MARCH UPDATE

We had a good month of March. It started out with hectic practices for our combined church choir and also with the youth for a play for the occasion. Our Harvest-Thanksgiving program at Six Roads came off on March 21 and we had a good crowd out for the occasion of over 150 persons. The program contained recitation of poems by the children of the All Stars program and they all did a good job. Then the youth did a modern adaptation of the parable of the talents and that was also well received. The choir did well also and presented 5 songs around the theme of the harvest “Blessed to Bless”

Throughout the program leaders of the various cell groups pointed out areas where we have been blessed over the past year and then indicated how we can also be a blessing to others. We had a enlightening challenge at the end by Bro. Cyril Grosvenor from the Enterprise congregation. After the harvest in the fellowship hall there were snacks and produce which the people contributed to the harvest which we sold to help the congregation. During the service we also collected an offering for one of our Christian Brothers who is serving in the country of Haiti.

The harvest at Grazettes is scheduled for April 25.

EASTER ACTIVITIES

We normally have a long Easter weekend here in Barbados seeing that Good Friday is a public holiday here. On the Thursday night of April 1 we held a “Forum on Issues Confronting the Church” and we had a stimulating discussion looking at the Challenges that the Church faces, the challenges that our young people face and the future of the Church. Even though we did not have as large a crowd as we would like we were happy to have members from the congregations at Oistin, Enterprise and Ruby to share in the event.

On Good Friday we had services at 10.00 a.m. at Six Roads and 11.00 a.m. at Grazettes. The Anglican churches on the island have a three hour service, but we have about an hour and a half service and we have about seven scripture readings recounting the crucifixion and this year we looked at it from the perspective of John the apostle. Then we gave a message looking at the reactions of the various people around to the death of Christ. At Six Roads we had around 100 out while at Grazettes it was somewhere between 35 and 40 in attendance. In the evening the Six Roads youth group had a fund raising Fish Fry and we had a great time of fellowship and the fish was delicious.

On Easter morning both congregations had sunrise services followed by breakfast. We had a moderate crowd out at Six Roads and a fairly good one at Grazettes. I think that the young people seem to have a hard time making it out to the early morning service, especially at Six Roads. In the evening we had an Upper Room service at 7.00 p.m. at Six Roads and we had over 35 out to this special candlelight event that re-enacted in large part the last night before Jesus went to the cross. Apart from the sharing of songs and exhortations we took time out to wash each other’s feet and then partook of the Lord’s Supper using realistic unleavened bread at it would be done in Christ’s time. It was inspiring and enjoyed by all who attended.

On Easter Monday which is another holiday here we had our annual sports between the two congregations. Four teams were chosen and they had a very packed day and a competitive spirit as each house had a color and blue house won for the third consecutive year. Young and old had a great time of fellowship and fun and the Grazettes Youth provided catering services for the day.

UPDATE LATE 2009-EARLY 2010

START ON GRAZETTES BUILDING
In July 2009 work started in earnest on the building project at Grazettes. Since then we have had two teams from the United States that came and helped us. The first was from the Bright Christian Church in Bright, Indiana who came in the end of July. They helped to lay out the batter boards and did a lot of steel bending.
In October a team also came from the Brazil Christian Church in Brazil, Indiana. They helped with the pouring of the floor in the Sunday School area and the building of the walls in that area.

Since that time we have poured the first floor for half of the building. Our aim is to complete the Sunday school area which will also have bathrooms and a kitchenette so that we can use that area for worship. We have to dismantle the old building which we will sell to help with funds. This will allow the excavating contractors to complete their work in the foundation area.

GOOD CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS..
We had two lovely and well attended Christmas programs at Six Roads and Grazettes. The combined adult choirs did a musical entitled “Christmas Mosaic” while the children had separate choirs and they did signs of Christmas. Along with our Christmas morning services at 5.00 and 6.30 a.m. it made for a busy but enjoyable Christmas.
GRAZETTES RETREAT
The Grazettes church had their annual Church Retreat at the Six Roads Fellowship Hall on January 21 which is a holiday here in Barbados. The theme of the retreat was “I am Available-Use Me!” and we had over 30 out for the occasion.
We had three main workshops which were conducted by the Sunday School, the Youth Group and the Women’s Fellowship. The Topics were “This is my Church”, “These are my People” and “I’ll do what it Takes”.
We also had another short workshop called “How Does it Look?” addressing some of the annoying distractions that impact negatively on the visitors who come to church.
It was a good day and everyone had a good time.
UNITED SERVICE
Our first United Service for the year came off on February 7 at Six Roads. We had a good crowd (near 140) out for morning service. The afternoon activies took the form of a Bible Bowl competition on Acts chapters 1-20. It was keenly contested but the Six Roads team emerged winners.
FRACTURED SHOULDER
The afternoon before the United service I was coming up an incline from the new church construction area to the old church building at Grazettes when I fell and went down quite hard on my shoulder and immediately I realized that I had done some damage. After coming home and going to a medical clinic my worst fears were realized. The X-ray revealed that I had a fractured shoulder. It was shattered in 4 places but it was still in place. So after I visited the orthopedist on the Tuesday they said that it would not be beneficial to put on a cast but just to keep it in a sling for a few weeks and hope it heals properly. I am to go back to the orthopedist next week(early March) and get another X-ray to see if it is healing properly.

It has really changed my lifestyle. Now Wendy has to drive me around and I now realize how difficult it is to have only one hand functional. It was very painful at first but the pain is decreasing as the healing progresses.