- CHASE Coffee morning 2010
- Holiday at Home 2010
- Guildford Craft Fesitival 2010 Stall
- Shoe Boxes 2009
- THE CHANNEL SWIM - update October 2009
- Preparation for the attempt to Swim the Channel
- Some thoughts from Kenya
- South Africa - A Taste of
Mission
- Update Jan 04
- Update Feb 04 - Everything Shipshape at holiday club
- Chess club up to speed for season
- Guildford Churches' visit to our twin-town Freiburg, Germany in June 2003
Coffee Morning 2010 - results
In July the Guild held a coffee morning in an Onslow Village garden. Members and friends enjoyed fellowship on a lovely sunny morning and collected £ 131.90 for the St Christopher's Hospice, (CHASE).
Senior Citizens and the Retired enjoy a 'Holiday at Home' at GURC
This is the fourth year that our church has organised a 'Holiday at Home' event, the original idea coming from one of our long serving members.
This year on Wednesday, August 4th and Thursday, August 5th, we invited those who might feel lonely at this time of year to two days of varied activities. Morning coffee, lunch and tea at the close were also provided.
Activities included Chairobics, Arts & Crafts (including card making - see completed articles above!), Poetry Readings, Singalong (see above), Board Games and Quizzes. There was a selection of talks - on 'Mexico', 'Jesus', 'Palestine & Israel Today', 'Working with Ministers in Whitehall', 'More Trumpets & Clarinets' and 'ABC of Fashion Accessories'. A rest area with Newspapers & Magazines was available for 'chilling out' as required!
All those attending seemed to enjoy themselves and are looking forward to next summer!
GUILDFORD CRAFT FESTIVAL STALL 2010
Thank you everyone who brought goods for us to sell on the church stall in the Craft Festival on July 3rd. As you know all proceeds went to the Woking Hospice and we had a wonderful and varied array of goods to sell. We made a total profit of £192.50p and also managed to distribute some leaflets promoting the Holiday from Home event, church information and hospice leaflets. It was a very happy day. The weather was hot and sunny and we were entertained by street performers which made the time just fly by! Many thanks to those who manned the stall and/or helped to price and pack the goods.
Shoe boxes 2009
You may remember that in past years we have offered the use of the Primary Room as a collecting and sorting point for Christmas Shoeboxes that are given to children who would otherwise not receive any Christmas gifts. Below is the story of Diana, who grew up in Romania, and has now moved to the UK.
Hi everyone. My name is Diana. I am from Romania and I thought I would share my story with you, and my own experience, when I first received a shoebox. There are now words to describe the joy that burst in my heart when I first opened the shoe box. As the story says, 'I received things that I have never had before.' I come from a family with seven children and my parents couldn't afford more than the minimum that I needed for school, like one pair of shoes for the whole year, clothes that during the year became like rags and a few notebooks and pens. I was just so happy to have colouring books, colouring pens, water colours, stickers, a tooth brush and tooth paste, hair brush, hair clips, new scarf and gloves (pink...made me feel so pretty wearing them, when so many of my clothes looked like rags), and a teddy bear that I called Martin. My little heart -I was 7 at that time - felt so happy and blessed.
As I grew up, I was always longing for Christmas, hoping and longing for my present to come. Every year there was something special in the shoe box that made every Christmas unique. I received the last shoe box when I was 19.. a bit too old I know, but the truth is I really valued everything in it, and if there was something that didn't suit me, I just passed it to one of my younger sisters.
The two following years my whole family and I got involved in delivering them. My father is a pastor and a church planter. And within the churches, we got involved in setting up playgroups for children; we provided extra school coaching as what they get in school is not enough, helped them with homework as the parents are sometimes illiterate. But the main purpose of the playgroups was to teach the children the gospel in a way that they can understand and then to meet other needs that they had like education and material needs. Your generosity made this possible.
My friends were in other places like hospitals, orphanages, rural schools or poor churches to deliver the presents that got to Romania and Iasi, the city from where I come, through your generosity. Christmas is an immense opportunity to give and also to make Jesus known. We gave our time to tell other little children about Jesus and through your big hearts and generosity we could brighten up some children's Christmas. It could be the only present that they received and one they would never forget. It happened to me lots of times. I knew I could not expect anything from my parents, apart from food on the table .....presents for seven children would have been too much for them to find. I was lucky: I got the shoe boxes and they were more than I have ever wished.
Now, here I am, relocated in England, writing to you about my experiences, feeling blessed that there are people like you, keen to make shoeboxes for needy children like I use to be! They make such a difference! They made such a difference in my life. I feel so excited about the extravagant thought that when I was a little girl one of my presents might have been made by someone in your church, you never know.
May God give his blessing upon every single person in your church. I can assure you about the happiness and the joy that your shoe boxes will give, wherever they end up.
A big thank you is coming from Diana, the little girl who used to receive shoe-boxes and another one is coming from all the little hearts that were warmed with your presents through the years. For those of you who are curious .. I have still got Martin my teddy bear. I suppose he is old now - perhaps 15 years old (although he doesn't look like that) and I am a grown up girl, acting like a link between the givers and the receivers, and an "in flash" testimony of someone who has been grateful all these years that people like you exist and a channel of joy to bring back to you a response for all the generosity, time and, above all, love that you put in the boxes which people that I know by name receive.
May God bless you!
With all my love and a thankful heart, Diana!
THE CHANNEL SWIM - update October 2009
Last year you kindly supported my daughter in law Emma who was trying to swim the channel which she sadly failed. So I thought you may like to hear the update as to what has happened since.
During the past year she has again been training to try again and in fact has completed a channel relay swim. Apparently in the “sport” of swimming the channel they say is 80% mental and 20% physical but Emma felt that perhaps in her case it was more like 95% mental and in view of the physical element you can all understand the mental battle she has had.
