Vision
Isaiah 61:1-3“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…to bestow on them the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (excerpt)
We have but one goal in this community; for people to experience Jesus. If you think about it, that’s actually quite a task. Jesus encompasses so many things, from loving his enemies, to meeting the needs of the poor and sick, to sharing the good news of God’s love for all mankind, to laying down his life for our redemption, and ultimately, to bringing us into God’s presence, once and for all. It is our hope and our prayer, that people will experience Jesus in us.
The Salvation Army’s ministry has existed, in some form or another, for one-hundred-years in our current building. At one time there were three Salvation Army churches in the Tottenham community. Unfortunately two out of three of those churches no longer exist. In January of 2004 the last of these three churches was also in danger of being closed. The congregation had dwindled down to a handful of senior adults who were meeting on Sunday afternoons for worship, and Monday afternoons for prayer and lunch. With that in mind, in the Autumn of that year we began a new initiative in Tottenham with an emphasis on youth ministry.
Our work began in the local schools doing after school clubs with young people who were having learning difficulties (most of them the children of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers). After receiving some grant money from the community, we added some games equipment, furniture, and a new computer suite to the building. Shortly afterwards we moved our after school clubs on site.
Since that time we have continued to work with young people in the community, but have also expanded our work to include adults. At present our work includes after school clubs, English classes, and several community clubs. This Autumn, after almost three years of building relationships within the community, we will be adding Christian discussion groups to our programming. Our first adult group begins in September and our first Christian discussion group for young people begins in October. We approach both of these new initiatives with excitement but also a bit of trepidation as many of our Muslim families will, no doubt, have questions and even concerns about our new programmes.
Please remember us in your prayers as we begin to discuss with our friends why we do what we do. We preach the Good News to the poor because Jesus preached it. We bind up the broken hearted because Jesus bound them up. We proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness because Jesus proclaimed it. We bestow on them the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair because Jesus bestowed these things. We serve people and take up the fight against injustice because Jesus did it. And he commanded us to do it as well.
“Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done…through me.” Matthew 6:9-13
“Preach the gospel every day. If necessary, use words.” Francis of Assisi.
We have but one goal in this community; for people to experience Jesus. If you think about it, that’s actually quite a task. Jesus encompasses so many things, from loving his enemies, to meeting the needs of the poor and sick, to sharing the good news of God’s love for all mankind, to laying down his life for our redemption, and ultimately, to bringing us into God’s presence, once and for all. It is our hope and our prayer, that people will experience Jesus in us.
The Salvation Army’s ministry has existed, in some form or another, for one-hundred-years in our current building. At one time there were three Salvation Army churches in the Tottenham community. Unfortunately two out of three of those churches no longer exist. In January of 2004 the last of these three churches was also in danger of being closed. The congregation had dwindled down to a handful of senior adults who were meeting on Sunday afternoons for worship, and Monday afternoons for prayer and lunch. With that in mind, in the Autumn of that year we began a new initiative in Tottenham with an emphasis on youth ministry.
Our work began in the local schools doing after school clubs with young people who were having learning difficulties (most of them the children of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers). After receiving some grant money from the community, we added some games equipment, furniture, and a new computer suite to the building. Shortly afterwards we moved our after school clubs on site.
Since that time we have continued to work with young people in the community, but have also expanded our work to include adults. At present our work includes after school clubs, English classes, and several community clubs. This Autumn, after almost three years of building relationships within the community, we will be adding Christian discussion groups to our programming. Our first adult group begins in September and our first Christian discussion group for young people begins in October. We approach both of these new initiatives with excitement but also a bit of trepidation as many of our Muslim families will, no doubt, have questions and even concerns about our new programmes.
Please remember us in your prayers as we begin to discuss with our friends why we do what we do. We preach the Good News to the poor because Jesus preached it. We bind up the broken hearted because Jesus bound them up. We proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness because Jesus proclaimed it. We bestow on them the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair because Jesus bestowed these things. We serve people and take up the fight against injustice because Jesus did it. And he commanded us to do it as well.
“Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done…through me.” Matthew 6:9-13
“Preach the gospel every day. If necessary, use words.” Francis of Assisi.
Labels: england, jamie miller, london, salvation army, tim miller, tottenham, vision
posted by SA Tottenham Team at 9:35 PM
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