Christian Aid Events

Christian Aid Week, (or more accurately, month in Penrhys) is under way. We have already begun the celebrations with a Children's Auction – that is, an auction of toys and things that the children bid for rather than actually auctioning the children which, tempting though that may be, would probably not be allowed. I say celebrations because; really you could be mistaken for thinking that it is some kind of holiday. Every possible spare inch of Llanfair is adorned with bunting, banners and posters and other decorations. I'm sure we've used as much blu-tack as we do at Christmas! As well as the events of previous years, auctions; rich/poor supper; fun walk; pilgrimage etc, this year we have had the privilidge of welcoming some special guests.

Yesterday we were joined at school by Eirian from Christian Aid and Jacob from Malawi (pictured above), who came to school to talk to years 5 and 6 about the work Christian Aid does and to share stories of life in Malawi. Anyone who has met our young friends will realize that they are not short of questions and, sure enough, these flowed fast and free. Some of the questions made more sense than others, (at least to me), but I'm sure this very interactive exchange means that plenty will be remembered from Jacob's visit. I, for one, can now point confidently to Malawi on a map of Africa and, if pressed, can tell you all sorts of things about life there – just ask.

This article has been written by Sharon for our latest newsletter so I’s thought I’d share it with a wider audience....

Llanfair Café has recently had its annual inspection from Environmental Health and we’re pleased to be able to say that we passed with ‘flying colours’ and we’ve been given a Silver Standards Welsh Food Hygiene Award. In addition, Trading Standards has given us a Bronze Healthy Options Award for our efforts to encourage healthy eating. We really appreciate our wonderful volunteers (local and overseas) who work so hard to make our café such a success. Well done all of you and keep up the good work!!
(We had a lively Community Open Day in March with lots of activities organised at Llanfair and Penrhys Partnership. One highlight was the launch of ‘On Top of the World’, a people’s history of the Penrhys estate, with a foreword by Revd. John Morgans. This special book is full of memories and photographs of past and present residents and events during the last 40 years. There is also a bilingual workbook on the history of Penrhys, full of interesting ideas and stories.)


PENRHYS AND MADAGASCAR

There has been a close relationship between Penrhys and Madagascar for many years. We have been welcoming young people from Madagascar as volunteers in our community since 1995.
These young people have contributed so much in the life of Llanfair and Penrhys, making friends with people of all ages and we’ve learnt so much from them. Many of them still keep in touch long after they’ve gone home - by letter, Christmas card or E-mail.
It was a privilege therefore on Wednesday, April 27th, to be invited to Ty John Penry (the headquarters of the Union of Welsh Independents in Swansea) to name one of their meeting rooms the Madagascar Room. Sian, our two present Malagasy volunteers, Mampionona and Heritiana, and I enjoyed our warm welcome at this special event. We are really pleased that the U.W.I. have decided to re-kindle the connection between Wales and the people of Madagascar. David Jones, Thomas Bevan and David Griffiths from West Wales were the first missionaries to Madagascar……..
It’s a very difficult time for our two volunteers to be so far away from their homes and families. It is so important that we remember them in our prayers and that we encourage them at every opportunity, especially because of all the political problems in the country at present which are causing so much pain and anxiety. They are very brave and their faith strengthens them day by day.
For those of you who may not know, the President of Madagascar, Marc Ravolomanana, was ousted by the opposition earlier this year and the country is in a state of uneasy peace at the moment. Several people have been killed or injured in the unrest during the last few months and we are hoping and praying that things will get better soon.
Mampionona from Akany Avoko, the children’s centre that we’re linked with in the village of Ambohidratrimo and Heritiana, who works at the F.J.K.M. church office in the capital, Antananarivo, arrived in October last year. Our other overseas volunteer, Rema, comes from the Presbyterian Church of North-East India in Mizoram. They help in a variety of activities in our community of Penrhys: Sunday School, Craft Club, Homework Club (both primary and secondary), teenage Discussion Group, Café, Playgroup, Football and take turns in leading worship on Friday mornings when we pray for a different country each week.
It was good therefore for our Malagasy friends to have the morning off to go to the special event in Swansea whilst Rema was ‘holding the fort’ in the café with our dedicated local volunteer, Rena, but we had to make sure that Mampionona and Heritiana were back in time for football practice at 4.30 or there would have been a lot of disappointed children and young people waiting for them!
For the first time ever, we had the opportunity last year to send two young people from Penrhys to Madgascar to be volunteers at Akany Avoko: Michael Caswell and Rebecca Egan.
It was a real eye-opener and a challenge for them in more ways than one, as well as was a unique experience which they’ll never forget. Maybe there’ll be more young people going from Wales to Madgascar to help in the future – we’ll see!

