Summer 2010 News

Dear Friend in Christ,

As the CASCOT trustee charged this year with the processing of our Schools' Response Forms, I can confirm that our three field workers are still valued and cherished by schools in the North West. To date, the returns which have arrived show the general gradings as 'Good' to 'Outstanding' and, individually, phrases like: "pupils really look forward to.....", "an asset to our school assemblies" and even "Ofsted inspectors were highly impressed" add to the lustre and help to confirm that the Lord's work with young children is in safe hands! Some schools have also sent voluntary contributions, which is, of course, further appreciated.

Since beginning with CASCOT, over ten years now, I have detected a growing awareness of the increased sophistication and, indeed, ambition of our team. Modern educational research shows clearly the need for a multi-directional approach to cater for the various learning styles. Andrew, Dave and Tom continue to seek new ways to preach and teach the "old, old story". Thank you for your loving support of the schools' work; it is appreciated! CASCOT is entering a new and potentially exciting phase. More of this later. In the meantime, please continue to pray for this vital outreach work.

God bless you,

David Moulson - Trustee.

Tom King CASCOT News – Summer 2010

One of the signs of a godless society is the willingness to exploit, neglect and mistreat its most vulnerable members. In the past school year my eyes have been opened to the extent of this in a particular area of Bury. It is an area of the highest social deprivation where the drug dealer and the loan shark appear to be sovereign. Domestic violence and child abuse are rife. A head teacher in the area recently began to tell me about some of the suffering that was being inflicted on some of the children who attended his school. It was horrific. Not just the nature of the abuse, but the sheer volume of it.

My initial response was pretty close to the opening lines of Psalm 10, where the Psalmist asks “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” But then the Psalm finishes with these words “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more” God sees it all. God responds to it all. Sometimes His response goes a bit like this; “Behold, I am sending you” and I have certainly felt the weight of those words in the past few months. As a result, my work in the schools has begun to take on a new aspect, including regular prayer meetings in school, mentoring children at risk of exclusion, linking churches in to specific areas of need. My prayer for the future is that this might continue and grow so that people living in these areas, and the teachers working in these schools, might see God’s hand at work. That they might see that the church of Jesus Christ has an answer when all other hope has been abandoned. There is so much that churches can do to meet the needs of people who are suffering. And when churches do that they bring the Good News of a Sovereign Servant King into people’s lives in a real way. Please pray with me that next year I might be able to train up many more mentors to work with excluded children and get more churches involved in offering things like parenting courses, marriage counselling, debt counselling, co-operative initiatives and so on.

Of course, the greatest good we can do someone is to tell them about the God of the bible. And so the usual work of assemblies, RE lessons, bible clubs etc continues as the major part of the work. Demand continues to be high and the doors continue to be open. Children continue to enjoy the good news of a God who loves them and gave himself for them. I have been particularly pleased to see my relationships with a couple of high schools develop well over the past year. Please pray that those relationships might grow further and deeper next year, for the glory of God.

Church life and family life continue to be, at the same time, a blessing and a challenge. Bible study and discipleship with young people continues to be a major feature, as well as leading a fellowship group within the church. We are expecting the arrival of twin boys this week, God willing, and so another adventure begins.

Thank you for all of your support over the past few months - Tom King.

DAVE PHILLIPS-News letter

Dear friends it has been a pleasure once again going into the schools! The children are always excited to see me, and in the assemblies, we love to sing praises to God, and hear through drama and story telling the many wonders of the Gospel.

I still go into a variety of different schools, including Catholic and Church Schools. I have quite a wide area of schools that I visit regularly, from Wythenshawe (my own area), to Hazelgrove and Northenden, to Warrington and Atherton areas!

Every week I hold two Bible Clubs, one at Guilded Hollins School and the other one at Meadowbank School. These have gone down really well, and I am amazed how excited the children are in reading the Bible and taking part! On some occasions, I have had over twelve children come to these clubs, and I feel that is really saying something when they come during their lunch break!

Every Wednesday evening I lead the Atherton children’s club, and over the course of the year, we have seen an increase in children numbers. They love the club and it is full of activities, singing, crafts, quizzes, and fun games. Some of the children that go now attend regularly the Sunday Church service.

I am always happy to preach at various Churches when invited! At Atherton Evangelical Church, I lead the family service, and the whole service is geared around the children. Also, I have been preaching regularly at Bolton Baptist Church!

Please pray for the coming new term starting in September that I can fill my diary once again with assemblies, RE lessons and Bible Explorer lessons. And continue with the good relations that I’ve had between Head Teachers, and Teachers.

Thanking you all for your prayer and financial giving in these difficult times.

