of us can get involved. Firstly your prayers are solicited and cherished.Secondly during the campaign we need volunteers to help out with the children’s programme, music ministry, registration, catering, ushers, greeters, visitation… the list goes on.

Thirdly during and after the campaign there is a need for people to visit the contacts who are coming and continue bible studies with people afterwards. I believe that when we as a church continue to pull together and work together and unite our selves with Christ that great things will take place in our personal lives and in the lives of others.

God Bless, Pastor Adam Ramdin

From the Pastor’s DeskAnd we all are one... Missionaries Together! Matthew 28:18-20

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Nursing Home Ministry The Personal Ministries Team interview

Sister Forbes How long have you been doing Nursing Home Ministry?

“I have been doing this form of ministry for 10 years in total. I first went with a team headed by Brother Nicholls we had joyful times and it was a real blessing for the residents. Sadly Brother Nicholls passed away, but I still had the desire to work for the Lord and continue with the Nursing Home Ministry”.

Tell us about a typical visit to the nursing home?

“Well! We greet the residents and staff. We pray and sing some familiar hymns e.g. The old rugged cross etc). Sometimes the residents know some of the hymns; so it is lovely to see them participating; as well as the staff members. We often read scriptures like Psalms 23 and briefly comment on the passage. We find that some of the residents know Psalm 23 quite well. We always end in prayer and the whole worship experience lasts approximately 30mins.

How is the nursing home ministry a benefit to all involved?

It is a blessing for all. The residents and staff enjoy the ministry and they invite us to come back. God is so good and everyone is so welcoming!

One week we sang the Old Rugged Cross and a resident started to cry. When we had finished singing he said when his father was alive that was his favourite hymn.That is just one example of the Nursing home being an effective ministry.

Sister Forbes - Thank You for your time may God richly Bless you and the team to continue in the nursing home ministry. If you would like to get involved, please see Sis Forbes.

The Power of 31,000 (Mark 16 v 15)Greetings to all readers

Have you heard of the Power of the 31000? 31,000 people, 31 pieces of literature, 1 day?

This is a British Union initiative aimed to encourage each of us 31000 Seventh Day Adventists in the UK, to share our faith and be a witness to our communities. This event will be held on Sabbath 25th September 2010.

The Personal Ministries (PM) team have been praying and working together in order for Yardley to be ready for the event. There will be a variety of information leaflets to distribute freely to the community thus providing a good opportunity to meet new people and develop links. The intention will be for small groups to go to our local shop-ping areas such as the Yew Tree, Acocks Green, Solihull, City Centre etc.

The PM team will keep the church informed and explain all plans before going out on the 25th of September. Please pray so God can help prepare us to go out in faith, with the Holy Sprit guiding. Please pray that we all can meet someone in order for them to know Christ. For any further information see a member of the PM team.

God Bless

Give Thanks

Richard Scott

Personal Ministries

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PEACE (Pan-European Advanced Centre of Evangelism)

Hello,My name is Yuliya Kisova, I am from Bulgaria. I used to live in London 3 years ago and heard about PEACE from my friend Maris.I was very interested about this project, but I was worried about money. I prayed to God and put the situation in His hands. For me it is very important to improve my faith

with evangelism. Two days before I came to Birmingham my church helped me a lot with some of the money. My experiences of PEACE are very interesting; I can feel how my faith grows every single day. Sometimes it’s not enough to know God, but it is important to share his love with other people. I have been in the Adventist church for about a year and six months. I was baptised four months ago. I found in the church the truth about Jesus Christ. I grew up in catholic family, I knew God but my heart was empty because I did not understand his wonderful love to me. Now I know what He did for me on the cross and how much he cares for me. I am happy and I want to make him happy too. The way for that I think I can do this is by having a strong faith, surrendering and working for him. When we go door knocking we meet lots of different

people. Some of them are strange, funny and even angry. Some of which just shut the door. A variety of them love talking, but the real reason to do this work is to help people to look and search for God. Outside from church they live without Jesus, without hope, without love. They are sad, sorrowed and lonely. Recently we met a lovely lady, she cried when we spoke to her. She told us that she had lost her son, he died a few years ago. We also met a man who has a problem with alcohol and drugs and he is happy to meet friends with different views. There was another man who is divorced. He is looking for God and has many questions to ask us. My outreach partner Chanel and I consider it a privilege for us to share God’s Word with others - so they can receive the best gift ever - the LOVE of JESUS!

