July 2021 UK, App Improvement Appeal
We strongly recommend you download the "
Bible Companion" app, from where you can access
Carelinks messages, daily Bible readings,
Bible Basics, commentary on every verse of the Bible and audio exhortations on every chapter of the Bible.
For Android / Google Play at
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carelinks.bc and on the App Store for Apple / iOS at
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bible-companion/id1475914490 You can break bread live online as follows:
Sunday mornings 08:00 a.m. GMT on the Facebook "
Carelinks Ministries" page; and on Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6697401754?pwd=K0VWNDlScGwzaThPM2tiU0didmNyUT09 Meeting ID: 669 740 1754 Passcode: XPb9Sz
Sundays at 3:00 PM New Zealand time. That's 1 PM in Sydney Australia; 10 PM in New York, USA on Saturday evening [run by Br John Aldersley in New Zealand] on
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81015280780?pwd=LzAwNDRTTzhNcFpiRGlmaGx6YUpvZz09
Sundays at 10am North American Eastern Time [3 PM UK GMT time, 11 PM Sydney Australia time]. Run by Br Jim Barton in Canada.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9123758179 Meeting ID: 912 375 8179 . Also, Bible class on Wednesdays at 7 PM North American Eastern Time
UNITED KINGDOM What an astonishing week for the progress of the Gospel of the Kingdom and the name of the Lord Jesus in the United Kingdom. No fewer than 11 baptisms in 6 days: AMIR, SAMANTHA, GEMMA, REGINALD, RAMOS, SHEILA, KAY, JUSTINA, SAYDA, VICTOR, ROMA and PAULINE.
With the exception of Amir, from Iran, these are all standard British folks mainly from Clapham, South London; although there was Samantha in South Wales and Pauline from Sussex. Ranging from school teachers to stay at home mums, grandmas, video editors and social workers. And Pauline the 85 year old farmer and animal lover.
We planned Amir's baptism in the swimming pond on Hampstead Heath, north London- but that was the day of the flooding, some of the worst in London history; and the Heath was flooded beyond recognition. Despite awful traffic jams, we found a leisure center with a pool. But on arrival, we were told by the man on the desk that we needed to have booked in advance, we needed at least to be members of the leisure center, and we needed goggles and swim hats because of Covid regulations. After an hour in traffic in order to travel 5 miles, we were deflated. But the man on the front desk was Iranian, and started talking with Amir in Farsi. Amir explained straight up what we were about- just in and out for a baptism. And so we were allowed in, just in our underpants, to the momentary disgust of all the serious swimmers in the pool. How is that for providence. You can't make these things up. This is God's hand. Amir was a restaurant owner in Iran, a nominal Muslim, who allowed a group of Christians to meet in the restaurant after hours. They were arrested, and he was too. He was tortured, and has the marks of the electric shock treatment on his hands. He sought asylum in the UK, and himself converted to Christianity.
It was great to be with the McIntosh and Webber families again in South Wales, ever preaching the Gospel to those all around them and meeting regularly together to break bread, and to baptize Sam.
With a few stops with dear friends and interested app users on the long road, Southend was the next destination, the other side of the UK from South Wales.
Saida and Gemma [mother and daughter in law] have been spreading the Gospel to their families and friends. Brothers Denis and Marcus have been posting out Bibles to various app users in the area- and now we know they are all related, and have been using the app and reading from the
NEV Bible for a long time now. And so they all got the train to Southend, where we had ice cream and chips etc. as we watched the tide come in- just right for the baptisms. Baby was brought too, in the pram, and we found some shade beneath a pier and held a baptism service- and then lined up in the Thames Estuary, in lovely sunshine, for the baptisms. Such scenes are often reported from "the mission field" but here we had standard British Londoners lining up for baptism in the estuary of their famous river:
And here Reg watches his brother Ramos being baptized:
And they were truly reflective of British society in south London: African, Black British, Eastern European and White British. Ethnic inclusivity couldn't have been more inclusive. And that is as one would expect, as the seed of Abraham is all inclusive in Christ.
You really should watch the brief video- it's the record of Christ triumphant in the lives of ordinary British folks:
https://youtu.be/w67gRfpYavg Joy, joy, joy all around:
And we concluded with a prayer, which caught the attention of the masses of London subathers on the beach, a profound public witness of the Truth of the Lord Jesus Christ producing true unity between believers:
And then elsewhere in South London, there was the baptisms of another family the next day in their bath tub; again thanks to Bible reading and contact with us through the app:
Again, all fruit of the
Bible Companion app and following up with Bibles.
Finally along with Russell Dawn we were able to visit and baptize85 year old PAULINE on her remote farm. But that is a long and wonderful story, which we'll keep for next time God willing.
APP IMPROVEMENT We'd like to enable push notifications on the app. This means that a message shows on the screen of the app user's phone- it could be reminding that the weekly breaking of bread is soon to start, or there's a special online meeting on some topical issue [e.g. a war in Israel]; or an invitation for users in a certain geographical area to attend a meeting in person. This is obviously something we won't overuse, as people don't like getting too many such notifications.
It will cost around 1000 Euro to implement, there will be no ongoing costs associated with it. So we're open to your donations to implement this.
There are hundreds of thousands of app users, and this will be a great way to connect more personally with them all.
PRAYER POINTS - For those recently baptized
- For those planning to be baptized this week
- For wisdom as we seek to develop the app further
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks