|
Belonging to a bigger family
Last year Dave and I joined a local church “Kings Church Salisbury”
We often have people asking if they can come to church with us and we wanted to be able to take them somewhere locally, where they would feel comfortable and at home.
The people of Kings church have a “Dream” and part of it is as follows:-
“We have a dream to build a church where the lost, the hurting and the outcast
can first of all belong, find love and forgiveness, be healed and set free……”
and that is exactly what we have found there - a place where anybody can go and feel loved and accepted for who they are. The people we have taken there have been overwhelmed by the love and often come back of their own accord. People need people, that is the way God has made us, and our friends on the street are no different, many of them need people who they can trust, people who will accept them and believe in them.
In January Sharon who has lived in our family project since last September was baptised water.
God has done some amazing things in Sharon’s life, one of which has been re-uniting her with her family.
As Sharon gave her story of how God had turned her life around, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
 |
Last September we were able to set up and run a pilot project called “New Life”. The project enabled us to take people whom we had been working in the community with and offer them a place in a family unity.
The aim of the project was to offer an environment which was safe, and family orientated, to provide a place where a new lifestyle could be developed, without the aid of drugs and alcohol. An environment, where they could find hope for the future.
Sharon was one of our first residents, arriving straight from the local hospital, she had been admitted with a severe Liver disorder, one consultant gave her only three months to live. Weighing only 7st 2lb Sharon joined the family.
T oday eight months later Sharon weighs a healthy 10st …….her faith in God has grown and Sharon says “ I never knew it was possible to be so happy”
Sharon now helps with the work of the charity, she has a real heart for people.
In February Howie joined us. He became a Christian very shortly after he moved in.
Howie moved with us to the country, he has been a real blessing to us, working alongside Dave in the garden, helping to get the vegetables off to a good start, and also working with Dave and another guy to put up fencing around the garden. When Howie first came to us he had very little confidence and had been sleeping rough under a bridge, being homeless often has an adverse effect on peoples lives, both emotionally, mentally and physically. He has been with us for nearly four months and now feels he is ready to have a go at moving forward in his life, his confidence has grown tremendously, and God has begun to restore family relationships in Howies life and although he will be leaving the residential placement shortly he will come back on a day placement basis where we will continue to support him.
Howie leaves a very different person to the one that came to us nearly four months ago he has a spring in his step, and a joy in his heart, that wasn’t there before and he has found hope for the future
 |
The Project moves Forward
At the end of March we moved our “New Life” Project into the country.
A four bedroom bungalow set in 1.5 acres of land. Within two months we had two new residents
The majority of the land is at the back of the bungalow, where we have started to grow organic vegetables, and hopefully later on we will have some chicken of our own too.
The first six weeks of moving into the new premises were particularly amazing and the Lord really blessed us, work that would normally take a few months was done in a matter of weeks. The guys worked really hard on the land, which hadn’t been touched for about 8 years, so there was a lot of work to do. As well as digging, planting etc a rabbit proof fence also had to be erected around the vegetable plots to stop the furry little fella’s from enjoying our veg. Within six weeks we had potatoes growing madly, carrots, onions, garlic, runner beans, French climbing beans, peas etc all planted and showing healthy signs of growth.
 |
Our heart is to see people who are disadvantaged and vulnerable, brought into a family unit, on a residential basis. One of the main things we hear from the people we work with is the lack of something to do during the day, which only exasperates problems of loneliness and feelings of despair and lack of hope and any issues with substance misuse, so we will also be offering two or three places each day for people to come on a daily basis.
During the day they will help with the various areas of work, the organic garden, looking after the various animals, chickens, ducks etc. As we progress there will also be other areas of work introduced for people to become involved in.
Incorporated into the programme will be all the usual help with Life skills etc. We want to encourage people to believe for themselves that there is hope for the future and there is a way to put the past behind them. We have a mighty God who loves us and wants to see people free and living life abundantly.
A static caravan was also purchased for extra bedroom space for people who may need emergency accommodation
We really believe that this is the next step in reaching out to help those with broken lives, many of the people we meet on the streets, need more help and support than we are able to give at the Banquet Run.
 |
Recently we heard that a man had died in Salisbury. We had known Phil (fictitious name) for about two and half years, he used a lot of drugs and alcohol. He came to the Banquet Run quite often to talk with us and for the hot food. About six months ago, he came to us with his partner, she told us that he needed help, when we talked to him, he was weeping saying he couldn’t go on living like he was, he was in a real state, we chatted with him about the Lord, and told him how God could change his life around if he would let Him. We led the man to the Lord, and there was an instant peace about him. We saw him three or four times after that, a couple of times we arranged to pick him and his partner up for church, but for varying reasons they couldn’t make it. (this is quite common when dealing with people with substance misuse problems). Praise God he did make a commitment to the Lord before he died, and that is great, but it would have been even better if we could have helped him move forward in his life, helping him to turn his life around and offering him the opportunity to become part of the local church, where he would have made a new set of friends and would have received further help and support..
The Lord really loves people and wants them to have the abundant Life that is talked about in the scriptures
As it says in Isaiah 61:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from the darkness for the prisoners”
Some people will choose not to change their lifestyle, they may prefer to stay on the road they are already taken, but we want everyone to have the opportunity to change their lives around, as we have so often seen on the streets, there is a choice to make, we want to help people choose LIFE
The Banquet Run
As always the Banquet Run is as busy as ever. We have been very blessed over the last two or three months to have a couple of volunteers helping us out for one or two days a week, plus Sharon who is a resident with us at the Newlife project. Unfortunately one of these volunteers has now moved to London to work.
At one session of the Banquet Run we can feed up to 35 people (last years figures) and there is no reason to believe that this year will be any different. We continue to pray for people if we are asked, and have seen many lives being touched by the Holy Spirit as a result.
Supporting Morning Star.
As the projects grow so does the work load and the finances needed to run the projects.
At present we receive no government funding, and rely totally on people who have heart for people to sponsor the work of the charity. The Lord has been very kind to us and He has never let us down.
If you feel you would like to support the work of Morning Star (Salisbury) please contact us
Below are a few ways in which support would be very much appreciated.
1) Regular financial donations.
A regular gift of £15.00 a month would help us feed a person on the street for one month.
Information on setting up a standing order can be found on the SUPPORT link of this website.
A regular gift of £50.00 a month would help support a person at the New Life Centre for a month.
2) Volunteers for the following areas
Banquet Run:
New Life Project:
Helping with the organic garden, encouraging and mixing with residents and those attending on a daily basis.
Helping with transport for the New Life Project.
Fundraising
We have recently partnered with “easy fundraising” and created a link to their website - So the next time you shop online using any of the 200+ retailers links provided on the easyfundraising website we’ll receive a commission from every purchase you make, but at no extra cost to you.
Anything from 0.5% - 15% will be raised (depending on which retailer you select and what you purchase) and there’s over 25 Categories to choose from including; CDs/DVDs, books, DIY, flights/holidays, electrical, clothing/fashion, computing, broadband, mobiles phones and lots more.
It doesn’t cost a penny extra to shop and raise funds in this way, so if you shop online anyway, why not raise funds for us using this free service. Register before 30 JUNE and there’s a
FREE-TO ENTER competition to win a new CD or DVD collection with a £150 Voucher from CD WOW!
3) Other Ideas
Have you any ideas that would help us to raise the finances needed to bring people into a family and give them the opportunity to find a New Life?. Maybe you would like to take part in a sponsored event, email us here with your ideas.
If you are interested in supporting the work of the charity in any of the above areas or have any ideas of your own please email us
|
