Newsletter No. 256 July 2015 Minister Pastor Keith Brown 965706222 666180108 E-mail: [email protected] Urb. San Luis C/Azpeitia 1a 03184 Torrevieja Hon. Minister Rev. Alberto Araujo

Minute & Administrative Secretary Margaret Mycroft Tel.: 966784938 E-mail: [email protected]

Pastoral Secretary Kathy Walton-Brown Tel.: 666180118 E-mail: [email protected]

Page 1 La Siesta Evangelical Church Newsletter 254 May 2015

From the Ministers office, As you read this church magazine the end of June will already be upon us, the youth group and stepping stones have already finished for the summer break and our choir will have sung their last service till they return to us in September. My thanks to all who have helped with our services and groups this past six months with a special thank you to our choir for leading our singing at our 11:00am services. A number of our congregation have already gone back to the U.K. or other cooler climates and more of you will follow them in the coming days. We will miss you till you return to us in the autumn, have an enjoyable rest and break from our heat here in Spain. Though our congregations will now be smaller in numbers for the next couple of months we should be joined from time to time with holiday makers who wish to attend church and worship their Lord. Those of you who will be back in September will find that our first 11:00 am service will be a communion service due to Harvest being on our forth Sunday. Can I just remind everyone that when you are away our weekly expenses for running our church are just the same as when you are here and as we receive no financial help from outside our church, if you are able, please try and make provision for your weekly offerings to be made for those weeks when you are away, thank you. Cathy and I have just returned from a few days rest in the Costa del Sol, enabling me to spend time reading and resting and for us to see more of this wonderful country of Spain. Whilst there on the Sunday we attended the other English speaking church within the I.E.E. at Torre del Mar and worshipped with them. From memory they have been a church since 1985 and used to meet once a week in a local hotel but they now rent an empty shop in the town centre enabling them to hold events and meetings such as bible study and Spanish classes during the week. They appear to number around twenty to twenty five as that was the number when we worshipped with them. The singing is lead by a keyboard player and two guitarists with the words projected onto a wall; overall the service was less formal than ours with mainly modern choruses and just one hymn being sung. Then after the service we enjoyed a coffee and a cold buffet laid on by some of the ladies, which was most welcome They have just been joined by a new minister Steve Anderson who has been sent by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to be the minister for the next two years. In your prayers please pray for our sister church here in Spain that they may grow both in Faith and numbers. And just to finish this month’s page after attending the service I noticed on Goggle maps that we were about twenty minutes from the small town of Torrox which I had seen on the TV programme the Hotel Inspector some weeks ago, so we drove there and parked on the edge of town as vehicles are kept away due to the narrow streets. I intended to find the hotel mentioned in the programme to see if it was as good as the programme made out. We had only walked a couple of hundred yards when we were aware of someone shouting at us from behind and on turning saw a couple rushing towards us, shouting we thought it was you, yes they had been at church that morning with us and they lived in this little old Andalusian white painted town. They showed us around including the hotel I wished to see and we then spent the rest of the afternoon with them, drinking tea and talking. A wonderful Christian couple. When you least expect it God moves in mysterious ways and we now have new Christian friends in a part of Spain we had never been to before. In conclusion as I wrote before whether you are leaving us for the summer or staying here in Torrevieja have a wonderful and safe time and till we meet up again.

Till next month God Bless, Pastor Keith Newsletter 256 Page 2 La Siesta Evangelical Church July 2015

DIARY FOR JULY SUNDAY 5th MORNING SERVICE 09:30am 2 Corinthians 12: 2-10 Pastor Keith Brown Mark 6: 1-13 Elder: Jean McNary

SUNDAY 12th SERVICE OF WORSHIP 11:00am Ephesians 1: 3-14 Pastor Keith Brown Elder: Jean McNary Mark 6: 14-29

SUNDAY 19th MORNING SERVICE 09:30am Ephesians 2: 11-end Pastor Keith Brown

Mark 6: 30-34 and 53 to the end Elder: Jean McNary SUNDAY 26th 11:00am HOLY COMMUNION Ephesians 3: 14-end Pastor Keith Brown John 6: 1-21 Elder: Jean McNary MORNING SERVICE SUNDAY 2nd AUGUST 09:30am Ephesians 4: 1-16 Pastor Keith Brown John 6: 24-35 Elder: Megan Wright

In this Edition Floral Donations Minister’s 1 July 11th Pat Newnham Letter Church Diary 2 July 25th Eunice & Chas Smith LFG 3 Reach Out Family 4 Service Rewiring Forthcoming 5 Please remember in your Prayers Events Anniversary

Mozambique Tracey in Mozambique having a particularly hard time at 6-7 Women of 8 present. the Bible

Fred Wright still sufferring from ill health. Financial 9 Report Gordon and Kathy as they are ordained as Elders of La Siesta Finance 10 Evangelical Church. Organisations 11

Church Info 12

If you know anyone who is sick, at home or in hospital, please advise the Minister or any Elder so that a visit can be arranged.

