Mission
Jeff
and
Vanessa Kirby
Church Army
From mid-September Connect, the Befriending Scheme we
have set up and coordinated for the last 2½ years will be officially
handed on to Karen Skidmore who joined us in June as curate at Christ
Church. Thanks to you for all your faithful prayers and support for
Connect and we trust you will go on praying for the scheme and especially
for Karen as she takes on responsibility of coordinator and for the 22
Befrienders as they continue they valuable work. Please pray also for the
fourth round of volunteer training which is planned for November, pray for
a good number of people to attend and pray for us as we support Karen in
delivering the training.
‘The Chocolate Box’
The project Vanessa is to develop over the next 5 years
is to be known as ‘The Chocolate Box’ with the key aim of reaching out
to women involved in street prostitution. Sheffield has two Red Light
areas, one is situated about ¼ of mile from Christ Church and the other
is a little closer to the city centre. It is estimated that there are up
to 300 women involved in prostitution in Sheffield alone. It is believed
that 99 % work to fund a drug habit, often their own and that of their
partners.
The vision is to recruit and train a small number of
volunteers who will work in teams of three to go out on to the streets and
offer the women refreshments with the aim of striking up conversations
with them, praying for them and inviting them to a drop-in which we will
go on to develop. The drop-in will provide a safe place for the women to
meet, have a chat and a coffee and receive pray. In time it is hoped
there will be a specific ‘spiritual space’ within the drop-in when we
can reflect on God and share how He walks with us daily and knows all our
needs. Vanessa is continuing to develop links with agencies in Sheffield
with the view to linking the women to specific groups such as drug
projects. Over the coming weeks the priorities will be for Vanessa to
access drug training, recruit volunteers and begin to put together the
material for the volunteer training, with the view to beginning the
outreach work and the drop-in sometime in early Spring once the training
is finished. Give thanks for the encouragement Vanessa received at the
open evening for the project 2 weeks ago when 6 women signed up to train
as volunteers, 3 are Christians and 3 are non-Church.
Please pray for the Chocolate Box’s strategy team
which is a group of 5 people, including Vanessa, who will meet quarterly
to seek God’s vision for the project and offer Vanessa support. Please
also pray for ‘After 8’ a women’s group at Christ Church that
Vanessa helps to coordinate. During October and November the women will be
taking part in a spirituality course called ‘Soul Spark’ which is
being led by two Spiritual Directors from the Diocese. Please pray that
the time together will be an opportunity for God to anoint us as a group
and that His healing hand would be at work.
The Sanctuary
Jeff is now busy developing the sanctuary project.
Which has already started by housing 6 destitute asylum seekers. As we
have worked with the befriending scheme in Pitsmoor we have become aware
that the most destitute in our community are those who are seeking asylum
with no recourse to government benefits. Asylum seekers in this particular
situation have a legal right to remain in the UK whilst their application
is processed but due to government policy do not receive any financial
benefits, housing or NHS treatment and what really makes it frustrating is
they are prevented from working to support themselves. Helping such people
with the assistance of any in the community of Pitsmoor is the primary
focus for the Sanctuary Project. The pressing need at the moment is
housing and a group will be looking at re-housing 3 people who are shortly
to loose their accommodation.
Please pray:-
● That many people from the community of Pitsmoor
will join in God’s mission by caring for and befriending the destitute.
Also that help in practical ways will be available.
● That a real sense of love and respect honouring
to Christ would prevail in all our relationships at all levels.
● For safety as the practical tasks are carried
out and furniture moved.
Do pray for us as a family that we would have time to
relax together in the midst of much business and that we would always
remember to put God at the centre of all that we do and think and say.
Thank you for your commitment to us, for your faithful
support and prayers for our ministry.
With much love
Jeff, Vanessa, Ben and Jessica
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