The Prayer Course is for anyone who wants to grow in their relationship with God.
Please click here for more information. Feel free to print off and pin up at home so you don’t forget the dates .
Krystyna Gadd
Update : Table Top Sale – 14th September
In less than 2 week’s time on the 14 th of September we are holding a table top sale in aid of a refuge run by the Women’s Development centre in Kandy, Sri Lanka. We are hoping that it will be a great family event with something for everyone: young, older and the young at heart.
To give you an idea of what to expect, there will be handcrafted items including:
Cards
Woven items
Soaps
Fused glass
And many more things…
For the young at heart there will be a stall manned by some of our youth selling something no house should be without – SLIME!!
There will also be face painting, hair braiding and henna artists should you wish to spoil yourself a little. There is also a stall selling a wide selection of sweets.
There will be a café and the proceeds of that will go to the church. So come along, have a cuppa and a cake, get your hair braided or painted and join in on a fantastically fun day.
Doors open at 10:20 and close at 2:30pm. There will be a raffle with some great prizes. Entrance fee is £1 only and children are free.
Please tell your friends, family and neighbours!
Table Top Sale – 14th September
Table Top sale at MBC in Aid of the Girls at the Women’s Development Centre, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
This will be on Saturday 14th September from 10:30 until 14:30.
It costs £10 to book a table, and there will be a £1 entrance fee for the sale.
To book your table please contact Lesley Murphy, MBC Administrator on 0113 2693750.
Table Top sale – 14th September 2024
Last year I organised a tabletop sale in order to raise funds for a women’s refuge in Sri Lanka.
It was a great day and we managed to raise a substantial amount of money. Just recently I was in Sri Lanka seeing the girls and it was such a heart-warming time that I have decided to go out again next year. If you would like a table then please contact me through the church at admin@moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk.
You can reserve one for just £10!
Summer Solstice Walk – 22nd June 2024 Ilkley
We had such a lovely time on Good Friday walking up to the Swastika Stone that I have decided to organise another walk. This time it will be close to Midsummer’s Day, on Saturday the 22nd of June. Please see further details below the picture:
Meeting Point 1 (for those who are ok with the incline to start with): White Wells Car Park, Ilkley If there are no spaces, then you can park in Darwin Gardens or on Wells Road itself. Time of Meeting: 2pm. Length of walk: 1.5 hours in total (maximum)
Meeting Point 2 (for those wishing to cut out the first incline) – park part way up the Keighley Road. Click here for Meeting Point 2 location
Time of Meeting: 2:15pm (approximately, as you should wait for the first part of the group to meet you there). Length of walk: 1 hour in total
For those wishing to extend the walk beyond the Swastika stone, you can carry on the moor along Millennium way, click here for location.
If you are able to join us, but would like a lift please let Lesley know from where you would like a lift and how many of you. For those who can offer a lift to others please let Lesley know how much room you will have in your car.
The view at the top (near the Swastika stone) is amazing. You can see out to the Dales on a clear day. When we get there, I would love it if we could pause, pray and read out a scripture. Anyone who would like to say a prayer, or share a scripture please let Krys know through Lesley Murphy. You can walk further along the top after that or simply come back down the way we came.
I would suggest bringing a drink and a snack as well as suitable outerwear as it can be a little windy at the top!
My Trip to Sri Lanka
When I first began weaving in January 2018, I did not anticipate how much I would
enjoy it nor how much pleasure I would get from others I helped to learn. It was in
that year that my friend Marcia, who has been going out to Sri Lanka 11 years,
“hoodwinked” me into volunteering with her.
We raised enough money to buy 13 looms for the girls in a refuge run by the
(Women’s Development Centre in Kandy (WDC) and booked our flights for April
2020. Little did we know what was around the corner and it has taken until April 2024 for me to take that trip and finally meet the girls.
The story of these girls had touched my heart. As a young girl I was given the same
opportunities as my older brother. I was raised in a loving family, one which I
appreciate more, the older I get. These girls have in many instances been betrayed
and abused by those who should have protected them. My hope was that the
weaving, at least, could be a mindful activity for them to lose themselves in.
At most maybe those with a talent for it, would be able to make things and sell them for a small income.
Not being able to fly out anywhere in 2020 meant that the girls and their teachers
received the looms and pretty much had to teach themselves. They did so well in
that, and I am very impressed that with very little instruction they produced items with amazing consistency.
These are just a few of the items they managed to produce in a very short amount of
time.
When I arrived at the refuge, Sashi (who runs WDC) and I formulated a plan, at least
for the first day. We would play it by ear and see how things went. Looking at their
items and talking with the teachers it looked like some vital early learning had been missed, especially when it came to warping up the looms. Taking them through this process step-by-step helped them to solve some consistent problems they were
having with the weaving, so it was worthwhile to go back to first principles.
Their enthusiasm was infectious, and the days were filled with hard work, enthusiasm and laughter. Their appreciation of the time spent with them was evident, as were the traumas that they had gone through. On my way down to lunch one day, I passed the nursery and caught sight of one of the girls in my class, just 13 years
old, breastfeeding her baby. For all the girls’ hardships, the refuge is a happy place. The teachers, foster mothers and workers are calm and loving, creating a homely atmosphere, where the girls are loved and cared for. What the WDC struggles with, is not how to treat the girls but lack of funding. So, this year I will be doing some more fundraising through coffee mornings, a table top sale and who knows what?
For a few days, the girls lost themselves in the weaving and learning about colour
theory. They learned how to finish off their woven items and how to use other
equipment such as: peg looms, weaving sticks and even a pompom maker!
When it took me 15 minutes to find the tapestry needles, they learned the benefits of keeping things tidy and how useful storage baskets are!
See the pictures below for a very pleasing sight to anyone who may be even slightly OCD!
People ask me if I had a lovely holiday in Sri Lanka and my answer has developed
into: “It was a heart-warming and worthwhile experience”. I came back home with a
newfound appreciation of all I have and a desire to return next year. It was a huge
“reset” for me, putting so many of my problems into perspective.
This picture is with the teachers and my interpreter Mary. If you look closely, you can see how red my face is from the humidity and unbearable heat. I cannot say I loved the tropical environment, but the insects loved me!
I am so grateful for all the donations and items people bought. Grateful for the difference it will make to these lovely girls. I cannot share the one picture I have of them, for the girls’ safety, but if you were to see me, I might show the picture to you on my phone. You might then see what I see; a group of beautiful girls, with huge potential and deserving of a chance in life.
If you would like to know more about volunteering or how you might help then please email me on krystyna.gadd@gmail.com.