Thy kingdom come

This coming Sunday, 19th October, Alun and Nathan are looking at the Lord's Prayer, part II: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

The Sunday meeting starts at 11 o'clock, Linden time, and lunch is provided for students afterwards.

Having a laugh!

Don't forget the Comedy Night with a difference at the Ostreme Centre on 7th November from 7.30 pm. It's comedy with a fairtrade emphasis, featuring Just Fair Laughs - and definitely not Mr Chris Morecambe and Mr Alun Wise. Tickets, £5, can be reserved in advance by phoning the Linden office on 01792 403777. Limited seating so book yours now.

Love146.org

In November, Glenn Miles, the Director of Prevention for Love146, and Jamie Sampson, a videographer, both members of Linden Church in Swansea, UK will be visiting India to research the situation of a minority group called the hijira.

The hijira were traditionally the eunuchs of the maharajas but more recently they live together in communities where they are more often than not rejected and despised by the wider community. They wear saris and often prostitute themselves in order to get money to survive.

The way boys enter the hijira communities is not clear and this is partly what the research is about.

Glenn and Jamie are hoping to meet and interview hijira adults to understand how they became hijira, to interview at risk children to understand what may be drawing them in and to interview the public and Christian leaders to understand their attitudes and prejudices.

At the end of the 2 weeks they hope to have sufficient material to formulate the basis of a research project and a short documentary. This material will in turn be used to raise awareness about the issues of concern, encourage further action and perhaps lay the foundation of a project to work with potential hijira boys.

They are working with three partners on this project; IMCARES in Mumbai, Viva in Delhi and SISU in Hyderabad.

For more information about this project contact Glenn Miles glenn@love146.org and for more info on Love146 check out the website www.Love146.org

What if ...?

Writers' group this week was set the task of considering 'What if ...?' The responses were varied, and each good in its own way but Glenn's was particularly challenging.

What if...?
What if...?
One Sunday,
at Church,
we all had to do the opposite of what we normally do?
(I don’t just mean Chris and Jamie wearing trousers.)
What if...?
One day we sat and didn’t sing worship songs
And we didn’t listen to someone speaking
And we didn’t have any notices
But we sat and listened to God.
Would we hear Him?
What would He say?
Or would we fidget and squirm because we didn’t like the quiet?
And
What if...?
We listened to each other
To the things that really mattered
Not all introspective
But looking into transparent and open hearts.
And
What if...?
We told each other how much we appreciated each other
And what each other’s gifts were
And what we thought God could do through ordinary people like us
And
What if...?
as a result we changed the world?
And
What if...?
We did it next week?

A new academic year!

Sorry for the gap in posting - life in Linden has been a bit hectic (and I've been on holiday!!)

A big welcome to any new students who've joined us this year. We hope you will be blessed by God and us! If you're a fresher and you've not yet visited Linden, check out our new super-whizzo website to find out more about us.

So what's new?

We're just starting a new Sunday morning teaching series looking at the Lord's Prayer. This coming Sunday, 12th October, Chris Matthews, (left) chef and one of Linden's leaders, and Tim Oakes, (below) a trainee-leader, will be speaking on 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.'

We have a Fairtrade stall in church every Sunday morning providing basics and some extras (including Christmas cards and scarves) and next Saturday, we're taking the stall to the Local Produce Market in Mumbles from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm - but get there early because food sells out rapidly. nearly as quickly as the free samples disappear! The market takes place in the car park just at the entrance to Oystermouth village.

Still on the Fairtrade theme, in November we're hosting a Comedy Night. What has comedy to do with Fairtrade I hear you asking? (You didn't? It must have been the little voices again.) Well, the comedians appearing are part of Just Fair Laughs, a fair trade comedy movement. Come along on the night and I'm sure all will become clear. Tickets £5 and limited so get yours soon!

Oh yes and it happens at Ostreme Centre, Mumbles, from 7.30 pm on 7th November.