Celebrating Akany Avoko’s birthday
Mampionona, Heritiana and I had a weekend to remember at the beginning of May with a train journey to Lancaster to celebrate Akany Avoko’s 45th birthday. We have had the pleasure of receiving a young person from Akany Avoko to work with us in Penrhys since 2001.
Hanta Kely (or ‘little’ Hanta) was the first to come at the same time as Nicolas from F.J.K.M. They are now married and they have a beautiful two-year old little girl called Kezia. Llanfair contributed towards Hanta’s education after she returned home, and she is now a social worker at Akany Avoko whilst Nicolas works there part-time as an accountant.
The party was held at the Friends’ Meeting House with over 100 people coming together for this special celebration – many of them with personal links with the centre: present and previous staff and volunteers and several people who are sponsoring children and young people at Akany. There were crafts on sale made at the centre, a time-line, an impressive exhibition of photographs (including photographs from Penrhys and a special birthday card made by our children and Sian, our minister, at Llanfair café.) We heard the wonderful Millennium Choir, a local choir of children and adults and we watched the special D.V.D. showing the lives of three young Akany Avoko residents, which was very moving.
One of the day’s highlights was listening to Fabie speaking and seeing her, Mampionona and Heritiana singing and dancing together. Fabie lived and worked with us in Penrhys four years ago and went to university after she went back home to Madagascar. She’s now studying Psychology at Aberystwyth University. Like so many children in Madagascar, Fabie had a difficult, sad childhood before coming to Akany Avoko, so I felt so proud of her and all that she has achieved. She hopes to go return to Madagascar to serve as a social worker. Well done, Fabie!
Akany Avoko is one of the worthwhile projects of the charity ‘Money for Madagascar’, which makes such a difference to the lives of so many people on the island. I was privileged to go on holiday to Madagascar last summer and to visit Akany Avoko myself – a safe and happy home to at least 120 children and young people.
During my stay, I also visited the prison at Tamatave where I was impressed to learn about the valuable project, which helps 1000 prisoners to grow vegetables in order to improve their health and self-esteem and to develop useful skills. That was a truly memorable experience.

Partners' Weekend, Windermere

This waterfall is one I happened upon during an early morning walk in Windermere. We were there to take part in the annual Partners' Conference at the Windermere Centre. Five of us from Penrhys travelled up on Friday, arriving in plenty of time for the delicious dinner. It was lovely to meet up with old friends to share news and generally catch up on things since the last time we met.

The evening session introduced us to the theme of the weekend which was 'sharing the story.' Led by Kirsty, we used the Vision for Life material on the Bible. On Saturday we 'Entertained Angels;' were 'Welcomed to Corinth;' and worked out a 'Jesus Lifeline.' The discussions were engaging and informative and we were lucky enough to be able to work in one group, rather than having to go into small groups, so everyone got to hear what everyone else contributed.

On Saturday evening we relaxed together for an evening of home-made entertainment which saw Wilmslow's re-enactment of school life; East Manchester's recitations of 'The Lion and Albert' (Parts 1 and 2) and the comic musings of Colin and Maureen. We took power point pictures of Madagascar and India and so Mampionona, Heritiana and Rema were able to share something of their respective lands and cultures with the group.

