'And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.' (Hebrews 10:25- NIV)
Summer's here! We hope you're enjoying the sunshine and finding moments to stay cool during your van runs.
This month, we celebrated the Besom National Week of Prayer, welcomed new time-givers to Besom teams, rebranded Besom vans, and shared wonderful Besom family time within local Besoms.
In this issue, we reflect on themes from the National Week of Prayer, feature an article about Besom's model and history that was shared by the wonderful Jubilee Plus ministry, and we highlight Just Love UK's ministry.
Reflections from the National Week of Prayer
Thank you to all Besom-ers for your dedication during the National Week of Prayer. Your contributions, whether leading sessions, sharing stories, or participating on Zoom, were invaluable. Julia Brand, our Prayer Lead, has summarised the main themes and reflections from this significant week.
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Don’t lose the essence of Besom, through regimentation/ regulations, welcome the Supernatural.
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Let’s make room for the Holy Spirit to move freely.
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We are not to be ashamed of the Gospel.
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We have an invitation every day to be thankful.
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Let’s not lose the art of celebrating!
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The wine at the wedding in Canna was beyond everyone’s expectations. We want to give the best as Christ's Ambassadors.
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Judgementalism! A daily re-set is so important, don’t fall into bad habits, keep being merciful!
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Jesus puts himself in the boat with us! Peace in the process or “angst “ is up to us! Besom attracts “doers”. The challenge is to have faith and keep calm.
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How would we best leave an orchard for someone else? What’s our legacy? Are we investing in the future?
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Are we still serving the community with what they need? Are we still flexible?
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Besom is like 'pass the parcel'! Is Jesus in the centre?
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Every time we talk about Besom, it is like giving tiny mustard seeds.
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May we not be building our own little kingdoms but God’s kingdom in our Besoms.
Please include these themes in your prayers. Thank you for being part of our prayerful family that relies on God.
Besom model shared by Jubilee Plus
Jubilee Plus recently published an article about our Besom ministry's history and model, which we were so pleased to see. We have great admiration for Natalie Williams and her team for the work that they are doing in helping churches understand more about poverty and how God can use us all to change the lives of those living in poverty.
If you missed this article, please visit the Jubilee Plus news/blog page to have a read and share with your local church leaders and any friends who might be interested in Besom. Let's see what God will do with this!
Just Love - Pursuing God's justice for all
Just Love is another ministry that we admire, who share some of our core values.
They work to grow a network of thousands pursuing justice in the way of Jesus holistically, fruitfully, and sustainably. Their work with university students across the UK lays the foundations of that whole-life pursuit of justice in the way of Jesus. And their Network gathers around their Six Justice Practices, and provides a lifelong space of support and action in the work of justice for graduates, their friends, and others who join their network along the way!
Just Love believe that their work will leverage a huge justice impact in our world. When a network of thousands devote their lives to pursuing justice in the way of Jesus, this can lead to lasting change in our world. Whether on the global level of policy and law, or the very local level of neighbourhood, families, and communities.
They also believe that they’ll see countless image-bearers brought closer to the full flourishing they were created for.
Can you support Just Love? Here's what you can do:
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Pray - they believe in the power of prayer and want to seek God in all that they do. To receive monthly prayer updates, please join their mailing list!
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Give - With your financial support, Just Love can grow to new cities, give more in-depth training to students, and roll out new content and events for their Network. They have a summer target of £50k, and would appreciate anything you can give towards that, whether through one-off or monthly donations!
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Connect - Just love would love to connect with Besoms in the cities that we work in!
Thank you for your support!
