Well today’s the day when West End Impact gets a face lift!! House of Anderson are there at this very moment fitting new PVC double glazed windows. The old frames were taken out in about an hour this morning. The new frames were already in by 2.00pm and now they are fitting window panes. It already looks so much better. It will make such a difference to the whole appearance of the centre and will look so much more welcoming. The guys from House of Anderson are really good workers, who are cleaning up after themselves as they work; they also quoted us the lowest price so that’s got to be good. Well we’ll see what it looks like when they finish off tomorrow. We took some before and after pictures so we may even put them on the website. See, God does provide all our needs, and He always makes sure we get the best!! Thank you Lord!
Tracy
Well we did it, we re-launch Morecambe Community Church on Sunday, and establish the school hall as a house of praise and worship. What a great time we had. It was great to see new people there and even some members of our IMPACT youth. It was so good to have old friends like Mark Thomas (Director of Capernwray Hall) there and he is always such an encouragement. So what happens next - well we continue to wait on the Lord for the great things He is doing in our midst. He is working out His purposes amongst us as we love and serve Him. It is just amazing to see the way God is working and touching peoples lives in many different ways. Recently after showing the DvD of James Robins baptism down at West End Impact drop-in, some have been moved to tears after seeing their old friend and what a difference God has made in his life. James is a different man and as they heard his testimony of how God has healed and is restoring him, they didn’t mock or laugh, they knew that it could only be God who could do such an amazing work in someone that had fallen so low and was in such a mess. God is amazing and now James is such an encouragement to us as we see God doing such an amazing tranforming work in his life. God is using James in such incredible ways and the fruit that his changed life is producing is plentiful. God wants to do this more and we want to see Him do it more and more, as we bring our friends to Him in prayer. God is weaving an amazing tapestry at MCC and He is opening some new doors, its exciting, so don’t miss out come and join us and see what God is doing. Our finest efforts would come to nothing, but when God turns up He uses our efforts and makes them bear fruit, when we continue to be obedient to Him. Thank you Lord for all at Grosvenor Park School what a blessing it is to be there and we long to see the people of the surrounding area come to know God and the people of Morecambe and Lancaster and Lancashire and to the ends of the earth. Amen
I just want to share briefly how we got hear MCC started about 5 years ago at Michl & Tracy’s house,but by the time Neil and I joined they were in the college. What attracted was not the size of the church and all the activities it had, it did not have that much there was about 8 or 9 members. It was the community, one of the first outreach events we had my friends little boy Joseph of 5 years old boldly walked to the front and offered his life to God that was something we quite clearly wanted to devote our lives to. Not being inside an institution called church but being a community who worked to regenerate the community we live in and share the message of Jesus.
The college has been a long rollercoaster of high highs and low lows. Just a few highlights.
Michl’s hospital ladders, fruits of the spirit cocktails, dangling chocolates from the ceiling,
Making stables hiding in cupboards, walking round Morecambe dressed as chickens
Beach games, holiday clubs, out reach events at the platform, open air services, trips away to conferences, The famous kohl BBQ. Dedication of Annie may, and my little girl Lauren, rubber dinghy’s amazing messages, and amazing music. God really blessed our time there and we really saw peoples lives changed. We have seen people struggling with addictions and hurts be comfortable to share there pain together we have laughed and cried together got down and pulled ourselves up again sometimes we have felt like giving up but |God has always showed us away through. Just as we thought it was all over God did some other miracle to keep us going.
We have had happy times but sad times to gill Prescott who was so good with our kids lost her fight to cancer. Working with people can sometimes be hard sometimes people just did not get what we were trying to do, sometimes we did not understand them. We have gone up and down in number but every time we have dropped down God has replenished our stocks. In the times of famine for our church and the fruitful times God has always given us strength as we have tried to remain fixed on his work.
One of the saddest and most wonderful things I saw in our church was our dear friend Joanna riddled with cancer still determined to come to church and worship with us. Her strength determination was a great testimony to us all, and showed me a life completely dedicated to God. Her funeral was the first we ever had as a church and was a hard day but through Joanna’s death each and every one of us was strengthed in some way all of us helped and spent time with her and I think she showed us all what was important in life. She would be thrilled to see us here today and I believe she played apart in it.
The team of MCC works together it sounds like a tacky cliché but we have seen each other through death addiction illness sadness new life depression weddings funerals laughter only working as a team could we have survived. We don’t believe that Jesus as I said before just sat in a church our church consists of many factors, drop in sessions work with the homeless ,addicts, young people in our youth group, small people in our Alf group, normally here on a Sunday small groups, cafes, art groups, marriage seminars, gifting seminars, support groups. We believe to show god’s love you need to take it to the people.
We have seen young people come to Christ people healed addicts walk along a bridge and share that god has made difference people in poverty helped and supported and along that road god has strengthen and built us up as people
I and many others here have had lives turned around by what god has done in this church We have never really felt stuck in one place as a church and that has been hard for some to understand we do a lot in the west end and loads of people pass through west end impact week after week and we share about god which is an amazing privilege. But we have always had our Sunday meeting out this way. We must have spent hours staring out of those college windows praying for the surrounding area.
A few years ago we felt led towards Grosvenor Park and we started to pray around that estate it was around that time Michl also started to work at the jam club with Tony Bowers.
We have never felt we should leave this area behind and focus purely on the west end although sometimes I wondered if that was the easy option but god did not lead in that direction.
The last few years have been tough. We have laughed cried got angry passionate tired and a little crazy
God continued to stir us about Grosvenor Park. Tracy and Val walk and prayed round 7 times and saw 3 seagulls hovering above them, a reminder to us of the triune God. Things at the college started to feel strange not awful but just like our time there was done. We decided to start to pray about moving and see if god opened the door. I think it was the very next Sunday when to my amazement the secretary of Grosvenor park school walked into church I looked at Tracy she looked at me. wowThings have moved quick since then her husband has followed and they have prayed for a church here for years I believe that was god laying foundations even before our church was born. Everyone in the church was on board with the move and here we are.
A few weeks ago we walked across the road and there again were the 3 seagulls god has worked so much out since we came here 3 weeks ago we have been given chairs for free which by the way exactly match the curtains god even cares about that.
We have been amazingly granted salaries for our youth worker and a manager for impact which is so desperate because the ministry is growing so fast. And it just feels like home here We know we are here for a purpose.
God has always given us a picture of casting your nets to the other side,We feel our move across the road is just that step watch this space
I just wanted to share with you all these words from yesterday which shows a small insight into how far we have come.Yesterday’s service was an amazing celebration.We were reminded that out of ashes God can do something amazing. Thank you God that you have been so faithful to our church, it is an honour to be part of it.
Just got the news that we have been successful in our funding application from the Francis C Scott trust. We now can pay Tracy for her work as the manager of West End Impact and Zofia for her work as a youthworker at West End Impact. This means just so much for us at WEI, MCC and personally. The work has been expanding continuously over the last 2 years and particularily this last year. Praise the Lord. Prayers answered. Burden off. Halleluja.