Running 3 hours late - or maybe not!

Earlier this week I had one of those days when nothing seemed to happen at the right time, and everything seemed to take longer than planned - you ever have those days? please tell me you do, and that it's not just me who struggles to get the to-do list to fit in with the number of hours in the day!

Anyway, on this particular day, something happened that left me reflecting on the difference between my thoughts on the schedule for the day, and God's view on my schedule; and a reminder that my perspective is so little compared to His.

As I said, the day wasn't going at the pace I'd hoped, and so it was 4.30pm before I got to the post office, rather than lunchtime as planned. The post office in Thornbury is at the back of the Co-op, and as I came out, I bumped into (metaphorically, not literally, quite) Jocelyn, a young mum who I had met 2 years back when she came on an Alpha course at church.

Jocelyn had happened to lend Natalie some books linked to Nat's geography studies, and the books were still waiting to be returned, something I mentioned in passing as we stood doing a quick hello. Jocelyn's reply - 'you'd better be quick then, we move to Delhi in two weeks' - was not what I was expecting!

Despite both of us being in a hurry for different reasons we had a quick further chat enough for her to explain why they were moving to Delhi,  and me to mention that Natalie would be in Delhi at the end of February for a couple of days. We parted after Jocelyn had given me her e-mail address and phone number and invited Natalie to go and stay!

The key thing about this story is that for the past few weeks I have been receiving FCO alerts about the increasing concerns for safety of female travellers in Delhi, due to increasing reports of sexual harassment and attacks. Natalie was aware of the situation, but the plane ticket required her to be going to Delhi, and we had both been praying that she would find someone she could travel with on those days, or stay with, so that she wouldn't be alone.

So, the meeting with Jocelyn was an amazing answer to prayer - Natalie now has somewhere to stay in Delhi, plus someone who can drive her to airport, and a little taste of Britain within it all. And Jocelyn will have someone to stay who can play with the children, help unpack a few boxes, and talk about international development issues - a subject close to both their hearts.

I love the way that God is so much bigger than our schedules, and that He knows the right time for things to happen. If I'd gone to the post office when I'd intended to, I'd not have met Jocelyn that day, and the subsequent conversation and all that has come from it wouldn't have happened. So maybe I wasn't running 3 hours late but instead was fitting in with God's timing rather than mine which was 3 hours out!

Our little perspective on life is so relatively narrow compared to God's - for me this little encounter was two things:
one, it was a lesson to let go of worrying about timings so much, and instead to focus on having God as my guide, rather than just the wristwatch!
And it was a reminder to let go of trying to work out how and when God will answer prayers, and instead to just keep living life for Him, and be ready for the delights and surprises, of prayers answered in unique, special and unexpected ways.

stories of healing from India

Janaki Menni is the founder of Faith In Action Ministries, a partner of CRED based in Andhra Pradesh, India.

In the past few months the region has been hit hard by cyclones, wiping out most of the crops, taking the roofs off houses, and leaving many families without any form of income due to being subsistence farmers.

But despite all this, every time I get an e-mail or message from Janaki, she is full of hope, and praising God for all He is doing in the lives of those whom she, and FIAM, serve.

Today I received the following message from her, and she was delighted at the thought that I would share it with others through this blog. Her comment about my posting her stories in the blog was 'this is God's work, we have to honour Him'.

So, without further ado, here are the two stories of healing that she shared:

my dear sister, i am going to share with you two wonderful healing for the last two days. Praise the Lord Hallelujah.

last sunday one of our church member name " Merrabi" her two kidneys totally failed and so much pain , vomitings, not able to do any thing. they went to a big hospital for the treatment with taking one politician recommendation. but the hospital doctors said nothing can do for her except we can give some pain relief medicines. so they came back to home without treatment and just medicines. Sunday afternoon that church pastor, church members and and me went to their home and prayed to God and ask for Merrabi's healing if He wish. until that she suffered with  more pain and vomitings...but after that prayer the pain and vomiting gone and she settled somewhat better than before. just today i received a phone call from her family member, now she is very good and stopped the bad pain and vomiting and she is doing herself without taking any medicine and treatment. God healed her wonderfully. Please pray for her my brother. I am praising and praising God we honour to His name.

Last Tuesday in our school , our sweeper went to sweep for the rooms. but suddenly one poisonous snake bit her on leg. that snake poison were very danger. immediately we prayed for her and after that three members gathered and prayed for some time for her. amazing God taken away of that poison and her healed completely without taking any medication. all the remaining staff glorified our God name. Her name Rassol Bee. She is Muslim lady. Normally like that situation people will go for ideal people for" manthras ", but she did not go for that and accepted prayers instead.

God is doing many wonders and signs in His name and He is using me for His name sake and kingdom. Praise the lord. please pray for the lady Merrabi.

Praise the Lord indeed!

