Tickets are just £7.50 per person for the evening, and include a glass of summer punch. Non-alcoholic drinks and snacks will be available from Central Coffee during the evening. There is no alcoholic bar, but you are free to bring your own if you wish. Invite your friends and book your tickets now!

To get tickets, contact Southampton City Mission (t: 023 8077 3132, w: www.scratchcharity.org.uk) Central Hall (t: 023 8023 7700 e: sabrina@newcommunity.org.uk) or Mobile: 07989 381948.

The Vision
The vision the team have for these workshops is to invite young people off the streets, bored during the summer holidays and get them stuck into a programme that teaches them skills in areas that excite them. The focus is engaging with the young people, talking to them about their lives while providing positive input. The young people who do well in the workshops will have the very special opportunity to perform at K2/BBC BLAST festival on the 2nd of August in Hoglands Park. 

This post is full time, funded until September 30 2008 and is based in central Southampton. If you are interested in this position, please obtain an Application Pack from Paul Woodman at CLEAR, PO Box 237, Southampton, SO14 3XA. Tel: 023 8023 4000 or email: paulw@citylife.org.uk. The annual salary for the post is £21,370. The closing date for applications is 6th June with interviews on 11th June 2008. Refugees are strongly encouraged to apply. You can download a job description and person specification from our Resources section.

This is a great opportunity to send some people along to get stuck into mission to the City of Southampton, and to enjoy a bit of ‘togetherism’ with one of the city’s recent church plants. The meetings will be at lunchtimes and each evening. Times to be confirmed soon. Life Church would also greatly appreciate your prayers. If you feel it is appropriate, publicise this event in your church and encourage people to come along. If you’d like to know more please contact Chris Kilby (leader of Life Church) at chris.kilby@lifesouthampton.org.

Evenings of worship, intercession and prayer specifically for breakthrough in healing over this city have been taking place on Mondays since the middle of May. These have been exciting times together in the presence of God, and there has been a real sense of the hunger in the church in this city for all God is longing to do - there was standing room only on several occasions!  

These meetings are going to continue from 9th June now to be held at Central Hall. This will allow more space (people have had to be turned away due to lack of space in previous weeks) and also reflects the broadening of the ownership and involvement of these meetings across churches in the city. There will be time to worship together and seek God's heart, opportunities for impartation, and lots of time to pray for the sick. All are welcome.

Clive Thorne has written a short book called 'Light Out of Darkness' which looks at some of the highlights of the work of God through SACO. Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs share how finding faith in Jesus Christ changed their lives with a new peace and assurance of forgiveness of sins and a place in Heaven. 

It is a useful tool to encourage both Christians and non Christians.  Over the years people have come to faith listening to some of the stories about how God answers prayer. The book is now available at Wesley Owen for £3.50 or to order from Lighthouse I.C.C., St Mary's Road, Southampton SO14 0BB, (please send Cheques for £5.00 per copy (postage included) payable to SACO). If you would like to order in bulk, please call Kuldip Rajo on 023 8043 5455 and a discount can be arranged.

He speaks from the harrowing and dangerous experience of nearly 40 years of devotion to rescuing countless defenceless children from the clutches of traffickers and paedophiles in the Philippines and beyond. So respected is his work, he has been nominated more than once for the Nobel Peace prize and won prestigious Human Rights prizes in Italy and Germany.

Shay Cullen travels internationally, a tireless lobbyist for justice and has spoken before US senate hearings, gave the Wilberforce lecture in 2007 and attended the House of Lords for the special 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Slave Trade last year. He is an engaging and powerful speaker. His book, Passion and Power, published in 2006, traces his remarkable life to the present day.

Shay is accompanied on tour by the Akbay Youth Theatre Company, a group of talented young people, who will present an equally passionate and emotional drama – Once We had a Dream. In this moving and personal story, using music and dance, we are confronted with the type of dehumanising exploitation some of these young people have experienced and been rescued from themselves. We are challenged to think through what our response and subsequent action should be.

We anticipate that this event will be very popular and advise that you should arrive in good time to ensure that you have a seat. Free admission tickets will be available on the night, at the door, on a first come, first served basis.

For further information please phone: 02380 392406

By the end of the course it is hoped that participants will be able to: 

• Define a Christian model of counselling based upon the work of Larry Crabb (exploring the spiritual, rational, volitional, emotional and physical aspects of the person and their issues)
• Use the skills of attending, active listening, empathy, questioning and summary
• Discuss the importance of both confidentiality and the particular qualities of an effective counsellor
• Give a basic definition of relational style
• Explore their own reactions to the course material and develop general self-awareness

The next course is going to be run over three weekends during May and June (Fri pm, Sat am & pm, Sun pm) of 23rd-25th May, 6th-8th June and 20th-22nd June. The deadline for registering for the course will be Friday 25th April. For more information or to register, contact Jenny Williams on 023 8023 7230 or jennyw@newcommunity.org.uk

Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue. It was pioneered in London in January 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime in areas where teams have been working.

