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St John's Egham transform magazine for May/June 2015
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Issue 16 September-October 2011 Issue 38 May — June 2015
An update from Sue Stafford on the Child
Action Lanka shipment
A huge thank you to all at St John’s for all the recent effort
you have made in sending our second shipment of much
needed resources to CAL.
After the successful arrival and distribution of the first shipment
we took the step of planning a second one. Dilshan sent us a
`wish list` of many items that could be used at the five centres
across Sri Lanka. Sam Senanayake offered the same
encouragement and support as before and said that we should
circulate the list and see what God would do. The response was
amazing and thanks go to you all as well as the church and
school at Lyne who partnered with us in this venture. The result
was a shipment five and a half times what was sent before
including 17 bicycles!
We now know the ship docked successfully in Colombo on
Sunday April 5th; amazingly the container cleared customs two
weeks later with the associated charges reduced to a minimum of
£100, exactly matching the donations we’d received. Praise God.
None of this would have been possible without Sam’s time and
effort, the oversight of his friend Don who lives in Sri Lanka, your
generosity and God’s blessing.
I look forward to sharing photos of some of the donated items
and how they are being used as soon as we get them.
Thankyou!
Sri Lanka Shipment!
Sam Senanayake, Sue Stafford and Liz
Gamlen
Laurence Gamlen sorting donations
ready for the shipment
Welcome to the
world Elliott!
J ohnny and Sacha
Sheppard and big brother
Toby welcomed baby Elliott
nine days early on 9th April.
The whole family are thrilled
with the new arrival, and
enjoying the regular meal
deliveries courtesy of the St
John’s Baby Meal cooks!
Owen Page
Sam was
determined that
all 17 bikes
would fit!
Elliott Sheppard
Editor’s Bit
transform May—June 15 Page 2
about
The magazine for members of St John’s
Church in Egham. It is produced bi-monthly,
with the aim of helping to connect and build
our church family. Its purpose is to provide
information and encouragement on church life
and our family – specifically to show how God
is transforming situations and people.
It’s not designed for people who don’t yet
come to St John’s. But, if when you’ve
finished reading your copy, you’d like to pass
it on to a friend or neighbour, then that would
be great too!
Editorial
We welcome items for inclusion or ideas for
stories. Ideally these should be submitted in
an MS Word document, hi - res JPGs or
oth er el ec t r on ic f or m , a n d s e n t b y
e m a i l t o [email protected]
The team
transform is edited by Alison Berry and
Laura Evans-Jones, with the support of a
wider team. New skills are always welcome!
Advertising
We accept adverts each issue both from
within the church family, and a small number
of external advertisements. Acceptance of
any advertising is at the discretion of the
editing team, and the acceptance of an
advertisement in transform magazine is not
necessarily an endorsement by the editorial
team of the service or product offered.
Deadlines The deadline for submissions to be
considered for the next edition of transform
(July/August 2015) is 10th June.
L anguage is
always
developing, and
there are several
words and
phrases that
have recently
crept into the vernacular. There are two I
particularly dislike, the first of which is the
gratuitous use of the word “like” as a
punctuation between other words, or as
I’ve explained to our children “when I like
use like the word like all the time, it like
really becomes like a habit which is like
really like hard to break and like makes you
sound like pretty stupid”. The second is
“playdate”; it’s been around a while, is
American, and is when children go to each
other’s homes to play. The third doesn’t so
much annoy me, as bemuse me, and that
is the term “forever home” - the big dream,
typified by programmes such as “Location,
Location, Location” - more than simply
owning a house, there’s an aspiration many
of us share to have a home which we feel
connected with, where our families grow
and some of our best memories are made
– or the home we simply don’t ever want to
move from so stay in “forever”.
Whilst I love my home, and don’t want to,
or plan to move from there any time soon,
I’m pragmatic enough to know that
sometimes change is inevitable or even
desirable. More poignantly the recent death
of my next door neighbour (who bought his
house in the 1970’s as his “forever home”)
is a timely reminder that our time here is
finite, and that this world is not, and could
never be what life is all about. Our forever
home is one that awaits us in heaven – as
individuals and as the church, Christ’s
bride.
Easter is of course the greatest day in
history; where Christ looked death in the
face and defeated it, opening the gates of
heaven for us once and for all. I so often
need to be reminded in the midst of what is
a very blessed life that although I’m
resident on earth, I’m actually have
citizenship of heaven right now (Philippians
3:20). Or as Paul puts it rather more bluntly
in his letter to the Corinthians, “If only for
this life we have hope in Christ, we are of
all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians
15:19.
