The Ecogen Youth team have been busy this term as they continue to sell products each month as part of the refillable stations project. The Youth also had a memorable trip this term where Hannah and the team took 24 from Gateway Youth and Chillzone to Laser Zone!
Our Autumn Alpha course has now finished with a group completing the 8 week series where they had chance to explore the basics of the Christian faith. A BIG thank you to John and Jenny Nelson and their lifegroup who ran the course and to Andrew McBean and our new catering team.
Our Fuel Bank which runs out of Gateway on a Tuesday and Wednesday morning has this term exploded with new customers. David and Hannah who head this up have done an amazing job at blessing so many families and individuals who are struggling to pay their fuel bills.
Tim Wyatt hosted a very special Ukraine support evening in November ‘Our Journey with Ukraine’ where a number from Gateway had the privilege of meeting Moses and Helena who help lead the church we are connected with there. They were visibly moved during the call and their passion and story was so faith building and inspiring for everyone there. A massive well done to Tim and John who have not given up giving ongoing prayer support each week which is evident of the Holy Spirit at work and a fulfilment of the prophetic word of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters putting spiritual steel into us.
The Grounds project team persevered through the cold weather this month and are still making amazing progress; we now have 5 raised beds ready for the spring planting.
Chris was out and about this month visiting Freedom Church in Chester where it was a JOY for him to recognise Matt Banks as a new elder there and hear about all the amazing Kingdom works the church is involved in. He also joined a Strings of life Gathering at St Mark’s along with John and Lesley to extend our unity and fellowship with them.
The Advent mini-series took place in the run up to Christmas and we have been blessed by taking time this year to reflect on the true meaning of Advent. Chris Boxall spoke for one of these weeks and gave a moving and emotional personal testimony acknowledging the pain many feel at this time of year but also pointing us to Hope we can find in Jesus. Thank you Chris for your honesty and heart for others.
The Student team held a Christmas party last week which from this photo looks like they had a very enjoyable time together!
Our Woodhouse Winter Wonderland was such an amazing community event last Saturday! We had over 100 guests and it was wonderful to see many people who aren’t Gateway regulars coming into St Mark’s to celebrate and have fun with our church family, especially the ACTUAL wonder on some of the little kids’ faces when they saw the room set up, the bouncy castle and the chance to see Santa! A huge thank you to David Cole, Amy Sprenger, Hannah Clark, Bethan Green and Sarah Woodger from the staff team, who did loads (above and beyond their “normal” jobs) in the lead up to Saturday behind the scenes to prepare and promote. And also so many of you from our church community who made such a fantastic volunteering team.
