September 2025 Ukraine, UK
UKRAINE After so much hassle, we finally arranged for a wheelchair and other aids for our elderly sister Lidia, sister Svetlana's mum, who fell down stairs headlong. They're extremely grateful and also for the other support we sent. As all health care is now privately paid for, apart from emergency medicine, her treatment cost a small fortune.
In other news, we'd like to remind you of the way so many of our brothers in Ukraine are hiding in fear from the recruitment gangs that are going around pressganging men into the army. All men have been called up, so if they don't report for service, they are being randomly arrested on the streets, asked for their ID, checked against the database, and then immediately marched off to brief training and thence sent to the front line as punishment for not having voluntarily submitted to the call up. Brother Lyesha was baptized many years ago and was living with his grandmother, whom we helped him baptize, in a remote village. She has now fallen asleep in the Lord and he is now renting a room in a town and staying inside all the time with no family to help him. Please pray for him and others like him. Here are some file photos of our brother and his grandma, along with brother Nathan Badger from Canada:
UK
The alcohol free annual garden party was a great success, despite awful weather with sunshine interspersed with torrential rain.
Taking refuge inside all packed in and singing together all cooped up together was also an equally great experience.
We had brother Sean as our DJ playing Christian songs, there was karaoke, food, and personal testimonies.
Brother Gary also came a long way to play his guitar for us, and also gave his testimony of how after being baptized he gave up both alcohol and tobacco and is still strong. These sincerely reported changes after baptism are surely a great testimony to the spiritual legitimacy of our work, or rather the Lord's working through us. Brother Gary's testimony is
at https://youtu.be/qErftZidVpc
Sister Evia had her first go at doing the catering for such an event:
Although at the end of the day Cindy was just so grateful to our amazing sister Cis for her help too:
And there was just happiness and joy all around, a great testimony to how in the last 3 years there have been at least 200 baptisms related to Croydon Church in a Pub, and now there has developed a large group of new believers who are now also socially connected with each other even outside of our thrice weekly church meetings. The wonderful thing is that so many of those baptized were not previously Christian- just secular South Londoners.
The day was ended with a visit from some lovely, faithful old friends came round and we baptized their relative REZA. We'd baptized his brother in law 10 years ago in Cardiff and one by one other family members over the years. Reza was really emotional, lots of tears all around, absolutely sincere for the Lord. Great close to a great day with the Lord. Surely He has done a great work in South London over the last three years, binding together a large group spiritually as well as socially.
People were clearly encouraged by the Garden Party and we had several who invited friends to church the next day, so Church in a Pub had another record attendance. You can see sister Cis singing old Gospel songs acapella Jamaican style to start that happy Sunday meeting, with over 50 jammed inside the bar -
https://youtu.be/xOdkOq9mmNk
Afterwards we went over to our housebound sister Lisa's flat in Lewisham to baptize her friend HELEN whom she has witnessed to online and gets her to come around to her flat for Bible teaching. Those who watch our Croydon videos or attend for the first time have passed comment that some of the folks swear pretty freely. We don't have time to edit out everything from the videos, besides which you may as well see things as they are- that's how it is in British working class society. If you take the Gospel to the world, you do get this kind of thing. But people change after baptism and it is wonderful to see. Such changes are a powerful testimony to the spiritual legitimacy of the work going on. Whilst at Lisa's place for the baptism, we chatted about this, as she was one of those people who swore every sentence and you are tempted to think that's how she is and she'll never change. But Lisa doesn't cuss now. And we made a brief video of her testimony about this,
see https://youtu.be/4Nvb9Na5gtU
And with joy we returned to the Warleigh Weir to baptize JON now the third baptism done in that beautiful spot
Here's the invitation to our November 7-9 2025 weekend retreat, God willing, in Tonbridge, Kent UK. Do share it around and come along... some great speakers and even greater people there, from a very wide range of backgrounds. These gatherings are just SO good, special and blessed.
At this point we'd like to appeal for anyone willing to come and help with the catering; and for funds to meet the cost as not all can pay what's required, but as we always say, we don't want ££ to stop anyone coming.
PRAYER POINTS
- For those recently baptized
- For our brothers in Ukraine hiding from the military service pressgangs
- For those newly baptized who are struggling to give up bad habits of a lifetime
- For wisdom as we are finding we're simply outgrowing the capacity of the current pub we meet in on Sundays in London
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks