School we are working to open in Brazil

FERNANDA BALAU
Sao Paulo Brazil Rainbows Newest School


Of course not all of you know Fernanda well, as she did not attend a Rainbow SAGS or Cell of many of Rainbows great get together functions, however as a church community we have got involved with Fernanda Balau and her son Thomas, and even her ex husband. So much so that there was a good sprinkling of Rainbow people at the farewell party held at Haringey United Church where the local church community that Fernanda was committed to.

We really got to know Fernanda via Beehive School. Thomas was put in the school there and to cut a long story short Fernanda ended up working with us there on a voluntary basis for several days each week, and we will miss her for that.

Not only did she get thoroughly committed into the school and the ethos of it, but we (Rainbow) sponsored Fernanda on one of our CEE training programmes in Swindon, which is a tough weeks supervisors training course. Fernanda did well on that which really helped us locally.

Fernanda was so impressed by the schools at Beehive and Phoenix that she became inspired to deliver this kind of Christian Education back in her own country of Brazil. She really feels that she is being sent from Rainbow to do this, and wants us to see this as an extension of the Rainbows International arm in Brazil.

The plan has moved along a good way in that before Fernanda left we singed a contract with Swindon recognising the school in Sao Paulo as part of the Rainbow Schools, i.e. Sri Lanka, London , Kenya and now Sao Paulo Brazil. We loaded Fernanda £1,000 worth of Paces training material and portfolios to take with her, delivering all that just the night before she left London.

In Sao Paul things are progressing let me have Fernanda tell you the latest…

From: Fernanda Balau
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:16:12 +0000 (GMT)
To: adrian hawkes
Subject: Re: Sao Paulo, Brazil: ACE School

Hi Adrian, I apologize for not being able to get my emails as soon as they arrive. I now have managed to install a broadband connection in my house and it is much better.



We are in the process of going through the bureaucracy of the country to be able to open an independent school that must have the entire Brazilian curriculum already in place to be connected with the English and they will soon approve. Schools with bilingual education here are called International Schools and the Brazilian Government is very strict with them.

Other information: it is strictly forbidden here for parents to simply opt out from government approved national curriculum schools and choose only to home school their children. For example, if I had Thomas only doing Paces here, without enrolling him in a "normal" school, I could be sent to jail...

But, I have a very good friend that is a solicitor and he is connecting with other international schools here to get us through the difficulties and to keep all rights reserved for ACE curriculum without any changes and in good relations with the government.

My friends and I must open a Brazilian company together to be able to maintain the international school. We would like to name it Fundacao Adrian Hawkes; (Adrian Hawkes Foundation) if you think it is a good idea and give us your blessing. It is a non profitable organization that will keep the international school and with part of the profit will separate money every month for one day soon to enable us to open the orphanage. Everybody has agreed that this is a great project. We already have many parents interested, but can’t even have an open day before finalizing bureaucracy first.

We will need at least 3 ACE British teachers to start around June/July if you know anyone interested, please Adrian, give them my email and Tel. 0055 17 3224 6787.

I will send you more info and pictures soon.

Many, many thanks,

Fernanda

Well there you go Haringey united have agreed to prayer support, I think Rainbow needs to do that and may be more. Hope you are all up for it not sure about the Fundacao Adrian Hawkes, but your all welcome to throw thing for that. Not at me. Pray for a great project there and blessings on Fernanda and Thomas and all that sail with them.
Adrian Hawkes
Friday, 17 April 2009
22:37

Cice in Kenya

Cice worked with me in London in our Nursery and schools in North London, then she went and helpd set up our school in Sri Lanka she spent many years there, now she is in Kenya helping to do the same there working alongside our friend Sammy. I thought you might like to see her news letter as we work together there. Here she is...

Hello All,

It’s Cicely-Lisa Moraro Oino here, all the way from currently freezing cold Kenya. We are meant to be experiencing Elnino well it certainly is raining and lots of it. Unfortunately all a bit too late for the farmers here, crops have failed due to the lack of rain. Year after year it just seems to be getting worse and due to that people are literally starving to death here. Jobs are also scarce due to the rain as farmers have no need to hire labourers. The cost of food is also rising due to the lack of rain. And the politicians here are just busy trying to make a quick buck. It’s really sad to see all of the madness here at the moment.

I am out here working at Living Fountain Academy and also doing a bit at Sure 24. Living Fountain is a private primary school which is basically trying to reach out to those parents who may otherwise not be able to send there children to a school of their choice. Primary education is free here but a parent will find that there child is in a class of 70-100 plus students. So if a parent can they would rather send there child to a private school. The fees are very cheap and in fact the school struggles to make ends meet.

Sure 24 is a boy’s home. There are 19 boys currently from the age of 7-16yrs old. There are still a lot of needs to be met for the boys as with the school finances are tight and they need a lot of care. There are 3 fulltime members of staff specifically working at the home with the boys. Then there are about 6 other workers who are not there fulltime but come in and work alongside the other staff. The boys are lovely and it’s a privilege to be trying to help them out. We are trying to get there one step at a time as there is a lot to be done. It’s a slow up hill process and this is where the grace of God must come into play.

What is my job? Well my title is Head Teacher. What does that mean? Basically, I am working on putting some flesh and skin on the skeleton. There is a basic structure but nothing to tell you what that is. So I am doing admin which is very trying as we don’t have electricity at the project. I get use of a computer about twice a week and then it’s only for 2hrs or more if I can get hold of generator. Also working with the staff to bring about uniformity and clarity as to what is expected of them.

The school currently has 117 children and 11 members of staff including me makes 12. The area where the school is based is out of the way a bit from door to door it takes me about 1hr 45mins on a bad day 1hr 15mins on a good day. The road that leads to the school has not yet been developed so it’s a very bumpy, dusty, ride. In January the school is planning to start using the ACE curriculum it will start with only the Preschool and build upon it year after year. Currently 2 members of staff have done the training so now I am working at putting things into practice with them this has been a bit of a challenge as it’s very different from what they are used to. Out here the school year is January to December hence us getting ready for January. Gena will be coming then to basically launch the start of using ACE. For which I am very grateful there is a lot for me to do and having her around even if it is only for a very short 10 days will help a lot especially as we have worked together for many years doing this kind of job and know what is needed. Gena has also been to Sri Lanka on a number of occasions and helped me to put things into order. She also has many years experience in how to put ACE into practice.

Joe and I are doing well currently we are renting a room from a lady who is renting a nice house with all the mod cons so its very comfortable. But we will be moving out by the end of November as it’s a bit too expensive for us. But we will miss the washing machine, fridge, microwave, and cooker. Man the things we take for granted in the UK. These things are luxuries over here and I can’t wait to get home and have these everyday things again. Joe’s business is doing well he is working very hard and God is really blessing us. He has a few good connections but we need these to materialise. Working along the street is ok but he wants to reach further than that. Also if you really want to make it you’ve got get the art out of Kenya. So that is his next step getting it out there to see where God can take him.

One of the main things I am working on is the way people view children out here as though because they are children they can be treated any way an adults chooses. It’s very different to what I am used to and I am trying to show the right example as well as help the staff to realise there are Biblical teaching on how children should be treated and that there are great consequences if an adult harms a child. I really need Gods grace here as it’s a cultural thing as well and some of the staff were perhaps treated worse than some of these children are being treated. I think perhaps this is my biggest challenge as it affects me on a very personal level.

The other week I was on my way to work and the matatu (15 seater mini van also known as the bus) I got in was an old beaten down reck. Any way I got it as there is not really much choice. It speed off at about 100k and as we reached a certain point we saw the police they where stopping vehicles to check if people where wearing seat belts. Well I along with everyone else wasn’t and the worse part was I couldn’t even find it. But some how I managed to get it into the seat to look as if it was on. The police checked everyone in the matatu and we all had managed to put ours on but they knew we had only just done it. Anyway they arrested everyone in the matatu including the conductor. But they let me, the driver, and 2 other men go. It was only God who got me out of that one it was a bit of a scary moment as the police out here are a bit ruthless. To date I always TRY to find a seat which has a seat belt. There have been about 4 big road accidents here in the last 4 weeks killing over 50 people as they drive very recklessly and the vehicles don’t often have seatbelts and if it does have seat belts people just don’t wear them.

WHILE I AM OUT HERE RAINBOW IS MY SOURCE OF INCOME PLEASE COULD PEOPLE HELP BY SPONSORING ME EVEN IF ITS £5 A MONTH IT ALL HELPS.

IF YOU’RE ABLE PLEASE DO IT THROUGH THE OFFICE.

THANKS

Joe and Cice Moraro Oino

Prayer points:
• For me to focus on the priorities and get them done
• Staff across the projects to work together in the love of God
• For the staff to realise they are there to BLESS the children’s lives
• For the children to grow in God
• Money to come in for the boy’s home
• Joe’s business growth and prosperity
• Finding a new flat: clean good toilet and bathroom, no insects.
• Peace of heart and mind that God is really in control and we will be home soon
• Protection and safety out here (it’s a different world to what I am used to and at times I don’t feel safe at all)

Women

Yes I know this is not strictly from me, but I think it is an important subject and I wanted others to see it...


