Route One Bus: Half Term Update Nov 2010

St Saviours – Christ Our Light Mission
We spent a whole day with St Saviours Church with the bus being open to visitors through the day and then for teenagers attending an event in the evening. We had a steady flow of people on the bus through the day and there were some great conversations going on. The evening event went really well with the bus being well used for discussions on faith. What was really encouraging for me was to see the folks from the church so involved in conversations and excited about it.
Rev Louise Williams writes-

"Thank you so much for supporting our mission week on Tuesday with the provision of the Route One bus. We were absolutely thrilled to see that all the youngsters in the evening went on the bus – and of their own accord – that was very encouraging. Thank you also for the training which you provided – we all found that most helpful."

YMCA visit @ Leigh Road Baptist Church
A group from Southend YMCA came to visit us at Leigh Rd Baptist Church. The evening was designed to communicate both the message of Christianity and what church is. The bus worked really well as the venue for the “message” part of this while a tour of the church building provided a fitting environment to talk about Church. David Elcock and a group of young people from the church did a great job of communicating their faith both on the bus and in the building. Below is a comment from David about the event.

"Thank you so much for bringing the bus over to LRBC on Thursday for the YMCA event. It is such a fantastic resource and the way that it engages not only the onlooker but also equips the young people to speak about and expand upon the Bible is so great."

Route One Update September 2010

Hello and welcome to the Route One September update. Please take a few minutes to read this update and pray for the events which are coming up. One thing we can be sure of is that prayer is key to everything we do. 

Will you join with us to see the church in our area impact the communities around us?

Below - information is in red, requests for your involvement are in blue and prayer requests are in green

The Bus at Westcliff Free Church

The bus will be parked on the London Road outside Westcliff Free Church from 6pm – 8pm on Saturday the 25th of September. This will be followed by a concert in the church building with the band Taste. Simon will also be speaking at the church on the following morning.

The Saturday event is for young people but open to all. We are putting together a small team to work on the bus at the event (contact Lisa lisafordr1@googlemail.com  if you would like to be involved.) We have already done the training for this event so people who have already worked on Route One would be preferable. But please feel free to use this opportunity to come and see the bus for yourself if you haven’t already.

Please pray for a good turnout for this event. It’s a great opportunity for young people to invite their friends and it would be good to see a mixture of Christian and non Christians coming on the bus.

Christ Our Light mission with St Saviours

St Saviours Westcliff are running a mission week from Sunday 24th – 31st October see- www.christourlight2010.com . As a part of this mission we will be taking the bus along on Tuesday 26th October for the whole day 10am – 9.30pm

In the morning we will be running activities for younger children and also for their parents. In the afternoon the bus will be open to everyone to come and explore and the evening is for teenagers with activities running both in the church building and on the bus.

Please consider getting involved with this day. We already have people signed up from St Saviours but the church are happy for us to add others to this team. Training will take place on the evening of Thursday 21st October at St Saviours. Again please contact Lisa lisafordr1@googlemail.com  if you would like to be involved. 

This will also be another opportunity to see the bus and the exhibition so feel free to come down in the afternoon. We will be positioned on Kings Road outside the St Saviours church.

Please pray for the whole week that it will be successful in connecting with the local community and the church will see loads of folk come along to all the activities. Please pray for the activities on the bus and for life changing conversations with folks.

We also have other events in the pipeline so keep an eye on the website. Please pray for more doors to open into schools and for churches be able to grow their relationships and involvement in local secondary schools.

Thank you for your support and prayers. We also pray for you as part of the church in South East Essex that whenever you open your mouth, words may be given you so that you will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel  (taken from Ephesians 6:19)

Simon Ford   
07534 904488
simon@routeone.org.uk    
www.routeone.org.uk

Help get Delirious? To number 1 in the charts this Easter

Artist: Delirious?
Single: HistoryMaker
Date: Available 28th March to 3rd April
Format: Download only

Delirious? In The Charts... Right Now!

Whoever said that Facebook was a waste of time? A couple of months ago a whole bunch of Delirious? fans started talking about how great it would be if this Easter there could be a song up there in the charts that raised the flag for faith in Jesus. They asked us to help out, and right now the charts are buzzing with the sight of HistoryMaker heading up there.

So far HistoryMakers - the single is up at number 6 in the charts. If we spread the word who knows where it'll be by the time we're at Easter Saturday?

Delirious? will be donating their profits from the UK single downloads to Compassionart projects that bring relief from poverty where it is needed most.

With the original studio version and a live take recorded at the band's final gig last November, there's still time to buy one - or both. They're just 79p, and iTunes is ready to take your order.

Studio version:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/history-makers-single/id362290577

Live version:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/history-makers-live/id362290374

Route One Update Feb 2010

Here is an update of all that’s happening with Route One

This month we have some GOOD NEWS and some GREAT NEWS so be encouraged as you read on-

First the Great News 

I know many of you have been praying for us especially for a release of finances so that we can grow the project and run it to a high standard. Our story is one of amazing breakthrough moments when the seemingly impossible has suddenly come into being. 

I remember the moment I heard we had been given a bus and the day one gift was given enabling us to pay for the bodywork of the bus to be completely overhauled. 

I also recall prophetic words which were spoken- at one church an offering was taken for Route One and a word was spoken that this gift would be multiplied 100 fold. The offering amount was £500 which x100 = £50,000 which was of course the amount we needed to launch the project. Once we had counted the offering and done the maths it made faith rise in us and within a year the money had come in and the project was up and running.

Back in October a different group of people took up another offering which also came to £500. Again a word was given this time the person saw that God was writing us a blank cheque. To explain how this word is now being fulfilled we have to back up a bit. 

Back in the summer of 2009 Rev Stuart Kimber helped us put together an application for funding from the Anglican Churches Mission Opportunity Fund. Our application was for a 3 year grant which would significantly help towards a full time salary and office expenses. During the autumn we heard that some of the money allocated to this fund may have to been pulled out to meet shortfall in other areas. However we have just heard in the last week that our application has been successful and they are now asking us exactly how much we need!! Sounds almost like a blank cheque situation doesn’t it *Praise God*. Whilst not being greedy we have communicated back what we need and we now wait to hear their response. (Please Pray)

This is great news indeed enabling the mystery of the Gospel to be revealed to many thousands of people over the next 3 years and beyond.

Thank you for your prayers, your devotion and your gifts all of which have made you a part of this amazing story. 

And now the Good News

We will be taking the bus into Shoebury High School alongside Life in Abundance in the last week of March. 

During this week we will take lessons on the bus with between 400 and 500 students, take assemblies for the whole of years 7, 8, 9 and 10 and also give the opportunity for anyone who doesn’t have a lesson on the bus to come on at lunchtime. We are currently developing material around the subject of You are Unique and the lessons will include videos, group discussion and an interactive treasure hunt activity around the exhibition.

Please pray for this week that it will go smoothly and that we are a blessing to the school.

Thanks again for all you support 

Simon Ford  & The Route One Team

07534 904488
simon@routeone.org.uk    
www.routeone.org.uk

Event for Valentines Day: Golddigger Band Youth Event

refresh bi-monthly youth service presents the band

Golddigger
live at Leigh Road Baptist Church, Marguerite Drive, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1NN
Sunday 14 February 2010 > Doors open 6pm > Cost: Free
followed by the Chill-Out Café & Sports until 9pm
More info call: 01702 478698 > andy.warner@lrbc.org.uk