She felt as she had failed before she could not face the additional pressure of telling people that she was trying again so she told no one.
At about 4am on Sunday 27 September she headed out of the marina for Shakespear beach the start point. (her words now slightly précised)
I was slightly nervous and tense feeling I’d already completed a six hour swim. I was starting this swim with all the demons of the past including being swept down channel on my first swim and being very sick and even ill during training. So I decided to start as though I was going on a long training swim.
Once we arrived at the beach I jumped into the water and swam to the beach and at precisely 4.25am the horn on the boat sounded and I walked back into the sea and set off on my "training swim".
I deliberately started out quite hard as it is difficult to pick up speed later. I got some cramp in the legs to start with but that eased off and I started to enjoy myself. I decided to take feed every hour rather than each half hour which meant that I could make better progress.
I had in mind reaching the first shipping lane in four hours and at the four hour feed I was amazed to find that I had entered the shipping lane some two minutes earlier. I had got further in half the time than I did last time and thus the next few hours went by very fast. I then heard my training buddy had just completed her swim in some twenty hours which gave me another boost especially when on their return they came alongside and cheered me on for a short time.
There were two relay teams also close by which gave me further impetus and I was amazed to find that I was almost across the first shipping lane in just over seven hours. There is a separation zone of about a nautical mile between the two lanes and looking up I could see ships progressing NE.
At 8 hours I was in the second shipping lane and had already swum further than ever before without breaking my stoke and more importantly I was not feeling sick but I was starting to be told by my body that it was doing something quite significant!
At about eleven hours my energy levels both physical and motivational were starting to drop and we moved to half hourly feeds which helped but things were becoming very tough .
It seemed to take forever to get out of the second shipping lane but after this there is still a long way to the shore. The sun went down and it started getting cold again but luckily one of the relay teams was still in sight and this helped me to hang in there.
Slowly but surely Cap Gris Nez was coming closer. I started to worry that we would miss it as the tide swept us away. The second relay team finished and came back alongside to cheer me on what a great boost just at the right time. Eventually after what seemed for ever I heard the words only 300mters to go and this is your last feed – I declined it.
My landing was just round the corner from Cap Gris Nez on boulders I could see the water getting shallower and had to clamber over rocks. Suddenly the water was deeper again so there I was trying to get out of the water without a ladder after seventeen hours swimming. NOT EASY but I finally achieved it cutting my legs in the process –I didn't care it was over!!
17hours and 37 minutes of constant swimming I had become a channel swimmer.
Just one more thing left – to swim back to the boat to take me home.
Thank you for supporting me last year.
Emma France
Preparation for the attempt to Swim the Channel
I suppose first there is a need to describe what I am trying to achieve which is to swim the Channel. The shortest distance is 21 miles (1,408 lengths of the Spectrum main pool) but the actual distance swum may be far greater due to the effects of the tides. The temperature of the water will be in the region of 16-18C. In addition to this there is the need to cross two shipping lanes which are the busiest in the world and other risks include jellyfish, hypothermia and general debris.
I was part of a relay team in 2005 which did complete the crossing and this gave me the encouragement to try it solo.
How do you start to prepare for such a challenge and having read books and articles it became obvious that everyone prepares differently.
Training started in earnest in January with training in indoor pools until the open water season started. I needed to swim six days a week sometimes twice a day and often started at a very early hour in the morning.
In May the training moved to the sea or occasionally a lake. Water temperature at this time of year was only 10C so time in the water was limited to 1 hour.
In June I spent a weekend in Malta swimming in the Mediterranean where obviously the water was warmer. After this it was every weekend swimming in Dover harbour up to 7 hours at a time with a maximum over a weekend of 12hours.
Overall I believe that I have actually swum in the region of 350 miles in training. Despite the huge physical challenge they say the swim is 80% mental and 20% the rest so I must admit I have been reading a lot to prepare mentally for the challenge.
So what was it like - Channel Solo Attempt - 4th August 2007
As you may already know, my solo attempt wasn't successful. After 8 hours I aborted the attempt as I wasn’t making sufficient progress. However, it was quite an experience and here is my account.
Once we got ourselves and all the kit (there is a lot) onto the boat we had a short trip to Samphire Hoe which was to be the start point. It seemed strange putting on suntan lotion in the moonlight, but would be the only opportunity to do so.
The pilot took the boat close to the shore and I jumped into the very dark and cold looking water, wearing only a swimming costume, hat, goggles, ear plugs and lightsticks (so that I could be seen by the boat). The water was actually just over 17C which although very cold, it was as warm as I had been in all summer. I swam the short trip to the shore and cleared the water ready to start the crossing. Once I'd started, the nerves disappeared quickly and I entered a very calm zone. I remember thinking 'Oh my goodness, how cool is this, I am swimming the channel!' It was quite a buzz.
Apart from a couple of small lights on the boat, and a few light sticks hanging from the lower and upper decks the boat was in total darkness. I couldn't see any of the crew or my team, so it was a bit lonely out there.
The water felt quite rough, but it was nothing that I hadn't experienced in training. What I hadn't experienced before was only feeling the waves without the ability to see what was happening. My only visual was the boat - and it did look like it was being thrown around quite a lot. I figured it was probably better in the water, and could imagine people and boxes being thrown around all over the place.
I started the swim with a 'not quite recovered' shoulder injury. I had calculated that I had approximately 14 hours of pain relief by alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen. As I was expecting to be in the water longer than this, I decided not to dose up before the swim but to wait and see, and only take pain relief if and when I needed it. However, at the first feed I quickly discovered a flaw in this plan, the boat was all over the place and when the sports bottle was thrown over the side it took 4 or 5 attempts to get it. There was absolutely no chance that in the dark and with the waves, that I would be able to get hold of any pain relief. So I accepted that I would need to wait until dawn and calmer water before asking for anything.
