Connect

User

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
September 05, 2010, 07:39:33 AM

Bible Studies, Prayer Newsletters, Community Newsletters, Light Bites Information, Weekly Notices & more

Downloads

South Ashford Baptist Church > Church Groups > Connect

Connect

CONNECT LOGO COLLAGE

The above collage of our logo was made by the group at one of our recent meetings.

This group was started by the church in September 2006. The idea for the group was first thought of over two years before after one of our church members who had had previous experience working in such a group in her previous church suggested the possibility of starting one here in South Ashford.
Once the idea had been planted we were encouraged to find that there were a number of people in the church who were interested in getting involved in such a venture and we were further encouraged by new people coming into the church who had previous experience either in their old churches or through their employment and we took this as very much a sign that the Lord's hand was in this venture.
During the two years of preparation we made visits to a couple of other church run groups to see them in action and also held a day conference in the Willow Centre with speakers fr

om The Baptist Union Initiative for those with Learning Disabilities (BUILD) www.baptist.org.uk and Chessington Evangelical Church at The Kings Centre www.thekingscentre.org.uk when we had various speakers who were able to give us the benefit of their experience and knowledge. During this time we also introduced ourselves and our idea to the local authority and met with various people involved in caring for and meeting the needs of the many adults with learning difficulties in our area including the local charity F

ind a Voice www.findavoice.org.uk. As a result of these contacts we were awarded a substantial sum of money from the Ashford District Partnership Group www.ashfordweb.net which has enabled us to provide various items of equipment and storage for the group for which we are extremely grateful.
Once opened the group became an instant success with both the adults with learning disabilities who came along and also with their parents and carers. The meetings have all been very happy events and those who come along regularly tell us they are looking forward to the next fortnight even before that evenings meeting has finished!

Refreshments are available during the evening and we have a selection of board games, puzzles, a craft table and

other activities that they can make use of until about 9pm when we draw them all together for a time of singing and a bible story. This time has been exceptionally well received and everyone really enjoys the singing and doing the accompanying actions to the songs and they really enjoy the bible

stories especially when Sam the puppet comes along to talk to them!!

We give thanks to the Lord for giving us the vision to start up this group and we pray that many of these folk will learn something of God's love for themselves.

Various forms relating to the Connect Group can be found by clicking here.

To see more information about what information is available to adults with learning disabilities in the Ashford area please see their website. www.as

hfordweb.net

Connect is a year old!!
At our meeting on September 5th we celebrated!
There was lots of food and fun for all

On Wednesday 5th September we had a party to celebrate Connect's 1st birthday
We had a cake which was made by the mother of one of our group.
We had a Treasure Hunt Game, bits of paper were hidden in the church with the names of various chocolate bars on which they had to find. At the end of the evening the papers were exchanged for the chocolate which delighted all of them.

We also played Pass the Parcel with forfeits which they all enjoyed,
these ranged from finding a colour to doing a chicken impression.

We also had some young visitors with us who like to help out in the group in the school holidays. It was lovely to see them mixing so well in the group.

Connect goes Bowling

After some discussions with the Connect folk and the team we decided 
that an outing would be a nice change for the group.

We sent a letter out and the response back was excellent.


 
So on the 21st January 2009 we took the Connect Group Bowling


 
There were 30 of us in total that night and a great time was had by all.