Login

Avatar photoJohn Sherbourne

One final post from Howard, Jean and Bela’s trip to Romania – in this one Howard tells of a meeting they had with some Ukrainian refugees.

by

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine a large number of refugees came to Romania with it being close by, and particularly to Cluj as a major city in the north of Romania and a communications centre.

At one time 50 refugees were attending and being helped by Manastur church. At MBC we have sent several thousand pounds to help meet their needs and also for aid which the church was
taking into Ukraine.

On our recent visit Bela, Jean and I had the privilege of meeting many of the refugees from Ukraine over a pizza lunch following the Sunday service. There are now 25 Ukrainians in the church, some of the others particularly from western Ukraine have returned to their homes, others have gone on to western Europe seeking better paid jobs there. However, the level of support available (e.g. from the Romanian government) has reduced due to the cost involved.

We met one young man who has learned Romanian from scratch in the 18 months he has been in Cluj and is now hoping to go to the university. However he and his family would like to return to Ukraine when possible as it is their home.

Two of the Ukrainians (on the left in the photo below) are staying with Nicu and Rita Reparuc (on the right) and I met them at Nicu and Rita’s house. The husband is an electrician and has had work in Cluj but doesn’t have any at the moment. His wife is a music teacher and has been able to continue to do some teaching over the internet. They are from Kharkiv, a large city of 1.4 million people near the Russian border which has been in the news a lot due to the large number of missile attacks.

They showed me a video on their phone of Kharkiv before the war with its beautiful buildings and parks. Also on their phone were some recent photos sent from friends in Kharkiv showing the terrible destruction there has been. I was shocked to see a photo of their apartment block which had been damaged with the windows of their flat blown out. This made what is going on in Ukraine seem very real.

Please pray for them as they decide whether to go back to Kharkiv in November to secure their flat with all the risks that may entail. There is a wider connection as Leeds has recently become twinned with Kharkiv partly as an expression of solidarity.

It also struck me what a difference smartphones have made with people able to keep in touch from a distance and work over the internet. How did we communicate you might ask? They had an app on their phone and they could speak in Ukrainian and the words appeared on the screen in English!

Shelley’s message for w/c October 6th

by

Dear friends

Thanks to everyone who was involved in celebrating the baptisms and dedication last Sunday.  Let’s keep Rachel, Amber and Jess in our prayers.

We look forward to our harvest thanksgiving café church tomorrow at 11am in the building and online.  If you are able, donations of food or money or a bit of both are welcome for the North Leeds foodbank and Caring for Life charity.  The food bank have specifically asked for…

Milk (UHT), soup, long life fruit juice, sweet and savoury spreads, long life sponge puddings, tinned vegetables, pasta/curry sauce, tinned fish, tinned rice pudding, tinned custard, tinned tomatoes, tinned meat, biscuits, rice, teabags, toilet roll and powdered milk (not baby milk)

We’ll have breakfast pastries, fruit and drinks to share during the service which will focus on ‘what is harvest?’ and the beginning of Ruth chapter 2.  There will be creative activities to join in with for all ages during café church.

Please ask about midweek activities, pick up a leaflet at the back of church or look on the website.  These include Beacon warm welcome café at 10am on Monday, craft group welcome space on Thursday at 2pm, Stepping Stones on Tuesday at 10am (please ask Diane Sunter or Lesley if you are new as the group is getting full and they want to make sure they can get you in!) and lunchclub on Wednesday.  There are housegroups and bible studies throughout the week.  Do ask if you are unsure or would like to try them out.  You don’t need to commit to being there every time and can go to more than one at a time. There’s Tuesday afternoon in the building (see Rod Russell or ask Lesley), Wednesday in the building at 7.30pm, Wednesday evening (see Diane Sunter), Thursday in the building at 7.00pm with Gareth Gadd. Friday morning at 10am (see Shelley) and Friday eve in Adel at 8pm, see Jonathan Darling.  Rock Solid for youth meet on Sunday evening at 7pm.

A reminder that there will be a get together with Krys Gadd for anyone who attended any of the prayer course, in the building after café church, tomorrow 6th October, bring some lunch.

It’s the next church meeting on the 15th of October at 7.30pm in the building and online. Please do come along.  Part of the meeting will be voting for a new deacon as well as saying thank you to those stepping down.  Lesley sent out the agenda and minutes last week, along with a zoom link for those who are unable to attend in person.  Please keep sharing what you think God is saying to us as a church.  We are looking ahead over the autumn and towards Christmas as well involving more people in welcoming and providing space for those new to the community to have chance to get to know others. We’ll have chance to continue this conversation at the meeting.

