MARCH 2018
ISSUE 26
K I NG F I S H E R FAMILY The 25 year journey The importance of the journey We have always been strong on vision What have we learned as a result of and on where God is calling us to, but 25 years of this journey? Amongst the we have come to understand that the many lessons, these three stand out: destination should never blind us to the lessons that God is wanting to You can rely on God’s teach us through designing the promises journey in the way that He has. He When God promises something He delivers. He promised us, 25 years ago uses the journey to grow us, to refine that we would have a national and an us, to encourage us, to challenge us; in international influence, that we would fact, He designs the journey specifically to transform us into the become a network of churches and ministries that would stretch around people He wants us to become. He does that individually, but we have the world. Whilst there was no come to see that He does it human way for this to happen, by corporately as well. There have been God’s grace it has increasingly times of great setback and loss, as become so. As Psalm 138:2 tells us, well as times of great breakthrough His promises are backed by all the and growth; none of these honour of His name. The journey of experiences is random and each one Kingfisher has been marked and directed by the promises of God, and is either planned or allowed by God if you want to learn more about how to grow us into the community He His promises have come to pass over dreams that we can become. We grow in faith not only as we look the past 25 years, you can read all forward at what is yet to be, but as about it in the book, ‘The God of we look back at the journey so far Promise’ that was published in 2017 Perhaps one of the biggest wonders and come to discern His hand in it all. of all as we look back over 25 years is and is available via the resources page that we are still here! We started out on our website. The power of prayer as just a tiny group of people with no We have seen so many seeminglyresources, plan of action or particular impossible situations turned around strategy, and have faced huge through the power of coming challenges along the way. It is only together in prayer - situations such as because of God’s grace that we have the closure of the church building, got this far. Only because of his potentially for months when asbestos unmerited love that we have survived was found in the ceiling space. Facing the onslaughts of satan, the challenges a huge bill and the impossible of pioneering something innovative situation of finding an alternative and challenging to the status quo, venue for over 1000 people, the always under-funded and generally congregation came together in prayer misunderstood. Only the grace of and God intervened giving us a way God. And yet… here we stand. Still ahead, plus the blessing of the loan of here. Still confounding the critics. Still a church building from the Church of trusting in God who said to us: England. Over the past 25 years, prayer has brought breakthroughs, “If you spend yourselves in behalf of the brought us together in common hungry and satisfy the needs of the purpose, brought us through dark oppressed, then your light will rise in the times - more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of! This is a landmark year for Kingfisher International family; we are 25 years old! We held a celebration event in Gloucester, UK, to mark this moment, with input from various people around the world. As we looked back over 25 years and heard from people who have, at some point in that time had their lives impacted by what God has been doing among us, we were left with a fresh sense of awe and gratitude. Hundreds of people in the UK and thousands around the world have come to faith in Christ, so many have been baptised and encouraged along the path of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. So many have experienced freedom from past hurts, from the consequences of their own sin and from situations beyond their control. 25 years is a long time, and many who were born into the Kingfisher Family are now grown up and serving God, either within Kingfisher or further afield.
darkness, and your night will become like the noonday” (Isaiah 58:10, NIV)
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News from Kingfisher Church Gloucester is United in Prayer We started the New Year in such a great way as we joined with a number of other city churches for a week of united prayer. The theme of the week was taken from 2 Samuel 22:30, “In your strength I can crush an army, with my God I can scale any wall.” Such a powerful confession that no matter what opposition we face or what obstacles we encounter in 2018, we can count on the presence of God to get us through and accomplish all that He is calling us to, acknowledging the strength that we have as we support and champion each other. Kingfisher hosted the first night in Tredworth, followed by City Church and Community Church at The Chapel, City Church’s new venue on Seymour Road. Thursday was hosted at Elim Church with Cornerstone, and the week
concluded with a huge crowd at One Church as they hosted with Mariners. It has been so encouraging over the last few years to see church unity growing, to have the opportunity to hear what other local churches are doing and to appreciate the different parts that each of us have been given by God to play in our city. With over 125,000 people living in Gloucester we certainly need all the help we can get to reach everyone with the Good News of Christ. To that end, please be praying for Vineyard, Gloucester who have just launched their new church at The Warehouse.
Christmas at Kingfisher We celebrated Christmas here at Kingfisher with various parties and events. The Christmas concert saw around 130 people joining us for an evening of festive songs, and our Nativity, Christingle and Christmas day services were all very well attended too! * Kingfisher, along with three other local churches and Gloucester City Farm held an outdoor interactive nativity service, complete with farm animals, that over 100 people from the local community enjoyed.
