This Christmas we will again deliver hampers to families and individuals in the Elmbridge area who have received the Besom service over the past year.  You can make a difference and help to bring God’s love into their homes.

To find out how your church group can make a Christmas hamper to give through The Besom please get in touch with us by email at hampers@besominesher.com.

Please respond by Friday 8th November if possible. Once we hear from you we will forward all the instructions on how to make and fill your hamper.  We will also invite you to join in and deliver the hampers in the early part of December as part of a small experienced team. 

1 Cor 13:7 (The Message)    “Love… trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end”

Love…. trusts God always, always looks for the best

This year we have gone through a lot of exciting transitions. Yet, as always, the excitement about the new things that are coming is tinged with sadness at what is left behind.

To be sure that we were following where the Lord is leading has required us to keep placing our trust in the Lord and have faith that He is working in our waiting. Our longing to have our own premises has remained unchanged over these past 8 years because while daily we look for the best that Besom can be, we operate under constraints which inhibit so much that we would love to do. The team, van, equipment and goods are scattered across the Borough so we would like to bring everything under one roof in a home where we can gather, pray and build relationships with all those called to fulfil our vision ‘to enable Christians to give’.

Love… never looks back!

It became clear that registering as a charity was the next step in order to be ready to lease premises, so we began the process in January. To enable this, two of our founding core team members, Simon and Sherry, came off the core team in order to become trustees and in the Spring we became a fully-fledged charity. Then in July, Sue, another founding core team member, felt the Lord ask her to lay down Besom in order to step into new ministries with the lonely and dispossessed. Sue has overseen group projects and the Christmas hamper projects for 8 years and will be greatly missed. With her past experience as a social worker and a massively compassionate heart, she brought invaluable insight, wisdom and caring love to our team and all whom she worked with. She still loves Besom and will remain involved in other ways.

With three core team members stepping down, only Annie and Gareth were left. But recently the Lord has graciously brought us two additions: ones who have been time-giving on the van team and in projects for a while! Chris from EGBC and Richard from HTC are both stepping into new things by joining the Besom core team.

Please pray for them as they discern where their hearts lie in the many-varied tasks that members choose to undertake to operate the Besom.

Love…. always keeps going to the end!

At last, we can see that God is stirring up key individuals in churches in the Walton area to get involved for the first time with the Besom and it excites us to see how these fledgling relationships will prosper under the guidance of his Holy Spirit.  We have been praying for links into Walton since our inception in 2012, so this development has been a long time in coming!  Sometimes waiting for it has been very disheartening, but we have persevered in prayer because many of our recipients live in this area of the borough and we have longed for the churches in closest proximity to them to be able to practically love their neighbours –  literally those living only metres from their doorsteps.  It is the encouragement in seeing that God has been working in our waiting, that gives us hope to keep praying and waiting for our premises, our home.  Please keep praying along with us for that provision.

Two givers… tick! ….
Two recipients in need of double beds….tick! ….
Two double beds delivered and assembled…. tick!

One recipient had a flooded flat and needed a replacement bed and the other woman was due to give birth and only had an airbed to return to from hospital.  

The Lord’s timing was immaculate in the provision of people giving beds and us becoming aware of the urgent needs.

“U R A DIAMOND” and “YOU ARE AN ANGEL” are just two responses we received last week. One from a Dad of six kids for whom we were able to buy replacement washing machine and one from a social worker requesting three single beds for a single parent family. We have the joy of receiving the thanks by texts and emails, but we want you ALL to know that the timing of giving your goods and money to us is not a coincidence but a response to prayer for God to meet these families’ needs. So this week join us in praying for many items of bedroom furniture.

Before and After! Some Thursdays we simply have to clear out the van and stock-take at the barn! At least yesterday we managed to find the missing bed fixings (buried in a box of bedding) so we can re-deliver the bed next week…

Sue’s spare bedrooms are fillling up with stunning luxury hampers. We want to thank all of you who contributed, made or dropped off hampers. We are on target to share love and seasonal goodwill with all of our recipients through your generosity! If you would like to be involved with the joy of delivering some of them, there are still morning time-slots available on Saturday 8th or Tuesday 18th December. Contact us on hampers.besominesher@gmail.com

Not many of our projects come together so swiftly and smoothly but tomorrow’s has. A garden, so overgrown in Molesey that the gentleman could not get outside for 3 years, will be cleared tomorrow by a Connect Group from St Mary’s East Molesey. Pray for the team as they bring in the light to this young man – literally!!

We are delighted to be partnering with Molesey churches this month in Love Molesey . Please pray God will provide us with great ‘matching’ of projects and van runs in the KT8 area over the month so that church members in the area can be a part of our ministry. #LoveMolesey www.lovemolesey.org

Sunday 28th January 2018 is a National Day of Prayer for The Besom. There are now more than 30 Besoms across the UK helping the local church give to those in need in their local communities. Please join us for a special prayer breakfast at Esher Green Baptist Church from 9.00am to 10.00am on Sunday 28th January to pray for the Besom. All welcome.  If you can’t attend then please pray where you can on the day for the Besom including these points:

Thanksgiving

– for the vision of Besom and how it is flourishing around the nation
– that new Besoms are starting up
– for our local Besom in Esher now in its sixth year
– for all those who have been able to give through the Besom, and for all those individuals and families in Elmbridge who have been blessed by receiving goods or project helps from the ministry
– for the wonderful delivery of over 65 Christmas Hampers across Elmbridge to our past years’ recipients

A place to call home

– we are still seeking suitable premises so we can have:
– a safe place to park the van
– somewhere to gather with our time-givers, to build relationships
– a rain-proof store for project equipment and donated furniture
– a hub for worship and prayer
– an office where we can do ‘Besom’ together in person under one roof
– increased financial giving to resource this home

More answered prayers

– release giving to needy and vulnerable through the Besom from our churches whether it is money, skills, goods or time
– increased ‘matching’ of goods and furniture
– to demonstrate the miraculous and perfect provision of what is needed
by the recipient to the timing of when we bring the donation to them
– that God does indeed meet their needs and answer prayers to bless and encourage them
– matching therefore gives the team and time-givers great conversation openers and more opportunities to witness and to offer prayer
– some time-givers to form a ‘Curtains Team’ to measure, collect/clean/repair and hang curtains, to measure and fit tracks/poles

Core team

– Individually that they would stay close to the Lord, deepen their faith and be encouraged to be bold, to perservere, to be patient, and to be resourced and equipped for their roles in the team, and to remain passionate about the Besom Vision.
– As a team we form the ‘bridge’ over which ‘those that have’ (our givers) meet the needs of ‘those that are without’ (our recipients) – please pray that our bridge will be strong through the foundation of prayer and reliance on our God to provide.
– To add one or two more members from our supporting churches to the core team
– To strengthen representation from the local churches in their own church
– To bring diverse range of skills and gifts to the Besom team

Churches

– for our core team churches: St Mary’s East Molesey, Holy Trinity Claygate, Esher Green Baptist.
– thanksgiving for continued support for the Besom in Esher
– that they would flourish in every way
– for the other churches across Elmbridge that support us
– for more Christians and churches in Elmbridge to get inspired by the Besom vision

13 fantastic luxurious hampers were delivered by an intrepid group of volunteers yesterday who ventured out in wind and rain around the Borough. All recipients were so thrilled to receive them and chat with the time-givers about how they were doing. It was great to encourage and bless all those we met. Keep praying as more deliveries take place on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday next week.