Dec 15/Jan 16 - Market Harborough Baptist Church
Transcription
Dec 15/Jan 16 - Market Harborough Baptist Church
NEW HORIZONS Coffee Shop PA R T O F MA R K E T H A R B O R O U G H B A P T I S T C H U R C H MA NO R WA L K , OP P OSI T E T H E CO - O P P H ON E 0 1 8 5 8 4 1 4 948 Outlook Open 9.15am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday Good value snacks and meals served all day Menu favourites Kay’s speciality homemade sweet and savoury scones Cooked breakfast served 9.15 to 11.15am ‘First snow, Market Harborough’ by local artist Michael Edwards, used by kind permission. michaeledwardsartist.co.uk A joyful Christmas and a bright new year from Fairtrade goods, greetings cards and stamps for sale MARKET HARBOROUGH BAPTIST CHURCH www.harborough-baptist.org.uk December 2015 / January 2016 www.harborough-baptist.org.uk We are a church that takes Christ to all the community through its vibrant worship and Bible teaching, its welcome, its care and its service. — the mission statement of Market Harborough Baptist Church MARKET HARBOROUGH BAPTIST CHURCH REGULAR SUNDAY SERVICES 10am Morning Worship including Junior Church and Crèche; with Communion on the third Sunday of the month 6pm Evening Worship including Youth Service every other week; with Communion on the first Sunday of the month A donation of 25p towards the costs of producing your magazine would be really appreciated. BAPTIST CHURCH Directory Market Harborough Baptist Church 25 Coventry Road, LE16 9BX Church office 01858 410693; Coffee shop 01858 414948 Minister Rev Nick Cook 01858 462480 [email protected] Outreach Leader Jeff Bonser Discipleship Leader/ Home groups Mary Daniels 01858 462023 [email protected] Pastoral Leader Lindy Kendell [email protected] Church Administrator Christine Wiseman [email protected] Church Secretary Gill Pedler 01858 461173 [email protected] Church Treasurer John Ball 01858 433588 [email protected] 01858 440624 [email protected] Outlook editor/designer Lin & John Ball 01858 433588 [email protected] BMS World Mission Janet Smith 01858 463376 [email protected] BMS Home Mission Pat Harding 01858 463225 BMS Birthday Scheme Delia Woodbridge 01858 465311 [email protected] Focus Group (women) Beryl Lloyd 0116 2792327 Fun & Friends (under 5s and carers) Lindy Kendell [email protected] Stroke Club Mrs E Taylor 01858 464545 Guides Glynnis Sewell [email protected] COPY DEADLINE for next issue of OUTLOOK – January 17th Dear Family... Are things going from bad to worse? A Cambridge theologian, David Instone-Brewer, has written an interesting perspective on this in the December issue of Christianity magazine. Christians often adopt an ‘I told you so’ attitude to the news of the latest disaster, natural or manmade, he says. Why? Because we think all these bad things are evidence of us living in the ‘end times’ and simply inevitable. But Instone-Brewer points out that things really aren’t going from bad to worse – although the doom and gloom of media coverage may try to persuade us otherwise. For example, proportionately far fewer people today are victims of war. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) wiped out one third of the German population. We don’t see those percentages today anywhere, thankfully. There is massive religious persecution today – but actually back in the fourth century the Roman emperor Diocletian was killing as many Christians as ISIS and Boko Haram are. Diocletian slaughtered 17,000 Christians in one single month. At the time, there were perhaps a million Christians, compared to billions today, so the impact was absolutely huge. What, you might argue, about the deaths from Ebola (11,282) and AIDS (1.7 million)? Well, in the 14th century the Black Death killed 60 per cent of Europe’s population. The flu epidemic of 1918 killed 70 million – or a staggering four per cent of humanity. Instone-Brewer takes a close look at the ‘end times’ (Matthew 24:6-8) and says that the ‘wars and rumours of wars… famines… earthquakes’ and so on are not signs of the end. Check it out! The one thing that indicates for sure that the end is near is found in verse 14. It’s when the gospel is preached throughout the world. So rather than shaking our heads over the news headlines, let’s pray for worldwide mission! (the words) and (who puts the ‘look’ into Outlook) Welcome to our church! You are welcome here, wherever you are on your faith journey: believer or agnostic, conventional Christian or questioning sceptic. We look forward to getting to know you and to the ideas and experiences you can bring. How can we make you feel more at home? If you’re a wheelchair user, ask to