The signal for a feed was one of the crew waving two lightsticks and it was a very welcome sight. I couldn't hear much of what was being said, and it took quite a while to get the feed down, but then I was off again. This pattern repeated for 3 hours after which the feeds moved to every half hour.
During the dark hours I saw a few ferries, some lit up like a Christmas tree, and one came remarkably close!
Slowly but surely the water got calmer and after about 3.5 hours I noticed the colour of the horizon change from black to blue, gradually getting paler before a hint of orange crept in. Then in a matter of minutes sunrise was upon us, it was almost as if someone switched the lights on!! The world became a very different place. I knew it wouldn't be long before I felt the warmth of the sun on my back.
But with dawn came the news that we weren't progressing much, going up and down the channel with the tide, but not progressing forwards very much. I needed to up the pace and make the feeds quicker. With the help of pain killers I tried my hardest and felt like I was getting faster. At 3.5 hours solid foods were given as well as carbohydrate drink (Maxim) with banana being the first bit of food on offer. At 4.5 hours it was a chocolate mini roll, which is normally my favourite, but I was starting to feel a little queasy so only had one bite. Because of the need to keep the feeds short, I didn't drink all the Maxim, but on the basis that I had more fluid, more often than during training, I wasn't concerned.
At 5.5 hours the feed is meant to be anything but Maxim to give the chance to clear your system out. What I didn't realise was that Maxim was added to my tea. However my body took the 'clear out' instruction quite literally and I was violently sick! But what could I do but put my head down and carry on swimming? So I did just that, still feeling nauseous. What I hadn't realised that the time it took for me to stop and be sick meant that all the distance that had been covered in the preceding 30 minute segment had been lost.
I remember noticing the shipping lane not long after this and had a quick buzz of excitement. However, it didn’t seem to get any close and it became clear I wasn’t making sufficient progress. When I came in for the 7.5 hour feed I said 'I'm not making progress am I?' 'No you're not' was the reply. If we carried on at this rate of progress it could take 40 hours. Whilst this would be a clear record for the slowest crossing I knew I would never achieve it and knew that all was lost. I was given the choice to give up or carry on. What a choice to be faced with. It was a battle between logic and emotion. Logic said to stop, but emotions meant I couldn't bring myself to get back on the boat, it felt wrong, so I said 'one more feed'. During this last half hour I said goodbye to the dream. I never thought that I would get out of the water unless I either a) finished, b) was pulled out due to hypothermia or c) had to quit due to shoulder injury. None of these were the case and I got out knowing I could have carried on for much longer, but to do so would be futile. On a positive note I did get to the first shipping lane in that last swim, so at least a recognisable milestone.
On the boat my team were fantastic and talked about all the positives, but I have an overwhelming sense of failure and disappointment. I wanted to do this for so many reasons and in tribute to so many people who have helped me along the way. To these people, I am sorry, I gave it my best shot, but it was not to be on this occasion.
So what's next?
Million dollar question - will I try again? Well after much soul searching and a good chat with the 'Channel General' I have a plan of attack:
2 months off training to allow my shoulder to heal
Speed work over the winter
Attempt Lake Windermere in 2008
Attempt the Channel again in 2009
Thank you all for your support, just over £4,600 has gone to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, our efforts have been recognised by the campaign at their annual conference. The sponsorship and messages received from my supporters has been absolutely inspirational. I’m not sure I would have even started without some of the support that I had. Thank you.
Emma FranceSome thoughts from Kenya
Our wonderful wildlife Safari in Tanzania had ended. While the rest of the party flew from Nairobi to England that night, I had another ten days staying with my African friends, the Kivutis whom I have known since 1984. Emily, their daughter, met me and took me to her home in Nairobi for a couple of nights.
Then I went with her father in a minibus to their home beyond Embu, about ninety miles which took four hours.
On the Sunday, Dinah told me we were going by car to a small town where there was a Mothers’ Union rally. it had already started when we got there. The church was full with a lot of people standing at the back and outside the open windows. Not to be defeated, Dinah made her way to the vestry and soon a man had brought two chairs from there and we were seated behind the pulpit with a view of the speakers only, various women spoke but as they spoke in Kiembu, I did not understand a word.
Then we were summoned to speak and she explained who I was. when they heard I was eighty-six, everyone clapped. I gave them greetings from our church. Dinah then asked me to talk about the elderly in England and how we go on doing new things even if we are very old. (I knew that in Kenya, where life expectancy is in the sixties, many people over seventy think their family should look after them) While Dinah translated each sentence, it gave me time to gather my thoughts.
Later, a number of women spoke clearly and with such dignity and I could tell from their expression that they were speaking from the heart.
Just as we were leaving one of the Clergy thanked me in English and asked me to take greetings from the Anglican Church at Gichiche to our church.
Dinah got me home safely on a. very bad road in their car which would have failed most items in our M.O.T
South Africa - A Taste of Mission
topIn the run up to my 'holiday' I experienced both enormous excitement and, in the few days before departure, what could be best described as fear and apprehension. Meeting the other members of the group at Heathrow I soon realised that I was not alone in these emotions, which was very reassuring.
Throughout our trip, those who had organised it had the needs of the community foremost in their minds, and so it was that the taxis (or Combis as they are called) which met us at Durban Airport, were run by members of the churches we were working with - arranged so that we could guarantee them an income.
We were taken to Tre Fontaine, a guest house run in association with a convent. There was a sense of peace and calm here and we were made so welcome by the nuns who ran the guest house. The evening we spent at Tre Fontaine was another good opportunity to get to know others in the group as we enjoyed the beautiful garden – complete with Papaya trees and Jacaranda trees in full bloom. In the evening we enjoyed a traditional Braai – a Barbecue, and were joined by Pastor Frank who was going to be co-ordinating our activities for the next few days. He tried to give us an insight into some of the things that we would be doing, and our living conditions, but his sense of humour (especially regarding cockroaches and rats) meant that we were never quite sure that he was painting a true picture! It was at this point that we were introduced to the 'click' in the Zulu language, which very few of us could master, as he taught us a very simple Zulu worship song.
