July~August 2008
At the moment the economic climate is a very worrying one for many people. We see the price of fuel rising with the promise that gas and electricity will increase by 40% this winter. The cost of food is rising daily and mortgages are set to rise with the price of houses falling. So I want to talk to you about HOPE. It would be very easy for us as a society to fall into depression along with the money market but that is not what Jesus offers us. His vision for the human race, and creation as a whole, is one of hope not only for this life here on earth but also for eternity.
As I write this the press are telling of a man in America who had melanoma. Scientists were able to clone some of the immune system cells in his blood and multiply them to a vast degree. They then gave them back to him where they attacked the cancer to the extent that he has been free of melanoma for three years.
Sierra Leone in West Africa suffered a civil war, starting in 1991 and continuing until 2002. Tens of thousands of its citizens died but slowly hope is rising and parts of Freetown, its spectacularly sited coastal capital, set along the edges of a mountainous peninsula, have been transformed in the six years since the end of the civil war in 2002. The buildings and factories that have gone up since hostilities ended show the potential for Sierra Leone. President Koroma said his policy on corruption was clear (it was the illicit trade in diamonds that fed the war). He has sent out clear warnings to everybody, including members of the government, and he believes that in the next 36 months Sierra Leoneans will start seeing the turnaround.
Since the storm in the 80’s that destroyed so many of our forests and trees in the south there has been a great transformation not only in woods and forests that were planted but also in the ones that were left. If you walk in those woods today your will find new growth and regeneration and won’t be able to tell that there was such devastation.
These are just three examples of diverse situations that at one time seemed hopeless and yet have been transformed. So I ask you: where are the situations here that need transforming, the ones that seem to be without hope, and what can we do about them? Who are the hungry and thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner (Matthew 25:31-46) in Shedfield and Wickham? How can we together bring hope and transformation to their lives?
HOPE 08 is a Christian movement in which many churches of all denominations are taking part. You can discover more about it on www.hopeinfo.co.uk. Please sign on: there is something for everyone.
We too wait hopefully and with anticipation for the arrival in September of Bruce and his family in the vicarage at Waltham Chase and look forward to all that we shall share together in the future in the united benefice under his leadership.
Yours, in faith and hope and love,