From: ASSISTNews-owner@thomas.sheperd.com on behalf of ANS@Assist-Ministries.com
Sent: 03 August 2007 04:38
To: ASSISTNEWS@sheperd.com
Subject: Christianity Gave Women Freedom and Dignity

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Christianity Gave Women Freedom and Dignity
By Alvin J. Schmidt, Ph.D. for Movieguide (r)

By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®
Special to ASSIST News Service

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- What would be the status of women be in the Western world today had God not entered the world in the flesh of his Son Jesus Christ? One way to answer this question is to look at the low status women still have in Islamic countries. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, women are not even permitted to drive automobiles, and in the Koran a man is commanded to beat his wives physically if they are disobedient (Sura 4:34).

When one looks back in history before and at the time of Christ, women, similar to Islamic countries today, also had very little freedom and dignity. They were seen as evil, inferior, unclean, unequal, and kept silent. Numerous statements in ancient literature attest to this biased cultural perception. I shall cite only a few examples.

- Women as Evil

Reflecting Greek culture, Homer (eighth century B.C.) wrote, "One cannot trust women" (The Odyssey). The Greek playwright Euripides (d. 406 B.C.) said, "Women were the best devisers of evil" (Medea). Tacitus the first-century Roman pictured women as dominating and cruel (Annals). Among the Hebrews, Jesus son of Sirach (second century B.C.) stated, "From a woman sin had its beginning and because of her we all die" (Ecclesiastus).

- Women as Inferior

The Greek physician Hippocrates (d. 377 B.C.) argued, "The female is less perfect than the male." Aristotle (d. 322 B.C.) the philosopher asserted, "The female is as it were a deformed male" (Generation of Animals). Because woman was seen as inferior Roman culture placed her under the law of patria potestas and manus, which gave man total control over his daughters and wife. During the rabbinic or oral law era (ca. 400 B.C. - c.a. 200 A.D.), the Hebrew wife was obligated to wash her husband's face, hands, and feet (Kethuboth). A Hebrew prayer declared, "Blessed [art Thou] who did not make me a woman" (Menahot).

- Women as Unclean

The belief that women are unclean was present in virtually all cultures, for instance, among the Hindus of India, the Caribs of British Guiana, many North American Indian tribes, Eskimos, and others. And it was also a common perception among the Greco-Romans and the Hebrews. Women's perceived uncleanness was the result of their monthly menses, which led to their being deprived of many freedoms and privileges. The Hebrew Talmud, for instance, has an entire book titled Niddah that largely deals woman's menstrual uncleanness.

- Women as Unequal

Compared to men, ancient cultures gave very unequal treatment to women. Married men were commonly permitted to have extra-marital-sexual relations, but not so for married women. This double standard was lamented by a Greek wife in one of Euripides' plays. She said, "If a man grows tired of the company at home, he can go out and find a cure for tediousness. We wives are forced to look to one man only" (Medea). The Roman law Lex Julia issued by Caesar Augustus (d. A.D. 14) stated that a wife had no right to bring charges against her husband when he committed adultery. However, a wife who committed adultery was punishable under patria potestas, often resulting in her execution. Similarly, among the Hebrews adultery was defined in terms of woman's marital status, not a man's.

Women's unequal treatment was also evident in not having the right to speak in public. The rabbinic oral said it was "shameful" to hear a woman's voice in public (Berakhoth). Homer had Telemachus rebuke his mother Penelope fo r speaking in public. He told her, "speech is only for men" (The Odyssey). The Greek playwright Sophocles (d. 406 B.C.) wrote, "O woman, silence is an adornment to women" (Ajax). In 215 B.C. the Roman men were upset when women gathered in the Roman Forum to ask that the Oppian Law be repealed. In response, Cato said, "Could you not have asked your husbands the same thing at home?" (Livy, The Founding of the City).

- Jesus Gave Dignity and Freedom to Women

One could cite many more examples of how women in the ancient world were denied freedom and dignity. This was the world that Jesus entered. And how did he respond? His interaction with women shows he rejected the ancient-prejudicial beliefs regarding women.

When a woman with an issue of blood touched his garment, he was not shocked; nor did think he had now become unclean. Instead, he told her, "Your faith has made you well" (Mark 5:34). He honored women when he taught them theology. He told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26). He taught Mary in the Mary-Martha account (Luke 10), and he also taught theology to the Samaritan woman (John 4:9-29). As a result of this incident, his disciples "marveled that he talked with a woman." They knew Jesus had clearly violated the rabbinic oral law, which said, "Let the words of the Law be burned rather than committed to a woman . . ." (Sotah), and Hebrew men in Jesus' day were also taught, "One is not as much as to greet a woman" (Berakhoth).

