Here at 1 Churchfields there is a great feeling of excitement in the air as we prepare for the birth of our first child in February; and part of that excitement is in the fun of planning. There is the excitement of 'test-driving' prams to see which is the most suited to our way of life; of considering which cot and furniture would be best in the nursery; and of trying to decide on clothes when we have no idea of the baby's gender or size until it is born.

While the practical side is a lot of fun, probably the best bit is in the anticipation of the baby's arrival. We are looking forward to the new experience of parenthood; the way that life will inevitably change to include a new member of the family and the new responsibilities of this vulnerable being in our midst. Added to that are the hopes and dreams that we have for the baby's future - the possibilities within new life - and being part of them, whatever they may be. Watching our baby grow, develop, discover is the most wonderful thing imaginable, pointing always to the wonderful and inevitable question that governs our beings individually and corporately - what does the future hold?

It is in this time of Advent that we all have that tingle of anticipation as we begin our preparations for Christmas. These preparations will be fundamentally two-fold: of course, they will include presents and cards, decorations and Christmas trees, as well as food and drink as families and loved ones join together. While this is all great fun, it must be seen in the context of another preparation: that of the coming of Christ. In the Nativity we see the supreme love of God in the giving of His only Son to the World. We also see the nature of God in the humility of the birth; Christ is not born in a palace but in the reality of human lives, He is truly Immanuel 'God-with-us'. The true nature of God shines forth in this simple event and its beauty should never be overlooked in the materialism of the world at Christmas.

Our preparations are filled with anticipation, whether it is through the lighting of the Advent Candles at the Eucharist or by opening a door on an Advent Calendar. By this we are anticipating the coming of the big day as we move closer and closer to it. The German theologian, Wolfhart Pannenberg, once wrote about how anticipating something is almost as important as the actual event that is being anticipated. Put another way, would the whole experience of Christmas be quite as exciting without all the preparation before it - would that mysterious present be quite so exciting if we did not have to wait for it. This is what we find with Advent, the excitement of anticipation as we await the Nativity and the coming year. Where will Christ lead us and what will he show us as we continue on the pilgrimage of faith that we call life?

Whatever and wherever it may be let me conclude with every blessing for a holy and peaceful Advent and Christmas from Annie and me.                                                                                  Fr Charles

"Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East." We sing, "We three kings of Orient are", but almost certainly the Magi were not kings otherwise their story would have been recorded somewhere in history. The story of the Magi only appears in the Gospel of Matthew and he does not tell us there were three. There is no doubt that the Magi were wise men and almost certainly astrologers. But from where in the east did they come? In the east, there were two satellite states acting as a buffer between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Empire; these were Commagene and Orshoene. The former had its own sky religion based on a fusion of Greek, Persian and Egyptian ideas and most commentators are now of the opinion that the Magi came from Commagene.

Leaving the Magi aside, what about the Star of Bethlehem? Modern astronomers are able to construct a horoscope for any day over the last 10,000 years which means that they are able to chart the position of stars and planets with great accuracy. As we know, although we celebrate the birth of Christ on 25 December this was not the actual date of His birth. It was simply the day chosen by the early Church, which had previously celebrated just the Baptism of Christ on 6 January. In the year 7BC, there occurred a very rare event when the two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, came together, so that their light was doubled and indistinguishable, one from the other. This phenomenon was present throughout the summer of 7BC. On 29 July that year, Sirius rose and was visible for a few minutes before the Sun, which rose in conjunction with Regulus, the red giant star in Leo. The 29 July 7BC fits all the criteria of the birth of Jesus, including the position of heavenly bodies. This could mean that Jesus was born under the sign of Leo - the Lion in the Sky. In the Book of Revelations, Jesus is described as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David".

