News
Ø Alpha 2012
Ø Babu – A Short Tragic Story
Ø Impact World Tour – November 2011
Ø Christmas Dinner
Ø Pleasant Wednesday Evening
Ø Kirkcudbright Choral Society
Ø House for Rent
Ø Situations Vacant
Ø Deadline for Articles
Ø Church Development
Ø Isatu Kondeh
Alpha 2012
Registration is invited now for a new Alpha Course beginning in
January to be run by Mhairi Wallace and the Minister on Wednesday evenings. This will give an overview of the Christian
Faith and challenge us all in our Christian commitment. Contact Douglas Irving at the Church Office (01557)
330489 for further information.
Babu – A Short Tragic Story
Babu came to the attention of the Wednesday Evening Fellowship Group
following an article in the Herald last year.
Babu was one of the many pavement dwellers in
The article in the Herald so moved the Fellowship Group that we
decided to support the work of the charity Concern Worldwide in the Amrao
Manush (We are People too) project to help pavement dwellers in Dhaka. Through the
generosity of the Kirkcudbright community around £3600 has been raised.
Kidnapping in
Babu was kidnapped in the middle of the night and imprisoned for
three days before being sold for about £35.
During the transaction Babu
started screaming which attracted the attention of a policeman who arrested the
man and released Babu. He grew up alone
on the streets and his bed became a patch of concrete next to
You may have seen the picture of Babu either at the Christmas tree
festival last year, where a tree filled with stars was entitled
‘Babu’s Tree of Hope’, or in The Galloway News on Thursday
17th November. Sadly a few days ago we
received news that Babu had been killed in a road accident.
We never met Babu; we only saw his picture and heard his story but
we all feel a great loss. The reality is that life on the streets is still
hazardous but efforts to provide shelter and support still go on - Andy Dixon
Impact World Tour—November 2011
Sharing the Gospel, not least with children and young people, is
challenging in times such as ours.
Friday 4 November, saw the arrival in the Stewartry of eighty
young people from the
As part of the outreach, three teams of YWAM youngsters –
the “GX International Team” featuring BMX bike, dance and
skateboarding, “Team Xtreme” sharing feats of strength and
“Island Breeze Team” highlighting music and dance from the Pacific
Islands - staged five dynamic presentation nights in Castle Douglas Parish
Church and Town Hall and in Kirkcudbright Parish Church Hall and the
town’s Academy and Primary Schools Halls, to large audiences of children,
teenagers and parents.
The GX International Team presentation to a capacity audience in
Kirkcudbright’s Cochran Hall. Dancers took to the stage to powerful
effect with dancing routines which included urban and break dancing.
Skateboarders showed off their skills on both the stage and on purpose-built
skateboarding ramps erected at either side of the hall in front of the stage.
The Team Xtreme performance in
Members of the three visiting Teams and their technical support
team stayed for the duration of the Outreach with local people and at Barcaple
Christian Outdoor Centre.
Lots of children came forward at the end of the night, as at
previous events, and follow-up through involvement in the now extensive network
of Scripture Union Groups in Stewartry Primary and Secondary Schools in
Church-based Groups for adults, children and teenagers was encouraged through
meetings with “local links” from the various participating
congregations.
Christmas Dinner
Everyone is most welcome to attend the dinner to be held in the
Parish Church Hall and enjoy a traditional meal and festive atmosphere. You are invited at 12.15pm for 12.30pm and
transport can be arranged if necessary.
If you would like to come please fill in a form, available in the
church vestibule, and at the Belfry, Wednesday Club, Thursday Lunch Hour and
SCVS office. Alternatively, phone Stella Gillette (330808), Marian Dixon
(331541) or Sally McKenzie (330477).
Pleasant Wednesday Evening
Members of the Pleasant Wednesday Evening Group invite you to join
them for their Christmas Dinner and games night at the Belfrey on Tuesday 6
December 2011 at 7.00pm. Names, please,
to Kathreen Ramage on 330207 who has menu details and can take your order. There is no Group meeting in January, the next
meetings being:
01 February 2012 Dougie
Ross on “The Grocer’s Shop”
07 March 2012 Margaret Livingstone Bussell on “Forces
and
Kirkcudbright Choral Society
Kirkcudbright Choral Society invites you to attend their Annual
Christmas Concert, “No Small Wonder”, in the Church at 7.30p.m. on
Sunday 11 December, featuring carols old and new, accompanied by organ and a
brass quartet. Mince pie refreshments afterwards in the Church Hall are
included. Adult tickets - £8.00
available from Thomsons, Newsagents and Choral members. Free admission for
children and students.
House for Rent
A one bedroom house at
Situations Vacant
Neil Cavers, Clerk to our Congregational Board, is to step down in
March 2012 after over 25 years. The
Board seeks to appoint a new Clerk. Following
Neil’s own recommendation, the new Clerk will be asked to serve for a
three year period. The main tasks are to
take the minutes of the monthly meeting on the second Thursday of the Month (December,
January, July and August excepting), produce a meeting agenda in consultation
with the Minister, who is Chairman of the Board, and write occasional
correspondence.