be shown the ramped entrance. The church has an induction loop for anyone using hearing aids. If you have sight loss, ask for weekly service sheets and hymns in large print or braille. This Outlook magazine is also available in braille and large print. Giving at Christmas Christmas gift suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. – Oren Arnold, novelist, journalist and humourist 1900-1980 And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused – and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself. – Sigrid Undsetborn, lay Dominican who fled Norway because of her opposition to Nazi Germany, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 (1882-1949). Happy Birthday! to those celebrating with a gift to Baptist mission work in December: Betty Rippin (7th); Satya Rothon (8th); Isabel Mantle (9th); Philip Woodbridge (10th); Gyles Bicknell (20th); Janet Smith (23rd); Angela Zemlak (24th). And those with January birthdays: Christine Wiseman (21st); Cyril Adams (27th). 2 Nick’s Notes A message from MHBC’s Minister, Nick Cook … I will pour water on the parched ground and cause streams to flow on the dry land. I will pour my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your children. They will sprout up like a tree in the grass, like poplars beside channels of water. Isaiah 44:3,4 They say that when something significant is happening in your life, you tend to dream vividly, and remember the dreams afterwards. Well, there’s a lot happening in the church at the moment, and we’re getting a lot of pictures and verses. I shared one verse that was given to us in the last edition of the Outlook. Some weeks ago someone approached me with a picture they were certain related to the church. Having shared it, we agreed that it was, but we were not quite sure what it meant. The picture was of a large empty room with a pipe coming out of one wall, from which was cascading a flow of water. The water was running all over the floor, but there was nothing to hold it, so it was running away. At our Vision Day (see pages 9-11) we spent time going around the building, and by the quantity of pink post-it notes generated, it’s clear we’ve come to the conclusion that there’s much that needs to change. So we’ve achieved the first part of the vision-setting process – realising where we are and that it’s not where we want to be. We then spent a lot of the afternoon plenary talking about what we wanted to change. But it became clear that we were expressing personal preference and choice, not vision. And with that came the realisation that we don’t yet know what God wants these buildings to be used for. Until we’ve fixed that, we can’t start designing the new space. It’s as if God was offering to pour out his Spirit … but there wasn’t anything to pour it into. It fitted the picture I was given perfectly. There’s a long way to go, but we got the sense of God wanting to show us what he has in mind, but needing us to pray and focus so that we can hear what he wants to say. That, along with the Growing Leaders’ Course, will be our big priorities for next year. I hope you all have a very restful, peaceful and joyful Christmastime. Yours, Nick 3 Celebrating without regrets! With so much news attention on a world in turmoil and many communities feeling the effects of devastating natural disasters, not to mention the thousands of refugees on the move or held in basic camps, it’s no wonder that some are troubled by the image of Christmas as a season of excess. The average UK family is expected to spend £796 on Christmas 2015. Twelve per cent of people say that their excessive Christmas spending will give them financial problems for 2016. And the way we celebrate often results not only in spending beyond what is sensible or affordable, but contributes to the ongoing destruction of the wonderful world God has given us. Thrown away Do you like a traditional ‘real’ tree? It’s worth reflecting before you buy one that six million trees will be thrown away when the baubles are taken down, resulting in 9,000 tons of waste. One billion cards also end up in the bin, along with 8,000 tons of wrapping paper, 125,000 tons of plastic packaging and 4,200 tonnes of turkey-related aluminium foil! Then there’s the food waste. The average British family wastes around one third of the food bought in for the festive period. And what about the mindless hours slumped in front of the TV? The average Brit watches 30 hours of TV during Christmas week, which collectively totals 61.5 million kilowatts of energy! How can we celebrate without regrets this year? Here are a few ideas to get us started... Trees: Look out for the council announcement about collection of used trees in January to be turned into woodchips for use in our local parks. Cards: Many people send email greetings now, but still the average family spends £41 on Christmas cards. If you like to send and receive real cards, make sure you recycle. Last January, Sainsbury’s had 1000 collection points for cards in its stores and in response donated £9,000 to the Forest Stewardship Council. Packaging: Think about packaging when you shop for gifts. Buy those that require minimal packaging or choose gift vouchers. If you have to buy with packaging, make sure it all goes in the right recycling bin. Gifts: Surveys say that at least one in 10 of the gifts we give are things that are not really wanted by the recipients! In the UK we spend in excess of £600 million on unwanted Christmas gifts. Think before you buy! Could you choose Fairtrade goods? Or support projects such as Send a Cow? Oxfam Unwrapped? Many charities offer imaginative alternative gifts that bless others. Have a wonderful and thoughtful Christmas! Food: Plan your menus and buy from a list instead of with a trolley dash! Check the ‘sell-by’ dates so there’s less likelihood of waste. Lighting: Check you’re using energy-saving bulbs in your home and look at the output of Christmas decorations. 4 5 Which Winnie the Pooh character might you be? Winnie the Pooh: Eating disorder – he’s always got his hand in the honey pot. Rose Williams describes her contribution to the recent church display on the topic of gifts Piglet: Anxiety – fearful, often displaying a fight/flight response or panic attacks. Why did I decide to contribute to a recent church exhibition on the theme of Gifts? Well, I’m not very good at saying what I’m good at! But, for once, I thought I would think a little bit more about what my gifting is and respond by decorating a shoebox to display in the church. My shoebox was full of soft toys representing some well-known Winnie the Pooh characters – and here’s why. I’ve worked for a Christian charity now for over three years and I facilitate the Friendship Group which meets once a week in Harborough. Members are referred to the group by the NHS Mental Health Leicestershire Partnership. Having had first-hand experience of suffering mental health issues for a number of years, I felt adequately placed to look at helping others in this situation! To take up the role of facilitator for the group, I needed to go on several training events. The first session was called Winnie-the-Pooh’s Great Mental Health Adventure! During the training I learned how to define the different types of mental health disorders by looking at the characters of Winnie the Pooh and his friends: 6 Eeyore: Depression – low mood, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, irritability and isolation. Tigger: Bipolar – mood swings, with manic highs and lows. Roo: ADHD – or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a lack of concentration. Rabbit: OCD – repetitive behaviours causing anxieties. Owl: Dementia/Alzheimers – memory loss and confusion. Elephant: PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, experienced as recurrence of stressful events. Christopher Robin: Schizophrenia – hallucinations (well, he dreamed up Winnie the Pooh and all the other characters!). My box challenged people to look inside to see someone who is suffering now or who may suffer in the future with a mental health disorder. How did it do that? Inside was a mirror. Yes, that’s right! Unfortunately, most of us will suffer with one or more types of mental health issues at some point in our lives. How can we help? We need to start changing our thinking. Face up to the realities. Free people from the stigma of mental illness. Don’t put people in the boxes of our own expectations, but see them as individuals. Include people, rather than exclude them or overlook them for positions of trust or responsibility. Side-lining them can cause further problems such as deep feelings of rejection. We need to get alongside people, befriend them, allow them to speak about their struggles. Accept them as they are. Isn’t that what we all want? So that’s the gift I described with my box of furry friends. God has given me the gift of helping others suffering with mental health disorders. I hope you enjoyed looking at my box and if you’d like to ask me anything about it, please get in touch with me. By the way, the second training session was all about Shrek – a totally different adventure altogether. Just how do you accept a green ogre who just wants to isolate himself? 