All three Synoptic Gospels mention that women followed Jesus. Such behavior ran counter to the ancient practices concerning women, but Jesus did not chide them for their behavior. And just after Jesus' rose from the dead he told the women who had come to the open tomb to go and tell his disciples he had risen from the dead (Matthew 28:10). John's Gospel tells us that Peter and John also came to the open tomb. So why did Jesus not tell them to go and tell the other disciples? Why did he choose the women to tell his male disciples? The answer is not hard to see, especially when one remembers that he so often came to the defense of the deprived and oppressed. In choosing the women to tell the disciples, he in effect brought to mind his own words, spoken on another occasion, "But many who are first will be last, and the last first" (Matthew 19:30).

Jesus also rejected the ancient idea that adultery was determined by a woman's marital status when h e said that whoever looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery (Matthew 5:28). The marital status of a woman was irrelevant. Sex outside of marriage violated God's will not a man's property, his wife.

- Christianity Implements Jesus' View of Women

As apostolic Christianity spread, it gave women freedom and dignity unknown to the ancient world. It did this not only by baptizing and admitting women to the Lord's Supper--equal to men--but it also gave them leadership roles. St. Paul notes that Apphia "our sister" was a leader in a house church in Colossae (Philemon 2). In Laodicea there was Nympha who had "a church in her house" (Colossians 4:15), and in Ephesus, Priscilla was one of Paul's fellow workers (Romans 16:3). Phoebe was a key female leader in the church in Cenchreae, where she was a deacon (not deaconess) and a leading officer (Romans 16:1-2). Paul also said Euodia and Syntyche "labored with him in the gospel . . . and the rest of my fellow workers" (Philippians 4:2-3).

Christ's influence had numerous other effects that benefited women. Unlike the pagan Greco-Romans, the early Christians valued baby girls as much as boys. St. Paul commanded husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ep hesians 5:25). Women obtained bridal freedom by being able to accept or reject male suitors. In A.D. 374, the Emperor Valentinian I (a Christian) repealed the old patria potestas law that gave the husband the power of life or death over his wife and family. And in time even the veiling of women ceased. In India, the British in 1829, influenced by Christian values, outlawed suttee (widow burning), and in China, with the efforts of Christian missionaries the cruel practice of binding the feet of young girls was outlawed in 1912.

With these revolutionary changes for women, one is reminded of one scholar's poignant words, "The birth of Jesus was the turning in the history of women." Another has noted, "Whatever else our Lord did, he immeasurably exalted womanhood." Yet neither Christ nor the early Christians ever preached a political revolution. Rather, it was Christ's example that his followers reflected in their relationships with women, establishing their dignity, freedom, and rights to a level previously unknown in any c ulture.

To be sure, given the sinful nature of human beings, there were times that some erring Christians ignored or even violated the standards Christ and his apostles accorded women. But in time the freedom and dignity that Christ bestowed on women continued to unfold in the Western world. Thus, one can unequivocally state that women have attained the greatest amount of freedom and dignity where Christianity has had the greatest presence, and they have attained the least freedom and dignity where Christianity has had little or no presence. Soli Deo Gloria.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Alvin J. Schmidt, Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Illinois College. Dr. Alvin J. Schmidt has published seven books. His book HOW CHRISTIANITY CHANGED THE WORLD (Zondervan, 2004) informs readers about facts not printed in our school's history books, namely, how Christianity sanctified human life, introduced charity in the non-charitable Greco-Roman world, gave freedom to women, built world's first hospitals, undergirded science, prompted liberty and justice, aided economic freedom, abolished slavery, enhanced the fine arts, produced edifying literature, etc. Schmidt's other book THE GREAT DIVIDE: THE FAILURE OF ISLAM AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE WEST (Regina Orthodox Press, 2004) is also very revealing. It contrasts the life of Jesus with Muhammad, shows Islam is not a religion of peace, proves the Qu'ran advocates violence, argues that radical Muslims are simply true Muslims, documents a largely unknown view of the Crusades, and illustrates how the West's political correctness is Islam's greatest ally.

(c) schmidt, 2007
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr: For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest MOVIEGUIDE® magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. MOVIEGUIDE® is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. MOVIEGUIDE® now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers. MOVIEGUIDE® also regularly broadcasts several international TV and radio programs hosted by Dr. Baehr. Also, if you want to train your family to be media-wise, call 1-800-899-6684 in North America to order the book, video or audio version of THE MEDIA-WISE! FAMILY, Dr. Ted Baehr's latest book. © baehr, 2001
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
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The Banquet

BANQUET TIME

The independent schools we run always hold an annual end of year banquet. This year it was held on 23rd October, is that very late or very early? A few of the staff had been on maternity leave, and in order that they could attend we avoided June.

