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Jeff Lucas
Spring Harvest Leadership Team
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Placement churches
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Open Heaven, Loughborough
Ben and Liz have been placed in Open Heaven, in Loughborough. Ben has been part of Open Heaven for 5 years and Liz has now been a member for 3 whole weeks (prior to which she lived and worked in Kent).
The church has a great ethos and their mission statement is ‘making 21st century disciples’. They have 5 core values which creates the acronym ‘GRACE’:
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Growth
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Relevance
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Authenticity
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Community
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Empowerment.
Open Heaven have two expressions of church on a Sunday:
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OH2 in the morning, which is aimed at families, takes place in a local primary school
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OH1 in the afternoons, which is aimed at students and community, takes place at the student union
As a team, we are currently serving at a marriage course, parenting course, in the church office, at Sunday gatherings and at club mission (which is a bit like street pastors but is placed in and around the student union on a Friday night). We are also supporting a local community project called ‘Twenty Twenty’which is a project for pre16’s and post 16’s who have struggled in school or have been excluded. The project supports young people to gain life skills and qualifications to help them have a better future.
There are other projects in and around Loughborough which we are soon to be involved with as well, including helping on the student ALPHA course and going into a young offender’s institution. We have a really varied programme, which enables us to serve and work together as a team on projects and also to develop our individual passions and giftings.
Ben: I am living in a house owned by a charity called ‘Baca’ who support young people seeking asylum in the UK (aged 16-18years). Six young people from various countries also live in the house. I have been given time and responsibility each week to support and build relationships with each of them as well as other young people in Baca’s care, in the form of mentoring and playing sports etc.
I am looking forward to serving in all the different places during the year, particularly getting to know the young people in the youth projects we are involved with. I am also looking forward to developing relationships with the leadership team in Open Heaven. Most importantly, I am keen to develop my relationship with God and become more of who God created me to be.’
Liz: I am living with a lovely family who are part of Open Heaven. I have time each week to build relationships and community with people who are part of Open Heaven and to develop my passion and gifting for worshipping God through music.
I am looking forward to continuing to get stuck in serving the different projects in and around Open Heaven. I am particularly enjoying building relationships and community with people in Loughborough, making it feel more like home for me each and every day. I am most excited about becoming free in Christ, becoming the woman who God created me to be, through time spent with God, serving, in training sessions, building community, in team meetings and discipleship.