7 Family News COMING TO THE BOIL! Some reflections on the recent Vision Day from Gary Pedler, one of the facilitators Lindy Kendell reports from the church Pastoral Team This is the season when we celebrate God’s coming to earth as a little baby. What a wonderful gift for mankind! In October we were able to thank God for the safe delivery of three new babies into our extended church family. The stork was busy during November too! Dick Callan celebrated the birth of his first grandchild Alfie, born the day before his grandpa celebrated his 60th birthday. Many congratulations, Dick! comfort to know that she is now at peace and with her Lord. Please remember her sister Anne and her family in your prayers. ²²² The Pastoral Meal has been a regular feature in the church diary for many years now. This year we will be meeting together on December 6th. We thank Yvonne Durrant and her team for preparing it for us once again. It’s a very welcome event for the oldest in our church family and for those who live alone. ²²² Please remember in your prayers all who have been bereaved this year – there will be an empty chair at their tables this Christmas. A number of people are continuing their treatment for cancer. Some do not want their names made public, but we can still pray purposefully for them. God knows who they are and is very near to them. ²²² Jo Farnsworth had a stay in Glenfield Hospital in November having tests. Les Tooms, Bob Moore and Mona Woodbridge have been in hospital too. Please remember them in your prayers, and give thanks for the skills of medical and surgical staff. ²²² We were sad to hear of the death of Barbara Dodworth. She had been ill for many years and bore her illness very bravely. It is a May God bless you this Christmas. We look forward to all that God will do for us, and through us, in 2016. 8 Day I found myself struggling to lose myself in prayer due to the babble of noise. Rather than trying to blank it out, I found myself fascinated by the sound, catching a recognisable voice here, a snatched word there, while all the time the thought in my mind was a picture of a saucepan of boiling water! Due to the rush of Saturday I didn’t share this with anyone but woke the following morning with it still on my mind. My analytical approach now had me thinking that if God is the heat source and we, the church, are boiling water… what use could we be put to? I told my wife Gill and as I explained myself I must confess To be honest, I seldom get visions. I think in part that’s just the way my brain works. My overlyanalytical mode of thought is quite binary – such and such happens, and therefore that occurs because of it. In lots of ways this functional approach helps me enormously in my job as a structural engineer but it is not so helpful when a rather more obtuse thought comes to mind. Perhaps this makes it difficult for God to speak to me, as often my default response is to make light of an unusual thought in a self-deprecating way and turn it into an amusing anecdote to share with friends over a pint! However during the prayer session at the end of the Vision 9 that I was rather taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm towards saucepans and water. However, having thought about it further and through discussions with other people maybe it’s not quite as bizarre as I first thought. At the start of the Vision Day I didn’t really have any firm goals, other than to try to gauge the mood of the membership to create a vision for the next 25 years of the church. The morning presentation was always going to be the easy structured bit (there’s my logical brain again) but the more free-flowing afternoon would be harder to assess until we’d looked at the feedback from the planned walkabout around the church. We had devised a system of coloured post-its, with pink slips representing urgency. The 10 number of pink slips was at first overwhelming, but we quickly realised that this indicated a real passion to build on the vision of others in the history of MHBC. By the end of the afternoon, I was encouraged by the responses we had received and I felt that we were all in the same place. The fact that we had over 60 people attend the day was fantastic and with nearly 400 responses we have plenty of raw data to sift through. The response from people signing up for the various actions groups was great – and there’s still time for you to consider joining a group if you haven’t already. I suppose the unexpected aspect of the walkabout was the number of comments about the sanctuary. While on the surface this would appear to be going over old ground, we should also be aware that a