AMAZING STORY - ONLY GOD!

Dear LHFC Family

As I type this letter I am struggling to keep back the tears of joy. We have so much to be thankful for but ultimately I want to express my gratefulness in as best as possible English. I wanted to stand up in the 9am service and say how thankful I am, but I realised I was going to struggle to stay composed. To have M in the church on Sunday was a miracle and I felt so fortunate.

When M collapsed it was just God that allowed it to happen in the room where S, C (senior) and I was busy setting up the wardrobe. If it happened a minute earlier or later she would have been in the kitchen. S is the lifesaver that realised she wasn’t breathing as I was under the impression at the time that she had a stroke and I put her in the recovery position. We had to put her back on the ground to do CPR.  1^st responder arrived within 5 minutes! And applied the heart shock thing. They knew she had a heart attack because S called 999 straight away and the emergency services work in a flash. When the ambulance arrived 15 minutes later M had her heart started again. So her heart stopped 25 minutes in total. Ambulance then sped off to the QA and C and I followed.  When we arrived at 4pm they huddled us into a room and I thought ‘this is not good’ the first time we saw M was about 8pm. C could not stand seeing her like that and he left the trauma unit and I received a hug from Lisa D who was there working. They advised us she is going to ICU and we stayed there till about 11pm when we saw her again and I remarked to C that she looks better than with her make up on!
 

She stayed in the ICU till the next Monday so we dealt with a number of ICU staff including Magriet Du T on Wednesday.  The consultant advised us on Tuesday night that we should not even think of anything positive till she came out of the drug induced coma when they would let her body temperature back to normal. So the doctor wasn’t positive and even the nursing staff was very stand offish.

On Sunday we had M back almost 90% as she could talk and recognise people.

One nurse from Zimbabwe told us the hospital was talking about us and how the church is praying for M. She remarked that ‘M has a direct line to God’ When M was in the heart ward we also saw Abi and when we left the heart ward on Friday one of the nursing staff told me that that side of the hospital was abuzz about M and how the church was praying for her.

All the way through the week we had no stress. No doubts. No concerns. The only negative thing that popped in to my mind on Sunday was the cost. The consultant in charge of ICU informed me on Monday that he would make sure they don’t charge us the ICU costs as M stayed there because of no fault of her own. God is good

And I can’t thank you enough for all your prayers and thoughts over the last 2 weeks. 

Praise the Lord, SHALOM,

CJVR

THE DIFFERENCE DHAKA SHOULD MAKE TO ME

With the news of the latest tragedy from Bangladesh, is it time for us to do more than nothing about the appalling conditions that garment workers have to face producing clothes that we can buy cheaply on our high streets? It’s always good to get a bargain but there has to be a limit to our appetite for more.

Whilst most of us don’t even look at the labels that workers sew inside our clothes that might tell us where they have been made, preferring instead to be persuaded by the labels sewn on the outside, we have become cruelly aware once again that the conditions many workers endure, poor pay, long hours and unsafe buildings, should not be tolerated any longer.

But what should we do?

If we stop buying the clothes many people will lose their jobs, fragile as they are. There are 4 million workers dependent on this industry in Bangladesh alone. If we stop buying the clothes then conditions could get even worse in unregulated sweatshops. Hard to imagine, but at least there is hope that western companies will have a little conscience when it comes to employment practices. If we stop buying the clothes then poverty will deepen and the repercussions will be devastating for too any families.

But we have to do something! Don’t we?

Try and buy clothing that you know has been made in places where people are treated with fairness, enjoying good working conditions and getting paid a proper wage for the work they do.

Take some time to get informed about where your clothes come from and the ethical promises from the companies who source them and sell them.

Write to the companies you buy your clothes from and ask them about what they are doing to ensure that the people who make your clothes are looked after in every way, including the conditions they work under.

There is something all of us can do.

We all want a bargain, but at what cost? Unfortunately the people in Bangladesh have paid the ultimate price. Let’s begin to make sure that it is the last time someone dies so that we can buy a £2 t-shirt.

THE FAST, THE FURIOUS AND THE FEAST

Why is there only a lonely 'E' between Feast and Fast? They are so close in spelling but miles apart in how I feel about them. I love feasts but really struggle with fasts and find myself in a constant battle to see this discpline as helpful to my spiritual journey.