There were approximately 120 people there, staff, students and friends. We enjoyed a wonderful meal supplied by the Curry Leaf Sri Lankan restaurant in Turnpike Lane.

The Nursery and ABCs class presented their Space Programme. The Beehive Junior School sang songs they had composed; which they will shortly be recording to a CD, supported by Alex Greg, their Supervisor, teachers and music entrepreneur!

We have been running independent Christian schools for almost 30 years. Today, I am more convinced than ever of their value. The banquet this year was especially pleasing to me, alongside the usual awards for ‘Most Work Done’, ‘Best Athlete’, ‘Students with Highest Marks’; I also had the privilege of presenting ICCE certificates, for successful completion of their examinations, to seven students in the 11-16 age range.

The General Certificate was awarded to six students, one of whom was only 15. One student completed the Intermediate Certificate giving her passage to her chosen university; the other successful students chose a variety of options including continuing their studies at A Level or remaining at our sixth form further education unit ‘Base 6’. One has decided to work for us and is now employed by us.

The ICCE Examination Board issues qualifications that match the General level of the Cambridge International Certificates, according to NARIC (Nation Agency Responsible for providing Information advice and expert opinion on vocational and, academic and professiononal skills. As the National Agency, managed on behalf of the UK ZGovernment, we provide the only official source of information on international qualifications to organisations), the Government body that quality checks alternatives to GCSEs and other examinations.

The reasons for today’s blog are multiple, first and foremost because I thoroughly enjoyed the banquet; superbly organised by our top flight administrator, Angela Kelly. I must also mention our senior students, who set to with a vengeance and successfully set up all the technical requirements. One of the banquet attendees, who is not part of the school said, “It’s so encouraging to see your students taking on responsibility with such reliability and integrity.” That was good to hear, a fundamental aspect of the curriculum is character development.

If I’m totally honest, a key reason for the blog is to redress comments that people make about our school, one being, “It’s a nice school, but of course the children can’t go on to university as the qualifications are not good enough!” But here is solid, further proof that such comments hold no weight.


I was an excellent day; I spent time with some great students and we all shared in the joy of rewarding them for the completion of a year of hard work. Our schools and nurseries are almost at capacity, and we would love to expand to enable more of you to entrust us with your children’s education. Then perhaps next year, you will also join us at our year end Banquet.


Adrian Hawkes
25th October 2009
North London

My Friend the Car Smasher

Car Smasher builds garage

It took me some time to persuade my friend Andy Smith to visit Kenya with me, as I felt his church needed a third world focus as well as the great work he was already doing in the Rohampton Estate, which is one of the larges council estates in Europe.

Andy was a little squeamish about coming with me to Africa, even though some of the storeys he told me concerning the work on the estate made me somewhat careful, things like the fact that if you want home deliver Pizza then you have to phone and arrange to meet the delivery man on the other side of the main road, they wont deliver on the estate because they lose their deliver bike, money and pizzas. Great place to live it seemed to me, give me Africa any day. Andy took to Kenya like a duck to water so to speak.

The following year 2005 he decided to go again this time with some of the young people from Roehampton including Luke, Luke was famous on the estate or rather infamous, he had dropped in to the Regenerate club but also took a liking to stealing Andy’s car and rolling it down hills into brick walls. Just for fun you know. Seemed a bit surprising to me that Andy was still willing to take him with him, but he did.

Kenya turned Luke Clifford’s life around, along with giving him a vision for a garage the trip changed his life and he came back with the idea to build the garage to help people by supplying work. He has since raised over £6000 for the project, and been back 3 times to help with the project.

He came back from that first visit and told us he had found God, more than that he was determined to help young people there, from his own small wages he gave Andy money each week and made it quickly possible to buy land and prepare for his dream of building a garage for the youngsters there.

Last February 2007 Luke won the Anthony Walker Memorial Prize, the top Champions of Respect award from the Evangelical Alliance. Luke was honoured for initiating the garage project in Kenya. Click here to see Luke receiving his award.

Local press, Premier Radio, have all picked up this story, and some have even donated money for the project.

Back in Roehampton Luke, has now stopped trashing Andy’s car and is helping to facilitate all the other good work on the estate there such as the Juice bar drop in site the Bus programme; and the many, many other things to change the thinking really to Regenerate. If you want to know more have a look at the web site. www.regenerateuk.co.uk

Adrian on Darwin

Running a Christian School within the independent sector often means that we are contacted by TV to do this or that, the often asked question is about evolution and creationism as if somehow we did nothing else. Even people like Richard Dawkins has spent time grilling us on our views for his documentary The Root of all Evil. Funnily enough we don’t usually think much about Darwin or evolution between those TV times.

