Latest News
Acts One Eight latest news is our way of telling you about what we are doing, and the events we are scheduling.
Bookmark this page to learn more about our mission, and to see how we are meeting our vision of bringing better health and the love of Jesus to the needy and underprivileged all over the world. We also invite you to forward the information you find here to others in the Christian community who may be sympathetic to our goals.If you have a news item you’d like to share, we’d be delighted to hear from you – click here to submit an article or just to send us a message.
With the great help of Acts One Eight I headed out to Uganda in October 2008 to be part of a Global Alpha Training team….
Stepping forward
With the unexpected collapse of my marriage in 2006 my life
crashed down around me and without being able to see it for myself I sunk into
deep depression and complete loneliness. Lost and not sure where to turn, I was
invited to a carol service and was handed an Alpha leaflet that I put in my back
pocket. To this day I can still remember the inexplicably warm welcome that I
received as I took that first step through the doors of St Paul’s Shadwell in
East London (www.stpaulshshadwell.org) . I committed my life to God in January
2007 and saw my life transformed overnight. Night sweats, despair and swearing
all gone in a baffling instant and replaced by complete peace - I still remember
rushing out to buy my own Bible and writing in the front.......
“January 2007 –
I became a Christian”
The power of true hospitality (not how we understand in
today’s society) shines God’s light into a stranger’s life and still sticks with
me to this very day. From that moment I knew I wanted to be able to help other
people understand the importance of a real relationship with God. Never could I
have imagined, however, that just one and half years later I would be stepping
forward to offer my help as the administrator for our church team heading out to
deliver Global Alpha Training to over 200 pastors in Uganda.
Off to Uganda with Alpha
Just a little bit about Alpha
Just in case you haven’t heard of Alpha (www.alpha.org)….. Alpha is a great opportunity to explore the meaning of life in an informal, fun and friendly environment. It’s a short 10 week course that consists of a series of talks, looking at topics including 'Who is Jesus?' and 'Why and how do I pray?' with a great weekend away. We meet for supper and each talk is followed by discussion in small groups. Alpha really is for everyone; no question is out of bounds and you are free to discuss as much or as little as you wish.
In 2008, over 33,500 courses were offered in 163 countries and in ALL major Christian denominations. It is reported that over 11 million people worldwide have attended an Alpha course (2 Million in the UK alone!).
Alpha International’s vision in 2008 was to send 70 Partner Church teams from around the world to run 100 Alpha Training Events as part of the Global Alpha Training initiative. St Paul’s Shadwell was just one of those 70 partner churches and a team of seven of us headed from East London to inspire and teach people in Uganda how to run alpha where so many are longing to learn how the course can be used to spread the gospel. More and more people are having the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ on an Alpha course near them.
The transformation of a nation – I wondered what could God do through us in just a week in Uganda?
After much prayer and preparation (and many injections) seven of us, put down our day jobs in the City of London and flew out to Uganda to team up with the Alpha directors of Africa and Uganda to help deliver two back-to-back 2-day training events – one in the capital Kampala and one several hours of bumpy bus journey away on the eastern boarder in Mbale.
What a week!
On the very first night in Kampala, food poisoning knocked out 4 of the 7 of our team just before our first training event – I can still see the faces of my pastor and worship leader as I broke the dawn news that it was only going to be us. Still by morning 3 of us crammed ourselves along with musical instruments and talks into the back of a car and dashed across Kampala to the University campus (the university where back in the 70s the ruthless dictator, Idi Amin, was Chancellor!) to help host the first event with the help of many wonderful volunteers. Now my admin job kicked in - I was to help get the chairs set out, the book stall up and running, help sort out everyone’s registration and welcome every guest that arrived – Here I was able to reciprocate God’s welcome that I had received so memorably just one and a half year’s early!
Leaders from all denominations slowly arrived at the big tent which was to host our event and with much handshaking we warmly welcomed people from far and wide - as far away as the DR Congo for a couple of the guests. After a long address from the Bishop everyone settled down to experience the teaching, small groups and fellowship of eating together which forms the framework for the Alpha teaching.
