Easter and BeyondHoly Week was busy again this year. On Thursday we had an afternoon communion service at
Upper Holloway and a Maundy Thursday service in the evening at Camden
Road Baptist. The latter service featured an original drama by the Guild
Players and an "upper room" Lord Supper.
On Good Friday we
began with a joint service at Upper Holloway in the morning followed by a
community walk of witness with an ecumenical outdoor community
worship service around 1:00. Angie, Ashley and I lead the praise band this year with musicians from three other churches. Of course a downpour began just as we started singing the first song. Fortunately we had canopies this time to protect the sound system and instruments.
We had good attendance at both churches on Easter Sunday morning and Pastor Brian included a baby dedication in the service at Camden Road (see photo). I used the Resurrection Eggs at Upper Holloway to get people 'feeling' the Passion story and discussing it in small groups. |
Street
Pastors
We are still adding more members to our team
with four new trainees beginning in March. Since my last newsletter we
have had several patrols on the southern edge of our borough where it
borders central London. On our first night we found two young ladies
around 2 AM that really needed our help. Here's an email one of them sent me later that day:
My name is E..., we met last night outside
the
Fabric club in London. You helped me look after my friend, when
she had too much to drink and was very ill. I just wanted to let you
know that we got home safely.
Thank you so much
for all your
help. Keep doing what you're doing, you're making a
real difference.If you would like to keep track of what Street Pastors are doing
in Islington you are invited to join our Facebook group. That way you can read reports and
pray for us when we're on the streets or any time you think of us in
your daily prayers or church prayer meetings.
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Prayer Requests and Updates
- Please pray for the Ecker family suffering from the stomach flu. So far I've been spared.
- Please pray for Pastor
Brian. He went to visit his sister working in an orphanage in
Bulgaria but is now stranded for a second week because there are no
flights in Europe due to volcanic ash in the atmosphere.
- Please keep praying for the other Baptist pastors in our borough: Nigel, Andrew, Mark, and Rudy.
- Please keep praying for our Monday
night youth club: Teens4Truth
(T4T).
- Please keep
praying for our work visas to be
renewed for another term.
- Please keep praying for our work with the marginalised, unemployed, homeless, and hungry at our Monday Drop In. We have around 80 'drop in' each week.
- Please keep praying for our Cafe ministry on Wednesdays and Thursdays and Angie's Ladies' Bible study on Wednesday afternoons.
- Please remember to pray for our Islington Street Pastors and 4 new trainees that began in March.
- Thank you for praying for "Addie" but it saddens me to report she passed away in the
hospital with an undiagnosed infection. We had a memorial service for her at
Upper Holloway and she was buried in Nigeria.
- Thank you for praying for Karim, a Christian Iranian refugee,
suffering from post-traumatic stress. He now has asylum status
and permanent accommodation.
- Thank's
for praying for AJ to find a
job. He's again working at my
brother's surf shop at Panama City Beach.
- Thank you for praying for "Stephen" who has recently been reuniting with extended family.
- Thank
you for praying for "Alex" struggling with alcoholism and isolation. He's been in hospital several times over the past two months but has been without a drink for almost two weeks.
Blessings to all,
The Ecker Family
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