Welcome to The Anchor Church If you are looking for information about the church, you can find out most of the details here.
We would love to welcome you to any of the times we meet at church or elsewhere, or to grab a coffee and talk about anything you would like to know about the church.
You can email us at office@theanchorchurch.org.nz
or ring us on 04 234 1390
The Anchor Church Team |
In the April school holidays next year, a group of fourteen of our young people are off on a 2 week trip to work in a village in Vanuatu.
The trip has been organised through YWAM (Youth with a Mission) and is set to be a real growing experience for the youth involved.
As part of the experience the team will be installing a rainwater tank at a village in need of access to clean drinking water. They also have the opportunity to run programmes and games with the children of the village as well as night programmes with the village as a whole with specifics depending on the unique skill set each youth brings to the team.
The trip will be a great chance to experience another culture and find out how other people live. Most of the people in the village that the team will be staying in live subsistence lifestyles so it will also be an opportunity for the team to realise how much we have and how lucky we are.
This is a time when we can give a little back to a God by whom we have been so blessed. We are really looking forward to it!
The team includes Brad de Villiers, Meg Dacre, Polly Dacre, John Davies Collie, Laura Dobson, Antony Goodin, Ruth James, Jordan Lawson, Karla Lawson, Faye Meloche, Josh Robinson, Jeremy Rolston, Alex Russell and Jessica Russell.
A new Kids programme designed especially for kids!
The Anchor Church has launched a brand new Sunday morning programme which has been designed to be really exciting for kids and also really easy for any parents to drop their kids into each week. It has started this term and Anchor Kids caters for children from 3 years old up to the end of Year 8.
Every kid is welcome to come along and register each Sunday morning from 9:45am with the programme kicking off at 10am and running through until 11:30am. Parents can drop your kids in and call back in to get them and a coffee at 11.30.
Sandy Leadbeater says that they would love every kid to have a solid basis for life before they hit teenage years. It keeps with Whitby’s nautical theme as children are welcomed aboard the H.M.S Anchor and this term they have been off on an exciting pirate adventure.
The programme is similar to the widely popular RunRIG holiday programme held at The Anchor Church each year, and is full of songs, dances, crafts, bible teaching and loads of fun.
There is a big, community-wide launch planned for 14th February 2010, so watch this space and also your letterbox.
Last week I was going to speak about Ruth, Naomi and Boaz – Naomi had to turn the corner and turn her heart back to God, having looked for support in dry lands of Moab, she went from Pleasant to bitter back to Pleasant as she learnt the lessons of Gods goodness. I wonder where I search for sustainence – and whether I have learnt the lessons of Psalm 1 – where are my roots.
Ruth was the outsider, the marginalised one but who had that strength of character which trusted God despite her circumstances, she didnt take matters into her own hands when she could have – when Boaz was “in good spirits”. She trusted God with her present circumstances and her future. How often do I take matters into my own hands – how often do I try to fix my world myself?
Boaz – in a world where people did as “they saw fit” Boaz was recognised as different – when he walked into his fields he greeted his workers with a blessing and they responded because there was something different about this man. He was the man that noticed the poor and disadvantaged, he saw Ruth – the foreign girl scavenging behind the workers and took time to care. His faith translated into lifestyle. Does mine?
They knew God is good – do I?
Geoff
Paul used these words – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.
The Psalmist said God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Its been a week where comfort and refuge have been needed.
Here’s a good opportunity to do some gift shopping and by doing so support some of our mission partners. The Anchor Women are planning a pre-Christmas evening with music, inspiring messages, and a delicious supper on Sunday, 29 November from 7-8.30pm at the church. Also for sale will be Lai Mai Coffee and the ‘Food for Thought’ Cookbook, the proceeds of which will go to Bright Hope World. The great thing is when you buy some of these products, you bring hope and will make a difference to the lives of others. So bring your friends and your dollars, and join us for this fabulous night out.
 By buying some lovely bags made by the Freeset women we will make a tangible difference to them. But there’s more! Also for sale will be fresh water pearl jewellery, a cook book and coffee—in aid of the Grace project and Bright Hope World.
Pauline Lowe, Vice Chairman of The Share & Care Ministries Trust will tell us about the Grace Project in Hubli, India. She will sell fresh water pearl jewellery to raise funds for this project.
Terry Neal will share her story about her visit to Freeset, Kolkata, India earlier this year.
Freeset is a fair trade business offering employment to women trapped in Kolkata’s sex trade. Freeset employs women to make quality jute bags and organic tee-shirts. Profits from the sale of Freeset bags will go towards the ‘Interest Free Loan Fund to free Women from Debt’ that The Anchor Church is funding. Also visit www.freesetglobal.com
The Grace Project is is a project developed from a vision for a home for orphan children. It now includes an orphanage, a pre-school day care centre, a community outreach centre, an adult sewing and tailoring course for women, a carpentry program for men and women, a primary school and care for elderly widows. Check out www.shareandcareministries. For more information please call Sue Stewart ph 2338002.
Gifts for the Rest Home across the road
This year, the Party by the Lake committee are putting together a pre-Christmas Hamper for our neighbours across the road. Contributions from the three Whitby churches (with some business support) have been received already and we plan to get the hamper delivered next week.May God bless you.
Please remember to bring your love gift this Sunday. We need gifts for men as well as for women (no power tools thanks!).
In Christ Chris, Sandy and Erika.
Here are some shots from Party by The Lake 2009!
If you would like to buy coffee which makes a difference to lives of families in Northern Thailand – it will be available now in the foyer on Sunday mornings – bring some $.
Check out the weather tomorrow before you decide to turn up with your secateurs to clean up the gardens.
Geoff
Some restful thoughts from Drew Leaver at http://www.drewleaver.blogspot.com/
As important as it is to our physical health to physically get away from the office, it is equally important for my spiritual health to unplug as well. To escape the office isn’t just a practice that will keep your body from breaking down – it will keep your soul from breaking down as well. When I seize moments to be quiet and still before God it quiet’s my soul. When I unplug the TV and spend an evening with God it fills my cup. When I stop listening to all the noise and all the other voices I so often tune in to and give careful attention to God’s voice I find that I come away refreshed. Truth is, I rarely her God speak unless I shut everything else off. Continue reading Rest
Continuing the theme of caring for our hearts – from Drew Leaver www.drewleaver.blogspot.com
He says……
Last time I talked about the necessity of eating right for your heart. I confess, I live in a land saturated with great restaurants and so I don’t often eat well… uh, wait… was that a metaphor for great churches or actual restaurants? Okay, so the secret is out, I don’t eat well physically or spiritually. But I digress. Continue reading Exercise!
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