Take last week. On Tuesday I was at a local Curry house enjoying a Balti with 8 other guys all of whom had been on Alpha or Christianity Explored recently and wanted to continue the journey of faith. Sat around a table breaking a naan bread together whilst drinking copious amounts of water because the chillis were hot, has a mysterious spiritual element to it. On Thursday I was breaking pizza with several other people who run Faith & Football Leagues in the City (Faith & Football is an activity for children run by volunteers from local churches) and swapping stories of what God was doing through the Leagues. Humbling and encouraging. Then on Saturday morning I had a full breakfast (and I mean FULL!) with 7 other men, all older than me, and we chatted about ordinary things - from tanks to birds to foxes to family - then prayed together. It was so encouraging to listen to followers of Jesus, some who were in their 80's, still passionate, still following, after all these years. It felt like God was present at each feast and that he was pleased.

There is something about feasting that is so good for the soul (as well as the body!)

This week we have asked the church to set aside Wednesday for prayer and fasting (I'm sure there's a missing 'e') as we head towards planning permission for the new building on land next door to our exisiting church. Praying that we are in the centre of God's will and that the opposition we are facing might be overcome. It's going to be a tough day for me, but I know that if I can get this right it too will be good for my soul and my body.

In Isaiah 58, God is rightly furious with the routine ritual that fasting had become. If nothing changes in me becasue I fast, then God has every right to be furious with me. Is it only a day to humble myself, is it only for bowing my head like a reed, (Isaiah 58:5) to make me feel better?

I know I need to approach fasting like a feast and feasting like a fast, that it's not either/or, it's both/and. Then my light will break forth like the dawn, then I will call and the Lord will answer (Isaiah 58:8,9).

I'm looking forward to more feast's and hoping to learn that fasting is something to look forward to as well, taking every opportunity to encounter God and to get myself re-focussed on what He wants to do in me and through me. What a difference they can make as I tune in to God's will and am ready and prepared to be used by Him.

GOING BACK HOME

Have you ever been back to the place you were born?

A few weeks ago I took Kerry back to the place where she was born. The RAF Hospital near Ely in Cambridgeshire. It was a surprise trip for her birthday, she had never been back there since being born there…… (I’m not going to give away a lady’s age!), enough said….in all her life. It was clear that the hospital had changed a lot since the year Kerry was last there, but it was still the place where her life began. It had changed its name, added new buildings, in fact it was hard to see what was left of the old building, but it was still the place.

I was born in Ickenham, Middlesex and as much as I have seen the name on signposts as I have travelled on roads near to it at times, I have never actually been back to where I was born – perhaps that will be my next surprise trip. But I am reminded of it every time I have to fill in certain forms like Passport, CRB forms and more. Yet it is only a name, I don’t remember the place, I wouldn’t recognise the house I was born in, but I know that life began for me there.

It’s like knowing the place where my spiritual birth took place. It was at The Salvation Army, George Street, Uxbridge and I can easily replay the video in my mind of the moment I got out of my chair and knelt at what in Salvation Army speak was the ‘penitent form’ or ‘mercy seat’, and there, with the help of an adult who came to pray with me, I gave my life to follow Jesus. The building was knocked down long ago, but I can recreate the moment at a moment’s notice.

And that is important to me, to be able to go back to the first call of God on my life or rather, my first response to His call. I knew a few weeks earlier that I should have got off my chair and done something about it, but even at 6 years old I knew how to resist God’s voice. And since that first time there have been many more. Times when I have ‘got off my chair’ and times when I have resisted and just sat still.

Every time I hear God’s voice it is the same and it is different. Not because God has changed or the call has changed – it’s always the same, ‘Follow me!’ – but because I have changed. The same words take on a different meaning and a fresh understanding as I get older, I have slowly realised what they really mean and what getting off my chair will cost me . Unlike an eager 6 year olds response, as adults we begin to count the cost and weigh it up and want to choose comfort and don’t like change and want to settle.

And that is the problem. I’m so concerned to count up what it will cost me that I lose sight of what it cost Jesus to invite me to follow Him. Too often I’m expecting Jesus to follow me but it isn’t meant to be like that.

Have you been back to where you were born? Is there a time and a place when you first got up and followed Jesus? Are you too busy counting the cost now and end up staying in the chair? Jesus calls you to get up and follow – 6 year olds and 86 year olds – don’t avoid it, keep taking the risk and remember where it all started. It’s worth the trip next time you want a surprise.

LOOKING FOR JESUS

Have you ever lost your keys, misplaced your phone, forgotten to pick up your child from school? Have you ever lost Jesus? If you have, you are in fine company because even his Mum and Dad lost him as they went back home from Jerusalem. (Luke 2:43-44). It took them three days of searching to find Him again.

