12 January 2014

We give the assurance of our thoughts and prayers to all who are unwell, awaiting or undergoing treatment, or anxious or grieving for the loss of loved ones.

Offerings for Action for Children

Donations, which are traditionally given to AfC (as to its predecessors) at this season of the year, will be sent with the specific request that they be used locally in Dundee. These comprise the collections at Communion (£68.20) and the Service of Lessons and Carols (£94.40). Any further donations may be handed to Church Stewards in the next two weeks; the Church Treasurer, David Easson intends to send the final amount off in the last week of January.

Dundee Methodists and Food Banks

We support the Dundee Foodbank by bringing in any of the suggested items from the Shopping List (on the table on the upstairs landing) and placing them in the large blue Bucket provided nearby. An explanatory slip is also available. There is also need for plastic carrier bags of suitable size; please place any spares by the Bucket. Monetary donations are also welcome. Contact Liz Kay for further information.

Thanks are expressed for all contributions, from church folk or others using our premises and facilities.

UNICEF Jars of Grace

A final call is made for any unreturned Jars, which should be given to Margaret before the end of January. The Church Treasurer would hope to send off the total (currently at £159.97) in early February. Thanks for all your support of this worthy annual international appeal!

“Flesh and Blood” Church Challenge

Churches across the UK, including the Methodist Church, are being challenged to raise the profile of blood and organ donation, as part of their giving, with encouragement to become “Donor Churches”.

For further details, see www.methodist.org.uk; or www.fleshandblood.org.

Meetings this week

Support other Organisations

Scottish Bible Society

1. Our support via the Bible-a-Month Club is invited in January for work in Burundi. See library area noticeboard.
   Our prayerful attention is drawn this week to
   • Bible Society staff in Puerto Rico and in the Dominican Republic;
   • Bible Society work in Guatemala with young people through the 'My Second Chance' project;
   • translation of the Bible for the Kina people in Panama;
   • Bible Society staff in Cuba working with different groups - the young, the elderly, the disabled, and prisoners;
   • recent launch in Mexico of a special booklet and CD for the deaf, to assist them in worship, also a glossary of Biblical terms in sign language.
2. Updates from last year's Calendar months:
   • in Bolivia, progress on revision of the Quechua Bible. The translation team reports an increase in understanding from this opportunity for study in greater depth. Completion of the work is expected soon.
   • in Senegal, continuing work with young children living under harsh task-masters whose payment is met by street begging. The Bible Society seeks to encourage parents to bring children back home and support learning through literacy programmes, with especial focus on young girls who would otherwise have no opportunity to learn to read or write.

“Penny Gospel” and The Commonwealth Games:

The Scottish Bible Society is preparing to launch a major Scripture project in connection with the Games in Glasgow next year. This will involve production and distribution of a special edition of Luke's Gospel, with inspiring stories of sporting men and women who believe their faith is worth More Than Gold. The aim is for thousands of copies to be given away in local communities, with a basic price of a penny per copy. Whilst the retail cost per copy will be set at 1p, the actual cost is nearer 20p, so this SBS initiative requires support. This can include signing up to a dedicated Penny Gospel prayer email at www.pennygospel.org.uk. See also the SBS letter on the library noticeboard.

Prayer Points for this week

• those continuing to suffer from the effects of recent extreme weather, in the UK and elsewhere;
• all who use and visit our premises in Marketgait;
• the President of Conference in the York and Hull District next weekend;
• Connexional Leaders Forum, Monday-Tuesday, & Chairs Meeting, Tuesday-Wednesday;
• Al-KafaÀt Foundation's sheltered workshops (Embrace);
• work in Chad - first undertaken in 1966 ( MAF);
• residents, staff and supporters in London ( Methodist Homes);
• the people of Haiti, four years after the earthquake disaster (Christian Aid);
• Bible Society work in Burundi;
• we pray with and for the peoples of Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey (WCC Ecumenical Calendar);
• we remember Methodists in Settle (West Yorkshire District) and our own work and witness based in Marketgait, Dundee (Dundee, Angus and Perthshire Circuit).

• 5 January 2014
• 19 January 2014

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