Beautiful Feet

An excerpt from the latest edition of BMS World News which Alison gave to me, and which is so moving and needs prayer.

BEAUTIFUL FEET

A BMS worker in Afghanistan has a makeover with a difference

Those we meet with regularly at our weekly meeting (Friday being our Sunday here) include an Uzbek lady who runs a school for deaf Afghan girls and teaches them hairdressing, manicure, pedicure and facial massage.

I and a couple of raggedy-looking friends recently arrived from the provinces, decided to give this a try. We discovered that deaf and partially-hearing girls are trained here and the hair cutting is overseen by two foreign professionals.

While I enjoyed a pedicure (such decadence), I sleepily looked out of the half-open window, noticing the birdsong and a baby crying in a nearby garden. It occurred to me that the girl attending to my feet was totally oblivious to all this. She smiled and indicated questions to me by gesticulation but I realised how isolating her disability was.

In this country a disability such as deafness, blindness, mental and even some physical congenital problems can mean no education whatsoever.

This area of work may, on the surface, look trivial; an unnecessary luxury. However, to see these girls communicating with one another having learnt sign language and watching those who are hearing being their friends makes one understand what a huge change this school has made to their lives. They have confidence with their peers and with Afghan and foreign customers.

Whether the vision of those who manage the school – that the girls may become proficient enough to run their own businesses – will ever come to fruition, who knows? I hope that it will and, indeed, one of my newly coiffed friends runs courses in business development and is going to try to help in this area.

Kazakhstan Team Report

Before our Team went I asked them two questions, in order for us to be able to pray for them – Is there one thing you would like to achieve during your Mission Trip? How would you like people to pray for you during the last two weeks? – They are returning to the UK on 15 November.

Mary Mifsud:
I would like to be able to make a difference, however small, to somebody’s life, because they will definitely be making a difference to mine. I would like people to pray for me to have the right words and the courage to say them.

Sue McCarthy:
Although we will be involved in a number of areas, whilst working in the school to have time with the children, being able to do a party for them, as well as, hopefully, doing cooking and helping them with their English. It would be good if they had the chance to do things they would not normally be able to do. Please pray that it all comes together and that there will be enough for us to do, but not too much, as there will be a lot of travelling involved.

Sylvia Payne:
What I am looking forward to is getting to know the members of the team better as well as renewing friendships in Kazakhstan and encouraging the saints. Please pray that I will be able to keep up the pace with whatever it is that we are doing and be an asset to Steph and the others. Please pray also for wisdom for me so that it will be clear to me how I should divide my time between the team and my national friends.

Stephanie Ross:
Just to be a blessing to the team, as leader, and to the people out there. Please pray for the health of the team, that we will not become too tired and again that we reach the potential in the last two weeks. That the Lord will maximise us while we are there and that relationships go deep enough to be sustained when we come back.

Jill Grant:
To face my fears, to see a change in me, and to feel closer to Jesus. Please pray for my family, that the team get on well together, that we will make a difference whilst we are there and that our Father will keep us safe and well.

Spero Mifsud: What I would like to achieve
My going to Kazakhstan is a fulfilment of a 20 year old prophesy spoken over me by 3 people - fear has always stopped me from acting on this. I would like to bring this prophesy to life in this trip and in doing so, bring glory to God. I would also like to get to know the rest of team better as we work at being ambassadors for Christ. My prayer requests would be WISDOM. I am going into a situation that I have no expertise in and have no idea the best way to deal with this. Please pray that God will show me the best way to tackle the huge task He has asked me to deal with.

Matt Harris:
Because of Matt’s full time work commitments in the UK, he was only able to be in Kazakhstan for the first week (half term in the UK) so he went there specifically to work with the teachers in the schools, teaching them how to teach. It was to be a very intense week and he shared with me that what he wanted to achieve was to be a blessing to the teachers, that he would be able to support them in their work – to encourage them and be useful to them – and to show them how to be better teachers in such a sensitive way that they would not feel that they were being criticised or condemned.

IN THE HOT SEAT

Mark Edwards, one of our Deacons was asked "Mark, would you like to share with us something about your life"

AT HOME
I live at home with my wife, Natalie, and sons, Isaac and Taliesin. I also have a daughter, Lori, but she has left home and has a flat in Dartford. Home for me doubles as an office where I work 3 days a week, planned, plus any other time required as I am constantly on call.