Astrologers in Commagene would have been greatly excited at the phenomenon in the sky because the 29 July was the official Royal Birthday of Commagene. Seeing the two planets, Jupiter and Saturn, in conjuncture on this day would have been a sign to the Magi of the birth of a Messiah. They would be aware from contact with the large Jewish community in the east that the royal house in Judah was ruled by Leo and was expecting a Messiah of the House of David. The Magi set off for Jerusalem to seek out the expected royal birth; so not surprisingly they went first to the Court of King Herod for information but no royal births were expected. In all probability they then went to the Temple where the high priests and elders would have told them of the prophecy that the Messiah, a scion of the House of David, would be born in Bethlehem, just five miles from Jerusalem. We know the wondrous outcome of their journey to the Manger. Do have a lovely Christmas and share with the Magi the excitement of that Royal Birth.                                                                           Roger Bryant

Contemporary language is a phrase, which slips easily off the tongue – but what does it mean? Britain has many varieties of language, each variety contemporary in its time, custom and environment; and as Britain becomes more enriched by diverse ethnic groups so the varieties will increase.

Words, phrases, can have truth, beauty and resonance which endure through time. The liturgical ritual of the Church common to all, enhances the sense of value of belonging to a community. The congregation separated by age, income, dress and background, comes together and becomes one body in common worship.

Much thought and consideration are required before the introduction of "contemporary language" – lest the gold be discarded for the dross.                                                                                 John Bradey

Ah see our Curate, David, is arguing that we mun drop the Thees and Thous in church because "no-one speaks that way today". Well, ‘ere in "’appy ‘Ampshire" they do speak posh with yous and yours but down in Cornwall they do say "’ow are ‘ee me ‘ansome?" or "Where ‘ave ‘ee been?" And up in Yorkshire the story goes of someone from the south asking a dog to "Sit down" but he was told it wouldn’t understand him. "Nay lad, tha must say ‘Sit thee down’ – it’s a Yorkshire terrier".

So maybe Hampshire folk will understand it better if we change it but for missen I reckon a bit of "Thee" and "Thou" with capital letters shows a greater respect for t’Almighty. A Yorkshire Tyke(ess)

"I / We" debate in The Creed. When we go to church we go as the Body of Christ, i.e., we worship together, not in isolation. As I see it, it is important that when we say the Creed we say, "We believe in one God" rather than "I". It is the faith of the Church, and therefore appropriate to use even in our little corner at home. After all, when we pray the Lord's prayer, we say "Our Father", not "My Father". Furthermore, I will be pleased when everyone around me stops saying "for us men and for our salvation" - it makes better sense to leave out the word "men" altogether.                  Sybel Laird

Christmas Greetings

Sheila and Colin Warlow send their festive greetings for Christmas and the New Year to all our friends at St. Faith’s, wishing all a peaceful and happy time.

To all at St. Faiths wishing you a very Happy Christmas with love and best wishes from Sandra Haggan xxx

In Japan a 25-year old single woman is called a 'Christmas cake'. Why? Because it is past the 25^th and she is still on the shelf!

All Japanese know about Christmas. From early November the department stores will be playing Jingle Bells or maybe even Silent Night and parents will be buying presents for their hopeful children. Christmas trees will appear in shopping malls. Christmas lights decorate the town centres and restaurants offer Christmas menus for romantic couples. Later on a life-sized model of Colonel Sanders outside Kentucky Fried Chicken will appear dressed up as Father Christmas, and there will be Christmas wreaths on most front doors.

One of the unexpected things for the visitor to Japan is that Christmas is celebrated at all. Japan is a country where Christians have always been very few and up to 150 years ago Christianity was banned on pain of death.

It is all part of Japan's love affair with the West. Christmas is a cheerful, child-orientated, present-giving festival in contrast to some of the more somber traditional festivals. Perhaps that is why it is also trendy to use English in company advertisements and 70% of all weddings are Christian-style.

