Volume 4

Issue 1

March 2002

Washington Church of Christ

March News

2002

Home

Our work with those fleeing oppression and poverty around the world continues to grow.  There are now about 45 families from around the world living in Washington, and around 1700 individuals in the wider City of Sunderland.  Michele and I, along with Andrew Hoseason, Joseph Hannan, Linda Graham, Gillian Specelayh, Amanda Lowden, and many others from the community are involved in this work.  Our work here has received attention from many around the city and even from neighbouring cities hoping to copy our program.  On the 12th of February we received a visit from Hartlepool Town Council officials that are hoping to start an Asylum Seekers project.

We are planning in the future to provide a wider range of services to the families that are coming to Washington.  As part of this effort, we are working with one of the local Primary Schools to provide training on racial issues and cultural awareness.  We are also working with a group in Sunderland to provide a full-time worker to help with the various needs of the people across the City.

Along with all of this, there are two of the Asylum families that attend Sunday morning worship services here.  We also have regular visits from others, both volunteers and Asylum Seekers.

We have also joined forces with another organisation in the area to create a training course for those  working with Asylum Seekers.  When this material is published it will be published jointly with a group called  Banks of the Wear  training support.

We have begun the process to register this project  with government as an independent charity.  This should enable the group to seek the necessary funding and to receive tax exempt status.

 

Children's Christmas party	Cricket	New car (sort of new)
Table of many lands.	It went the wrong way!	Dry Ski slope Sunderland b-day party.

This and That

I am continuing to sit in court, as a Magistrate, 3 or 4 days each month.  Most of my training has now been completed and I recently made a visit to the local prison as part of that training.  

I am continuing to work part-time on my PhD. and I will be half-way finished at the end of this summer (only 3 more years to go).

In late December our Toyota Spacecruiser van finally gave out on us.  It had 160,000 plus miles, on it and it was 13 years old.  We replaced it with an 8 year old Volvo Estate car (station wagon).  It looks a bit like a hearse but, hopefully it will prove a reliable car.

Family News

The kids are all doing well in school.  Jonathan should be finished with his A-level education (sort of like junior college) in July.  He is then hoping to get a job for a while, in order to save some money.  Joshua still has one more year to work on his A-levels and then he hopes to be able to attend Lubbock Christian University (if he can get some good scholarships and a job).  Heather will be starting her last year of compulsory education, and then she will go onto her A-levels.  Jared is doing well with his reading and writing.  It seems a bit strange to have some kids finishing school and then one that is really just getting started.  

Michele is doing well, working very hard, though she is having some problems with a ringing in her ears.  She hopes to see the specialist sometime this month in order to determine what it is and hopefully to get treatment.  She also felt deeply the loss of loss her uncle Maxie Hayslip and Aunt Nell Hayslip since our return from the U.S. in August.  This has weighed heavily on her heart.