It’s Spring, and time to sort out all the items stored over winter in the greenhouse. Throw this, scrub that, wait – five robin chicks in a moss-lined flowerpot. Stand back and let the parents get on with it. The babies get bigger, their mouths get wider, and soon it is time to leave the nest. Mum and Dad get through the break in the glass, with four of the young ones. But the biggest cannot make it and in the struggle falls, wedged between bits and pieces with its open mouth against the glass.

Seeing Mother trying to feed it through the glass, Free Church Pastor Jim Beveridge, whose greenhouse it is, throws a towel over the trapped chick and carries it to the middle of the lawn where frantic Mother quickly catches up on missed feeds and, more importantly, takes it to a similarly coloured log where it blends in nicely.

There are many people with an invisible barrier between their needs and the provision of those needs, said Pastor Jim at the Squeeze Breakfast Club on 3rd May But Jesus broke all barriers between us and God through His sinless life, His undeserved death, and his miraculous rising to life again. Ask Jesus to smash your wall that prevents you reaching out to God, Pastor Jim advised. To emphasise this, he took a hammer and noisily smashed a pane of glass, (safely wrapped in a plastic bag).

David’s round-up of the strange things that people do, included the man who ran out of petrol on a cold night and lit a fire inside the car. He later told firemen that he put the fire out when the smoke made him dizzy!

It must have been the sight of all those colourful scraps of fabric that drew the Mums to the banner-making table, where they cut and snippd, sewed and glued to make a collage representing the declaration of Jesus “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” (John’s Gospel, chapter 14, verse 6). This is an ongoing project, certainly for next month’s Squeeze.. The less ambitious were delighted with the ease of producing patterns with stencils, or decorating ready-made biscuits and making lemon-flavoured sweets.

More than three-quarters of the world’s hungry live in rural Africa, according to the UK Food Group. A picture presentation on their behalf during the Breakfast Club focused on two examples; smallholders in Ghana, growing and processing tomatoes, and small milk producers in Zambia, who sell their produce locally. Their livelihoods are under threat from the increase in Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union, opening 80% of their markets to subsidised imports. Question your Euro MP’s attitude when he or she calls for your vote, advises Laurence.

By Nigel Lindsay

I know I said there would be a part one and two and did not mention part three, but there is a bit more to tell. I was honoured to be treated to some traditional Mara dancing, by a local group that carried on this tradition, Lachhura gave a running commentary of a dance that they would do when they came back from head hunting, other tribes. They now call themselves heart hunters for Jesus rather than head hunters from the past when they worshiped trees and objects. They showed a dance for young men when they were too embarrassed to ask out the girl of their dreams and even got me to take part in it, (I was not too sure if this was hinting at their desire to got me matched up with someone).I took part in the stick dancing dance and was looking forward to the fly dance, but was not asked. (All of these I can show on DVD)I do look a bit out of places towering above my Mara fellow dancers and was pleased as you would be not to be dresses in their traditional costume

Water was an issue in all the places I stayed, even in the city sometimes they would have no running water and many of the poorer families would have to go to a local stand pipe all the time. Some would make a business of going round selling water delivered to the door to save people getting it themselves. In Bymari village they had to go down a long way to the river to get water and had some amazingly inventive ways of getting rainwater into a tank, with gutters leading to bamboo trunks reaching across the road in to a tank, good there were o high vehicles to knock them out of place. In Srkohur (this is not spelt right sorry) they had piped water but when the local government did some work on the roads about a year ago they cut the water supply and now they have to travel by truck to pick quantities for washing, toilet flushing and cleaning and have to walk up and down a hill 2- 3 time a day to get drinking water. I went twice to get the cleaning water and once to get drinking water with the woman and children and it was a long way. The concern is that in late January the water source was beginning to dry up and with the weather getting hotter for this time of year, will the water last out till the rains come again between June and October?

Food was good and Lachhua was good to me with a lot of choice at each meal so I did not feel I had to eat some things I would not normally. They tend to eat every part of the animal and see the bits we tend not to eat as special reserved for special guest like me. Two meals a day one about 9.30- 10am and then again about 5-6pm and always includes rice even when they have fried potatoes. They called it curry, but not curry as I know it and was quite bland mostly, but maybe that was to keep me well. Many times they served the boiled vegetable water with it. I had bananas, oranges, pomali (a big grapefruit thing) and many vegetable. I kept well until 20th January when I moved between diarrhoea and constipation and think it rice twice a day for 4 weeks did not help. I used bottled water for drinking, was careful not to eat washed cold foods and had what seemed like thousands of cups of tea, small cups, with a lot of sugar. Sometimes I got black sugarless tea, which was felt to be strange and for poor people who could not afford Milk and sugar.

If any group would like to support any of the youth programme or projects in Maraland do speak to me, I said I would pass on their requests, but promised nothing. Development of music for the churches is important to them and they have a number of ongoing projects which they need to prioritise before deciding how to go ahead.