Churches try to use the opportunity to tell the real meaning of Christmas. We will have concerts, Christmas parties and nativity plays followed by special services. We tell the story of the birth of the Son of God and how he came to save us from our sins. But we don't have much time because by the 26^th all Christmas decorations are taken down and the whole country prepares itself for New Year, a time when all businesses (even shops) close, children return to their parental homes and families visit their ancestral graves.

We also don't have much time because out of 125 million in Japan only 0.4% are Christians and 3,400 people a day die without Christ. What about you? Do you believe in Jesus yet? You don't want to be left on the shelf!                                                                                                      Rod and Glenda Thomas

God bless the little things this Christmastide

All the little wild things that live outside.

Little rabbits and bright robins in the snow

Give them good faring and a warm place to go.

All little young things for his sake. Who died.

Who was a little thing at Christmastide.

Thanks. The Restoration Appeal was first established to raise funds for the repair of the church’s masonry and Tower roof. Since then the Restoration Appeal Committee has been highly successful in generating income for the church through a variety of innovative and engaging community means. They have made a great contribution to the life of the church and community through their meetings and events as well as through the raising of money. They are to be warmly congratulated and thanked for their efforts.

Background. When the first works on the tower and masonry was completed successfully the next question was "for what do we raise funds now?" The answer was that we needed to raise funds generally in order to provide for the plans, which will come out of the Vision (and subsequently Vision to Mission) project. The intention of these plans is to define the focus and identity of St Faith’s with St Nicholas, and so in turn define the mission of the church. Consequently this would then determine the needs for the resources at our disposal, especially our buildings. We would then know how to transform them in to the functional suite of buildings required.

The problem for the last year and a half has been "what do we do while these plans are being made" and to some degree the problem still exists because the plans are still some 4-6 months from finality. There is a tension between, on the one hand, keeping wanting to raise funds for any development we may define and on the other identifying a more tangible target to hold up before the public. The recent compromise has been to raise funds for lighting, as a clear means of progress, but even with this there are potential problems: what happens if we improve the lighting then find we’ve decided to alter the church in a way that means the lighting needs re doing?

Fund raising needs a clearly defined target and at the moment we don’t have one, but in six months we will. How do we provide clarity for the Restoration Appeal Committee and for the public to whom we are appealing for help? In order to answer this let us look at what is going on.

Worship Group. This group has been charged with the task of reviewing the use of space in the church. You will remember the Family Service held in the hall in June, which demonstrated the benefits of flexibility of furniture and space. In order to answer the question: how do we best order our furniture to maximise the potential of this glorious church we have revisited some basic principles, such as what is church for: temple or tent/fortress or pilgrim people? In addition we have visited other churches that have undergone transformation to see how they have provided for the needs of the worshipping community and the greater community of which the church is a part (and so exploring the possibility that worship takes many and varied forms).

To further its work the Worship group is putting together a Specification of Works, which lists all the requirements we have of our Church building. This will include worship needs for the congregations of the church, facilities for the different activities that can, and could, take place (e.g., Concerts, Flower Arrangers, Choir, Sunday Club), improvements to facilities, improvement to décor, lighting, sound etc. It will also suggest the possibility of an extension that can include Parish Office, café facilities and, most dramatically, the re-ordering of the churchyard to the north and west of the church to improve accessibility and further enhance the church as part of the community.

The Worship Group will feed their report to the Property Development Group (PDG), by January 2005.

Property Development Group (PDG). This group is looking at all our buildings, especially the possible development of the ground to the north of the Churchfields houses, which are occupied by the Curate and Verger and their families. In addition they are exploring the way in which the Hall, House and Coach House can be improved and utilised for the mission of the church and benefit of the community.

To aid with their work they are involved in the research phase of the Diocesan wide activity, Kairos. We have concluded the internal audit of our people and buildings and are now busy engaging with the community to find out just what are the needs of our community to which we can respond? Their report will be finished in January 2005 and they will give a written and verbal account of their findings.

