This video
shows the life of our church during 2016-2017
+
This video
shows the life of our church during 2015-2016
This video
shows the life of our church during 2014-2015
This video
shows the life of our church during 2013-2014
Introduction
Joyfully Serving
Christ!
Photo taken December 2018
The International Christian
Fellowship (ICF) is made up of Christians from around the world who worship in
English each week. Our church is located in the traditional fishing port
of Portimão and in walking distance from the well-known holiday resort of
Praia da Rocha, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. Sunday School is
offered for the children.
The church is made up of
Christians from many different denominational backgrounds and countries. We are
"one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3: 28) and everyone is most welcome.
Our worship service is from
11am to 12 noon each Sunday. Our services are friendly and informal with several
different people taking part. We use a blend of music styles from traditional
hymns to contemporary choruses to lift up the name of Jesus. Central to
all our services is the Bible, God's Word, which is read and taught every week.
We hope you will come and join
us, whether you are here just visiting or are moving into the area. We
look forward to meeting you!
Photos taken March 2019
Children's Sunday School
Children's Sunday School
operates on Sunday mornings 11 a.m. during family worship service.
Photos taken December 2018
Church Fellowship Meals
In October each year we
celebrate our church anniversary at a local restaurant in Portimao. Everyone is
welcome to join us.
Photos taken October 2018
Location
Church address is:
Cedipraia Shopping Centre no.
23
Rua N.S do Amparo, 8500
Portimão, Portugal
diagonally opposite the
Piscina Municipal (swimming pool) , Portimão.
The Mineral Wells mission trip
to Portimao in 2006 established strong relationships for David with the city
authorities. The United Beach Mission (UMB) conducts over ninety beach
missions each summer in the UK and other countries in Europe, but never before
in Portugal. David presented the director of UB to the city cultural
director and city sports director who invited them to come to the Praia da Roche
beach -one of the foremost beach destinations in Europe with hundreds of
thousands of visitors each summer.
United Beach Missions in UK
organized the first Portuguese beach mission in June 2012.
This was so successful that it
has now become an annual event each summer, usually taking place the second week
of July.
Our soup kitchen ministry
began in May 2010, feeding about 12 people once a week. After eleven years it
has now grown considerably, due to the generous support of many local volunteers
and sponsors near and far. Since October 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic, we
are now providing take-away meals to about 100 people per week on the following
days and times: Sundays from 1.00-1.30pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays from
6.00-6.30pm
Every year we hold a Christmas
dinner for about 80-100 people, in addition to a hearty meal, each person is
given a Christmas present. In 2018 the gift was a bag of personal toiletries,two
bars of chocolate, a Gospel and a pen which had a Bible verse on it and a
torch/flashlight on the end.
Each Christmas our church
prepares gifts for local Portuguese children from underprivileged families
in our neighbourhood. The gifts are received with great delight at the Flor
Amiga association, which is a local Portuguese charity.
Children at
Pulane Children's Centre in Semonkkong where Jill Kinsey runs a
children's home
Children at
Pulane
John Rhodes
(from ICF) in Lesotho
Bob Grimes
(from ICF) setting off on sponsored bike ride from Sagres in
Portugal to Nordcap in Norway, a distance of 6,000 kilometers!
Bob Grimes at
Nordcap, after cycling 6,000 kilometers to raise 3,500 euros for
the children of Lesotho.
The ICF has
supported mission work in Portugal through the Portuguese
Baptist Convention, in Europe through the International Baptist
Convention (IBC), in Nepal through Missionary Debbie Zaayman,
and in Lesotho, Africa helping Jill Kinsey operate two
Children's Centres for AIDS orphans.
Three
volunteers, John Rhodes, Adrian Dixon and Marina Hardy have
taken several mission triips to Jill Kinsey's homes for orphans
in Semonkong and Pulane in the mountains of Lesotho. Marina's
video of her trip gives a good overview of the work in Pulane.
Marina's
Mission Trip to Aids Orphans in Lesotho, Africa
To
enlarge videos to full screen click the button in bottom
right corner
Membership of the ICF is based
on a simple statement of faith which is agreed by all the members, new converts
being baptised by immersion in accordance with the traditions of the host
church.
David & Joy Borgan served
17 years as career missionaries with the International Mission Board of the
Southern Baptist Convention. David pastored the International Baptist Church in
Vienna, Austria (1987-1991) and served as a general evangelist & church
planter in Spain (1993-2003). David did his undergraduate at Trinity University
and earned two masters' degrees in Theology and Religious Education at S.W.
Baptist Theological Seminary SWBTS. Joy is from Devon, England and a
Cambridge University graduate. She also completed a master's degree in
theology at SWBTS with David. ...more.
