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Dear Friends of Acorn Chaplaincy.

Welcome to THE ACORN, our regular news bulletin, aiming to keep you up to date with all things Acorn and fuel your prayers. 

Team

Our team currently includes 4 trustees, Derek (treasurer), Mary (Founder and Manager, Simon (IT and communications) and Tricia (Programme Coordinator). Plus Michelle who brings her lived experience to our Think Tank.
We have started recruiting volunteers and the first chaplain application has come in – very exciting! Most of the role descriptions are on the website – chaplains, group leaders, prayer coordinator, mentors and admin volunteers. We’re going to add Genesis Facilitators and Genesis buddies soon. Please pray especially for a good Prayer Coordinator. God is our core need. How can we reach and truly help people without prayer?

Keys Community Detox

We also have just signed up with Keys Community Detox, a Christian charity led by a doctor who works for CGL (Care Grow Live) in the other half of his work life. Keys now have 12 centres nationally, including Acorn Chaplaincy, and provide holistic support (medical, spiritual and community) for people who need a physical detox, usually from alcohol. Mary and Tricia will act as Keys detox coach and detox befriender for the first person that we support through their detox and then swap round for the second person, so then we have some idea what to expect before we start recruiting Keys volunteers. As a Keys centre we’ll get support from head office, as we walk alongside the guest during their stabilisation, detox and after-care phases – phone, WhatsApp group, and regular team meetings for us and online recovery groups, Freedom in Christ and online Sozo prayer ministry for the guest. On the same day that we signed to become a Keys centre, we also registered our first guest for detox! Please keep this lady in your prayers especially over the next few weeks. To find out more about Keys click here: https://www.keysuk.org/#introduction

Funding

Not only did we hit the ground running with Keys, but the Lord provided the finance for our subscription. Churches and organisations contribute to Keys, according to their size and ability. We had decided, in faith, on a monthly figure to offer from Acorn Chaplaincy. The very next day a cheque arrived for the exact same amount! So we can pay for the year up front. God is so good. 

One donor has started giving monthly, and another 5 have pledged to do so, but please pray for more monthly donors. Once we receive our charity number, we will make applications to charitable trusts, but individuals giving regularly feels so much more like community ownership, except for those local trusts who know us more closely. 

We need a base

We are exploring lots of options and contacting lots of people in a search for the right place to be based – churches, community centres, the statutory drug service. Please pray for the perfect provision for this mission.

Collaboration

We received two referrals from CGL, the local drug and alcohol service, when we ran the Recovery Course and this hospital based referrer rang today to find out when we’re resuming. Tricia told her about Acorn Chaplaincy and she was excited about it, particularly the community detox. Pray for a good relationship with these secular agencies so that both their staff and clients can benefit from the love and power of God at work though the chaplaincy, and also for relationships with churches and other projects that will benefit our guests.

  • Praise for the provision for Keys, for new donors, contact with CGL and first volunteer application
  • Pray for the trustees and think tank to make Holy Spirit led decisions
  • For more volunteers, especially chaplains and the Prayer Coordinator and for the creation of our training programme
  • For a base
  • For relationship with CGL and other agencies
  • For grace, strength, hope and protection for guests and team.

Thank you so much for your support. God is a missionary God, reaching out to his children to bring them back to himself and destroy the works of Satan in their lives and you are team together with us in this part of His story.
The Acorn Chaplaincy Team