This past week I have been in Wales sharing Manna and Mercy at the Pastor’s School of the United Reformed Church of Wales. It is the first time Manna and Mercy is being presented in Europe. On this trip I will not only be doing Manna and Mercy but training others, especially pastors, to use the material in their own ministries. See: www.urc-wales.org.uk
For those of you who do not know, Manna and Mercy is an artistic paraphrase of the whole Bible focusing on the main themes of Jesus’ ministry — namely “daily bread” and “mercy”. It is written by Daniel Erlander. See: www.danerlander.com
Today I am preaching at East Belfast Mission. A Methodist Church based on the Newtownards Road in Ballymacarret, an area of social and economic deprivation with high levels of unemployment, ill-health and paramilitary influences. Rated as the fifth most deprived ward of the 566 wards in Northern Ireland, the area has a particularly high incidence of unemployment with many individuals excluded from the labour market through unemployment, disability or ill health. They employ 70 people with over 100 active volunteers. See: www.ebm.org.uk and www.skainos.org
Their mission is nothing less than the transformation and renewal of East Belfast, by offering hope and a future to all those in need in the inner city, regardless of background or belief. They believe that everybody matters. It has been said of the East Belfast Mission congregation that ‘they’d let anyone in there’. I love it!!
Peace, Alan
