Wow!  We’ve just come to the end of our busy stretch and so we have a chance to catch our breath before Christmas and New Year’s House Party. It’s been great welcoming so many young people through the doors and supporting the ongoing youth work in so many local churches, it really is a privilege to serve God here. Please pray for the ongoing work in the churches, and that the time away with us at Gaines will prove to be fruitful.
We enter a strange period now with no more groups until New Year, which gives us the chance to continue to improve the site as best we can. We have to be careful over winter as our bills increase (heating etc) whilst our income drops as fewer groups visit –  so pray first that we’ll  have enough money to cover the running costs, as well as to maintain the site and improve it.

September saw the arrival of new Gap Team, and some new roles for familiar faces. Our team is pictured above:  From left to right that’s Ben, Alice, Emily, Joe, Rachael, Charis and Brendan.

Please pray for us

Alice and Joe as they get used to their new roles on the full time team. Joe is taking responsibility for the grounds, and Alice is looking after our new Art Studio and overseeing the Kitchen. They are also getting married to one another in May!

Emily as she studies with CCEF – a biblical counselling course – alongside her work at Gaines. Pray that she would be better equipped to pastorally care for people.

Rachael and Charis, our new Gap Team as they adjust to life at Gaines and as they throw themselves in at everything they get given to do.

Ben and Brendan as they balance working at Gaines with their main task of being good husbands and fathers.

Please pray for our work

More People. We need to increase the number of people working here if we are to cope with the increasing demand over the next few years. We are now at a size where the appointment of an administrator to run the office is becoming increasingly crucial. We have no idea where to look for such a person, so please could you be our mouthpiece and let it be known that we are looking! Into the future we will also be looking for a kitchen manager and someone to look after the maintenance of the building. Please pray that God will provide us with the right people at the right time to fill these roles.We also need to keep the numbers high on our Gap Team. Without them running all the events is simply not possible in terms of workforce. Again, please please pass on our details to anyone who might be interested in a year here.

More Money. Unsurprisingly we will continue to rely on donations to improve the buildings and grounds. An increased number of groups brings in more revenue, but also increased costs. There is also a significant amount of work to do to renovate parts of the house and grounds.

We’ve mentioned our brick scheme before.  If you have not already subscribed, would you consider buying a brick for just £10 a month to help us with our ongoing costs?  God has been so good in keeping us going financially and materially, so praise him for that, but also pray that He would continue to provide.

Thank you once again for your support.  Let me again extend an invitation to you to come and visit us whenever you can, we’d love to welcome you here.

In Him,

Ben and the Team