As you may or may not know, Oaklands Church has been heavily involved in taking the Gospel down the valley and into the city of Swansea. Indeed, for four years prior to the Covid pandemic, we organised and ran a multi-day summer outreach called "Shine" at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket ground, reaching thousands of people. The aim of this event was also to bring together churches within the city itself and begin to establish a stronghold for the power of God to move outward start to change the spiritual landscape of the city.

Over the last two years, we have obviously been very limited in what we can do in terms of physically meeting together, or putting on mission events, but God will not be limited and we know he uses all situations for good. In the pandemic period we have seen greater unity amongst the churches and leaders that are involved in Shine and we are excited that our new, regular prayer and worship evenings (under the name "Return") have been times of great fellowship and we have known the presence of God in a strong and powerful way!

And so we look to the coming year. We know that there are still challenges ahead, but our God is powerful and can overcome anything! Our "Return" events will continue on a (relatively) bi-monthly basis. These are gatherings of several churches, united and with one heart, to pray for the nation of Wales, the UK and beyond. We have already planned the events for the following dates (venues may be subject to change, see the Shine Facebook page for latest updates):

2nd April 2022 at 7pm (rescheduled from March)
Bible College of Wales (Conference Hall), SA2 8EB

28th May 2022 at 7pm
Brunswick Christian Centre, SA1 4BE

24th September 2022 at 7pm
Brunswick Christian Centre, SA1 4BE

26th November 2022 at 7pm
Brunswick Christian Centre, SA1 4BE

Also, over the next few years we feel God is leading us into several key areas around the nation. We will be looking to hold events in these areas, which include family fun days, bible teaching, live worship and preaching of the gospel. Below are some of the upcoming events that we have planned:

Shine Mission: Gower 2022
Details are still being confirmed but we are looking to hold a Shine event in the Gower area 2022. Further information coming soon.

Shine Mission: Okehampton 2022
We have a Shine event taking place in Okehampton, West Devon between the 2nd-4th September 2022. Further information coming soon.

Shine Missions: 2023/24
Though we have not confirmed dates or venues we are already in preparation for several other missions in and around Wales. These will be looking to go ahead in 2023-2024 and include:

• Clydach, Swansea
• Bridgend
• Gorseionon, Swansea
• Brynamman, Powys