Perhaps this November, more than some others, will force us to remember better times, especially against the backdrop of high unemployment, of continuing recession, of yet another month where there is more month than money...
The reason we remember and make memories at all is because they are central to to what it means to be human. Being human involves being in relationship with others - with those whom we love, with those whom we work, with those whom we live with whether locally, nationally or internationally and forging a future together as families, communities, as nations, as a world.
Yet our relationships can be strained because of all sorts of factors - pressure of work, time and distance but not least of all the austere place we find ourselves in as a nation at the moment.
Did you know that 1 in 5 parents skip meals to feed their children or that some 13 million people in the UK live below the poverty line?
To play our part seeing our communities transformed by the love of Christ in responding to that need locally, we are working with other churches to see a foodbank open to serve the people of Mill End and Maple Cross. We are working in partnership with the Trussell Trust (www.trusselltrust.org) who are the UK’s leading providor of support to setting up foodbanks to support local people who are, in many cases, one paycheque away from a crisis.
We would like you to play a part in realising this vision. In time this will include helping to collect food from local supermarkets as people come to do their weekly shop, helping sort the food in date order in the storage space we have identified, and welcoming those who need an emergency food parcel at the bank in both communities and so on.
As it’s doors open, I also hope and pray that the memories that are shared this Advent season when it comes, are hope filled ones, where it’s seen and felt that God’s church made a difference, and showed the love and care of God Himself to those in very real need.
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