Romans 8:28

PEACE is a new centre of evangelism for Europe, based in the UK. It seeks to provide essential training for people across Europe by working in partnership with Amazing Facts.Hello my name is Aaron Mckenzie and I am a student of the Pan European Advanced Centre of Evangelism that is in Birmingham. I am originally from Wolverhampton, but am residing in Birmingham for four months as part of the course. The course so far has been great and a real life changing experience. I have always known that it is important as Christians to evangelise but I was always fearful of getting up and knocking doors and sharing my faith with people, especially people I do not know. Being at P.E.A.C.E has not only given me more knowledge of the scripture, but it has also equipped me with how to defend my faith, how to understand other faiths, understanding what we believe and much more along with actually sharing our faith and giving bible studies. I have had such an incredible experience door knocking and meeting new people at there homes and on the street and all the lessons learnt have been amazing. At the beginning before signing up to be part of the course I did struggle to make the choice of whether I should go or not. My reasons were because I simply did not have the money along with the fact it is a four month course which would mean I would be away from family and friends for a quarter of a year, I was planning to perhaps go back into education in September perhaps which wouldn’t be able to happen since the course ends

in November and I just wasn’t sure I would want to spend so long in education about the Bible when I could be learning something I could possibly get a career in. So I prayed about it and I began trying to ask people for money and I remember specifically asking my dad of which his response was a firm “No”. He did not see the point in me taking four months to do this course and it costing so much so did not want anything to do with it. I prayed about it again and the following week he just offered to help support me throughout without me even having to ask again, not only that but he decided to give me more then I originally asked for. I just thank God for putting me in this situation and giving me this experience and I would encourage people to take a similar path into evangelism because it does change the lives of other people as well as yourself.

Aaron Mckenzie, PEACE Student (above)

Yuliya Kisova, PEACE Student

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ACTIVITY P

AG

E

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Blessed Baptisms at Yardley

Yardley Youth Success Stories

 

very excited at that time!On the day of my baptism I was extremely nervous but also extremely happy at the same time. When I was in the water my heart was racing and my body was shaking but when Pastor baptised me I was much calmer and relaxed. When I came back up, I was happy and glad.

Straight after my baptism I was still nervous for some reason but after about 2 weeks I felt renewed and

Cedric Farrell along with Loi Lynton is one of the latest members to be added to the Yardley membership roll. Baptised on Sabbath 24th July, Cedric stated that he had dreamt of getting baptised from when he was a young man and was so grateful to God that his life had been spared to behold this wonderful day. Cedric requested the song Just As I am – as his song during his immersion.

Loi tells us about her experience:

I got baptised because I love the Lord so much and I wanted to set an example to my sisters also. He is the best thing you can ever think of and he answers prayers and loves everyone and I love him and he is wonderful. When I had finished the bible studies Pastor asked me “when I wanted to get baptised” and I said “next week!” as you can see I was

refreshed and I was much more happier inside and comfortable.

Proud Parents Jo and Jackie stated: “When I saw Loi in the water I thought “Even though she is only 10 she has made this decision all by herself!

Loi, Mom and Dad are sooo proud of you. Keep on keeping on with Jesus!

We welcome both Cedric and Loi into the Yardley Family and the wider world wide SDA church!