There are so many reasons to look forward
to heaven, including getting a new body (1
Corinthians 15:50-54, 2 Corinthians 5:4), a
custom built house (John 14:1-3) and we
get to eat great food (Matthew 8:11;
Revelation 19:9) presumably calorie free!
But the number one reason Heaven will be
exciting is that we will get to see God (1
John 3:2; John 14:3).
Getting to see God will be the completion
of a circle;
We were created. We fell. Through Christ
we are restored. The Prince of Peace paid
the price of peace. Peace spills over into
love and love spills over into service; to
reach out, to be compassionate, to give
and not count the cost, to be last and least
and lowliest, to play our part in personal,
corporate and global wholeness….
And ultimately to meet our creator,
redeemer, stronghold and master when
his cosmic restoration is complete and
the paradise of peace is our forever
home.
Our Forever Home….
“The term is over: the holidays have begun.
The dream is ended: this is the morning”
C.S. Lewis
transform Editor, Alison Berry
Building for The future
fundraising events
Friday May 15th
7.30pm
in church
Sunday May 31st
3-6pm
9 Hummer Road
A variety of cakes,
sandwiches and
speciality teas with
background music from 50's to
80's played on vinyl.
Admission for both these events
will be by a donation towards the
Easter Centre fund.
“ The term is over: the
holidays have begun. The
dream is ended: this is the
morning.….All their life in
this world and all their
adventures in Narnia had
only been the cover and
the title page: now at last
they were beginning
Chapter One of the Great
Story, which no one on
earth has read: which goes
on for ever: in which every
chapter is better than the
one before.
C.S. Lewis The Last Battle
transform May—June 15
Our Lent Project 2015 Update
Page 3
I an & Simea Meldrum and their ministry in Olinda,
Brazil was the focus of this year’s Lent Project. We
supported them through prayer and through
financial giving as they continue God’s work of
transforming their community. The current projects
which Ian & Simea are involved in are:
Living Waters Church (next to the old rubbish
dump) - worship services, lessons for children,
computer classes, crafts co-operative, health
services.
The Farm (50 acres of land a 40 minute drive from
the city) - used for retreats, camps for all ages and
much more.
My Father’s House (near the seafront in the city) -
home for boys who are unable to live with their
families.
Transform Support Houses (two properties, one
near Living Waters, the other in the historical part of Olinda) - to be used as youth centres. These houses are their newest outreach.
God has provided the premises, and now they are busy training volunteers and
equipping the properties. The hope is that these houses will become focal points for
local churches to work together. Through music dance and theatre workshops the teams
will reach out to local children and teenagers—they will build relationships and introduce
them to God’s word.
Total Gifts = £3043.24
(including £46.24 from Footprints)
Page 4 Transform May
Celebrating the faithful and reaching out to everyone!
Brenda
Walker
I felt like I was in
a dark place
and I didn’t
want to go on. I
was at my lowest
point and as I went
for a walk I met Gill
Hewson, whom I’d known for many years, and she invited me to St John’s. I attended
a service and over the next few months spent a lot of time with the prayer ministry
team crying over problems I was having with my family and with debt. With no family
to turn to God had sent the prayer team to help me. Each time I came to church I felt
lifted and the more
I went the more I
wanted to go.
Often on a
Wednesday I
would go into The
Kitchen and spend
time with Sue
Naudi and Carol
Peters who both
encouraged me
with verses and
texts and kept in
contact with me.
Carol took me to
the CAP Money
Course but I felt overwhelmed and yet I felt God was telling me that this was the right
thing to do even though I was frightened. I was told that St John’s would soon have a
CAP Debt Centre, my debt was bringing me down and though I wanted to be set free
from it, dealing with it was frightening and I didn’t know where to turn or how I could
make the first step but Sue Gray helped me to do that and stood with me through the
difficult days and nights. God has turned my life around and has used CAP to set me
free from my debt.
God has given me a family through the church and I have found fellowship and friends
through the different ministries such as Oasis and the Bereavement Coffee Mornings.
People that know me have said that the church has been a turning point for me and
that I walk with my head held high again.
I want others to know my story and that God has rescued me and said to me that
“enough is enough, this is my time for a new life in God’s family”. I am reminded of two
verses that have been said to me, one that God will wipe all the tears from my eyes
and the other one that he knows the plans he has for me and they are good.
