Open Doors

 

Hello everyone. I hope that you are ok. We are fine, all things taken into consideration. Things could certainly be worse, as even the most cursory glance towards the news proves. 

Happy St David's Day for those who celebrate. I don't because I am not Welsh, and I don't think it would be appreciated. I am a big fan of Michael Sheen, Welsh Rarebit, and singing "Guide me oh thou Great Jehovah " in English, obviously, but last time I went to Wales it monsooned on me for three days, and I am still not over it. But, have a nice time, Welsh people. I also very much like "How to Train Your Dragon", but I'm not sure if there is actually a connection there.

I don't really get any of the Saints' Days. Especially St George. Not even English! 

Anyway, this morning, in church, we had a visit from a man from Open Doors. Blimey, that was sobering. Open Doors supports the persecuted church, and they have plenty to deal with at the moment. I was brought up on stories of Brother Andrew smuggling Bibles into the Eastern Bloc - which was definitely hairy, but these days it's all about throwing grenades into churches, displacing whole Christian villages and kidnapping entire schools. There is a World Watch List of the 50 worst places in the world to be a Christian. The winner is the usual suspect  - step forward, North Korea - but I was surprised to see Mexico and places like Colombia on the list.  The list was launched in Parliament on 14th January, and you can get lots more details and resources on the website Open Doors. There's also a chance on there to sign the Africa petition. Africa is off the scale at the moment for violence against Christians, which I also found a bit surprising. 

This morning, we also got to watch a short film of our new minister and his wife. They seemed very nice. Not to be churlish, but people kept saying "He sounds like you". Er - he's from Sheffield, which is completely the wrong side of the Pennines. You should try saying to people around here that it doesn't matter which goes on a scone first - jam or cream, and see how worked up they get. (One is Cornish, one Devonish - I can never remember which). Still, the new ministers looked very normal, which is half the battle. 

I'm not sure what it has been like where you are, but are we beginning to see a little bit of Spring coming through? We went out walking near the sea on Saturday morning, and it was good for the soul. It's been a long old winter this time - and we may not be quite out of it yet. 

The rain has been something else in the South West of England. 

I'm working to and from work virtually 100% at the moment. (Long boring story involving scaffolding, the car park and how little your local government councillors actually think of you). In the olden days, you could look out of the window in the morning and guess whether you would need a brolly. At the moment, we are all saying, "It's bright at the moment, but the rain will come in later"  - and it does. Every day. I am hoping that all this walking will give me thighs like Daley Thompson. No sign yet, but we live in hope. Have a good week.