A Place of Refuge in Handsworth
Deji Aloba
Psalm 46 is a strong biblical passage that reminds us that even in the face of trouble, God is our refuge and strength. Psalm 46 says “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble”. The reality is that there will be difficult times, but God promises to be our refuge.
This is why at City of Refuge, Four Square church, we try our best to reach out to our community. Our vision is to make an impact for God, here in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, by helping people understand the enriching messages of eternal hope given to us by Jesus Christ through His words and deeds.
Our church is a part of Foursquare Church, Great Britain, and our pastor is Reverend (Mrs) Abi Alabede. Her vision is that our church should be a place of refuge for all. Everyone is welcome, regardless of age, beliefs, or background. We have a variety of groups that engage with the local community in a variety of ways: our Handsworth Children’s Bible club, Evangelism Outreach Team, Soup Kitchen and Charitable Deeds group and a Nursing Home Outreach Group. Within all these groups, our focus is to impact the community positively with love and to tell them about the love of Jesus Christ.
Our church is very keen on reaching out to people: we believe that working in the community should be an important part of our lives as Christians. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ spent most of his time in the community preaching and sharing the love of God. He did not spend his time in the synagogue: He was active in the community and that was how he impacted the world.
The Handsworth Children’s Bible Club is an initiative to reach children beyond the traditional church service. Our focus is to study the Bible and see how the message in the Bible can be applied to the everyday challenges that children have to deal with in their daily lives. We are not ignorant of the negative messages and pressures that children face in schools, on the internet and through social media. Some children are faced with adult decisions at a very young age. The Bible Club is open to children from the ages of 7 to 16 years. Our vision is to let them have a good understanding of how much Jesus loves them. Matthew 16:19 says, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
We hold our Bible Club meetings every second Friday of the month at our church premises from 7pm – 9pm. During this 2-hour session, we teach the children how to pray and share the word of God from the Bible, engage in Bible quizzes, and most importantly learn how to deal with the variety of pressures they face in their daily lives. They are taught to respect societal laws and show the love of Jesus Christ to everyone they come across.
Once a year, we meet up with all the other children from the different Foursquare Churches in the UK for an annual summer camp. The summer camp is a more detailed and intense version of the Bible Club and we also have a lot of fun activities for the children to enjoy. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Amplified Version). If our children are brought up right, we feel that when they grow up they will become more valuable members of society.
“We don’t tell passersby about “Church” but about the love of Jesus and how He died for our sins.”
Our Evangelism Outreach Team serves our community by going out on the street in and around the city centre to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t tell passersby about “Church” but about the love of Jesus and how He died for our sins. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” We encourage people to learn more about God’s love by sharing tracts and praying for the city of Sheffield. We sometimes come across a variety of people who have had negative experiences of the “Church”: we try to share the love of Jesus and let them know that no matter where they think they have got it wrong, the Love of God is there and that Jesus has already paid the price by dying for our sins. Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The evangelism team works closely with our Soup Kitchen team and usually has a session every Saturday to give out food to members of the community that need it most. This weekly drop-in had to pause due to COVID-19 but we still work in partnership with other community groups to provide for the most vulnerable.
Our nursing home outreach program was designed to support the elderly members of our community. Some of them don’t have many opportunities to talk to others and in some cases their families aren’t able to visit them as often as they would like. We visit the nursing home and engage with the residents. Some of them would like to be able to attend church, but have not been able to, so they enjoy the fact that we come to them and sing hymns and gospel songs with them. We pray with some of them and just in some cases listen to them tell us stories about their lives growing up, the places they’ve visited and about their families.
This is our church, the City Of Refuge: we welcome anyone and everyone. We feel that showing the love of Jesus Christ is the way to get people to know him and love him like we do.
If you are interested in being a part of what we do, please visit us at 217 Handsworth Road, S13 9BH. Our services take place every Sunday from 10am (Bible study and Sunday School) and the main service starts at 11am. We look forward to seeing you.
Deji Aloba is the Leader of the Men's Fellowship at Foursquare Church City Of Refuge, Handsworth Road, Sheffield. He is married to Foluke and together they have 3 beautiful children. He works in the education sector and has taught maths in a variety of schools in South Yorkshire for close to 20 years. He is an avid sports fan and a badminton player.