Victoria
Berry
I have been
bought up as
a Christian and
have been
going to church
since before I
was even born
so Jesus has
always been a
big part of my
life.
I gave my life to God on the 9th April 2010 in Spring
Harvest Skegness. It was a really big step for me
and today, I would like to make an even bigger step
and splash in to my faith. I want to get baptised
because I believe that Jesus loves me so much that
he died for me and to make a public stand that I am
a Christian.
Sarah Johnson
A t this point in my life I want to be baptized because I
want to be in the everlasting safety of God and Jesus
and use the knowledge I have acquired to help my
spiritual life and that of those around me.
Sue Gray with Brenda at Virginia Lodge
Carol Peters with Brenda as she renewed her baptism vows
Page 5
Page 5 Transform May—June 15
Celebrating the faithful and reaching out to everyone!
Jas Sudworth
I am wanting to get baptized
because I have been a Christian
all my life and I believe that God
has kind of always been there for
me and it’s just that I want to make
a statement to show that I truly
believe that all of us have been
saved and I feel truly honoured that
someone could love anyone that
much. I just want to learn more
about God and what he has
planned for me knowing that I am
truly wanting to follow him.
Victoria
Berry
have been
bought up as
a Christian and
have been
going to church
since before I
was even born
so Jesus has
always been a
big part of my
April 2010 in Spring
Harvest Skegness. It was a really big step for me
and today, I would like to make an even bigger step
and splash in to my faith. I want to get baptised
because I believe that Jesus loves me so much that
he died for me and to make a public stand that I am
Thanks to Amin and Heather
Cooke as Assistant Wardens
(and all the other unsung
heroes) for ensuring the
baptism pool is filled and
emptied for these wonderful
occasions!
"to him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask
or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us, to him be
glory in the church and in Christ
Jesus throughout all generations, for
ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
O n Saturday 18th April we celebrated the official handover of
Virginia Lodge from Runnymede Mental Health Association to
St John's Egham. We were able to share our vision is for
Virginia Lodge to be a 7 day a week facility with Runnyede’s Mayor
Elect Derek Cotter, Community Police Officers, Strode’s College,
Waitrose and more! Already underway are at Virginia Lodge are The
Kitchen, the Egham CAP Debt Centre, the St John’s Pastoral Care
Team, with Runnymede FoodBank coming soon, and plans for a “Men
in Sheds” group.
Beth Carr
I cannot remember a time when I haven’t been a Christian. I was first baptised as a tiny
baby in hospital and grew up surrounded by Christian friends at a Church of England and
then a Catholic school. I joined the church youth group, which introduced me to other
Christian youth events including Bredon, a week-long summer camp. It is here where I
have been encouraged in faith the most, spending a week having fun with fellow Christian
teenagers, finding fantastic role models in the leaders, and learning more and more about
what Jesus has done for me and how to live for him. Last summer I moved onto being an
assistant leader, with the motivation for this programme being taken from 1 Thessalonians
4v1: “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to
please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do
this more and more”.
Coming to university, I have for the first time gained a number of close non-Christian
friends. Instead of leading me away from Christ, my faith has grown and I am so grateful that I have been able to find a church
and community that has nurtured this: Christian Union and Student Life Group have been a blessing. I have also been prompted
to pray for my friends because I want them to be able to experience the same relationship with God as I am blessed with. 1
Peter 1v3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.
transform May—June 15 Page 6
Mission Partner Focus
transform May—June 15 Page 6
P icture the scene:
the pool waiter
brings you your
iced tea or Pimm’s. You sip
it whilst watching the sun go down and later, when you return to your
room, the A/C is on, the sheets have been turned down and there is a
chocolate on the pillow.
Or … you could do what Sue, Sue, Sue, Liz, Janet, Ali, Pip and I have
done, volunteer with Child Action Lanka and spend a very worthwhile
fortnight in interesting but beautiful conditions helping children from the
poorest of backgrounds in one of the poorer countries in the
commonwealth….and thoroughly enjoy it!
We were a motley team of 8 representing 4 churches and comprising of
3 nurses, 1 midwife, a vicar, 2 counsellors and a retired IT consultant.
The nurses and counsellors ran a variety of clinics where they checked
on the health of mothers along with their babies and toddlers. In addition
they taught them games; held conversations in English so as to improve
their language skills and also ran clinics for the children attending the
CAL centres.
These clinics weren’t just checks; the nurses also taught the mothers
about hygiene, contraception and the need to feel good about
themselves, as the mothers are key to a happy family life.
