Clear CallThe newsletter of Manchester City Mission

Issue 15 Spring/Summer 2013

The Director’s bit by TERRY DUROSE

The evening of Friday the 12th of October last year became a red letter day in the history of Manchester City Mission as guests, supporters, staff and trustees celebrated 175 years of city mission work in our region.

The event, held at The Sanctuary, home of World Harvest Bible Church, began with a buffet meal. Janet, MCM’s Administration Manager said, “Fellowship always seems to go better when we share a meal. It was a simple way to say thanks to our supporters.” During this time guests were encouraged to mingle with MCM Staff and Trustees. A display of some of MCM’s historic photographs also proved to be very popular.

MCM’s Chairman Richard Haworth introduced the presentation section of the evening, setting the Mission in historical context by reminding us that MCM predates cars, phones and even the humble postage stamp!

What followed was an exciting mix of video presentations, testimony, interviews and worship as the MCM mission team encouraged everyone present to give thanks to God for his faithfulness.

For me the highlight of the night came at the end when, MCM Chaplain Nick Stirling and his band led the gathering in a heartfelt rendition of “How Great Thou art”. A fitting end to an event filled with gratitude to the King of Glory.

I asked our Chairman Richard Haworth what he thought about the event and he said; “It was the least we could do - when we considered our many supporters who have been so faithful and so generous through the years. We rejoice that even today, in increasingly secular Britain, He still gives openings and opportunities to show and share the gospel with the homeless, the marginalised, young children, and also the youngsters on the football field.”

Manchester City Mission News

Although each City Mission is an independent organisation in its own right, the ‘British Association of City Missions’ offers fellowship and support to the various missions and their staff. In November last year, Manchester City Mission had the pleasure of hosting the BACM Leaders’ Conference which was attended by eight executive staff from around the country representing Missions from London, Plymouth, Gloucester, Worcester, Birmingham, Brighton & Hove, Leeds and, of course, Greater Manchester.

MCM trustees joined the mission leaders for meals and informal fellowship and it was good for the leaders to talk about their work and have opportunity to look around the MCM building and hear about our work here in Greater Manchester. But life as a Mission executive is not all fun and games and time was set aside for a Business Meeting.

The group also appreciated a talk from Paul Devos, a speaker from ‘The Christian Distinctives Trust’. Paul shared the trust’s passion to see Christian organisations and Churches grow in excellence, both in organisational effectiveness and in modelling Christ-like values.

Everyone enjoyed the 2 day conference and, to quote Mike from Gloucester City Mission, it was a time of “great food, great fellowship and great company!”

Director Terry Durose. In the end, interest was so great,

that it was decided to put on an extra evening to help small group leaders think strategically about how the Resonate principles of Incarnation, Compassion and Proclamation can be applied to evangelistic projects. Called the PERDA Framework, the one night workshop covers planning, engagement, relationship, gospel delivery and assimilation strategies.

Dr Diana Forrest, who retired as an MCM Trustee last year is part of the leadership team at Sale West Community Church. Speaking about the event she said; “The Resonate Course has made a big impression on many church members at St Mary’s and Sale West, and people keep talking about it, and praying through the implications. So a big Thank you to Terry for all he put into that course, and I hope it is taken up in many other churches.”

One of the attendees, Avtar, said; “The Resonate course was both encouraging and challenging, focussing one’s mind in what real Christian compassion (taking Jesus’s divine model for giving the “good news”) was all about, the love that gives irresistible motivation for the future way to live the present.”

Another attendee, Joanne, described the course as embodying a “down-to-earth, no-nonsense and loving approach”

If you are interested in having the Resonate Course or the PERDA Framework delivered at your church contact Terry Durose at the MCM office, 0161 736 9959 or email: Terry@mcmteam.org. The book

“Resonate” is also available from MCM for £5.99 plus p+p or as a Kindle e-book for £2.56.

The Day the BACM came to

Town!

