Christian Faith.’ It is

run by the Diocese of

London in association

with Oasis College

and involves monthly

teaching sessions and

a bit of written work.

I’m really enjoying it

and it’s certainly

making me think!

My niece Emi started

school and nephew

Billy started

Nursery after

Christmas -

leaving a

slightly

quieter house

for my sister

with just Lola

in the

mornings!

Thanks for reading

this newsletter.

Please do get in

touch, I would love to

hear from you!

It’s been a very busy

couple of months,

and is looking like

the next 6 will be

pretty packed too!

Had a lovely

Christmas break,

spending time with

Andy’s family and

mine. There’s also

obviously been lots

of wedding planning

going on –

we have set

a date of

10th August

2013, so the

countdown is

on! Very

excitingly,

my best

friend Lois

got engaged

over

Christmas and is also

getting married later

this year so there are

double preparations

to do!

Since my last

newsletter, I have

moved into my own

office. It’s great to

have my own (warm!)

space but needs a bit

of decoration, at the

moment it’s a bit like

a box! (But with

beautiful bunting

thanks to Lois!)

This academic year I

am enrolled on a

course called

‘Children’s

Spirituality and The

Finances I am salaried for one

day a week by Arise

Ministries and the

rest of my income is

from generous

supporters - thank

you if you are one of

them! As you will

know, weddings are

an expensive

order then please do

get in touch or visit

the Arise Ministries

website for more

information.

www.ariseministries.

org.uk/supportus.htm

Thank you!!!

Hello!

Prayer Points Andy and I with our

Wedding

preparations!

My dad who is

struggling with pain

My personal

finances

My sister and family

who are preparing

to move house

Andy’s brother and

sister-in-law who

are expecting their

third child.

Preparations for

events

Opportunities to

work with churches

in their ministry

amongst children.

What’s Laura UpTo? Year 4, Issue 2

January 2013

The Forge 2

Unlock the

Power of the

Church

2

Christmas 2

In it together? 3

Today not

tomorrow

3

General updates 3

Upcoming Dates 4

Inside this issue:

Page 1 What’s Laura UpTo?

business and despite

Andy now having a

salary, things are

tight! If you would be

able to consider

supporting me (and

Andy as we embark

on married life!) with

a one off gift or a

regular standing

Back in November we

headed to The Forge

Community Church

in Stowmarket to run

the children’s

programme at their

20th Birthday

Celebrations. We

looked at the story of

Moses, in particular

the parting of the Red

Sea and how God

uses ordinary people

like us – with our gifts

and abilities. It was

great to see how

children really think

and engage with a

subject – and also

fantastic to see them

want to explain to you

why they think what

they think.

It was a brilliantly

fun, festive occasion,

a chance for parents

to have a

Saturday

afternoon

for

Christmas

shopping

and a safe

place for

the children

We ran 2

“Journey to the

Centre of the

Christmas

Pudding: The

Event’s” at

Wallingford

Baptist and

Newbury

Baptist. At

each event we

had around 30

very excited 3-11year

olds full of

enthusiasm for all the

activities we had

planned. We

journeyed our way

through 4 key points

with the help of story,

puzzles, games, crafts

and a birthday cake!

to let off some

steam!

But much more

than that it was

an opportunity

for 30 children to

think about the

life changing

true story of

Jesus birth, that

he didn’t stay a

baby but died

for us so that we can

know God now.

Page 2

Unlock The Power of the Church

The Forge

Journey to the Centre of the Christmas

Pudding: The Event

Bridge Methodist

Church in Radcliffe,

Manchester. We led a

stream for those

working with

children - thinking

about how and where

we connect with the

children in our

communities and

then how we can

share our stories of

faith with them.

In November the

whole Viz-A-Viz

Ministries team came

together to deliver a

multigenerational

evangelism

conference at The

What’s Laura UpTo?

At The Forge

Event, we asked

the children to

stick a post it note

on the some

statements with a

number reflecting

their views. On

this statement one

child said to me:

“I put a number

1 because I don’t

think God uses

us depending on

what we are like,

because that

would been he

wouldn’t use

people who were

disabled or not

clever and I

wouldn’t trust a

God like that”

On Saturday 9th

March we are

running a day

conference with

London School of

Theology.

We’ll look at how we

can hear, release and

encourage the voice

of the children

amongst us—seeing

them speaking out

and speaking into the

life of the church.

We’ll also consider

the opportunity

before the whole

church to play a part

in nurturing the faith

of

children and young

people, helping them

to become lifelong

followers of Jesus.

Worship Service that

takes place. We are

very excited about

this new opportunity!

www.ecgevent.org.uk

As promised, here is a

picture of our new

van! It hasn’t yet got a

name but is serving us

well, great to not have

This April we have

been invited to join

ECG Conference in

Scarborough to

deliver their 2013

Event. We will

be specifically involv

ed leading the

ministry amongst the

5-11′ s and also the

daily All-Age

to squeeze

everything into Ed’s

car! It needs a little

bit of work doing to it

but we’re very

grateful for it!

Today not tomorrow

In It Together?

General Updates

Year 4, Issue 2 Page 3

way which is

integrated into the

context of the wider

church. Last year this

meant writing a

resource which is

available soon and he

is touring with a

Roadshow over the

next few weeks.

More information: Ed has been working

with The Baptist

Union of Great Britain

to produce

‘Today...not

Tomorrow’ is an inter

-generational

ministry that aims to

disciple children and

young people in a

Some

comments

from Parents

and Children

following our

weekend with

Wallingford

Baptist Church

in September

2012:

“She came back

buzzing”

“She wanted to go

to more sessions”

“My boys loved all

the games”

“They learnt so

much”

“They really had

loads of fun”

“The atmosphere

was so positive”

“She normally

doesn’t like Kids

Praise but she

loved it and came

back singing all

the songs!”

“It was fantastic!”

www.todaynottomorrow.org

About Arise Ministries

Arise Ministries wants to work with churches to pioneer new

outreach to children in your community. Working on a local,

regional and national level, Arise Ministries seeks to help

the Church reach the children with the gospel, so that they

have an opportunity to discover Jesus and become his

followers.

There are four key areas of ministry:

1. Equipping and Support

2. Events

3. Resources

4. ALF Clubs

Our vision is ‘Equipping the church to reach a generation’.

We believe children can become, be and make disciples of

Jesus, whilst children. We want to work in, through and with

the church to see this become a reality.

Phoenix Court

Christopher Martin Road

Basildon

Essex

SS14 3EZ

Laura Bayliss

Arise Ministries

01268 530531

laurabayliss@ariseministries.org.uk

www.ariseministries.org.uk

March

9th

‘In it Together?’

Event with London

School of Theology

16th

Just a ‘child’? In

Chatteris,

Cambridgeshire

19th

Exhibition

23rd

Just a ‘child’? In

Darlington

February

1st-3rd

Children’s Ministry

Conference in

Eastbourne

9th

Just a ‘child’? In

Hoylake,

Merseyside

16th

Just a ‘child’? In

Preston, Lancashire

26th

Training with

Croxley Green

Baptist Church,

Hertfordshire

April

1st - 7th

ECG Conference in

Scarborough

8th - 12th

Holiday

24th

My Birthday!

27th

Exhibition

Upcoming Events

The dates above don’t take into account planning and preparation for events

and many of the meetings we have! If you would like more details on any of

the events, or what’s coming up in 2013, please do get in touch!

Page 4 What’s Laura UpTo?