Mandy Catto

Activate has enjoyed many years of events in the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry. We are using the Oasis Centre in London for this year’s training day before moving to the Four Pillars Hotel in Cirencester for the 2011 weekend away. As part of our previous contract we have a £500 voucher for the Royal Court hotel which we are offering to one of you, our supporters. We would like to hear your ideas of how you might use this voucher with your group of friends. Read on to discover how you can enter our competition…

Maybe you want to run an event with a speaker and a breakfast. Perhaps you would like to invite a group of nonchurched women to a spa-pamper day and include a lunch. You might have already been thinking of booking a room for an evening dinner with entertainment and Coventry is near enough for you to use.Once we hear your ideas we will award the voucher to the best idea that uses the occasion to reach out to others with the love of Jesus, then it will be up to the winner to liase with the Royal court as to costings, dates and details. The closing date is the end of March and we will let all participants know within a week of our decision, the voucher could be used between April and November 2010. We would then hope that the winning entry is able to write up their experience for our website. Post your story and idea below and make sure that you also put your email and name onto the contact form. We look forward to hearing from you…

The Activate Dream team recently had the opportunity to meet Carl Beech, the national director of CVM. We realised how much we have in common in wanting to reach out to others with the love of Jesus in culturally relevant ways. Whilst we beilieve that our calling is to reach out to women, Carl and the CVM team are pioneering many innovative events, resources and networks for men. We hope to be able to partner together in some future training events. If you want to connect some of the men you know with CVM then click onto their website below.

Count your blessings 2010

A life-changing experience for Lent

Make Lent meaningful this year. Instead of giving up wine or chocolate, join Christian Aid in looking again at the good things in your life
– and change the lives of others living in poverty across the world at the same time.

There are lots of practical ideas contained in a little downloadable calendar that you can put on your fridge.Each day has some information about living in developing countries, contrasts details with our lives in the UK and invites you to set aside a small amount of money towards those who need it most.
The prayer that accompanies it is –

Loving Father
Often we forget your gifts to us,
letting them pass unnoticed
through each day.
Show us how to look again,
to see through your eyes
and give freely in response to what
we see.
And often we forget those who
struggle –
those whose greatest need
is lost among our riches.
Help us to look again,
to see through your eyes.
You gave so freely. Help us freely give.
Amen

You can also sign up for emails to help you keep Lent’s
journey in mind – they will send you
meditations, reflections and powerful
stories. Visit www.christianaid.org.uk/lent
A children’s version of Count Your Blessings,
resources for church worship and small
study groups and more copies of this
calendar are also available online.

Here are samples of the first few days –
Thursday 18
Wasted food costs the average family £420 a year.
Give 42p for each type of food you binned this week.>br>
Friday 19
In 2008 the price of basic foods such as rice, oil and sugar
increased by 50%,placing even greater pressure on poor families.
Give 20p for every packet or bottle of rice, oil or sugar
you own.
Weekend 20 & 21
‘We had 13 children,but four of them died.’
What Leandro wants more than anything is to keep his children healthy. 80% of his family’s diet is potato. Chronic malnutrition and infant mortality are huge problems
in Bolivia. Christian Aid is helping to fund seeds, tools and training so families there can build greenhouses and grow
vegetables to eat and sell.

Could you hold a Super Soup Lunch on 26 March? Visit
www.christianaid.org.uk/super-souplunch

Monday 22
The International Labour Organisation estimates that 200 million more workers will fall into extreme poverty as
a result of the global recession. Almost half live in south Asia.
Give 10p for every £1,000 you earned last year.

Tuesday 23
One in six children worldwide is involved in child labour, which harms their mental, physical or emotional development.
Give 10p for every year of your childhood you were
free to play in your spare time.

Put this link into your browser – http://www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved/lent/count-your-blessings-resources.aspxe