The next morning we were introduced to'African time1 – which I initially found very frustrating. It is quite acceptable to agree to be somewhere at say 10am, and then not turn up until 11 or 11.30! (On returning to England however, a little bit of 'African time' each morning would be fantastic!) Our taxis did turn up, and took us to Luganda, where we would spend the first part of our trip.
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Before I left the UK,
I could not find Luganda on any map, and one or two people asked
me if I meant Uganda! I immediately saw why it was not on a map.
Words are hardly sufficient to describe it. It was a very hilly
area, and there was one tarmac road running through the township.
On the hillsides either side of the road and on the hill in front
of the road there were little houses. A bit like a caravan site
with caravans dotted everywhere, except these were not for
families to enjoy 2 weeks holiday – these were for families
to live in, 365 days of the year. Looking back, I realise that
our first impressions probably did not take in the extreme
poverty that existed in many of these homes. I think we were
probably in one of the 'better' townships as nearly all
of the houses here had been built by the government. Driving
through the outskirts of Durban on other days we saw areas of
absolute poverty and deprivation, with homes made of cardboard
and corrugated tin.
As we drove into the school, our base for the next few days, the minibuses were surrounded by school children – so much so that it was hard to get out and through the crowd. It was an incredible welcoming for us, as some of them gingerly put out their hands to touch ours, and others raced to the back of the minibus to help carry out our luggage. We had been asked to re-pack our luggage in small bags for these days as there would not be a lot of space in the homes we were staying in. Reluctantly the children were shepherded back to their classes as we were welcomed by Pastor Frank to Luganda.
Once the children were settled in their classes we were given a guided tour of the school. There was one building which was what we would call a 'proper building' which housed the top class. All together there were about 600 pupils in the school in about 7 classes. One of the buildings used for the school was an old metal building, intended for animals. The middle of the room was used for the youngest children. Four areas around the edge were sectioned off to make classes for slightly older children. In one of the classes we saw, there were normally about 75 children, although on that day several were off sick. At each desk intended for 2 children there were 4 or 5 children squeezed onto the bench. To fill up the gaps where there were no desks, children sat on chairs wherever there was space. The teacher commented that it was very difficult to teach the class as she could not physically get to the back of the classroom. If they needed to get out, the children had developed an ability to 'swim' under the desks and chairs and resurface by the door!
Each class was really pleased to see us, and they all performed something for us – usually a song, or something that they all chanted together in perfect time. We only had to bring out a camera for the whole class to erupt into chaos as they all wanted to be in our photographs. The tour over, we were introduced to our host families, who took us home for lunch. I don’t think any of us actually carried our own bags – our hosts insisted on carrying everything for us.
My home for the next few days was a two-roomed house, with a small window in each room. The dividing wall did not reach the corrugated tin roof, which was held down with bricks. My host (Makhosi - which means elephant) was overjoyed at having someone to stay. I had only just taken off my coat when she said to me, 'We must pray – please will you pray for us?' That was something which we did morning and night, and just as I was leaving on the last day. Initially I was a little taken aback by this request, hardly knowing her or her situation. Those times of prayer made me even more acutely aware of the enormous amount she had to give – not in material terms, but in love and faith.
Of the two rooms, one was a bedroom which consisted of a double bed for her and her son (Sibusiso (Sibu for short) - which means Blessing) and a single bed which she had borrowed for me. The beds were at right angles to each other with no room to walk in between them. Mine had been placed on bricks, and the fact that the mattress was larger than the base on which it rested meant that extreme care had to be taken when sitting near the edge. Surprisingly, on the chest of drawers there was a television! This had been given to her by her sister who lived some distance away in order to help her son, who was 13, but unable to read or write. He attended a special school nearer to Durban.
In the kitchen there were two electric cooking rings, a work surface with cupboards underneath and a fridge. I think the fridge may have been a standard Government issue, as several of the other houses I visited had identical fridges. As Makhosi pointed it out to me she said, 'This is my fridge – I might get something to put in it now you are here'. It took me a moment to realise that in this house there was not a single chair or table. My first meal consisted of a glass of orange squash and some biscuits – similar to Rich Tea biscuits, because this was all she had in her house.
However, during the afternoon Makhosi went shopping, and from then on produced the most enormous meals for me both in the evening and for breakfast. Our hosts had been given some money to pay for the food we would eat. Most of my evening meals were chicken (and on one occasion lamb) in a spicy sauce with either stifpap or mealie miellie – a bit like semolina of varying consistencies but made from maize. Several times she remarked that she and Sibu would not eat like that had I not been there. In order to wash I was given a bowl of warm water on the floor of the kitchen which I could use whilst she and Sibu shut themselves in the bedroom. The water was stored in large plastic barrels in the kitchen, obtained from a nearby tap using an old wheelbarrow to transport it to the house.
When we returned to the school in the afternoon we were not allowed to walk alone around the township for safety reasons, and so our hosts accompanied us the short way up the hill.
When we prayed together as a group, it was difficult to know where to start. I wonder if I could ask you to hold Makhosi and Sibu, and the families which we met in Luganda in your prayers?
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South Africa – A Taste of Mission (Part
2)
The money which we had taken with us was used for various purposes within Luganda, the township where we were staying, – the first of which was to buy some food which we took with us as we visited the sick. We were divided into groups of about 8 and each went with a couple of members of the congregation around the township to visit families where there was known to be particular need. The homes I visited were dark and damp, and to see people who were ill, wrapped up in coats, hats and blankets, sitting on the floor almost brought tears to our eyes. As we unpacked the bags of food we had brought and placed bread, maize, oil and sugar in front of them, we saw their disbelief and then amazement as they realised that the food really was for them. It was a very precious moment – incredible as we could see that we had been part of the answer to some of their prayers.
