News items for public viewing
Happy 60th birthday MAF Chad!
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.
Dear friends
We started a theme in church last Sunday looking at whole life worship based on the Hebrew word ‘Avodah’ meaning worship, work and service. This word is used in the bible in the letter to the Romans Chapter 12 verse 1.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Last week we focused on money, this week we consider work, whether it be paid, voluntary, short term or long-term projects. What good works has God got for us to discover and get involved in? We start at 11am in the building and online on our youtube channel. There will be a group for children to explore the theme creatively during part of the service.
Here’s what’s going on for the rest of the week…
Sunday 25th January Children’s group leaders planning and prayer after the service 1-2pm Feel free to bring your lunch.
Sunday 25th January Rock solid youth 7-8 in the building. Ask for more details, all welcome.
Monday 26th January 10-12 Beacon warm welcome café for all. Food pantry available.
Tuesday 27th January Stepping Stones For the under 5’s and their parents and carers 10.00 – 11.30am (speak to Diane or Hilary if interested)
Tuesday 27th January House Group in the Music Room 12.30 – 2.30 speak to Howard Dews
Wednesday 28th January Lunch Club 10.15am – 1.15pm Speak to Rachel or Lesley if you want more information as you need to be booked on.
Wednesday 28th January Creative Psalm Writing 7.00 – 9.00pm in the Sports Hall. Everyone welcome, resources provided. Open to beginners and all who want to explore God in life in a different way. Ask Shelley for more information.
Wednesday 28thJanuary House Group Music Room 7.30 – 9.30pm Speak to Andy or Ruth for more information.
Thursday 29th January Warm Welcome Space Craft Group 2.00 – 4.00pm Contact Karen if you want to know more. All welcome
Thursday 29th January Bible Study in the Music Room 7.00pm – 9.00pm Speak to Gareth, John C or Lesley
Friday 30th January Bible Study in the Music Room 10.00 – 11.00am Speak to Shelley for more information.
Friday 30th January Thanksgiving service for the life of Robert Owen starting at 11.30am. Do come along and support Carol and the family as we thank God for Robert’s life on earth. All are welcome to refreshments in church after the service. The family have said that you don’t need to wear dark colours for this service.
Friday 30th January Parkinson’s Exercise Class 6.30 – 7.30pm Speak to Phil Commons or Lesley for more information
Friday 30th January House group at 8pm in Adel See Jonathan, Hilary, Steve or Helen.
Sunday 1st February All age café church 11.00 – 12.00pm with drinks and breakfast snacks, designed with all ages and experiences in mind. The theme is Whole Life Worship: relationships (John 15;15)
Sunday 1st February Sung worship leaders get together. More details to come
Sunday 1st February Rock Solid Youth group 7-8pm in the church building
Looking ahead..
Thursday 5th February 2.30pm Thanksgiving Service for the life of Jean Hiley. All are invited to come and remember Jean and thank God for her life. There will be refreshments in the church after the service.
Saturday 7th February Sunday sung worship and tech teams get together at the start of the year, starting at 12.30 for the afternoon. More details to come. If you have thoughts you would like to input on this please see Andy B or Shelley.
Tuesday 10th February 7.30pm Meeting for deacons and Shelley in the church building
Tuesday February 24th Whole Church meeting. All welcome. The agenda will come out soon but 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 midst and thinking and planning for where God is leading us.
Around our community..
You may have heard or seen our facebook page about Councillor Mahalia France-Mir who sadly died last Monday. Mahalia represented Moortown ward for Leeds City Council and held some of her local surgeries in the church building. We pray for her family and thank God for her work in our local communities. We endeavour to continue to work for good with our partners in the community.
The self-defense class we were hosting with LJWB was postponed as not enough people signed up in time but if you would be interested in something like this in the future can you let Lesley know and we will compile a list of interested people ready for the next one.
In Christ
Shelley
Shelley Dring
Minister
Moortown Baptist Church
Dear friends
Here is the week ahead…
Sunday 18th January Church service with Communion and group for our younger friends to explore the theme together 11.00 – 12.00pm. We’ll be starting a new short series looking at ‘whole life worship’.