They will then be involved with the amalgamation of their findings with the Worship group, to provide a complete and coherent plan for the church, which will go to the PCC for approval. This will then identify the ways in which we want to focus as a church and how to use our buildings to accommodate that mission. We can then plan how to phase these plans and to fund raise accordingly.

In the mean time. I propose that we raise funds with a broader definition, but give ourselves the flexibility of defining the target for each fund raising activity. As such I recommend the adoption, from January, of the name "Restoration and Redevelopment" Appeal. The Restoration Bank Account would be closed and a new one opened and the committee renamed accordingly. This gives us the benefit of flexibility but still retaining a focus. As the name and intention is broad we can make the fund ‘restricted’, so that it is clear that the money is not being used for day to day running or other causes. They would always have to be for restoration and redevelopment, but we might change our focus and, for example, paint the church rather than re-roof it.

Therefore for each fund-raising activity we can define the target to fit the intention. For example a first target might be the repair of the Church Hall roof. More importantly we can work together on defining the priority as it comes.

In effect, then the Committee and Appeal are not changed except in intention – raising funds for the whole of the St Faith’s complex, rather than just the restoring of the fabric of St Faith’s and St Nicholas’s churches.                                                                                                                                 David

At the suggestion of Joan Burrows, Susan Gibbons and the Sunday Club Leaders arranged for the Portsmouth & District Magic Circle to put on a show in the Church Hall on Friday 29 October. The show, which was attended by 120 adults and children was very entertaining and left the audience wondering just how the magicians did their tricks.

Thank you to Susan and the Sunday Club Leaders for organising a most enjoyable evening, which raised £500 to be shared 50/50 with the Magic Circle’s charity, the Wessex Children’s Hospice and with the Sunday Club.

Seven Junior Choir children, (pictured) assisted by five Senior Choir adults, and Margaret Stainsby, the sister of our organist, Judith Williams, showed their talents in singing songs, playing the violin and piano, and reading amusing verses, all about animals, including the hippopotamus, hamster, gnu, rhinoceros, elephant, cat, and many more. Around 50 adults and children came to support the concert at St. Faith’s Church on a cold Saturday night, which was in aid of raising money for robes for the Senior Choir. It was a most enjoyable and well-planned evening. St. Faith’s is very fortunate in having an organist who is so dedicated in her work as choirmaster.

This is how Saul introduced himself in the Temple of Jerusalem. He was born in Tarsus, now in Turkey, about 5 BC into a family of tent-makers and this became his own trade. The city belonged to the Romans and this conferred on him from birth Roman Imperial citizenship, which also gave him the Roman name of Paul, although Saul remained his family name. He was a circumcised Jew and a most gifted scholar, who could speak both Greek and Aramaic. As a Jew, he strictly observed the Law of Moses and applied the dietary requirements of it.

He attended the University of Tarsus for four years, leaving about AD 15, when he would have been about 19 or 20 years old. His aim was to immerse himself in the Jewish world and this meant going to Jerusalem, where he had a sister and nephew. He set off with a group of Jewish pilgrims from Cilicia and the journey of some 500 miles would have taken some six weeks. Soon after arriving in Jerusalem, Saul became a Pharisee. Almost certainly, his education would have fitted him to be ordained a rabbi but modern experts consider that this did not happen because he was of the tribe of Benjamin. The priesthood was hereditary for those born into the tribe of Levi. Denied the priesthood, the Pharisees offered Saul another option; the chance to play an active part in the reform of Judaism. This was the agenda of the Pharisees; to use political means to change the Church and to demand complete observance with the oral and written word of the (Jewish) Law.

Saul enjoyed the intellectual vigour of the movement, which clashed with other elements of the Jewish Church, and, of course, the New Faith (of Christianity) where the brother of Jesus - James - was a dominant leader. In looking at this time, it is important to remember that many of the followers of Jesus still considered themselves Jews and still worshipped at the synagogue. Did Saul meet Jesus? There is no hint in the Letters of Paul or in Luke's account of any contact with Jesus. It is unlikely that a Pharisee would have been interested in a preacher from Galilee, who did not have qualifications to teach and who considered himself the Messiah.