We prayed with the families, and again this was very moving as Amos, the elder from the church, translated our prayers into Zulu. Even in the darkness of the room, we could sense the hope that we had brought to these families and it was a privilege to have been there and shared with them. These visits really opened our eyes to the conditions in which some of the families were living, and the faith that they held on to, even in the most appalling living conditions. It was a privilege for us to share in those moments, but I think it was even more of an honour for those families to have welcomed us into their homes – an experience which will stay with all of us. The first full day that we were at Luganda was too drizzly to be able to do any building work, so some of us spent time in the school with the reception class. It was then that I realised just how poorly equipped the school was, so I would like to thank everyone who gave me pencils, crayons, notebooks and pencil sharpeners. When we arrived the children were drawing on the back of chairs as there was simply not a scrap of paper in the room.
School starts at 7.30 in
the morning, so by 10am the children were ready for a break. Some
had brought sandwiches to eat at this time, and even at that
young age they were ready and willing to share with children who
had nothing. At 11am a large plastic bucket of what appeared to
be a hot pulse-based meal arrived for the children from the
kitchens. As far as I could ascertain, Esther Ministries, with
whom we were working, assist in funding this meal for the
children. For many it is likely to be the only proper meal that
they have each day. Esther Ministries has also helped to arrange
sponsorship for about 240 children to provide school fees,
uniforms, basic necessities, love and prayer, as well as the
building of two classrooms and a kitchen for the school.
In the afternoon Pastor Frank took us to the site where an orphanage is to be built. Due to the increasing death rate from HIV and AIDS related illnesses there are thousands of children being orphaned – the area where we were staying, Kwazulu Natal, probably has the world’s highest percentage of HIV positive people, estimated at over 50% of the population. It was incredible to see his enthusiasm for this project, which will see 12 cottages, each housing about 8 children and a 'mother'. The land has been identified, and it is hoped to start building next year. It was just natural to start singing and praying as we stood on the land that had been identified for this project.
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I was in the first group to arrive at the site of the orphanage,
and as it was still drizzly, Amos took us to the home of one of
the church members, Isabel, for shelter. She made us so welcome
and then, just as we were leaving looked as though she was about
to cry, as she said, 'God has blessed this house today. I
never thought I would see the day when a white person came into
my house. I must write this in my diary'. After that we were
all silenced as we realised just how much our visit and
integration into the community must mean to them.
Another project that has been assisted by Esther Ministries helps some of the ladies earn an income by making and selling their beadwork and sewing. As we pored over their handiwork, deciding what to buy, we could almost sense the excitement – that some money would be coming into their 'business' that day.
The weather improved after the first day, and we were able to go to Intake, a township just across the river where we built an extension onto the church to house a Sunday School. The foundations and cement floor had been laid, and over the next three days we managed to build the walls to roof height. Some of the money which we had taken with us went towards purchasing the bricks and cement. We probably contributed very little to the process of building the extension, as several of the 'locals' who were with us knew a lot more than most of us about building! What struck me was that more than just providing the materials, we had been there and had encouraged them. I think one of the images that will stick in my mind is the face of Daniel, one of our hosts, as he sat on top of the roughly erected scaffolding, a breeze block in his hand. His smile was contagious and his whole face just exuded happiness.
Despite such poverty and ill health around us, everyone we came into contact with was just so happy. At lunch time, some ladies from the church had made us a hot meal, and after we had eaten it they spontaneously burst into worship songs and dance. Again, even though their joints were not nearly as supple as they once had been, their joy made us all get up and dance and clap and sing with them. Beneath that joy though, there was an underlying fear in the township. None of our host families would leave their homes unattended in the evenings in case thieves or 'bad men' came.
There are still many traditions held by the Zulu people, which Pastor Frank is trying to gradually adapt to today’s world. One is that in order to marry, the woman’s family must have 11 cows to give away. This is just impossible in the area we were staying in, which means that there are very few marriages. It is also quite acceptable for men to have a relationship with several women simultaneously. Of all the host families that we were staying with I think in only about three homes was there a father resident.
We were aware that several people known to the church died while we were in Luganda. Because of the very high death rate in South Africa, all funerals must take place on Saturdays, to minimise the disruption to the workforce. Each evening between the death and the funeral friends and family gather in the house of the person who has passed away. One of the ladies who had died was, I understand, very involved in the church. On two evenings Makhosi took me to her house. At the door we were asked to take our shoes off, and went into one of the rooms of the house. The room was devoid of all furniture. Whether this was part of the preparation for the funeral or whether there was only minimal furniture I do not know. There was a candle burning in a corner of the room with an item of the lady’s clothing nearby. The room was full of people – the men in one corner, and the women (who far outnumbered the men) filling the rest of the room. People came to join in throughout the evening, but no one left until the end. As 'white' visitors we were all given a chair around the edge of the room to sit on while the family and friends huddled more and more closely on the floor. I felt very uncomfortable being given such a seat, but again it showed their gratitude to us for becoming involved in the life of their community while we were there.
The evening started around 7pm, and ended some time after 9pm. This was not a time of mourning, but a time of celebration for the life of the lady. There was plenty of loud, joyous African singing, interspersed with times of prayer, Bible readings and reflections on the readings. Despite almost the entire evening being conducted in the Zulu language it was a touching experience, especially when we realised what an impact our participation had on the people there.
