New Pastor comes to St Helena

In Decenber 2009, Pastor Nick Clevely was succeeded by Pastor Graeme Beckett, who has now taken over the management of this blog. Please stand by for an update of events.

One year later

The 14th of August marked the one-year anniversary of the 300-ton rockfall that came down in Jamestown. The St Helena Baptist Church would like to thank and acknowledge all those, including churches, businesses and individuals, who have been so generous in their support of the various fundraising efforts as well as making private donations. We would like to thank all those on the Falklands, Ascension Island, in the UK, South Africa, USA and even as far as New Zealand, and not least of all, all those on St Helena who have made it possible for us to come so far in the restoration and repair process. To date ₤32,121.40 has been raised towards repairs. This is a mammoth effort on the part of all who have given and we give glory to God for His blessings through you. With deepest gratitude we appreciate your ongoing support.

Rapid progress

We are glad to report that much progress has been made with the manse and towards the facilities in the schoolroom. The hole in the bathroom wall in the manse has been sealed up - the picture below shows that the bathroom repairs are nearly completed - the wall has been tiled and the bath and toilet are awaiting installation. The boundary wall and house walls have also been repaired and repainted as below.

The new cloakroom facilities in the schoolroom are coming along nicely - pictured is Gavin and his team. Gavin has completed the archway of the window between the church and schoolroom that was badly damaged, even repairing it with the original technique of lathe and plaster. We give God thanks for His ongoing provision.

Sponsored walk-the-island

On the 4th of April, Darren Duncan and Jacqui Leo undertook a sponsored walk-the-island to raise funds for our ongoing efforts. They started at 6.30 am at the Baptist Chapel in town and finished after 5 pm, covering nearly 60 kms of the island. This is no small feat, given the extreme ascents and descents. Darren and Jacqui only decided a week before the event to do it, and within one week had managed to raise an enormous amount of sponsorship. The total takings was ₤697.22, with some sponsorship even coming in from Ascension Island. They had t-shirts printed especially for the day by Simon Henry.

Progress at the end of April is as you see below: the roof is now complete on the schoolroom but there remain further jobs on the interior of the schoolroom before we will be able to recommence our services inside. We are planning to install some spacious toilets and change-room facilities as well as a kitchenette.

We have received much support from individuals on the Falkland Islands - those who are attached to our church and those who are not. Without mentioning any names, the latest large donation by an individual was ₤400. We would also like to acknowledge the money that the Rock club raised, from their parade last year. They have contributed a further ₤300 to the fundraising efforts. Our heartfelt thanks to all of those who continue to support us, as well as to our Heavenly Father for his abundant blessing.

Building, donation and books

We are excited to report that the repair work is progressing well. Gavin Williams and his team have reconstructed the outer wall of the schoolroom, put in two of the three needed lintels and have begun the reroofing, already having put several sheets. Major work on the arch of one of the church windows adjoining the schoolroom needs to be completed before the final lintel and roofing can be installed.
We would like to extend our thanks to the St Mary's Anglican Church on Ascension Island who presented Jean March (above) with a cheque of ₤500, from a special offering taken in one of their services.

We have today received the 500 copies of our long-awaited book on the birth of our little church on St Helena island. This book will be sold at ₤8 per copy, with all the profits going to the restoration fund. We would like to thank once again the Bank of St Helena for their generous funding which made the printing of this book possible.

Restoration begins!

On the 27th of January the rubble was removed from the school yard in preparation for restorations to begin. Gavin Williams, one of the local contractors, has been awarded the restoration project. The project has had some teething problems as our buildings are listed as Class A historical buildings and strict guidelines must be adhered to in any reparation work. The most time-consuming factor so far has been the acquisition of lime mortar for the job, as this is not readily available.

Donations continue to come in and we are grateful to NICO, the healthcare company which provides doctors and medical staff for the island. Below - Steve and Maureen Terry from the Fundraising Committee receive a cheque from Jean and Fiona, NICO representatives.

We would also like to thank Honeyridge Baptist Church, as well as friends in New Zealand and Ireland for donations.

Christmas donations

Christmas proved to be a fruitful time for donations to our restoration fund. Two parades were held in Market Street, Jamestown. The first was organized by the Rock Club with their catchy slogan "Rock Club helps Rock Fall". They are still in the process of collecting funds. The second parade was organized by Barry Dillon and co. held on Christmas Eve - this is an annual tradition spanning several decades. This brought in ₤650. A very special thanks to those who organized these parades and to all who participated and gave.