Sunday 18th January Rock Solid youth groups in the church building 7-8pm
Monday 19th January Beacon Warm Welcome Space and Lord’s Pantry 10.00am – 12.00pm Everyone welcome
Tuesday 20th January Stepping Stones For the under 5’s and their parents and carers 10.00 – 11.30am (speak to Diane or Hilary if interested)
Tuesday 20th January House Group in the Music Room 12.30 – 2.30 speak to Howard Dews
Wednesday 21st January Lunch Club 10.15am – 1.15pm Speak to Rachel or Lesley if you want more information as you need to be booked on.
Wednesday 21st January Wednesday worship for all 1.30-2 in the music room. The theme is Awakening.
Wednesday 21st January PACT Meeting 6.30 – 7.15pm – Police and Communities Together for Moortown. Everyone welcome.
Wednesday 21st January House Group Music Room 7.30 – 9.30pm Speak to Andy or Ruth for more information.
Thursday 22nd January Warm Welcome Space Craft Group 2.00 – 4.00pm Contact Karen if you want to know more.
Thursday 22nd January Women’s Self Defence Group 1.00 – 5.00pm Sports Hall. All women are welcome to book a free place.. See attachment to this email or ask Shelley or Lesley.
Thursday 22nd January Bible Study in the Music Room 7.00pm – 9.00pm Speak to Gareth, John C or Lesley
Friday 23rd January Bible Study in the Music Room 10.00 – 11.00am Speak to Shelley for more information.
Friday 23rd January Parkinson’s Exercise Class 6.30 – 7.30pm Speak to Phil Commons or Lesley for more information
Friday 23rd January House group at 8pm in Adel See Jonathan, Hilary, Steve or Helen.
Sunday 25th January Service 11.00 – 12.00pm with a group to explore the theme with our younger friends.
Sunday 25th January Rock Solid Youth group 7-8pm in the church building
Also…
Wednesday 28th January Creative Psalm Writing 7.00 – 9.00pm in the Sports Hall. Everyone is welcome and you can bring your own paper and resources or just use what we have here (we have pastels, pens, colouring pencils and art paper..)
Well done!
Well done to all those who completed the erecting scaffolding course on Friday and passed with flying colours! We are committed to looking after our volunteers and passing on skills so we are very grateful for those who gave up their time to do this and the money from church to support the training.
Last week myself, Deacons Andy, Krys, Mandy, John along with Rachel our Seniors worker went to the Fresh Streams leadership Conference in Staffordshire. We’ll be passing on helpful learning and training in the next month as there were many different workshops alongside the main sessions. In the meantime, if you would like to watch the main seminars for free they are all available online on their youtube channel at FSLC26 – Awaken – Session 6 – Holding Space for Encounter The theme for the Conference was Awaken.
Soon Krys and Bela will be visiting the women’s refuge in Sri Lanka. If you want to find out more then have a look at our website here Women’s Development Centre. Krys Gadd makes her annual visit to Sri Lanka, only this time her support team is considerably bigger. Read on to find out how you can help. – Moortown Baptist Church
Church meetings dates will be confirmed this week.
Funerals
I now have some more information about two funerals taking place at Moortown Baptist Church over the next few weeks. The thanksgiving service for Robert Owen will take place at 11.30am on Friday 30th January in the church building followed by refreshments in the church. All who would like to come and remember Robert and support Carol are welcome to all of this. Carol has said that you do not need to wear dark clothes on this occasion.
The thanksgiving service for Jean Hiley will take place in the church building at 2pm on Thursday 5th February. More details to come.
Finally, a big thank you
A big thank you to everyone who came to celebrate my birthday after church last week. I was really touched by your fantastic cards and things and many kind greetings. It was a special time together and massive thanks too to all those who made cake, decorated and supported tea and coffee making throughout the afternoon! You have kicked off the year for me well!
In Christ
Shelley
Shelley Dring
Minister
Moortown Baptist Church
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
Usually at MBC, if it’s your birthday you get to choose from a jar of sweets. Occasionally, but that’s only if it’s a big birthday you might just get a gift. Today, however, was something different, as tomorrow our minister Shelley reaches the grand old age of 50!
Quite how much Shelley new about this “secret” surprise I’m not at liberty to say, but with the Sports Hall suitably decked out with banners and balloons and with a lovely spread laid out before us it’s fair to say that she, Nathan, Rowan and Daisy certainly lapped it up.
On behalf of us all, thank you Shelley for who you are and for everything you do.