Our preschool Christmas parties were, over all four groups, our busiest yet with over 250 children and their parents/families attending! The children enjoyed a bouncy castle, playing games, lots of party food and a present from Father Christmas. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make Christmas at Kingfisher church such a special time.
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News from Kingfisher Church The launch of Kingfisher Westgate Church planting has always been part of the DNA of Kingfisher, right from the time that our first fellowship of 12 people was launched in 1993. Since then, we have seen a network of churches growing up around the world. The latest addition to this was launched in January of this year, and is called Kingfisher Westgate. Located in one of our buildings in Westgate Street, Gloucester, this church is really the ‘missing piece’, sitting at the centre of all that Treasure Seekers offers. The Social Enterprise attracts so many people to Support at the Cavern, our nightly ‘place of safety’ for people struggling with mental health issues and with various chaotic lifestyles. Our live music cafe, The Cavern, attracts many young people who would not find church in its current form relevant or approachable. The many activities such as the Hub, parenting courses and various support groups all cater for people in so many different ways and yet, the most important aspect of that care has been missing - until now!
The church was launched in 52 Westgate Street to offer Jesus to people who are very lost and whose lives are in crisis. The team that launched the church on January 7th all had a real passion to reach those who would not normally consider church as an option - and we have been blessed with new people coming along each week! The services are very relaxed, with the minimum of structure and with the emphasis firmly on community, relationships and songs and talk that are really relevant and helpful to some very unchurched people.
This is church right at the coal face! We have a wonderful children’s ministry, with the (so far) five children taking a full and active part in the services. There is such an amazing sense of the presence of God in our times together and such a sense of anticipation among the regulars (and those who now call this ‘our church’ even though they have only been coming a few weeks!). Each week Jesus is building something amazing and we truly believe that one of the early problems we will be facing is that of space. We can see the we will soon be running out and need to see God’s solution for the next step in this adventure! Kingfisher Westgate meets each Sunday morning at 11 am - 12 noon, entrance via The Cavern entrance, just by the Cathedral gates.
News from Kingfisher Treasure Seekers TSPA Christmas show In December the Treasure Seekers Performing Arts team put on another fantastic show! The Christmas show featured a wide range of double acts with amazing demonstrations of the progression in people's skills. Held in Waterwells Police HQ, we welcomed almost 900 people across the two shows to celebrate and cheer on the performers. Thank you to every performer and volunteer who made it all happen. Everyone is invited to watch our next show Treasure Seekers’ Got Talent which is on 22nd and 23rd March (details below). If you would like to get involved with TSPA you can email them at info@kftseekers.org.uk or call 01452 228489.
News from Kingfisher Treasure Seekers Continued development at The Cavern The Cavern celebrated its third birthday in January. We have been through many, many changes in that time, most notably moving from opening seven hours a week, run solely by volunteers, to opening for ninety-six hours a week, employing ten paid members of staff. We now also have a team of around fifty volunteers gaining meaningful work experience skills each week. We’ve opened a mental-health support drop-in which runs every single night of the year. In the last six months alone, we have seen some significant staffing changes, adding Leah, Sophie, Maciej, Shekina, Nathan, Jim, and Laura in to our team running the coffee bar and supporting people in the evenings. The Cavern is now a real hub of activity where authentic community is built with real people day in, day out.
Our focus for 2018 is to get more live music acts playing. We currently have a weekly Open Mic Night every Wednesday which is hugely popular. We see lots of local artists come along to this every week. We recently hosted a few bands as part of the Gloucester Folk Festival and we have more young local bands performing over the next month.
We are also starting a ‘Drink and Draw’ group on a Monday afternoon from 1.00-3.00pm in March which people are already getting excited for. We are looking to rebuild our Games Nights, introducing new games consoles and regular Yu-Gi-Oh competitions. As a team we are feeling really good about where we are at now and very excited for what’s to come.
News from the Kingfisher Family The Dumagat Education Program We started the Dumagat Education program (DEP) in January 2017 to support the education of the children of a very poor and isolated group of people in the Philippines called the Dumagat Tribe. Each month the money we send goes directly to paying for food, supplies and accommodation for the children of the tribe to either attend Sibug school at the bottom of the mountain or Bulak village school close to their home in the mountains. We pay for weekly accommodation for those who attend Sibug school as it’s too far from their homes to make the trip daily. We are currently funding the building of a toilet and kitchen
block on land that was donated by Noel Delfin (Kingfishers National Director in the Philippines) for a camp to be built to accommodate those attending Sibug school.