Each city project is set up by Ascension Trust and run by a local coordinator with support from Ascension Trust and local churches and community groups, in partnership with Police, Council and other statutory agenices. Over the last year or two, Street Pastors have been set up in Portsmouth, where trained volunteers aged 18-75 serve together in teams on the streets on Friday nights 10pm-4am, reaching out with God's love and practical care and help.

More information and stories can be found on the Street Pastors national website. It is exciting to think that what is happening in these cities around the UK may soon be happeining in Southampton. With this in mind, there is going to be a meeting in Southampton, hosted by the Ascension Trust on 13th March 11am-1pm at Central Baptist Church. This meeting is for anyone to come and find out the whole vision behind Street Pastors and what it will mean for the city. It will be particularly of interest to church leaders and workers, those reaching out to young people and others on the streets at night, and anyone who will potentially be interested in volunteering. There will be a separate meeting later that day for city councillors and police officers (who are likely to have different questions).

With the impact that this initiative has had in cities around the UK, it is exciting to think about what God is stirring up in Southampton. Download the booklet in our Resources section to find out more and come along to the meeting on March 13th, 11am-1pm at Central Baptist Church, Devonshire Road, Southampton, SO15 2GY.

The Marriage Course
This seven session course runs on Wednesday evenings at the Augustine Centre, hosted by Paul and Janice Finn (runs in Spring and again in the Autumn; see Events section for dates). The Marriage Course is for any married couple who wants to build a strong and lasting relationship, especially:

• those who want to enhance their marriage
• those in the first five years of marriage
• those in a challenging stage in their marriage e.g. the birth of a child, a career change, teenagers at home, the ‘empty nest’
• those struggling with issues in their marriage
  The course, while based on Christian principles, is very helpful for any couple with or without a Christian faith or church background.

Each evening begins with a candlelit meal. There is then a talk followed by an opportunity to discuss the topic together as a couple. The setting is welcoming, relaxed and unthreatening. Download the invite and registration form from the Resources section. 

Marriage Forum
This is an evening at Above Bar Church on 6th March for all those working within the marriage promotion and support field. It will be an opportunity to learn together and develop awareness of what's available, with a special feature on 'Vital Signs for Healthy Relationships'. See Events section for specific details, no formal booking required.

Prepare/Enrich Practitioner Training
This is a one-day training course for those who would like to be involved in delivering marriage preparation and marriage enrichment. It is taking place on Saturday 8th March. See the Events section for specific details and download a booking form from the Resources section.

Twobecomeone Marriage Preparation Course
This is a Christian workshop for couples preparing for marriage, to be held on February 29th-March 1st  (Friday evening and Saturday daytime) at Central Hall. It covers topics such as: Expectations, roles and responsibilities, communication, resolving conflict and future plans. See Events section for further details and download the booking form from the Resources section. 

One Year On Course
This is a one day workshop for couples who have been married 1-2 years. It provides an opportunity to look back and reflect on how the relationship is progressing, and to look forward as couples continue to build their marriages.  It takes place on March 1st.  See the Events section for specific details and download the booking form from the Resources section.

Moving On in Marriage Course
This is a one day workshop for couples who have been married 3-10 years. It recognises that during the early years of marriage there are likely to be a number of changes both outside and within the relationship such as: changing financial circumstances, growing responsibilities, an expanding family and changing plans. It provides couples with the opportunity to take stock of their key relationship, appreciate what they have together and develop new approaches to growing through change. It takes place in the Autumn.  See the Events section for specific details and download the booking form from the Resources section.

2gether Community Based Course
This is a one day course for couples of any faith, or no particular faith, learning about how to make their key relationship work best.  It runs several times each year.  See Events section for specific details.

Mike is also doing a seminar entitled 'Future Church' for Solent Gospel Partnership on 6th October, details can be found on the Solent Gospel Partnership website here.

Focus Radio have posted a short promotional video for Mike's tour on YouTube, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENIrVidARRY 
Focus are happy to provide free high-quality copies of the video on DVD  for use in your church or home groups, A5 flyers, and A3 posters about the Southampton conference.

For these, or any further information that you can't find on the web sites above, please contact David Couchman at dcouchman@focus.org.uk