May God bless you and yours.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the last thing a church member needs is a qualification in how to erect scaffolding.
But that’s precisely what Martyn, Rod and Paul learned last week when it was deemed prudent that the ability to safely scale heights hitherto unexplored should be studied and added to the seemingly endless list of safety first protocols.
Anyway, well done chaps, at least we’ll all now know who to come to when we next need a qualified scaffolder.
Dear friends
Blessings at the start of January 2026
Here are the main things going on next week…
Sunday 11th January 11am Service with group for our younger friends followed by cake and drinks for everyone! Service focus follows on from last week with Matthew 2: 13-23
Sunday 11th January 7-8pm Rock Solid youth group in church.
Monday 12th January Beacon Warm Welcome Space 10.00am – 12.00pm – everyone welcome. The Lord pantry will be available during this time.
Just to let you know that at the same time as Beacon café we will be hosting Ed Whiting, Leeds City Council Chief Executive – 10.00 – 10.15am as he meets Leeds City Council employees in the Moortown area.
Tuesday 13th Tuesday Steppingstones Group for under 5’s and parents and carers – 10.00 – 11.30am, speak to Diane S or Hilary D.
Tuesday 13th January House Group in the music Room 12.30 – 2.30pm, speak to Howard Dews
Tuesday 13th January Living Local Hub Craft Group 1.00 – 3.00pm in the meeting area. We are hosting this group for a couple of weeks whilst the roof is repaired at Living Local Hub. It’s an open group so any of you are welcome to go along.
Wednesday 14th January Lunch Club for those in the club and volunteers 10.15am – 1.15pm speak to Rachel or Lesley for more information.
Wednesday 14th January House group in the church building and on zoom 7.30 – 9.30pm Andy B and Ruth B can give more information if you are interested.
Thursday 15th January Warm Welcome Craft Group in the music room 2.00 – 4.00pm Contact Karen R or Lesley/ Shelley for more information.
Thursday 15th January Bible Study in the music room 7.00pm – 9.00pm Speak to Gareth, John C or Lesley for more information.
Friday 16th January Bible Study in the music room 10.00 – 11.00am – talk to Shelley for more information
Friday 16th January House group at 8pm See Jonathan, Hilary, Steve or Helen O
Sunday 18th January Service with Communion and creative group for our younger friends 11.00 – 12.00pm
Sunday 18th January Rock Solid Youth Group 7.00 – 8.00pm
Also coming up…
Wednesday 21st January – PACT Meeting (Policing and Communities together, Moortown area) 6.30 – 7.15pm in the music room. All welcome to share and hear what’s going on in our community in terms of concerns and positives in the local area.
Wednesday 21st January Wednesday worship at 1.30-2pm
Thursday 22nd January LJHA Women’s Self Defense Group – 1.00 – 5.00pm Sports Hall Do ask Lesley or Shelley for more information.
Wednesday 28th January Creative Psalm Writing 7.00 – 9.00pm in the Sports Hall in the church building. See Krys and Cas for more information. Anyone welcome, you don’t need to feel you are creative or an artist but do come and be open with a guided workshop using image and words. All resources provided.
A couple of you have mentioned some UK prayer initiatives in January…
Turn the Battle A national 3 days of prayer and fasting supported by the Evangelical Alliance and others including the Send, HTB… see here.. Team — Turn the Battle
And
A month of prayer organised by National Day of Prayer and Worship. Click at the link below..
NDOPW – National Day Of Prayer and Worship
Church meeting dates are being finalized and will be out for the year in the next 2 weeks.
Next Monday to Wednesday, myself and some of the deacons will be at Fresh Streams Leadership Conference in Staffordshire. We will be praying for the church as we did last Tuesday at our deacons meeting and looking to learn and share with others over the next few days. You can find out more about the conference here Awaken Leadership Conference 2026 — Fresh Streams | Rooted. Alive. Together – Giving Courage!
There have been many things going on in our world locally and globally that we will be praying about, weeping over and asking for Gods wisdom on. This is as well as all the joys we see, the moments we are grateful for, every act of love and there is often more of this than we will ever know. We seek God’s face intentionally in 2026 and look to Jesus as we follow Him this year.
“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.”
Hebrews 6:19
In Christ
Shelley
Shelley Dring
Minister
Moortown Baptist Church
