Sue Smale runs a Messy Church in Overton, a village in Hampshire. Rural ministry with a vengeance – look at this for a story of God alive and active and working with his faithful people in the countryside!
Sue writes:
Messy Church going well. Numbers averaging 80 most months.
We have got great vibes in the village about it. We have recently booked the cricket pitch over the road for ‘Sporty Church’. It is on at the same time as the village ‘inter- street football competition’ and we are sharing the space. When making the booking, the guy in charge was very enthusiastic about us sharing the space and having our celebration outdoors, complete with amplification/sound system. The Messy shirts will be out in force on Sunday. Wonderful exposure for us!
I will miss this unfortunately as we are going to Tanzania. Maybe I will take my Messy shirt with me!!!
One of our most powerful sessions was ‘the Lord’s Supper’ before Easter. We had a very wobbly wooden table made by the children and the dads and we did other things, including making bread.
During the celebration, my husband (vicar) told the story very briefly. Then we invited everyone who wanted to come forward to receive bread and a grape. As that came to an end, we played the DVD ‘Remember me’ from the Friends and Heroes website. http://www.friendsandheroes.com/uk/easter-video You could have heard a pin drop! It was very powerful and there was evidence of people being moved by the Spirit.
An amazing answer to prayer happened that day. One of our families had been trying to sell their house to move to the north. It had been on the market for months. Chatting to them, Ian asked if they had prayed about it. They said no, and they hadn’t thought you could pray about stuff like that. Ian then prayed and felt led to pray that they would have a buyer by the end of the week. They both reported shivers down their spine! We found out later that on the Wednesday that week, they had a viewing and on day 6 it was all signed and sealed. It has since all gone through with no hassles whatsoever! Praise God! They are hoping to find a Messy Church in their new locality. I have pointed them to the website.
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