After the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti 15 days ago, members of Agape Community Church began collecting items of clothing; bedding; medicines and other essentials ready to ship to the country and those in need.

These items were collected and sorted through and left for a container ship on the 27th Jan.

For further information on the Haiti Hospital Appeal that the shipment is going to help, please see:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=5975035895&ref=ts

or

http://www.haitihospitalappeal.org

Donations for Haiti

A van load of items!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in 418 , including those who wanted to but were unable to.

Agape Community Church has a passion for seeing the needs of the community met. and for seeing those around Risca and Ty-Sign recognising that God loves them, and Jesus has died and risen again so that everyone can have a relationship with their heavenly father.

Agape relates it’s mission on Ty-Sign to a bible verse - Luke 4:18.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed.

In 2008 Agape launched a project called 418 which aimed to find out the needs of the community and to meet them in the best way that we were able to. over 40 volunteers gave up a weekend to help community members to complete jobs they were unable to do by themselves.

This year we are running 418 again, but with a bit of a difference.

Come along to the TLC for a cup of tea, and while your there get some helpful advice on managing your money in the current fincial climate.

There will be activities for the kids and free refreshments for the adults.

Come along to the field opposite the TLC from 1. 30pm to have a go at various sporting activities. We have everything from Frisbee golf to wellie wanging! Have a bit of fun, and stick around for the free community BBQ at 5pm. After everyone has had some food we will be welcoming Evaburn plus a guest. Stick around to hear them play and enjoy the evening!

If it rains, the afternoon activities will be in the Manor pub’s hall. They will be slightly scaled down but just as fun! To save them (and us) getting too wet if it rains, the bands will be playing from 7pm in St David’s Church hall.

A team of volunteers will be spending the day completing gardening projects in the community. They will also be very busy on Sunday, so if you have a few hours to spare over the weekend and you want to help someone out with a bit of gardening or help us rid the estate of litter, signb up on Saturday on the field or send us a message on the blog and we will get back to you asap.

We are looking for more community volunteers - for this weekend! If you can spare a couple of hours please do get in touch! You can also sign up by going into the TLC Cafe and adding your name to the list of vounteers on the board!

See you there!!! We can’t wait!

For one of my modules this term, and eventually for my dissertation I need some responses from the wonderful people who volunteered during 418.

There is only 6 questions, and it shouldn’t take more that 10minutes. I would really appreciate your ideas and thoughts.  Just click on the link below, and follow the instructions. Be as honest and inventive as you like, it is all anonymous, and loads of fun!!!

Thank you for all your effort during the weekend!!!

Bec.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Zy_2fH78J4oeBvzlyuIMNm1Q_3d_3d

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the Agape Website - here is some more news about 418.

As I hope you are aware, next weekend we are embarking on a (mostly) new venture for Agape.

We have nearly 40 volunteers giving a total of 320 hours to serve our community. We have around 12 projects proposed so far, and are still accepting more to give us all something to do on Sunday afternoon.

The BBQ and band evening are all set to feed and impress… We will be joined by ‘Evaburn’ and a jazz band called ‘Close Quarters’ for an evening of band swapping entertainment. The BBQ is free to all residents and volunteers so please bring people along. There will be games and crafts for the children as well as a potential face painter - watch this space for more details!

The event is really gaining steam now as we enter into the last week of preparation.

Please pray for good weather - most (almost all) of the projects require at least dry weather, and we haven’t been seeing much of that recently. God is able!!

Also continue to pray for the residents and their acceptance and understanding of what we are doing. Our main aim is to show the awesome love of God to the community. Pray that they will have open hearts for what we are doing, and what we have to say.

Pray for the safety of the volunteers - some will be up ladders, others walking precariously close to the canal to pick up that little bit of rubbish that’s actually out of their reach! Pray for God’s protection on the volunteers as they serve, but also on the residents as they join with us to regenerate the community!

Please pray for me, Bec, that I can be more than sufficiently organised for this event - I don’t want to forget anything.

Please do remember that God is in complete control of this event, and that we want his will to be done.

In the awesome name that is above all names…

Amen.

See you Friday!!!!

Hi Everyone, just wanted to write a quick note to let you know where we’re up to with the planning for 418.

The short promo video went live on ‘Youtube’today, with links direct to it from the 418 pages on the agape website.

We’ve had nearly 20 volunteer forms back - but we still need more!
Please don’t take your involvement for granted - we want you to be invoved, but we do need a completed form form you!

We have also had a number of projects proposed, mainly garden based, but also cleaning windows etc.

All the planning and preparation is going well at the moment, we’re in the final stages of getting everything ready for the fast approaching big weekend!

There is a joint cell group on Wednesday to pray for the weekend, we would be really happy if you could come!

If you have any ideas or thoughts regarding the weekend of 418 let us know by leaving a comment.

Thanks everyone for your help so far!!!

Please sign up to our blog and leave a message. We will get back to you as soon as possible!

Hi everyone!

Firstly can I say thank you for the money you have given me towards my trip. It was perfect timing as the night after you had the church meeting my car got stolen so it was very good to have some encouragement!

I was also excited to see how interested everyone was in the work going on in Haiti. As you may have noticed before Christmas, I didn’t know too much about what I was getting into so a lot of what you were hearing from Martin and  Carwyn was the first time I was hearing it too. It’s strange not being at Agape very much yet getting so much support from you - a perfect example of family and community! Thank you so much! It was great to see everyone getting behind it and I can’t wait to bore you with little stories and hopefully some photos!! (Bring some popcorn as it could be a long night!)

It’s less than a week before I go and I’m so excited!! I still have so much to do (like pack. get insurance, borrow a suitcase, buy a mosquito net etc - help! I didn’t realise I had that much left to do!)

Just to put some prayer points down for you to keep in kind and occasionally utter to the Big Man:

• I couldn’t get a Hep B injection so prayers of protection for that (as well as general health things) would be immense)
• Flight arrangements and flight safety
• Haiti is a dangerous place (kidnappings and the like)  so please pray for personal safety
• I’m leaving my Manchester house relatively empty while I’m away so protection for that and for me not to worry about it!! (Also my washing machine and toilet have started leaking…little things like that!)
• I’d really like a suntan please!

And for the not so self-centred prayer requests:

• Prayer for Mum, Dad, Hannah etc who may be a little worried… ok, so just mum then!
•  That lots of work on the hospital gets done
• That we see God do lots of amazing stuff

Well, I’m off to do all the stuff I have to do so that I won’t be panicked and can just be excited!

Love to you all,

cej

p.s. I have a new mobile number and a home number (like a real adult) Hannah or Mum/Dad should be able to pass them on. It will cost a lot to text while I’m away but before the 4th and from the 18th I’d love to hear from you!

xx

Instead of using Operation Christmas child and Samaritans purse we are going to use an alternative to support a family I know who do something very similar. It is called Sweeps. The info is the same. Below are a list of gift ideas and gift no-no’s!

Gift Ideas for the sweeps shoe boxes. Please bring all you can on Sunday
or drop it round to my house!
These are just some ideas! Go mad!

TOYS
small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos,
jump ropes, small Etch A Sketch®, toys that light up or make noise
(with extra batteries), Slinky®, etc.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES
pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets,
writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.

HYGIENE ITEMS
toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth, etc.

OTHER
Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all candy), mints, gum, T-shirts,
socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights
(with extra batteries)

A PERSONAL NOTE
In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note to the child and a photo of
yourself or your family. (If you include your name and address, the child
may write back.)

Do Not Include:

Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military
figures; chocolate or food; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins;
breakable items such as snowglobes or glass containers; aerosol cans