Visit our website www.lasiestaevangelicalchurch.org Page 3 La Siesta Evangelical Church Newsletter 256 July 2015

REACH OUT

Please remember that we have a commitment to help Reachout who do such great work with the homeless. The following is the table giving the commodities needed and which church provides which items in July 2015. Any donation of food or clothing is, of course, gratefully accepted.

BAPTISM

At the Family Service of May 31st, GEORGIE LEWIS SELWAY was baptisted by Pastor Keith Brown before a large congregation with many family and friends present.

Visit our website on www.lasiestaevangelicalchurch.org Newsletter 256 Page 4 La Siesta Evangelical Church July 2015

LADIES FRIENDSHIP GROUP

One thing we can be almost 100 percent sure of is that the Ladies Friendship Group will have blue skies and sun for our annual outing in June. We had perfect weather on June 1st. Do you recall U.K charabanc outings when the skies were grey, the wind blew sand on your meat paste sandwiches, and your got your swimming gear on between the back of a deckchair and a windbreak? Happy Days?! But none of that there 'ere....comfy coach courtesy of Rosa Tours, coffee time at exclusive La Manga Club, informative talk and display of the sea and land ecology in the area at Cabo de Palos, an excellent lunch in the village, choice of a walk or short coach ride to the lighthouse, ice creams and drink at the beach cafe, sleepy hour long journey back at 6.0pm. Full report and perhaps pics in next edition. If there are any ladies reading this who have not yet given this group a try then ask the opinion of any of the folk who belong ..... we do our best to please. Secretly I reckon the church menfolk would like to join too...sorry lads,but we do invite you when we need some extra euros to spend..... trips, Christmas Fayre, Christmas lunches etc. Thanks to the main organisers of the trip.....Debbie and Lesley. Very enjoyable, superb organisation. When we meet again it will be a pool party on September 7th at 1.0 pm. Megan and Fred Wright have offered their pool and outdoor kitchen facility. THANK YOU for the offer of your hospitality Megan....you chose the "right" man! SO...any of our menfolk can join JOE WALLACE for a menu del Dia lunch on that day. Be warned his favourite choice would be Indian -but he might be flexible. Meet at San Luis Square between 1.0 and 1.15 pm. Please make sure you tell him so he knows who to meet. I am in the UK from July 7th to Sept 1st but outside these dates I may be contacted on 966720414. This number is also the one to use for the men who intend attending the “Boy’s Lunch” which Joe is organising and also for those requiring directions to the home of Megan and Fred

Jean Wallace

Newsletter 256 Page 5 La Siesta Evangelical Church July 2015

PICNIC IN THE PARK

Earlier in the year we were all told about a project to completely rewire the building so that we could use more than one appliance without completely loosing power. The Choir and Church Brass decided that they would like to somehow contribute to the cost. Over the following few months an evening of music developed which evolved into “A Picnic in the Park” which took place on Friday 12th June. Everyone brought their own picnic and wined and dined under the trees covered in bunting, the tables were covered with colourful table clothes which created a wonderful setting. We arranged for the Council to spray for mosquitos so nobody complained about being bitten. The evening was full of music and fun, choral singing from the choir with duets and solos and a variety of music from the Brass Band. The evening was rounded off with a sing-a-long finale with over one hundred people waving flags and having a good sing. The most appreciative member of the audience was the local blackbird who sang his little heart out all evening. There are so many people to thank in making this evening a great success, people just turned up early to help us with the tables and the chairs, also putting everything away afterwards. The Choir provided all the goods that went into the three magnificent hampers and volunteers helped sell raffle tickets om the night. In total we made a wonderful 840€ with which we were thrilled. Many thanks to everyone who made this possible, most of all a big thank you to our audience who made the evening such a huge success. Lawrence & Vivienne Gee and Chas & Eunice Smith

