April 2014 Pastor Bob and Jeanne Claycamp's Poimen Newsletter

APRIL 2014 ISSUE

OUR THREE-FOLD VISION WITH POIMEN HERE IN THE UK:

1. PASTORING THE TWO CHURCHES IN EXETER AND WOTTER

2. PREPARING BRITISH LEADERSHIP FOR FUTURE MINISTRY INVOLVEMENT

3. POIMEN MINISTRY OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE TO OTHER PASTORS AND WIVES

It has been a couple of months since our last newsletter. We are grateful for all the prayers and support. Much has happened in the past weeks. We'd like to share some of it with you here.

FEBRUARY

February brought the worst storm in a quarter of a century across the South of England. Our area of the South West was especially hit hard. The waves took out the train line that traveled along the southwest coast. That line was built many years ago by the famous builder Brunel. They finally have repaired the line and it has just opened. Many homes and businesses were damaged and a few lost their lives. Although our own house was high enough to escape the flooding, many suffered great losses.

Calvary Chapel Exeter had its Sunday morning 5th Anniversary in February. What started out as a small home Bible study back in 2007/8 has now grown to several families and many singles. We are thankful for the Velarde family who invested their prayers and service to get this church started. Pastor Damian Velarde now pastors Calvary Chapel Paris, Texas. All of the current families of CC Exeter live between 30-60 minutes out of the city. We are the only family living in Exeter right now, but most of the singles live in the city. Yet the hunger for the simple expositional teaching of the Word of God keeps them coming back each week. Amazing!

MARCH

The first weekend of March brought an opportunity for Jeanne to go to the Pastors' Wives conference in Paris, France, which is only a short flight from our city. The conference was hosted by Calvary Chapel of Paris. These conferences give Jeanne great venues through which to come alongside other pastor's wives to encourage, counsel, and assist them. It also opens doors for future ministry in their areas.

I taught at Calvary Chapel Hastings, England the second Sunday of March. Pastor Doug and Lisa Keen have a wonderful congregation and have served in England for many years. After the service we were taken to the White Cliffs of Dover, about 1 1/2 hours east of Hastings. Nearby is where the ferry takes vehicles and people over to France.

The women of Calvary Chapel Exeter, Wotter Community Church, Calvary Chapel Cardiff, Calvary Chapel Oxford got together to have a one-day Women's Conference on the fourth Saturday of March. They met at a conference center just north of Bath, England. Fifteen ladies from our two fellowships were able to go, get blessed and be encouraged.

Through your prayers and the grace of God I passed my UK driving test! Unless you live here, you just cannot grasp how different the road rules are in the United Kingdom. Although I've had a US license since age 16, I've had to relearn so many things BESIDES driving on the left side of the road and shifting with my left hand. I'm grateful for the counsel of several here in the UK to take a few driving lessons before I took the test. It took six two hour lessons to get me ready (I would definitely have failed the driving test if I hadn't taken those lessons). They were pricey but well worth it.

Speaking of driving, our monthly schedule has us driving at least 1000 miles a month in ministry related endeavours. Not to mention the occasional get away to Costco in Bristol once a month (a 120 mile journey round trip). With fuel at $8 or more per gallon, it's good to have a really fuel efficient vehicle that your prayers have helped us to find (combined: 80.1 mpg UK/67 mpg US).

I was invited to teach at the DAY IN THE WORD one day conference in London in March. Pastor David Guzik, Pastor Troy Spillman, and me were the teachers on the subject of Discipleship. You can access the teachings from the website of Calvary Chapel Docklands and City at http://calvarychapeldocklands.co.uk and click on MEDIA link.

APRIL

Jeanne celebrated her birthday in April with a trip to a very picturesque area of England known as the Cotswolds. We were able to secure a two-for-one hotel there and just travel around enjoying the sites and the OLD history and beautiful buildings and landscape. Jeanne is currently fascinated by sheep (as many of you can see from her Facebook pictures). There is a program on BBC Two called 'Lambing Live' which takes you through all the ins and outs of being a sheep farmer. We've gained much information on taking care of sheep, and there are quite a few spiritual applications that can be made as well!