significant number have joined the church since our last sanctuary review. This will need careful consideration and prayer to allow us to discern God’s will for us. The next key step in the process is a prayer event for the whole church which will take place in the New Year. This will be focused on our vision and our place in the wider Market Harborough community. In the meantime we will review and present our findings from the day and actively begin to bring some of the action groups together because – returning to my saucepan – if you keep a pan of water on a heated stove without using it, it will eventually boil dry. Therefore our challenge is: what are we going to do with all this hot water? Thank you again for your support on the day and also the kind messages both Gill and myself received; they were much appreciated. 11 Sundays in December Diary Dates 6th ADVENT 2 10am Nick (Communion) 6pm Christmas Youth Service 13th ADVENT 3 10am All-age Service with Nativity Presentation from Junior Church 6pm Musical Service with Communion 20th ADVENT 4 10am Nick 6pm Carols by Candlelight CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY The Midnight Christmas Eve Communion at 11.30pm and the Christmas Day All-Age Service at 10am will both be hosted by the Methodist Church, with Nick preaching at both. 27th 10am All-Age Service led by Mary Daniels / Sunday Club 6pm No evening service Other MHBC events in December Christianity Explored concludes Tuesday 1st, 7.30pm Walk the Walk fellowship walk, open to all, Wednesday 2nd and Wednesday 16th – see Colin Basse for details Pastoral Team Meeting Wednesday 2nd, 10am in the Crèche Fun & Friends (for toddlers and carers) Wednesdays 1.30pm during termtime, with Nativity in the church on Wednesday 2nd; Christmas party on Wednesday 9th Hymn Service Thursday 3rd, 2.30pm in the New Horizons Hall – ‘Choose your own carols’ 12 Christmas Fayre in the church and Manor Walk, 4-7pm on Friday 4th – see page 17 Breakfast Prayer every Monday, 9am in the Crèche Focus (for women) Thursday 10th at 7.30pm for Christmas Thoughts at Lindy’s. For more details, contact Beryl on 0116 2792327. Welland Park Pre-School Nativity with Starfish Puppets Friday 11th, 1.45pm Farndon Fields School Carol Service Tuesday 15th, 6pm Meadowdale School Carol Service Wednesday 16th, 9.30am – to be confirmed Home groups meet each week in homes or at the church, some during the day and some in the evening. For more details, contact Mary Daniels ([email protected]) Also in December Christmas concert featuring our church singers, Saturday 5th, 7.30pm at St Nicholas Church Prayer for youthwork Monday 14th, 10am at the Cube Events to note for January 2016 Coffee morning in Harborough Theatre Lounge Saturday 16th, 9am-12noon Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from Monday 18th to 24th Church Members Meeting Thursday 21st, 7.30pm in the New Horizons Hall Churches Together Joint Service Sunday 24th, 10.30am at St Dionysius Coffee shop management meeting Wednesday 27th, 9.10am Winter Glory Conference for women Saturday 30th at Kettering Conference Centre, 9.15-4.30pm, see www.winterglory.co.uk For more information about these events, see the weekly news sheet or visit harborough-baptist.org.uk 13 THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS equivalent of email that his parting gift to her was a pregnancy. Although she was fully supporting of his calling into space, she begins to feel less sure when her own planet begins to be subjected to unprecedented disasters and life in their small town becomes a fight for survival. Her trust in God is being severely tested. What will Peter do? You may find it hard to believe but, through the medium of fiction, THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS raises some truly deep and fascinating questions about the nature of mission and church planting. And I’ve rarely read a mainstream novel where the central protagonists, Peter and Bea, are evangelical Christians and are portrayed so realistically, without cynicism. They are both lovely and flawed, and so very believable. The book is sci-fi, it’s a love story and it’s an examination of faith and Christian mission. THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS by Michel Faber, is published by Canongate Books. It’s also available as an audio download and as an e-book. Review by Lin Ball Peter Leigh is an evangelical Christian on a mission – but a mission that’s very different! He’s off into deep space to be the evangelist and chaplain to a group of alien beings on a planet being prepared for colonisation. The scene is set for one of the most