Another most loyal servant of our congregation, Ray Purdy and the
Board is keen to see the appointment of a Property Convener to take over from
him.
Can you spare the time, share your skills? Offers of help, please, in regard to both situations vacant to the
Minister (330489). Both Neil (331267)
and Ray (331682) will happily fill you on the job specifications.
Deadline
for Articles
The
Deadline for all articles, rota information etc. is the 3rd Sunday of each
month.
The
deadline for the FEBRUARY 2012 newsletter will be Sunday 15th January.
All
contributions to be e-mailed to Sonia Maynard at maynard.sonia@yahoo.co.uk the
day before the deadline date, handed to her at church or left at Cavers.
Church
Development
The
present membership of the Church Development Steering Group includes Andy Bain,
Introduction:
With
declining church attendance and dropping Roll numbers, many churches are
looking to the future of their large and generally inappropriate and underused
buildings, many usually only used for worship on a Sunday morning, with the
exception of the occasional Marriage, Funeral and Baptism. The cost of maintenance, running costs, and
the underutilisation of the building makes it expensive to upkeep, and vulnerable
to closure.
Options:
1. The
Status Quo. (This is not regarded as a
viable option. Despite the building
being generally in good repair, considerable further expense is and will always
be necessary.
2. Disposal
of the Church building and conversion of the Church Hall to a combined facility
for social purposes and worship. (Disposal of the
3. Disposal
of the Church Hall and conversion of the Parish Church to a multi-purpose
community facility, with all the facilities necessary to enable it to cater for
a wider variety of religious, social, musical, artistic, dramatic, educational,
conferencing, meeting and other events.
The
Preferred Option and Recommendation
Option
3: Would provide all the facilities the Kirk
Session and congregation require, and would also ensure the protection and
conservation of this important
The
Next Steps
1. A Group
of enthusiastic Church and local Trustees should be appointed to develop and
drive the project forward.
2. A
feasibility study to ensure the viability of the project should be commissioned.
3. Funding options must now be pursued and
considered.
4. A
business plan must be undertaken to allow funding applications to be made.
Isatu
Kondeh
From Patricia
Duncan - 5th Newsletter from
A warm
and gracious smile played across Isatu’s lips as she was welcomed back to
the Africa Mercy for a follow-up interview. She had had a life-changing experience just
four months before when she was given the first appointment card for cleft lip
surgery in the 2011 Sierra Leone Field Service. A second glance was required to be sure that
this stately and confident young woman was the same shy and withdrawn girl who
had come the previous spring to have surgery. Isatu was born with a cleft lip that gave her
a fierce appearance, disrupted her front teeth and upper lip, and isolated her
from the outside world as she became very conscious of her facial defect. Her schooling stopped almost as soon as it
began because of the cruel comments and taunts of her classmates. “They laughed at me,” she winced, recalling
the embarrassment. After Mercy Ships
volunteer surgeons repaired her cleft lip, Isatu had a whole new perspective on
life. Her new future includes a return
to school next semester and her father’s promise to send her for training
as a seamstress when she finishes her education. She is very happy about that. “And no one laughs at me when I go out
to do the laundry now,” she said with a grin. Isatu is enjoying her new status as an
accepted member of society and is grateful for the care she received from Mercy
Ships. But she described the main reason
for her happiness: “I’m overjoyed now that I have a beautiful
face.”
On Monday
I got permission to be off ship to see for myself the results of the
agricultural training project. The off
road experience was daunting as was the trail through the long grasses to the
agricultural sites. Earlier in the
outreach, 16 farmers did full time training in for 10 weeks. They learned a lot about how to get a better
yield from their crops by using organic methods of cultivation. They are shown how to clear the jungle to farm,
drainage and drip feed techniques, weed brushing rather than burning,
composting and building raised covered beds to use as a nursery to help the
small seedlings survive the hot sun and pelting rain – both of which
would destroy them. The trainees are
told about the advantages of crop rotation and about “God’s
blanket” a covering put back over the growing seeds to stop the moisture
from evaporating and also to feed the nutrients back into the soil. At the end of the course these farmers are
presented with a kit – wheel barrow, hoe, machete, wellies, watering can
etc. There is much rejoicing when this gift is given. Scottish Young Farmers have done a great job
fundraising so that kits can be given to these trainees. But the most important gift is that they are shown
how to get more food out of the land they own. I saw rice paddies, tomatoes, lettuce and
cucumbers, beans, carrots and cabbages and a whole lot more. It’s not just subsistence - these
farmers are beginning to produce food in excess of their needs that they can
take to market – and they are teaching others and passing on what they
have been taught.
Kirkcudbright
Parish Church of Scotland is a Registered Charity: No. SC00583
Registered Address: 40/42 St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright, DG6 4DN