Another Christmas gift for the Baptist Church Restoration Fund came from the Freedom Community Church in Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. The pastor, Peter Mayer, has been encouraging his church to give liberally after some of his members, the Williamson family, were here recently. The Williamsons were in the Baptist Manse with our family at the time of the rockfall, and so have a first-hand account of the trauma. The church gave a very generous donations of ₤1,972.94, the largest gift so far by an individual church. We want to very gratefully thank Peter, the Williamsons, and everyone who gave for being so generous.

To date we have topped the ₤20,000 mark which is a major accomplishment in such a short time. The present balance sits at ₤22,471.71. We give God the glory and thanks.

We have secured a building contractor, Gavin Williams, to undertake the first phase of our rebuilding. The first project, which is the simplest and cheapest of the three, is the schoolroom repair. We are hoping to begin before the end of January.

School and busking

Nick was called in to receive a cheque for ₤40.85 from St Paul’s Middle School on Friday, from a face-painting activity they had had for which the children needed to bring 20p. Thank you to all those who contributed the monies.

Once again Tony Leo organized a busking event outside the Cannister in Jamestown. The country-style Christmas Carol music was provided by the "Country Boys", and a total of ₤87.99 was raised. Tony has also donated a banjo to be raffled, with the proceeds going to the restoration fund. The raffle will take place on Christmas Eve. A big thank you to Tony and the Country Boys.

CD

As a further fundraising effort, Nick Clevely is releasing his debut CD, "Like a Child", on the island, and all profits go to the restoration fund. This is a collection of original songs by Nick, except the last one, "Hast Thou no Scar" which is a poem by Amy Carmichael put to music. The CD was produced specifically for the rockfall relief effort, so the photographs on the sleeve are all of the rockfall damage.

Featured on the back of the inside sleeve is a brief description and history of the church, which goes as follows:

"At present the Baptist Church is made up of 38 members, with a regular weekly attendance at the four chapels of 60-80 people. The largest and oldest of the Chapels is in Jamestown and was built in 1854, nine years after the Churchwas formed in 1845. The maximum capacity ofthis chapel is 150-200 people. Next built was the Sandy Bay Chapel in 1867, which seats about 80. Then came Knollcombes in 1896 which can seat about 100-120. This chapel has the largest grounds accompanying it with three graveyards – the old and new Baptist grave-yards as well as the Boer Cemetery. Last built was the Head o’ Wain Chapel, which was erect-ed during the shortages of WWI; they began in 1914 and through much sacrificial giving they completed it in 1918. This is the smallest of the Chapels.The Church began with a wonderful revival.

The Rev. James Bertram McGregor, “a Scot, and in business in Manchester, was converted by the outstanding preacher Robert Aitken, and assisting him Bertram became a minister, serving in Bristol, where, influenced by the Rev. Thomas Matthews, he was baptized by Believer’s Baptism. Later, Bertram impelled by missionary zeal, went to South Africa, and after a remarkable mission in Saldanha Bay, was persuaded to visit St Helena.” (Janisch p65). As a result of his successful ministry in South Africa, some believers in the Cape put up the money to send Bertram to the island. The first sermon to be preached was on the 15th of July 1845, at the house of Mr. James Morris, but the venue was too small because of the crowds that came to gather to hear God’s word. So Mrs Janisch, the widow of George William Janisch, offered the use of her large parlour for services. This was a very fruitful time of ministry and the record book of the Baptist Church details the following: “Her large parlour became our Chapel which at once became too strait for us. Here all classes flocked to hear the joyful sound of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. The sword of the Lord did its work—the word was a fire and a hammer. And the judgement day will manifest how many resisted the Holy Ghost and rejected the counsel of God against themselves—dreadful work. ”

So begins the long and rich history of the Baptist Church, a history which, through the restoration of our damaged buildings we would like to see prolonged. All the profits of this CD will go to restoring our buildings. We at the Baptist Church give you our thanks for supporting this project."

Ladies Orchestra Evening and Maureen's Coffee Morning

On Wednesday 3rd December, Steve and Maureen Terry hosted a coffee morning in their home (aptly named Tranquillity) to raise funds for the church. Approximately 30 guests came to their spacious home to enjoy coffee, eats and light entertainment. Jennifer Cutting donated a beautiful Christmas Cake which was raffled on the morning, raising ₤166. Pictured below is Jennifer with the brother-in-law of the winner.

A further ₤129.40 was raised in donations during the morning. Lynn Clevely was able to contribute ₤21 through jewellery sales, and Nick Clevely sold ₤50 worth of his new CD, "Like a Child", giving a grand total of ₤366.40 for the morning. Thanks especially to Steve and Maureen for opening their home, and the ladies serving tea and eats in the kitchen, as well as to those who supplied some of the eats.

