... and a Happy New Year! Christmas greetings from the land of the Yule log, wassailing, figgy pudding, and Ebenezer Scrooge. Like most of you, we've been very busy with Christmas seasonal events and preparations. 

 

Christmas is really celebrated in a BIG way here in England. As you might expect, there are parties, plays, and concerts for everyone. This year we were hoping to see one of the local church plays called pantomimes (not to be confused with mime artists) but opted for Christmas Praise, a concert of traditional and modern Christmas songs performed by a large choir and full orchestra. One of my favorite songwriters, Stuart Townend, was a guest soloist and I had a great view of the conductor so I was thrilled to be there.

 

Speaking of concerts, we participated in smaller versions of Christmas Praise locally. On Saturday, 13 December, we helped present a concert of Christmas tunes with our local community choir at Upper Holloway Baptist. I was honoured to share conducting duties with two young ladies (see photo). My selections were "Go Tell It On the Mountain," Little Drummer Boy," and "Joy to the World." Angie and I also sang two duets. Then last Sunday night we had our carol service at Camden Road Baptist. Angie and I sang our duets again plus a solo each. Our kids helped with the scripture readings between the carols. Surprisingly, we've had to learn a number of carols that are not known to most Americans and often the familiar words are set to different tunes.
 
Other recent events included our Drop-In Ministry Christmas Lunch on Monday, 15 December (see photo). We had over 75 in attendance for a sit-down full service meal of roasted chicken and all the trimmings. After a carol sing-a-long, Father Christmas (aka Santa) made his rounds and gave everyone a gift that included warm socks, gloves, scarves, and hats. Some of our "clients" are homeless and we average over 80 each Monday that "drop in" for a hot meal, hot drink, and warm place to relax or have a chat.

 

We were also honoured to be invited to a Christmas party at the House of Commons (believe it or not) by our local Member of Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn (see photo). Although we are at opposite ends of the spectrum politically, Jeremy is a very nice man and has been helping us with AJ's immigration status by writing letters on his behalf to the UK Border Agency. We were invited to the party because of my work in the local community with the Drop-In Ministry and Islington Street Pastors.

 

In addition, there are several more seasonal events yet to come. On Christmas Eve we will be caroling at the local hospital and like most churches in the UK, we will have a Christmas Day Service with lunch on the 25th. The day after Christmas, known as Boxing Day, is also considered a holiday when we will have an afternoon meeting with games and DVDs at the church for anyone that is left on their own. We'll also watch the broadcast of the Royal Christmas Message given by the Queen.

 

We are happy to announce that AJ was allowed to visit us for the Christmas holidays. He arrived on 9 December and will return to Florida on 8 January. Yes, some of you might have seen him at FBC Clermont on 7 December.

 

There was still a bit of uncertainty when he arrived at London's Gatwick Airport this time, but we had all our papers in order and they let him in! I'll spare you the history - because you can read about it in the archives - but he was deported in August, after having just arrived, because we had not purchased a return ticket for him in advance. This time we had the ticket, all his college papers, and bank statements to show he intended to leave the UK after four weeks. This was enough to convince the Border Agency, but only after they made me sweat for 90 minutes while they detained him to go through his papers, luggage, etc.

 

While I waited, I prayed in the airport chapel where I found a devotional magazine. The scripture for the day was Isaiah 43:18, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing!" I found much comfort in those words and soon got the call that everything was OK!

 

To learn more about the role of a Street Pastor click on the link to the left or read about them (same articles as last month) in Christianity Today, the Telegraph, and BBC website. Some of the societal issues that Street Pastors deal with are binge drinking, gangs and knife crime.

  

Money Matters 
I know I say it every month, but we continue to be amazed and give thanks for how God is prompting people in the States to support us financially despite economic hard times. In this country they call it the "credit crunch" and say we either are or are not in a recession. It depends on who you listen too, but we know that the Giver of all good gifts is faithful to meet all of our needs according to His riches in glory. The church here is also continuing with its support and is very encouraging.

 

If you as an individual, a church, or an association of churches feel led to partner with us, please send gifts to the First Baptist Church of Clermont, designated to the Ecker family. The church address is 498 W. Montrose Street, Clermont, FL, 34711. For more information you can reply to this email or call us in London at 011-44-207-281-0508 (remember we are five hours ahead of EST). Our mailing address is 71 Windsor Road, London, N7 6JL, United Kingdom.

 

Please pray for AJ as he returns to Florida to continue his studies at Gulf Coast Community College (his mom and I attended there back in the 80s!). If you would like to write to him, his email address is jaredcsmoke@yahoo.com (it's an anagram of his name).

 

Please remember to pray for our work with the teenagers in our community. We meet on Monday nights for recreation and a short Bible study. Once a month we attend a combined youth meeting  with the local Anglican churches. Ashley also attends their Sunday night Bible study and has made some great friends.

 

Please continue to pray for our work with the less fortunate and homeless of the community. Last month I asked you to specifically pray for a homeless Filipino lady and an alcoholic man that needs treatment. Neither one has been to the Drop-In recently so keep praying that their needs will be met. Also pray for "Paul" - a homeless man - and "John" that has emotional problems.

 

Thank you for praying for our community choir. Our Christmas program went well and we are considering continuing the choir in the new year.

 

Please keep praying for potential work with international students in the community. We are still looking at the possibility of starting a once-a-week cafe at the church with conversational English along with tea and coffee. We also have facilities for badminton and volleyball.

 

Thank you for praying for London's Street Pastors. We need seven or eight recruits from our borough to begin the new cycle of training in March to give us a full team. The names of our current team members are Roberto, Carol, Beverly, and Fran.

 

Please pray for my time management skills to improve. I'm not complaining, but I had to preach three Sunday mornings in a row during December and that was a lot for me. I enjoyed every minute of it but sometimes wish there were more minutes in a week to prepare. (Note to Pastor Brian: this is not a complaint.)