Resonate Course hits the right note for local church

Earlier this year, Terry Durose led a Resonate course at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sale. Around fifty people from St Mary’s and its sister church Sale West Community Church attended the four night personal evangelism training event.

“The group was lively, fully engaged and not afraid to challenge or ask questions, in many ways a presenter’s dream” said MCM

MCM goes back to Street Level.

Back in 1837 when Manchester City Mission first began, the methodology was simple. Missionaries were recruited and assigned an area. They would go from door to door visiting, reading scriptures, and sharing the Gospel. This kind of street level ministry was highly effective in reaching people for Christ and soon reports of converts began rolling in.

Times change however and with those changes, new approaches need to be considered. For that reason ManchesterCity Mission have become partners in a national initiative called Neighbourhood Prayer Network.

Again the core idea is simple.Neighbourhood Prayer Network has a vision to see every street in the U.K. covered by Christian Prayer. More than that, the hope is to encourage as many Christians as possible to be not only praying, but to get to know their neighbours. The overall strategy is covered by three words: Prayer, Care and Share.

Prayer is self-explanatory. The aim is to recruit people who will pray for their street and in particular for a couple of houses on each side of where they live.

Care flows from the prayer. As Christians pray for their neighbours they can be asking the Lord to give opportunities to show that they care. This could be as simple as visiting a lonely person to helping someone withtheir garden.

Share, again flows in a very natural way from praying and caring for our neighbours. As trust grows, so do opportunities to share the good news with those around us.

Rebekah Brettle, founder of the network says “Each one of us can make a difference where we live, through praying

for and getting to know our neighbours! We should not underestimate how significant this could be for people living on our streets.”

Manchester City Mission has been invited to deliver this project across the Greater Manchester region. “This is a really exciting development” said Terry Durose, MCM Director, “It’s thrilling to see the Mission returning to street level ministry, albeit in a very different form. And what could be more natural for Christians than to love their neighbours?”

At the time of writing, Neighbourhood Prayer Network was about to break through the 300,000 milestone. That means enough U.K. streets are being prayed for so that 300,000 people are being covered by prayer. Rebekah commented “It’s incredible to think that just two years ago this was a dream.”

Rebekah has written a book “Neighbours Transform your Street” which can be used as a resource for the project. You can order a copy by visiting the website http://www.neighbourhoodprayer.net

Streets in Greater Manchester thatare being prayed for! Why not add yours?

Do you want to be involved?If so we need to hear from you! Of

course anyone can pray for their street, but if you wish to register, go tohttp://www.neighbourhoodprayer.net/pray-for-your-street and follow the instructions.

You do need an email account to register, but if you don’t have one perhaps you could ask a friend or family member if you could use their email address.

Once you register you will receive regular emails that will keep you informed and help resource your prayer. As well as that, your street will be marked on the NPN map to show that it is being prayed for.

You may also be interested in being a church or post code co-ordinator for the project. If so please call the MCM office on 0161 736 7959 for more details.

The High Cost of Providing a Safe

Environment.Recently, MCM had to

upgrade the CCTV system at the Windsor Christian Centre, home to the Windsor Drop In and the Narrowgate Shelter. The state of the art digital system was originally installed in March 2012 at a cost of £4,000.00, but it soon became apparent that it needed to be extended.

Additional cameras, costing a further £600.00 to install were added in March 2013 and have not only closed any gaps in the system, but have now replaced the outmoded security system in the night shelter dormitory. This has created a fully integratedsystem that can be monitored from the dormitory observation room, the MCM office or even from home via broadband links.

Kevin Birch, MCM’s Operation Support Manager who has the responsibility of monitoring the CCTV footage explained why such expense was necessary: “We became aware of blind spots in the system after drug paraphernalia was found outside the building. We know that drug dealers operate in the area, so it’s important that we do everything we can to stop them from targeting our clients.”

Chaplain to homeless people, Nick Stirling agreed: “In the Narrowgate Night Shelter and in the Windsor Drop In Centre we are dealing with very vulnerable people and CCTV monitoring helps give a sense of security and reassurance to staff, to volunteers and to guests alike. It is particularly appreciated in the dormitory overnight.”