On the Friday evening the worship in the home carries on throughout the night. Early on the Saturday morning the friends will return to their homes to wash and change and prepare for the funeral. While this is a very significant part of the Zulu tradition, it is becoming a huge burden – in particular for Pastor Frank who was there nearly every evening. As he explained, it is a tradition which may soon become difficult to keep up due to the very high death rate.
topWe also learnt about Zulu traditions and beliefs from the families we were working with. One day, when at the building site, a 13 year old girl called Preciousness came to see what we were doing. One member of our group (Sharon) started talking to her, and asked why she was not at school. Preciousness replied that she used to go but had to stop, because she had fits which had got very bad. Her family were scared that she might be hit by a car on the way to and from school. She asked Sharon if she knew what fits were, (which Sharon did) and why she experienced them. Preciousness told Sharon that it was her ancestors who made her sick. She said that they were at both sides of her and they never left her. She explained that they were angry at her father and punished her to get at him. If he sacrificed some goats they might forgive him but she said they may not forgive and goats were too expensive to buy.
Many of the children we met had small, symmetrical scars on their faces. These are often made when the child is born, and the pattern that is used is indicative of the Zulu tribe to which the family belongs.
We were asked to lead the 'Sunday School' which actually takes place on a Thursday afternoon. It is held in the largest building of the school and about 250 children attend. We were able to teach them 'My God is so big' and 'Give me oil in my lamp', and gave them a memory verse – John 14 v6, as well as praying with them and sharing the good news of Jesus’ love for each one of us.
The experience of staying in the township is impossible to convey in either words or photographs. I experienced generosity which I doubt I would ever be able to replicate as Makhosi shared everything she had with me. I had to put my trust entirely in someone else. I felt uncomfortable at times that we were so revered and such special visitors. Most of all, to give Makhosi a 'Welcome to Guildford URC' leaflet and greetings from our congregation was possibly one of the things she treasured most.
It was very sad to leave the township – in the space of a few days we had made such deep friendships by living and sharing with people who had nothing compared to our affluent lifestyles. We had experienced every emotion possible, and to enable us to relax before our next piece of project work we spent two days in the Drakensburg Mountains – a complete contrast to the township, in particular the quietness of it. One of the first things we all wanted to do was to have a shower, but despite the anticipation, I really did not enjoy it – mainly because I could not get out of my mind the question 'Just how many buckets of water am I using?'. It was not easy to adjust and the scenes from the township kept coming into our minds as we discussed our experiences, comparing them to our luxurious lifestyles here.
I wonder if I could ask you to hold Luganda in your prayers – for Pastor Frank and his visions for the future which are coming to fruition, for the teachers who are trying to educate the children in conditions which are far from ideal, and for the families in Luganda who are affected by poverty, unemployment and HIV.
South Africa – A Taste of Mission (Part 3)
Following on from our stay in the Drakensburg Mountains we returned to Durban to stay at Eagles Cove, a Christian centre which offers counselling and support to abused women and children, together with dormitory type accommodation for groups like ours. The income that they derive from residents is put towards the cost of running the centre. The house and grounds had a very peaceful feel to them, although like any other property we saw in Durban, the perimeter walls were topped with coils of barbed wire and an electric gate prevented anyone from entering or leaving without the permission of the staff of the centre.
We travelled from Eagles Cove each day to the site of our next project work. We drove into a very respectable residential area of Durban called Hillcrest. We could almost have been in the UK except for the barbed wire around every house and the signs warning intruders of the fact that there would be an armed response in the event of a breach of security.
In order to set the scene, I will just say that Andrew (with whom we were working with) and his family could be described as a 'white middle class family living in a white middle class area'. As long as they had lived in that house, they had always had a cement fence at the end of their garden, about 6-7 feet high, just like all of their neighbours. This fence had been erected by the government, and was the Government Apartheid fence. It had always been there, and it had always been accepted as just that – the Apartheid fence, and they did not want or need to know what was on the other side.
That is until one day, a few years ago, after the end of Apartheid, when on a particularly windy night a panel of the fence blew down. At that point, now that apartheid had ended, Andrew felt able to go through the gap to see what was on the other side.
He found a township called Embo with no running water at all and no sanitation. They estimate that twenty five thousand people live there. Imagine not knowing that that was the other side of your back fence.
topAndrew and his family knew that they could not simply replace the fence panel – they felt that God was calling them to do something, but initially they did not know what. At this time Andrew was running a tree surgery business. He has now given this up, and he and his wife have no planned or predictable income. The family is now in the process of moving to another house which has been given to them, and transforming their old home into offices and a base for the work in this township. They have received support and gifts from many places. Their faith has grown through this work – they trust completely that God will provide for them – and He has never let them down.
They have kept the gap in the fence, and their garden is used to support some of the work. There is child care available, run on a informal basis for pre-school children. Food and a secure environment and stimulation are provided for children during daytime to support their care givers. This is arranged by Doorkie, who runs it with the assistance of some people from Embo. Doorkie is not a teacher, but having been on a very similar trip to mine last year, felt that this is what God is calling her to do. I think our arrival disrupted her normally well planned teaching sessions – she was grateful for us coming to simply play with and hold the children. The children are provided with a hot meal each morning, which is likely to be their main meal of the day. Many of the children are orphans, their parents having died of HIV and AIDS related illnesses, and are now being brought up by 'grannies'. The 'grannies' might be blood relations, or aunts, or in some cases close friends of the family.
This township was poorer than Luganda, and there is a very high crime rate. There is also a great deal of drug abuse, as cannabis grows like a weed in this environment. The poverty was evident in the clothes that the children were wearing – it would have been lovely to be able to take a needle and thread to mend and repair their clothes. Many of these children were also in need of love, and just curled up on our laps. When Andrew took us through the fence to see the township we saw children who had not got proper shoes, but who had improvised using old milk or fruit juice cartons.