A new talent search is starting on ITV – not another one, I hear you cry – this time they are looking for the next Jesus, well someone to play the lead role of Jesus in the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The winner will be decided by a public vote. It will seem a bit weird voting for the next Jesus, but the search is on. I wonder what qualities people will look for? Good looks, blue eyes, great voice, how kind they are or what make of sandals they wear. Whatever the criteria I hope that it will cause many to search for the real Jesus and encounter for themselves the reality of who he is and what he has done.

People have been looking for Jesus since he first came and appeared on earth. The wise men looked for him, the least, the lonely and the lost were always looking for him and the women (the original spice girls) went to the tomb expecting to find him only to discover the stone rolled away and Jesus not there.

Things changed in that moment. Not only because death had been conquered but because Jesus then started looking for us. He spoke Mary’s name and she found him again, he broke bread halfway to Emmaus and two followers saw him again, he stepped into a locked room and showed the disciples his hands and side and they were overjoyed to hear him again. The Risen Jesus is searching for people. He is looking for you and for the people you care about. He is looking for the lost.

Isaiah 65:1 - I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'

The Resurrection turned everything on its head. Jesus burst out of the tomb so that he could continue His search to find people, even those not looking for Him. It’s a promise worth remembering this Easter. He burst from the tomb so the search could carry on in surprising places and at surprising times. He is alive and present.

I’m not sure about the search for Jesus by Lord Webber. I am sure he’ll find a Jesus and preside over another smash hit musical production and make loads of money but what excites me more is that Jesus is looking for people and through his death and resurrection he has committed himself to continuing the search. Just like the Shepherd who lost one of his sheep, Jesus keeps looking until he finds and then he throws a great party.

You can play your part this Easter by pointing people you know in the right direction and giving them an opportunity be found by Jesus. It could be an invitation for a meal or a walk by the sea, it could be in a garden or in an upper room. Jesus will be there with you and you can be sure that he will be looking out for ways to show himself and find the lost. You could be responsible for starting a party in Heaven this Easter. I can hear the singing already!

I GIVE UP (FOR LENT)

I'm looking forward to pancakes tonight, but not to the start of lent tomorrow. An evening of pancakes followed by 40 days of 'denying' myself never fills me with anything but dread. I know it isn't compulsory but there is always a feeling that I should do something different during this time. I'm just so thankful that lent does not include Sundays and I am able to indulge at least once a week.

But is that really what lent is for? Perhaps what it is really all about is taking time to slow down, taking control of the things that are controlling us - whether eating too much, watching too much TV - and refocusing on the mission God has given us. Is that why Jesus went into the desert?

I am determined to do something for the 40 days of lent - reading and reflecting on Luke's Gospel using Tom Wright's 'Lent for Everyone' - but more than that, I want to learn to say, 'No, not now!' to the increasing pressure of the instant and 'Yes, right now!' to what God wants me to do each day.

UN

I visited a Year 4 class at the school where I am a Governor and sat through a brilliant literacy lesson - that's an English lesson for people my age! The teacher was dynamic, the kids were engaged and the learning was significant. After 75 minutes the teacher and children fell exhausted into the playground for a break having experienced a fast-paced, quick-fire, no-time-to-breathe, cram-in-as-much-as-you can experience. (That's due to the pressure on teachers and their children to learn rather than from the teacher). It was great but I came away wondering if all we are doing is teaching our children how to run faster just to keep up and if there is ever a time when we teach them that slowing down is actually good for then as well.

The danger for our children, in fact for all of us, is that we feel that everything has to be done quickly otherwise we might miss the next thing that is coming along.

I was watching the football on Sunday - what a game between Chelsea and Manchester United, fast-paced, ever-changing - and noticed the advertising around the pitch. The advertisers were promoting, faster, smaller, more powerful - a new computer, not a person - and it got me thinking, would any advertiser ever advertise, slower, bigger, weaker?

In looking at the life of Jesus, he was unhurried and uncluttered, he never seemed in a rush, he advocated letting go rather than holding on, he said the first would be last, he seemed to stop and spend time with those on the edges of society rather than rushing by. In fact he 'made himself nothing' and he 'humbled himself' (Philippians 2:7-8).

I wonder if we will ever learn how to slow down, to pause, to stop chasing after the wind and instead find the stillness where we can know God again?

Is it time to change hurry for unhurried, clutter for uncluttered? Of course there was another UN that characterises Jesus - uncompromising. He knew what was most important in his life and his mission, his connection to the Father. That takes time and should never be compromised. After all it is the only way to discover life.