Caring for All!

From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai

Kids of The Youth Charity Foundation

Click here to join the Service this Sunday!

Dear Friends,

Our Old Testament reading this week is from Genesis chapter eight and tells of the escape from lock-down of Noah and his family.  We haven’t been confined in an ark for seven months, but we have been severely constrained in our movements.

On Tuesday I drove the 40 miles to my house in Manchester, through the stunning scenery of the Peak District National Park.  It was great to get out of the city – and a reminder of what we are missing.

Part of my route to Manchester!

As restrictions ease, we will be looking on Sunday at what this means to us as Christians.

Meanwhile we have opportunity to help those in need via the Youth Charity Foundation, and you can read about that in Caring for All – YCF Families below!  Please give generously!

We will meet again this Sunday at 6 p.m. in Thailand, to worship together.  (7 a.m. in New York, midday in the U.K., and 1 p.m. in Europe and Egypt!)

Click here to join the Service this Sunday!

If you missed it, last week’s service can be see here.

Some of last week’s congregation!

Our scripture readings for this Sunday will be Genesis 8:1-19, Acts 7:55-60, and John 14:1-14, and we will be singing the hymns All Creatures of our God and King, Blessed Assurance, Amazing Grace, and The Church’s One Foundation.

Our service will consist of our usual Eucharistic worship!  All are welcome to join in the prayers and liturgy, to listen to the readings and sermon, and to receive virtual communion if they feel comfortable.

If you want to receive virtual communion then have a small piece of bread and a small glass of wine or grape juice prepared.

The words of this Sunday’s bulletin is pasted below at the end of this email, or you can download it as a pdf to view or print from this link.

You can then read and join in the liturgy if you wish.

Caring for All – YCF Families

Most of the children at the Youth Charity Foundation come from poor hill-tribe villages.  Some are orphans, and others have families who are too poor or unable to care for them.

At this time of crisis, many of the children’s families are in severe financial difficulty.  Many make a small income by selling their produce in local markets, but now this is totally impossible and they are destitute.

We asked Khun Tasnee at YCF how we can help.  They have proposed that they journey to some of the children’s villages to provide food parcels for some of the families.  They have identified ten families who are especially in need.

YCF Kids in our Sunday Service

Bill Moeller writes:

These are the families YCF has identified as most needing assistance due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.  I recommend we provide these families with food assistance of Baht 1,000 each.  YCF staff will shop and put together the packages and make the deliveries. It will require a 3 day trip to each area.  The families are spread out.

K. Tasnee asked if we could pay for the fuel cost for the YCF vehicle. This will be a commitment to All Saints of 10,000 baht and fuel cost of approximately Baht 1,500.  I think it would be appropriate to give our congregation an opportunity to make a separate donation for this project if they would like too.

The YCF staff also came up with suggestions for a more permanent plan to relieve the poverty of some of the families.  We can discuss these at another time. I think they would be attractive projects for the congregation and the YCF to work together on.

Some of the younger YCF girls

Bill followed up:

I met again today with K. Tasnee.  We discussed the timing of the first delivery.  They will go next Wednesday to Chiang Rai. They will check to see if they need any special permission to travel.  We also discussed the difficulty of the journey to reach the recipients and decided that 1,000 Baht worth of food is too small for the difficulty and effort involved.   A Baht 1500. pack of groceries would be better.

I think with the church’s 10,000 baht plus some extra donations we can reach Baht 15,000. + 2,000 for fuel.   The optimal desired amount per family would be Baht 3000.  We settled on 1,500 as a doable amount with the hope we can generate some additional funds through special donations.  The optimal amount would be 30,000. + 2,000. for fuel.

Older YCF girls preparing food

We will provide money for this project directly from church funds, as we commit to give 10% of our yearly surplus away, but any extra donations will mean we can do more and perhaps help on an ongoing basis.

Please give if you can!  You can use any of the methods detailed below and email me to say it is for the YCF Families.

You can read details of the individual families we are planning to help by clicking here.

Weekly Discussion Group

We will continue our discussion group on Thursday at 8 p.m.  Just click on this link to join.  The meeting ID is 829-4307-6518.

This week we will be discussing the ideas in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation for the 5th May which can be read here.  He writes of God showing us how to be a community.  All are welcome to join – it is a chance just to be together!

Weekly Offering to All Saints

Although we are not meeting together face-to-face, the expenses of All Saints remain – indeed, they may increase as we seek to support those in need!

Although there is no basket being passed around in our service, you can still give your offering.  People in Thailand can transfer directly to the church bank account.  (Which is in my name, but managed by our treasurer, Don Williams.)  Thanks to all those who have already given – we are receiving approximately our normal monthly offering!

