VES Team End of Week Update | Spotlight on Sarah!
Dear wonderful VES team,
Hope you are well - and thank you again for another excellent week together. It’s been really encouraging to see the continued rhythm across the four mornings, and the way the team continues to carry the growing scale of the school with such warmth, calmness, and generosity.
A particular thank you to those who joined the Orchards training on Monday on understanding sexual exploitation. It was an excellent session - sobering in terms of the darkness many people encounter, but also a reminder of the light communities like ours can bring. I’m looking at how we might incorporate some of this training into one of our future VES team mornings.
Spotlight this week: Sarah Gandy
Yesterday morning was Sarah’s final VES morning before she moves to Japan later this month.
Sarah has been part of the VES story for over nine years - first as a volunteer and most recently as our administrator. Over that time she has embodied the very best of who we are as a community: prayerful, compassionate, kind, welcoming, extremely competent, and simply a fantastic person to serve alongside.
Personally, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Sarah over the past eight months - a period in which the school has seen tremendous growth. I honestly don’t think we would have navigated that challenge and opportunity anywhere near as well without her calm presence, wisdom, love and hard work.
Many times I caught Sarah praying with a student or sharing a New Testament with someone who was open and searching. Those moments capture something really important about VES - not just good classes, but genuine care and invitation for all people. She has quietly helped the whole VES community 'work' - enabling hundreds of people each week to be welcomed, taught, and encouraged.
Sarah - thank you for everything you’ve given to this community. We will miss you greatly and are praying every blessing on your next season in Japan.
いってらっしゃい (Itterasshai) - go well, and we look forward to hearing stories from the adventure ahead. (Apologies - my Japanese is even worse than Dave's).
A couple of people have asked the practical question: how will we replace Sarah? The honest answer is that the school is in such a different place now compared to when she stepped into the role nine months ago... we’re going to “muddle through” until Easter while we discern the best way forward for where we are now as an organisation. In the meantime, if anyone would enjoy giving a little volunteer time helping Front of House on a morning, particularly Tuesdays / Thursdays (welcoming students, helping things flow, light admin etc.), I’d love to hear from you.
VES Dashboard — Week at a Glance
• 19 classes delivered across 4 days (plus 3 creche sessions and 1 youth drop-in)
• 238 student sessions enabled
• 70 volunteer sessions given (our highest ever!)
• Weekly participation number: 347
• +80% increase on this time last year
Behind each of those numbers is a person being welcomed, taught, and encouraged. Thank you for making that possible.
Dates reminder
• Last session of term: Thursday 26 March (Easter Party — all VES team invited!!)
• Two week Easter Holiday: 30 March – 10 April
• Save the Date: our third annual Welcoming Well Conference — Monday 1st June
Thank you again for all you carry and all you give - it really is making a difference in people’s lives week by week.
Have a great weekend, and I’m looking forward to seeing many of you next week.
Much love,
Andy Brims