Today's Meetings:

9.45am Children's Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.30pm Evening Service

Weekly Meetings (school holidays):

Thursday 10th

2.00pm Ladies Meeting - Pam Porter
7.45pm Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - Matthew

Thursday 17th

2.00pm Ladies Meeting - Douglas Dwason
7.45pm Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - Daniel

Members' Prayer meeting will be on Tuesday 22nd April

Thought For The Week:

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures for ever." Ps. 111 v 10

Prayer For The Church:

Pray for Ruth and Mona as they seek employment.
Pray for Elaine that the Lord will keep her and the baby in safety.
Pray for Mark and Marilyn. Particularly pray that as Mark uses some of this time as "sabbatical leave" in reading and study, that He may be richly blessed and equipped for the ministry in the days ahead.
Pray for Lee-Ann that doctors will be able to diagnose her problem.
Pray for Ali that the extreme discomfort she is suffering will ease.
Pray for those going on holiday that they will be kept in safety and that they will return refreshed for the Lord's work.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Basildon is the church on our Prayer Diary for the coming week. A very successful Holiday Bible Club was held during February half-term. A 13 year old girl, who was recently baptised, is making good progress.

There has been a lot of sickness in the church recently - Nigel Gillatt, the Church Secretary, is recuperating from a major operation, but it will be some time before he is fully recovered. One of the other Deacons is recovering from an operation on his back, and another Deacon's wife is seriously ill in hospital.

There is an influx of Nigerians to the church at the moment, and they seem to be settling in well. We are still seeking a pastor.

Prayer For The Wider Area:

North Korea Students Arrested for Reading the Bible
Ten college students in Ham Kyung Book Do Chung, North Korea, were recently investigated and arrested for reading a Bible and watching a video CD about the Bible. According to Free North Korea Broadcasting, Mr. Jung, former vice president of GumRung Company of the Rodong Dang Labor Organization Department, reported the case and has since escaped to China to avoid arrest by the National Security Agency (Bowiboo).

"In March 2006, 200 Life Bibles and several hundred CDs were purchased in China and secretly placed in flour bags before being smuggled into North Korea. This huge Bible smuggling case was headed by GumRung Company employees who were influenced by Christianity in China and underground Christians in Nasun City. All the leaders have been arrested and are being severely tortured.

In the Free North Korea Broadcasting report, Mr. Jung added that most of the arrested students attended Chung Jin College.

"These students shared the Bible and video CD with their friends. They also distributed the Bibles and video CDs to the other college towns," he said. Pray God encourages and protects believers in North Korea.
Zimbabwe:

Helping a starving nation through the churches The desperate plight of the people of Zimbabwe has hit the world media, in the context of Zimbabwe's recent elections. Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation and its lowest life expectancy. There is virtually no food in the shops, and anyway few people can afford to buy it. Zimbabwe's starving population is dependent on aid, much of it coming through the churches.

"Without church donations we would be dead," said one grandmother, who earns less than £1 a month, sweeping the street. Barnabas Fund is supporting a project which works through churches in Zimbabwe to bring food aid for the poorest in their congregations. At local churches, the ministers organise the distribution. Often the families who receive the food aid will share it with those outside the church who have none.

A monthly food package, designed to feed a family of seven to ten people, contains: 10kg maize meal, 2 litres cooking oil, 2.5kg bread flour, 6 packets dry yeast, 2kg rice, 2kg lima beans, 2.5kg sugar, 800g peanut butter, 500g salt.

Bible Readings:

April
5 Proverbs 4; Romans 12:1-8
6 Leviticus 10:1-20; Romans 12:9-21
7 Leviticus 11:1-12:8; Romans 13:1-14
8 Psalms 22; Romans 14:1-23
9 Leviticus 13:1-59; Romans 15:1-13
10 Leviticus 14:1-57; Romans 15:14-33
11 Leviticus 15:1-33; Romans 16:1-27
12 Leviticus 16:1-34; Mark 1:1-39
13 Leviticus 17:1-18:30; Mark 1:40-2:17
14 Leviticus 19:1-37; Mark 2:18-3:19
15 Psalms 23-24; Mark 3:20-4:20
16 Leviticus 20:1-27; Mark 4:21-41
17 Leviticus 21:1-24; Mark 5:1-20
18 Leviticus 22:1-33; Mark 5:21-43
19 Leviticus 23:1-44; Mark 6:1-29
20 Leviticus 24:1-23; Mark 6:30-56

General Announcements:

Dorking. The welcome service for Brian and Valerie Maidstone is planned for Saturday 3rd May at 4.30 pm. John Benton is the preacher.