interesting bestselling novels I’ve read for a long time! Michel Faber has written THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS – and that’s the description the aliens have given to the Bible. Because when Peter arrives at their settlement he finds he’s not the first Christian to have been that way before. About 60 of the Oasans are already converts; they are avid for more Bible teaching and want to help to build a church. It’s an evangelist’s dream! Or is it? While Peter quickly builds an empathy for the Oasans and even an appreciation for their bizarre way of life, he struggles to relate to his fellow space explorers at the base, all of whom seem chosen not just for their professional skills but for their non-attachment to Earth. But meanwhile Peter has a more pressing concern. He’s left behind his wife Bea, who lets him know via the 14 Walton Chapel NEWS Chapel Lane, Walton by Kimcote, Lutterworth Mission Statement: To love and worship God, to serve Him in the community, to extend His kingdom and glorify His name. We are getting quite excited about our Christmas programme, particularly as we have reached double figures in the number of children we have attending regularly! For the first time we have an all-age Family Nativity in which the children will participate. As we adjourn for coffee each Sunday morning we see what they are capable of and therefore we anticipate a great contribution. On the following Sunday we will have a traditional carol service with a number of our congregation taking part. The usual Sing Carols at the Dog & Gun will take place on the intervening Thursday. Last year the pub was crowded and we are hoping for great things this year as well. The programme has been arranged by us, and Kimcote Church will provide a Christmas thought. Gordon Herbert Diary for DECEMBER 1 6 8 13 14 15 17 20 22 24 27 29 Tuesday Sunday Tuesday Sunday Monday Tuesday Thursday Sunday Tuesday Thursday Sunday Tuesday 10am 10.45am 10am 10.45am 12.30pm No meeting 7pm 10.45am No Meeting 3pm 10.45am No meeting Bible Study: Mary Rev Malcolm Barrett (Communion) Prayer meeting All-age Family Nativity Service Community Lunch Carols at the Dog & Gun Traditional Carol Service Christmas Eve Communion Gordon Herbert (See over for January diary) 15 Who’s waiting for your invitation? It’s busy, it’s frenetic at times – but Christmas is probably the best time of the year to invite your friends and neighbours to church. In a survey conducted by ComRes in October 2011, 41 per cent of people agreed that Christmas is about celebrating that God loves humanity. Many people who don’t usually attend church like to sing carols and see the nativity story. So think about giving away some copies of the special Christmas events invitation leaflets you (Walton Chapel diary continued) Diary for January 3 5 10 11 12 17 19 24 26 31 Sunday Tuesday Sunday Monday Tuesday Sunday Tuesday Sunday Tuesday Sunday 10.45am 10am 10.45am 12.30pm 10am 10.45am 10am 10.45am 10am 10.45am Rev Malcolm Barrett (Communion) Bible Study: The Magi & Herod Rev John Rackley Community Lunch Prayer meeting United Service for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Bible Study: Anna Very Rev Brandon Jackson Bible Study: Simeon Rev Malcolm Barrett 16 can pick up in church. The town will be packed for the Christmas Fayre on Friday December 4th, so make your your friends and neighbours know that there’ll be plenty happening in and around our church that evening. Manor Walk will, as last year, have the fantastic attraction of the reindeer from 4pm. Reports Jeff Bonser, our Outreach Leader, ‘Our church will be open from 4pm to 7pm. Along with the Manor Walk traders, we’re creating a Reindeer Trail past the shops leading to our coffee shop and church. We’ll sing carols in Manor Walk. Inside we’ll have cards and calendars in the coffee shop, and a decorated corridor leading to the candlelit church where children can collect their Reindeer Trail gift and make a reindeer decoration. There’ll be fairly-traded gifts, cards and stationery gifts on sale, music, hot apple juice and mince pies.’ See page 12 for details of our Christmas services. Market Harborough’s Santa Fun Run returns to Welland Park on Sunday December 13th at 2pm. Runners will meet outside the Welland Park Café and can run either 5k or 2k. Adults pay £12 and under 16s £6 – a price which includes your Santa suit! Details and registration are on the Race Harborough website. ²²² Christmas shopping? Our New Horizons coffee shop has cards, calendars and gift items for sale. Please note that the coffee shop will close at 2pm on Thursday December 24th and re-open on Monday January 4th at 9.15am. ²²² Don’t forget the annual candlelit vigil organised by the Churches Together Justice & Peace Group in the town square at 4.30pm on Friday January 8th. 17 Window on the World News to inform and inspire prayer from our BMS champion Janet Smith Border blocks in Nepal could lead to humanitarian crisis Amid the many troubles around the world in 2015, April will be remembered for two devastating earthquakes that hit Nepal, shattering the lives of millions of people. Now nationwide fuel shortages, caused by over two months of blockades along the border with India, mean life for people in Nepal is even more precarious. After months with limited access to fuel, Nepal’s people are suffering as pressure on essential services increases. ‘It feels like it’s getting serious now,’ says Simon Hall, a BMS World Mission worker in Kathmandu, Nepal. ‘The Nepal Oil Corporation has said to stop queuing – there’s nothing left to give. Loads of schools are closed because parents can’t get their kids there. It’s not just fuel for transport – it’s fuel for generators too. If hospitals can’t run generators, things get bad.’ Taxi drivers in Kathmandu have been queuing for up to five days for the chance to refuel their vehicles to continue earning a living and feeding their families. People are cramming into dangerously overcrowded buses to get around. One such bus, which had many people riding on the roof because of the lack of transport available, skidded off road recently, killing 30 people and injuring many more. The lack of fuel is also obstructing efforts to reach rural survivors of the earthquakes with the supplies they need. In addition to a lack of fuel, Nepal is also now reportedly running out of medicine and the price of basic necessities has soared. ‘There’s no end to it,’ says Alan Barker, a BMS worker in Surkhet, in the Mid-Western region of Nepal. ‘India is blaming the situation on Nepal, Nepal is blaming it on India. It’s very complicated, and three months down the line nothing seems to have been done about it. Nepal is used to moving from one crisis to another. There’s not a great hue and cry, there’s not great protest like in other countries. People just try to get by – building little wood stoves outside because there is no gas to cook with. The blockade is affecting the whole country.’ The protests began after the government released its new constitution. There are no signs of the border crossings opening up soon, and even if they do it will take a long time for things to begin running smoothly again in Nepal. Please pray for Nepal: 18 • that the conflict over the new constitution will be resolved; • for wisdom for Nepal’s government and for its relations with India; • for the borders to reopen so that people can access the resources they need; • for those who continue to be affected by the earthquake, whose problems have been compounded by the fuel shortage; pray that they would get resources before the cold winter sets in. 19 From the MHBC archives at the Methodist Church, conducted by the Rev C L Evans. December 1965 was the wettest for many years, with a total in excess of four inches. However, the Christmas period was dry but cold with frost all day on the 27th and 28th. 50years ago 100 YEARS AGO The Market Harborough and District Freechurchman ceased publication in December owing to increased printing costs and a falling circulation. First published in 1904, the monthly magazine remains a valuable source of information on past news and events. The United Christmas Day Service was held The church AGM in January was attended by only 17 members due to the inclement weather. It was unanimously agreed that men who had served a long time on the diaconate should be elected elders. The first three were James Buswell, James Tookey and Douglas Wooldridge Walter Stimson. Words of wisdom Two verses of the hymn shared by Doreen Cole in one of the small prayer groups at the Vision Day: Without Thy presence, King of saints, / Our purpose fails, our spirit faints; / Thou must our wavering faith renew / Ere we can yield Thee service true. Thy consecrating might we ask, / Or vain the toil, unblest the task, / And impotent of fruit will be / Love’s holiest effort wrought for Thee. Our Christmas cover ‘First Snow’ is a watercolour of Market Harborough by Lubenham artist Michael Edwards, and is used by kind permission. Michael undertakes all kinds of commissions and his work is currently displayed at Waterloo Crafts and Arts centre just outside Market Harborough on the Northampton Road. Michael’s website is at www.michaeledwardsartist.co.uk . 20