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]