Sunday 21 January 2018 10am

WHILE OUR CHURCH BUILDING IS REPAIRED WE ARE MEETING EACH SUNDAY AT THE MINERAL & LAPIDARY CLUB 11O WALTHAM RD (NEXT TO WALTHAM SCHOOL) AT 10AM.

WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WELCOME YOU.

 

Sunday 21st January 2018 10am

 Notices:

Lenten Conversations…During Lent 2018 there is an opportunity to gather with others to grow in our connection with God and one another.  We will gather every week for 4 weeks (4 sessions of approx. 90 mins, beginning from Monday Feb19th) for tea/coffee and a time to converse and learn with a focus theme.  Groups of up to 8 people will run on Monday evenings, Tuesday mornings, and Wednesday afternoons. (Some people find they can’t make every session). Our focus theme this year is Nurturing Spiritual Practices.  We are going to have some fun experimenting with different ways of connecting with God and discerning God’s voice in our lives.  Sign the sheet on the back table or send Dugald a message.   You are encouraged to invite a friend.

 Do you have an excess in your garden…. Bring the extra produce to church and share it with folk….  As God has been generous with you be generous with others.

Wednesday Walkers: 24th January. Meet at South Library 9.30am for an informal stroll.

Court Theatre Group Booking: Thursday 5th April 6.30pm “Easy Money” by Roger Hall. Cost $49 per person or $40 with a Community Services Card (photocopy of card details required). The seats selected are easily accessible for those with mobility issues. Numbers attending and money in NAMED envelope to Sue Saunders, or dropped in to the Parish Office, by Sunday 4th March at the latest please. Look out for the sign up sheet next week!

Crafty Crafters: Thursdays 10am – 12 noon at Beckenham Methodist. Bring along an unfinished craft, or come and learn a new one! $3 per session. All are welcome. Contact Beverley Hudson 384 7814 for further details.

Waltham Cottage re-opens Monday 22nd January.

Shopping bags made by Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia…. When Dugald and Janet were visiting family recently they met Selina, a Muslim woman who has initiated with others a small project to help some of the thousands of Rohingya refugees that have flooded into Malaysia.  These refugees are stateless so they are people who officially don’t exist.  They cannot use health and educational facilities in Malaysia, and to survive must work illegally.  Selina has started a small business with a borrowed sewing machine to help some of the refugees make shopping bags.  These are available for sale at $10.00 each.

Citizens Advice Bureau Needs Volunteers: Training course starts in March. Volunteers answer queries on any matters from consumer rights, to family issues, tenancy and flatting problems, and more. To join the knowledgeable and caring team contact Christchurch Citizens Advice Bureau 0800 367 222 or manager@cabchch@gmail.com

 Assisted Suicide in New Zealand: Come and hear Dr Amanda Landers, a local palliative care doctor who works with people and their families/whanau facing life-limiting illness. She will give a short presentation about palliative care in New Zealand, the End of Life Choice Bill (as it stands now) and some of the implications for our society. Following the presentation, there will be time to write a submission to the Parliamentary Justice Committee.

Opawa Baptist Church 285 Wilsons Rd on Thursday 25th January or Thursday 1st February 7.30-8.30pm. For more information please email amandalanders1974@gmail.com

 

Fairfax Media/Stuff is rallying the community to get behind the Wasp Wipeout – an initiative to significantly reduce the wasp population in New Zealand at the country’s favourite recreational and tourism spots. Wasps are having a devastating impact on our native birds, bats, lizards and insects, exploiting the most valuable food sources of the forest and entirely altering New Zealand’s natural biodiversity.

These wasps are also a serious threat to people, delivering painful stings that can cause life-threatening allergic reactions and — in extreme cases — death.

The Campaign: We’ll be using Vespex, an extremely effective protein-based wasp bait (developed in New Zealand), and placing bait stations across the region. To do this, we’re leading a crowdfunding campaign – the more we can raise, the more bait stations we can put out and the greater chance we have of solving the wasp problem for good.

How to contribute:

See http://popshop.stuff.co.nz/campaigns/wasps  for details

 

World Day of Prayer: Observed on the first Friday in March each year, this is a worldwide movement of informed prayer involving people of many denominations and languages in more than 170 countries. Each year the service is written by women in a different country who share the hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, opportunities and needs, of their country. It affirms that informed prayer and prayerful action are inseparable.

This year’s service has been prepared by the women of Suriname. Our local service is at Beckenham Methodist Church on Friday 2 March at 7.30pm