Alpha Equip and Refresh Day
Liverpool, May 2005
In May 2005 some of the pastorate went up to Liverpool to help at an Alpha Equip and Refresh Day. These days are held to encourage local churches with the running of Alpha and to pass on tips and to model Alpha and to equip and refresh those people leading Alpha in the local area.
It was a very successful weekend and below are comments from the members of the pastorate who went and there maybe even a picture or two of the day!
It was such a blessing to be able to go to Liverpool for Equip and Refresh, and such a privilege for me to be invited to pray with people from the churches there. It gave me a glimpse of God's beautiful pattern through the networking of the local churches that our visit facilitated. It's as though God has cast his net over the world. As Christians, we sit as the knots of the net, and the fellowship that we share between us links us together no matter how far apart we are, so we can make sure that not a single soul need ever slip through.
Definitely a highlight. Wonderful to see how God used each member of the group and once again a real practical reminder of how God knows what he's doing and he uses people at exactly the right time. Just being willing to go and be used is the first step and then God steps in and does the rest. So inspiring and humbling to realise just how blessed we are at HTB to be able to have such strong support and encouragement from each other- inspiring to be able to share this with others and to be able to encourage them to continue with their walk - also to be able to be hosted by the church was lovely- for them to welcome us into their homes and then to be able to go to the baptism the next day as well - another reminder of God's faithfulness and no matter where you are God's love and sense of unity is present.
And of course, how could I not mention the social side and adventure! Always wanted to see where the Beatles museum was- got to walk past it- the cathedrals were absolutely beautiful as well - will always remember them- and I will always remember how COLD it was walking along near the sea. And also having a chance to just spend time with people in our pastorate without having to rush off or be in a hurry.
And also for me - it was quite special in that throughout the day I had kept noticing a lady - wondered if I should pray for her at some stage but left it with God etc anyway, it turned out that I was sitting next to her just as Nick finished his talk on the Holy Spirit and suggested we offer prayer for each other etc- so I turned to the lady sitting next to me and asked her if she would like prayer - she then said " Well you know you said you were a dietician…" and she then proceeded to explain a little about a related problem she had and how she had been partially healed previously and was wanting to pray for more healing, so, as I was saying, by just following God he blesses us by using us just as he needs. Also, the rainbow on the way up was special!
All the delegates who attended the Equip and Refresh day at the end of the day.
The pastorate team who came to Liverpool for the Equip and Refresh day.
After the day had finished some of us stayed over in Liverpool for the rest of the weekend. Amongst the highlights of visiting Liverpool was the time we spent looking around the Anglican Cathedral. A massive building and very, very beautiful. Some of the pastorate are standing outside posing in the bitingly cold wind!...