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Welcome to the April 2015 News from Sola Gratia. Please do not reply to this email.
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April 2015

The first of our Monthly Bulletins.

Dear <<First Name>>

As we start to write this, we are still in the London area. These email newsletters are intended to give a bit more information than our slightly frivolous Facebook updates. We hope you find them valuable. Please feel free to forward onto anyone you think might be interested. If you have received this from a friend and you have enjoyed reading our news, then please subscribe to the list. You can do either of these easily by using the links below:
 
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7Families aboard Sola Gratia. The film crew were here to record a training session on Tracey's new laptop, helping to familiarise her with the accessibility software.
Late evening view from Norwood Top Lock towards our mooring in Southall. We have spent a number of very pleasant days at this location.
 
We are celebrating the beginning of our second year by starting a monthly mailing. Our first year aboard has been largely one of learning! We are gaining knowledge and understanding about the mechanical and electrical side of living on a boat, and how to adapt to this slower style of life.

Sharing worship with different churches around the country is something we are enjoying. We have been blessed by a number where we have either stayed for a couple of weeks, or returned at a later date. We keep a list on our website of churches we have visited; partly for our own benefit, but also as a resource for anyone else looking for a church near the canals. The welcome we have received has been invariably warm.

The 7Families project is another blessing to us. We are getting a lot of help and support in connection with Tracey's vision, and we are enjoying the bi-monthly filming sessions. In fact, we think the film crew enjoy themselves as well, not only do they get a free canal boat trip, they seem to have taken rather a shine to Oakley!

We were delighted that, whilst we happened to be in the London area, we were able to give some time to Guide Dogs on their stands at two events in the ExCeL in Docklands. We are conscious that Oakley is a fantastic gift. Without him, our life on the canals would be nigh on impossible, and Tracey's life would not be so full. We were therefore pleased for the opportunity to give something back.

Just as our first year was coming to a close, we went to the Canal Ministries conference near Stone in Staffordshire. Knowing that God has called us to the Waterways, we felt that Canal Ministries was the way to go. They felt the same way too, and so we were duly "signed up".

In many ways, this does not change what we have been doing, but it does give us an umbrella organisation under which to go out. We also have their backup and support, along with the fellowship of others who have a similar calling.

We see our mission as using opportunities we are given to talk to people as we meet them. This can be at locks whilst we are cruising, neighbours whilst we are moored, or anyone else God brings to us. We have double-sided cards that we give to people. One side features Oakley (so often the stimulus for many of our conversations), the other has our details. Seeds can be sown at such meetings. We are also in process of designing some fliers that we can hand out to people, leave in churches we visit, etc.

Although the canals are supposed to be relaxing, we have ended up with a fairly busy schedule this year. Having been in the London area for so long, we are therefore enjoying some rural respite from the city on the River Lee in Stratford as we finish this first mailing, with the intention to cruise the entire length, along with the River Stort, before heading back to Little Venice for the Canalway Cavalcade over the Bank Holiday weekend 2-4 May.
If you are free, and can get to Paddington, London, then why not come to the Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice? One of the first events of the season, there is a colourful array of boats old and new, a carnival atmosphere, with parades of decorated/illuminated boats, boat handling competitions, etc. Admission is free.

We shall be there, moored at Delemere Terrace, so do please come and say hello if you can - why not join us for a cuppa?
Crick Boat Show logo
Our next event will be the Crick Boat Show, where we shall fulfil our usual duties on the Boaters' Christian Fellowship stand (KF1). We will also be putting on a service on the Sunday morning - in the bar!

In addition, this year Tracey will be delivering two seminars (one Saturday, one Sunday) following on from the article in Waterways World Magazine (November 2014).

The Crick Boat Show is arguably the biggest commercial event on the boating calendar - the boating equivalent of the Ideal Home Exhibition. Many thousands of visitors attend each year to explore everything boaty, from brand new boats and all the bits and bobs associated with boating, plus endless entertainment, food and drink. Crick also has a bit of a reputation for rain (and, of course, acres of mud)!
In July, Tracey (and Oakley) are doing a sponsored walk from Bath to Reading along the towpath of the Kennet & Avon Canal, raising funds for (and awareness of) Guide Dogs.

Our target is £5,000 to sponsor a Guide Dog puppy. So far, almost £1,100 has been donated, which is a wonderful start. If you have already sponsored Tracey, then thank you very much. If you haven't, then please do consider giving to this wonderful life-changing cause.

Please click on the link below for further information or to sponsor Tracey:

www.justgiving.com/tracey-clarke2

PRAYER POINTERS


Please pray for:
 
  • Ron, an acquaintance, who is battling alcohol and depression, and desperately seeking the "something" that he acknowledges is missing from his life.
     
  • Tracey, as she takes her seminars at Crick - for inspiration and guidance, plus good attendance.
     
  • Good weather for Crick!
     
  • Plenty of opportunities, both at events and generally, to talk with people and spread the Gospel.
     
  • The opportunities for us to talk at churches (and elsewhere) as we travel.
     
  • The work of Canal Ministries as a whole.
     
  • That God will continue to guide our path, and lead us where He wants us to go.
For more information on Canal Ministries, please click here:
www.canalministries.org.uk

T
o donate to the work of Canal Ministries, please click on the link below:


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