“Peace be with you.” John 20.19 I want to share with you my Pastors’ words today, because I thought they could do with sharing!
”One of my friends who is in lockdown lives in a flat. She is on her own. Even though she keeps contact with family and friends by phone, at times, the isolation is suffocating. ”She feels frightened, forgotten, frustrated, by this virus that has taken her captive. ”I wonder if a story in the life of Jesus can help us when we feel like that? ”After his resurrection, Jesus visited a group of people who were in a lockdown of their own making. They were not afraid of a virus, but they feared the loss of their lives because of their friendship with Jesus. ”But because Jesus understands the loneliness, fear, and thoughts that go round and round in our minds when we reside behind locked doors, he visited his friends, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” (John 20 v 19). Jesus also offered them reasons to trust in him. Instead of their hearts then being filled with loneliness, they overflowed with joy! ”If you are finding lockdown difficult today, then invite Jesus to visit you and experience that peace for yourself.” ~ ~~ words were written by Pastor Mary Barrett. I hope they help you to feel more peaceful, as they did for me. 😊 Stay safe, and take care!
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"There were so many strange coincidences leading up to us even booking ourselves onto the trip; I was already starting to wonder just what God DID have in store for us all! Before travelling to the DR my faith was really slipping. I rarely attended church and I spent most of my life being too busy, too exhausted and too afraid to give God any of my very precious time. I had turned my back on Him but he had patiently waited for me. He took me from my busy, materialistic life to a quiet third world island with nothing. He sent me out with a team of strangers from all over the country, who turned out to be just the right people at just the right time and while He had my full and undivided attention... He shouted at me with a mega phone for two whole weeks!!! I’m a bit slow on the uptake but I was starting to realise that God had taken me out there for a reason. But how was he going to change my life? I waited patiently wondering each day what it would be and then one day we sang ‘Touch the Sky’ by Hillsong. The lyrics brought me to my knees. The line ‘I found my life when I laid it down’ was my answer. He wasn’t going to change my life, I already had a perfectly amazing life. He wanted me to lay mine down so I could change the lives of others. I absolutely loved every day we spent volunteering. I felt so at home helping these wonderful people, but our two weeks were drawing to an end and I hadn’t had that lightning bolt moment that I was sort of expecting God to hit me with. But then the day came that we visited Nazareth House. Nazareth House is home to Sister Mercedes and the fifteen disabled children she cares for her as own. She has laid down her life for these children; many had been abandoned on the side of the road, and some left on her doorstep. With no NHS, children with disabilities are just too expensive to care for. And then it happened… Just one look at her face, before she had even spoken a word and I felt the Lord speak straight to my heart and He said ‘THIS IS IT’. Sister Mercedes gave her extraordinary testimony (which I cried all the way through). She hadn't wanted to do this. She really wanted to stay in the convent with the other nuns but God kept leading her and telling her to care for these children and so she faithfully did. The home they currently rent isn’t purpose built. Bathroom doorways are too narrow for the children’s wheel chairs, and there are nowhere near enough bedrooms. Worse still the house has been put up for sale. She is clearly worried about the situation but her faith is unrelenting. As we leave and get back on the bus I can’t hold it together any longer. Lots of tears are flowing and my daughter just looks at me and says, ‘You want to do something about this, don’t you Mum?’ I have a talk with Claire (the missionary looking after our group) who has during the two weeks become an amazing friend (funny that, just the right person, at just the right time). She tells me that she also dreams of building Sister Mercedes and the children a new home. Their own home. No rent to pay, no worries of being evicted. With specialist equipment, bathrooms that the children can get their wheel chairs into and space for the children to learn and play. She thinks we’ll need £150,000 to make that dream a reality and she asks me to keep praying that the house will not sell anytime soon. I’m desperate to help, frantic almost, but she’s quite calm and says ‘if it’s a God thing it will happen.’ So we’ve been home for nearly three months now. Claire and I are in touch regularly and I’m delighted to say that two major charities - Mission Direct and The Samaritan foundation - have both adopted the project. £19,000 has been raised already and volunteering teams just like ours will start work on the new home next summer. It clearly IS a God thing and when God is with you anything is possible. So we are all fundraising like crazy and could do with all the help and support anyone can offer. So please remember this project in your prayers. Ordinary people, just like our little family, just like you, can do anything with God by your side. Don’t be afraid to listen and to act. Don’t let fear put you off, God is with you, even when you don’t realise. He never gives up on us."
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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