'All They Draw Is The Wall'

We visited the 'Bethlehem Unwrapped' exhibition on Saturday.

It was a dark damp day in London, and people were scurrying along Piccadilly to try and spend as little time as possible outdoors.

As we stepped from the pavement into the courtyard of St James church, the 8m high wall, built as a replica segment of the wall that surrounds Bethlehem, loomed large in front of us. You couldn't see the church behind the wall - but people can't see the holy sites and historic places behind the wall in Bethlehem. You couldn't see much sky behind the wall either, not without craning your neck to look up - but that's the same for the people living in Bethlehem - all around them a wall, blocking out views of anything far away.

There was an art exhibition inside the church entitled 'All They Draw Is The Wall'. Some of the art was done by school children from Bethlehem when visited by UK artist Meg Wroe, and the title was a comment that the teacher had made to Meg mourning the fact that once the children get to about 9years old, "all they draw is the wall". Their imagination doesn't run further than having a wall in every picture that they draw; a barrier between them and the rest of the world seen in every direction.

Back outside, there was a poem that had been written by Robert vas Dias. It didn't say who he was, but I am presuming, from his name, and the sentiments of the words, that he is an Israeli. The words were very challenging, about the wall, about 'other', about one's view of those on the 'other side'. Here they are, and as you read them, ask yourself if there are any 'others' and any 'walls' in your life:

Every Wall Has Two Sides
by Robert vas Dias

Let us consider the forming of walls, the mortar
of words I use to form my walls, to make my side

a better side, the other side is where the other side
resides, I'm on the right side and your are not, the

side you're on is undesirable and my side is right
because I am right and your are wrong, you disturb

my side with your words, your words spread fear 
and mine bind my wall with the mortar of reason

you're unreasonable, you disturb me, raise un-
reasonable questions about sides, your living

space, my living space which is mine by right and 
yours which is not yours by right, you have no

right to be where you are, because I am here and
because I am here you cannot be, you cannot be,

you're on my other side, the other side of me.


I didn't know I was on a side until a wall was built
and then I knew I was on a side, the wrong side

I didn't know I'd created a disturbance until you
told me I was creating a disturbance so then I 

decided to create a disturbance because you told
me I lived on the wrong side, I'd always lived on

this side even though I didn't know it was a side
of anything, much less the wrong one, it's wrong

because my side is a wall of shadows, the shadow 
side, the wrong side, I shadow you, you who live

on the light side, I'm a disturbance for each one
of you, I am a shadow, I form a wall within you

although you cannot see me I will disturb you
I am here, I am here, and I will never leave you

you're on my other side, the other side of me

Thought provoking.

The wall is symbolic of walls all over the world that divide and confine peoples. restricting free movement and dominating the imagination of those who live behind them.

Oh for the day when people start taking down the walls and building bridges instead. Big walls yes, but also all the little walls that are within people, within their attitudes and responses to others. May those walls be taken down as well.

A brief update from Cambodia

I've mentioned my daughter natalie a couple of times in previous blogs and the travel she is doing for her gap year.

 She is on a Christian project at the moment based in northern india but currently doing the outreach phase in Thailand and Cambodia. 

In Thailand she had easy access to Internet etc but now in Cambodia things are very different. So she is finding it hard to get updates out to all the band of supporters who are so wonderfully praying for her throughout 

Thus the honour falls to me to update you on the past few weeks and she will try to blog next weekend. 

The team of 7 arrived in Cambodia last weekend and are staying with 2 families in Phnom Penh. One of the hosts is involved in running a university dorms and so New Years Eve was a party with the students. It involved lots of laughter, Cambodia food, Cambodia dancing and everyone had a good time. 

The main downside for natalie of being in outreach at this time is that they haven't been able to get into a routine of project work due to all the holidays. However they did go for a prayer walk alongside the local river on Friday and met a group of street kids who were selling bracelets and other knick-knacks. They chatted to the kids as best they could and played some games with them. All impromptu and spur of the moment but it brought smiles and laughter into the day for the little kids and the team were thrilled to have the chance to just show Gods love to them. 

This week they are spending their days helping at a project that works with prostitute, providing a range of services to help them get off the streets and into new employment. 

It will be emotionally hard for the team as they come alongside ladies who have very hard life stories and who are hurting and broken in many instances; pray for opportunities to reach into those lives and show Gods unconditional love in new and meaningful and lasting ways. 

One of the lessons natalie was saying that she has learnt these past few weeks is about total surrender to God. She spoke of some situations, the details of which I will stay silent on in respect for the individuals concerned, where natalie just got to the point of holding her hands up in despair and crying out to God "help".  Not situations of danger or anything like that but still times when the way forward was totally unclear. 

It was at the point of total surrender that natalie found God doing the miracle of sorting things out. It was a real reminder to her about how important it is to give each day and each situation to God, and to not build up walls of stubbornness and 'doing it my way' that get in the way. 