From what I know of Darwin he was a good family man, doing interesting research; however what is very important to me is what people really think. I think that Darwin himself was still in the realm of theory as to how and why. Today we tend to be more dogmatic and sure as per Richard Dawkins, when maybe we ought not to be so proud of our certainties.

Our thinking is that, if the Bible is correct, (and I believe it to be so) then our thoughts are the things that mould us and makes us (as we think in our hearts so we are - Proverbs 23: 7) for our thinking is that which generates the way we act. So, if we think that the universe is some mechanical process, then we tend to treat people like a machine; if we think that we are just an animal then, we tend to treat each other like animals.

It seems to me that Hitler believed that Darwin’s view of how life worked was correct and much more than theory. From this belief he decided, (thought) ‘well then, let me speed up the process and create an evolutionary jump and make the master race’. We know the results!

If, on the other hand, we believe (think) that there is a mind behind our universe, and that we are created in the image of God then surely that thinking should encourage us to treat one another with dignity and respect! Richard Dawkins’ argument with me on TV was that he was more honourable than me as he did not need a God to stop him from pillaging and raping; his implication being that I did! My problem with that argument is that one person cannot negate what is going on in the world with great swathes of destruction and mans inhumanity to man. Our thinking that we can play God, and our devaluation of each other, is a daily fact whatever Richard thinks.

So what do I think of Darwin? Interesting theories; but believing them to be so totally correct without criticism leads to dangerous thought.

Well this on at least tells you a little about me and is not by me

From: ASSISTNews-owner@thomas.sheperd.com on behalf of ANS@Assist-Ministries.com
Sent: 29 May 2008 07:08
To: ASSISTNEWS@sheperd.com
Subject: Adrian Hawkes, a true pioneer of multi-racial churches around the world

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Adrian Hawkes, a true pioneer of multi-racial churches around the world

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

Pauline and Adrian Hawkes

LONDON, UK (ANS) -- I first met Adrian Hawkes back in the mid-sixties in Birmingham, England, when he brought his Ribbons of Faith outreach team to my father's little church, the Sparkbrook Mission, in Birmingham, England.

The female members of his team seemed rather glamorous for this rather dour area of England's second city, wearing colorful sashes and singing modern songs, and then Adrian brought a challenge for our church start going out into the community with the Gospel.

We were so stirred up by his sermon, that soon my sister Ruth and myself started The Messengers, which grew very quickly to about 60 members. We would go out each Saturday night to the local pubs and coffee bars with the Good News of Jesus Christ, and soon we partnered with the Ribbons of Faith, and other groups in Birmingham, to start the Late Night Special in the Lloyds Bank Building each Saturday night.

Then Canon Bryan Green, a liberal evangelical who was sometimes described as "the Anglican Billy Graham," invited us to start a Sunday night outreach in St. Martin's Church in the Bull Ring, Birmingham.

Adrian and Pauline on their wedding day. Dan Wooding is behind Adrian in the picture

When Adrian married Pauline, his lovely wife, he asked me to be best man at this wedding and, of course, I agreed.

Not long afterwards, Norma and myself, had become involved in working with drug addicts at All Saints Hospital in Winson Green, and this developed, with the help of some local businessmen, into the start of Hill Farm, Europe's first drug rehabilitation farm. We were Hill Farm's first wardens.

After we left the farm, our family moved to London where I became the chief reporter with The Christian, Billy Graham's newspaper there and shortly afterwards, Adrian and Pauline moved to Middlesbrough to run an Elim Church there. Then, in 1974 he and Pauline moved to north London where they took over the famous rock venue, The Rainbow, to establish a unique church there. The Rainbow had hosted hundreds of shows,

David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust

including several of the Beatles Christmas concerts, and also had David Bowie performing as Ziggy Stardust, as well as Queen, Cat Stevens and Jimi Hendrix, to name just a few of scores of rock luminaries who performed there.

In June, 1982, Norma, myself, and our two boys, Andrew and Peter, moved to Southern California, but Adrian stayed in London to pioneer a unique series of ministries, including those to asylum seekers in the capital city.

In a recent e-mail interview, Adrian Hawkes talked about his work with what is called Rainbow Church.

"At one time, we had at one time some 41 nationalities working as one church," he said. "Out of that multinational congregation came a natural interest from many in the affairs of their home countries.

