We are slowly getting nearer to a time when we can be together again, which is great news. I have a story to tell you, about a special time of the Church year called Pentecost. It is another incredible story of the power of God and His Son, Jesus, and Eleanor has some Pentecost activities for you.

May 13th was Ascension Day, the time of the Church Year when Jesus left His disciples and returned to His Heavenly home. As Jesus said goodbye to the disciples He told them He wasn’t going to leave them completely alone, He would send them a helper, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would be with them and give them the courage to go and spread His story, and they were to stay in Jerusalem and wait.

10 days later the disciples were supposed to be celebrating a Harvest Festival, known as Pentecost, a huge affair, and Jews from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem to party and thank God for the harvest of the fields.

But the Disciples were gathered in a room still feeling very scared that they would be arrested for being friends of Jesus, Suddenly, there was a sound of a rushing wind which filled the room, and tongues of fire hovered over the heads of each one of them – and do you know what! They weren’t afraid anymore. They threw the doors open, ran into the street and started telling people about Jesus. Unbelievably, people heard the story in their own language – AMAZING!

This is the day our Church was born, the day the Holy Spirit came, so on Sunday May 23rd - Pentecost Sunday - we can say HAPPY BIRTHDAY and thank Jesus for sending His Holy Spirit to give us courage to be good Christians

What the Pentecost story tells us is, that with Jesus everyone is the same, we are all His children no matter what the colour of our skin is, whether we are rich or poor, male or female, or what language we speak, because we speak Jesus’ language of love.

Lots of love - Delphine

You may wonder about the picture of cupcakes, but these are to celebrate the church's birthday and I am attaching a recipe which you can try out at home - make the icing as brightly coloured as you like with Pentecost colours of red, orange and yellow - hope they turn out well -enjoy.<div>Here is another little activity to help learn some new languages. Peace is something we pray for the world over and as the disciples spoke in different languages, here are a few of the different words for Peace spoken in different countries. Try them out.</div><div>Italian - Pace</div><div>French - Paix</div><div>Spanish - Paz</div><div>German - Friede</div><div>Dutch - Vrede</div><div>Hebrew -Shalom</div><div>Maori - Ranginmarie</div><div>
Until we meet again, take care, stay safe, God Bless
Eleanor, Delphine and the Messy Church Team
PS - please pass this email on to any newcomers to the villages or families that might be interested in Messy Church.</div>