As ever, the accomodation, welcome and food were all wonderful. If you have never been, I highly recommend the Windermere Centre to you - and if you have, I still recommend it and you'll know why.

The Partners' Conference has been a real delight. I hope that more churches will see the benefit of such partnerships and commit to work together as we have done. Those of us involved find it fulfilling and enriching.

Finally, all of us here would like to thank Kirsty for such good input and for planning such a good programme, and thanks too, to all the centre who worked so hard to look after us so well.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Easter Celebrations have been very much part of life at Llanfair during this past Holy Week. We met every morning at 9.30am for services of worship and on Thursday evening and for a Good Friday Pilgrimage down to St Mary's Well.
Yesterday morning dawned bright and clear, comfortably warm and, in fact, with perfect weather conditions for our annual pilgrimage to Bristol Tump. We really couldn't have asked for better weather or a clearer view of our beautiful surroundings. We left church at 8am and walked up to the top of the mountain where we stopped to lift our voices in prayer and praise - joining the very loud "Baa-ing" of the neighbouring sheep! We then began a slow descent, stopping to look for tadpoles in the make-shift pond that floods the path just above the forest and then on down to "Black gate" where we recommenced our worship, using our Easter Service book; finally we returned to church where we shared a breakfast of boiled eggs, lovingly cooked by the wonderful Rena, and then we concluded our celebrations with a communion service.

Long time, no see....

Firstly, my apologies for not 'blogging' for such a long time! There has been plenty of activity and we haven't stopped bible study, despite the lack of info here.
We have been following a Lent Course for Bible Study, entitled, "Talking About Jesus, " produced by Damaris. The course consists of DVD presentations by such luminaries as Philip Yancey and Canon Andrew White, (famous Christian author and Vicar of Baghdad respectively) who each offer thoughts on various aspects of Jesus' life and teaching. These are interspersed by pauses, during which it is the group's turn to share and consider the various questions that have been raised. Once we have held the final study I will post a summary of the whole course and our findings here.

On a different, and very welcome note, CONGRATULATIONS to all the wonderful people who work in our cafe. Today we had an inspection by Environmental Health who have given us a Silver Award!!!!!!! Alongside this, yesterday we received a Bronze Award for healthy options.
Everyone in Penrhys should be very proud - our little cafe can compete with the best. Well done, our lovely volunteers who work so hard to serve others.

Finally, for today at least... we ask for your prayers for Madagascar. Our volunteers, Mampionona and Heritiana have family and friends who are drectly affected by the recent turmoil. The latest news seems to indicate that things are cooling now, but there may well be more upset before life eventually returns to something like normality. We have heard from our former volunteers, and so far they are all well - we pray that this will ocntinue to be the case.

Bible Study Theology 13

This week we move from Jesus' temptation in the wilderness to another temptation that occurs later in his ministry, as recalled in Mark's gospel. As always, we welcome your comments (or questions), so please feel free to join in.

Mark 8:27-9:13

1. This passage is sometimes referred to as 'the Messianic Secret.' Jesus asks his disciples to tell him who they think he is and then, when they answer he tells them to tell no one. Why do you think Jesus asks the question in the first place?Is Jesus testing them? Is it more likely that he is using this method to help them discover their own thoughts? Is it like a review session to see if the pupils are 'up to speed?'
   

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2. Why, when they answer, do you think he swears them to secrecy? It may be that they are a talkative bunch! It could be dangerous if the authorities get to hear of it. Temptation again - to become the sought-after Messiah in the way of the world rather than in the 'way of the cross.'
   

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2. Once Jesus has confirmed that the disciples think of him as the Messiah, he begins to teach about the hard way that lies before him. How do you imagine the disciples feel about the news? Disappointed; sad; upset; worried; afraid; perhaps they didn't understand and found it confusing. Perhaps too, they are wondering, 'what have we got ourselves in to?'
   

   
   

3. Peter, for one, is not happy to hear these things and is used by Satan to tempt Jesus. How is Peter's response tempting for Jesus?It could be very tempting to deny his true identity. would it not be much easier to become the person everyone else wants him to be, even though this means denying God?
   