"Rainbow church is part of an international network of churches called Pioneer, and for a long time I worked with Pioneer on their international program, however I became very aware that one of the good things that needed to happen was to see people of different nationalities working in teams together so that people would see different cultures working, and caring alongside each other.

"It does of course happen and one can see that as you look at things like Youth With A Mission and Operation Mobilization, but it was not happening in my neck of the woods.

"So, three years ago I decided to do something about it, so collecting all my connections around the world, I invited them to a meeting in Zurich Switzerland. Many said they didn't really know why they came, except that they knew me.

"The outcome of the meeting was that a church in Norway began to support a church in Paris with their international TV broadcast. The Tamil churches in Switzerland and France worked with the Norwegian church to try and plant a new Tamil congregation in Oslo Norway.

Delegates at the Norwegian happening in 2007

"A further outcome of our time in Zurich was that everyone wanted to meet again, so we decided to go for the next year to Norway. This was again a good time together and from that teams of Norwegian and UK young people went together to Kenya. Canadians and Norwegians worked together in Switzerland with the Tamil churches and their youth and young people, and UK young people went to Norway with Norwegians to play snowballs and ski."

He went on to say, "Again, after our time in Norway, everyone wanted to meet again and so the next point of call became Paris France and next year it will be the UK.

"The whole point of the exercise it to continue to encourage different nationalities to pull together for international work. We need to demonstrate that Christians can, and do, do that. Often times (at least in Britain) we are encouraged to be tolerant of each others cultures, if followers of Jesus can not do it then no one can."

Adrian then spoke about the Paris gathering:

"For the third year running a group of people from various countries met this time in Paris France, to see what we have done together and what we could do and what we are going to do.

"Some of the good things that were done together were in Switzerland and Norway with UK teams and Norwegian teams. This year there are plans for the Norwegians the UK and Canada to all join and help out with the big Swiss Conference of Tamil churches young people joining in from all those countries and from France as well; it sounds like it is going to be great.

"During the year the group at the 'happening' had been in touch with some 21 countries. We had up dates reports on on work in Norway, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Kenya, Qatar, Germany, Zambia, UK, South Africa and the USA, to name just a few.

"All who attended felt that this was a profitable yearly event, and we all agreed to meet again next year at the same time that is Friday 1st May 2009 until Sunday 3rd May 2009 with arrangement for any who want to come a bit earlier or stay a little later.

"Our delegation was a little smaller this year because one of our team, Jenny Sinnadurai had experienced the sad loss of her mother had died and many attended the funeral in Sri Lanka from Switzerland, Canada, and New Zealand France and the UK, on top of that we missed Kenyan Sammy Nawali who, this time, had visa problems for France which was strange as he had successfully attended Switzerland, Norway, USA, and UK events recently."

Adrian Hawkes and his ministry are a perfect example of what a World Christian should be. After all, the Body of Christ is made up of people from all parts of the world and he is doing his part in bringing them together under a banner of God's Love.

To find out more about the Rainbow Churches, go to www.rainbowinternational.org.

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Dan Wooding, 67, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma of 44 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com.

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Actions Speak Louder Than Words

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

The Bible talks about rewarding us for the simple giving of a cup of cold water, isn’t that amazing.

Then, when we come to the New Testament, we find that the rewards and the commands are very definite things like looking after widows and orphans, visiting prisoners, and generally being there for those who have not received justice.

The scripture then (and I think so many Christians and church communities miss it) actually talks about the fact that if we really love Jesus that will be demonstrated in practical ways, such as keeping his commandments.

Many of us are selective in what bits of scripture we see as important and those things we would like to skip over. One person said there are some part of Scripture I don’t want to read, it make me fee too guilty, I wonder how selective our understanding of Scripture, Jesus the word, and what being a Christian , being part of the church community, really means?

Did you know that in the UK each year usually around 40,000 babies, toddlers and young teens end up in the care of Social Services?
These youngsters, usually through no fault of the own, end up without the normal parents who can nurture, care, love and take note of their welfare. The reasons they are in this position are multitude. ; In fact too many to mention in a short article like this – but to name a few: death of parents, debilitating sickness of a parent and wrong use of chemical substances, like alcohol. Some are in the care system for short periods; I have seen some come into the system because a parent is in hospital, the other parent is at work all day to pay the bills, and there is not close relative with whom the child could stay.
On top of the 40,000 plus that do come I to the system there are usually around another 40,000 on the ‘at risk register’; that is youngsters whom are at risk of abuse or neglect and may end up in the care system.