Stethoscopes and Sues
A couple of these clinics were in Kandy in what one might call a
standard building. However the team went to far flung places and
often ran clinics in the outdoors. In these indoor and outdoor
environments the nurses checked the children’s ears, eyes and throat
and also did heart and chest (lungs & breathing) checks.
My Sue was apprehensive as she hadn’t held a stethoscope for years,
why would she? This meant she was definitely relying on God’s strength
and not hers. Under the watchful eye of Sue Kershaw (if in doubt the
nurses were called Sue) she was especially pleased one day to have
picked up a heart murmur amongst other things.
They had one hiccough when in one place the children were visibly
scared of them. It transpired that the only Europeans they had seen
previously had administered a full set of injections, hence the mistrust.
CAL have set up a database of children who they come into contact
with. In this database they record height, weight and a few other things
such that they can measure growth progress and more importantly flag
up those individual children in need of specific attention. One lad for
example was in need of physiotherapy, but his mother felt she could
earn more ‘begging’ if she had an effectively handicapped child. It’s very
difficult to break out of this cycle.
Alan Beer takes us on a rough guide of his
two weeks in Sri Lanka
Swapping Chocolate for Kandy….
Jesus said “In as much as you’ve
done it to the least of these, you’ve
done it to me”.
Matthew 25:40 “
Emma Roberts in action
The desks that Phil built
Below : Janet, Alan, Sue, Sue & Sue, Liz, Pip & Ali
An outdoor clinic ‘on the mat’
Taking our skills & talents to serve others
transform May—June 15 Page 7 transform May—June 15 Page 7
Schools, Solicitors and Safe Houses
I n Sri Lanka the children aren’t allowed to go to school if they don’t have
shoes, uniform and a school bag - so CAL provide these for the poorest in
society – they introduce uniforms early in order to create the feeling of
belonging.
An aim of CAL is to break the cycle of poverty such that children can achieve
their potential. For example one lad whose mother lived on the streets has come
all the way through the system and is now training to be a solicitor. It was great
to be a minor part of this process even if it was only for two weeks.
CAL’s current, or next, project is a “Safe House”; a refuge where mothers and
children who are at risk can go to get away from abusive, often drunk, partners.
At the moment the house is barely more than a shell with a lot of work needed
but already volunteers are ‘appearing’ who have the skills and desire to work on
this project.
Can I end with one anecdote about this ‘need’ for volunteers. After our stay at
CAL in Kandy, Sue and I went to the coast for a 3 day break before flying home.
We were waiting for the train one morning and struck up a conversation with two
back packing ladies, mid twenties, about what they and we had been doing.
They said they’d love to do something working with children in Sri Lanka but felt
their skills were not in demand. They were Physiotherapists – one of the skills
CAL is crying out for. We passed CAL’s details on to them and their details onto
CAL.
The mission statement for CAL talks about “changing the lives of the next
generation of Sri Lankan children”. They certainly do that and as a bonus the
experience changes the lives of the volunteers as well.
If you haven’t booked next year’s holiday I can recommend an excellent
tour guide in Sue Stafford. Talk to her, or us. You wont get Pimm’s but
you will get a sense of satisfaction that actually money can’t buy.
Getting on board the IT bus
F or the nurses they knew what they were going to be doing as several of them
had been before. In terms of computing and IT I really didn’t have a clue
(what to expect that is) so I took just about everything I could. Many people
contributed to making the trip a success. This included boxes of toothpaste from
Guy and Sarah Habberfield-Bateman (we didn’t use this for IT!) plus Microsoft
software from Gingy Jack, a fully portable training web site for use in the office
and in the bus, Inspyder Software and GCFLearnFree. We also took a full set of
tools for the maintenance of the many computers they now have. Paul, on the
right in the picture said it was like Christmas!
As well as working in the Kandy Office assisting them with understanding and
using the various Microsoft office products I spent a lot of my time on the
Computer Bus. This is a converted single deck bus with its own generator and a
laptop computer for every double seat. There is also air conditioning and a big
display screen to which I could connect my laptop. The bus would either drive to a
school and park or pick up children from school and then motor to somewhere to
park for the afternoon. For example the edge of a lagoon off the Indian Ocean.
Thus we gave lessons in the most idyllic scenery imaginable. Marco Polo probably
the greatest explorer the world has ever known said of Sri Lanka and its scenery
that ‘it is the closest to heaven on earth he has ever seen’. I agree!
