Issue 285

Newsletter

Daily Bible Readings

Mon 26th: Psalm 119:41-48 ; Numbers 33:38-39; James 2:8-13

Tues 27th: Psalm 119:41-48; Exodus 34:29-35; James 2:14-26

Weds 28th: Psalm 119:41-48; Deuteronomy 26:16-27:7 ; Matthew 19:16-22

Thurs 29th:: Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37; Joshua 1:1-11; Romans 2:17-29

Fri 30th: Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37; Joshua 2:1-14; 2 Peter 2:1-3

Sat 31st: Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37; Joshua 2:15-24; Matthew 23:13-28

Birthday wishes are sent to Jo who celebrates her

birthday this week. We hope you enjoy your special day.

Happy Birthday to Jo this week, have a great day on Tuesday 27th. It was with great sadness that we heard Andy Thomas passed away on Sunday 18th October. Andy had been ill for sometime but carried on regardless. We will miss his cheerfulness, positivity and friendship. Our prayers, thoughts and condolences go to his parents Les & Jean, his partner Rita and son and daughter Sean and Heidi. We remember all our church family, especially those who are not feeling particularly well at this time. Jacquie

Let nothing disturb or dismay us, O God, for all things are passing and you alone are unchanging. All things are wrought in patience, O God, and those who possess you lack

nothing. Our sufficiency, O God, is in you alone, now and always. Amen

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)

Jo is on annual leave next week so this notice sheet will serve 2 weeks.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

As the impact of the Coronavirus develops around the world, we’re continuing to do everything we can to keep Compassion-supported children, Compassion staff, volunteers and church partners safe. We’re working hard to minimise disruption to critical operations and ensure the children we serve remain known, loved and protected.

HOW YOUR SPONSORSHIP IS WORKING

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Compassion’s church partners across the globe have been adapting fast. We’ve been making some temporary changes to how your sponsorship donations are used and distributed, ensuring our local church

partners can respond quickly to the specific situations and needs in their local communities. In many of the countries where we work, Compassion is empowering local churches to redeploy sponsorship funds that are ordinarily used for group activities at the local church, so they can meet urgent and critical needs of

families with children and young people registered in the programme. This includes necessities such as food, clean water, shelter, clothing, household items, and even medical care and trauma counselling. Thank you for your patience at this complex time. Please join us in continuing to pray for protection for those affected and wisdom

for those making decisions – governments and health experts around the world - as they look to contain the spread of this virus.

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Psalm 18:2

Terry has composed a number of poems sharing his experiences of what life has been like during lockdown. I thought you might enjoy reading them so I shall publish them over the next few weeks! The first one was written in March soon after restrictions were imposed.

THE GARDEN POEM We’ve really tried to keep the rules and mostly not gone out. Just getting some essentials – one must eat, there is no doubt. We’ve mastered online shopping – we have vans here all the time. The weekly shop, some garden bits, some cartridges (they’re mine). A feeder for the birds we have (the pigeons are a pest), But nutty, seedy, fatty things to satisfy the rest. We thought a Garden Centre visit would be very nice. We bought some plants and other things but still observed advice. We kept our distance from the other customers, that’s true. And stopped and waited ‘cos we knew that was the thing to do. But when we got back home, we realised just how much we’d got. The car was full from floor to roof – I think we’d bought the lot. So, having spent some time unloading, then the fun began. We’d several hours ahead of us to work towards the plan. But after many hours of work with earth as hard as rock, We stood admiring what we’d done; we almost had a shock. What previously was just a mess with weeds and nothing more Was now transformed to something like we’d never had before. We now are seeing colour, we have reds and yellows too. We’ve golds and pinks and whites and greens and blues, to name a few. The Chelsea Flower Show! What’s that? We have the Galley garden. And if you don’t agree with me, well then, I beg your pardon. A wishing well, a wheelbarrow and pots all shapes and sizes. And hanging baskets by the score all full of great surprises. The latest thing to add a touch of class and lots of fun Is our new water feature, driven solely by the sun. We’ve shrubs and climbing plants and also fruit trees, plum and pear. I’d love to tell you names of plants but I don’t really care. As long as they are colourful and bright to catch the eye, I’m not concerned about the names – they all just pass me by. We’ve got a row of roses and a rockery to view And lost three massive trees, so now the sun comes shining through. We have a family of gnomes who’ve had a relocation. They now live round the bird bath with their own illumination And that’s not all (I wish it was, I’m sure I hear you say) ‘Cos we have branched out more this year and spent a lovely day

Just planting veg, although we really didn’t know what to do. We’ve cabbage, sprouts, broad beans and leeks, tomatoes, marrows too. We’ve cucumbers and onions and courgettes – D’you like our style? This garden is the best we’ve had by many a country mile. So if you’re passing, drop right in and come and have a look. We’ll social distance naturally – we’ll do it by the book. Just choose a day with lots of sun and guided tours aren’t dear. As you can sense, we’re really proud of what we’ve done this year. So ‘Thank You’ Boris, Lockdown’s been quite useful. I suppose. So eat your heart out Kew and Chelsea – we’ve got Moreland Close.

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Help!

Hello from the Manse! Do you remember the Beatles song Help? The first verse and chorus when, “I never needed anybody's help in any way, But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured (but now these days are gone) Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors….. I need somebody (Help!) not just anybody (Help!) you know I need someone,,,, Help!!!” I find myself singing that song as I watch the news this week. I can’t really believe what I’m seeing. No matter what side of the political divide you stand on, both sides have behaved like children. I don’t think that was what Jesus meant when he said, “come to me the little children.” In the midst of this, 2.8 million people suffer. I hope and pray we can put party politics aside and do what is best for everyone. Many times, you have heard me say how someone like Jesus or Paul the apostle could be writing for modern day not two thousand years ago. Well it seems as if John Lennon and Paul McCartney could be too. Maybe we should all go and live-in yellow submarine for the rest of 2020. I wonder how many other people share those feelings summed up in the song Help. Jesus found lots of people started the same way as the person in the song. They never needed anybody’s help until one day they did. Famously people knew where to go, Jesus' reputation preceded him everywhere he went. Everyone accepted his help except one man in Matthew 19: 16-22. We know him as the rich young man. He had everything except what he really wanted! He heard Jesus teach and decided that he wanted this “Kingdom of Heaven.” The only problem was to get it, he had to give up everything he owned; a price too high for him. It looks like we may have to give up some of our freedoms to secure what we need the most, for this virus to be gone. Yet in this world of plenty we all deserve the right to be able to live and give the resources we need. I hope this isn’t too high a price to pay. One thing is for sure, the world may be in a messy state but Jesus always builds a kingdom on values that last for eternity that if lived by everyone, everyone can live. My prayer this week is that we follow Jesus in offering all things to everyone in order that those without still get what they require from those who have. Think outside our own situation and look at others also. Not everyone knows of the kingdom of Heaven and at this time we should be a shining beacon of hope, help and love to all who need it.

God Bless

Pete