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Book your seat now for Rockie's Plaice! This summer's holiday club. Post boxes and registration forms are in Polbeth Harwood church, The West Kirk church hall and Parkhead Primary school. You can also download a form and email it to: clovenford@gmail.com.
Spaces are limited so do not leave it too late, to secure your table! It promises to be an action packed week. The club starts daily at 10 am and finishes at 12:30 pm.
The pew cushions for the downstairs at West Kirk have now arrived and are in place!
During April we are exploring "Superhero's" in the Bible.
At the end of this topic on Sunday May 8th the children are all invited to come to church dressed as a "superhero" in their eyes in today's world of movies, books or cartoons. They will head out to the hall as normal and face the challenge of an assault course dressed as a superhero! the children have been given sponsor forms to raise some money to help cover the cost of the new pew cushions for the church.
If you would like a sponsor form you can down load it following the link. All children are invited to join us this special Sunday or any Sunday when we meet in the church at 9:45am then head out to the hall after the children's hymn for some wonderful Bible adventures and games.
Dear Congregations
What a privilege to start Easter morning in the Auld Kirkyard at the crack of dawn!
There were dark clouds looming in the sky, but for the few moments we remembeered Jesus' resurrection, the sun shone brightly through the skies, colouring some of the clouds in a light shade of orange; and although it rained on and off all day long - for those few moments not a drop fell out of the sky. It felt as if even nature held its breath to remember what Jesus did for us.....
After a tremendously busy week, and even having to get up an hour earlier because the clocks changed, I felt more alive than ever, not even a little tired. I was thinking about my boys (all 3!) still cosy in bed, and then thought about Mary - grieving the death of her son like only a mother can, and then eralising that he is alive - that all his suffering wasn't for nothing (John 19 & 20).
Jesus conquered death for all of us. Because of what he went through, no amount of suffering we have to go through in our daily lives will ever be for nothing, nor will we have to handle it alone.
So let's live like people who believe this......let's see the sunshine through the rain and feel his love through our pain.
May God bless you all,
Nanda
This summer's holiday Club theme is "Rocky's Plaice" a very special fish and chip restaurant. Which runs from Monday August 8th till Friday 12th. Registration forms will be available from May 1st, so you can book your table at the best restaurant in West Lothian!.
Dear congregations
We find ourselves in the time of Lent niw - a time where we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, to remember what He went through to save us.
Since we've moved to Scotland, Easter has got a whole new meaning to me. Because South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, Eastertime is the start of autumn. But here, in the northern hemisphere, Easter and the start of spring coincides. So what happens outside, in nature, also happens inside, in your heart. And that just gives a whole new level of meaningfulness to what Jesus did for us!
Already our garden is filled with snowdrops, and I've had my first bunch of daffodils bring some warmth into the house (seeing the sun isn't doing it at the moment!). Despite the fact that the weather is very unpredictable this year, the promise of spring is in the air - no doubt about that!
But this year Easter will be even more symbolic, because British Summer Time literally starts on Easter morning! I know that might mean fewer hours in bed if you are planning to attend the 7am service in the Auld Kirk yard, but that also means that as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the long, dark nights will be something of the past....
What Jesus did for us on the cross means that on a spiritual level we can also put the long, dark nights behind us - He brought us new life, joy and light. So please join us for all our special Lenten and Easter celebrations this year, so we can celebrate the fact that Jesus withered and died to give us the opportunity to blossom.
May God bless you all,
Nanda
We have changed our format recently and have introduced a "Fun-day Sunday" at the end of every topic!
We share what we have been learning with the congregation at the end of each block, which is roughly every four weeks. Sunday past was a quiz in church on creatures mentioned in the Bible which was fun, this was followed by a great mix of games for the kids in the hall.
Next week we have some great new things to share with all children from 3yrs - primary 7 so come along and see what we have in store!
Dear Congregations
I'm writing this letter on Burns' Day.
We had haggis, neeps and tatties for dinner. Henro told us his version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood in Scottish - "aboot the bonnie wee lassie who took her Nan some IrnBru and tablet, because she was feeling peelie-wallie. She didnae ken that the wolf ate her nan for his tea, so her heart was sair - but luckily, Robert de Bruce was near!!" And then Nehan sang the Flower of Scotland loud enough for all the neighbours to hear, complete with his hand on his heart! And that made me realise - our roots might be in South Africa, but our hearts are in Scotland.......
I think it's really important to be proud of your heritage, to know where you come from, who you are and where you belong. And this is true about our faith heritage as well.
I saw an amazing photo on the internet this week: it's of a girl holding on to a huge crown on her head, saying: "On the darkest days when I feel inadequate, unloved and unworthy, I remember whose daughter I am and I straighten my crown!"
We belong to Jesus, the King of the world. God made us, He takes care of us, and nothing that happens to us can ever change that.
So just like we are proud to walk the same soil as so many famous Scots, let's be proud of the fact that we have the privilege to walk in the footsteps of Jesus too.
May you all have a fabulous February!
God bless,
Nanda
With the help of so many people, i held a coffee morning to raise funds for my brother's medical expenses in South Africa last year. we raised enought money to pay for his treatment for almost a whole year! And just the relief that he didn't have to worry about how he was going to afford his treatment, had a significant positive influence on his health.
So now it is with gratitude in my heart that I can say that he is doing quite well and his health hasn't deteriorated much - because he has been getting his treatment and medication regularly! (For those of you who don't know: he has Diabetes type 1 and as a result of suffering from this for 35 years now, he has only 13% kidney function left. and in South Africa, there is no National Health Service, so he has to pay for everything himself.)
So this year, on my birthday weekend - Saturday 27th February from 10.30am - 12.30pm - I would like to invite you all to a fundraising coffee morning at West Kirk Church hall. Come celebrate my birthday with me to help my brother.
Thank you for all your love, support and prayers!
God Bless,
Nanda
HM The Queen sends congratulatory messages for Diamond (60th); 65th; and Platinum (70th) wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter and for 100th and 105th birthdays and every year thereafter and these are normally presented by the Lord-Lieutenant.
Due to data protection reasons the Lord-Lieutenant is no longer automatically informed when someone is approaching one of these milestones, and so these congratulatory messages must be applied for.
This can be done by contacting the Lord-Lieutenant, Mrs Isobel Brydie MBE, via West Lothian Civic Centre
or by forwarding the information below to
Alan Henderson, General Register Office for Scotland, Room 43, New Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YT
or telegrams@groscotland.gsi.gov.uk
at least 3 months before the special date.
For WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES, please forward: full names of the couple; address; woman's maiden name; date of marriage; name of town or parish in which they were married.
For BIRTHDAYS, please forward: full name and maiden name if applicable; address; date of birth; name of town or parish in which they were born.