Welcome to the Spring newsletter for 2010
Dear Partners-in-Ministry,
We think that you may agree with us when we say that this seems to have been a long, cold winter. For some of us older ones remembering past winters, we would call this a proper winter! And, according to our opinion, if we get a "proper" summer, it will have been worth the raw, snow-bearing Easterly winds!
For a part of early January, Margaret and I virtually hibernated, the car refusing the ice hill that was our drive. In any case, I have a maxim for these occasions: "Snow melts quicker than bones mend".
In our newsletters, we haven't written a great deal about our church here in Ammanford. The church, in its pioneer state over twenty-seven years ago, was the reason why we came to live in this part of Wales. A congregation of thirty would have been really encouraging for us in those days, and since that time, we have witnessed all three stages of a church's development: Growth, purging, and consolidation. We believe that we are experiencing growth, and that's very encouraging.
Like many churches today, we have our programme of house groups where we seek to apply last Sunday's teaching on a more personal level.
At one of the house group meetings where we were studying Colossians, somebody said that they had been listening to the radio that morning. The speaker was maintaining that the Internet was omniscient: it possessed all knowledge, just like God.
But as we continued in our study that evening, We discovered that God had a wonderful surprise for us which transcended that radio statement. We came to Colossians chapter 2 and verse 3. "In (Christ) are hid _all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." We thought of the times when we'd searched in vain for some particular gem of information, only to be disappointed. And then we worshipped the incomparable Christ who is God-blessed for ever!
These last six months have really been quite eventful. By September, we were into celebrating 50 years of Torch Trust, and we were at the South Wales regional celebration in Swansea, where Fellowship Groups from Pontypridd, Llanelli, Swansea, Bridgend and Ammanford got together for a time of praise and of renewing of the sense of our mission to blind people in our areas.
In October, I was at the North of England regional get-together, with Fellowship Groups from Lancashire, Merseyside, and the Isle of Man. There were even folks from Llandudno in North Wales. We met at the Bridge church in Liverpool, and I couldn't help but think back to forty years ago when we started our first Torch Fellowship Group in Birmingham. Now, there are over 120 Groups throughout the British Isles, as well as Torch Fellowship Groups in Africa!
We are encouraging churches to make such a Group a tool of outreach to the visually impaired. We desperately need more churches to be involved in this vital work for God.
As part of the 50 years' celebration, Torch Trust has produced a daily readings book called "50 steps forward". These can be purchased from Torch Trust, Torch Way, MARKET HARBOROUGH, Leics. LE16 9HL. But read this little extract which moved me to the depths of my being:
Bless, dear God, the work of Torch Trust.
Help them to extend the reach of their ministries so that they can touch the lives of many more people with sight loss who are lonely, needy and feeling locked away from society. AMEN.
In October I spent twelve days of ministry in Northern Ireland, seeking to encourage, and in turn being greatly encouraged by the folks there.
Then, towards the end of October, I had to have an operation on my left hand due to a contracture of the thumb. I came away from the hospital with a boxing glove-like dressing: very clumsy, but most effective. Regretably, I had to cancel one weekend at Midsomer Norton, but apart from that, I managed to fulfil all other engagements of ministry in Lancashire, Cardiff, Crediton in Devon, Haverfordwest, and again, Enniskillen, N. Ireland.
The final celebration of 50 years took place in Market Harborough at the end of November. And once again, we were thrilled with all that God had done through the audio, giant print and braille literature, and Fellowship Groups, not only in this country, but also overseas in many other countries.
We spent last Christmas at the Torch houseparty at High Leigh in Hertfordshire. We took Gwen with us from our Ammanford Group, and on the Saturday morning, while Margaret was away getting our coffee, Gwen placed a hand on mine and said: "I've never had a Christmas like this before in all of my life!" She then had a little weep, tears shed in joy and gratitude to God and to the caring folk all around. It was such a blessed time, with fellowship around God's Word; food a-plenty on the tables, and fellowship around the house, and lots of music!
As the old year slipped away, and a New year took its place, we pondered on the goodness of God who enables us to invest good health in His kingdom. Oh, how blessed we are!
Since our last newsletter, two faithful people have fought the good fight of faith, and have finished the course. As it happens, they both came from the Manchester area. Joy Shore was a wonderful help and encouragement to us. She was a very dedicated person, spending all her working years as a secretary at Manchester university.
And after Joy retired, there was no let-up in her dedication, this time to Newton Heath Evangelical Church, an inner-city work with all the inner-city problems, including vandalism. We miss her phone-calls, and her invitations to this little, persecuted church.
Peter Unsworth was a blind person, married to Jean. But Jean died quite some years ago with cancer, and Peter died in January of this year. He blessed us with his giving and his praying, but now - he sees Jesus! We thank God for these folk, and for Stella Heath, who founded Torch Trust with her husband Ron. Stella went to be with her Lord on 29th September, not quite making the celebration at Market Harborough.
In closing, may we encourage those of you who use the Internet to place us in "Favourites" so as to keep in touch with us on the worldwide Web? As from this month, we shall place the diary for the rest of this year on the Internet. Also, we have "Our bookstall" there, and any purchases can be made through Pay Pal, a very easy way to buy.
We enjoy writing to you all, and want to thank you for your continued support of us while we can still work in the gospel, and for the Lord we love. Thank you for your gifts, and all the encouragement you give to us.
May God continue to bless you all.
Yours always,
His for ever!
MARGARET & PETER.