In 1991, the ICF was started
and led by Norman Harrell, a missionary with the International Mission Board
(IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention, until he retired in the autumn of
2002. Thanks to the generosity of the IMB, the ICF had not previously had
to provide financial support for a pastor.
With the relatively small core
of resident members, the church will not able to provide full funding for a
pastor without outside financial help.
Iberian Christian
Ministries Trust is a registered charity in the U.K. and eligible for Gift Aid.
For more information
contact:
Ruth Edwards-Mlangwa, 89
College Road, Fishponds, Bristol. BS 16 2HP
Drive STRAIGHT through 4 roundabouts passing under the
N125 overpass and beside the hospital
Drive STRAIGHT through hospital roundabout.
Drive STRAIGHT through the tunnel
Drive STRAIGHT through two traffic lights
Drive under the overpass bridge
The road curves to the left and merges with a four
lane street heading south toward the beach
Drive STRAIGHT through the first roundabout stay on
the dual carriageway
Turn LEFT at the second roundabout by Continente
shopping center on your left and passing McDonalds on your right.
Drive STRAIGHT through the first roundabout
Turn RIGHT at the first traffic light (past the
Auditorio and across the street from the Policia station on your left)
Drive STRAIGHT along Ave. 25 de Abril for three or
four streets.
Turn RIGHT where you see the bank Caixa
Geral de Depositos on the corner.
When you turn right onto Rua N.S.do Amparo, you will
see our building on the left. It is a tall blue and white apartment building
with an old shopping centre below.
The entrance is a glass doorway on the north side of
the Cedipraia Shopping Centre between the two cafes . (See Photo
below)
The entrance door is easy to spot to the right of a
staircase and behind several modern stainless steel recycle collection bins on
the street.
There is plenty of free parking on the street and in
the open car park to the right of the cafe.
If you get lost,
ask directions to the Piscina Municipal. Local people know where
this indoor swimming pool is located. Because the pool is indoors you don't
actually see a swimming pool. Directly across the street from the indoor pool is
the bank Caixa Geral de Depositos and our church is in the shopping
centre across the intersection from the Piscina Municipal..
Entrance: Our
church is through this door and is the first door on your left .
By foot from hotels in
Praia da Rocha
Walk north away from the beach to the dual carriageway
at the bottom of the hill behind Praia da Rocha hotels -see map above.
Walk to the overpass which crosses over the dual
carriageway-see map above.
Cross the four- lane street using the pedestrian
crossing on ground level underneath the overpass bridge.
Walk uphill past the Patio da Rocha hotel on
your right. Keep walking straight uphill untill you come to the first
roundabout (turning circle)
Turn RIGHT at the first roundabout. Walk
straight up the hill and then downhill to the second roundabout.
Turn LEFT at the second roundabout. Notice the
broken chain'statue in the second roundabout in memory of the Portuguese
Independance day which is 25 April. You're now on Avenida 25 de Abril
where our church is located.
Walk north past a school and continue straight
along Av. 25 de Abril on left side of the street until you see the bank Caixa
Geral de Depositos across a side street on the corner in front of
you.
Do not cross the side street to the bank.
You are already standing on the block where our church is in the shopping
centre.
Look at the shopping complex. Notice the flight
of outdoor steps, Then looking further right, underneath the steps on the
ground level is the door to our church (see photo of entrance)
The church is inside the North entrance under the
steps (see photo below) and is the first building down the
corridor on your left
If you get lost,
ask directions to the Piscina Municipal. Local people know where
this indoor swimming pool is located. Because the pool is indoors you don't
actually see a swimming pool. Directly across the street from the indoor pool is
the bank Caixa Geral de Depositos and our church is in the shopping
centre across the street from the bank.
By bus or taxi from
Praia da Rocha hotels
Inquire at your hotel for the
GREEN LINE BUS schedule, fares, and the location of the
nearest bus stop in the direction of the Portimão city centre. Or have
your hotel call for a taxi (average fare is only � 4).
Explain to the driver you would like to exit at
Piscina Municipal (indoor city swimming pool). Our church is
directly across the intersection from the Piscina Municipal and across the
street from the bank Caixa Geral de Depositos on the corner.
The bus will let you off across the street from our
church by the Kiosco Kalunga newstand.
Look for the bank Caixa Geral de Depositos
across the street on the corner.
The church is across the side street from the bank
Caixa Geral de Depositos inside the shopping centre.
Look at the shopping complex. Notice the flight
of outdoor steps, Then looking further right, underneath the steps on the
ground level is the door to our church (see photo of entrance)
The church is a inside the North entrance under the
shopping (see photo below) and is the first store down the
corredor on your left