Visit our website www.lasiestaevangelicalchurch.org

Page 6 La Siesta Evangelical Church Newsletter 256 July 2015

MOZAMBIQUE

Here is the latest from Tracey, her day to day activities and also a copy of an e-mail received. The Finance Committee have decided to send an immediate donation of 500€ specifically to help with Felismina’s and Tracey’s own treatment and their forthcoming visit to U.K. June 11 La Siesta - Keith and Kathy and Stepping June 8 WINTER ..... Woke to 16C this morning so Stones - thank you for my cards and all your good everyone is dressed in their new hats, scarves and - wishes. and the girls in winter coats. Brrrrr to everyone this Monday! June 17.....Tonight a little trip to A & E with Felismina who required three stitches to a head injury!! Her skating skills across the floor resulted in a nasty June 10 ..... Finally time to think about travelling to collision with the bathroom wall!! She's fine, a little the UK!! On the "list" are 1001 things, thoughts, shaken and teary but sleeping in her own bed now. ideas.... and now how to figure out Yellow Fever vaccines or exemption letters!!! Life is keeping me June 18..... Today has been less than easy - feeling on my toes. Another Roller-Coaster Day.... very overwhelmed, vomiting kids, staffing mix up, Internet indecision all morning, amazing lunch with tiredness , pain .... friends, some grr moments on return to the house, In the midst, someone stopped to pray for me and fun supper with Oasis Team SA, Skype call to make that was enough to keep me on an even keel! a decision (!!) and finally ... sad news that one of the SO ... don't ever think your prayers aren't worth Baby House tias has died in hospital today (after a much... they are heard and speak LIFE - even in long illness) . And so to bed .... ways you may never understand.

Dear All, I'm sure some of you are aware that last night I had a little trip to A & E with Felismina after she fell and collided with the bathroom wall!! Now I know that stitches are a normal part of a child's growing up so really, the fact that this was her first "need of" .... can't complain. What I didn't say was that the night before Sina needed medical attention here on the base - hives( mild) and respiratory "something" requiring her inhaler for the first time in ages! My health - foot/knee pain continues to give concern..... at the moment the thought of being scrunched up on plane with knee pain is a little scary!! Added to that I opted to take Felismina to the private hospital (she would have had to be treated in the adult section of the government hospital and as an "adult" I possibly wouldn't have been allowed to accompany her beyond getting her admitted to A & E (!!) - and let's just say the bill was WAY more than I'd anticipated - gilt edged stitches they were not!!

All of this to say, with getting ready to travel I sense a little "attack" to just make it all seem impossible! Please pray especially for our health protection. We still need to organize Yellow Fever vaccinations (because we are travelling through Kenya) and there is a risk of an adverse reaction for Sina (!!) -pray there isn't one!! Sina has her next HPV consult.check up next week - and am hoping // anticipating her doctor arranging her next laryngoscopy before we travel.

Finances - there seem to be some "unplanned " (like last night) costs - eg yellow fever jabs - really praying for favour with these things as we go.

THANK YOU Last night I just felt a little overwhelmed with it all - so praying friends much needed and appreciated!

Happy Thursday, Love Tracey Newsletter 256 Page 7 La Siesta Evangelical Church July 2015

A VERY SPECIAL HYMN

The service arranged and conducted by George Brander on June 14th concluded with the moving Hymn 515, "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go", and since then several people have remarked on how this is their favorourite of all the hymns, Some years ago an article appeared in this newsletter about this hymn and I thought it worthwhile to re-write a more comprehensive version. The author of the hymn was George Matheson (1842-1906), educated at Academy and Glasgow University graduating MA in philosophy in 1862 and BD in 1866. For a short time he acted as assistant to Dr. McDuff at Sandyford Church in Glasgow before moving to his first charge in Innellan, a seaside town on the Firth of Clyde where he remained for eighteen years and it was in Innellan that he wrote Hymn 515 in 1882. "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go" was written on the evening of Matheson’s sister’s marriage. Years before, he had been engaged, until his fiancée learned that he was going blind and that there was nothing the doctors could do. She told him that she could not go through life with a blind man. He went blind while studying for the ministry, and his sister had been the one to care for him through the years, but now she was gone. He was now 40, and his sister’s marriage brought a fresh reminder of his own heartbreak. It was in the midst of this circumstance and intense sadness that the Lord gave Matheson this hymn, which he said was written in five minutes. In 1885 George Matheson was invited by to preach at Crathie Church and she was so impressed by his sermon, based on the book of Job, that she had it published. In 1879 he had declined to accept a post in but moved to St.Bernard’s in in 1886. In 1897 he was obliged to seek assistance due to failing health and finally retired in 1899. He died in 1906 while on holiday in and was buried in Glasgow. I have two somewhat tenuous but nevertheless interesting family connections. The family of my late wife Fiona had a holiday home in Innellan and indeed her maternal grandfather died there while on holiday in the early thirties. George Matheson Continued on Page 8 Newsletter 256 Page 8 La Siesta Evangelical Church July 2015

