Dear Partners and Friends of Welcome Network
We are sensing that God is waking us up to what He wants to see happening through His people in 2021. Bob has picked up his guitar, and we have both been spending much more time in worship. We feel there is a definite link between worship and mission. In Acts 13:1-3, as believers worshipped and prayed together, it became clear to them what God wanted them to do next.
So, in the days leading up to Christmas let’s be alert for unexpected surprises! Just before the first Christmas, not many people expected the final window of their Advent calendar, to reveal a baby lying in some straw! Get ready for the new and unexpected gifts and purposes God may have for us in 2021!
OUR VILLAGE – Please pray for the goodness of God to impact our village, Shilbottle, as we post different residents singing a verse from a carol each day during advent on the village Facebook page. It has been been really fun- like carol singing in reverse, as we have gone to people’s front doors and filmed them singing on Mary’s phone! Also, we will be delivering a Christmas gospel magazine and a lovely Christmassy prayer card to each of the eight hundred houses in the village.
Having successfully applied for planning permission, we will be getting a community noticeboard erected alongside our property early in 2021. This will help to highlight local village events alongside those being done by local churches and other Christian organisations.
REGIONALLY IN NORTHUMBERLAND AND TYNESIDE – Over the autumn we hosted with others a number of regional events on zoom around prayer, worship and the prophetic, as well as one on creativity in mission. The latter brought together those engaged in mission and church planting across Northumberland and the Borders for an hour of encouragement and sharing. We hope to do similar events next year.
LAUNCHING AFTER LOCKDOWN – Our book is an encouragement to launch out of lockdown from a deeper place of intimacy with God, and with a better understanding of what might be next. It is available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=mary+bain&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss, and would make a great gift to uplift someone this Christmas.
GLOBAL CHRISTIAN NET AND MEDIA WORK – At this time, we are working internationally with others, to bring together a regular online discipling event, called Global Christian Net. Our aim is to help scatterings of Christians around the world to support what God is doing in their nation, and in particular to consider, where appropriate, the planting of new church expressions. A launch is planned for Sunday 10th Jan 2021. Please let us know if you are interested in being involved in this.
We are also assisting our friend Laura Rumley in a new series, Praying with Power, – looking at the Lord’s prayer. Programmes are being released on IPAA TV over the next few months.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND PRAYERS. If you have benefitted from our work as Welcome Network, and have not considered supporting us financially before, you may want to consider doing so. This can be one-off, or a regular gift – see details at the end of this newsletter.
We are very grateful for our present base of supporters, who God has prompted to help us. Please pray for us that we will hear what God is saying and be a blessing in the North East, the UK and in the Nordic countries. 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 link https://www.give.net/welcomenetwork/oneoff
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