Jan 17, 2024, 5:57 PMMaxine Donovan
Tottenham Lighthouse: 2023 Reflections and 2024 Aspirations
The year 2023 has come and gone. At Tottenham Lighthouse we have much to reflect upon and be thankful for as we forge ahead under the power of the Holy Spirit. We worship in an unfinished building, but we have not allowed this to affect our efforts to serve our local community or glorifying our Lord. In the past we have shared many news items on how God has come through for His people, but there are still many untold stories.
Sophia Charles and her team in Community Services have loved, cared, supported and nurtured the members of the community. A similar story can be said of the ‘Sharing the Love Outreach Centre’ at the former Lighthouse Church on Cavendish Road. Every Sabbath, in addition to supplies collected from the Food Hub, a hot cup of soup and patties are served for Church and community members. Maureen Pollock, Personal Ministries Leader has made countless trips throughout the week to collect and distribute food donated by Sainsbury’s. Sophia Charles reported on Sabbath, 25 November of the Church’s contribution to the community to date, in 2023. Distributed were: 9,500 food packages, over 500 pieces of clothing, over 200 bedding and household items and over 200 pieces of literature. Cash given away totalled £12,000. There were four job placements, three workshops for a Women’s group formed in October and over 2,000 persons helped.
The work by Tottenham Lighthouse is well-known in the community. It is not unusual to see people stopping by to drop off items or make a cash donation. Recently a factory sent boxes containing cheese.
On Sabbath, 23 December we had two visitors to our Food Hub from ‘Independence for Everyone.’ They had heard of our work and came to give their support. Everyone visiting the Food Hub that day received from them an envelope with a card and a £15 Sainsbury’s voucher. God continues to show special favour to His Church.
On Sabbath, 13 January 2024 Roger Charles shared conversations he had with Sharon regarding her mother – both ‘regulars’ to the Food Hub. It revealed how much the Church is appreciated by the community. Before Christmas Elder Charles saw Sharon and she informed him of the death of her 94 year old mother. He gave his condolences and told her that the Church was her family, so if she needed any help with the funeral arrangements to let us know. He heard nothing from Sharon until Sabbath, 6 January, when she told him that her mother would be cremated on Friday, 19 January. Then she said, ‘I remembered you said to me that this Church was my family. I just want to let my family know that my mom will be buried, and I would like my family to be there.’ We were all moved when we heard this story.
As a Church we have had our fair share of deaths throughout the year, but on the 18 December we were all rocked by the news of the sudden passing of our beloved brother, Paul Pollock, a quiet and unassuming man. He and his wife Maureen have done so much to help the community. We thank God that we have this hope that one day we will be with our Lord, and death and the grave will be no more.
So what about 2024? At the SEC Expo on Sunday, 7 January, we were inspired and excited to hear about Digital Evangelism presented by Karen Glassford, Digital Evangelism Manager, General Conference. After the Expo we were informed of two more opportunities to hear more from Karen Glassford about Digital Evangelism - Thursday, 11 January at Newbold Church and on Saturday, 14 January at Wimbledon International Church for a hands-on session. Tottenham Lighthouse ensured that it was represented at both sessions. With 5.2 billion connected to the net, it is a field we have to explore.
The annual 10 Days of Prayer programme for 2024 has started. Tottenham Lighthouse is blessed to have two of its children, Josiah Benjamin and Fitz Vernon Jr, participating in the United Children & Youth (UCY) 10 Days of Prayer programme, which is shown every morning at 6am. Again, despite having an unfinished building, Craige Young, Founder and Director of UCY, chose Tottenham Lighthouse to hold the final session on Sabbath, 20 January during Divine Service.
We desire that in 2024 our Church is completed, but we recognise that God has used us in an unfinished building. We, therefore, patiently wait on Him. We continue to use Christ’s Method to carry out His mission, with confidence that 2024 will be even better than 2023. As Ellen White wrote, ‘We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.’
The year 2023 has come and gone. At Tottenham Lighthouse we have much to reflect upon and be thankful for as we forge ahead under the power of the Holy Spirit. We worship in an unfinished building, but we have not allowed this to affect our efforts to serve our local community or glorifying our Lord. In the past we have shared many news items on how God has come through for His people, but there are still many untold stories.
Sophia Charles and her team in Community Services have loved, cared, supported and nurtured the members of the community. A similar story can be said of the ‘Sharing the Love Outreach Centre’ at the former Lighthouse Church on Cavendish Road. Every Sabbath, in addition to supplies collected from the Food Hub, a hot cup of soup and patties are served for Church and community members. Maureen Pollock, Personal Ministries Leader has made countless trips throughout the week to collect and distribute food donated by Sainsbury’s. Sophia Charles reported on Sabbath, 25 November of the Church’s contribution to the community to date, in 2023. Distributed were: 9,500 food packages, over 500 pieces of clothing, over 200 bedding and household items and over 200 pieces of literature. Cash given away totalled £12,000. There were four job placements, three workshops for a Women’s group formed in October and over 2,000 persons helped.
The work by Tottenham Lighthouse is well-known in the community. It is not unusual to see people stopping by to drop off items or make a cash donation. Recently a factory sent boxes containing cheese.
On Sabbath, 23 December we had two visitors to our Food Hub from ‘Independence for Everyone.’ They had heard of our work and came to give their support. Everyone visiting the Food Hub that day received from them an envelope with a card and a £15 Sainsbury’s voucher. God continues to show special favour to His Church.
On Sabbath, 13 January 2024 Roger Charles shared conversations he had with Sharon regarding her mother – both ‘regulars’ to the Food Hub. It revealed how much the Church is appreciated by the community. Before Christmas Elder Charles saw Sharon and she informed him of the death of her 94 year old mother. He gave his condolences and told her that the Church was her family, so if she needed any help with the funeral arrangements to let us know. He heard nothing from Sharon until Sabbath, 6 January, when she told him that her mother would be cremated on Friday, 19 January. Then she said, ‘I remembered you said to me that this Church was my family. I just want to let my family know that my mom will be buried, and I would like my family to be there.’ We were all moved when we heard this story.
As a Church we have had our fair share of deaths throughout the year, but on the 18 December we were all rocked by the news of the sudden passing of our beloved brother, Paul Pollock, a quiet and unassuming man. He and his wife Maureen have done so much to help the community. We thank God that we have this hope that one day we will be with our Lord, and death and the grave will be no more.
So what about 2024? At the SEC Expo on Sunday, 7 January, we were inspired and excited to hear about Digital Evangelism presented by Karen Glassford, Digital Evangelism Manager, General Conference. After the Expo we were informed of two more opportunities to hear more from Karen Glassford about Digital Evangelism - Thursday, 11 January at Newbold Church and on Saturday, 14 January at Wimbledon International Church for a hands-on session. Tottenham Lighthouse ensured that it was represented at both sessions. With 5.2 billion connected to the net, it is a field we have to explore.
The annual 10 Days of Prayer programme for 2024 has started. Tottenham Lighthouse is blessed to have two of its children, Josiah Benjamin and Fitz Vernon Jr, participating in the United Children & Youth (UCY) 10 Days of Prayer programme, which is shown every morning at 6am. Again, despite having an unfinished building, Craige Young, Founder and Director of UCY, chose Tottenham Lighthouse to hold the final session on Sabbath, 20 January during Divine Service.
We desire that in 2024 our Church is completed, but we recognise that God has used us in an unfinished building. We, therefore, patiently wait on Him. We continue to use Christ’s Method to carry out His mission, with confidence that 2024 will be even better than 2023. As Ellen White wrote, ‘We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.’