March 2025
Asylum seekers never have it easy. When they eventually receive Leave to Remain from the Home Office, usually after a long wait followed by what must be a nerve-racking interview, there is very good reason to celebrate. And that’s just what Haleh and Ebi, the last of our Iranians to be allowed to stay in Britain, did. They provided a special cake for our Bring and Share meal in February, and we used the opportunity to congratulate all those whose company and fellowship give us great pleasure.
(Above) Hezha and Amin join in the celebrations with Ebi
and Haleh. Salma waits patiently in the background.
(Right) Salma continues to wait patiently. But there was plenty for all.
and Haleh. Salma waits patiently in the background.
(Right) Salma continues to wait patiently. But there was plenty for all.
Pete Lawton has been looking out some interesting photos from the past. We won’t embarrass anyone, but these two images are worth “comparing and contrasting”, as exams say. Things (and people) have certainly changed (not always for the better?).
The Romans knew that a long time ago: tempora mutantur et nos cum illis (as you know, that’s Latin for “Times change, and we change with them”). Or as the hymn puts it, “Time and change are busy ever”. [Number 91 if you’re in the 1970s, or 141 if you’ve changed to the green hymn book.]
The Romans knew that a long time ago: tempora mutantur et nos cum illis (as you know, that’s Latin for “Times change, and we change with them”). Or as the hymn puts it, “Time and change are busy ever”. [Number 91 if you’re in the 1970s, or 141 if you’ve changed to the green hymn book.]
Two questions to help you while away the time in this cold spring:
How many people in the 1970s image do you recognise?
How many people are in both images?
Sorry, no prizes, but the answers might surprise you.
Cecelia is surviving the cold weather in Scotland, and has been putting her musical abilities to very good use. Many of us enjoyed the Christmas concert from the No Strings Attached orchestra, in which she played the French horn.
Then she turned her attention to improving our repertoire of hymns and spiritual songs. One Sunday afternoon she introduced us to some of the songs in the Purple Worship book, which emanates from Australia and contains works by some of the Christadelphians there. Despite our paltry efforts she remained her usual bubbly self, playing both the piano and her ukulele which came all the way from Australia. On a subsequent Sunday the service incorporated the hymns we had learned (sort of).
Then she turned her attention to improving our repertoire of hymns and spiritual songs. One Sunday afternoon she introduced us to some of the songs in the Purple Worship book, which emanates from Australia and contains works by some of the Christadelphians there. Despite our paltry efforts she remained her usual bubbly self, playing both the piano and her ukulele which came all the way from Australia. On a subsequent Sunday the service incorporated the hymns we had learned (sort of).
Surprisingly, after the rather long list of troubles some of us had last time, the welfare news is mostly good this quarter. Perhaps we have all been taking extra care to avoid overloading the NHS.
Averil and Ian celebrated their 80th birthdays with an ecclesial party. Though they were born in different years, their birthdays are efficiently and economically close together, hence the joint occasion. (Though not so economically, there was actually another celebration for their family and friends. Both events were enjoyed, and a lovely reunion with some long-time acquaintances.)
Otherwise, those who were availing themselves of medical expertise last time have continued on the road to recovery, though there are one or two procedures in the offing. We wish them well.
But the news from Bosnia is not so good. The ecclesia recently sent a donation to help Dzenan’s wife Medina with her hospital expenses. (You may have heard Dzenan speak at our Bible class.) She is still in the hospital and had another procedure a few days ago, after she had massive bleeding and the doctors had to do something even more aggressive this time. Dzenan reports that she is tired, in pain, lonely and quite medicated, having been in and out of hospital for three months. And remember there is no NHS in Bosnia. Whatever complaint we may have about our NHS, we don’t run up massive bills by being ill.
But their elder son Aziz managed to win a competition in C++ (a computer programming language) on a district level. Aziz was first and scored 86% for one hour and 42 minutes and now holds the record for 9th grade students. Time for all 5 tasks is 4 hours. Many congratulations are in order.
Sooner or later, we will be enjoying the many pleasures of Spring. New life all around us…birds singing merrily (even if they do it just to protect their territory from other birds)…and warm Spring weather. God is a faithful God, and we can rely on the seasons coming round in due course. They have never failed to do so yet. So may we be truly grateful for the loving God whom we worship and honour.
Averil and Ian celebrated their 80th birthdays with an ecclesial party. Though they were born in different years, their birthdays are efficiently and economically close together, hence the joint occasion. (Though not so economically, there was actually another celebration for their family and friends. Both events were enjoyed, and a lovely reunion with some long-time acquaintances.)
Otherwise, those who were availing themselves of medical expertise last time have continued on the road to recovery, though there are one or two procedures in the offing. We wish them well.
But the news from Bosnia is not so good. The ecclesia recently sent a donation to help Dzenan’s wife Medina with her hospital expenses. (You may have heard Dzenan speak at our Bible class.) She is still in the hospital and had another procedure a few days ago, after she had massive bleeding and the doctors had to do something even more aggressive this time. Dzenan reports that she is tired, in pain, lonely and quite medicated, having been in and out of hospital for three months. And remember there is no NHS in Bosnia. Whatever complaint we may have about our NHS, we don’t run up massive bills by being ill.
But their elder son Aziz managed to win a competition in C++ (a computer programming language) on a district level. Aziz was first and scored 86% for one hour and 42 minutes and now holds the record for 9th grade students. Time for all 5 tasks is 4 hours. Many congratulations are in order.
Sooner or later, we will be enjoying the many pleasures of Spring. New life all around us…birds singing merrily (even if they do it just to protect their territory from other birds)…and warm Spring weather. God is a faithful God, and we can rely on the seasons coming round in due course. They have never failed to do so yet. So may we be truly grateful for the loving God whom we worship and honour.
Finally, an opportunity you may wish to make use of. Our church cleaner, Phoebe Ryrko, is in her normal life an accomplished artist. She is organising art tutorials in April and May in the Salisbury Centre in Edinburgh. The poster, showing some of her work, gives further details.