DAVE

Andrew Gallimore - News Report - Summer 2010

Assemblies

The school assembly – collective act of worship – continues to be the main thrust of our work in schools. It’s easy to forget the number of children that we see each month and the lasting impression that is being established in their minds. Recently a delivery young man from ASDA asked if I was the one with the guitar who came into his school – that’s a while ago! A headteacher in one school heard me tell a story and afterwards remarked that it was his favourite assembly story. He had heard me tell it about 7 years ago and could never quite remember the ending. He moved schools about three years ago but that story will stay with him for life. Some remember the songs, some remember the stories, some remember that assembly with Andrew was great fun. The important thing is that they remember and that the Holy Spirit will bring these memories back at just the right time to stimulate further thought and maybe investigation into what all those assemblies were trying to say.

JAM Clubs

I currently run two after school JAM clubs – Christ Church, Eccles and St Catherine’s, Horwich. A consistent core of children come to both clubs and enjoys the singing, quizzes, games and Bible stories. The format of these clubs is relaxed and fun to allow for relationship building and developing the children’s knowledge of the Bible and meeting the God behind the story.

R.E. lessons / Moving on

The opportunity to engage with Year 6 children at the crucial transition stage of their education is hard to over estimate. I am able to take them through a Christian view of growing and developing in life. They look at intellectual, physical, social and spiritual growth in the life of Jesus and apply it to their situation of moving on to high school. There are always lots of questions, fears and myths to bust and Bible application to absorb at a stage in life when children are beginning to ask the ‘bigger’ questions. We only have limited opportunities to see children in high schools, but hope that what they take with them has a lasting and life-changing impact.

Bible Explorer lessons began in a number of schools – Penketh being a new school to me was a particular blessing as many of the children from Jireh go to this school. Since teaching the lessons to the Year 5 class four girls have attended MCYC and made a profession of faith in Christ. We look forward to seeing them at Jireh and helping them to grow in their new relationship with God.

Training – I helped to deliver BX training to 16 new presenters in May. Half were from the Faith Mission and the others came from far and wide. It was a great privilege to be involved in this way and to see new workers feeling inspired and eager to take the Bible into schools. If each of these people go into 6 schools next year – one per half-term – and teach 30 children in each class, that’s 2880 children that we have helped to reach by our investment in their training. I suspect that they will probably double the estimate!

Together we continue to reach the very heart of God - His children! [Matt 19:13-15]

Bible Study Encouragement

Leading a Bible Study last Tuesday when a couple of young teen lads came in. They were known to the church and had been banned for bad behaviour - you all know this scene only too well! One boy recognised me from his primary school - 4 years earlier. He proceeded to tell of the stories he remembered and the songs from assemblies. He continued with a short review of some Bible Explorer handsigns. I think the church members were stunned, amazed and definitely encouraged. The two lads stayed for the Bible Study - from Ezra - and listened and joined in the discussion. Did they understand everything - no! Did they learn anything - most definitely! Do children listen and remember the visits from schools workers - absolutely! Hope you are encouraged by this and continue to pray for the long term results of the ministry in schools. I know that a disruptive child who seems to pay no attention and have no interest in the things of God can be reached by the life-changing power of God; that same child can grow to lead others into the path that he has found to be true - how do I know - because I was that boy once. [Andrew]

Tom's News - Christmas 2009

We are at that time of year again when we can ponder and enjoy the amazing truth of Almighty God taking on human flesh. “Joy to the world” barely begins to describe it. 

As always the school year has flown by and it has been very busy. There have been a number of developments and new contacts in the work. Children and teachers alike continue to respond positively to the God of the bible. He continues to show himself to be the only true God.   

My church is right next to Derby High School, one of Bury’s biggest high schools. For many years churches and Christian groups in the town have tried to build relationships with the school, but without any success. I wrote to them about 18 months ago to offer my help with RE lessons, but got no response. So I was really grateful to God when the head of RE got in touch with me a few weeks ago to invite me in to help with some RE lessons. By the time we break up for Christmas I will have had the opportunity to speak to about 100 of their pupils about the Christian perspective on heaven and how to get there. About 30 other pupils are visiting soon to see our baptismal pool and listen to me explain why we do baptism as we do in a Baptist church.  About half of the pupils will be Muslim and I expect they will be surprised by what the bible actually says about God’s grace. The head of RE at the school is already talking in terms of a long-term relationship she would like to see developing between the church and the school. This is a wonderful answer to prayer, coming out of the disappointment of being stopped from going into the local CofE high school because I was not in a “Churches Together” church. For me, this situation reminds me of Isaiah 45: 2 where God says . . .