Our bedridden colleagues quickly recovered from their shocking food poisoning and rejoined us and we all headed off across country to Mbale, where we were hosted by a wonderful missionary called Robbie who opened his home to us and warmly welcomed us into his church which was to host leaders from across this eastern rural region.
In these very hurried few days we met and ate with many, many wonderful leaders from across Uganda who worked tirelessly for God. We shared much learning and laughter, worship, prayer and fellowship and gradually we unpacked and explained the training of Alpha. We saw the faces of leaders light up as they began to understand the principles of this training - leaders came from many churches, the prisons, the army and from across several denominations. By the end of the week we were leaving behind many great, newly refreshed and empowered friends who like us were on the next stage of their life’s journey.
Here are just a few pictures that tell a great story…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexanderwatson/sets/72157608336129150/
THANK YOU SO MUCH
FOR EVERYONE WHO HELPS THROUGH
ACTS ONE EIGHT!
Xxxxx
www.actsoneeightministries.org
Great news from Orissa! Robert Mophet writes: " I am so happy to let you know that now we can start building work in Orissa. Praise God for that. Thank you for your prayers. Please see the orphanage land photos. In the first photo, the man wearing shawl is the Local Council President. In the second you see a neighbour, a tribal lady. Third photo is the land view. Please pray and help to build orphanage. May God bless you,'
Thanks to Ian Harvey (see below) and everyone else who has contributed to make this possible - and watch out for further news!
Sponsorship wanted!
Well done Ian!
The goal to shed 42lbs has been achieved! Thank you Ian and your sponsors for contributing to the Orissa project. We expect around £500 and are looking forward to Ian’s next challenge. The goal is to do it all again! So, if you want to sponsor Ian (so much a lb) for his 2008 goal, email Michael Peters with your pledge. When the time comes you’ll be able to make payments (£, $ or Euros) directly through the website by credit card or PayPal.
Will you help?
News from Dharwar... where the children in our first orphanage have sent us some pictures for the website!
Water for the ten children here comes from a borehole funded by the Besom foundation, while funding for the orphanage itself has been donated by Emma and the other trustees. We now need more funds to take care of the needs of individual children.
Our second orphanage……in Orissa on the eastern coast of India, is now being built. When it’s finished, it will house 100 children. Acts One Eight has given £1700 to start the project, and we’re now committed to a further nine payments of £1700 each.This money is just for the building and the facilities for these very needy children. We also need to secure them a supply of dietary supplements to ensure their continuing good health once they are living there.
Infant mortality in Orissa has been steadily falling for many years, but it still has one of the highest rates among Indian states – and this is the best way we know to shield these children from the threat of an untimely death. We urgently need more funds to protect other children at the same or greater risk.
Latest news from east Africa
We recently heard from the Rev Peter Stanway about the benefits of our dietary supplements to the children he and TheWay Christian Ministries are caring for in Rwanda.
Peter writes: 'The nurses report that their hair and skin are healthy, unhealed wounds are now healed and the children have a new energy and a new 
appetite. Sadly because of extreme poverty their hunger cannot always be satisfied. However, with your help we can do something about this.'
Acts One Eight is now supplying dietary supplements to medically fragile childen, including children with AIDS, in Rwanda and in Kenya (Nairobi and Kisii) – but we need more funds to continue the work and extend it to other, equally deprived areas.
Conference in Atlanta…
…where Michael spoke about the subject of Ministry in the Marketplace on 2 September. In his presentation he described what he had learned after 18 years as Chief Executive of a major US-owned business – that there is always another level of achievement, and always more to learn and share with others.
He spoke particularly to ministers in their role as leaders, who should always be looking for new directions and new goals. You can order DVDs and CDs of the event at www.thegreatlifefactor.com/ultimateimpact.
Acts One Eight in Romania
Casa Joany, in the hills around Sibiu in central Transylvania, opened in 2001. Funds come from a charity run by Ian and Joan Sherwood from Somerset, and Acts One Eight supports them with dietary supplements – introducing these into the children’s diet brought noticeable improvement in their health almost at once, and we need more funds to keep them supplied.
