Latest News from EZ HQ:

(Currently the EZ36 team are Clare, Deb, Emma and Pete.  Deb and Pete are the leaders of EZ36:St Mellons.)

IGNITE HOPE - 2ND - 5TH MAY 2008

The first May bank holiday saw Pete and Deb heading up a mission at Ignite Hope, as well as getting the Urban Sanctuary bus down to Sophia Gardens for the night sessions!  The St Mellons mission saw a team of 21 young people come together to bring God to the estate through acts of kindness and just having conversations with the locals we came across.  The team were amazing and worked really hard, ably assisted by our fantastic Pastor Steve Harris and his wife Myra (who are also amazing!!) and some members of Bethania Church (who, as you've already guessed, are also amazing!)   Thank you to all the guys who came, we've had some really positive feedback from the work we did and were joined by local youngsters to help us tidy!  The team tidied up one park on the Saturday finding lots and lots of litter, too much for the first council van that came along. We then had the EZ36 gas bbq out to do a street bbq, chaos is the best word to describe the outcome!! The Sunday saw us take Oakfield Primary School in hand, picking up litter, playing football with some of the local boys, playing on the playground with some local young kids.  Some of the guys went up to paint the local corner shops garage, it was eventually painted red and looked a lot better, the owners gave the team drinks and sweets for their help.  Some of the team also did some gardening for some local people, they had some great conversations, being lent a lawnmower and given a hedge trimmer to keep!  Monday saw the team get smelly and extremely dirty as they cleaned up the Faendre Reen, possibly the dirtiest bit of water imaginable!  The council are hoping they can now enforce fly tipping by laws there and keep it clean!  Pictures were taken on the weekend and show just how hard everyone worked!

 

WOW!!! It’s now been over 6 years since the first EZ36 team members moved to St.Mellons! How mad is that!?! So much incredible stuff has happened since then! There’s now 4 on the team, with 2 houses and 3 dogs! Even more amazingly the promises of Ezekiel 36 are actually happening! Ruined parts of the estate are being rebuilt and renovated. Kids are playing and laughing in parks again. There’s been amazing conversions, heartbreaks, answered prayer and loads of challenges. The crime rate’s fallen and there’s more youth then ever getting stuck into different EZ36 projects. We’re so grateful to God for His faithfulness and His mercy. What we can’t get over is that Jesus has chosen to use ordinary people like us to be involved in His plan of salvation and hope for this part of Cardiff. Jesus does stuff like that! He turned water into wine, but let the servants dish it out. He took 5 loaves and 2 fishes, but let His disciples feed the crowd! Speaking to His rebellious, messed up people, God promises to “show my holiness through you” [Ezekiel 36v23]. That just blows me away! Our awesome God who knows all our mistakes, our fears, our weaknesses and our excuses, still wants to shine His holiness through us!!! Hallelujah! Whoever you are reading this, be encouraged that God loves shining His life, giving light through you too, whoever and wherever you are!

Here's the stuff we're doing:

 

TREVETHIN

Dai, Michelle and Elen (with Boaz the dog) are answering God’s call to plant a church on Pontypool’s Trevethin estate. It’s very early days, but we’re really excited to see the vision of EZ36 spread to the valleys of South Wales. Who knows – it may be the first of many new projects!
Keep up to date by checking out the new church website www.hillcitychurch.org.uk

YOUTH CELL

The Youth cell group is run by EZ36 members as part of the local church cell group structure. The group is open to young people who want to learn more about God and ask questions about life, the Bible and what Jesus has done for them, and also those who have made their own decisions to trust Jesus and want to grow and move on with God. We usually have a social time and a game and then creative worship followed by the Word and its application to our lives. Those of us running the cell are really enjoying it and it’s a real privilege to be allowed to share in the young people’s lives and see them understanding the truth of God’s Word and enjoying life with Him. Please pray for those who attend- for salvation and also for real growth and stability. Pray for us as leaders that we will be able to really support the young people and that we will have wisdom to bring the truth in a way which they can understand and apply to their lives.