AT WORK?
I work for The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters as Travel Manager. My responsibility is to ensure everyone who needs to travel gets to where they need to go around the world. It can be quite a challenge, especially at times during a disaster such as the recent flooding in the Philippines and the Indonesian earthquake, in organising and getting teams out to areas of need to assist in the relief work. Coordinating travel around the world can also be interesting when dealing in different time zones. Only this week I was contacted late evening from a traveller in Canada who had a problem and needed advice about an insurance claim. My role is quite varied and is not just simply booking flights. Some other responsibilities are arranging travel visas, organising insurance and processing claims, making sure necessary funding is in place to proceed with travel, recording and monitoring travel spend from around the world and analyzing the data to produce financial reports. I am always working to deadlines which are continually changing depending on need, and despite being very pressurized, it is still enjoyable.

AT PLAY?
I like to play golf but other commitments have not allowed me to get out too much over the past few months. Although not a keen gardener I have over the summer spent a lot of time clearing the garden, which was very overgrown when we moved into the house two years ago. We have started a small vegetable patch which will probably expand so the garden, I think, will become a big part of my relaxation time. I could not pass up the opportunity to mention sport and particularly Welsh international rugby and football. My wife will tell you I take this too seriously and get far too agitated before a game. I have travelled for many years down to Cardiff to watch the Wales home football matches and continue to expect a win every time. My enthusiasm has passed to Isaac and appears also to be passing to Taliesin so we will in the future have some good boys days out.

How long have you know Jesus as your Lord, Saviour and Friend?

Although brought up in a Christian home and being aware of Jesus it was not really until 10 years ago that I can say I accepted Jesus as my Friend and Saviour.

What difference do you find being a Christian makes in your life?

Looking back on the years where I had not accepted Jesus it is clear that He was guiding me but I didn’t know it at the time. The difference I think is that I now have a real relationship with Jesus, know that my life has a purpose and that if I follow God’s plan for me I will be fulfilled.

Have you a favourite Bible verse?

I don’t have a specific favourite verse but for me, a good couple of verses to remember are Proverbs 3 v 5-6 which says ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths’. I’m a person that doesn’t share problems easily and if I have an issue tend to try and work out a solution myself, so these verses are a great reminder to ask God for guidance each day and to know that if we turn to Him then He will show us the way.

A Future Perspective

Well here I am again, under threat from your kindly Editor, who seems to believe that I leave this piece for the Newsletter to the last minute just to cause her grief! The last one was too short by the way ‘cause it didn’t fit the space allocated’. I promise to try to keep this one about the right length otherwise I might just be in even deeper water. Well I think we had at least one answer to the phatic hiatus question, and I’m not sure but we may have had some more stones.

It’s been a busy couple of months, what with the Church meeting looking at Café Church, Frank and Andrew taking shoe boxes to Poland…oh! Got that wrong they went to see where the boxes would go. If we manage to get 100 boxes that would be a wonderful achievement so let’s go for it. Then there was Chancellor John with the Budget. I reckon we just need to remember what God has given us in Jesus to realise just how little we really give to him. We are trying to help the mob going to Kazakhstan - what a motley crew they are - but a serious appeal and one that I know will succeed. I think they are very brave and deserve all the support we can give them. Then there’s Peter, need I say more?

The end of October will have seen two weeks of Prayer and Praise for the Church and with the commissioning of the Refresh Centre coming up, with pledges and cash coming in to cover our confirmation of Peter as Centre Manager. All this is just too exciting for me. I think I’ll have to take a holiday, well with Christmas coming up (ask Linda how many days to go, she always knows the answer to that question) I might be able to do just that.

This month I thought I’d look forward to Christmas, but just a little note first. It’s about using words twice and encouraging the congregation to break the law! Andrew said in one of his sermons that we should drive on the right; well that really is just too dangerous and I hope that all drivers who heard this will refuse to take his lead. Mind you, if you’ve been driving in France or Spain or perhaps learnt to drive in a foreign country, then just sometimes, for example when you start out first thing in the morning, do you find yourself driving down the ‘wrong’ side of the road?