The Ladies' Orchestra very kindly offered to put on a musical evening which happened on Friday, 5th December. They were accompanied by the Palm Villa Singers, with a few other items by Baptist congregants and friends. The 14 items on the program included a variety of Christmas carols and instrumental pieces. The evening was held in the Mule Yard and we are thankful to God for the break in the weather. Thanks to Barry Dillon for allowing us the use of his premises. We ran a slideshow of rockfall photos using the newly donated projector from the RMS Charity Fund for those who had not yet seen the damages. There was no entrance fee, but from a cake raffle and donations, ₤250.47 was raised, as well as a further ₤20 from biscuit sales from Mike and Julia who were selling eats and refreshments. This was an excellent effort on the part of the Ladies' Orchestra and Friends who organised the event. Special thanks to Ivy Ellick, Wendy Henry and Gaye Marr, and many others who were involved. Gary Walters from Radio St Helena recorded the evening and it will be broadcast closer to Christmas.

Busking and Beading for Cruise Ship

On Friday 28th November, the Cruise Ship MV Seven Seas Voyager visited the island, bringing approximately 700 passengers and crew. Tourist ships are currently few and far between, and the island likes to use the opportunity to generate funds. As such, the tourism department set up a marquee at the waterfront and invited various individuals to set up stalls. Lynn Clevely ran a jewellery stall selling beaded wares which she has been making and selling, donating 50% of the profits to the church's restoration fund. Although sales were disappointing for all the stall holders, Lynn earned ₤28.50 towards the fund, bringing her total contribution so far to ₤152.75.

Tony Leo approached Steve Terry and Nick Clevely to assist him in 'busking' at the docks for the tourists in aid of raising funds for the church. Tony played the banjo, Steve the violin and Nick was on guitar. The trio played Irish and Scottish jigs as well as some well-known traditional hymns. The takings were €10, Rp100, R332.50, $51.75 and ₤58. A special thanks to Tony for organising the busking.

Above: Steve (left), Nick (center), Tony (right).

Coffee Morning and Book

On Wednesday morning, the 19th of November, Patsy Flagg hosted a Coffee Morning at Harlyn in aid of our Restoration Fund. 40 people were in attendance and ₤153 was raised in donations. This was the 53rd coffee morning hosted by Mrs Flagg; funds collected are usually donated to the St James Church, the oldest Anglican Church in the southern hemisphere, but this was specifically for the Baptist Church. To date this was her largest turnout and most donations gathered. Mrs Flagg provides all the eats and beverages, and after a short time of coffee and fellowship we were invited to participate in a few ice-breakers which were most enjoyable. Thanks again to Patsy Flagg and her daughter and mother for their hard work and hospitality, and also to all those who gave.

The Bank of St Helena has approved a donation of ₤1000 from the Community Projects Fund towards the printing of a book written in 1852 to do with the beginnings of the Baptist Church on St Helena. This is a very exciting read and shows through the ministry of the Reverend James Bertram M’Gregor how the work was birthed through a revival and made a big impact on the island. We are hoping to print 500 copies before the end of the year, DV. Martin Holdt has gladly given us a ‘blurb’ for the back cover, promoting the book, which reads as follows:

“St Helena Island! God the Holy Spirit at work on the Island! The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ arresting the minds and hearts of many people! Here is a thrilling account of what God did many years ago on St Helena Island. If this account does not thrill the hearts of those who love to know of ways and means through which Jesus Christ is building His church, then nothing will. It is a true story of a movement of the Spirit of God in a part of this world which is not known to most of its inhabitants. The faithful endeavors of those who wanted the glorious gospel of Christ to change the lives of people on the Island was crowned with glorious success. When reading this moving account, one can only be encouraged to pray that similar spiritual awakenings will happen in other parts of the world. In addition to that, reading this marvelous account will also stir up the plea in Psalm 85 v 5: “ Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?” We are deeply indebted to Nick and Lynn Clevely for undertaking to republish the story which we need to know all about. The account of God at work on the Island many years ago must be spread far and wide. Ensure that everyone you know gets to hear about it and obtains a copy.
Martin Holdt”

All proceeds of the book sales will be going to the Rockfall Restoration Fund.

Bank balance

Just to report on the Restoration Fund bank balance: we have ₤11,936.33 in the account at present. This is very encouraging, and should enable us to begin work on the schoolroom as soon as we get our quotes from the builders.

Progress report - 10th November

Apologies that the blog has not been updated in a while – we have been waiting for the rest of the money from the Sponsored Bible Reading to come in. To date, about ₤4,260 has been collected, and yet there is still more coming in. Thanks once again to all those who participated, organized and gave.