How did Saul maintain himself for the 20 years before becoming a Christian? Later in his ministry, he earned money as a tent-maker but not in Jerusalem. As a Jew, he would have been expected to have married at the age of 18, certainly by 20 at the latest. (I would have just made it but not Joy!) Marriage would have brought him a dowry and would have been in keeping with his strict observance of the Law. Certainly, he did not have a wife when he wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians, so the possibility is that he was a widower at the start of his ministry.

Jesus was crucified about AD 30 and some three years later; Saul set out for Damascus on the fateful journey, which was to lead to his conversion. But why Damascus? Experts consider that the most likely answer is that Saul was returning to Tarsus to visit his family. Travel was very dangerous and Saul would not have travelled alone. Instead, he would have joined a caravan in Damascus to cross Syria.

The arduous journey to Damascus would have taken him through the scorching heat of the Jordan Valley, up to the Heights of Golan and finally into the fertile plain of the Hauran. At some point on this plain, as he approached the distant gates of Damascus, a bright light transfixed Saul. A voice said, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" To the entreaty, "Who are you, Lord?" the voice responded, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do." Saul opened his eyes but his sight had gone.

Like Saul, his companions had heard the voice but had seen no one. Luke tells us that they took Saul into Damascus to lodge with an innkeeper named Judas in a street called Straight. (The street name may have been a joke by Luke because Damascas was built on a grid system, so every street was straight!) After three days, Ananias was sent by God to restore Saul's sight. He was then baptised; at which point he decided to use his Roman name Paul, which we shall use for the remainder of this narrative. He now set about learning and preaching Christianity but Paul's ministry had an early setback when he choose to go into Arabia (modern Saudi Arabia) to preach to the Gentiles. Paul met great hostility from both the people and the authorities. It was a chastening experience and he returned to Damascas in a matter of weeks.

Paul spent some three years in Damascas, learning all he could about Jesus and the New Faith. He was an active and effective preacher who gained great prominence with both the people and authorities in Damascas. Almost certainly he maintained himself by plying his trade as a tent-maker and would have done much trade with the travellers who came through the city. Quite apart from the enemies he made in Arabia, he had many more in the very large Jewish community in Damascas. Times were becoming very dangerous for him, with rumours of plots to kill him. He also learnt that the new Governor intended to arrest him. It was time to leave, so he made his famous escape in a basket lowered from the city wall. Paul made his way back to Jerusalem, where we join him next month. He was never to return to Damascas.                                                                          Roger Bryant

There is to be a course in January to help Christians to grow more confident as followers of Christ. It is for one evening a week for two terms, totalling 24 sessions, and will be held in Greatham Church Hall. It starts at 7.00pm (until 9.00pm) on Wednesday 12 January and costs £20 per term. Full details can be obtained from Liz Hodson, Education Office, Cathedral House, St Thomas's Street, Portsmouth PO1 2HA (Tel 023 9282 2053).

For nearly 20 years I have been happy to help maintain the tradition of a Toy Service for Havant.

Set up by Father Brown, when he first arrived, I became involved when I was Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce. Many businesses in the town were making good money out of Christmas and this seemed an appropriate pay back. Since then the business community has continued to be extremely generous, so too have our Parishioners. The toys are sorted and are delivered to many areas of local need. This includes the QA & St Richard’s Hospitals, the NSPCC and into Social Services Homes. After placing everything we can locally, any surplus is welcomed by Father Owen Beament in Deptford, London.

The appeal is low key and generally looks after itself. However to some extent I have created a rod for my own back, by keeping it a committee of 2 (Derek Brown & myself). Should I not be available one year to co-ordinate the activity I would be putting quite a commitment on the other committee member!

Is anyone interested in maintaining this useful appeal, for future generations?