Proud mum whose son is training to be a solicitor
The safe house
Page 8
transform November-December 09 Page 8
transform May—June 15 Page 8
Back page thought provoker
Being a priest, missionary, doctor or nurse are all traditionally seen as Christian
vocations as their day to day role involves direct service to God or to one’s
neighbour. Although the latter two do involve science it is strictly speaking more the
application of it than science in its purest sense. So what about scientific research, where one
spends most of the day neither proclaiming the word of God nor serving one’s neighbour?
One could argue that scientific discovery benefits humankind so therefore it is serving one’s
neighbour, or that it helps us subdue the earth – the command given to us in Genesis - but
that would put limits on which areas of scientific research are Christian and those which are
not. For example the foundations of Quantum Mechanics have been puzzling scientists for
the past 80 years, and may still be a great mystery for decades to come. Even if we solve the
mystery the applications apply more to communications than saving human lives. Does this
make this research secular? We may uncover and understand the laws that govern the
universe, and therefore be able to use them for our benefit, but we will never subdue or
govern them. I wish to make the argument that all scientific research (within ethical limits),
when done by those whom God has called, is a Christian vocation, even if there seem to be
no direct links between the research helping save human lives or subduing the earth.
Science as a Christian vocation
Anna Pearson unpacks more….
God created us to subdue the earth and to help one another, but he also
created us for Himself – “the people I formed for myself that they may
proclaim my praise” (Isaiah 43:21). As a scientist uncovers more and more of God’s
work it increases their awe and worship of the Creator, and this is not just for their
personal benefit. Scientific discovery is shared, the joy and wonder is spread, as are
the yet unsolved mysteries. In the Old Testament God prescribed that there should be
a community of full time musicians in the temple to worship Him, their living being paid
by the other Israelites, which we see today in churches with worship leaders. One can
worship God with a song, but one can worship God with so much more. Just as Eric
Liddell said “when I run, I feel God’s pleasure”, I think that God gets pleasure from His
children searching Him out, uncovering His mysteries and increasing our
understanding that His ways are higher than ours. Every time as a human race we
think we have understood the world we live in, another “layer” is uncovered. In solids
there are atoms, in atoms there are neutrons etc, in neutrons there are quarks....and all
of this makes up less than 5% of the universe!
Along with research and discovery being an act of worship there are other reasons,
more specific to different disciplines, why science can been seen as a Christian
vocation. In Genesis 2:19 Adam is given the task of naming the animals. In Hebrew a
name is not just a name as it is in English, knowing someone’s (or thing’s) name meant
knowledge of their character and being. That task pretty much sums up modern
zoology. Also, every green plant was given for food. One could interpret this as
meaning that every plant has a use, be it medicinal or culinary, However, unless we
research all the different plants we will never know – and if we destroy many of them
before we have even discovered them then we lose that knowledge forever.
If we take a look at scientific research, without analysing how it may help
humankind or help us to get the most out of the world that we live in, or even
how to help preserve the Earth, what is left? - Discovery, amazement,
puzzlement, disbelief, understanding, an increase of knowledge and
insight......worship. If one wants to understand a composer one studies their music, if
one wants to know what was going through an artist’s mind one studies their
paintings, if one wants insight into the mind of a poet one reads their poetry, so it
follows that if one strives to know the mind of God one should study His work. Not
for the sake of the application of the knowledge (although of course this is a good
thing), but for the comprehension of a tiny bit more of the mind of the One who
created them. A scientist spends all their day studying the mind of God, delving into
the clues He left of His “eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20), increasing
in “depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God” (Romans 11:33-34). Science is a Christian vocation
because as a human
race we are supposed to take care of the Earth
(Genesis 2:15). After having used fossil fuels for
hundreds of years we now know that we need to
find alternatives with the solutions most likely to
be solved by Chemists, Physicists or Engineers,
hopefully in the not too far future. Advances in
modern medicine (which do have a direct links to
helping our neighbours) have arisen thanks to
Biochemists, Engineers etc. The list goes on.
GREAT ARE THE works of the
Lord; THEY ARE pondered BY ALL
WHO take delight in them.
PSALM 111:2
The words of Psalm 111:2 “The
works of the LORD are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure
therein” are inscribed above the entrance to the
Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. The idea
of a conflict between science and faith has not
always been as prevailing as it is today.
What a marvellous vocation to ponder
the works of the Almighty God!
Anna Pearson; Physics PhD student
