My fundraising has been going brilliantly, something for which I am very grateful and also give thanks to God for. Mind you, very little of this success is actually my doing. I seem to have done relatively little, except perhaps "light the blue touch paper" as the saying goes! St Michael's Church West Andover (www.smwa.co.uk), where I am an Assistant Priest have been brilliant in this respect. I had an idea to do 'odd jobs' in return for a donation but this was scuppered by various regulations (inland revenue, insurance, health & safety, etc). However, a number of people in the congregation have given generous donations. In addition, two ladies fixed, organised and hosted a Coffee Morning on my behalf last Saturday. I attended, answered questions, and mounted a display about chaplaincy in Athens, Berlin and Vancouver. At least 30 people attended throughout the morning and through people's generosity more money was raised. I also discovered recently that, unknown to me, one or more people (I know not who or how many) have been doing some of the 'odd jobs' that I'm not 'allowed' to do to make sure the donations still came in. That type of action almost stuns me into silence - but a very grateful silence. It really feels now that I shall be going to Vancouver not just to serve as a chaplain but to represent the people of St Michael's as I do it. It is a good Christian principle when someone is sent out from a local Christian community with their support to fulfil a specific role, and I really feel that this is now what is happening.
On top of this, I heard officially at the beginning of this term that two departments at Loughborough University have also expressed their willingness to give some money towards the expenses of my trip. When I learned this, it was another moment when I felt stunned, albeit very pleasantly so. Both sources of money, Loughborough and church, feel like a great affirmation of my ministry among them. God is so good!
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Friday 15 January 2010
New Year, New Challenges
Happy New Year to you!
As one year finishes and another starts, many people are filled with optimism as they look forward to what lies ahead. New Year resolutions abound. New challenges are identified. New aims in life targeted. And athletes are no different - indeed, many of them will be even further ahead of the rest of us in their looking forward. Many won't have had the Christmas break that some of us have had, as routines will have continued throughout and alongside the festive season. Training for this new year will be planned. Competitions will have been identified as targets. Aims and goals for performance will have been set. And dreams will have been dreamed. 2010 is a big year for competition. In addition to all the annual competitions for each sport, there are a number of others this year: Vancouver and Whistler in Canada host the Winter Olympics in February and the Winter Paralympics in March; Doha, in Qatar, hosts the World Indoor Athletics Championships in March; South Africa hosts the FIFA World Cup in June and July; Guildford, in the south of England, hosts the Women's Rugby World Cup in August and September; and Delhi in India hosts the Commonwealth Games in October - to name but a few!
Last weekend, a number of track athletes laid some foundations for this year by competing in the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country; and it was good for me as Visiting Sports Chaplain at Loughborough University to watch several Loughbrough based athletes in action. I perhaps ought to add that I was in the warmth watching on TV whilst they were competing in a very cold and snowy Edinburgh!
I'm also beginning to make my own preparations for this new sporting year. Towards the end of last year I learned that I'd been selected as a chaplain for the Winter Paralympics. This was quite a surprise as numbers of accredited chaplains are small and I wasn't expecting to be selected at all. So fund-raising started in November, because virtually all such chaplaincy appointments are self-funding (as was Berlin last year), as did the search of accommodation, etc, etc. I'm also playing a major part in planning and providing the chaplaincy provision at the Women's Rugby World Cup, which thankfully is happening much closer to home.
So the blog has been redesigned and relaunched, and I'll be adding more news and updates on a regular basis from now on, including daily bulletins from the Paralympics in March (hopefully, technology resources permitting).
As one year finishes and another starts, many people are filled with optimism as they look forward to what lies ahead. New Year resolutions abound. New challenges are identified. New aims in life targeted. And athletes are no different - indeed, many of them will be even further ahead of the rest of us in their looking forward. Many won't have had the Christmas break that some of us have had, as routines will have continued throughout and alongside the festive season. Training for this new year will be planned. Competitions will have been identified as targets. Aims and goals for performance will have been set. And dreams will have been dreamed. 2010 is a big year for competition. In addition to all the annual competitions for each sport, there are a number of others this year: Vancouver and Whistler in Canada host the Winter Olympics in February and the Winter Paralympics in March; Doha, in Qatar, hosts the World Indoor Athletics Championships in March; South Africa hosts the FIFA World Cup in June and July; Guildford, in the south of England, hosts the Women's Rugby World Cup in August and September; and Delhi in India hosts the Commonwealth Games in October - to name but a few!
Last weekend, a number of track athletes laid some foundations for this year by competing in the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country; and it was good for me as Visiting Sports Chaplain at Loughborough University to watch several Loughbrough based athletes in action. I perhaps ought to add that I was in the warmth watching on TV whilst they were competing in a very cold and snowy Edinburgh!
I'm also beginning to make my own preparations for this new sporting year. Towards the end of last year I learned that I'd been selected as a chaplain for the Winter Paralympics. This was quite a surprise as numbers of accredited chaplains are small and I wasn't expecting to be selected at all. So fund-raising started in November, because virtually all such chaplaincy appointments are self-funding (as was Berlin last year), as did the search of accommodation, etc, etc. I'm also playing a major part in planning and providing the chaplaincy provision at the Women's Rugby World Cup, which thankfully is happening much closer to home.
So the blog has been redesigned and relaunched, and I'll be adding more news and updates on a regular basis from now on, including daily bulletins from the Paralympics in March (hopefully, technology resources permitting).
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