Congratulations to Danielle Stevens - This year she passed all of her GCSE’s and plans to go to Solihull 6th form college. “I advise that anyone taking their exams does not leave studying to the last minute as this can be very stressful. I have realised that as long as you do your best you can be proud of all of your achievements as long as you compare them to your own standards and not anyone else’s.”

Congratulations also to Charlotte Saunders –Charlotte who has completed and passed all her A levels this summer.

She says: “My advice to anyone who is taking exams this year is to make sure that you start revision early and it will lessen the strain leading up to exam time, and make sure you ask you teachers for help if you are struggling with something.Even though exams may be challenging don’t get discouraged and always stay positive. You may have your disappointments but keep working and it will be worth it in the end. Remember that if you’re having any trouble with coping with schoolwork, talk to God about it, that’s what He’s there for!”

We will keep you informed of other Young People’s progress in future editions – Please keep praying for all our youth – “..that whatsoever they do, they will do it to the best of their ability, as to the Lord and not unto men” Colossians 3 v23.

 

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Where is the prostate and what is prostate cancer?

The prostate is a small organ, found only in men, that is wrapped around the tube that carries urine away from the bladder. It plays an important role in producing the fluid that, when added to sperm from the testes, creates semen.

Prostate cancer occurs when one or more of the cells of the prostate begin to multiply at a greater rate than normal, forming a tumour. This may stay localised to the prostate, or may spread to other areas of the body such as the liver or the bones.

Why should I look out for prostate cancer warning signs?

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in British men and the second biggest cancer killer after lung cancer. Around 35,000 men are diagnosed with the condition in the UK every year and around 10,000 men die from it. Prostate cancer is less common in men below the age of 50 years, and the average age at diagnosis is 70 to 74 years. The risk is greater for men who have a family history of prostate cancer and black - African and Black- Caribbean men. Prostate cancer is also more common in western countries, suggesting that there may be a link with lifestyle factors, such as diet. However, treatments are available and these are most effective when started as early as possible.

Keeping a careful look out for prostate cancer warning signs is vital if you are to catch the disease in the early stages. The trouble is that prostate cancer does not produce any signs or symptoms in the very early days of its development. By the time obvious prostate cancer warning signs appear, the disease may be in an advanced stage.What are the early prostate cancer warning signs?

Most of the early prostate cancer symptoms involve changes in the way you pass water. This is because the enlarged prostate presses on the tube from your bladder.

Men’s HealthProstate Cancer

The most common prostate cancer warning signs include:

• A frequent need to urinate, especially at night

• Weak or intermittent flow of urine• Difficulty starting urination• Pain or burning sensation when

urinating• Blood in your urine

Other symptoms occur less frequently and involve your reproductive performance; they can also occur in men without prostate cancer. These include: • Difficulty obtaining or maintaining an

erection• Painful ejaculation• Blood in the semen

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Bible Workers

Q1) Apart from Jesus, which two people would you wish to meet in heaven, and why?

My dad..because i’ve got so much to tell him!My guardian angels, because i want to know from them the experience they had to go through with me.

Q2) In your opinion what is the best sermon you have ever heard and who was it by?

A Love story by Ivor Myers

Q3) You bump into Will Smith, you have a minute to speak to him (share the gospel) what would you say?

“Did you know that Jesus, the Son of God died for the sins off humanity, just to enable us to start clean and walk according to His commandments on this earth, so that we would be able to make it to heaven?!!” Have you been able to gain everlasting life through Christ according to His commandment in your success so far? If yes..in what way?In the death of the cross Jesus has shown that He would rather go to hell for you than to live in heaven without you! Therefore Glorify Him in all that you do andcontinue to sincerely ask Him guidance for your life and those around you in prayer!

God BlessFarida

Q1) Apart from Jesus, which two people would you wish to meet in heaven, and why?

A: I wish to meet my Grandad as I only have limited memories of him as a small child as he passed away when I was young. Furthermore I would like to meet my guardian angel as I want to know how I’ve been protected and guided through my life on earth.

Q2) In your opinion what is the best sermon you have ever heard and who was it by?

