Steet Symphony Essex - Date & Venue Announced

STREET SYMPHONY ESSEX 24 NOVEMBER 2007
The Plaza Centre
600 Southchurch Road
Southend-On-Sea

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STREETS IS WATCHING

More info posted as we have it.

Living in a slum - for a good cause

Tough test - Peter Tryon and Del Thomas want to empathise with the homeless

by Michelle Archard - www.echo-news.co.uk

CHURCH members will be slumming it in a makeshift shelter, with only rice and lentils to eat - all in the name of charity.

For two days and two nights, five members of Southend Christian Fellowship will only have sleeping bags and the clothes they turn up in for warmth.

They will also face a walk to get water and have to carry it back to their slum in buckets.

The only luxuries will be a working toilet and a gas stove to heat their rations - two small meals a day.

Organiser Del Thomas, 25, said the group's rough couple of days were to show what some people had to go through.

He said: "We are doing this to raise awareness of poverty and the conditions at least one billion people worldwide have to endure every day.

"We also want to raise money for them through Soul Action, a Christian charity working with local people in slums in India, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

"I went out to South Africa with the charity in the summer and saw the type of poverty people live in."

Del, a teacher at Temple Sutton Primary, will be joined by youth worker Steve Dalley, 26, teaching assistant Jackie Rossi, 50, Southend High for Girls teacher Peter Tryon, 24, and assistant shop manager Jenn Burry, 20.

The group will arrive at the car park of Izod and Burnips store, in Southchurch Road, Southend, at 4pm on Friday, October 26.

Their first job will be to build a shelter from plastic sheeting and cardboard.

They will stay there until 1pm on Sunday, October 28, when they will host a celebratory lunch for any supporters who turn up.

The team must complete a number of challenges to receive two meals of rice and dhal a day.

However, the rules state if anyone turns up at the slum, the group have to offer them a meal.

This means the food could run out quickly because it is open to the public. Del said: "It will be really tough. We could end up very hungry by Sunday. The kebab shop just a short distance away will prove quite temping, I'm sure. But to live as poor people do, we must resist."

The event is being supported by Love Southend and local churches.

People can donate money to the project by clicking the Just Giving link below.

http://www.justgiving.com/delthomas

Out of the Box this Sunday

Hi Guys,

Just a very quick e-mail to let you know that “Out of the Box”, Love Southend Youth’s monthly youth celebration is taking place this Sunday (16^th October) @ Christchurch, The Christ Church Centre 56 Colbert Avenue (at junction with Warwick Road) SS1 3BP 01702 588468.

It starts at 7.45pm and finishes for 9.15pm. The celebration will have a Christmas-y theme and will offer a chance to worship, pray and socialise together whilst enjoying the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, the greatest person in all of history!

It would be great to see your youth group and to have the chance to worship with them. Please come along and join us if you can so.

Many thanks and God bless,

Steve Dalley
Love Southend Youth

Slum Survivor at Southend Christian Fellowship

Hey Love Southend Youth,

October 26th - October 28th is going to be our Slum Survivor weekend ast Southend Christian Fellowship.

15 people (myself included) will be making and living in a slum in the Plaza Centre car park on Southchurch Road. The reason for this is to raise money and awareness about the 1 billion people worldwide who live in slums.

This post is being sent to see if you can help, there are FOUR ways to get involved:

1. Be a part of the slum - come down and visit the volunteers, see what the conditions are like. Maybe you have some connections to the press you could pass details on to them or their details on to me.
   
2. Pray - pray for the weekend, pray for protection and also for a heightened awareness.
   
3. Give visit www.justgiving.com/delthomas and donate as much as you can towards the cost. Every little helps.
   
4. Finally if you are on facebook join http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5014789671 and invite all your friends from facebook.

Lets work together to make a difference. Let me leave you with a word of scripture from 1 Peter 4 vv 8-11

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Del Thomas, SCF & Love Southend Youth Southchurch

An Extreme Summer of Tuesdays

NB: Click on the photos above to scroll through the slide show

Summer 2007 saw the Love Southend Youth team in Southchurch pioneer a new idea called “Extreme Tuesdays”. The plan was simple, to devote one day a week during the school holidays to bless the people of Southend.

