Winter Newsletter 2018

A message from our Chairman

As we draw into the winter months. I look back over 2018 and thank God for his provision. We have seen the Chaplaincy work at KEVI continue to develop and celebrate the fact that Nick has now been in role for 3 years. Last week I met the new head teacher and had a really positive conversation about the value they see in the role of chaplain in school. Along with chaplaincy work being carried out in the 6^th form it’s an exciting time for our schools work.
We also celebrated another successful year for Lifepath and with the extra day saw even more children and support staff. Our volunteer base has grown drawing in even more local churches which is amazing.
We have also seen two new trustees join us Jason Underhill from New Life and John Cooper from the Baptist church which is fantastic.
We have a few challenges this year. The first is how we can continue to sustain such amazing work.
We have been fortunate over the past three years that we have managed to keep the show on the road with very little grant funding but we are now looking at trying to ensure the longevity of our workers by seek some long-term grants so please do pray for us.
Please also pray for Lindsey as she does sterling work keeping everything in order, for Kirstine as she heads up our first school work, for Val and Emily who also play a significant part in our volunteer work all of whom we would struggle to do so much.
Please do hold the trustees in your prayers for the coming year.

Again many thanks. G Bless Simon (Chair)

Update from Kirstine

The autumn is almost over and Christmas is coming – it is time to reflect a little on the last terms work. I had a slow start – they schools aren’t interested in seeing me during the first month – but since then I have been busy.
The first half term I did a Thank you meal for the Lifepath volunteers, held out first “Core Team” meeting for Lifepath 2019 (June 24^th – 28^th) and met with Val to discuss Christmas. I led worship in 7 schools, 5 of them on the theme of harvest using “Hovis” which means “The strength of Man”, and tying it into Jesus saying he was the Bread of Life.
This half term I have 2 lunch clubs a week, a Messy Church and a Christingle service to plan / help at. I also have done or have planned 8 assemblies on Friendship, using an interactive version of the Good Samaritan, 1 on Bible Aerobics and 4 on Christmas, using the Bible Societies video about the “Noisy Neighbour”!
You can look up all my bookings on the regularly updated website – I have added a calendar page and so you can pray for the schools we are working in. Please take a look!

Update – I was in a Church school today talking about Christmas. It was my first one this year on Christmas and I dressed up with all the festive trimmings, Rudolph jumper, Santa hat etc. and talked about how that is what Christmas was about – or was it? I then used the Bible Society video “The Mystery of the Noisy Neighbour” and it talks about Jesus being “Emmanuel- God with Us”, “Rescuer” and “King”. I then spoke about “God with Us”, the amazing things that Jesus did, the “Rescuer” was about Easter and the “King” about the Future in Heaven. One boy, about 7, asked why did Jesus die at Easter? And I was able to spend a minute or so talking about the fact that our actions have consequences (a big theme in school these days) and so we should be punished but , in fact, Jesus took our punishment .
Please pray that these basic truths help some children to think on God and discover Him for themselves.

Update from Nick Rowark—Chaplain

Since our last newsletter, my work as Chaplain to 3 Rivers Trust has continued to grow and bear fruit. I am busier than ever at all four schools, primarily with general chaplaincy and (at the time of writing) 34 one to one appointments with pupils and 3 with members of staff.
My work with pupils transitioning up to King Edward VI in Morpeth has gone well this term with most of those under my care settling in well - they have even got used to their new blazers!
Kirstine and I have continued our mini roadshow going around and updating churches on the work of MTT. If you can open any doors for us so we can spread the word even further, please be in touch.
The recently formed Christian Union which meets in KEVI at 3.30pm each Wednesday has established itself now and usually sees around 7 pupils coming along.
Please spread the word about this important group which offers encouragement to our Christian youngsters.
This years KEVI Commemoration service was more fun than ever and I shared some memories of my time in high school where naughty students were offered the Cane, the Slipper or the Mystery Object. No-one (including myself), to my knowledge ever chose the Mystery Object as they were too scared of what it could be. Many years later I managed to find out what it was…..Forgiveness! All we had to do was to risk asking. Isn’t there a familiar message in their somewhere?
Once again I ran the Newminister Middle School Remembrance service at the War Memorial and led an assembly on 'Service & Sacrifice’ at Rothbury.
With Christmas approaching I’ll also be busy leading Advent assemblies and attending some lovely Carol services and performances; turkey and mince pies might feature as well.
As 2019 will be upon us before we know it, please continue to pray for Chaplaincy across our schools.

A message from Liquid!
By Emily
This term at liquid we have been pleased to have the young people from Mitford join us; we have been enjoying cafe style worship and meeting new people. We are blessed with an amazing group of volunteers and are especially thankful for our musicians who come and lead worship each month!
We are looking for a team of people who would give 20 minutes before and after liquid to move pews; this valuable task is currently being undertaken by the team however this is becoming increasingly difficult.
Many of the young people have also been doing an alpha which it being ran by MTT in conjunction with Morpeth parish and Mitford parish. This has been a great time of food, friends and faith. We are delighted we have around 25 young people involved in the youth Alpha.
Liquid is gradually growing and we are excited about the future of this event.
In the next term we are hoping to raise some liquid grown young people to speak at events, equipping young people to lead youth events.
We will be meeting on the third Sunday of the month each month excluding April and August. Please note change of date and venue for December liquid which will be held on the 9th at St Aidan’s Church.
As always please do pray for the team and young people and get in touch for further information.
Thank you for your continued support,
Emily Gibson
If you would like more information
please contact Emily at emilygibsonoxygen@gmail.com OR 07713474443

Message from Val: It’s been a busy 6 months for me. After Lifepath, where this year for the first time I helped with the drama on the last day, there was a summer full of camps and I again helped with the SU camp Scoughall Challenge, based at Scripture Union Scotland’s campsite between Dunbar and North Berwick. We were blessed with great weather and the young people had great fun exploring the site and walking and worshipping on the beach.
This autumn term, as well as helping Emily with Liquid, I have been to both Chantry in Morpeth and Richard Coates in Ponteland to lead collective worship. I also took my friends Andrey and Natasha, from Ukraine to meet some of the Year 8s at Chantry, where we are hoping to set up links between Chantry and schools in Pereyaslav in Ukraine where Andrey is a church pastor.
There was a special act of collective worship at Chantry for the Commemoration of 100 Years since the Armistice was signed and some of the students read poems they had written about World War 1. I was impressed with how attentive and respectful the whole school were during this time.
As for the future – Chantry school year 5s are coming to church this year for their Christingle service, Christmas Liquid is just round the corner and I’m thinking and praying about another trip to Ukraine in 2019 – probably in June to work with Open Bible doing school camps at the beginning of their summer holidays.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your support.
We value every prayer, every minute of time and every penny that we receive.
We work hard to try and make the best use of all we have for the Glory of God.
If you would like any further information or if you would like to see a copy of examined accounts please do not hesitate to contact us at Mustard Tree Trust, Wellwood House, Morpeth, NE61 1SU (answerphone- 01670511001/ Kirstine - 07783 569259) or email info@mustardtreetrust.org Smiles Lindsey

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