June 2010

Wintershall – The Life of Christ

Recently I went with friends to Wintershall, to see The Life of Christ, an open air play at Wintershall Estate, Bramley, Surrey. Described as ‘a multisensory experience which has something to offer everyone irrespective of their own beliefs’ I would recommend seeing this play although Wintershall have decided to take a break in 2011 but will be back in 2012.

Designed for all ages, the atmosphere was lovely and the scenery beautiful, with a deep sense of peace wherever we walked. It was an amazing experience to be part of the crowd witnessing the Nativity, childhood, Ministry, Passion and Ascension of Jesus, imagining ourselves in each of the twenty scenes. Centred on Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Galilee, the play brought to life the remarkable events as we walked through Christ’s life – a truly moving account of some of the principle events, parables, miracles and wonderful stories of the New Testament.

An incredibly humbling journey of God’s grace towards mankind.

Currently running from Tuesday 29th June to 4th July 2010

Wintershall will also perform The Wintershall Nativity from Friday 17th – Tuesday 21st December 2010
4.45pm & 7.30pm performances
(Bookings open from 7th September 2010)
Adults £15 Children £7.50)

Wintershall, Wintershall Estate, Surrey, GU5 0LR
(Mon-Fri 9.00am – 5pm only)
www.wintershall-estate.com email: enquiries@wintershall-estate.com
Tel: 01483 892167

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Further confessions of a Reading Group addict…

I first heard about reading groups from Helen Cooke some years ago at an Activate conference. Moving to Dorset and trying to meet new friends gave me the opportunity to join a local group. I loved it!! I am now a member of two local groups and I set up a third at my son’s school as a way of getting to know other mums better. All the groups meet once every six weeks or so, meaning that I usually have three books on the go at any one time. Living a full life with three kids, a part time job and helping with Activate means that I rarely get ‘free time’ to read but somehow having the groups gives me permission to enjoy reading and most months it is not a problem finishing the books. I always enjoy the get togethers, meeting a wide range of women from different walks of life and a variety of view points. Some of them share my faith and go to the same church, most don’t and the conversations and issues we share are never dull and often heated.
I know there are others out there who are involved in reading groups. I would love to hear your stories of books that you would recommend, that initiated great discussions and ones to avoid.
My favourite so far from the last four years is ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ by Lionel Shriver. This was a gripping but harrowing read, raising all kinds of issues about parenting, teenage angst, violence, forgiveness and murder. We didn’t all like the book but we were still discussing it two hours into the night. I look forward to hearing your favourites…

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LILIES OF THE VALLEY

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE LILY OF THE VALLEY IS A SMALL BEAUTIFUL WHITE FLOWER THAT GROWS IN THE SHADE? DID YOU KNOW THAT IT HAS A SWEET, SWEET FRAGRANCE? DID YOU KNOW THAT IN ISRAEL THIS LITTLE FLOWER IS AS COMMON AS OUR DAISY AND IS EASILY TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT?

I live in Keighley, West Yorkshire – this is a very deprived town – we have Asian and White communities that dont mix, we have a high teen pregnancy rate and there is much alcohol and drug abuse. There are many women, who are precious in God’s sight, just as beautiful as the Lily of the Valley – their lives are lived in the shadows and they are trampled on and often do not count themselves as worthy of very much. That is why God gave us the name LILY OF THE VALLEY. We are a small charity that seeks to minister love and grace and value to women – married women, single mums, teen mums.

We have renovated a building in the centre of town – it is stunning, almost as stunning as God thinks these women are – red leather sofas, home made cake and coffee, fresh flowers and Kelly Warren cds. Our aim is simple – to listen and vaue – to pray and value – to serve and value – to love and go the extra mile because love always costs.

Our volunteers are from a number of local churches, and we are funded by regular donations, by one-off gifts, and by God’s ongoing faithful miraculous provision – like the time we needed £8,000 to pay our builder and we had £0 in the account -I gave him the cheque and told him to cash it in a week – the evening before D-day, there was an email in my inbox from someone wanting to give us £8,000!

Anyhow, God’s activites in these women’s lives is more profound than words can describe so pray for us, look at our website (www.liliesofthevalley.org.uk) and if any one wants to give us money, do get in touch 🙂

Oh, and we need a patroness – any ideas???

Lucinda Smith

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