Then, in the same sermon, he was heard to repeat the word ‘do’ twice making ‘do do’ just the thing not to do. Well I’m not so sure that that is very good English, and would have thought if he had had any sense he wouldn’t have used that expression. It’s a little like the sign that went up outside the Dog and Partridge and the publican said to the sign writer ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to do that again as there’s too much space between the Dog and and and and and Partridge.’ (note to Editor: Prizes for examples of multiple use of the same word in sentences?).

Which brings me to Christmas. I had hoped to include a little diversion about the office Christmas party and just how much trouble it can cause for employers in today’s ‘inclusive’ society. However I was unable to edit it to fit on the page and still make sense because it was too long (I’m only a writer not an editor). Perhaps the Editor can put it in the Bumper Christmas edition of the newsletter next month if considered worthy of publication?

What are you doing at Christmas this year? Will you be celebrating with family or friends? Going on holiday to get away from it all? Or will you be alone, not sure what to do, not wanting to interfere with other peoples arrangements but nevertheless desperate for company and in need of some genuine Christmas cheer? I would urge as many of us as find it possible to think of our friends, neighbours and fellow humans at this time, especially those who would otherwise be on their own, and find room to include them as members of your family in celebrating the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ;. Perhaps invite them to dinner and give them a present not expecting anything in return. Just love them as Christ loves us and treat them as you would want to be treated yourself. It may be that some just want to be alone so respect their wishes as well, but that does not stop you from demonstrating Christ’s love for them which is for everyone for ever.

One or two years ago several of our fellowship joined in working for ‘Crisis at Christmas’ bringing help to the homeless and practically demonstrating God’s love for his children. Will this be something that one year, when the Refresh Centre is fully operational, we at Belvedere Baptist will be able to do for the needy people in our community? Perhaps this is just a small part of the challenge in developing our vision for the Centre and how it can be used to benefit the community in Belvedere.
Anon

A TRIBUTE TO VON CASCIANI

Who died on Wednesday, 14th October 2009

I have known Von and Bert and family since 1969 when I started to attend Woolwich Central Baptist Church. We have been good friends ever since and I feel so sad that Von has passed away.

I have always appreciated Von's openness and straightforward approach to life. She loved Jesus and was always ready to discuss the importance of her faith and was never afraid to question things in order to help her faith to grow deeper. Von had a great sense of humour and loved having fun with others.

One of the things I will remember about Von was the deep concern she had for people who needed support. In the early 1970's Von and Bert and their daughter Christine were part of a group from the church at Woolwich who went up to central London on Saturday nights to take soup and bread to the homeless. Von's heart was with those homeless people and she was doing what she could to show she cared and sought to share Jesus in a practical way.

That care has never left her and we have experienced at Home Group her expressions of concern for those in need of help and support from the real needs of neighbours to international affairs.

Von loved her family and they loved her. It is very clear to see that Bert and Von have shared a very close relationship in their marriage and I so feel for Bert at this very sad time. We thank God for Von's life and the privilege of having her as part of our Fellowship. Our Home Group will miss her very much. Von contributed so much to the weekly gatherings and Von and Bert made us all feel so welcome as we met in their home.

At Von’s funeral we will celebrate her life and in our sadness will be joyful that she is now with the Lord she has loved through her life.
Chris Bryant

Vulture Funds - Update

What are they?

In last months article, I introduced you to the concept of Vulture Funds that are used by a number of aggressive (and immoral) companies who take advantage of the debt of poor countries for their own profit, by buying up cheap debts from these countries and then suing these countries for repayment. I continued by mentioning that in about a fifth of the current cases, the adjudicating court has been in the UK. Jubilee Debt Campaigners are among those who have been calling upon our government for a change in the law that would prevent the action of these Vulture Funds.

Although this has not happened, there is a little good news: the UK Government has announced a consultation on legislation that would reduce the amount that UK courts could award to such “lenders” who try to sue such countries, if they qualify for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. If nothing else, this would make the UK courts a less attractive platform from which such companies could operate. If this proposed legislation becomes law, hopefully, the USA and other nations will follow our lead.,br.
In the meantime, could I ask you to write to your MP., urging him to sign Early Day Motion 1440, introduced by Sally Keeble MP. in May. Thank you
Derek Fraser