ALL SAINTS ANGLICAN CHURCH NEWSLETTER January 2014

I know it’s a bit belated, as January is already marching, on but Happy New Year to everyone. The month has arrived with several of our church members ailing with horrible bugs ... I hope you will soon be feeling better. I have noticed this last week almond trees coming into flower and daffodils coming up in my garden so spring is just around the corner. As you can imagine the journey that Rev Jackie and I will be making to Rwanda is uppermost in my mind right now. We will be representing you and are hoping to strengthen links between All Saints and the people there. Please see below for a little more information. We welcome Rev John Calvert, and his wife Gill, to Almancil to take the services in Rev Jackie’s absence. Bishop John asked me to thank everyone for the card we sent on the occasion of his and his wife Judie’s Golden Wedding Anniversary. They were thrilled with all the messages and the M&S gift token which the council sent on your behalf. He said he wished he could have included his friends from All Saints in the cele- bration. Bishop John will be here again at the end of March when we will be having a United Service and the Annual Church Meeting at Almancil on Sunday March 30th. Please put this date in your diary. Wishing you a peaceful and healthy year Jenny Wills Warden

Dates for your diary January 20th Church Council Meeting Lagoa 23rd Rev Jackie and Jenny Wills go to Rwanda 26th Lagoa Healing Service Looking ahead to March 5th Ash Wednesday beginning of Lent and Warden’s Challenge 7th Womans World Day of Prayer Service, Carvoeiro 30th United Service at Almancil - followed by Annual Church Meeting

Rev Jackie and Jenny Wills’ visit to Rwanda We will be leaving on Thursday 23rd by train to Lisbon where we will stay overnight. We arrive in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on Saturday 25th at 7.35 am after 3 flights and undoubtedly will be ready for a sleep!! Bishop Louis says we will be met at the airport and then taken to the Diocesan Guest House, Mercy House, where we will be staying. I am very excited as it is my first visit to Rwanda, but am also very glad to be accompanying Rev Jackie who has been before. We hope to be able to let you know about our time there by writing a blog but since neither of us has done this before we hope we will succeed. I guess we will be expert s by the end of the trip. The link is: www.allsaintsalgarve.blogspot.co.uk During our stay in Rwanda we hope to meet Naomi, the girl All Saints has been supporting through secondary education, as well as the ordinand whom we have agreed to support through theological college. Delivering your love in the shape of 218 teddies will be an interesting experience. On one of the Sundays Rev Jackie will be preaching and no doubt Bishop Louis will have an itinerary planned for us. We will be taking out a few other items at the request of Manasseh who contacted Rev Jackie. Jo, Terry and Jackie worked with him on a previous visit and he needs some equipment such as a long armed stapler, guillotine and camera, to help him with the organisation and distribution of their Sunday School Curriculum and materials for Youth Ministry. You can see a photo of gifts for Archbishop Rwaje and Bishop Louis which we are taking on behalf of All Saints on our blog. We leave Kigali on 10th February at 15:30 (their time) reaching Lisbon on Tuesday 11th February at 13:15. If there is anyone who would be prepared to come and meet us at the airport we are very happy to cover tolls and fuel....the thought of being able to get home 3 hours earlier than by train would be very welcome after our 24 hour journey! ...It’s a long shot and a big ask but if you would be able to do this please contact Jenny or Jackie.

Prayer Team A message from John MacDonald who, together with Nonnie Roberts, is coordinating our prayer list: Prayers for all, especially those who are battling this lousy virus. Its not good. Could we please ask that, following a request for prayers, where a matter has been resolved, would you please let one of the coordinators know. We can then remove the name from the prayer list, to enable us to concen- trate the power of prayer to where it is most needed. I know it may sound a little officious or even heartless. Not the intention. It does, however, allow us to move on. Thanks to all the "A Team". God Bless one and all. Carol & John.

Marina found this which she would like to share with you : The Power of Intercessory Prayer Far from the crowd, but seen by the eyes of God, are men and women who ‘hold up their hands’ of ministries in prayer. And God is looking for more of them. The Bible says in Exodus 17 v 10-13, ‘So Joshua fought the Amalekites...... and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired...Aaron and Hur held up his hands...So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army’. What a wonderful example of the power of intercessory prayer. Job writes in chapter 16 v 20 and 21, ‘Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbour’. The ministry of intercessory prayer is: A ministry of identification in which you stand with others. A ministry of sacrifice, which calls you away from the pleasures and comforts of life. A ministry of authority, for your prayers move the hand of God on behalf of others. Today the God who said in Ezekiel 22 v 30, ‘I sought for a man among them, that would....stand in the gap be- fore Me on behalf of the land’... is looking for intercessors. You can be one of them! (Extract taken from The Word for Today, December 7th 2013)

