Wednesday Fellowship meet henceforth on 3rd Wednesday
Regular charity coffee mornings on the first Saturday of the month.
Baytree House services:
Tuesday 8th July at 2pm Speaker Frank Higgs
Friday 25th July at 2pm Extended Communion
The Coffee Morning on 5th July will be hosted by Pat Lessiter and Anke Moseley in aid of Acorns
The Wednesday Fellowship Meeting on 9th July will take the form of a strawberry tea
Aldridge continue to offer a range of worship experience comprising
Early morning Communion once a month
All Age Worship each third Sunday morning every month
Chill Out Worship at 3.30 each fourth Sunday
Selestial 8pm evening service after traditional worship on the first Sunday of the month
WEEKLY CALENDAR
Sunday 9.30 am Prayer Meeting
9.30 act. Early Communion (monthly)
10.30 am Morning Worship/Sunday Club/
Creche
6.30 pm
Evening Worship
Monday 6.30 pm - 9.30 pm. St.John Ambulance Brigade
6.00 pm - 7.30 pm 5th Aldridge Guides
7.00 pm - 8.00 pm Call to Prayer
Tuesday 9.00 am - 1.00 pm Unemployed Group
10.30
am - 12.30 pm Coffee morning
11.30
am - 12.30 pm Tai Chi
5.45
pm - 6.45 pm Beaver Pack
6.45
pm - 8.30 pm 33rd Walsall Scouts
6.30 pm - 8.00 pm Gangsta
8.00 pm - l0.00 pm Youth Fellowship
Wednesday 11.00 am - 1.30 pm Anchors Luncheon Club
2.00 pm - 3.15 pm Wednesday Fellowship (2nd Wednesday in month)
6.30 pm - 8.00 pm 2nd Aldridge Brownies
7.00 pm - 8.30 pm Chillout (years 7-9)
Thursday 10 am to 12 noon Parent & Toddler Group
10.30 am - 12 noon Coffee Morning
5.30 pm - 9.00 pm 1st Aldridge Brownies and Guides
Friday 10.00 am - 12 noon Bereavement Group (10.30 am start.)
7.30 pm -
9.30 pm Men's Social Fellowship
Saturday 10.30am-12 noon Charity Coffee Morning (1st Saturday in month)
As many of you will know Tony and I were privileged to spend a holiday in South
Africa - and very enjoyable and exciting it was too. Lots of lovely warm sunshine and plenty of trips to see the wild animals. However one tour which we had not expected to take was the most moving experience of all.
When we arrived we found that one of the trips which was included in our itinerary was a tour of the New Brighton Township, a legacy of the Apartheid era in South Africa. At first, along with other guests, we were very reluctant to go on such a tour. Surely people who have been so unfortunate in life, do not want a load of tourists coming to see how they live?
Nevertheless we went along, and on the way the tour guide explained that this was not the case at all. The people would welcome us with open arms, they would wave and invite us into their community. There were two main reasons for this, one was they realized that world wide public opinion had helped to bring down the Apartheid regimen, and that now tourism was helping to rebuild the country's economy. We learnt that tourism was now a greater part of the economy than the gold and diamond industry put together. We also learned that the company that we were travelling with, "Calabash Trust", donated part of our fare to help with rebuilding the townships, and sponsored a pre school play group and a Primary School in that area.
Even so, when we first saw the state of the housing in the township it was an horrendous sight. It had to be seen to be believed. that human beings could live in such conditions. Homes the size of our garden shed, and not in such good condition. Little shacks with no running water, no sanitation and no electricity. Indescribable poverty, 40% of the adult population unemployed, and many children orphaned by aids. It indeed a very sobering occasion.
However things are improving. The government are trying slowly to replace housing, but there is, a very long way to go. They have also decided the key to the future is to try and educate the children so that they will be better equipped to provide for their future. Hence the emphasis on supplying sponsorship for schools, although parents have to find school fees and many cannot afford to do so.
Later we were taken to visit a preschool playgroup and The New Brighton School This was indeed a moving experience. The children were obviously so pleased to see
us. The little ones sang their nursery rhymes for us with great gusto. The older Children sang for us, and their singing was very advanced and beautiful, mostly singing unaccompanied and in perfect harmony. Obviously South Africans have music in their genes.
Well please forgive me, I know I am rambling on, but one cannot cope with such experience and not do anything about it. So we
hosted July's Coffee Morning. All the proceeds will go to Calabash Trust, Via the Saga Charitable Trust which is the UK. Contact company.
Mary and Tony Gessey
Thanks to Gwen Hughes for supplying these two photos:-
