Dear Partners and Friends of Welcome Network,

We want to begin by saying how thankful we are for all of you!!   We especially want to thank our Welcome Network team and for those who have been praying for us and giving towards our ministry!  We have been on several journeys this year- on trains, cars and planes, so your support has really helped! Our prayer for you is that you will pick up on the things God has laid on your heart for 2019, from a place of worship, prayer and an understanding of who you are.

There is so much hunger here in Northumberland for God to move! It is very exciting, feeling that we are a part of what God is doing – bringing Christians together, particularly in worship, prayer and the prophetic! We have hosted two gatherings called Open Wells, in Alnwick this Autumn, together with others in the local area, to help encourage and release people in who God is calling them to be. We also have a vision to develop a Northumberland Prayer Net.

Another highlight of this year has been seeing our home used as a place people can come to take a break, or have some quiet space to pray and seek God. Several individuals and two small groups have visited for a few days. It has been great to be hospitable and we now also have our Prayer Garden (Albafarne), available for people to enjoy as well! (see https://quietgarden.org/gardens/albafarne/)

Across the country we have seen how God is encouraging and releasing people in mission. This year, we have continued giving specific help on outreach to a number of churches and ministries in London, and elsewhere. Usually this is in their beginning stages, for example with a church planting couple in Ilford, or a lady doing a cafe ministry in Havering. We expect more of this in 2019.

In Northern Europe, we have visited Norway and Sweden twice, and Estonia, where we attended the EEA Conference, Hope for Europe.  We connected, in all these places, with some leaders who are co-ordinating city-wide prayer, and spoke to some of the newer urban churches about effective mission. We hope to be in Finland sometime in the next twelve months.

It has also been a joy this year, to see some earlier projects, which had our involvement at the beginning, not only continuing, but really thriving; such as Love Redbridge, Healing on the Streets and the Rainham foodbank.  It is encouraging us to believe that the planting and watering ahead, in the coming year, will also bear fruit that will last.

Please pray for good things to come out of the bits of media work we do; we write regular posts for citygospelmovements.org about unity, prayer and mission. Mary has been continuing to write lovely devotional poems. Her poetry books can be ordered through lulu.com.

Christen Forster, one of our directors, is creating a wonderful series of books looking at the Bible from a Jesus-centred point of view (see jesuscentred.org) Please pray for these books to help people experience more of God’s love, to have a stronger confidence in His ability to speak to them, and come with fresh awe and amazement into His presence.

Please also pray for us in 2019, that we will hear what God is saying and be a blessing in the North East, in the UK and in Scandinavia.

We would love to keep in touch, and let us know how we can pray for you!

Much Love and a very Happy Christmas!

    Bob and Mary Bain XXX 

 

Welcome Network, 29 Grange Road, Shilbottle, Alnwick NE66 2XN; Mob: 07988564299 e-mail:  bobbain@hotmail.co.uk; See our website blog for ministry news and info : welcomenetwork.org  To support our work, please send gifts to Welcome Network,HSBC sort code 40-16-11 A/C no. 22141965 or use our giving link ,https://www.give.net/welcomenetwork/oneoff

 

Dear Partners and Friends of Welcome Network,

God has been popping us up in different places this year, mainly in London and in the North East, working with Christians from across the churches.  Our heart is always to nurture and encourage revival in the UK and beyond, and we have been giving input to a number of people. Some have been in the pioneer stages of planting a church, and found our input on mission in culturally diverse communities helpful.  Have a look at the recent blogs posted at the invitation of citygospelmovents.org! (also on our own website. welcomenetwork.org)                                

Further afield, following a word last year about Scandinavia, we have been on two ministry trips there. We met up with church pioneering teams and leaders of city-wide prayer movements in Oslo, Stockholm and Uppsala. We will be following up these beginnings with further visits this autumn.

During the year, we have enjoyed relating with two amazing church fellowships in Birmingham and Lytham St. Annes, as well as encouraging some lovely Christians in the London area to step out in what they felt God was prompting them to do:- Our dear friend, Freda Brobby has been delivering an excellent blog called Gospel Seed, Vikki Harrison has been going into cafes with her God’s Artwork ministry, and a monthly worship gathering, the Well, will begin again this Autumn, led by Sandra Vadivelu and her son, Krishan.

Our team has also been growing! We want to welcome Christen Forster as a Welcome Network director. Have a look at jesuscentred.org to see his teaching ministry. Like us, he has a heart to help people across the nation to go forward in the things God has laid on their hearts.

In the area around our home in Northumberland, we have been encouraging Christians to come together in worship, prayer and prophetic encouragement. Over the next few months  we are hosting some gatherings to do this, together with others in the local area with a similar heart.

Back in June we hosted a prayer time for the nation at our home, in association with two national prayer organisations, Quiver, and the World Prayer Centre. It was a joy to share with around 15 to 20 others and pray out with prophetic words and actions. Later in June, the local MP joined Bob for this year’s Parliamentary Prayer breakfast at Westminster Palace.

Northumberland is a lovely place to visit, and Holy Island isn’t far away, which was a major Christian base for the gospel in the early centuries of Christianity in this country. We have enjoyed exploring the history of the area, and recently walked the sixty-two mile St Cuthbert’s Way.

In the last few months we have developed our garden as a Prayer Garden, with the desire that people can come for a few hours or longer, to draw near to God in prayer. It is affiliated to the Quiet Garden Trust, and we held  a special launch event at the start of September. A local councillor came to cut the ribbon!     (See photos –“Albafarne” in the NE section of the Quiet Garden Trust website)

You are very welcome to come and stay with us to pray, or just to have a break! Give us a call to let us know!

P.S. If you haven’t yet seen the movie we made, “God on the Move Havering” is now up on You tube!

Thank you to all our Welcome Network team and supporters! You are helping us, as we grow this ministry together. Thank you especially for your prayers and financial giving.

Please keep in touch and let us know how we can pray for you!

Much Love in Jesus,  Bob and Mary Bain XXX

Welcome Network, 29 Grange Road, Shilbottle, Alnwick NE66 2XN;

Mob: 07988564299  e-mail:  bobbain@hotmail.co.uk;

See our website blog for ministry news and info: welcomenetwork.org  

To support our work, please send gifts to Welcome Network, HSBC sort code 40-16-11 A/C no. 22141965, or use our giving link, https://www.give.net/welcomenetwork/oneoff