Racing through the year with certain dates as markers can be challenging! Already we have sent out books for World Book Day to our children, mums are getting Mothering Sunday presents now and next week the Easter Eggs will start to go! This means that we are already a third of the way through the year.Time definitely appears to speed up year on year. More important though is the generous support that you all keep giving us. All these gifts that have gone out really do make a difference and are only possible because of you.With the Easter Holidays rapidly approaching we are pleased to be heading to Arundel Cricket ground again to spend the day with the Cricket Foundation. The families really enjoy their time there with activities based around sport and forest school. This is real change for some of the families who rarely get to play in open spaces. There are also farm visits to feed lambs, activity days and a host of other things all planned across Sussex to ensure that our families have the best of holidays.We are pleased that we have appointed an assistant practitioner for the Midhurst and Petworth Deaneries, who will join us on the 2nd of April. This appointment was made possible because of a very generous donor who has undertaken to support the work. This additional resource in these Deaneries will be a great benefit and we are very grateful to the individual concerned.With best wishes for Easter and many thanks for your continued support.Martin and the FSW team
Update from Kevin and Jen in Israel March 2024 Dear FriendsAfter the attack by Iran, many flights were cancelled but, by the grace of God, their flight left and they are now in the UK for much needed rest and recovery from Kevin’s recent operation. Because of the short notice, and the surgery, they are holding an event in St Katharine's Church, Church Road, Southbourne, BH6 4AR on Saturday 27th April from 10.30 -12.00 noon where they will be giving a presentation of the ministry in Israel with coffee and cake. This means that they can invite many people in the area without Kevin having to do too much standing, travelling or speaking. They are sorry that they will not be able to see more people and visit their supporting churches. They hope that on this occasion, you will understand that they need to rest, spend time with family and that if possible, people will be happy to visit them, rather than them visiting individual churches. If you possibly can, please do go to Southbourne, it’s just this side of Bournemouth, a nice day trip! https://churchmissionsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Cable-8.pdf
Nathan completed The London Marathon in an impressive time of 4 hours 31 minutes and raised over £800 for your Church Pantry! Well done Nathan! We also received £60 from the owners of The Quill, the new bar in Rustington High Street held a quiz night and donated the proceeds to us. Fabulous community spirit! If you would like to help us to restock our cupboards after a very busy month, we are currently short of tuna, tinned meat, microwave rice, rice pudding and custard. Thank you so much for your support. The Pantry Team