I was disappointed I did not get to stay the whole time at the youth Conference or do any training, but was privileged to preach at so many services and have chance for informal conversations with many about different ways of doing things. Staying in Aizawl for two nights on our way back was good, but I was not permitted to go to church as it would be Presbyterian or at one stage could have been a combined Congregational Church and Evangelical Church of Maraland? I moved on to stay with a friend I had shared a room with who is not a minister in the Church of North India in Nagpur right in the centre of India. He we good to me and took me to see lots including a Buddhist temple and a Hindu temple. He was concerned as a political party was in town who were opposed to Christians and where campaigning for the next national elections. There has been a lot of persecution of Christians in Orissa and a peace organisation suggested it was because of the increase in status for the lowest cast as they become Christian and now numbers are becoming a threat.

I had the chance to reach at the Hospital Chapel once and lead a bible study with a youth group at the church. The weather here was a lot hotter and the curries were too. Sunil has connections with a hospital which is trying to provide extra support to those marginalised in society and they try to provide an after care service and some community clinics. At the back of where he stays there is a project working with street children and those in trouble by providing a work training programme and getting them set up on completion. They have a night shelter and do lots of work with those who pick litter from the streets and use what they can find , helping them with more hygienic ways of benefiting from this project. They are keen to have a social impact on their community and had a large fund raising event whilst I was there. (I have more details if you would like to know.)

If would like me to come and tell your group about me experience let me know. I can make it as interactive as you would like and tailor it for your needs. I do have a few items to show. I can also talk about my time in Nigeria and Fiji. Thanks again for all your prayers as I complete my final term at college on 4th July 2009

We are looking for old photographs, postcards and your memories of the chapel in the past. Perhaps you attended the Sunday School, were christened or baptised, married or your family buried in the grave yard.

For the 200th Anniversary we are producing a souvenir book with the history of the chapel, old photographs and your reminiscences. (All the pictures, photographs and postcards will be copied and returned to the owner.)

On Wednesday the 29th of April at 7:30pm we are holding a meeting at Rose Cottage (opposite the chapel) to discuss the anniversary year and would welcome suggestions for that event in 2011.

Judith Kinnison Bourke

Tossing a large, perfectly good chocolate Easter Egg into the air and letting it crash to the ground is one way of demonstrating how broken up God’s perfect creation became when Man disobeyed His Creator. Free Church Pastor Jim Beveridge’s Easter message explained how the broken relationship between God and Man which had begun so well in the Garden of Eden could only be restored by the heart-breaking sacrifice of the Perfect Jesus when He was taken from the Garden of Gethsemane to be crucified.

The Easter message was reflected in the handicrafts chosen for the Squeeze Breakfast Club at the Village Hall on Palm Sunday. Plastic food trays were transformed into Easter gardens with the Empty Tomb surrounded by multi-coloured paper flowers. Some made Easter trees, silver-sprayed twigs hung with brightly decorated cardboard eggs and crosses bearing such key faith-words as Love Joy, Peace. The crowning point was to plant an Easter tree in an Easter garden.

David told the tale of the American delivering two chimpanzees to a zoo. His truck broke down and although he could fix it, it would take some time and the wait would distress his charges. So he flagged down a young lady and asked her to take the animals to the zoo, giving her $100 for her trouble.

Several hours later he drove into town and was horrified to see the young lady walking along hand in hand with the chimps. What’s going on, he asked. “” Well, we’ve been to the zoo and there was money to spare, so now I am taking them to Sea World.”

The next Squeeze Breakfast Club is at the Village Hall from 10am until noon on Sunday 3rd May. Everyone of any age is welcome, a simple breakfast is provided with a variety of rolls and cereals, fresh fruit, make-your-own toast and pour-your-own tea or coffee, and there is no charge.

The Lord asked our Pastor’s wife to write an account of the occasion when parents brought their children to Jesus to be blessed by Him (Matthew ch.19 vv13,14), but as told by one of the mothers. She was rather surprised at the style of the narrative and some of the words she used, but it became clear when, shortly afterwards, a request came for a Thanksgiving service to be held for the safe arrival of a newborn baby girl. The young mother asked if she could read the piece at the Blessing, and did so confidently to the congregation, including the child’s father and both their families, as if expressing her own feelings in the situation.

I’ve heard a bloke has been travelling around – healing people and praying for them. People are having life-changing experiences. He came to the Downs the other day, so me and my mates took a picnic and the kids up there, you know. Just to see what ‘s going on.

It’s a nightmare though, trying to get the kids ready – I was yelling at them and they were yelling back at me. I got so hot and bothered and really stressed, but I was determined to get there. Anyway, I met up with my mates, with the buggies and kids (we’ve got fifteen kids between us, well fifteen and a half actually, Kim’s pregnant again).

Our kids went running off as soon as we got there. There were loads of people and kids – then I saw Him, he looked so kind, well and sort of safe, you know. Then I saw Him praying with a kid, it was my Codie – but some grumpy old men were around and they were shouting at the kids to ‘push off.’

Then the Man started to say something about the Kingdom of Heaven and that it belongs to people who are like ‘our kids.’

I discovered his name was Jesus.

I don’t know about my mates, but when I got home and put the kids to bed, they were happy and went to bed without all the fuss we usually have.
I never felt so relaxed, peaceful and yeh, different.

That Jesus, you know, He’s a Legend.