In December, for a Christmas treat, the DEP paid for the children to be taken on a trip to the city where they visited the Provincial Capitol of Nueva Ecija, passed through the army base Fort
Magsaysay and spent some time in mall playing in arcades and eating at Jollibee (the Filipino version of McDonalds). Before heading back up the mountain the children attended a church service and were given gifts. This trip was the first time that some of the children had ever been to the city or to Jollibees! More than 40 people, mainly from Kingfisher church in the UK, donate £5 a month (some donate more) to the program. If you would like to be involved in changing the future for these children and their families please email the church at info@kingfisher.org.uk.
Bibles, nets and a new roof in Mozambique 2017 has been a year of great highs and lows for Kingfisher in Mozambique. The 2017 Harvest Appeal saw over £2,700 raised to buy bibles and mosquito nets, to combat a lack of the Word of God and a malaria crisis in the land. 100 bibles and 100 family sized mosquito nets were bought and distributed amongst some of the poorest people in Mozambique. The average annual income in Mozambique is around £140, with 54% of the country living below the poverty line and most pastors are unable to afford a bible for their church. This
Harvest Appeal has been such a blessing to so many in this land! In October, the centre at Mauza, which was built in 2013 and provides such a vital service to so many in the community, experienced a big setback. High winds and rain tore the roof off the building which is used as a worship centre, a school house and a training centre and provides sanctuary for refugees displaced by the civil war. We’ve been able to provide some emergency assistance to at least get the repair work underway for
the roof, and Charles Mithowa is coordinating this from Malawi.
News from Kingfisher Church Celebrate Recovery at Kingfisher CR has now been running continuously since April last year at Kingfisher Tredworth. This is a support group for anyone who is ready to confront the struggles in their life in order to live free and experience the life abundant that Jesus said He had come to give us. Over the last year we have seen our group grow and since being added to the UK Network list we now have people attending from outside of our church too. It can be a scary thing turning up to a group like CR but I can only reassure you that all of us there are in the same boat. Our issues may be different but the process of recovery is the same and we love welcoming newcomers. It is a confidential group and there is no pressure to share anything you don’t want. Here is a snap shot of what CR is:
principles, enables us to develop and deepen a relationship with Jesus. Each participant is encouraged to work through each principle at their own pace in their own time. • Celebrate Recovery’s general meeting night includes large group time, open share group and fellowship time. Large group time consists of worship, reading of the 12 step or 8 principles, a recovery lesson or a testimony and the prayer for serenity.
• Celebrate Recovery is a Christ centred, Bible based recovery programme designed to help people address a variety of hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
• The gender specific open share groups follow guidelines for safe sharing and allow time to share our thoughts about the lesson or testimony and the evening’s principle before sharing more openly about our recovery progress. This is a supportive and caring environment which allows us to open up as individuals and to make changes through developing, with Jesus and each other, new ways to live. This process brings peace, joy and freedom from our hurts, habits and hang up’s.
• We meet together weekly in a safe and confidential setting. We work through a 12 step recovery programme which, together with the Celebrate Recovery’s 8
• Some Celebrate Recovery groups are able to offer Step Study meetings in addition to the general meeting night. In Step Study, participants work through the
Welcome to our newest member! Congratulations to Dave and Anna Stokes (and Lilyana) who welcomed Elijah Arthur Stokes into the world on January 4th and 9.10am weighing 7lb 3.5ozs.
questions in the participants guides. Here is some of the feedback I have had recently: “I have attended many 12 step groups over the years but it’s only since I started attending CR that the process makes sense.” “Thanks for running the group last night, I came to the realisation I need to forgive and how hard I have become over the last few years. I feel so much better in myself today.” “Having this weekly support and accountability has really made a difference and helped keep me on track.” If you want to join us, just turn up any Thursday night from 7pm at Kingfisher Tredworth, upstairs in the jungle room. Or speak to me or Janet Gray for more information. Pastor Ollie
GET INVOLVED WITH THE NEWSLETTER! In order for this newsletter to grow and develop, we need your help! If you go to any Kingfisher event and have taken a great photo, then please post it on our Facebook page or email it to Kirsty at info@kingfisher.org.uk. The copy deadline for the next issue (due out in June 2018) is 21st May. If you would like to get involved in the production of the next newsletter then email us with your particular area of interest. Hope you enjoy hearing all that is happening across the Kingfisher Family!
Kingfisher Church Moor Street Tredworth Gloucester GL1 4NJ www.kingfisher.org.uk info@kingfisher.org.uk +441452 304339 Š Kingfisher Church, 2013