This is the official website of The Downs Benefice Winchester, Hampshire.

Littleton Mission Links

Notices in brief...

For all the notices and more information, please see our Notices page

In Emergency 

In an emergency, please contact the Rector, Revd Jax Machin on:

 Email: revdjax@downsbenefice.org.uk

Mobile: 07761 055228

Further information about the phone line is available

here

Prayer Requests

If you have any prayer requests, for any concerns lying on your heart or to give thanks, please email the office on office@downsbenefice.org.uk

All prayer requests will be made anonymous before being passed on  to our Prayer Team.

Parish Magazine Deadline

Copy for June/July edition of the Benefice Parish Magazine should be submitted by 12.00 noon - Friday 5th May

St Catherines, Littleton

 

St Catherine's Mission Support Group

A small group of parisioners meet alternate months, on a Monday evening from 7.30-9.00pm, to share news from, and pray together for, our mission contacts. For further details, please contact Alan Disher: 01962 869985.

 

St Catherine's Church Mission prayer diary

St Catherine's produces a mission prayer diary every 2 months which we hope will help our church family in focussing our prayers in support of our mission interests. The diary is available in electronic or paper format. Please contact Carol Ward: 01962 883185

Mission Prayer Diary

 

Chris & Kesia Pain, OMF International, Japan               

Chris and Kesia are the Field Directors for OMF Japan serving the team of 120+ missionaries and building partnerships with the Japanese Church.     Chris is leading an initiative called 'Hope for Business' that encourages local churches to reach out to busy commuters. The family (including children Caleb, Jonathan, Carys and Megumi) also seek opportunities to reach out to their neighbours and friends, and are involved with the local church.  Chris’s mother lives locally, in Bishops Waltham, and is known to many of our community, and this gives us the opportunity to meet up with the family when they are visiting UK.

For up to date monthly information about the work in Japan please see link https://omf.org/asia/japan/get-involved/pray-for-japan/ .  If you wish to receive Chris and Kesia’s prayer letters please contact Carol Ward (carol.ward@daleclose.co.uk).

OMF Japan website

St Catherine’s contact - Carol Ward                                                                                                                                                                      

 

 Tearfund

Our link with Tearfund was initiated by Kevin Lay, a church warden at St Catherine’s, Littleton, who died tragically in a plane crash in Kosovo in 1999. He was on his way to work with Tear Fund, a Christian aid agency, rebuilding property for homeless refugees, as a member of their Disasters Response Team.

Tearfund website

St Catherine’s contact - Carol Ward

 

Jill & Greg Vine, MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship), Uganda

MAF uses planes to transform the lives of the world's most isolated people in need. Flying onto desert and jungle airstrips, lakes and rivers, tracks and roads, MAF’s light aircraft and their mission pilots go the extra miles to provide a lifeline.  Working in partnership with hundreds of other Christian and relief organisations MAF enables practical help, physical healing, and spiritual hope to be delivered to many of the most remote and inaccessible communities on the planet.

Our links with MAF in Uganda go back several years as we initially supported, and were visited by, the Nason family, who have now moved on to fresh pastures.  Our link with Jill and Greg Vine and their family Esther, Ariela and Zoe, was cemented in July when a number of us visited Jill, Esther and Zoe whilst they were visiting UK on furlough.

MAF website

MAF Newsletter

 

Mission Partnership: https://www.maf-uk.org/story/school-partnerships-between-the-uk-and-uganda

St Catherine’s contacts – Hilary and Jan Shaw for MAF organisation; Carol Ward for the Vine family 

 

Open Doors

Open Doors originated sixty years ago, in 1955, when a young Dutchman started smuggling Bibles to the persecuted church in Communist Europe. He became known asBrother Andrew.  Open Doors supports persecuted Christians with Bibles, Christian materials, training, livelihood skills, advocacy - and in a whole host of other ways - so that they know they are not forgotten and can stand strong to serve their communities.

Open Doors website

 

The Brickworks, working in

South Sudan

John and Poppy Spens (who live locally within the parish) worked in South Sudan for nearly five years from 2006 to 2011. Poppy developed several health programmes while John initially coordinated a vocational training college and micro enterprise scheme and later managed a number of school construction and water and sanitation projects. In 2008, they founded The Brickworks and in 2009 The Brickworks became a registered UK charity. The purpose of The Brickworks is to raise money to support projects in South Sudan.

AGM Thursday 8th September, 7.30pm, Wesley Methodist Church, Fromond Road, Weeke

The Brickworks website    

Brickworks_leaflet

Brickworks Newsletter - March 2022

Mission Partnership: https://www.maf-uk.org/story/school-partnerships-between-the-uk-and-uganda

St Catherine’s contact – Carol Ward

 

Father Winston Williams, 

Guyana 

 

 

 

 

       

In 1978, Revd John Dorman, an Anglican missionary in Guyana, became convinced that the priestly ministry in the hinterland would be better served by training indigenous Amerindians. Eventually 12 catechists were recommended by their local communities for traning, of which one was the 27 year old Winston Williams. In 1991 John Dorman had to come to England for medical treatment and decided to bring Winston with him to give him the opportunity to experience other traditions of prayer and devotion and during this time he was able to visit St Catherine's.

Winston's 'Parish' is enormous and a lot of travel can only be done by boat. He is deeply concerned for the young people in Jawalla, particularly the influence on their lives and behaviour of migrant labour brought in my the Mining Companies. St Catherine's prayer support as well as the annual monetary gift are greatly appreciated by the church in Jawalla and we should give thanks for the dedication of this faithful man of God who has persevered for so many years in His service.

 

Bishop Nick & Catherine Drayson,

CMS (Church Mission Society), Argentina 

As diocesan bishop, Nick oversees 150 Anglican churches in Northern Argentina, seeking to lead in mission and enable pastoral care in both rural indigenous and urban Latin contexts.  Catherine coordinates the work of AMARE, the Argentinian branch of Mothers’ Union.

Church Mission Society website

Letter from Nick Drayson - March23

St Catherine’s contact – Dr Alan Disher