And that was a challenge to me. At the start of this new year, a time of reflecting on the past year and considering the year ahead, what better intention to have than to give each day to God, every situation in the day, all the unexpecteds as well as the expecteds. And in so doing to keep the walls and barriers down, so that God, in all His loving gentleness, can work out His purposes without having to wait for us to surrender in despair. 

A resolution  I will need to remind myself of regularly I'm sure. But here's praying it lasts for more than a day! 

Looking forward, and back.

It’s January 1^st 2014, the weather outside is absolutely foul, the fire has been lit already, the house is quiet – what better time to sit and reflect on the past few months as well as look forward to the next few!

2013 allowed me trips to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and India with CRED – some places more than once, and mostly with teams. In total there were about 130 on the teams, plus another 40 who went on teams that I organized but accompany.

What a privilege to be involved in helping 170 people travel overseas and experience God’s Kingdom being worked out in various corners of the world. And the fact that many of those team members don’t really have much if any contact with church at home means that the trips are also an opportunity for them to explore life from a faith perspective in new and powerful ways.

Those teams visited numerous projects that are linked with CRED partners, and brought smiles laughter fun and games to hundreds of children. They also brought resources, finances and professional support to the staff of the projects, primarily through the avenue of education, but it did go wider than that.

From street kids and displaced tribes in Uganda and Rwanda, to school children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Kenya and India, to community projects and ex-prostitutes in Ethiopia – we’ve been honoured to work with some incredible people running some inspirational projects, all with the prime aim of reaching out with God’s love to the broken, downtrodden, marginalized and vulnerable

And when I consider the team members – well that again makes me pinch myself, as I feel so blessed to be involved in so many life transforming experiences. The ages ranged from 10year old to over 70year old, and included young people from foster care, or with history of ASBOs, or from families known to the police, or who are young carers, or who are from ‘average middle-class families’, or who live on deprived estates, or who are at University, or are NEETs….ie a real cross-section of society. And yet for each person, their participation in the trip made a massive difference to them, their perspective on life, their view of themselves, their thoughts about the future. As I said – I feel so blessed to be involved in all this through the work that I do with CRED.

And then outside of CRED there are a couple of key moments in 2013 worthy of a big thank you to God (as opposed to all the other moments worthy of a big thank you to God!)

The main one has to be the transition that has taken place in the Harrison household with Roz going to University (and totally sussing how to hold in balance being a Christian and being a student), Natalie going off to India / Thailand / Cambodia for her YWAM DTS course (thank you Lord for Skype!), and Tim and I having some really special times together as we revert to being just the two of us for term-times: thank you Lord that it has gone so much smoother than I dared dream of, and that life feels even richer now than ever before.

And the other key moment that blew me away was the winter coat collection just in the past few weeks. The small town of Thornbury, with a bit of help from Portishead,  in a very random and unplanned way, pulled together and gathered about 500 winter coats that I have taken down to the Kids company centre in Bristol. As a result 500 children and young people are warmer now than they thought they were going to be this year and all their parents have one less thing to worry about as they try to work out how to make not enough money go as far as possible. A fabulous example of a community coming together and making a difference – I wonder what could happen in 2014 if I actually put a bit of planning into it all?

So, that’s a very brief look back at 2013. So much more I could include but I’m not going to push my luck!

Instead, here’s a glimpse into 2014 of what is on the horizon thus far:

CRED team trips to: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, India and Uganda 360; I also have reccy trips to Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and Mexico lined up – so that will fill my passport up!

Some of the teams are return visits to projects already visited, but others are to new projects, bringing blessings to new people.

Most of the team members are first-timers, so approx. 170 new people getting out on the ‘mission field’.

We are in conversation with two UK organisations regarding possible partnerships for 360 trips which could be really exciting if they come off – please pray for these conversations, even though I don’t feel ready to name the org’s quite so publicly!

And lots more ongoing development of CRED, as well as Natalie coming home in August, Rozzie continuing with her new life in Durham, Tim and I fitting in some dates amongst the various travels on both our schedules, and all 4 of us having a holiday together in Uganda in March.

Only God knows how it will all work out, and what else will fit into the year; and I’m happy to leave it at that. I’m sure there will be some tough times as well as happy times, but for now ignorance is bliss, and so long as it is in God’s hands, there is no need for it to be anywhere else.

My verses for the coming year: Proverbs 3;5 – 6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Well-known verses, but they came to me the other day again, and as one who can get a bit too absorbed in analysis and trying to second-guess or anticipate, or spend too much time worrying about what might not happen, a year of following those verses seems like a good move!

So, here’s to 2014. May it be a good one for you, and all your loved ones. Thank you for journeying along with me, and CRED – I hope that you enjoy the coming year of exploits.

God bless

And happy New Year!

Helen