In one of the many websites I have read on George Mathieson there was a report that many holiday makers returned to Innellan year after year just to hear “The Blind Preacher” and it is likely that Fiona’s granparents would have worshipped at Innellan Church although probably one generation too young to have been there during Matheson’s tenure. While I have not been able to establish the exact date, the Tom Allan Centre was opened by the Church of Scotland probably in the early seventies. It was to provide a councelling service open to all and indeed I believe a large percentage of the clients were not from Church background but referred by other agencies like doctors, the courts etc. Fiona who was already a qualified social worker successfully undertook the course of training through the Church of Scotland to enable her to become a councellor, a post which she retained until our retirement to Spain. At that time the Centre was run by Hamish Montgomery who soon became a personal friend. Hamish was also an accomplished artist whose works have been exhibited at the RSA. Incidentally, Hamish and his wife spent a week here in our house in Torrevieja in the early eighties to complete a series of paintings of Old Orihuela. Hamish was asked to paint a picture for the chapel of the Centre and he chose as his theme the last line of Hymn 515.

And from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall ever be Howard Cook Newsletter 256 Page 9 La Siesta Evangelical Church July 2015

PICNIC IN THE PARK OUTCOME

As reported, “A Picnic in the Park” was an outstanding success with very large turn out, a great evening being enjoyed by all in beautiful weather despite the forecast. The magnificent sum of 840€ was raised and this was presented to our Treasurer, Howard Cook, by Lawrence Gee at the service of June 14th. Thanks to all involved for this magnificent effort.

FORTHCOMING ATTRACTION

There’s hardly time to catch your “Picnic in the Park” our next attraction breath from one social is scheduled for the month of July. function to the next, but who can resist all the fun At 3pm on July 15th an Afternoon and fellowship? Following Tea will be held at Da Vinci’s at the May Fayre and June’s Lakeside, San Luis.

ANNIVERSARY APPEAL

I am delighted to advise you that the Anniversary Appeal envelopes yielded a total of 945€, an increase of over 50% on last year and even coming close to the level of the figures of the “Golden Years” when the church was filled to overflowing each service and there was a lot more money around. Thanks to you all for your generosity.

Howard Cook, Treasurer Page 10 La Siesta Evangelical Church Newsletter 256 July 2015

PRAYER CHAIN Our Prayer Chain addresses both concerns and joys. The information passed along is strictly confidential. All you need to do to be part of our prayer chain is to phone Lesley Rolls on 966719163 or Megan Wright on 966785513. New members are always welcome.

CHURCH CHOIR BIBLE STUDY Choir practice is in summer recess until Bible Study and Prayer Meeting are September, date to be now in summer recess. advised. New members will be Notice of resumption will appear in welcome forthcoming editions of this newsletter.

PRAYER FOR JULY

Lord of Life, help us to distinguish the important from the urgent, and to find the courage, just sometimes to say no . Lord of little things, we thank you that living in your strength brings little victories each day - if only we will let them happen.

Wishing everyone a happy, safe summer, where ever you may spend it, and look forward to the return of those who have travelled afar.

Submitted by Deborah and Nicola Capewell

Visit our website on www.lasiestaevangelicalchurch.org

Page 11 La Siesta Evangelical Church Newsletter 256 July 2015

OUR CHURCH La Siesta Evangelical Church is an ecumenical English speaking congregation drawn from Baptists, Methodists, United Reform, Church of Scotland, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and several other denominations. We belong to the Iglesia Evangélica Española or Spanish Evangelical Church, a Presbyterian Church in which we are part of the Presbytery of Levante. Our Membership Secretary is Helen Tudor and you should contact her or any other Elder at any service if you are interested in joining our Church. Helen´s telephone number appears in the Elders section on this page.

VISITORS If you are a visitor we cordially invite you to sign the visitors' book at the front door. We do have many visitors especially in the holiday months and it is very easy for "new faces" to be missed. You will notice that the Elders and members of the Fellowship Committee are identified by badges and we urge you to attend the refreshments after the service and to introduce yourselves. We are really interested in meeting visitors to our services.

CHURCH ELDERS (Please contact if required)

Howard Cook 96 670 0131 Lesley Rolls 96 671 9163 Jack Doonan 96 676 9616 Jae Schock [email protected] Sandra Garman 96 570 3474 Chas Smith 96 679 0398 Alan James 96 672 2358 Jacqueline Thomas 96 671 7731 Margaret Mycroft 96 678 4938 Helen Tudor 96 671 7582 Jean McNary 96 502 0342 Kathy Walton Brown Mary Nell 96 572 5945 Megan Wright 96 678 5513 Gordon Newlands

The next issue of this newsletter will be published on July 26th. Contributions may be sent to the editor, Howard Cook, in writing, by e-mail to [email protected] or by telephone to 96 670 0131