Please let me know if you are, on 023 9247 6236. Best wishes,                                          Kevin Edwards

The Creative Writing Group was inspired to write a series of stories and poems after visiting the flower festival in St Faith’s Church. We are delighted that these have now been produced in a book due to be published at the beginning of December.

Would anyone like to join us? Moira Clark, a published author and poet, is our tutor and we meet in each other’s homes every Monday morning. We have great fun with our writing and there are some very lively discussions. We would welcome new members.

Do have a look at our new book too. It will cost £5 and would make a lovely present! I would be pleased to answer any queries and show you our work.

Here we are almost at the end of another year. I remember my parents telling me that the years go much more quickly the older you are. They were right!

2004 has been another year when parishioners have worked tirelessly to raise money for the Restoration Appeal Fund. So far this year until 15 November, over £20,000 has been raised for the Restoration Fund from the Burns Supper, Murder Mystery Dinner, Quizzes, Havant Remembered, Sponsored Abseil, Town Fair, Farm Walk, an Open Garden, the Bike Ride & Walk, Coffee Mornings and other smaller events.

The choirs were provided with new robes, kindly donated by parishioners and sponsors and put on an Animal Magic show in church.

Many, many parishioners contribute to the well being of the Church in their own special way using their individual talents. All are necessary for the Church to function efficiently.

I am aware that some of you have concerns about the quality of our sound system, and would request that you contact me either by telephone on 023 9248 3984 or by letter via the post box available in St Faith’s on Sundays.

In order to decide what needs to be done, I need specific details of problems.

1. Is there a problem all the time, or does it vary during the Service?

2. Do particular microphones cause more problems than others?

3. If some people are more difficult to hear than others, who are good, who are bad?

4. Is the problem everywhere in church; have you tried moving to a different seat, and was there a difference?

5. Are you hard of hearing, if so do you use a hearing aid, and if so would you use a loop system for the deaf if we had one fitted?

We currently have two radio clip-on microphones used by the clergy, one hand held radio microphone used at the lectern and by the Sunday Club, and a wired microphone used at the pulpit. There are four column loudspeakers each containing five units attached to each of the tower pillars. We have an old cassette recorder to play tapes, but no CD player; hence do not have proper facilities to play recorded music.

The sound system is currently used only for the 9:30am Family Eucharist on Sunday mornings and for special services when a large congregation is expected. If your concerns are about Evensong or weekday services please be specific.

Remember that we cannot produce the sound quality you are used to hearing from a TV studio or live theatre. Our system has been set up by professional sound engineers to provide optimum sound volume compatible with the needs of the clergy to walk around the church using the mobile radio microphones.

Nevertheless, we want everyone to hear the Services properly, so please contact me with your concerns.                                                                                                                                           Paul Utting

Snowy, Flowy, Blowy, Showery, Flowery, Bowery, Hoppy, Croppy, Droppy, Breezy, Sneezy, Freezy. George Ellis (1753-1815)

After attending various meetings, medical checks, visa, etc., I found myself on Tuesday 12 October heading to the warm climate of Ghana. The flight took 6 hours - Ghana was one hour behind us, so no jet lag. How Angela Herring, our leader, could pick out our driver Aloko Akata (pictured below) at the arrivals hall from all the wonderful smiling black faces, I shall never know. We were then whisked away to our first hotel in Accra.

The next day (Wednesday) we were driven to Koforidua and enroute we visited the Aburi Botanical Gardens, which have some wonderful old trees.

Saturday, Fr. Felix took me to the famous dam of Ghana (Akosombo Dam on the Volta River). It was pretty impressive. After lunch I was surprised to find I was packing again and off to Fr. Felix church and rectory in Nsawam about 2 hours away. The roads are terrible, full of potholes, but they are trying to get a "through Ghana" highway - they complete one section and then run out of money. We stopped half way for coconut milk, which is my favourite drink, but it is difficult to be lady like slurping from an open shell.