We have Andrea and Mark Hotchkin, BMS missionaries working in Chad, leading the service with us on 20th October at 11am followed by lunch together.  More details to come!

This is the same day Terefe leaves to visit those in Calais who need food, clothing and to share the news of Jesus.  We will be praying for him on the 16th October in the service.  He is looking for good quality clothes or shoes to take, financial support and prayer.  Please can items be brought to church and left with Lesley rather than around the building.

We continue to pray for situations of conflict all around the world. I was struck by an interview from March this year about youth praying in Lebanon.

Youth in Lebanon are Discovering Prayer – 24-7 Prayer International

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

Shelley

In church or on YouTube, join us this Sunday for MBC’s Harvest

by

This coming Sunday, that’s 6th October is our harvest thanksgiving café church!

In church there will be a selection of breakfast pastries, fruit and drinks, and as in previous years two local charities – Caring for Life and the North Leeds and West Foodbank will be the beneficiaries. 

In this instance Caring for Life have asked us for monetary donations, whereas the food bank have more specific requests including: milk (UHT), soup, long life fruit juice, sweet and savoury spreads, long life sponge puddings, tinned vegetables, pasta/curry sauce, tinned fish, tinned rice pudding, tinned custard, tinned tomatoes, tinned meat, biscuits, rice, teabags, toilet roll and powdered milk (not baby milk).

However, on Sunday for those of us who for one reason or another find ourselves “gift less” there’ll be an opportunity during the service to give money directly online.

Thank you. 

Praise the Lord – two baptisms and a dedication

by

By anyone’s standards, for any Baptist church to have two baptisms and a dedication during one morning Service is good going. But such was the order last Sunday at Moortown Baptist Church. 

For Jess and Rachel their baptism will be a highlight of their young lives and one that neither will forget. For little Amber it will turn out to be something that as she grows up she will forever be reminded of.   

It was a real privilege to be in the congregation, and a real joy to see MBC continuing to grow.  

Safely back in Leeds – Bela, Jean and Howard share more pictures from their trip to Romania

by

We’re back!  We arrived safely back home on Tuesday morning from our visit to Romania.

For the second part of our stay we visited Manastur Baptist Church in the city of Cluj-Napoca.  Bela and Jean stayed at the home of Florin and Dana Fodor who visited us in Leeds two years ago and I with Constantin and Mariana Rusu who many years ago joined us on a church holiday.

We continued to be blessed by sunshine right up until the last couple of days.  We had a scenic excursion to the Apuseni mountains where we visited the new Christian centre at Belis.  We also visited the salt mine at Turda.

On Sunday we joined the service at Manastur church where there was a wedding of two young people from Haiti who had come to Cluj as students. It reminded us of Candice and Nelson’s wedding at MBC a few weeks ago.

In the evening we went to the Gypsy Church in the nearby village of Floresti.  We have supported this important ministry for a number of years.  We were made very welcome and Bela shared some thoughts based on her experience in India. 

We again gave greetings from MBC at both churches and we were asked to convey their greetings and best wishes in return.

On our final day we met Nicu and Rita Reparuc who over the years have taken in and fostered around 30 children. 

We return with lots of happy memories of the warmth of our welcome.

If you would like to share some of our memories simply open up the gallery by clicking on any of the pictures below .

Climate Change – local action group sets about addressing an environmental crisis.

by

As a local church with a world wide mission, protecting the environment and in particular addressing the effects of climate change are, or at least  should be, two of the most vital challenges we face. 

Below you will see a number of flyers issued by the Alwoodley 2030 Climate Action Hub. Also you can find out more by visiting Alwoodley 2030: Climate Action Hub – About

Although specifically focused on Alwoodley this project is equally important to the residents of Moortown, or even Miami, Malawi or Mombasa. And that’s because without a global effort climate change, whether that manifests itself in the form of hurricanes, floods, melting ice caps et al is going to change the face of civilisation beyond recognition.    

Acoustic Nights at The Barn

by

Every month The Barn Coffee Shop welcomes the best independent performers to Meanwood Valley Urban Farm Leeds LS7 2QG.

In the leadup to Christmas, that’s in October, November and December the artists featured are Chris Read, Rod Cordner and the HUM Gospel Choir. 

All the information you need to book your tickets is on the attached flyer but for more specific queries you can always call The Barn on 0113 2625048. 

Bela, Jean and Howard check in from Romania

by

Hello and greetings from Romania; it’s Bela, Jean and Howard here, and by the time you read this we will be just about half way through our visit.

So let me bring you up to date. We began our trip last weekend in the village of Cserefalva where we stayed in the guest house with former pastor Noemi and her husband Csaba, but now we  have moved on to visit the churches in Cluj.