Nick went on to say that many of our clients are living “on the edge” and some are affected by substance addictions and anger management issues. “We believe we have a responsibility before God to do all we can to care for people.” he added.

The Windsor Drop In delivers its services to 90 -100 people each day and the Narrowgate Night Shelter provides food and shelter for up to 28 people seven days a week.

Manchester City Mission News MCM Trustee moves on to accept new challenges.

MCM’s 175th celebration also marked the end of Dr Diana Forrest’s three year term as a trustee. Diana, who attends Sale West Community Church, had decided to move on in order to take on new responsibilities in church life.

As well as serving as part of the leadership team, she has taken up the role of chair for Sale West Community Urban Trust, a local charity set up by the church to support children and families on the Sale West estate.

Speaking about this new role, Diana said “It is a very exciting time in Sale West, with many opportunities for the church to work in partnership with local agencies and the community, to improve quality of life in the area.”

She went on to say “I want to thank the Trustees of Manchester City Mission for taking me on board for a while. I learnt a lot while I was with you, and felt very privileged to be involved with a Christian organisation with such a long history of finding imaginative ways of caring for the needs of people within Greater Manchester who are struggling with life”

Volunteers bring new Skills

to the Dawn Project

Since its inception last year, the Dawn Project, which takes the Gospel into retirement homes, has seen increased interest by those who would like to volunteer for the initiative.

In the last few months, two volunteers in particular have increased the project’s ability to reach the residents in a meaningful way. One volunteer is fluent in sign language, which should prove to be a major tool in helping to communicate to the deaf. Another volunteer is a skilled puppeteer, an ability that Jennie Lemmen, project coordinator, sees as a great potential asset to the initiative and another way of getting the message across.

Originally, the Dawn Project was conceived as simply going into retirement homes to lead hymn singing sessions, augmented with a simple message and the occasional visual aid. Despite the challenges inherent in trying to connect with people who are suffering from various age related conditions, the project is remarkably effective.

Jennie relates the following story; “Yesterday we went to a home in Worsley, and a lady in a wheelchair who doesn’t communicate well was very animated when I gave the message. She made it very plain that she understood it and her face lit up. It was wonderful!”

“Working With HoPe” Stays The Course.The first presentation of MCM’s new course “Working with HoPe” took place for five weeks,

on Tuesday evenings, from 23rd October to 20th November 2012. Intended for those who wanted to know more about the theory of working with homeless

people, the course was well attended by a mixture of trustees, staff and volunteers from the Narrowgate Night Shelter and the Windsor Drop In as well as some volunteers from other organisations.

Presenter Terry Durose said; “Our staff and volunteers are very experienced in the practical aspects of working in this field. I wanted to give them a taste of the thinking behind what they achieve on a day to day basis.”

When asked about the name of the course, he said; “The title HoPe comes from the first two letters of the words “homeless people”. When I think about the amazingly positive results that our team produce, it felt appropriate”.

Dean Barton, who works for Salford Health Matters, the company that provides specialised medical services to the Windsor Drop In clients, described his experience; “ A very enjoyable and structured course that helped us to explore and develop on our everyday experiences”.

Working with HoPe proved to be so popular that it is being run a second time on Tuesday evenings throughout April 2013, with a further run planned for later in the year.

If you are interested in attending this free training, please contact Terry Durose 0161 736 7959 or email: terry@mcmteam.org

On Tuesday March 5th Mary Butt, Ground Breakers Coordinator, met with the Pastor, Elders and Youth Worker at Union Hall Evangelical Church in Hulme. The purpose was to discuss how GroundBreakers could help support existing links between the church and three local primary schools.

Although this partnership is still at the early planning stages, the vision is for Mary to accompany someone from the church when they go into the schools to hold assemblies. The hope is that the relationship between Ground Breakers, the church and the school will strengthen, enabling Ground Breakers to deliver regular lunch time clubs in the schools.

