Through the year, the Missions Group raises funds for our 3 'link' partners. In addition, the PCC allocates a percentage of a portion of its income as funds for 'Charitable Giving' from which the Missions Group distribute to the link partners......

• Burundi (via our Mission Partner, Alison and Paul Guinness)
• Family Support Work
• Friends of Mombasa Children

The Bible Society and The Children's Society also benefit from plate collections taken at one or other of the Christmas services.

A brief description of all the above follows . . . . . .

                                       NEWSLETTER May 2019

Dear Friends,

Paul writes: Walking down the corridor past Urgence (A&E) brings on strong memories for me.  On this occasion we were departing as we’re discharged from hospital.  Just 2 days’ ago I came down here with Grace and Jeremy in their pushchair.  I was entertaining them.  I was feeling a bit better, but I was still dressed in my hospital dressing grown with a drip connected in my arm.  We wandered downstairs and found some interesting generators to look at and a place where they’re digging up the cobbles.  Two days’ before that, I’d been coming in through A&E.  That feels like months’ ago.  I was dazed and though I didn’t realise it, I was very unwell.  They brought me up to this room that now has become a little home to us and I was on my own for two lonely nights before Alison was also hospitalised.  As fever came over me and hot sweats and cold shivers, it was hard to know exactly what was happening.  Trying to communicate in French and broken English left a lot of confusions.  We had some great doctors helping us but there were certainly times when I wasn’t sure what was happening.  God has been near us.  It has been a reminder of how much we depend on our community here and our friends.  Praise God for all that He’s done and all whom He’s brought alongside us: both those communicating from afar and those who’ve visited with help.  Many thanks for your prayers.
 
Alison writes: I am still in shock that Paul, Grace and I have had malaria, having personally never had it.  We think the mosquito net was poorly fitting where we went on holiday after Easter.  One friend reminded us of the power of mosquitoes through Anita Roddick’s quote, “if you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito!”  Earlier last week we thought Paul simply had a common cold but with a rather strong fever.  As the week progressed and we both developed fevers we realised it was possibly malaria.  The key with malaria is to treat quickly and I think we delayed the process somewhat by not getting tested more quickly.  We are so thankful that Grace was asymptomatic with a different strain from ours as we were both very unwell.  Initially I was treated orally at home until it became unsustainable.  For me the greatest challenge was not being unwell but being responsible for Jeremy and Grace at the same time, without any family nearby.  We are hugely grateful to local friends here who helped entertain Jeremy and are thrilled that Paul’s mother, Liz, offered to come and help us whilst we recover.  With her emergency visa granted, Liz should arrive on Saturday morning to stay for 4 weeks during which time we’ll celebrate her 79^th birthday and Grace’s 1^st.
 
Please pray for our ongoing recovery.  Our blood cells have been shot through by the plasmodium and it takes up to 3 months for your blood to be fully renewed.  We hope that by having Liz with us it’ll allow us to rest a little and to return to work gently with the ease of Jeremy having some attention.  In all of this we give God thanks for His hand of protection on us and the many ways in which He showed His love.  Perhaps most touching was when our doctor brought his little children in one evening and they put crosses on our foreheads and blessed us.

Alison & Paul, May 2109

The May bulletin contains news of ........ 

Dalesdown | Easter Walk | South of England Show | Press Start 2 Join |

                      FSW in action | Foodbank | AGM | Events

View the bulletin in your browser by clicking on this link(https://mailchi.mp/a71e40a6573e/fsw-mar19-3465225?e=9ccc8526a2)

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Please come to our stand at Rustington Street Fayre on Saturday, 8th June.  For more information please see the News Sheet for 2nd June. 

SOME BACKGROUND NOTES.......

The Children’s Society has been supported by St. Peter and St. Paul since the time when there were two children’s homes here in Rustington - Fairlight on the Worthing Road and Carruthers Corfield House in Shaftesbury Road. Members of the church, who formed House Committees, visited these homes regularly. Fund-raising events were held to provide treats for the children.This continued until the early eighties when the homes closed and the charity started to focus on community care.

Minutes of a meeting held in 1980 record that although the local homes had closed, the “Appeal’s Committee” would continue to support the Society as it worked to help vulnerable children.

The Children's Society "Rustington Support Group" now hold four fundraising activities each year. The popular "Bake and Brew" Saturday morning events are held in the Spring and Autumn. A dinner or afternoon tea is held in the Summer months and in December the Children's Society host the Christingle Service at our church on a Sunday afternoon and this is always very well attended by children and adults alike. Since 1985, our Support Group in its various forms has raised in excess of £44,505.02 for the Society, and its work for vulnerable children and young people in England and Wales. The Support Group works very closely with the Society and its Relationship Manager for the Dioceses of Chichester, Guildford, Portsmouth and Winchester.  For more information about the work of the Children's Society please take a look at the website. www.childrenssociety.org.uk. Charity Number 221124.
 

                                                                                    Julie Churcher  16/5/19