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Asian Network
About ten percent of the population of Walsall have South Asian ancestry and the make-up of WCC now reflects this. Since Suleman (left) & Tabea and Yaqoob & Esther (centre) joined us with their families we have made a lot more contacts in the Asian community. Numbers are increasing and we anticipate new cells as far away as Wolverhampton. A monthly praise and testimony meeting takes place at Caldmore Evangelical Church. Next date is Friday, 24 September, 7.00pm.
Praise & Teaching Events
We have hosted a number of events that have been very successful. Stanley and Esme Mehta from www.gminet.org Mumbai are great friends who have visited over the years. Stanley has taught in seminars and celebration meetings. We hosted a successful visits in February and May 2009. We anticipate a visit from Stanley Mehta and team on 10 October 2010.
Majeed Masih (right), known throughout Pakistan, has performed at some inspirational musical evenings. It was our privilege to host his first visit to the UK. His Punjabi songs went down well even with the mainly English celebration audience.
Friendship Meals
About once a month we have a 'Friendship Meal' bringing together Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians. The authentic Asian dishes with halal and vegetarian options quickly bring down the barriers. There is no other agenda apart from food and conversation. If you would like to be informed of the next Friendship Meal contact Steve stevekirk@blueyonder.co.uk
We have also held joint meetings with a local mosque where we discussed topics such as 'prayer' and 'family'.
Baptisms
New people are regularly deciding to follow Jesus resulting in a number of baptisms. This is a big step for people who come from another faith. In the Bible, Peter says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38).
A DVD showing Amarjit and Natasha recently being baptised is available on request.
Cells
We have home prayer and cell groups that are a fun mixture of Urdu, Punjabi and English. There is usually singing in one or more languages. Then there is some practical teaching and discussion from the Bible. Interpretation is available where it is needed. Always there is prayer for individual needs whether for health, family, finances or other circumstances. Visiting many homes in the area has led to good conversations and remarkable answers to prayer.
Christmas Party
Suleman and others organise an annual party for our Asian network. In 2009 the party is on Saturday, 19th December at Caldmore Evangelical Church. It is a time of family fun with games, video clips and, of course, plenty of food. Most of our activities cater for the whole family and also provide an environment of acceptance for those who may be long way from their natural families.
Partners
We are privileged to have Neighbours Worldwide working with WCC. Suleman and team have visited many homes distributing the 'Jesus' video in several languages. They also teach English to new arrivals from a variety of countries. Lessons are free and have been augmented by trips (centre) and social events.
Contact Suleman fivejaved@yahoo.co.uk
We are also pleased to be working with Shamaun (right) who heads up the UK Christian Video Ministry here in Walsall. We have jointly produced three quality DVDs of personal stories from here and abroad.
Contact Shamaun [s.sunny@live.co.uk]
Teams
We regularly send teams to India (left), Pakistan (centre), Bangladesh and the UAE (right) and we feel we are very much in a two-way relationship. Teams usually go for two or three weeks taking part in church meetings and helping to encourage acts of kindness. For more on this see our International page. A team went to Pakistan during March 2010.