In Cserefalva we attended the Sunday service and took the opportunity to pass on your greetings. We also met their new pastor Elud Marton and his family and he made us very welcome. 

I have to say that so far during our stay we have been invited for a number of superb meals with members of church congregations which for those of you who know the custom here means that we have been very well fed. 

On one of our days we took time out to visit the must see historic city of Sighisoara, the place where Dracula was born. Another day we travelled to visit Zsuzsi and Andor and had a lovely time with them and their family – which of course included looking around their church.

As for the weather – I’m glad to report that so far we have been blessed with sunshine throughout our entire visit.

There are lots of pictures in the gallery below. To view them simply click on any image.

Shelley signposts another busy week for MBC

by

Dear friends

We meet tomorrow at 11am in the building and online where we look at the theme of Jesus sustaining us, in John 6 but also starting to look at the story of Ruth. There will be a separate group during the talk with linked teaching and activities for children.

Next Sunday we have our baptism service.  Everyone welcome, do come and support and pray and join in.  We’ll have some refreshments and if you can bring a cake or sweet treats (no nuts) then can you let Lesley or Karen or a deacon know. The week after is our harvest celebration where there will be opportunity to give money (for Caring for life) or food for the north Leeds foodbank.  We’ll send a harvest specific email out next week.

A reminder that all those who have joined any of the Prayer Course are invited to bring lunch on the 6th October after church for a time of sharing and prayer.

Thanks to all those who helped with the tabletop sale last Saturday raising money for the women’s development centre in Kandy, Sri Lanka.  Thanks to Krys who was behind the organising.  Over £700 was raised at the last count!

Lesley reminded everyone last week that the last day to put in nominations for deacons is tomorrow.  If you want a chat about any of this then do get in touch.   

Do pray for Howard, Bela and Jean who flew to Romania today to meet with some of the churches we support and people where relationships have been built over the years with people at MBC.  

“Taste and see that the Lord is good;
 blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

(Psalm 34:8)

Shelley

Minister – Moortown Baptist Church

Shelley (and Daisy) join thousands more runners as they line up for the Great North Run

by

Dear friends

This week we continue with John 4:43-54 as we journey with Jesus through Galilee and see the ‘ripples’ going out to households and communities.  We will have an activity for our younger friends during the talk.  We start at 11am in the building and on youtube.

Last weekend was a great celebration and lots of food for thought, from Candice and Nelson’s wedding on Saturday to café church on Sunday.  Thanks to all who helped with the wedding on Saturday and all who were part of Sunday in anyway whether it be washing up or preparing sung worship. It was good to hear each other’s stories and a real privilege.

The prayer course continues this Sunday.  See website  Prayer Course – see Krys Gadd for details – Moortown Baptist Church

Rock Solid youth are back together again on Sunday evening at 7pm.

Beacon warm welcome café is back on Monday 9th September.  Craft group is postponed this week but back the week after.

On 10th September Stepping Stones returns at 10-11.30am.  Do contact Lesley if you are new and would like to come.

Also on Tuesday it’s our Church Meeting and this time it’s an opportunity to hear updates on the last few months, for members to vote on voting online, it’s a reminder about deacons elections which are coming up soon and a chance to hear how you can pray for what’s going on as well as getting involved.

There’s no Wednesday night housegroup this week but it returns the week after.

For Tuesday afternoon housegroup contact Rod or Howard, see Hilary and Jonathan or Steve or Helen about Friday nights group and Gareth about Thursday night bible study.  If in doubt contact myself or Lesley or ask a deacon.

Lunch club is meeting on the 11th for all those booked in and the volunteers.  See Rachel if you want to know more about helping or about someone who is maybe interested in going.

It’s the tabletop sale on the 14th September.  See website for details Table Top Sale – 14th September – Moortown Baptist Church

On the 29th September we’ll be celebrating a baptism again in church!  If you would like to be baptised on that day too then do get in touch with me for a chat.

October café church is on the 6th at 11am and it will be a harvest and thanks with chance to bring food/financial giving.  More details to come next week. 

Leeds Citywide prayer gathering is taking place on Tuesday 1st October 7.45-9.30pm at North Church, 98 Kirkstall Road, LS3 1HJ. All are invited to pray for the city in different ways.

I am running the Great North mini run tomorrow with Daisy and the Great North Run myself on Sunday for Leeds Hospitals charities.  I’ll miss being part of worship with you on Sunday but I’ll join in later in the day and look forward to catching up after the run.

“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” John 4:39

Lets keep sharing stories.

Shelley

Subscribe to the MBC Newsletter

Weekly news and stories about everything that is happening at Moortown Baptist Church

PHP Code Snippets Powered By : XYZScripts.com