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Gwent Baptist Association // NEWSLETTER

Winter 2014 issue 003

Appeal for maternity unit

in Chad !The Baptist Union of Wales has decided to run an appeal to fund the building of a new hospital maternity unit in Chad. – a landlocked country in central Africa, writes Menna Machreth. !Chad has some of the worst maternity mortality rates in the world, so BMS medical staff in the Guinebor II Hospital (G2) hope this new maternity unit will transform the health prospects of mothers and children. !With your help, we pray that we can save the lives of more mothers and families while also introducing this Muslim community to the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Theologian Rene Padilla writes, “The church is to incarnate the values of the kingdom of God and to witness to the love and justice revealed in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit for the transformation of life in all its dimensions, both on the individual level and on the community level.” !Picture living in Dourbali and expecting your first baby. You’ve been looking forward to becoming a mum, but months of trepidation and excitement culminate in an unexpected moment – a moment that comes much too soon.

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Appeal for maternity unit in Chad continued from front page

Ismina’s little girl was born two months too early. She thought her baby was too weak to survive. At two weeks old, the baby weighed just 1.2 kilograms. That’s two pounds six ounces. Being so tiny meant it was difficult for Ismina to feed her. She grew very dehydrated and was struggling to breathe. Fearful that they would lose their baby, Ismina and her husband travelled from Dourbali to G2, near N’Djamena, desperately seeking help. !BMS World Mission nurse Rebecca North, who works at G2, was shocked when she saw the baby. “She was just like a little rag doll, it took my breath away,” she said. The baby’s chances of recovery didn’t look good, and what small hope there was quickly faded because, soon after arriving at G2, she stopped breathing. A two-week old child losing her battle for life. Rebecca and BMS doctor Mark Hotchkin set about resuscitating their little patient and thankfully she began to breathe again. “From that moment on, my day, and then much of the weekend, passed in a blur of giving fluids, antibiotics, monitoring her heart rate, oxygen levels and wrapping her up in yet more blankets, hats, jumpers and booties to ward off the chilly 25°C nights!” said Rebecca.

!On Monday, the baby, who had been so close to death just three days earlier, was drinking all her required milk and was taken off her drip. She was going to be okay. !“If she had stayed at home she would have died,” said Rebecca. “It makes the work here worthwhile when we have little ones like this recover, and it affirms to me why we are here. Her parents are over the moon. It’s just so exciting.” Ismina has decided to name her precious daughter Rebecca, after the nurse who helped to save her life. !

Saving lives These kind of stories show the care the hospital provides which saves lives, but a maternity ward is needed. !It is hoped that the Baptist Union of Wales can raise £25,000 (if every member in every BUW-related church were to give £3 we would be well over the mark!). We have agreed as a Union to raise money for a particular part of the ward where mothers will be cared for after giving birth. !This is our chance to show the people in Chad our love towards them. This is an opportunity to inspire our churches to get involved with global mission, to pray, to raise awareness. It is also an opportunity to explain to people that our faith in Christ is dynamic and our aim is to reflect God’s heart by providing practical help to those in need. !For more information contact Menna Machreth: ! mennamachreth@buw.org.uk ! 07973 820580

Welcome to this third issue of Contact – the newsletter of the Gwent Baptist Association. Our aim is to open up communication between the churches in our Association and to encourage one another by sharing ‘good news’ stories about what God is doing in this part of His vineyard.!If you have a story we would love to hear from you. Please contact Geoff Champion.! geoffrey_champion@sky.com ! 07751 897755

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The power of the gospel transforms lives. After meeting Jesus Christ our lives cannot be the same again. !Transformation is central to the Great Commission and the way Christ calls us to make disciples for Him and teach them the things He taught. !I experienced this transformation when I became a Christian at the age of 21 - eight years ago when I was a student at Aberystwyth and had been following an Alpha course through the medium of Welsh. This was when I experienced God’s love, when I realised Christ had done everything for me on the Cross and I could be free to live in His amazing grace. !That was one pivotal event in my spiritual journey, but God’s work in transforming my life to be the disciple of Jesus he has created me to be will carry on all my life !