A lot of Andrew’s energies are focussed on assisting the 'grannies' and helping them to become more self sufficient, and this was evident in some of the work that we saw them doing. While I was in the kitchen washing up the children’s bowls two of the 'grannies' were in the house wrapping up handfuls of raisins in newspaper. My curiosity got the better of me and I asked what they were doing. They were preparing food parcels for the 'grannies'. Normally there was some maize to give them, but this week all they could give was raisins. Food parcels are distributed presently to 115 families (care givers) that support about 600 children.
Practical work that Andrew is involved with includes repairing existing wattle and daub mud houses. Useable building material e.g. packing cases and corrugated iron are used to build small innovative homes. Volunteers and community members work together to build these homes.
His wife Rae has an interest in education, and she helps to identify suitable candidates in the community and send them on training courses with specific emphasis on child-care and home-based care. This empowers the community to care for each other while providing them with the platform to share their skills.
As well as spending time with the children, we also helped Andrew further his vision for developing the community in Embo. The overall project is called Thembisa which means hope. Alongside his old garage was what we would call a car port. We helped to put a corrugated tin roof on this area, which is going to be used as a training area to teach the 'grannies' skills to help them improve their standard of living. One of the things which some of the grannies are already involved in is producing bottles of bath salts – where different coloured bath salts are packed into the bottle to make an attractive gift which can be sold to provide an income. As we helped tidy up this area, we saw some of these bath salts. They were being prepared in glass bottles which were being thrown out from the local hospital – glass vials which had contained drugs for use as injections, together with their rubber bungs. It seemed most odd to see such familiar items being used for such a purpose – things which we would throw away at work without a second thought.
topThe second piece of work which Andrew asked us to help with was to clear out his old garages. Some of the things in the garages were clearly the accumulated and out dated things which we all have tucked away somewhere, but there were also bits and pieces related to his work with the township.
Of all the bits and pieces that we moved out of the garage, one thing will stay in my mind. It was only a cardboard box, maybe 4 feet square, and I really cannot remember what was inside it. The box though, was the outer packaging used by Operation Christmas Child – which would have carried the Christmas shoeboxes (which maybe we had filled in Guildford) to that township. The thought that I had actually travelled to one of the places where these shoeboxes are sent, and played with some of the children who would have received the gifts was just an incredible feeling which I really cannot put into words.
The reason for asking us to help clear out the garage was so that shelving could be put up in the garage. The plan is to have locked boxes on the shelves – a box for each of the 'grannies'. They will have one key, and Andrew (or someone working with him) will hold another key for each box. Many people around the world sponsor a child or a family. Supposing someone sponsors a family they would send Andrew a sum of money regularly with instructions say to buy the family a bag of maize every Monday. Andrew would buy the maize, and place it in the relevant box. The 'granny' could then come through the gap in the wall, open her box and take the gift back to her home.
It is also part of Andrew’s vision to enable the 'grannies' to start to become self sufficient by assisting them in developing a vegetable plot. Our next piece of work therefore was to start to dig the vegetable plot for them, by digging up the garden. We also had to put up a fence to keep various animals out from the vegetable plot. We were joined by a small group of the 'grannies' as we started to dig the vegetable plot, and again we probably did more to encourage them by our presence than we did through the actual digging.
Some of the money which we had taken with us was used to buy them hoes and other tools, and some seed. The 'grannies' seemed to have limitless energy and dedication when digging – possibly as they could see this as their future harvest, providing food for themselves and their families.
Some of our group visited 'Streetwise' which is a project for street children in Durban. The children who live on the streets might do so in order to try to escape from a life of poverty, others do so as a result of being orphaned. Streetwise has set up a home for these children, and gradually integrates them back into a 'normal' lifestyle. Within the home the children receive love and care, as well as training in skills such as woodwork, and opportunities for sport and other recreational activities. The children are also supported in their school work. Wherever possible, children are re-united with their families.
Following on from these experiences we spent a couple of days camping in a game reserve which was a good opportunity to reflect on what we had seen and done. We noticed that the drinking water at the camp site was slightly salty in taste, and were advised to drink only bottled water. This was because there has been months of drought in the area. The water table is now so low that sea water is beginning to seep into the water reserves. This explained why we had seen so many families pushing wheelbarrows of plastic containers along the side of the motorway in order to find a supply of water, and groups of people collecting water out of ponds in fields.
I wonder whether you could remember Andrew, his family and the work he is doing in Embo in your prayers, as well as all those who are affected by the threat of drought?
I hope that these articles have given you a taste of some of the experiences I had whilst in South Africa. I was so pleased to be able to see the purpose to which the gifts I had taken with me were being put, and your prayerful support was invaluable. Thank you all, very, very much.
More pictures are available at www.atom.youthfusion.co.ukAlison Marshall
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News update from Luganda
(January '04)
I have just received news from Pastor Frank about some of the
people we were working with in Luganda, and I thought it would be
appropriate to share it with you.
Amos is very ill - to use Pastor Frank's words he is "deadly sick, unable to walk or eat". When we were there he was full of visions for the church and its work within the community, and worked incredibly hard to help bring these visions to fruition, as well as supporting Pastor Frank in his work.
Last week Daniel and his wife received very bad news. Again, to quote Pastor Frank - "This evening Daniel came to my house to let me know that his wife on Monday was diagnosed HIV positive. He is a broken man. Things are really bad."
News update from Luganda and Embo (February '04)
I have received some sad news from Luganda, and some happy news from Embo. Firstly, the sad news - Pastor Frank wrote the following in an email to me at the beginning of February -"I would like first of all to let you know that my beloved friend Amos is no more. He departed to the hereafter on 2-2-2004."
And now the good news - I recently met up with many of the people I had travelled to South Africa with, and saw pictures that had been sent to our group of the vegetable plots that we had started to dig at the Thembisa project. The seeds that we bought for the "grannies" are doing really well, and the plants will be providing food for the families as well as the opportunity for income generation as they sell the excess harvest.