“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron”

In September I began trying to make contact with schools in Collyhurst, near central Manchester. I am now delighted to be regularly visiting 3 schools in that area. One of them is a large Catholic school, St Patricks. It was a bit tough at first to persuade the head teacher to let me in. She reluctantly agreed to give Bible Explorer a go. When I arrived for the second session of Bible Explorer I was summoned to her office. Expecting the worst I walked into her office with a forced smile on my face. She immediately exploded into a long rant about how much “amazing feedback” she had received from teachers and pupils alike from the previous week’s session. It took a good few minutes for her to calm down, and all the while she was shaking my hand vigorously! She is also trying to find a way to bring me in to do Bible Explorer with the entire staff! I have since been booked in to “accidentally on purpose” coincide with their RE inspection just before Christmas, which is a common thing for CASCOT workers. But what really pleased me was her statement that she is going to recommend Bible Explorer to all the head teachers of the Catholic schools in North Manchester. Once again, God’s word expresses the situation well . . .

 “Behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it” (Revelation 3:8)

God continues to bless the church as well. We have had further professions of faith and baptisms, with more to come.

Plans for the new year include; making contact with a local home for young homeless men to offer help and support; more door-to-door / street work around the local area of the church.  

On the home front, things are going well. The boys are growing up and William started school in September. He seems to be doing well and enjoying it. We are all looking forward to a cozy family Christmas.

May God bless you this Christmas.  

Tom King.

Dave's News - Christmas 2009

Dear friends,

The work in the Schools carries on, in enthusiasm, freshness, and creativity! Over the months, I have written various Gospel songs, and have used four of them in my assemblies! They have all gone down well, so much so that even Mr Young (St George School -Deputy Head), wants them put on a CD so he can learn them on his guitar!

Assemblies have surely been a key element in Cascot’s work within the Schools. Not only have I included the children in drama, but also in singing and playing musical instruments. In Oakwood School Warrington, there is such excitement from Teachers and Children alike! I have encouraged two Teachers to assist me with the singing, and they are thoroughly enjoying the experience!

 

My Bible themes over the last three months have all been on the miracles of Jesus! Starting with the feeding of the 5000, the walking on water, and the healings of the multitudes!

 

I do regular weekly Bible Clubs in Atherton and Newton Willows. There always seems to be good healthy enthusiasm from the children! On one occasion there was so many children attending during their lunch break that, I had to move the class into a larger classroom! Children love to read out loud, and they love discovering new stories, and appreciate the opportunity to improve on their reading skills!

 

I have been encouraged to preach at various Churches, especially Atherton Evangelical, Bolton Baptist, and Hebron. During these times I have led family and communion services. Atherton Hotshot club is going strong, and with the increased number of volunteers, the meetings are full of various activities, such as crafts, singing, quizzes, story telling, and lot’s of fun! At half term, we held a weeks mission there and that week was full of Gospel stories that the children could relate to. The good thing was, that some children from the Bible clubs from the schools attended the Hotshot special week! 

Thanking you all for your continual support! 

Dave.

Andrew's News - Christmas 2009

It’s Christmas! The cry screams from every radio and we here it in all the shops. So what is Christmas?

The great celebration of the Incarnation – Christ, the Son of God, coming in flesh to this world of time as a helpless, vulnerable baby; with a death sentence hanging over Him even before He has uttered His first words. The wonder of the story and the depth of love displayed to us are often lost in the hustle and bustle of traditional Christmas preparations. What a privilege then for us to go into schools at this time of year and retell the old, old story in fresh dynamic ways as we introduce children to the real meaning of Christmas and the demonstration of God’s love to the world.

The doors are still open to us very positively, but we must not take this for granted. In some parts of the country moves are being made to drop the Bible from the curriculum and replace it with comparative religion – and although in the adult world this is so often the case, it would only add to the confusion for children. Bible Explorer lessons continue to engage children with the message of the Bible and our hope is that schools would still want these lessons even if they were not specifically on the plan. Please don’t stop praying or think that things can’t change, and help us to take all the opportunities available whilst they exist.

Schools have generally booked assemblies and BX lessons in advance to July 2010, as well as Moving on sessions; Bible Clubs and after schools sessions. My diary remains consistently crowded and I’m always looking for more opportunities to have greater input in schools.

I have worked with Jireh Chapel, Warrington quite extensively over the past 10 months and this will continue into the New Year. It has been a real blessing sharing God’s word with the fellowship at Jireh, teaching all ages and challenging them to be the disciples of Christ that God desires us to be.

Thank you to all the churches that have invited me to take part in their services. I hope that you have been as blessed as I have in our fellowship of the Gospel. Thank you so much for your prayers and support, it means such a lot to be able to stand in front of any group knowing that there is a network of praying Christian brothers and sisters upholding us before the throne of grace.

May I take this opportunity to wish you, your family and your church a God blessed Christmas season and a spiritually prosperous New Year.