URBAN SANCTUARY

The Urban Sanctuary is a mobile youth facility (aka double decker bus) run by EZ36 and other volunteers. It aims to provide a safe, fun and godly environment for teenagers in east Cardiff on a Thursday night The bus is covered with scripture and graffiti, and the inside kitted out with DJ decks, table football, a ps2, an xbox, a snack bar and chill out area.
Over the years Urban Sanctuary has become a popular hangout for St Mellons and Trowbridge youth, with the main attraction being the DJ decks where several boys (and a few brave girls) show off their talent at “MC”ing. Since last summer the youth have been able to do some arts and crafts on the bus, such as painting and clay modeling and it’s lush watching them get excited at what they’ve achieved by the end of the night. There are free drinks and biscuits on board which I’ve yet to see anyone pass up!!! The bus has literally become an urban sanctuary where youth can get off the streets into a safe and loving environment
Since October we have introduced “Upper Deck”, a 15 minute slot at the end of the evening where we informally present the gospel and discuss issues important to them through testimonies, games, songs etc. Please keep the Urban Sanctuary team and youth in your prayers. Please pray especially that the bus could be more consistent, without mechanical failure, or adverse weather conditions on Thursday nights, and that we will have enough team members (over 10) each week to take the bus out. Also, please pray that we will fill the “Upper Deck” times wisely with stuff God wants the youth to hear, and that their hearts would be softened towards God and they would hear him speak to them. Finally, please pray for deeper relationships to form between the team and the youth, and their salvation.

CHILDREN'S WORK

EZ36 continue to have links with a nearby church, Bethania, who run an excellent, well attended kids club every Friday night and commit to visiting the children and their parents each week to build on the relationships formed during the club. Christmas saw a very exciting family day, where a coach was hired and filled with both kids and parents who all took part in fun games and heard the gospel. Please pray for the children who attend, for their salvation and growth in God, and wisdom and energy for all the helpers. Please pray for more helpers to both help out in the club and visiting families each week, and that those already there would encourage the families they meet with God’s love.

BEACON FAMILY FESTIVAL

EZ36 members have been heavily involved with the church’s annual mission week “Aquasplash” in previous years. Plans are already being made regarding the holiday bible club, running from 29th July to 3rd August 2007. Please pray for wisdom in deciding what material to teach the children, and that the children who’ve come in previous years would come again, along with others. Pray that God would bring together His team for the club and He will be glorified through all the activities involved. Pray for the salvation of the children who attend, and that strong links will be made with Bethania kids club, so that children will continue to hear God’s word through the rest of the year as well.

LADIES' PAMPER EVENINGS

During Aquasplash 2006, the EZ36 girls held a ladies pamper evening, where we invited ladies off the estate to come to the Beacon Centre and be served food and drink; whilst having a facial, manicure, foot massage or hand massage, all for free! A personal testimony was given that the women could relate to and songs sung as they relaxed and were pampered. As it was so successful we are planning to do more events like this in 2007, we launched this with the first one on 28th Feb. Please pray that God would reach out to these women, on our estate, through these events and they would learn that God does love them and care about them. Pray for meaningful and lasting relationships to be formed between the team and the ladies, and that they would be saved.

TEA,TOAST & TOTS

Tea, Toast and Tots is a friendly group for babies and children under five and their parents or carers. It come from a vision given by God to Annamaria and is currently being led by Annamaria, Michelle and Deb. The vision is to provide a friendly, safe, non threatening group where parents can feel comfortable to come and meet people while their children play. The vision is also to build relationships with as many families as possible, share the love of God, to be a Christian witness and to invite families to other church and community events. The group started last Friday and was a great success, four mums and a dad and six children came to play!

DOOR T0 DOOR

Door to Door is a form of Street Evangelism, which has followed on and been inspired by some EZ36 members involvement in Dave Pritchard's “Cardiff School of Evangelism” (this happens on a Friday night and they go out on Queens Street giving out drinks and tracts till 2am). This currently takes place on a Thursday where Annamaria and some members of the Beacon Church knock doors in Trowbridge / St Mellons and aim to share the love of God. The vision is to have a team large enough for doors to be knocked every day and the entire area to be covered.

OTHER WORKS EZ36 TEAM MEMBERS ARE INVOLVED IN:

Several of us are involved with various aspects of church life; PA, Worship, Leading Youth and Children's works, Preaching, Teas and Coffees. Some volunteer at the Beacon Centre, others are involved in Graphic Design for various events (including producing tracts for street evangelism). We also do detached youth work, when time permits, and take youth to events such as IGNITE and SOUL SURVIVOR.

FUTURE EVENTS/PLANS

EZ36 is currently working on some more projects to become a reality soon! Alongside other churches in East Cardiff, we will be organizing some regular youth worship events. We have plans for a evangelistic cd, to be given out to youth we come across in our various established projects, hopefully a new football team next season and lots more exciting stuff. We'll keep you posted!!