In summer 2008, Damian and his family will be sent from Selly Oak Elim and will be leading a team planting a church in his hometown, Corby. Please use the updates below to pray for them.

 

Click here to see photos from the Prime Time trip to Corby, April '08

 

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Carrs update (Apr '08)

 

I've been feeling a bit funny lately. We announced to the Selly Oak church that we will be leaving and I wrote my last AGM report - it is that strange in-between time, with a heart for Selly Oak and what God still has for us to do here, but a growing heart for Corby and excitement about what lies ahead.

 

At the end of last year we got in touch with Faye, who used to be part of my home church in Corby, and who has recently moved back to Corby with her family. She felt that God was calling her and her family to be part of a pioneer situation but didn't know exactly what shape this would take or with whom. She had begun to network with other Christians on the estate and gathered several people (who worshipped at a church in a neighbouring town, but who had a heart for Corby) and began to pray together on a Thursday evening. This group has become the core of our church plant team and we have been travelling to Corby for several weeks with Dan & Clem to pray together and provide some leadership. So far this core group consists of six couples, a 17 year-old and eight children. They are such a passionate, prayerful, gifted group of people and we are so excited about becoming church and doing mission together. I am so encouraged that the Corby church plant is being birthed in prayer and that there is already a genuine sense of community.

 

There is a catalogue of answered prayers that I could mention - these are some that spring immediately to mind: Dan & Clem felt called to join us in Corby and Dan was looking for teaching positions in the town after handing in his notice at his current school. He speculatively approached a City Technology College on the estate where we will be planting the initial church and they offered him a job there and then (with a pay increase!). They also sold their house to the first person who came to view it and bought a house in Corby at an incredible price. Recently we put our house on the market and, after a week, received an offer for the full asking price (which the estate agent said was almost unheard-of in the current housing climate!). This week we put in an offer on a house in Corby for £20,000 under the asking price...and it has been accepted! There is such a sense of God's hand on the whole process and we are learning a lot of lessons about trusting God to provide for all our needs.

 

Please keep praying for us and asking that God would make us ready to lead the Corby church plant. Pray also that we would continue to be fruitful and productive in our work for the Lord in Selly Oak until we leave.

 

Damian

(March '08)

 

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Hawksleys update (Apr '08)

 

Dan & Clem Hawksley currently lead 'The Zone' youth group and will be moving with Damian, Maggie & boys to Corby to pioneer.

 

Since Corby was first mentioned to us, we’ve been really excited about the prospect of moving there to continue the work that God has been preparing us for. During our time at Selly Oak Elim Church we have been built up through our relationship with God and also through working alongside some very gifted individuals. Now that Corby is getting nearer and nearer we can see how God has been preparing us for this change.

 

We are both very excited, but we are also somewhat apprehensive as this is a large step for us. We are leaving the comfortable situation that we are currently in and are stepping into the unknown. This has been made somewhat easier by God as he has provided everything for us as and when we have needed it, for example, with Dan’s job and the selling and the buying of the houses. For our remaining time in Selly Oak we are hopeful that God will continue to bless us, guide us and to use us to increase His Kingdom, as well as prepare us for our future in Corby.

 

Dan & Clem

(March '08)

 

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Article in Direction magazine - Issue78, March 2008

 

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Carrs update (Feb '08)

 

This is a very exciting time for us. Back in 1994 I became a Christian and shortly afterwards God began to reveal what he wanted me to do with my life. I felt God calling me to pastoral ministry and placing a burden on my heart to see my hometown, Corby, reached for Jesus. I felt very early on that one day I would end up planting a church in the town - even though at that time I had zero experience and very little knowledge of the Bible. Fourteen years later, however, this vision is about to be realised and I praise God for his perfect timing. In August this year our family will be lsent from the Selly Oak church and pioneering a missionary church on a brand new estate in Corby.

 

Corby is a medium sized town with around 53,000 residents. It grew up around a thriving steelworks in the 1950s and 60s, but when the steelworks closed in 1980 there was mass unemployment and a dark cloud seemed to descend over the town – there was a sense of hopelessness and negativity that still lingers to this day. Corby was recently given the unenviable title of ‘ASBO capital of England’ and the town is characterised by higher-than-average rates of crime, teenage pregnancy and alcoholism – inner-city problems in a semi-rural area.

 

The town has had a lot of investment in recent years and has seen a great deal of urban regeneration. Good things are beginning to happen, but our prayer is that we won't just see urban regeneration, but that God would also bring spiritual regeneration to the town. We want to play our part in seeing hope restored to the people of Corby through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

We would appreciate your prayer for the following:

 

That we sell our house quickly and find the right house in Corby.

 

That we will find a fantastic school for our eldest son, Aaron, and pre-school provision for our youngest son, Sam.

 

That finances will be released to support us in our ministry.

 

That God would send us other people to join our ‘core’ team.

 

That the Gospel would go out with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.

 

That God would prepare our hearts to be faith-filled, godly leaders.

 

That the Holy Spirit would already be preparing the ground for the Gospel.

                                                                                                     

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Part of the core team

 

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