A busy summer

Playscheme is underway here in Linden for the next two weeks.

Loads of fun and games for primary school kids.

10 am - 12 noon and 1 pm - 3 pm

And that's not all!

The Community Cafe is on at Red now and for the next five weeks.

Yummy snacks, cake and coffee in a very child-friendly atmosphere (lots of toys and space to play!)

11 am -4 pm Monday to Saturday

Meanwhile life goes on at Linden.

Next Sunday, 5th August, we have a guest speaker, Ntai Pheko, from Lesotho, who’ll be talking about the raising of the widow's son, from Luke 7: 11-17.

Let the little children come to me

From Little Ones to Big Ones, we've got them all on Sunday mornings at Linden. The numbers have been increasing and we're bursting out of the building!

Chris wrote this for the Notices.

Blessing
One of the most moving traditions around the Hebrew Sabbath is the blessing of children each Friday night. There are lots of possible variations but the most common practice is for the father to put his hands on the child's head and recite the blessing.

Sometimes the blessing is followed by a kiss or by personal words of praise.

In some homes the mother gives the blessing together with the father and in other homes the mother gives the blessing in addition to the father. Sometimes the mother gives the blessing instead of the father.

In some homes each child gets up at the table and stands before the parent to receive the blessing, and in other homes the parent walks around the table and blesses each seated child.

One thing is sure - however a particular family does it - this sort of tradition of blessing is a powerful way of helping the child feel special and loved!

A month or so ago we took time to pray blessing over the younger children and babies at Linden – and there are lots of them. We had some stunning photographs up on the screen as we prayed God’s protection and blessing over their lives.

And it’s fantastic to have so many babies and children at Linden – and they keep coming! We really do see this as the blessing of God amongst us.

But with blessing comes responsibility – to pray, to care, to nurture and support. And this is a real challenge, for in and around Linden each week there at more than 100 children and young people who we believe God is asking us to ‘bless’. And that is best expressed in practical ways by being involved. And we really do need more people to be involved. Why not find out how you might be able to help?

Our prayer is that God would enable Linden to be a great community in which to grow up. A place where young lives are invested in and self-esteem is encouraged; where faith is nurtured and love never fails.

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This Sunday Chris is saying, 'Enough!' But I don't think he's referring to young people! If you're in the area, call in and find out what he is talking about. The meeting starts at 11 ... -ish (We started starting promptly at 11 and we're still not doing too badly at it ...)

Next Sunday, one of our old students, Sheron Green, is paying us a visit and will be telling us about her Adventures in Kenya.

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Alun and Dave have now completed two weeks of their four week tour of primary schools with their play, 'Don't waste it!' They're visiting 27 schools in that time, and the strain of working for two hours a day is telling on them.