The details are:

Account Name: Iain Girvin Baxter
Bank: Krungsri Bank
Account Number: 7181-05586-5
SWIFT Code: AYUDTHBK

Those in the UK, or with UK banking, can donate via All Saints Chiang Mai Mission.  Their account details are:

Bank: Coop Bank
Account Name:  All Saints Chiang Mai Mission
Account Number: 65877142
Sort Code:  08-92-99

Alternatively, you can donate with PayPal or with any debit or credit card via the All Saints Website on the Donate Page.

Please email Don on dbjkwms@gmail.com  if you would like a receipt.

Keeping in Touch

At this time of isolation it is important that we keep in touch with each other.  We have an All Saints church directory with a list of many people’s phone numbers, so if you would like a copy please email me, on iain@AllSaintsChiangMai.com and I will send it to you.

Please feel free to share this email.  People may be feeling especially alone and vulnerable at this time.  Let them know that we are there for them and that God is with us!

God bless,

Father Iain

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Hymn:
All Creatures of our God and King

The Greeting

The Lord be with you!
And also with you!

Words of welcome

Christ yesterday and today,
the beginning and the end,

Alpha and Omega,
all time belongs to him, and all ages;
to him be glory and power,
through every age and for ever.
Amen.
….

Lord our God,
we have avoided your call.
Our love for you
is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgement;
bind up our wounds
and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Gloria – Mass of Gregory the Great

The Collect

The First Reading: Genesis 8:1-19

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Alleluia, Alleluia,
give thanks to the risen Lord,
Alleluia, Alleluia,
give praise to his name!

Psalm 31

In you, O Lord,
have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.

Incline your ear to me;
make haste to deliver me.
Be my strong rock,
a fortress to save me,
for you are my rock
and my stronghold;
guide me, and lead me
for your name’s sake.

Take me out of the net
that they have laid
secretly for me,
for you are my strength.

Into your hands
I commend my spirit,
for you have redeemed me,
O Lord God of truth.

‘My times are in your hand;
deliver me
from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
‘Make your face to shine
upon your servant,
and save me
for your mercy’s sake.’

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
And to the Holy Ghost,
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be
World without end, Amen

The Second Reading:
Acts 7:55-60

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Alleluia, Alleluia,
give thanks to the risen Lord,
Alleluia, Alleluia,
give praise to his name!

Gospel Reading

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
Alleluia. 
He has defeated the powers of death.
Alleluia.
Jesus turns our sorrow into dancing.
Alleluia.
He has the words of eternal life.
Alleluia.

Hear the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to John.
Glory to you, O Lord.

The Gospel Reading:
John 14:1-14

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Alleluia, Alleluia,
give thanks to the risen Lord,
Alleluia, Alleluia,
give praise to his name!

Sermon

The Apostles’ Creed            

I trust in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I trust in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated
at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.

I trust in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of the saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.  

Hymn:
Blessed Assurance

Prayers of Intercession

Response:     
Lord, deepen our trust
in your loving purposes for us all:
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Through the resurrection
of your son, O God,
you destroy the power of death.
By the power of the Spirit,
raise us to life,
and seat us at the paschal feast,
that we may rejoice
in the gift of salvation
Jesus has won for us.  Amen.

The Peace

Then were they glad
when they saw the Lord.
Alleluia. Alleluia.

The peace of the risen Christ
be always with you
And also with you. Alleluia.

Offering and
Preparation of the Table

Hymn:
Amazing Grace

The Eucharistic Prayer

The Lord is here.
God’s Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks
to the Lord our God.
It is right to give
thanks and praise.
….

And so, in the joy of this Passover,
earth and heaven
resound with gladness,
while angels and archangels
and the powers of all creation
sing for ever the hymn of your glory:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth
are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. 
….

Great is the mystery of faith:

Christ has died:
Christ is risen:
Christ will come again.

The Lord’s Prayer

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven…

Breaking of the Bread

Jesus says, I am the bread of life,
whoever eats this bread will live for ever.
Lord, our hearts hunger for you;
give us this bread always.

Jesus, Lamb of God,
have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins,
have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
grant us peace.

Giving of Communion

Alleluia. Christ our passover
is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast.
Alleluia.

We share in the Body and Blood of Christ

Prayer after Communion

Eternal God,
whose Son Jesus Christ
is the way, the truth, and the life:
grant us to walk in his way,
to rejoice in his truth,
and to share his risen life;
who is alive and reigns,
now and for ever.
Amen.

Hymn:
The Church’s One Foundation

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Praise the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He has given us new life and hope
by raising Jesus from the dead.

God has claimed us as his own.
He has brought us out of darkness.
He has made us light to the world.

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

The blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit,
be among you
and remain with you always.
Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ.  Amen!