Urgent call to prayer for those affected by flooding

Special prayer available online: http://tinyurl.com/yfl2jpp

The President of the Methodist Conference has called for people to pray for all those affected by last night’s severe flooding.

Revd David Gamble is asking churches to pray in their services this Sunday for people affected by the flooding and has written a special prayer for use by churches and individuals across the UK (below).

Revd Richard Teal, Chair of the Cumbria Methodist District, has asked for Christians to pray particularly for the people of Cumbria.

Loving God

We remember in your presence all those who have been affected by the recent flooding:
people whose homes and livelihoods have been devastated;
people who feel they have lost everything and don’t know what to do next;
people who fear for the safety of ones they love.
We remember, too, all those involved in bringing help and support:
those who work in the emergency services, sometimes at risk of their lives;
volunteers, wanting to do whatever they can to help;
and the churches in Cumbria, especially those in the Methodist district.
And we remember the land.
As the elements rage, we remember that you have called us to care for your creation.
In the midst of all the confusion, pain, fear, anger and loss may your Spirit brood over the face of the waters and bring hope.
And may your love be known,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen

Source: Methodist News Service 20/11/2009

'Difficult to keep it going'

When my husband died in the year 2000 the family set up a charity in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in his memory. He himself had found it difficult to gain higher education and he took a keen interest in the work that our daughter was doing in ho chi Minh City.

'Vuon Len', which means 'making the effort to succeed in spite of adversity', was opened in June 2002 with the aim of providing free skills training to young people who have no means of finding the necessary fees for skills training.

Each course lasts for 6 months and equips normally ten trainees with the skills they need to be able to find work in hairdressing salons and to make extra money as freelance manicurists. The apprentices complete their course with a good understanding of how a salon should be run. They invariably leave 'Vuon Len' better-groomed than when they arrived, exhilarated by all they have achieved and with tangible hopes for their futures. Most of the former apprentices are now settled in stable hairdressing jobs, a number of simple salons have been set up, both in the city suburbs and the countryside, thanks to the skills learnt at 'Vuon Len', and there has been a very significant trickle-down effect with former trainees teaching their relatives and friends.

Today I thought I would share with you the latest e-mail from my daughter, Sheila, which tells you how difficult it can be to keep small charities going. She wrote,
"Just this week we've had the bombshell that ₤800 has to be paid by the end of May, ₤400 immediately, for a compulsory Environment Protection Certificate, which has suddenly become obligatory for all state-approved premises first, to be extended to other premises later, without which the premises will be forced to close. These sudden demands for money are typical and this time it seems to be to help pay for the massive cost of replacing all the city's waste water pipes with larger ones to try to solve the flooding problem ( the photo was the other day ). They are currently doing the pipes in front of my house. They work from 8pm to 5am so it's very difficult to sleep, and for months there have been terrible traffic jams as everyone tries to get past the roadworks all over the place.

The environment certification is a long process which has to be begun immediately to meet the deadline before the forced closure in case of failure to comply. Environment inspectors will keep coming to do tests on the waste water. Yesterday was the deadline for the first payment and I managed to find enough as it is very difficult to envisage closure when there are young people counting on VL for their futures, eager to study and who understand nothing about environment certificates.
But it's so difficult to keep it going."

So we have been very grateful for the support of the Tanner Trust and, in the beginning, the Chic Salon in Jersey. If you are interested to read more about Vuon Len, please go to www.vuonlen.org.uk where you can see photos and case histories of the apprentices who have been trained.

Slugs and snails

Yesterday we had a month's (normal June) rainfall in 24 hours, with resulting flash flooding all over the area. The rivers Thames, Loddon, and Kennet all overflowed their banks, so that Berkshire and Oxfordshire were once more busy with sandbag barriers and mopping up operations - with Oxfordshire bearing the brunt of it. I am safe from flooding here because my house and garden are on the side of a steep hill.

So, with all that rain, apart from a quick trip into town in the afternoon, I didn't go out, and I certainly didn't go out to inspect the garden. When I did so today I was in for a shock! I had been given some beautiful dahlia corms and was eagerly watching them grow their early foliage in their tubs on my patio, in anticipation of the wonderful blooms I'd been promised. This morning, when the sun shone, I found that the foliage on one had completely disappeared and in its place was a very ugly fat slug. The other dahlias had been bitten and looked very ragged but still had visible foliage.

Then I had another shock. Last year I grew carrots in a large pot on my patio with wonderful results over a long period, so I did a repeat pot sowing this year. The leaves are quite decorative and a couple of days ago I was admiring them and thinking I must thin them out a bit, but today only one tiny leaf remains! There is a mass of green stalks, but only one tiny leaf is left! On inspection I found three black slugs who had obviously made a meal of the rest.

I'm very sorry, God. I know you created slugs and snails for food for the birds but I can never bring myself to sing that line of the hymn that says 'Thank you God for slugs and snails'. I would prefer to be an organic gardener, but today I've put slug pellets in all my pots on the patio, to prevent the slugs doing any more damage. I'm very cross!