How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
(Psalm 133 KJV)
The power of unity! Where we are one, God commands a blessing! What a privilege to be a family together bound by the love of our Father God.
Can we take a moment to ponder that and let it go deep inside our hearts as we reflect on the love we have for each other and the wider communities of people we serve?
In this news edition, we share with you some highs and lows that the Network is going through, but also celebrate some major milestones and testimonies of God's goodness.
Evangelical Alliance
The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is the oldest and largest Evangelical Unity Movement in the UK. They are passionate about helping Christians to live out God's call to love, serve, and share him individually. And we are thrilled to now be accepted members of the Evangelical Alliance.
Being part of the EA will no doubt open up many doors for Besom to connect with many more churches and believers across the UK. Believers who want to make Jesus' love known in their communities. We thank God for this new addition to the Besom Network.
Click on the video to find out more about who they are, the people they serve, and the places they go.
Welcoming a new Trustee and Network prayer requests
We've such a good God who answers prayer. For a while, the Besom Network has cried out to God for the provision of new trustees to help fill the gaps of the retired trustees.
And our God has provided us with one new Trustee, Tamsin Gaskell, who is also the Comms Lead for the Besom in Witney.
Tamsin joins the Besom Network team, bringing a wealth of experience with her. She is very familiar with serving people in need, even in her local community outside of Besom. She runs a charity, Apollos Clothing, which serves the marginalised in her community, focusing on eliminating clothing poverty.
She's a God-fearing woman who loves to seek the Lord first before acting. She has strong experience of working with charities through challenging times or hardships, and really values the Besom ministry and what we stand for.
Please join us as we thank God for the time that she will be freely giving to support the network.
If we've ever needed your prayers, now is the time. We need you all to stand with us, please, pray for us; ask God for more clarity for the future, financial provision, more staff to help with the day-to-day running of the network, a treasurer, and more partner Christian ministries to enable us to spread the word about our Ministry and our desire for God to multiply Besoms.
Pray for us as we attend the Just Love National Gathering as partners and exhibitors. Pray that we make many new connections and establish long-standing ones with other Christian Organisations that we are going to be exhibiting with.
As a Besom family, we continue to pray that God binds us together in love, for where there is unity, God commands a blessing (Psalm 133).
Saying Farewell to the 'Besom in Purbeck'
The Besom in Purbeck is a real blessing to its community and was part of the Besom Network for over 25 years. They have shared with us some wonderful God-stories of God's goodness and provision for them and the people they serve.
As they enter a new season and pursue charitable status they feel led by the Lord to set their charity up outside of the Besom Network. Let's pray and bless them on their new journey as they continue to serve their community. In time, we'll be able to share the details of their new name.
And for Davina and team, our deepest gratitude for your time with the Network and we want to wish you every blessing. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, always. (Numbers 6:24-26).
Celebrating some answers to prayer
Besom Woking- A recipient's response to prayer
“No one has ever offered to pray for me before. Thank You”.
Besom Cambridge - A contemplation on God's faithfulness "Every time I start the week at Besom with many referrals, I am tempted to doubt that we can provide what is needed with the little we have in the warehouse. Every time God provides just what is needed, and there is some left over to help us believe that next week will work out, too if we depend on God again. A recipient called yesterday morning to ask for a fridge freezer, and I had to respond that we had none. Within an hour, an email arrived offering one, and the giver brought it to the warehouse herself, and then went back for a second trip to bring more things we needed for another recipient to the warehouse. The recipient was delighted and amazed when I called her back.
I read this prayer of Augustine this morning, "Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I may love what is holy."
That is my prayer. That the Holy Spirit would act in us, that our work in Besom would not be toil and striving, but would be holy."
Chris Hayhurst (Cambridge)
Besom Camberley - Printer troubles, a God-incidence!
"I was really struggling with some issues with our Brother LaserJet printer, and I had exhausted my capacity to resolve the problem! I searched for someone to help externally and called the first local company that appeared in the search results. He, Shaun, said he would come that very morning, after some other appointments. To cut a long story short he disclosed he had once been homeless and was so grateful for charities like the Besom, he pondered a moment and said “Umm what am I going to do about this…..” and with that he gave us an ‘only lightly used/pre-loved’ Kyocera LaserJet printer for the cost of his set up time and a pack of extra Print Cartridges! The other printer has resolved itself to a degree that it is now a spare that can be used by anyone in the warehouse, so they don’t have to bother the shift lead and can print labels and expenses, etc. This is what I would call a “God-incidence”!"
Karen Kendall (Besom Lead)
The Besom Network - provision of staff
"Thank you, Jesus, for your provision during our time of need to boost members of the Support Team and Trustees. We are so grateful for a new Trustee, Tamsin Gaskell, who has joined the Besom Network at a time when we really need fresh energy and perspectives from people willing to stand in the gap.
God has also blessed us with another time-giver, Lois Chatfield-Ngocho, who was looking for a Christian ministry to bless with her wide skillset. Lois will manage all email enquiries and traffic to the Network inbox and, as Tech administrator, manage the Google Workspace account and its shared Drives for all local Besoms' Member Resources folders, relieving Annie of these two large administrative tasks.
Lois loves the Lord, is based in Taunton Vineyard Church, and serves as co-Leader of Somerset 'Worship Awaken' group."
- Roger Habgood and Annie Emmins
Thank you so much, Besom Woking, Besom Cambridge, Besom Camberley, and the Besom Support Team, for sharing these testimonies with us.
If you have a story to share of God's provision, or a scripture that has encouraged your team or major news that's happening at your local Besom, we'd love to hear it. Please email media@thebesomnetwork.org.
Have you got your merch for Autumn / Winter?
It's been cold and windy this week, so I'm grateful I bought this hoodie to not only keep me nice and snug, but also to help me encourage people at church and around my local community that 'we love because He first loved us' (1 John 4:19).
If you need a hoodie or a beanie hat to keep you warm, or an insulated water bottle when you're out and about, or simply a present to go in the Christmas hampers, please visit our merchandise shop and treat yourself and a loved one.