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Oct 2003
Everything Shipshape at holiday club
NEARLY 50 children took to life on the ocean waves during a sea-themed holiday club at a Guildford church this week.The youngsters at the Ship-Shape club at Guildford United Reformed Church, Portsmouth Road, played on a 30ft galleon and were entertained with nautical games and activities.
As well as having fun in the ocean-style church hall, the five to 11-year-olds were told short biblical stories.
The 'captain' - church youth worker, Claire Hawkes - was pleased that the club met its aims.
She said: "We wanted to provide families with a safe, fun and caring environment for their children. This is part of the church's continuing commitment to outreach in the local community."
She added that the church has many youth activities throughout the year.
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Oct 2003
Chess club up to speed for season
GUILDFORD chess club member Trevor Jones hosted a high-speed weekly club nights, chess match on Monday, August 25.Nine Players from around southern England had only five minutes for all their moves with games lasting a maximum of 10 minutes. This added to the interest of the contest, as everyone played each other during the afternoon.
Guildford chess club reopened on Monday for its new season weekly club nights.
These are held in the Guildford Institute assembly room at 7pm. Everyone wanting to play competitive chess is welcome, and can try it for a few weeks before joining.
See Trevor for more information
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Guildford Churches' visit to our twin-town Freiburg, Germany in June 2003
by Trevor Jones of the Guildford United Reformed Church (GURC) 21 July 2003Fred Gallacher and I from the GURC and also my Mother from the Beckenham URC joined a group from 'Churches Together' in Guildford 20 - 28 June 2003 to visit churches in ACK Freiburg, our sister organisation in this our twin-city in southwest Germany nestling at the foot of the Black Forest and not far from the River Rhine. Besides ourselves, the our group comprised 13 listed as Anglican, 2 Methodist, 1 RC, 1 Baptist, and 1 other URC.
We were all hosted in the homes of various individual church members in Freiburg, and it would be good to hear from any Guildford church members who would in principle be interested in hosting German visitors if, as is likely, there is a return visit in 2005. (You don’t have to speak German, although it helps if you do.) Most people travelled in a group by air to Basel, but my Mother and I went earlier by train via Brussels and Cologne, first visiting some friends of mine in Magdeburg, with whom we did a day-trip to Potsdam to see the Sans Souci palace, and to Berlin.
My Mother and I were hosted by a retired pastor and his wife in the charming village of Günterstal nestling in a valley climbing up into the Black Forest at the end of a tram line south out of town. One treat he gave us during weekend 'time with hosts' was late afternoon to drive us to a tower on top of the nearby Schaninsland mountain (1218m high) from where we could faintly see the whole range of beautiful snowy Swiss Alps about 100 miles away (according to the orientation diagram)! He told how he was captured by the French in the war and had to work for a French farmer who provided good food off the land for wartime and how the group of German prisoners asked the French for a tree for Christmas and then dressed it up with candles etc to the delight of all the local French children who had never before seen a Christmas tree. So he was quite fond of the French and spoke even better French than English, despite being born in Ireland. His wife spoke very good English and I speak some German and both my Mother and I speak French, so language was never a problem.
On Sunday we went to 10.30 worship with our hosts in their modern little Evangelische Kirche in the village, where the congregation even gave me a round of applause when I was asked up to the front to bring greetings from the Guildford URC in a few words of German, which of course I now have to reciprocate back to Guildford. Just like us, they had coffee after church, but on a hot sunny day it was served in the street in front of the church.
The main daily communal programme in Freiburg typically involved some meeting at one of the churches for either a meal or a service (in mixed English and German) or both, but also included activities of a sight-seeing nature, except on Tiesday 24 June when an all-day coach trip to nearby Basel in Switzerland was arranged, stopping off en route to visit some English rose gardens and have a picnic in some nearby woods. In Basel we were entertained by leaders of the local Anglican community, starting off with a service in a chapel attached to the Munster (Cathedral) on a strategic hill-top with good views over the Rhine. They don’t own their own church but have an arrangement with another denomination to use its church for a late Sunday morning service, where we were taken to be told more about their work and have a discussion. Because they are the only Anglicans in Basel they can’t be distinctively either high church or low church but have to be welcoming to all Anglicans. An anonymous donor generously provided everyone with supper in an open-air terrace restaurant by the number 15 tram route, so we probably saw all its tramcars whilst we ate.
Other activities included a guided tour of Freiburg Munster including its many large interesting stained glass windows (one of the town’s few buildings not bombed in the war - although most of the town centre has been rebuilt in the charming original old style). We also had a civic reception at the Rathaus (Town Hall) and another highlight was a visit to an organic vinyard ending with a wine-tasting but which was preceded by a visit to an adjacent little hill-top chapel, now restored, but in the past much fought over due to its strategic location overlooking the Rhine valley. Our wine-tasting host said his father or grandfather still parked his car in a position to facilitate a speedy exit if the French were about to invade! With Freiburg being the 'green capital' of Germany (it even has a Green mayor) we were also shown a number of ecological or environment-friendly activities in the town, including in one big school where one of our group hosts worked, and of course we were all able to use the reliable electric trams to get about town. All the trams connect directly with the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) via a tram station on a bridge over the end of the railway platforms.
Two other memorable churches visited were the 'Old Catholic' church in the town centre and a modern evangelical church in a leafy suburb. The former (not bombed in the war) had an unimposing exterior you could easily miss, being joined to other buildings in the street, but was beautiful inside with a very impressive pulpit hanging from a side wall and entered externally. The latter had some fine modern stained glass in unusual shaped windows at the liturgical east end actually facing west. So we had an evening musical meditation there to enjoy the glass at its best, which had actually been designed by a (then) East German who had not even been allowed to come to the west to inaugurate his own glass (although he had managed an unofficial stop-off when once allowed to travel to Switzerland).