Posted on December 10th, 2022 by Tim

The end of the road?

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Syzygy is switching off its car ministry.

After 15 years of delivering cars to locations as diverse as Glasgow, Plymouth and London and supporting well over 100 mission partners in their Home Assignments, because of ongoing health problems in the Syzygy team it is becoming harder to keep the ministry going.  We have already notified everyone who already has confirmed bookings with us.

Rather than simply turn off our engines and walk away, we are talking to a number of different organisations with a view to donating our cars and the associated assets to another ministry wishing to continue to serve mission partners through transport.  We are not yet sure of the timescales involved, but we have asked any potential successor agency to honour the reservations that have already been made with us.  If they can’t, we will continue running the ministry ourselves until all the bookings we have already accepted have been serviced.  But we are not taking any further bookings.

It has been our joy and privilege to pioneer a way of running this ministry with a focus on the needs of the mission workers by personally delivering the cars to wherever they are needed, and dealing with breakdown and repairs ourselves wherever possible.  It has always been our approach to take on this extra effort willingly so that our mission partners have one less concern at an already demanding time for them.

We are very grateful to all our partners who have enabled us to keep this ministry going: those who have donated cars or money to help us have cars that mission partners are pleased to drive, prayed for the safety of our cars and drivers, and also to all those who have delivered our cars and managed the ministry – principally Barry & Kathy who are known and loved by many of our overseas mission partners.

All of us here at Syzygy are saddened at the thought of a big hole left by this ministry, and we are praying that someone else will emerge to take it on for the good of the UK missions community.  Please pray with us that this key support function will continue for many years to come.

Posted on February 17th, 2022 by Tim

Buy us a car as a birthday present!

 

We don’t often blog about the Syzygy cars but many mission partners worldwide will know about them.  Our four cars are always busy on the British roads supporting them in their deputation, helping them visit family, friends and supporting churches while on home assignment in the UK

The reason for today’s blog is to launch our appeal to buy a new car to replace one of our older cars, which is still going well but approaching the age when a lot of work is needing to be done on it.  We like to keep our cars in good condition so they don’t break down on our mission partners.

This year, in conjunction with Tim’s 60th birthday on Monday, we’re hoping to raise £1000 from our supporters to get our fundraising for this year off to a good start.  Please give generously at facebook.com/donate/1087591448755163/

You can read more about the Syzygy cars here.

Posted on August 5th, 2019 by Tim

And the winner is…

A month ago we invited our readers to take part in fundraising for a new Syzygy car by means of an innovative competition – giving money to determine whether or not Tim shaves off or keeps his beard.

The competition is now over and the winner is, of course, the dozens of missionary families who will benefit from us being able to buy a more modern car to move them around the country when they’re on their Home Assignment.  The one we have at the moment is greatly loved and has provided excellent service, but it’s harder to get parts for it so we need to get something newer.

The £1,101 our generous supporters have donated for this purpose will go a long way towards us getting something really special to support our mission partners.  Thanks to everyone who has contributed, and if you would like to have donated but missed this window of opportunity, the accounts with Stewardship are still open.

You can read more about the Syzygy car ministry here.  And Tim did indeed shave off his beard.

Posted on July 1st, 2019 by Tim

Syzygy cars fundraiser!

Tim is raising money for Syzygy in a unique way!  He writes:

“I am very much aware that many of my friends absolutely detest my beard and moustache and would love for me to get rid of it.  So now is your chance to see it banished!

Syzygy is in need of a new car and so I thought I’d do a sponsored shave to raise some much needed funds.  All you have to do is donate sufficient money to my campaign and as if by magic a clean-shaven Tim will appear – and guarantee to keep shaving for at least a year!  Just go to https://my.give.net/banishTimsbeard to see the end of the hairiness.

‘But wait!’ I hear some of you cry.  ‘We love your beard!  We don’t want to see it go.’  So if you want me to keep the luxuriant facial hair, you too have an opportunity to donate.  Just go to https://my.give.net/maintainTimsmoustache to preserve the hirsute status quo.”

Whichever fund has more money in it at 6pm (UK time) on 31st July 2019 will be declared the winner and the result will be announced the following morning.  Whichever your preference, the more you donate to Syzygy, the bigger the chance of seeing your preferred version of Tim!

 

Posted on November 30th, 2015 by Tim

A new car for Syzygy

20151128_122535We’re delighted to announce our latest arrival – a VW Passat estate, ideal for families of up to 5 with lots of luggage, yet comfortable and economical for those long motorway journeys.  It joins our Passat 4-door and the Toyota Previa in providing transport solutions for mission workers on home assignment in the UK.  You can read more about this valuable ministry on its own page.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our friends who donated their cars and gave money to help us get a car which will make returning mission workers who see it first at the airport say “Wow!” and not “Oh no…”