The first assembly is already booked for Wednesday 24th April at St Wilfred’s Primary school, a school that Union Hall’s Pastor, Barry Cunningham, already visits once a term to take assemblies.

“It’s early stages” Barry said, “but we are hoping that this will be a means of consolidating the relationship with the schools, to provide something more for them, and to make sure that the Gospel continues to go in”. The church leadership team are also hoping that these visits will create links to the church’s Sunday School and community events such as the annual Union Hall Fun Day.

Mary Butt is, as always, depending on God for success in this venture: “Please pray for the initial assemblies in each school” she asks, “that they are enjoyed and that the schools want us to return so that we are able to build up regular visits and build up strong relationships”

Convert from Islam finds Shelter at the Narrowgate“N”, an Iranian national, was working as a fashion designer in Tehran when her supervisor

shared the Gospel with her. She instinctively knew at a very early age that Islam was wrong as it wasn’t kind, particularly to women, and when she heard the Good News about Jesus God opened her heart. In March 1012 she accepted Jesus as her Saviour, and began to attend a church that met covertly in someone’s house.

“It was very difficult to be a Christian in Iran as people cannot read the Bible, or talk about things of God in public” she said. When the Iranian Secret Police learned that she had become a Christian she became a wanted woman.

One evening, “N” was late for a meeting when she arrived and saw that the house was surrounded by police and she fled. “I later learned that 13 other Christians had been arrested on that evening, and 3 others were shot dead on the spot” she said.

It became clear that she needed to escape from Iran as she was now in fear of her life. Through the help of an uncle who knew an ‘agent’ it cost “N” $10,000 to leave Iran. The agreement was that she would be taken to Canada where she has some family, but she arrived in the UK instead.

It took 10 days of travel to get to the UK from Iran via Armenia arriving in November 2012. She is a refugee but now has gained “leave to stay” status.

“It’s still difficult living in England as I don’t have any relatives or money and I am homeless.” she explained. It was this situation that led to her being referred to the Narrowgate Shelter. Since moving to the U.K she has met 2 other Iranian ladies and currently worships with them in a church in Greater Manchester.

MANCHESTER CITY MISSION is based at Windsor Christian Centre, Churchill Way, Salford M6 5BU.Tel: 0161 736 7959;email: mancitmis@aol.com;www.manchestercitymission.org.ukTrustees: Richard Haworth (Chair); John Perry; Helyn Uwubamwan; Ray Jackson; Chris Bailey.MCM is a registered charity (number 224626).Project logos by Oz Durose.

As part of The Narrowgate Night Shelter’s volunteer training scheme, volunteers are asked to interview guests to find out more about their experiences. Peter (not his real name) was interviewed by Roy on 21st March 2013.

Like many, Peter became homeless through alcohol addiction and could no longer live at home due to his behaviour. “I started robbing and telling lies” he said; “I just didn’t care about anything apart from the drink and as a result I was asked to leave home.”

Thirteen years of living on the streets has taken its toll on Peter’s health, who told Roy that his health had been badly affected. As well as liver and kidney problems, he has suffered from deep depression and low self-esteem.

For Peter, things started to change when He was referred to the Narrowgate by Christian homeless charity Barnabus. He is now moving onto a Christian rehabilitation programme, again with the help of Barnabus.

When asked what message he would have for anyone else who finds themselves on the streets he told Roy; “Be honest. Don’t be scared to ask for help, as help is available. Don’t feel that you are alone.”

Peter started his rehabilitation program on Saturday the 23rd March.

Narrowgate Manager Phil Brown said “This is great news! When agencies collaborate to provide a ‘package of care’ for homeless people, life changing results are achieved. We enable a quality night’s sleep for people who would otherwise have the fear and stress of being on the streets overnight. The result? People can interact at interviews not sleep deprived, not filthy dirty, and not starving hungry, resulting in a much faster positive outcome.”

“Don’t Feel That You Are Alone”

MCM would like to acknowledge our project partners and volunteers for their collaboration on our shared initiatives.