On Saturday we had a workparty in the church properties to begin the huge task of clearing away the rubble. We began with the schoolroom, sorting the usable wood from the firewood, and the damaged roofing from the salvageable roofing. We have essentially gutted the whole schoolroom, making it ready for builders to come in and begin. The final touches on clearing it will be done on Friday this week. Some of the Good News Club children pitched in diligently and carried away the lengths of bamboo that had made up the roof of Nick’s barbeque area. A truck was supplied by PWD which carried two loads of rubble to the dump.

Several more organizations have made donations, and we would like to thank New Horizons, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and the Freemasons, as well as the many private donors who have made contributions.

We have had some contractors come and look at the damages and so far we have had one very encouraging estimate, which we will post as soon as it has been confirmed.

Progress report - 18th October

Prince Andrew High School held a 'mufty day' on Friday the 17th of October, where pupils were charged 50p for the privilege of wearing civvies. All proceeds were donated to our rockfall fund, and a large check presented to Nick near the end of their school day. This gesture is indicative of the community spirit and quick way in which Saints will respond to the need of others.

Other fundraising activities which will be forthcoming in the future on our behalf are a coffee morning at Patsy Flagg's house, where donations will be given to the church; the Ladies' Orchestra are holding a concert in aid of the church; the New Horizons Youth will be donating a portion of their takings from a Family Night to be held at the end of the month. We are very grateful to all those who have willingly participated so far. Help has been forthcoming from the other South Atlantic Islands; we would like to thank Sodexo in the Falklands, and the Airhead Charity Fund on Ascension Island for generous contributions. Thanks also to the Baptist World Alliance for making a large donation and being willing to advertise our need.

24-Hour Sponsored Bible Readathon

From Friday 10th October at midday until Saturday at midday, the Bible was read aloud in the Salvation Army Hall, both by people from our congregation and people not linked to our church in any way. The entire New Testament was read in 18 hours, and then with no fanfare or pause to celebrate, Genesis was tackled. The readers were so caught up in the reading that even when their 3o minute slot was over many stayed on for 2-3 hours just to read along with others who were reading. At present we are still collecting the money that was pledged by the sponsors and will post the amount as soon as we have the information. A very special thank you to those who read, those who listened to the reading, and those who gave donations and sponsored our readers. Thank you too to the Salvation Army for the use of their premises, and the radio stations for advertising and promoting the event.

Forthcoming Events

We are looking forward to our 24-hour sponsored Bible Readathon happening this weekend, from 12 noon on Friday until 12 noon on Saturday. 48 readers will be passing through the Salvation Army Hall doors, each reading for half an hour. To this end, readers have been gathering sponsorships over the last few days, and islanders have been very generous in their donations and sponsorships.

In the near future Nick will be releasing his debut album on the island, called "Like a Child". His original intent was to donate all proceeds to the church's building fund, but since the rockfall it will be channeled specifically to the Rockfall Relief Fund. He is also seeing about getting a public domain book published, entitled "St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope: or, incidents in the missionary life of the Rev. James M'Gregor Bertram, of St Helena." We are hoping that both these projects will yield a good return locally.

The Ladies' Orchestra is organizing a musical evening as a fundraising venture, which will take place on 5 December.

To date approximately ₤4,500 has been donated. Thank you to all who have given.

The Rockfall

On the 14th August 2008 at approximately 10 am a massive rockfall occurred, where 300 tonnes of rock rolled and bounced their way down from the very top of the mountain into the Jamestown valley – the biggest rockfall in 100 years. Several properties were badly damaged, from our own Manse upwards. Miraculously not one person was killed or even injured – we can only marvel at God’s hand in this. Nine properties were damaged by the rocks, but a few stray rocks also hit the school wall across the street and the roof of the energy division across the valley.
The present Government estimate for all the damages to all the properties is around ₤400,000. The Baptist Church has four properties that were struck and has the lion’s share of the estimate. The Government’s estimate is ₤288,000 for the repairing of all our properties. The Manse was the worst hit structurally, and it seems that most of the back wall will have to be torn down and rebuilt.

The Chapel experienced substantial damage to the rear two foot thick wall, and a large portion of it will have to be rebuilt. Some rocks penetrated the roof and caused damage inside the building, damaging the gallery as well as some of the floor boards and pews.




The Schoolroom lost more than half its roof and suffered damages to the walls.



The yard, which housed Arthur Bazaar’s garage and the carport for the Church car, was badly struck, destroying the garage and carport, as well as the front wall of the yard that looks out onto the street. This is the beginning of a very long list of affected areas.


At present the Manse is uninhabitable, the Chapel unusable, the Schoolroom exposed to the elements and the yard a dump site. There is so much that needs to be done towards the repairing of the Church buildings, and we as a Church do not have the money for the mammoth task. The Baptist Church has put together a fund raising committee which exists to brainstorm and execute ideas for the raising of funds for the buildings.