BENEFICE VISION WORKSHOP
Saturday, 15th June at ASK from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm.
Please join us for the "Benefice Vision Workshop" on Saturday, June 15th, at All Saints Kesgrave from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Refreshments will be served from 9am.
"Benefice Vision Workshop"—a sort of Away Day meeting led by Archdeacon Rich, where we can discuss our visions for the future. We aim to explore how we see in our Benefice, what we can do to help, what’s important for you to see the church do in the community, and how we meet the Church of England's mission of growing our church younger.
Please pray for the workshop that we are able to listen to the Holy Spirit and God's plans for our church in the community and the future decision-making for the benefice.
If you cannot attend the meeting, please email us at and we will forward them to AD Rich or please email Archdeacon Rich directly at with your visions for the way forward, what church services are important to you, and how you would like to see our benefice develop. Hearing from all of you would be incredibly helpful.
Many thanks,
The Ministry Team
ORWELL WALK
JUNE 23RD 2024
(Advance Notice)
As part of the Fundraising this year I will be attempting to take part in the Orwell Walk yet again!
This is a once-a-year chance to access wide areas of the beautiful Orwell Estuary with the support of checkpoints, signage and a lift back to HQ (Gainsborough Sports Centre) if needed. Participants can walk or run between 3 - 25 miles, with the option of a validated trail marathon, half marathon or ultra marathon.
The annual event is organised by the Rotary Club of Ipswich East and further details are available here https://www.ipswicheastrotaryclub.co.uk/
The adult entry fee for walkers is £18.00, £8 for children, discounts for Family. All sponsorship money goes to the charity of your choice - (All Saints Kesgrave in my case)
Sally Wainman
MOTHERS’ UNION
Our next meeting will be the summer outing on Tuesday 25 June at
2.15pm
After our successful afternoon last year, we are planning to return to Notcutts for tea and scones.
We welcome visitors to our meetings.
Jenny Billinge
Secretary
SILVER GROUPS
We welcome anybody who wishes to come to the Silver
events. There’s always a good variety of food to enjoy with tea, coffee,
chocolate, and sometimes squash.
The Screen is in the hall, and the Games are in the church. When you turn up you can be assured of a warm
welcome.
The next sessions of Silver Screen are on
Mondays 3rd and 17th
June 2024 at the Church Hall, 2pm-4pm.
Seeing
so many people get so much out of those sessions has been a pleasure.
Following the screening, we have a short talk.
Come along for an enjoyable afternoon and companionship.
The next sessions of Silver Games are on
Mondays 10th and 24th June 2024 at the Church,
2pm-4pm.
Come
and enjoy playing the old fashioned and some modern games such as Up-Words,
Scrabble, Mexican Train, Uno, Rummikub and Scrabble. Even if you don’t play
board games you will be welcome to just come along and sit with our regulars
and have a chat.
For more details contact
Chris or Mike Bryer 01473 611143
F.I.G FAMILY SERVICE
Last Sunday, our F.I.G. Family Service was back! We learned about Pentecost, sang, danced, played musical instruments, and enjoyed many themed activities. Thank you so much to Sally, and everyone who participated, and provided technical support. Especially thanks to Gabby for doing the reading and Jess for writing beautiful prayers.
It was a joy to see Jorge, Erika, Gabby, and little George after they had moved. Seeing the children dancing truly warmed our hearts. Here are some snaps from the service. It’s a shame we can’t include a video in the newsletter to show adorably cute George’s first dances. ❤❤❤
Our next
F.I.G. Family Service will be on Father’s Day, 16th June, following breakfast at the hall. We are very
grateful to Daphne Rayment and her hardworking breakfast team for their
tireless efforts. Last Sunday, she
also baked the yummiest cheese melts! I hope she didn’t count how many I’ve
had! There have been numerous comments that sausage rolls at home never taste
as nice as the ladies at the breakfast special can cook.
It is certainly the children's favourite Sunday (the 3rd Sunday of the month)
where they can indulge in a delicious breakfast, shared with the church family,
take part in an informal service, and burn off their energy with a game of soft
football.
Many thanks to our Ministry team for their support and the hard work they have been doing to provide various services.
KESGRAVE UKRAINE HUB
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, our church was one of the first to respond to the growing need for help. The Ukrainian flag above our church symbolises our ongoing prayers to God for the people of Ukraine, and we continue to pray endlessly at each church service.
All Saints Kesgrave opened the first Ukraine Hub in Suffolk with the support of our church family and volunteers, and through the hard work and dedication of Helen Wittgreffe and Catherine Thomber. Together, we found and liaised with hosts, secured homes for Ukrainians, provided English language classes, fundraised, collaborated with Together For Ipswich, Ipswich Museum, and the Hold. We hosted meetings for our Ukrainian community, helped Ukrainians move into their own rented properties, and found furniture and various supplies. The list of our activities is endless. We could not have achieved this without the amazing prayers and support of our church family, so thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!
As a Ukraine Hub, we continue to have our monthly gatherings. However, since many of our Ukrainian friends either moved to another home or returned to Ukraine due to homesickness, our Ukrainian community in Kesgrave is considerably smaller. We do still stay in touch with those, who went back to Ukraine. We also have always maintained close links with the Woodbridge Ukrainian community, so in the New Year, we decided to join the two hubs and alternate our meetings. Last Saturday, we held our gathering at Fred Upson Hall, had lunch, enjoyed a lovely chat together, and planned our next fundraising event to support the people in the villages very close to the front line in Ukraine. These villagers are almost cut off from normal life and heavily rely on supplies delivered by volunteers who risk their lives daily.
We often
ask why these people still live there and why they don’t escape to safer territories in Ukraine.
You’ll hear different stories: some have disabled relatives who cannot
evacuate, and some older people are reluctant
to leave the land where they were born and lived all their lives, feeling they
would betray their ancestral home and land. Some have many animals and pets to
look after and can’t bear to leave them, including pets whose owners have already
evacuated. It’s a perilous existence,
akin to russian roulette, as you never know whose house will be hit by a
missile or its debris. The volunteer we aim to support is a Ukrainian Christian
Olesya Medvid, whose church family gathers, prepares, and delivers supplies to
these dangerous areas.
Our meetings often carry the weight of heavy hearts, filled with pain for our
beloved Ukraine. However, our aim is also to bring smiles, hope, normality, and
positivity to our Ukrainian friends, especially the children who miss their homes and loved
ones in Ukraine. Most of them attend two schools: the local English school
daily and the Ukrainian online school, full of exams and checks, especially
this month. Because Ukrainian education differs significantly from the one
here, mothers hoping to return home in the near future, need their children to
have Ukrainian education and test certificates to avoid missing out on these
two years. Amidst all this, the kids are eager to play together and engage in art and crafts activities. This
time, we painted ceramic saucers.
In previous newsletters, we have always updated you on David’s work. Last Monday, he took another load of medical equipment in a 'John Grose' free-loaned Luton van, including living aids donated by 'Medequip,' to the Ukrainian warehouse in London with his friend Andrew. We praise God for all the provisions that are so needed in Ukraine and received by grateful recipients!
With the help of the people of Suffolk, David has already purchased another 4x4 vehicle and is getting ready for his next trip to Ukraine. Our sincere thanks, and on behalf of the Ukrainian recipients, to all who help in any way and for all your prayers.