One of the best sermons I have heard is by Sebastien Braxton and it is entitled “How do you know that you know God.” A powerful sermon expounding upon 1 John 4:7-16, 1 corinthians 13 and Matthew 5:43-45. It is impossible to know God and not love! If you don’t love you don’t know God - we must love EVERYONE and we do this by shar-ing the gospel in love!

Q3) You bump into Will Smith, you have a minute to speak to him (share the gospel) what would you say?

(GETTING JIGGY WITH IT HAHAHA) I would greet him and compliment him on all the goals he’s achieved (making movies, music, TV programmes etc) but make him aware that he’s missing something and there’s one more thing he needs to achieve and that’s a saving relationship with Christ. I would explain to him that life is fragile an that death comes to every man, furthermore I would explain how mad the world is and urge him to study the Bible to get right with Christ (I would direct him to Matthew 24). Then I would appeal to him by using Mark 8:36 and tell him to go on to a SDA website.

I asked Jesus “How much do you love me?” He replied “This much” - He stretched out His hands on the cross and died!

God BlessNathan

Nathan Farida

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CEDA Summer SchemeChristian Education and Development Agency

CEDA - Background InfoCEDA is part of CEDA Consultancy. Primarily, the purpose

of CEDA is to provide innovative teaching and learning services which inspire minds and facilitate the creation of

excellence. CEDA works with individuals as well as organisations in order to meet a range of academic and personal development needs. The main

aim of all Academy activity is to enable success from a Christian and holistic perspective.

CEDA - Summer Academy 2010CEDA hosts occasional Seasonal Academy Projects that have a specific focus, and are appropriate for students from a specified age-range. For example, The CEDA Summer Academy 2010 incorporated fundamental, yet intensive Mathematics and English tuition, revision and assessment for 8 to 10 year old children. Located at CEDA’s Study Centre, the Summer Academy took place between August 9th and 20th and it successfully combined vibrant teaching and learning with spiritual enrichment and wholesome outdoor recreation on a daily basis, for the duration of two very enjoyable weeks!

The leadership team has a wealth of experience in education, training and project management. The teachers at CEDA are qualified practitioners with several years of valuable experience having worked successfully in the primary, secondary and tertiary phases of education.

If you would like further details, please feel free to contact CEDA on 0121 248 1106 Mon-Fri, 10.00am - 6.00pm. We welcome any enquiries you may have about our services or our current itinerary.

This year I am working towards my 11+ so I have been on a unique two week CEDA summer school (9-20 August). The three main elements of the summer scheme were spiritual, academic and activities; seeing everyone smiling whilst learning was one of the highlights. All of us made friends and enjoyed ourselves as we did work in the morning and had absolute fun in the afternoon. As we all know praising God should be our main focus so every morning before working we had devotion, different children everyday would plan worship and some people even sang special items. Everyday was truly a blessing! ☺

I learnt a lot more about English and Maths then I knew before. Everyday we practised 11+ tests and in addition every few days we had an English or Maths lesson by Mr Saunders, Mr Distin and Miss Woodburn.

Please pray for us that we will do our best in our tests in Nov & Dec! By Alydia Scott (Aged 10)

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Adventurous Aberdaron

Monique Sherman-Evans, 14(Cousin of Alydia Scott)

I went to Aberdaron camp for the first time this summer; it was a new experience for me. I was invited along by a few of my close friends which attend the SDA church. The trip was fun as there were lots of things to do and the people you meet there are very friendly including the staff. The only thing I did not like about the camping was waking up in the morning and having to do exercise in the cold while we were still half asleep! The whole account was fun; I would definitely go next year!

