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Avatar photoJohn Sherbourne

Jean Hiley, a Service of Thanksgiving and Celebration

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Last Thursday afternoon MBC held a Service of Thanksgiving and Celebration for the Life of Jean Hiley. Jean who was 99 when she passed away on January 9th was the widow of Norman who for many years worshipped and served here at Moortown as well as helping to lead MRSG – our Moortown Romania Support Group.

One particularly poignant part of the Service was when Jean’s 6 year old great grandson Tayn read what in the Order of Service was headed Reading of Jean’s Words – a response to her family’s recent request to share with them “something you want us to know about you.”

Standing on a chair, and in a loud clear voice little Tayn said this:

I praise the Lord continually for the life he has given me.

From my upbringing in a lovely home with loving parents.

For a loving husband of so many years.

For 2 good sons gone too soon.

For those I enjoy now. Grandchildren and even lovely Great Grandchildren.

My biggest hope for the future is?

Well, To get to Heaven!

News from Krys, Bela and friends in Sri Lanka

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Half way through their visit to Sri Lanka, Krys, Bela and their three friends have sent us an update on how their visit to the Women’s Development Centre in Kandy is going. 

The pictures we have received so far show lots of activity in the vocational learning centre for adults with special needs, a school for children with learning disabilities and the Centre’s weaving area. However, don’t get the impression that the trip is all work and no play; on the contrary says Krys “we’ve also had some fun” which included elephant watching, getting up close to two animals which to me look like some type of monkey and even a visit to watch the Sri Lanka cricket team lose to England.  

Above and below there are a couple of galleries showing all the pictures we’ve so far received. 

Whole Church Meeting. In the building and online. February 24th at 7.30pm

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Tuesday February 24th 7.30pm Whole Church meeting.  All welcome.  The agenda will come out soon and this will include making some decisions for the year ahead.  We are continuing to pray for Gods guidance, looking at what God is doing in our communities and what the opportunities and challenges are. 

This includes items that have been brought up at more recent meetings, such as people support to support this work, over the next 6/12 months. 

Our building is an important part of this, many of you may have noticed a number of places where recently water has leaked into the building. Rest assured this is something we are investigating but again if you have anything to share on any of this do let the deacons or myself know. 

We want to prayerfully see all of this in the light of the bigger picture of what God is doing here in this community.

Clowning around. Lunch Club tries out a spot of juggling

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Whenever professional juggler Matthew Tiffany turns up at Lunch Club there’s never any shortage of volunteers wanting to get in on his act. 

Whether that act be juggling, plate spinning or for that matter anything else designed to mesmerize you can bet your bottom dollar that before long there’ll be no end of people – all old enough to know better – wanting to join in. 

And that’s precisely what happened at this week’s Lunch Club when Matthew paid a return visit. 

Well done Rachel for arranging this special treat. Just occasionally being able to act your shoe size rather than your age is something that I’m sure most of us would benefit from. 

Sixty years of MAF service to Chad links MBC to our BMS mission partners Mark and Andrea Hotchkin

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Since 1966, MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) has been delivering help hope and healing to the remotest parts of Chad.

From fighting famine to delivering healthcare and improving literacy, MAF continues to serve isolated communities through a range of partners. MAF’s Claire Gilderson looks back through the ages.

Claire’s report talks about the part MBC’s Mission Partners Mark and Andrea Hotchkin play in the story.

You can read it by hitting the link below. 

Happy 60th birthday MAF Chad!

News from Banglabesh, and in particular from Jhumpara

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Sharing a recent email sent from Bangladesh, Phil and Rod report on the support that the villagers of Jhumpara continue to receive. 

If you would like to find out more about MBC’s link to Jhumpara here is a post that appeared here in February 2010 and was written by Dr Michael Flowers who with his wife June served for many years in Bangladesh with BMS. 

There is a third project supported by the Bangladesh Fund, the Jhum Para Project. Back in the 1960’s there was a shift in the management of leprosy world wide, and all patients except those needing specialist hospital care were to be discharged from Leprosy Homes into the community. Inevitably, as in our case, there were some who were unable to live independently because of disability, or who had nowhere to go, because of ostracism. For them we obtained a plot of land where we built simple bamboo houses for them to live in.

We left Bangladesh soon after that and we lost touch. Although we began to visit Chandraghona again with medical teams from 1985 onwards we were unable to visit the village because of the civil war. It was only after the peace deal was signed in 1997 that June, during one of our team visits, was taken to the village and found the people there, some of them the original patients, with their children and grandchildren, all living by begging, and in abject poverty.

