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Published: November 29th 2013
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We are now 3 months into our ministry in Boningale/Albrighton and it has been a very special time for us. We thank God for putting us into this special place among many new Christian friends. As we reflect on the question 'What is Gods purpose for putting us in this place' we can only conclude that it is to extend our theological knowledge and understanding and increase our knowledge of the greater Christian community. Our involvement at St Chads & St Marys has allowed us to use all that we have been taught at Holy Trinity, our visit to Tanzania and, via Pam & Alex, our understanding of The Leprosy Mission to participate in presentations, studies and discussion groups at both St Chads & St Marys. God has been good to us and we continue to offer him praise and thanks.
St Chads We are now regular members of the St Chad's congregation attending Sunday services and assisting where & when we can. Sunday 24th November was a service of Holy Communion followed by the internment of ashes for Tony Griffiths who was a long-time member of the St Chads congregation and although we had
not met Tony, he became ill just before we arrived and died a couple of weeks ago, we were welcomed at the internment by Tony's wife Anne and asked back to the celebration in the church hall, a celebration of Tony's life which was champagne and savouries. This was preceded by the firing of Tony’s cannon (pictured) something different and special.
We have also become members of 'The Boningales' a choir made up of 14/15 members of St Chads congregation who will be singing at a carol service on Friday 20th December. Although we did say we could NOT sing they said this was ok as neither could most of the others and it was safety in numbers. Again God puts us outside our comfort zone and has removed the word NO from our Christian vocabulary. Practice is held during the week and the songs we 'practice' are: -
Deck the Halls, Jubilate everybody, Sing lullaby, O little one sweet, T'Owd Virgin, Come to Bethlehem, The yodlers' carol and O little town of Bethlehem.
Of these we know the words to two and of these two we only know the tune to one, but it
is fun and during practice time we have a few laughs - more latter on this.
Another thing that is happening at St Chads is 'Chip & Chat' night. A meeting is organised for a Friday once a month at 7.30pm. The venue is the Summer House, a pub which is a 5 minutes’ walk from our cottage, for a fish & chip meal, a drink and of course a chat. We missed last months as we were in Berwick but we are looking forward to the next one on December 13th.
We look forward to the coming Advent services and especially to the Christmas Eve and Christmas day services.
St Marys We continue to attend the 9.30am Wednesday service of Holy Communion and Bible study. The opportunity for us to share our Christian journey and the journey of the other 12 people who attend regularly in this informal setting is something we enjoy.
Saturday 23rd November we assisted with the Autumn Fayre. It was very different for us just helping and not be involved in the planning and setup. We were roistered on as floaters to relieve anyone who wanted a break.
The Fayre is held in the church with a variety of stalls and refreshments are held in the church hall with hot roast pork baps with stuffing and gravy, homemade cakes, mince pies and tea and coffee on sale. Our first stall was books and we must say we now have a greater appreciation of what Brian Pickersgill & Elaine Jackson go through as it was hard work selling books but the stall made £75. Evelyn also assisted on the St Chads brick-a-brac stall which made £65. It was a great day, different from the Holy Trinity fete as the Fayer is only in doors with no outside children's activities. All together the Fayre raised £1,000
Tea Cossies We are now permanent attendees at 'Tea Cossies' on Tuesday afternoons and the lovely ladies ensure we have a continual full cup of tea and lots of cakes. On Tuesday 12th November we were privileged to provide an overhead presentation of who Evelyn & Jess are, where we are from, what we are doing in Boningale/Albrighton and also some information on Tanzania, Msalato and the kindergarten. It was a great gift from God for us to share
our story.
Also coming up for Evelyn is the St Marys Women’s Link Christmas party on Wednesday 4th December that she has been invited to. It includes a 3 course meal, a guest speaker and of course a chance to 'Talk'.
The Manor We continue to enjoy the surrounds of the Manor. With the tree foliage now disappearing and food becoming scarce a wide variety of birds now feed from our bird feeder and we even have a Wood Pecker who visits most mornings for a big feed. Bob the owner of the Manor has been very good to us which allows to to feel comfortable and relaxed in our cottage.
Weather Winter has arrived here in the UK, the trees are now almost bare and the mornings are cold, foggy and frosty. Some mornings the surface water turns to ice and care is required when we head off. Rain is always a possibility but to date it has been very limited and light. We are however still waiting for our first snow fall in this area. We continue to walk everywhere and are glad for our woolly hats, scarfs, thick socks, wellies, water proof
coats and of course our trusty backpacks (it's amazing what you can fit into a backpack!!!!!) - We must look a sight waking down the roads. Some members of St Chads & St Marys do take pity on us and offer us a lift, if they are passing past the manor house we are happy to accept.
ALL OUR GIFTS COME FROM HEAVEN ABOVE
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Autum fayre
The Fayre looks great and what a setting. God has a reason for taking you to Boningale/Albrighton and He will reveal it to you. Sometimes we dont know why we are to do or be where we are until we leave then thing become clear.