Our outreach in the Plymouth area, in the village of Wotter, has grown significantly. The family who owns the old Methodist Chapel there, built in 1939, have decided to turn the building over to us as a church, not in ownership, but in full usage. We are making plans to launch this outreach into its own Calvary Chapel affiliate. It will be called Wotter Community Church. We have already appointed elders and a deacon for the ministry here. We are currently putting together a website for this ministry. More on this next newsletter.

NEXT MONTH: MAY

We begin our Ministry Discipleship Team (MDT) in May. This will be a three month endeavour, meeting twice a month with ten sets of husbands and wives who have expressed interest in stepping forward into deeper ministry. I used to lead this kind of discipleship program every year or two when I was pastoring in the states. Now we are going forward here in the UK. This does not replace the upcoming School of Ministry which will begin, Lord willing, in September. But the need is great right now to step forward with this MDT.

The first of May I also have been invited to be one of the keynote speakers at the Manna Conference in Bradford, England, at Church on the Way, the Calvary Chapel affiliate in Bradford (http://www.cotw.org.uk/manna). Pastor Jim Graham and I will be teaching on the theme of EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH. I will be teach four times and also at the church services Sunday morning and evening. Jeanne will be teaching a session for the ladies on Saturday morning. On Monday, we hope to be able to drive up to the Lake District north of Bradford for a couple of days then make the trek back to Exeter (5-6 hour drive).

When I have speaking occasional engagements that keep me from mid-week studies, or from Sunday services, this gives opportunities for other men in the two fellowships to step up and share the Word with those congregations. This is part of the ministry training process and helps to develop co-laborers.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE COMING MONTHS

Here are some of the opportunities on the horizon:

** At least three short-term mission outreach teams will be coming to Exeter/Wotter from July-October for outreach and working on maintenance of the Wotter Community Church

** Upcoming speaking opportunities at pastors and leaders conferences, and at other churches 

** School of Ministry is scheduled to open in September, for not only singles but for those who are married and working

** CreationFest UK 2014 will be a major outreach to the SouthWest of England the first full week of August (http://www.creationfest.org.uk) 

** Many discipleship opportunities with the University students between now and June, as well as September through December

** Potential of at least two more families moving to Exeter before the end of the year to join in the overall work of ministry here

** Possibility of new mid-week Bible studies opening in surrounding towns of Devon

** Pastor Pat Lazovich (Calvary Chapel Sierra Vista, AZ) coming to hold a pottery-illustrated sermon outreach in Exeter the first of November.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Here are the top prayer requests for the coming months:

** Larger meeting place in Exeter near the University by September

** Wisdom and discernment in raising up British leadership for future ministry involvements

** City wide venue for Pastor Pat Lazovich's Pottery Ministry for late October

** School of Ministry teachers and students prepared for September

** Inreach into the communities surrounding Wotter Community Church

** Resources of all types to enable God to do all that is in His heart through us

** Co-laborers in ministry here in the SouthWest part of England. The need is GREAT!

** Healing for Pastor Phil Pechonis, CreationFest UK director, who is recovering from cancer surgery.

Jeanne is posting regular updates to her blogsite: http://thepilgrimsheart.blogspot.com. 

You can also hear the teachings I have given at Calvary Chapel Exeter at this link: http://calvaryexeter.co.uk. 

All Poimen support monies now should be sent to this address:

Poimen Ministries, Pastor Bob and Jeanne Claycamp

14201 N 32nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85032

There is also an online donation PayPal link toward the bottom of my website page at http://www.bobclaycamp.com/html/contact-donate.html. (note: PayPal subtracts a small percentage of the amount donated before it gets to us.)

You can also set up online bill pay through your bank or credit union that will automatically send an amount each month. Please used the POIMEN MINISTRY address listed above and mark it for: Pastor Bob and Jeanne Claycamp.

Thanks once again for taking the time to read our newsletter and to pray for us.

Our email addresses:

Bob: bobclaycamp@gmail.com

Jeanne: gneec7@gmail.com

www.bobclaycamp.com

www.poimenministries.com (click on our picture in the right column on the Poimen website)

Our USA number: 623-980-3626 (free internet phone, but data charges may apply to your plan).

POIMEN MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt non-profit corporation under the laws of the State of California's Franchise Tax Board.

Pastor Bob and Jeanne Claycamp

+44 (0) 7513 169719

www.calvaryexeter.co.uk