June was appalled and felt a compulsion from God to do something. We began to make plans and the following year a team from this church conducted a careful survey to see how we could help best. So the Jhum Para Project was born.

The urgent needs were for food, (instead of milk, or eggs, or fish, or meat, they ate snails and frogs), for drinking water, for house repairs, and most importantly, for education for the children, none of whom were at school. As an income generation scheme the initial idea of purchasing piglets for them to raise for meat or to sell was an attractive idea when raising funds at home!

Over the years the provision of school uniforms and equipment, tutors for coaching, mosquito nets, blankets, latrines, sewing machines, and adult literacy classes, have brought about an astonishing transformation.

More recently textile training for the girls and driving instruction for the young men, have brought some hope of employment, and the appointment of a pastor has resulted in many conversions and baptisms. The most recent facility has been a brick-built schoolhouse to serve the whole community.

YTV’s Calendar features the Leeds & Moortown Furniture Store to highlight furniture poverty

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The Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store was formed here at Moortown almost forty years ago. Since then a constant stream of MBC members have served it in one capacity or another, in fact even as I write five of our members are trustees while numerous other people help as volunteers.
 
As one of Leeds’ most valuable and respected charities LMFS is at the forefront of the battle against furniture poverty. Hence the reason YTV chose to visit its Seacroft warehouse and also why shortly after the feature was aired Rachel Dodson, the Store’s General Manager took to social media… here’s what she wrote.
 
On Tuesday January the 20th ITV Calendar, that’s Yorkshire Television’s regional news programme featured a piece on furniture poverty and how some local authorities are cutting the welfare scheme that supports people living in crisis with furniture. If you would like to watch it it’s 14.54 mins in and available on ITVX).
 
As a charity the Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store supports 100’s of people a month that cannot access this scheme and with other items that this scheme does not offer.
 
The referrals for furniture are increasing and any support you can give us with furniture donations, volunteering or raising funds to buy furniture is always very much appreciated.
 
You can get in touch with us by calling 0113 273 9727 or by emailing info@leedsandmoortown.org.uk

Fresh Streams – a leadership conference attended by Shelley and five of our members

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Fresh Streams is a leadership conference held last week in Staffordshire. It was attended by Mandy, Andy, John, Krys, Shelley and Rachel and its theme was Awaken.

Over the next few weeks our team, besides telling us about some of the things they got up to will also be passing on lots of learning and training tips.  However, if you can’t wait and you want to get a flavour of the event right now you can by following this direct link https://freshstreams.net

 

 

 

Who, what, where and when? A guide to all that’s happening here at MBC in 2026

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www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk 

Following Jesus and serving the community

Lasting for just over an hour our Sunday Service starts in church and on YouTube at 11am. The first Sunday of each month is Café Church and on the third Sunday we celebrate Communion.

An important part of our weekly worship is Sunday School. Here a small group of young children learn all about Jesus and the love of God.

Rounding off Sunday we have Rock Solid. Meeting between 7 & 8pm and majoring around having fun, Rock Solid regularly sets our teenagers some serious and not so serious challenges and tasks.

Monday…    Our free Warm Space Beacon Café, 10am to 12noon.

Tuesday…    Stepping Stones, a toddler group 10 to 11.30am.

Tuesday…   The first of our Housegroups, only this one is in church between 12noon and 2pm.

Wednesday… 10.30am – 2pm. Lunch Club, games, quizzes and always a hearty lunch for our seniors.

Wednesday… 7.30 to 9.30pm. Our hybrid Housegroup. With half the group meeting at church and the other half online.

Wednesday…  7.30pm – 9.30ish. Ladies Housegroup in the comfort of someone’s home.

Wednesday…  7.30 to 9pm. Country Dancing.

Thursday…      2pm to 4. Open Door Craft Group. Our second Warm Space of the week. No experience needed, Free refreshments and always lots of chat.

Thursday…      7pm to 9pm. Bible Study, in church.

Friday…           10am to 11am. A second Bible Study, again in church.

Friday…           And finally, between 8pm – 10pm, another Housegroup, again in someone’s home.

In addition to all this we also host or provide a Pastoral Team, which without overstepping the mark provides confidential support to anyone who needs it, we host a Parkinson’s Exercise Class, two Extend Exercise Classes (ideal for our older friends), Pilates, Pathways, a Christian Counselling team, Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store, PACT (Neighbourhood Policing Teams) and local councillor surgeries. In addition, and particularly at certain times of the year we host special Services such as those associated with Easter, Nativities, Christingles, Baptisms, Mission weekends etc. etc.

For more information about Moortown Baptist Church please email

 admin@moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk

Moortown Baptist Church. 204 King Lane, Leeds LS17 7AA

www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk

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