   
   

4. In verse 34, Jesus moves from the tightly-knit group of disciples to include the wider crowd and he issues a challenge for 'any who want to become my followers…' Do you think the crowd understood what Jesus meant, and how do we understand it now?There was a long discussion on this one...This is what, today we might call Christian discipleship -although we may not have to carry a heavy wooden cross we are often faced with the challenge of choosing between the way of the world and the way of the cross (or God's way).
   

   
   

5. The rest of our passage goes on to tell of the transfiguration. What do you think Peter, James and John saw on the mountain and why?God is helping the disciples see for themselves who Jesus really is. Moses and Elijah are recognised as important figures in the religion that Jesus has come to fulfil. This incident is like a curtain suddenly being drawn back to reveal what is really there - but the curtain cannot remain drawn, it must be put back in place to enable Jesus to reume his work.
   

   
   

Happy New Year and Bible Study Lk 4

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas season and that the new year will be full of peace and joy.
We have resumed our usual pattern of work and this evening we will be meeting for bible study, after several weeks' break.
Our topic this evening is Jesus' temptation and we will be looking at the following questions from Luke 4:1-13.

1. The 1st verse of this passage tells us that Jesus was 'full of the Holy Spirit.' What do you think this means and why does it have such an impact on this passage?
The Spirit enables him to contemplate as well as to equip him for his forthcoming ministry. Jesus was aware of God in him; guiding him giving him strength. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit Jesus was fully armed and ready to face the ordeal ahead of him. It was probably Jesus' being full of the Holy Spirit that made him a target for Satan. Had he been only human, he would probably have been of little interest - being full of God's power drew Satan to Jesus because it would have been a great victory (in Satan's eyes) thereby derailling God's plan for the redemption of the world.

2. Jesus was tempted for 40 days before the temptations listed here. Do you think this means that these temptations are more tempting? If so, why or why not?
We don't know what went on before! These temptations seem to come from someone who has Jesus' best interests at heart, almost as if Satan is showing compassion... 'Don't starve - turn these stones to bread and eat.' There is a sense of power-play in this exchange, Satan's world versus God's Kingdom. The values of each clash and show a special significance in the challenge to Jesus' divinity. Satan seems to be offering an easier way; a way to avoid God's plan and the 'way of the cross.' The main problem for Satan though seems to be that it requires Jesus to break the first commandment, 'you shall have no other gods before me.' There are echoes here too of the first temptation, when the serpent asks Eve, 'Did God really say?.....' Here it is changed to, 'if you are the son of God...' coming straight after Jesus' baptizm in the Jordan when the heaven's opened and God proclaimed, 'This is my beloved Son...'

3. In verse 6 the Devil tells Jesus that the world has been given 'over to him' (The Devil). Why does he say this? Is it true? Why or why not?
It may be true in the sense that the world is apt to give itself over to Satan's power, but as we often declare in worship, 'the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.' Satan's power is often deceptive and this is probably why it is so easy for human beings to succumb to temptation. Satan shows arrogance in seeking to tempt Jesus, it is just as if he is directly competing with God.

4. The Devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem. Why this particular city? What might be so important about Jerusalem?
The city is the very centre of Judaism. God's temple is there, therefore Jerusalem is where God dwells. Is this Satan taunting Jesus? 'God may live here - but I own it!'

5. Why do you think the Devil chose the 'pinnacle of the Temple,' for Jesus?
Highest place in the city? Nearest earthly place to God? The whole city is laid out before him, God's dwelling place beneath his feet. Satan is showing contempt to both Jesus and God.

6. In verse 12 Jesus again quotes scripture - why do you think he uses this method to confront the Devil?
Satan believes in God and Satan knows the scriptures very well. Perhaps Jesus was using this (Rabbinical) method to show that God's word has more power than any earthly word and perhaps this was also to remind Satan that Jesus himself is the word of God.