Archive for the ‘General News’ Category

MM 2026 Blog #3:
Two meetings today, one for men and the other for ladies, both held at Biserica Emanuel (Emanuel Church) Cahul.
Once again Steve and Kevin will take these events to gain more experience for when they ‘Fly solo’ from Sunday onwards.
It makes for a strange 48 hours for me as I watch on, “chomping at the bit*’ but looking forward to my first preach Sunday morning.

*Chomping at the bit (also written as champing at the bit) means to be very eager, restless, or impatient to start an activity or move forward with a plan
The Metaphor: The phrase comes from horse racing and riding. A “bit” is the metal bar placed inside a horse’s mouth. When a horse is excited or held back from running, it impatiently bites, champs, or grinds down on the bit.

MM 2026 Blog #2:
The joys of working in Moldova are the hidden surprises, the need to adapt and make the most of the opportunities that arise. The planned 16:00 at a factory had to be moved forward to 15.00, this meant a struggle with the heavy traffic to try and get there on time. We arrived 45mins late and Mark McCormick had already started the meeting, so we just joined in on arrival. A Moldavan first for the team, from the airport to a meeting without “drawing breath”!

Thanks to our driver Ecaterina for collecting us at the airport and battling the elements (it poured down with flooded areas on many of the roads) and with the other drivers who were either crawling along or auditioning for the next Grand-Prix.
The plan is to let Steve & Kevin take the first few meetings to help them get used to preaching with a translator and the ‘F.R.A.N.K.’ set-up,
So, Steve took his very first meeting, literately on arrival!
For various reasons meeting two was cancelled, which gave us the opportunity to find our accommodation, unpack and grab an hour’s respite before the evening Youth Group.

The Youth Group at Biserica Emanuel (Emanuel Church) was a joy, over 50 young people pouring into the building for Pizza, friendship and to hear some good news.
Steve shared his testimony and Kevin did his very first preach with a translator, challenging the young people from John 14:1-6.

A long day travelling but so good to be here and so good to join the believers in Cahul in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

MM 2026 Blog #1:
Counties Hampshire is in Cahul District. Moldova,

We touched down in Moldova around 11.35am and after a bumpy 2 hour car journey we arrived in Cahul, our base for the mission.

There are 3 preaching meetings planned for Friday:

First: is at 16:00* at a factory,
Maybe the office workers or the factory floor we have done both groups in the past.

Second: is at 18:00 a FRANK meeting help in a home.
Third: An evening youth group in a local Church.

Nice to hit the ground running!

*Moldova is 2 hours ahead of the UK

And they’re off
Penny Curley (attendee) & Kathy Curley (looking after the crèche) heading off to the Living the Passion conference.
A weekend of Bible teaching, seminars, fellowship, worship, children’s programme, refreshments, etc.

Counties Connect Conference 2026
We are looking forward to welcoming church leaders, evangelists and church members from across the UK together for a weekend of inspiration, teaching and encouragement.
This year’s theme is “Ready for the Harvest”, with guest speakers Mitch and Amanda Mitchell, alongside Counties CEO Martin Erwin, evangelists, church planters and seminar speakers.
Whether you’re passionate about sharing the Gospel in your community or looking to equip your church for mission, Connect Conference is designed to help you make the most of the opportunities God is opening up. And there’ll be plenty of time for those valuable conversations and connections along the way.

And we’re off!
An early start for Kevin & myself as we head off to Luton airport, there we will meet up with Steve and check in ready to fly (6:15am) to Moldova.

THE DATES:
Friday October 23rd to Monday November 3rd 2026

THE TEAM:
The UK team is made up of Gordon Curley, Kevin Walls & Steve Davies and we will meet up with Mark McCormick (Moldovan Mission) and local Moldovan Pastor Costel.
The mission is organised by Mark McCormick of The Moldovan Mission.

THE DESTINATION:
We will fly from Luton early Friday morning into Chisinau International Airport, from there we travel to our base in Cahul, a city in southern Moldova.
Cahul is 112 miles, about two & half hours car travelling from the airport.
We are due to fly back on Monday the 2nd November.

THE PROGRAMME:
Our programme for the day is often given to us each morning, we only know that on Sunday we will be preaching in at least one Church (maybe more) and we do house meetings, the three teams will visit 3 villages per day and we will hold 2 to 6 house meetings per day where we will be able to share/preach the gospel. This can and often does change with little notice and it is not unusual to also speak at youth events, hospitals and in the past I have even spoken at a funeral wake.

THE MISSION:
The mission is a planned FRANK mission (FRANK is an acronym for the believers unsaved Friends Relatives Associates Neighbours and Kids).
The believers pray every day for 12 individual FRANKs for 12 weeks asking God to draw them to Christ and also to open a door for them to make friends with their FRANKs and they will have invited them to attend the outreach meetings in their homes.

THE PRAYER REQUEST:
·Good Health.
·Safety (bad roads & mad drivers).
·Energy (2-6 meetings per day).
·Guidance & flexibility over what to preach on.
·Finance – the mission trip is self financed.
·Translators, who are so vitally important.

A daily blog will be on the Counties Hants Facebook site and this website if you want to follow what happens.

Pizza, Prayer & Plan – great to have the ‘team’ join us for food as we plan out another series of monthly ‘Body Builders’ events.

‘Body Builders’ is an inter-Church youth event for anyone aged 8 to 15 years. The evening consists of ice-breakers (games & activities), World Vision, DVD’s, Tuck Shop and a short talk.
All events start at 7:00 pm and finish at 8:30 pm.
‘Body Builders’ runs from October to May

Where: Sarisbury Junior School. Southampton.
What: Assemblies (x2)
Theme: Peace
Bible: The Fruit of the Spirit – Peace (Galatians 5:22–23)

Where: Marchwood C of E Infant School
What: Assembly (11.00am)
Theme: Being positive and respecting each other
Bible story: Samuel choosing a new king (1 Samuel chapter 16)

Always encouraging to read Sermon Centrals weekly report, a reminder that the text of a sermon can be a blessing to others:

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Preaching today…

Morning Service – Velmore Church. Chandlers Ford. Hants
Subject: “Putting off the old and putting on the new!”
Bible Passage: Ephesians chapter 4 verses 17-32 to Chapter 5 verse 2

Afternoon Service: Stanford Hall. Bordon. Hants
Subject: “Like Those Who Dream.”
Bible Passage: Psalm 126

Evening Service: Gospel Hall. Fair Oak. Hants.
Subject: “Harvest Thanksgiving.”
Bible Passage: James chapter 1 verses 17-18