Mandy Catto

I have been involved with Activate for five years and when people ask me who we are and what we are trying to acheive this is the simplest two word answer – friendship evangelism. We know there are other great organisations, networks and charities that are out there doing street missions, pamphlet printing, crusades, tv adverts, media campaigns and other attention grabbing activities. We are different because our emphasis is relational. We believe that reaching out with God’s love and the story of Jesus is best done through friendships and natural connections.

You won’t find us printing a pamplet that you could hand out to strangers on a street corner, nor will we be paying for adverts on the sides of buses. For the last 40 (and hopefully the next 40) years we have been encouraging relationship building within our communities, neighbourhoods, workplaces, school gates, book groups, gyms, golf clubs…wherever you are.

Since we started our new website we have been adding polls for our supporters to add their opinions. Usually only a handful actually vote. Last month we had our most popular poll by far when we asked ‘How did you become a Christian? How did your faith journey begin?’ The answers were really interesting –
60% started their faith journey in a Christian home. How great that so many of us have had the privilege of a faith filled background. This shows how important the family unit is and reminds us of the importance of supporting and praying for Christian families.
The next highest score was 13% – ‘a friend introduced me to Jesus’.That is why we are a friendship orientated network. Our relationships are crucial if we are to earn the right to share the reason for the faith that we have and the peace that we have found. What a privilige and a responsibility to carry on!! The only score with zero votes was the one referring to ‘a conversation with a stranger’.
Let’s not be a stranger in our neighbourhoods and communities -let’s continue being involved, friendly and real with the love of God.

And we would love to hear more details of your faith journeys, who were the friends that introduced you to Jesus? How did they do it?
For the 13% that ticked ‘some other way’, tell us more. We want to hear your stories…

The Joy Letter

It might sound rather sad but I love opening my post box and receiving a hand written letter! It makes me feel special that a friend has put pen to paper and I still get excited as I eagerly open the envelope!

Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison in a special way that showed his love for them and in the prayers for their love to increase.
Not a very joyful place but Paul still managed to find reasons to be joyful during his trials.

‘I thank my God every time I remember you, always praying with joy for all of you. I thank God for the help you gave me while I preached the Good News- help you gave from the first day you believed until now. God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. (Philippians 1:3-6 NCV).

Paul tells us to ‘pray with joy’ 1:4 and further on in Philippians to, ‘join each other in joy’ 2:17-18, to ‘welcome those who work for Jesus with joy’ 2:25-30. Also to ‘enjoy your faith in the Lord’ 3:1, to ‘enjoy being with other Christians’ 4:1 and to ‘always be joyful’ 4:4

I hope that when I write to someone I love, that love is conveyed in the words they read and I hope that they feel special too.

I pray we continue to acknowledge the good work God is doing in our lives and reflect that not only to those we love but to all God’s people.

I wish you all a happy summer whether you are enjoying being at home or away and I hope you too receive some letters or postcards of joy…

Written by Adrienne Leach

This is a lovely song by Ryan Kelly with good images called, ‘Broken Things’ which a friend sent to me today and I want to pass on to you. It has very moving lyrics about our broken hearts and God’s promise to make all things new. Enjoy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBf4_oxobBQ