When I first become aware of the need of these children, and at the time also leading a church, I went along with my wife and learnt how to become a Foster Carer. At the time I had no intention of doing the job; I just wanted to understand it. To cut a long story short we ended up foster for the borough and have had many, many young people pass through our hands in the 15 year or so that we worked with them.

Many Social service departments are looking for Foster Carers and I believe that such an appeal is being made in various areas at present. For around ten of the years during which I was Fostering for the local Authority, I held the position of Charing the borough’s Foster Care Association, I was aware that as each year passed we were always short on the amount of Foster Cares we needed, Sometimes we needed about an extra 12 carers; sometimes as many as 40. The then meant that some children ended up in a fairly impersonal children’s home while overworked social workers tried to find a better placement for them.


In the midst of our own initial training programme I began to think of all the people in our church that had a spare room and who, if they understood the need, could and maybe would be excellent Foster Carers. Actually, over the year, many of them ended up doing just that but I also began to think about how many Christians there would be in the wider UK Church Communities. Well, our population in the UK is over 60 Million and if just 5% of those are Christians, and it’s probably a lot more, that means there is likely to be around 3 million Christians in the UK, subscribing to all those scriptural things that I mentioned at the start of this article; and there are 40,000 children in need, like orphans that we are supposed to care for. So it seemed to me that if we really thought about it, believed the scriptures and become a doer of the word and obedient to His commandments, surely there wouldn’t be any shortage of Foster Carers, would there?

In my area we also had a problem of “strangers” in the community (strangers being the Old Testament Bible Word); refugees might be your word, or asylum seekers. Again we decided that Christians should do something about it. When we began our research, we discovered that our local Muslim Community had opened some fourteen homes to help these people. I enquired if there where any Christian ones. No-one knew of any, so we started our own. The Muslim community where very helpful and advised us where to go for this and that and who to approach to get advice. Now we have some 14 homes operating in the area: looking after some 30+ young people, but I did wonder why the Christians hadn’t picked up on this obvious need.

So what to do? Really we as Christians, as a Church Community, could do something about fostering couldn’t we? We have people and the resources. Why don’t you and your Church Community contact your local Social Service Fostering Department and take it to the next step. Let’s be obedient, and if we are there surely wont be any shortage in t the UK for Foster Carers will there? Let’s help with those young people’s lives, let’s care!

Adrian Hawkes is married to Pauline and they have 10 grandchildren. He is still part of the Rainbow Church North London which he used to lead. Adrian helped to form Phoenix Community Care Ltd, which looks after some 30+ unaccompanied minors, and vulnerable adults in housing in North London, and, alongside his wife Pauline established PCC Foster Care agency. www.phoenixcommunity.org

First published in the Summer of 07 in Face to Faith Magazine a magazine for Poole Bournemouth and Christchurch UK

1,010 words

I thought I would post some of my original stuff so SWITZERLAND

20 YEARS IN SWITZERLAND

The weekend of the 9th May 2008 saw the Partying, celebrating, thanksgiving and just great fun as the Tamil churches in Switzerland celebrated their 20 years existence.

From very small beginning 20 years previously, as refugees began to enter Switzerland away from the continuing war in Sri Lanka. By this time there was already a church operating in France, so they need to celebrate too.

Pauline and Adrian reminisced about those small beginning, refugees with nothing, often living in cramped rooms shared with more people than should have been in a small room. We remember some of the prophetic words about blessing, both material and spiritual that would be coming their way. Now we could see that God is faithful and His word is true, prophesies are more than words they are happenings though probably not finished; Homes that are spacious, good cars and jobs that pay well.

Nada one of the leaders remember that sometime there where only two or three at the meetings. Now we are not sure how many people are part of NLM Churches in Switzerland, perhaps 1,000, with around 10 meeting groups / congregations.

Adrian gave thanks to the gathered crowd for their generosity in financial support back to Sri Lanka which has enabled the work to grow there with School, Clinic, Vocational training centres, churches, orphanages and the like.

The crowd honoured people like Jenny and Karen for their continued faithfulness, Adrian & Pauline, for being there from the beginning and still being there. For the PIONEER Network for facilitating people to teach and lead and input such as Stuart Lindsell, they honoured the leader in Switzerland for their humble approach to leadership and also for their faithfulness. People like Nada and Kala, Albert and Joy, Ravi and Sugandi, Not to mention leaders in Bergdorf, Lausanne and all those who are still there doing a great job.

The Saturday finished with a great explosion of joy and celebration with everyone leaving the building with bunches of gas balloons celebrating to all who would see that Jesus is good, all the time.

First saying hello!

Well everyone says have a blog have a blog, so here is an Adrian Blog. I hope you enjoy and would like to hear what you have to say and I guess you will come back to me.