Update on Alpha - By Bethan

I want to update you on our first Alpha session at Jambo!  We had Alphonse leading, Alice waitressing and cooking, Natalie (our BMS intern), Noeline and myself plus an American boy and a German girl.  We discussed the first session of the Alpha course, which is 'Who is Jesus' discussing questions such as 'is he who he says he is?' and 'was he God or man or both?'.  The discussion that followed the talk by Alphonse encompassed everything from "was Jesus a prophet and do we have prophets today" and "did Jesus do miracles and do we also have miracles today" to "if Jesus existed do we also believe that Buddha and Mohamed existed and what does that mean with regards to faith?"  We all came to the conclusion, from our different backgrounds of long-held faiths to enquiring minds, that Jesus did exist and probably was who he said he was (fully man and fully God).  The next step is taking the leap of faith that is aptly named because we can only prove things so far before finally saying to God "okay, I'll leap across this canyon and believe in you fully regardless of facts and figures because you are bigger than human understanding!"

At a post-Alpha social gathering that most of the group went to (not me - I had to get back for kids' bath-time!) with some other people, the content was discussed further with the others who had not been and they decided that they want to come next week so we hope numbers will be up.

I have to say, as someone who has been a Christian for many years, it is refreshing to come back to the simple question of "Did Jesus exist?" because I take it for granted sometimes and I should never do that especially when trying to talk to people who are questioning me about my faith and don't have those basic assumptions to work from.

A little update on Israel Emmanuel too: he is keeping strong and growing very handsome indeed.  Noeline was getting a bit run down with him crying a lot at night but I showed her the best trick every breastfeeding mum should learn: to feed him whilst lying down and even asleep!  Now she is resting much more at night.  As if having a two-week old baby is not enough, she is now doing assessments for her tailoring course with a business exam coming up soon too.  Graduation is on 3rd December so we hope to see her graduate - maybe even top of the class!  Thanks for all your prayers for her.  She has also had some orders from the UK that are keeping her busy and helping her become financially secure... at least for now.