Community The notion of ‘transforming’ is relevant to my BUW and BMS work as well. It is to help churches to engage with mission, locally and globally. With local mission, I want to help churches to reach out to the community with the good news of Jesus. I would like the opportunity to work with churches and help them to think of their place in God’s mission and God’s story for their community. !I want to help churches to start and develop children’s and youth work and to think like a missionary would think about how to reach people in the community, e.g. what skills do you have as members of the church? How could you use those skills or gifts to address needs in the community? How can we turn

normal conversations with friends into spiritual conversations that will lead them to God? !God did not intend to have only spiritual heroes evangelising the world, but ordinary people like you and me. It’s easy to think that everything is finished or it is not up to us, but there are signs that God is working in Wales and there is a new song to be sung. Are we ready to step out in His grace? !You can contact Menna by email on mennamachreth@buw.org.uk or telephone 07973 820580.

!Menna Machreth is the Mission Coordinator for the Baptist Union of Wales and BMS World Mission. She is married to Rhys and the couple live at Caernarfon where he is the minister of Caersalem Baptist Church.

Transforming grace

by Menna Machreth

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In Focus 354 not out - how’s that for Christian witness in the valleys?

If you are looking for a church with a long track record of Christian witness and service you need to go no further than Blaenau Gwent Baptist Church at Abertillery. !Blaenau Gwent has truly stood the test of time and, founded in 1660, it is believed to be Wales' second longest-established Baptist church. It was set up as a sister church for Llanwenarth Baptist Church, Govilon, which is believed to be Wales’ oldest surviving Baptist church, dating from 1652. !Blaenau Gwent deacon Martyn Price said: “We are obviously proud and humbled by the wonderful work and service to the Lord of the generations of worshippers that have gone before us but we have a hard-working

team of members and friends who focus on the future and believe God is still working His plan out for us today.” !In fact, a new chapter in the long life of the church is underway with the arrival of a new pastor, Jonathan Forman, from Blaenavon, whose induction service will take place on Saturday, 8th November. Jonathan is taking over the reins after the church’s former American pastor, the Rev. Bob Buchanan, returned to the United States 18 months ago following a much-valued 14 years of service at Abertillery. !“God has really blessed us during the interregnum period and we would like to thank all the ministers and speakers who have supported us and, hopefully will

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continue to support us”, Martyn said. “New beginnings are always exciting and we are putting our trust in God that we can make a bigger impact in the community by winning even more souls for Christ than we have done in the past.” !The bui ld ing the church currently occupies at Victoria Street was built in 1993 after the congregation had spent five years holding services at Aberti l lery Comprehensive School while they raised sufficient funds. !It is both physically and spiritually a beacon on the hill for Christ ian witness and community outreach. The church runs a successful Mothers and Tots group on Monday and Tuesday mornings; a weekly youth group and men’s and ladies’ fellowship meetings apart from its Sunday worship services. Special events include a Whitsun march. !

One initiative which has caught the imagination of young and old are the Puppet Quest shows, launched in the early 1990’s, which reinforce Bible stories

and teaching to children and young people throughout the area. Some of the youngsters, who once made up the audience, have now become puppeteers themselves and are working hand in glove (excuse the pun!) to ensure its continued success. !

Underpinning these ongoing outreach activities are regular Bible study and prayer times with the church building being opened at 8am every Friday for anyone wishing to use the f a c i l i t i e s f o r p r a y e r a n d meditation. !For more information, visit the church’s website:

www.bgbchurch.org

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… the Treasurer !!Linda Price is a deacon and treasurer at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Blackwood where her husband, John, is the church secretary. She has faithfully served the Gwent Baptist Association as treasurer for a number of years. Before her retirement, Linda was a teacher ending up as a home/community tutor in the Blackwood area. !!How did you become a Christian? I was brought up in Cardiff as an Anglican which gave me a good grounding. It was as a teenager, through the work of the Girls Crusader Union, that I came to a personal faith in Jesus.!How did you become involved with the Association? I was in a meeting when the Rev. Tom McManus was inducted as Missioner. It became apparent that the Association needed a treasurer. I responded to the prompting that I could do that and mentioned it to my husband, John, who agreed. So I volunteered….!How has your faith helped you? We have three children, a daughter and twin sons. Just after the boys were delivered, I had eclampsia and I had to be resuscitated twice. I spent five days on a life support

machine under anaesthetic and after that hallucinated badly. Our church and many others were praying for me. The doctors gave me a brain scan to discover what damage had been caused by the fits but there wasn’t any – praise the Lord! But I did need a

psychiatrist and the Lord sent me a Christian one – someone I could trust. When I came home I was not well enough to look after the boys so a friend drew up a rota and we had support 24/7 from the church and friends. When it became obvious that we could not cope at night even with support, two members of the church looked after one baby each, every night! This lasted a good few months until we were able to cope better and the daily rota lasted a year. Many friends were still helping years later. Christian love in action.!What do you do in your spare time? In addition to church work, I am quite involved in the local school. I first became a parent governor in 1988 and I was chair of