The next day was Sunday. This was the day I was looking forward to and was not disappointed. Off we went at 9.00am to our first parish and service, which was in a classroom out in the sticks. It was a very simple communion and Fr. Felix wore the usual vestments, which surprised and pleased me, even to a lace cloth that had been draped over a long black board. My they do love their hymn singing.

The following day (Monday) Fr. Felix took me back to Koforidua to meet up with the group. It was sad saying goodbye to a few days that I shall never forget. So here we all are with wonderful memories which we will share later.

Off we go again to one of Ghana’s National Parks and the famous "Tree Walkway". It was a steady climb to the top but worth it. At the top of the trees was this walkway of rope and steel wires stretching from one side to the other across a chasm. Only one person crosses at a time as it can sway from side to side. When my turn came I was very careful except half way across the stick that I was holding in my mouth, as my hands were busy on the ropes for balance, fell! Great gasps from either side of the walkway. The stick fell across me so my historic dance bow came into action by putting one foot behind the other I could elegantly sink and retrieve the offender without the walkway swaying too dangerously. Much laughter from either side. We all got down safely and finally made our way to our last hotel. We had our meal overlooking a wonderful lake with a weaverbird’s nest right beside us, but the birds had disappeared. However, a couple of "crocs" in the water were very much there!

The next day (Tuesday) was to the "Gold Coast", this being our last stop. Our accommodation was by the side of the beach, but only the brave would have attempted to even paddle, let alone swim. The waves were very powerful. We visited the Fort where all the slaves were imprisoned until bought on whatever! I really did not like that side of the trip so I wondered off and then we all met up for our final meal together before heading to the airport for our evening flight back home. This has been a wonderful experience that will remain with me for a long time.

Signs – some of the wonderful signs seen over shops, lorries and cars whilst travelling through Ghana:

By God’s Grace – auto garage

In Jesus name – store

Wonderful Jesus – back of jeep

Father forgive them – lorry

Son of God – broken lorry waiting for help!

God is First – mobile to mobile                                                                                             Pam Le Goaziou

(The Inter Diocesan West Africa Link (IDWAL) in the Portsmouth Diocese has a growing network of ‘parish to parish’ links. The Havant Deanery is linked with the Koforidua Ho Diocese and St. Faith’s with the Nsawam parish in Ghana)

What a wonderful piece of unexpected news! The Rector was away for the weekend, and wouldn’t be at Church on Sunday morning. I was so happy and relieved – I could use his parking spot by the Church. With blisters the size of tennis balls under my heels, other lesser blisters, and a few sore muscles, I wasn’t sure about covering the distance from Church Hall car park to Church.

The Beachy Head Marathon is all cross-country and very hilly. From Eastbourne it uses the South Downs Way, goes through Alfriston, eventually looping round and south. It finishes over the Seven Sisters and back to Eastbourne – twenty-six miles of very beautiful countryside. The event accepts 1,500 entries – equal numbers of runners, joggers and walkers. I walked – taking 9½ hours. It was a hard day, with the drive each end making it more so. I learned after the event that this is the most difficult marathon. The serious racers win with longer times than other marathons. This year, because of the bad conditions (rain, wind, mud, and slosh) the race cut off time was extended from five to six hours.

Later that evening I was flipping through a book of organ pieces, wondering what to play the following morning. If fell open at page 38. I couldn’t resist playing it at 10.45am – "The Hill Climbers March"!

I am very grateful to the firms who have helped achieve this:

Endeavor Personal Finance                                                 Barrells Funeral Directors

Carrells Funeral Service                                                        Dyer Burdett & Co., Solicitors

as well as individual contributions and fundraisers. These include:

Mr & Mrs D Freeston                            Pam Le Goaziou                        Mr J Campbell

Penny Smith                                            John Smyth                                Peter Stainsby

Mr & Mrs J Stuart                                  Alan Hakim                                June Poliszczuk (coffee morning).

Thank you all very much.                                                                                                      Judith Williams