See you later Tom The sudden death of Tom Farr came as a shock to all of us, and most of all to his family. It was wonderful to see so many people in Church (we were packed out) when we said goodbye for now to Tom. Tom and Cynthia first came to our Church in Lagoa in March 2012 when they had their 50th wedding anniversary blessed. It was par- ticularly special as Bishop John was with us, and we were able to celebrate this wonderful anniversary together. Since that day they have become regular and greatly loved mem- bers of our congregation, very rarely missing a Sunday, and bring- ing friends to introduce them to our ‘family’. Tom's son Richard, who works with us at World Telecom told me recently, “I couldn’t believe it, my Dad wasn’t really a Church-goer at all, but since discovering the Lagoa Church family he really enjoyed being part of this Church”. Although Tom's body has passed on, his sense of humour and outgoing personality has left us with wonderful memories. This was the first funeral we have held in the Convent, but this was his Church, and it was the right place to say ‘see you later Tom’. Our deepest sympathies go out to Cynthia and her family. Fr Paul Photo: Tom and Cynthia with Bishop John and Fr Paul on their 50th Wedding Anniversary

Financial Report

Happy New Year to you all. I hope that you all had an enjoyable festive season. I'm happy to report that at the end of 2013 the Church had a healthy surplus of income over expenditure of approximately 15,000 Euros. Thank you to everyone who has supported All Saints finan- cially during 2013. All our income from what- ever source, be it tithes, plate collections, donations or fund raising, is a blessing no matter how large or small. We are as ever hopeful that God will provide us with a new Priest-in-Charge and we are in a financially sound position at the moment to finance someone. As we progress into 2014 I hope and pray that you will all be able to continue blessing All Saints with your financial support. Sue Moore – Treasurer

Electoral Roll Despite sending out at least 130 e-letters per month, only 75 people are actually signed up members of the Church – 54 Full Members and 21 Associate Members. I have to close the Roll for review at the end of this month. If any of you would like to sign up to be an Associate Member (for those of you who do not live in the Algarve and only come out for short periods of time) or a Full Member (for those people living in the Al- garve, or out here for some months each year), please let me know either by email or on 289-413754. Associate Members can nominate people to be on the Council (Warden and Council Members), and Full Members can nominate and vote for the Warden and Council Members at the Annual Church Meeting. Wendy Webb Roll Officer

Golf Day ...Thursday 15th May The organising team for the Golf Day are short of one person, with knowledge of the game of golf, to assist on the actual day – either to welcome people and give out the cards, or to check the cards are the end. This could mean you could still be able to play golf. If you think you would be able to help, please ring Wendy Webb on 289 413754 or contact her on email [email protected].

A Parish Retreat has been organised for September 22nd to 26th 2014 It will take place at Hacienda Los Olivos, Serra Nevada National Park in . The retreat entitled : ‘ The Music of God’s Heart....learning from the Psalms’ will be lead by Rev’d Dr Sue Woan. We are taking a few cars so easy transport. There are only 2 places left now so if you would like to go please contact Rev Jackie.

People in Focus Renette Joubert I was born in Alberton, just south of Johannesburg . I studied at the teachers training college in Johannesburg and began teaching at the same school that Kevin and I attended and where my father was the principal. Kevin and I got married in my final year of college in 1986. In 1989 I started my beauty course in Pretoria, and hoped one day to open a salon in the Algarve after holidaying here. With my dad`s help the dream came true in 1991 when I moved to and with the help of two girls and the backup of Kaye Rive who set me up in business in Quarteira. Kevin followed a few months later with our few belongings. Nearly six years later we moved to Vilamoura and opened our own salon. Jacques was born in 1994 during our time in Quarteira. Just after moving to Vilamoura, we found out I was pregnant with Angelique, she was born January 1998. This is when our church lives started. We were looking for a church to Christen Angelique and we wanted it to be in the Algarve and not like Jacques in Lisbon. Wendy Webb came up with the answer and introduced us to the Anglican Church. In we were part of the Dutch Reformed Church. The rest is history. We were very blessed to be influenced by amazing people who came and went. The growth in our faith has been a long learning curve with its joys and sorrows.

As the bill board in Vilamoura says. ‘We were not born here, but this is where we belong.’

Father Paul writes...... Epiphany – what does it mean to you? As I prepared my sermon for Epiphany I became aware how Epiphany means deferent things to different cultures. In the East, where it originated, the Epiphany celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. The Western Church be- gan celebrating the Epiphany in the 4th century where it was, and still is, associated with the visit of the magi (wise men) to the infant Jesus. For many Protestant church tradi- tions, the season of Epiphany extends from 6 January until Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent leading to Easter. Other traditions, including the Roman Catholic tradition, observe Epiphany as a single day, with the Sundays following Epiphany counted as Ordinary Time.

That led me to thinking, so what does Epiphany mean to YOU? Let’s look at the definition of the word Epiphany. This is what the dictionary says: A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something. OR A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself" I like that, and it makes this celebration very personal. Epiphany could be a time when we see our faith in a new light, see that as Christians we still have a lot to learn and the opportunity to get closer to The Lord in our relationship with Him. Sometimes we can think that we know all there is to know, or that we are happy with where we are as Christians. I would really implore you to seek to grow more in your faith, there is al- ways more, if you want to receive it. That would be a good New Year’s resolution wouldn’t it? Lord, bring me closer to you, let my faith be evident to every- one I meet, let me mature more in you every day. Never forget, we are Gods hands and feet, and that’s quite a chal- lenge. He needs and uses us to reach others, and that’s what we need to be doing. It’s been said that the Christian faith is never further than one generation from failing. We can’t let that happen can we?

All Saints Anglican Church Algarve Apartado 13, 8401-901 Lagoa, Portugal [email protected] www.allsaintsalgarve.org