Jordanne Cameron, 14

Aberdaron camp 2010 for me was a really good experience; although I have been camping before it was just completely different to the camps I’m used to. There were only about 50 campers on site; with such a small number of people there was a cosy ambience which made everything all the more enjoyable.When we arrived at the campsite we got to pick our tents, I was in tent five. We then had to choose a team name and those were the teams we were in for the week’s group activities. Each day there were a series of different activities running, either group activities where you had the opportunity to gain points for your team, or individual activities like archery or kayaking.One of my favourite and most memorable parts of camp was the Friday evening agape feast, the atmosphere in there was amazing they made a cross out of all the candles and we all sat on mats around the cross - the service was beautiful and spiritually uplifting. It was an amazing experience and a beautiful way to start Sabbath.

Our Adventures at Active Aberdaron... The Young People tell us all about their Camp experiences!

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Alana Campbell, 14Aberdaron was a funny camp I went as a early teen ages 13 -17. It

was funny because we meet people from around the country who were

full of life and fun, Christian youth just like me.

We did lots of fun actives like.....

• Going to the local town centre

• Going to the local beach

• tent team activities

We had to make up a name for our tent so that when we did differ-

ent actives, people would know who we were and give us points.

Our group was called JAM

Opening Sabbath on Friday was so special, we lit candles and we used

a cross to illustrate Christ and the singing was awesome.

We made lots of friend at Aberdaron it is a fantastic place to go and I

hope that more young people consider going. Next year I hope to have a

great experience too.

Roche Campbell, 12

Aberdaron Junior Camp, Wales 2010On 1st august 2010 I went to Aberdaron. We did lots of activities like rounders on the beach and played on the bouncy castle and lot’s more.

Friday: We opened the Sabbath with agape service and we had cards saying love and forgive. We gave them to the people who we love and people to ask for forgiveness. We said prayers to help us in life.

Saturday: On Sabbath afternoon we climbed a mountain, we all had a stone with our name on it. We put the stones on the mountain to make the mountain much higher.

When we got there, they told us that we had to know 3 things why we were an Adventist. We could not use the statement my mother and father makes me attend church.

My 3 reasons were:1. I know the truth of God’s word.2. I love the Lord.3. He died for me on the cross to save my life.

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• Do you stop to eat each day? • Do you wash each day?• Do you spend time watching TV?• Do you take a nap?• Do you take time to exercise?

Do you take time to PRAY?

Yardley Church were recently reminded in a Family Life Prayer Weekend of the ‘Importance of Prayer’. Pastor Cyril Sweeney (our speaker for the weekend) encouraged the church to pray more!

Why? Because God wants to hear from us and if we love him, we will want to hear from him.

Be encouraged by the following scriptures:

Psalms 62:8, Psalms 3:4, Psalms 34: 4,6, Luke 11:1-4

We continue as a church family to pray for all our brethren; those who are unable to attend church for various reasons e.g. sickness. Although you may be out of sight, you are not out of our prayers and thoughts!We also think of those further a field in places like Pakistan affected by the floods and the Miners in Chile. We pray the Lord will meet all our needs! Philippians 4:19

Women’s Retreat

Friday 8th - Sun 10th October 2010 Staverton Park, Daventry, NN11 6JTThere will be a separate programme for the 13 - 19 years old)

For further details please contact Geraldene Farmer (NEC, WM Director) on:

Office: 0115 960 6312 Mob: 07788 106226 gfarmer@necadventist.org.uk http://daughtersofgodmidlands.eventbrite.com/

It’s that time of year again and we are gearing up for another successful Midlands Retreat at Staverton Park. In the beautiful, relaxing atmosphere of this well-known venue you can take full advantage of your chance to:

• Get away for an inspiring weekend with Christian sisters,

• Listen to enriching • Spirit-filled messages, • Enjoy good gospel music and experience the power

of Prayer

Speaker Patrice Williams-Gordon

The Importance of Prayer

Upcoming Events...

Where to Find us

Yardley SDA ChurchBerkley Road,

Hay Mills,Birmingham

B25 8NW

Phone: 0121 753 2498Sabbath School: 9.30amDivine Service: 11.15am

Licensed Minister Mr Adam Ramdin