You may have a read a few weeks ago about the amazing work of ‘The Open Well’ in South Bank, Middlesbrough – where Niki and Krista and the team are bringing a Jesus centred approach to community building within their local neighbourhood (if you missed it, click here!). Well this week, The Open Well team will be hosting a community carnival! We caught up with them to ask them all about it.
“Our vision for the Carnival is to re-establish community and to celebrate all that South Bank has to offer. On Sunday, we will bring together different services and organisations to offer a fun and free event that everybody can enjoy. As Christians, Jesus is the centre of our life and so this event will of course have Jesus at the heart of it, as we bring our community together”.
In order to put this event on, the team, led by Niki and Krista, have raised £2,000 through a sponsored walk from South Bank to Redcar. This has allowed them to hire inflatables and rides, buy face paints and buy BBQ food to cater for 500 people! As part of the carnival, there will be live music provided by our own Peter Glasby and Blackpool based, Jesus centred musician Jenny Raby, as well as a community parade where the people of South Bank will march together to the carnival – led by local jazz band, the Royal Sapphires.
Krista tells us “There has been a huge amount of interest and support from other local services who will be joining in and providing something for the community. From other local churches, to services such as Tees Valley Women’s centre and even the local social club, we are thrilled by the amount of people who want to be a part of this. We believe that this will be the start of something new in our community and it will hopefully become an annual celebration.”
But it is not just entertainment on offer, the team also have testimonies lined up and intend to publicly share the gospel with their community, as they know that it is Jesus who has the power to transform this community.
So what can we do?
- Well first – let’s get praying! Pray for all the practicalities of the day but also pray that God would open people’s ears to hear the Gospel and respond to him.
- Second, there is an open invitation to come and join in the fun! Sunday 21st August from 11.30am (or after Church). At the Open field on Steele Crescent, TS6 6QH.
If you have a heart for your local community, why not start thinking outside the box about how you could reach out to them?
17 Aug 2022
