The Mission Focus  for April is Wycliffe Bible Translators.  The loose plate collections at all 4 services on 25 April will go towards the work of Wycliffe.  If you will not be at Holy Trinity on the 25th but would like to give towards Wycliffe  please place your gift in an envelope, clearly marked for Wycliffe, either on 18 April or 2 May.  Thank you. Read more about Wycliffe under Information below.

CHAPLAIN’S NOTES

The Lord is risen!

He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The greatest event in history and the only one that permanently altered it. We thank God for Jesus: for allowing him to die on the cross on our behalf and then raising him from the dead to give us hope and eternal life.

‘Thine be the glory!

risen, conquering Son:

endless is the victory

thou o’er death hast won’

The Bishop of London, Bishop Richard Chartres, will be coming to share with us in the opening of our renovated buildings on 12 June at 14.00. We were delighted when he kindly moved some engagements in his diary so that he could be with us. As Patron of Holy Trinity he will be available to discuss with members of the Council how to proceed with the appointment of a new Chaplain. Now is the opportunity to invite former members of Holy Trinity. Please get in touch with those with whom you are in contact and urge them to come over for this major event. More details shortly.

The church office will be closed throughout this week and will reopen on Monday, 19 April. Isaac Mensah will be duty chaplain this week. There will be no newsletter next Sunday (Low Sunday). Please note that the Catholic Apostolics meet next Sunday at 12.00.

 

ICS Conference The ICS Conference takes place from 26-30 April in the UK. Please note that all three of us will be at the conference. Jean-Pierre Herman can be contacted in an emergency (mobile 0475 684 665).

Christianity Explored Course My next and possibly last Christianity Explored course at Holy Trinity will begin on Tuesday 4 May and will last until Tuesday 8 June (six weeks). I would welcome folk from all services who would like to examine again the basics of the Christian faith. Even if you cannot come every week you are most welcome to come as much as you can.

CRP Self Help Please support Peter Mackenzie week by week as ‘self help’ continues in our renovation project on Saturday mornings, 08.00-13.00. Things are beginning to shape up and to get really exciting. If you are able bodied do be a part of this worthy project.

Pass the Baton This is the title of the celebration of Billy Graham’s ministry in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall, London on 29 May. Details are on the notice board. The evening will feature the All Soul’s Orchestra. Those interested in going should contact me.

                                                                                             Nigel Walker

 

 

COMING SOON . . .

Africa - a celebration  From 12.30 onwards on Sunday 18 April at St Anthony's Church, Kraainem (Av des Anciens Combattants/Oudstrijderslaan 23 - 25).  Music, dance, handicrafts, fashion, with barbecue, bar, tombola and fun for all the family.  Join in support of Kenyan students studying in Brussels.

Brussels Prayer March Make a difference in Europe by joining all the Christian community in Belgium during the prayer march that is taking place in Brussels on Sunday 18 April. Prayer starts at 14.00 and the public procession will kick off at 15.00. The assembly point is the Palais de Justice. For more details visit www.pray4belgium.be/index.php?id=19&L=0

On Saturday 1 May at 20.00 there will be a free concert at HTB given by the Bourne Concert Band from the UK. Their programme will include music by Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Sparke and Sondheim. The concert will finish about 21.15.

 

INFORMATION

CRP News We are delighted to report that we recently received a donation that covers, amongst other things, the renovation of the parquet flooring and replacement of the worn out carpet in the Church. Beyond that the Building Committee now sees the first priority on new monies as going towards fitting out the new kitchen. Details of this and all the other items needed are in the AGM reports, or in the new leaflet inserted with these notices.

Many thanks to all those who have come out painting: a huge thank you! We will need you until June. We now also need handymen/carpenters to help reform the bar. Please contact Peter Mackenzie / Peter Walley if you are able to help on that work - largely studding the walls and putting up gyprock. We further need electricians and plumbers for the bar and rear toilets.

Report on the Lent meetings There were two special meetings during Lent which were devoted to the strengthening of the bond between Europe and Africa. Both meetings proved to be very useful.

The first one concentrated mainly on how Europe can help Africa. H.E. Mr Harold Acemah, Ugandan Ambassador, shared with us about the appalling problem of HIV/AIDS but was also able to share how Uganda has managed substantially to reduce the problem from around 25% to around 9% of persons infected. There was much discussion following his talk.

The second meeting concentrated on how Africa can help Europe. Two points clearly emerged. First, the strength of ‘Southern Hemisphere’ Christianity from which those of us in the struggling North gain fresh confidence knowing, as we do, that there is the Southern ‘church militant’ galvanising in support and prayer for us. We particularly value their strong concern that we should maintain, here in the North, Biblical standards and principles. Second, and very important, is the influx of missionaries coming into the North from the South. There are now no fewer than 1,500 missionaries operating in the UK alone. To quote one Ugandan missionary in the UK: ‘It was so depressing when I first arrived to find churches empty…There is a great need for revival in Britain – it has become so secular and people are so inward looking and individualistic. The country needs reconverting.’ (quoted from The Next Christendom by Philip Jenkins) The only answer for the whole of Western Europe may be the South (Africa, South America) mobilising on our behalf and bringing the gospel afresh to us here in the North. Building the bridge between Africa and Western Europe therefore remains crucial. We will pick this up strongly later in the year when we focus on African Enterprise.

The evening closed with a testimony from a convert from Islam who urged us to pray for Muslims and lead them to Christ.

This month the mission focus is Wycliffe. David and Evelyn Baines, whom many of you met at Borzée this year, are in the final stages of their preparation for work with SIL* in Chad. David took his first trip there in January, and they are both looking forward to the 3-month Africa Orientation Course in September. They are hoping to be in Chad by December. There Evelyn will be working as a literacy specialist while David's role will be to work in the computer department. Please pray for them as the next few months will be very busy, packing, visiting churches, travelling before settling into life in Africa. They will be with us at the main services at Holy Trinity on Sunday 25 April and we look forward to that opportunity to hear more from them.                                           *Wycliffe’s sister organisation.

Opportunity to off-load old Christian books The place where our clergy are going on 26 April is a Book Aid Collection point.  Book Aid is an organisation which collects Bibles and Christian literature for countries in the third world and eastern Europe where they are scarce.  If you have a surfeit of books which you have long ago inwardly digested please give them to Nigel, who will transport them to the ICS conference.

An organisation for International Human Relations is selling items to help orphans and vulnerable people in Africa. If you are interested, please contact Faith Yvonne on 02/424 01 95.

Congratulations to Mark Madeley who spotted my deliberate mistake in the sermon last Sunday morning. The correct reference should of course have been Psalm 23! Peter Walley

The Prayer Chain welcomes requests for prayer for any situation in complete
confidentiality. Please pass your request to Sue Cox 02/767 29 11 or cottoncox@hotmail.com or to Ann Milton 02/772 47 04.

 

 

 

 

Items for the Newsletter Please send these, at the latest by 9.00 on Tuesdays, to the Church Office or by e-mail to David.Iliff@Pandora.be