governors at Blackwood Comprehensive School for a number of years. I see this as trying to be salt and light in the community. Please pray for your local schools and, if you can, get involved. Schools love grandparents; they think we have lots of time!!What are you good or not good at doing? I suppose I am reasonably well organised. I’m no good at having my photograph taken. I think it spoils the picture of a lovely view! !What are you reading at present? I have two books on the go. Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom and The Church Awakening, an urgent call for renewal by Charles Swindoll.!Are you interested in music, films or sport? Sport. I try to go swimming a couple of times a week and I really enjoy watching sport, particularly tennis and athletics (not cricket). I do know a surprising amount about football. Including my two sons, there were three men in our house, until recently, so if I wanted to join in the conversation around the dinner table it was essential!

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The Reverend Peter Thomas is retiring as General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Wales after serving nine years in the post. !Peter has been a tireless servant of the Union and many churches in Gwent can thank God for his wise counsel and practical help over the years. We, as Gwent Bapt ist Association, send our best wishes to Peter and his family and trust he will enjoy a long and happy retirement. !The Rev. D Marc Owen, Minister of Moriah Baptist Church, Risca worked alongside Peter at the Baptist Union of Wales. He said: “It’s all about Jesus” – that was the response Peter would often give me quietly off the record when a meeting wasn’t going quite the way I had prepared for it or when we were dreaming dreams about what could be possible for the sake of the Kingdom of God here in Wales. !“That timely phrase sums him up well – as a man, as a colleague and as a brother in Christ. In the seven years I had the privilege of serving with Peter at the Baptist Union of Wales, I grew to know and respect a

man in whom and through whom the character of Jesus manifested itself - in his speech, his conduct and his demeanour. As a colleague his openness to the leading of God’s Holy Spirit meant that at times incredible opportunities were firmly seized, risks embraced and challenges confronted. As a brother in Christ, his friendship mirrored that of any Christian friendship I have ever read of or come across and that was and is something I treasure greatly". !

Peter grew up near Llanelli, the son of a farmer. He was educated at the Welsh medium school ,“Dewi Sant”, and then at the Grammar School for Boys, Llanelli before a spell of six years at the Baptist College in Bangor. !He was ordained as a minister in August 1974 in the  historic Baptist c h u rc h a t R h y d w i l y m w h i c h   expanded to include the pastorate of Gelli church in 1979.   After 11 years of ministry there he accepted a

call to Aberystwyth in August 1985 and  served churches in Bethel,

Aberystwyth and Horeb, Penrhyncoch. In 1994 his pastorate was extended to include churches at Carmel, Pontrhydfendigaid and Bethel, Swyddffynnon. !In January 2005 he was appointed General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Wales.

Well done and thank you

Huw Stephens has been ordained and inducted as a second Minister  at Bethesda Baptist Church, Rogerstone,  by the Rev. Mark Thomas. Having recently commissioned Mrs Helen Jones as a children's and youth worker for Bethesda and Cefn Wood, this now increases the team to three. !Huw, who has served the Gwent Baptist Association and the Baptist Union of Wales for many years, retired from teaching after 39 years and felt the call of God to a pastoral, preaching and teaching role  at Bethesda and Cefn Wood. That "call" was tested by the Bethesda  leadership  and the church members who voted to call Huw as co-pastor at Bethesda. !Induction prayers were given by the  Rev Simeon Baker (Director of Mission BUW), the Rev Bryan

Ford (Member at Cefn Wood) and Geraint Stephens (Huw's brother). !Cefn Wood Church has been

operating with "a measure of independence" for years but, recently, the members asked Bethesda to consider "One Membership - Two Buildings".  This has been agreed and part of the role of Huw who is pictured (left) with Mark Thomas, will be to give more consistent ministry at Cefn Wood.

Bethesda ordains & inducts second minister

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Messy Church is a fast growing ministry that continues to

engage and build relationships with thousands of people

outside the usual church context.

Sat 29 Nov, 2014

10am-3pm

at Moriah Baptist Church, Risca

TRAINING DAY

Do you want to find out what Messy Church is all about?

Are you thinking about starting a Messy Church where you

are?

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This event is hosted by Moriah Baptist Church and is completely FREE.!

We are also delighted to announce that the guest trainer for this event will be Lucy Moore (Messy Church founder - pictured).!

Teas, coffee and other refreshments will be provided but please bring your own lunch.!

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