It was only an umbrella...

interesting. After dropping my lad off at his classroom, I braved the elements again and set off on my short walk home. As I was walking across the yard, I saw one of the school mums pushing her toddler in a pram getting absolutely soaked. Today unlike most days, I'd come prepared and brought two umbrellas. So, I offered her my spare one, she refused at first but as I insisted, she gratefully accepted the reprieve from the rain.

Chris Jeavons - a church leader in Hackenthorpeshared this story at Sheffield Leaders in Prayer in June:

"School runs can be fun at the best of times but when it's chucking it down with rain, it makes it all the more

The next day her partner came up to me and said, 'Thank you for lending my Mrs your brolly' and tried to give it back. I said, 'Don't worry about it: you keep it.' The conversation continued... 'You go to that church don't you?'.

'Yes, I do', I said. 'Can I come one day?', he asked. 'Yes for sure, you are always welcome, it would be great to see ya', I replied, and told him the times of our Sunday morning service.

I didn't really expect him to show up, but sure enough a couple of weeks later he turned up on his own. He had been to church as a child, but his partner had never been to a church. She wasn't keen on the idea of church but started to attend our toddler group, then eventually our monthly Messy Church, now they have both done Alpha and have decided to follow Jesus and are now part of our church family... all because I gave someone my umbrella. (If only it was always that easy)....

Friendship Festival for families from Hong Kong

Kong people migrated to the UK. The Friendship Festival is all about building friendship: for the newcomers to spend a day having fun and joy together, meeting friends, and building their social network.

siu mai, fish balls, polo bun, egg tart and milk tea.

Sheffield Chinese Christian Church partnered with UKHK to organise the Sheffield Friendship Festival on 17 Jun 2023.

Connie Tsang tells us, "In the past 2-3 years, there was an increased number of Hong

"The event turned out to be a huge success: over 450 people participated. We planned lots of activities for children, such as origami, drawing workshops, Chinese checkers and Chinese chess playing groups, face painting, bouncy castle, and carnival booth games. We also offered traditional Hong Kong snacks which many will be missing from home such as

"We were also pleased to have different organisations and service providers participating in the event, such as the NHS, South Yorkshire Police Force, and Council Employment services.

"We hope that through all this we can help to make the new Hong Kongers feel welcomed and to connect them with community and services. This event was a great outreach opportunity: we opened the doors to believers and non-believers. It was a great channel for them to learn more about our church."