Previously, LSY has invested in the St Luke’s Ward, the Kursaal Estate (and nearby Southchurch Park), and the Newington Avenue area. We wanted to revisit as many of these areas as possible, to continue to develop good relationships with the churches and communities operating in those areas.

And so, a plan was formulated:

Tuesday 24^th July – Kursaal estate: games, activities, fun, acts of kindness
Tuesday 31^st July – more of the same!
Tuesday 7^th August – Community Beach Party
Monday 13^th August – Community Tea Party in St Edmund’s Community Centre
Tuesday 28^th August – Work parties and acts of kindness in St Luke’s ward.
Ongoing project – painting, decorating and other jobs in a local nursery.

We had decided to dedicate the whole day to God, and so from 10am to 10pm volunteers from churches and youth groups across Southend were invited to come and spend the day together; worshipping, having fun, receiving Biblical encouragement, guidance and focus, eating and most importantly seeking to express and demonstrate God’s love to our local community.

We received a pretty decent response, with an average of 20ish young people attending each Tuesday. The idea was also that those who were away on holidays at various points would be able to attend at least one “Extreme Tuesday”.

Many good works were achieved by the team. The Tea Party was a massive success, our teenagers worked so hard and always with a smile. As a result, we have been asked to hold these Tea Parties more often and in other areas too.

The Beach Party was good fun, not as many children as we had hoped for wandered over to say hello and to get involves, but those who did have much fun with us. There is definitely scope for repeating the event, but maybe in a different area next time.

The Work Party in St Luke’s ward found that many local residents were eager to put their efforts and endeavour to good use. To the extent that Love Southend Youth now has a database of local residents (mostly elderly or disabled) who have asked for assistance with every-day activities such as gardening, painting etc that they are simply unable to do by themselves.

Most importantly, those who volunteered were able to take something of God’s love and servant-heart into each area that they invested in. Whether at the nursery or on the beach, the teenagers of Love Southend Youth were able to show something of God’s love for their neighbours and community.

Well done guys, and massive thanks to all those involved.

Steve Dalley, on behalf of the Love Southend Youth planning team.

Extreme Tuesday's Launch Party...

A very quick reminder to say that the LAUNCH PARTY for this summer’s Extreme Tuesday's is taking place tomorrow evening Tues 17th July from 8pm to 10pm at the Plaza Centre, Southchurch Road.

This is a great way for people to have some fun, but also for those interested in helping over the summer to find out more about the 'ET' program, and to meet those they will be spending time with over the summer.

Please remind any of your young people that have shown an interest that they are very welcome to come along.

God Bless,

Steve D

Summer here? Extreme Tuesdays: Sign Up - Get Involved

Tuesday 17th July, 2007 - until Tuesday 28th August
Venue: All over Southchurch
Cost: Free

Instead of holding a week-long series of activities across Southend, we will instead be holding an 'Extreme Tuesday' on each of the six Tuesdays of the school holidays. Meet at 10 a.m at the Plaza Centre, Southchurch Road, for worship, prayer and teaching. Followed by a chance to grab some lunch, before setting off to the designated areas.

There will be an evening meal provided for all delegates and then a chance to either chill or party at the Plaza Centre in the evenings.

Here's the programme
Tuesday 17th July - launch party at the Plaza Centre, all very welcome!
Tuesday 24th July – Kursaal activities, street clean-up
Tuesday 31st July – more Kursaal activities, community fun-day.
Tuesday 7th August – Beach party, open to all.
(Oi! watch this one it's an Extreme Monday!)
'Monday' 13th August – tea party held for elderly residents in the St Edmunds’s Community Centre area.
Tuesday 21st August – we are away at Soul Survivor, so are still open to ideas!!!
Tuesday 28th August – jobs/chores done for residents in the Cluny square area.

Get involved!!! God Bless, Steve Dalley.
For further information please contact Steve Dalley on 07948 271383 or click here to email.

Click below to download a poster for your church.
ExtremeTuesdaysPoster.pdf