Kiltarlity Communion - February 28th
Eric was in Kiltarlity for the Friday evening service of the Communion Weekend. As this was Matthew MacKinnon's last weekend there as Minister, due to his retirement, we would like to wish him and Katie and all the congregation God's blessing and help in the future.

WEC at Golspie - February 26th
On Wednesday friends from the Rogart congregation came to Golspie for a meeting with the representatives from WEC International. This was another interesting and challenging evening.
Wilf Urquhart, the Scotish Secretary of WEC, spoke of the part played by Aaron and Hur in holding up Moses' hands in prayer as Joshua and the men of Israel fought the battle on the plain below them. So, too, we have a responsibility to pray for those who have gone "to make disciples of all nations". Using an excellent Power Point presentation, he then gave us an over-view of the work of world mission today.
Barbara Scott spoke about her work amongst the Maures people in northern Senegal. She works mainly in Buntubat village, helping the men with agricultural projects, befriending the women and teaching the children Bible stories. She has developed a teaching tape ministry which takes the truths of God's Word into the homes of the people. She and her colleagues are also involved in a very worthwhile radio outreach work. Barbara has worked there for 22 years and has seen so few people become Christians. But, her confidence is that, as she faithfully sows the seed and God's people pray for the work, the Lord in His time will give the harvest and one day " the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose".

Founder's Day & Thinking Day Service - February 23th
Over the years, the annual Founder's Day and Thinking Day service for the Golspie Scouts and Guides (and the younger sections) has been held alternatively in St. Andrew's Church of Scotland and the Free Church. This year over 90 boys and girls, with their leaders and family members, joined the congregation in the Free Church. It was most encouraging to have so many young people sharing in our worship and singing with us from the Sing Psalms.

We sang Psalms 122, 25 (4-9), 67 and 117.

The reading was from Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 - 20

In his talk to them, Eric drew parallels between the Scouting/Guiding Movement and the Church:
1. Lord Baden Powell founded the Scouts - the Lord Jesus founded the Church
2. The first Scout troop had 23 boys - Jesus started with 12 disciples
3. The Scout Movement has 23 million members - the Church will have a number that cannot be counted
4. Scouts promise to serve God and love their neighbour - Christians promise to follow Jesus and love their neighbour
5. Lord Baden Powell died - the Lord Jesus died, but rose again!
6. Scouts from all nations come together in a great gathering, a Jamboree - when Jesus returns there will be a gathering of all peoples from all nations, a truly momentous Jamboree!
In our prayers we remembered those who belonged to the Scout/Guide Movement all around the world, some of whom lived in lands that knew war or poverty or famine. The offering given by the Scouts and Guides was £65 and this will be given to the Sunday School Project for this year in aid of Tear Fund's Disaster and Relief work in famine-stricken areas of Africa.

It was great to see our church so full and we hope that the young people felt really welcome among us. It is our prayer that they and their parents will feel encouraged to come again before too long.

Bob Trelogan (OMF) at Golspie - February 23th
While others of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship team were speaking at a joint meeting of the Brora and Helmsdale churches, Bob Trelogan came to preach at Golspie. Bob has been in Thailand for 27 years working in church planting. He out-lined some of the principals of church growth using the experiences of the apostles from the first chapters of the book of Acts and illustrating his points with accounts from the church work in Thailand.

He showed how the early church grew through Spirit-inspired preaching, through believers being able to give answers to searching questions and by their giving to God the glory for miracles they saw perfomed. The church was also strengthened by learning the lessons of church discipline and by remaining faithful through persecution. Indeed, when the believers were scattered by the persecution, they carried the Gospel with them to other regions. God was working through all these circumstances to build his church. Bob encouraged us, in Golspie, to see that God is still at work in the same ways here today.

We are grateful to Bob for taking the time to be at our evening service and it is now our privelege to remember him and his fellow workiers in our prayers.

OMF at Rogart - February 20th
On Thursday evening, members of Rogart, Lairg and Golspie Free Church congregations met in Rogart to hear about the work of the Overseas Missionary Felowship. OMF were on a tour of Northern Scotland and this was one of their meetings in Sutherland. The Rev. Eric Paterson, as Interim Moderator for Rogart, introduced the speakers, Dick Dowsett, Ralph Martin, Sandra MacDonald and Bob Trelogan. All of them, as they spoke, emphasised the importance of presenting God's Word to people of other nations and languages in a way that was culturally appropriate to them.
Dick spoke of the difficulties experienced by the growing church in China which is still subject to government restrictions as to what could be taught. Ralph, who has worked for many years in Japan, using an overhead projector, explained how he used the characters of the Japanese language to illustrate for his college students the message of the Gospel from the Old and New Testaments. Bob showed slides and explained some of the cultural problems faced by the church in Thailand as they try to put the teaching of Scripture into practise, especially in matters of discipline. Sandra, who had worked for a time with Kanok Publishing in Bangkok, under-lined the need for good Christian literature in a land of 61 million people.
It was good to hear of the work being done in these Far Eastern countries and all who were present were given much food for thought and prayer.

Door Duties February 3rd
Four of our Youth Fellowship members have started assisting with the church door duties before the morning and evening services on Sunday. It involves them helping the elder on duty through welcoming people into church and also by giving out Bibles and Psalm Books where necessary. This has been well received by the congregation and also enjoyed by the young folk themselves.