It takes great humility 
to find oneself unjustly condemned
and to be silent,
and to do this is to imitate our Lord.
The truly humble person
will have a genuine desire
to be thought little of, and persecuted,
and condemned unjustly,
even in serious matters.
 
You know that I deprecate
excessive penances;
here, however,
there is no cause for fear
that your health will suffer.
The interior virtues
do not weaken the body,
but strengthen the soul.
 
Remember how the Lord
took the Magdalen’s part
in the Pharisee’s house, 
and when her sister blamed her.
On the cross, He had only a thief 
to defend Him.
Be glad when you are blamed,
and you will see
what profit you experience in your souls.
 
In this way you will begin
to gain freedom.
It is difficult at first,
but with the Lord’s help,
the gradual attainment of this freedom,
and of renunciation and self-detachment,
is quite possible.

The Way of Perfection, chapter 15
Saint Teresa of Avila

Modern English Version translated and abridged by John Venard OCD

We support refugees and asylum seekers in Southampton. One particular asylum seeker was advised by the Home Office that she and her family would be rehoused to another city. We helped clean the rented property after they had gone and returned the key to the landlord via the estate agent.

As the family were to be housed temporarily in a hostel by the Home Office until permanent accommodation was found, we gave our home address to the estate agent in case any mail needed forwarding to the family. Big mistake.

First of all, I received a letter from Southampton City Council stating that I was no longer required to pay Council Tax and that our direct debit had been cancelled. The euphoria was short lived when I received an identical envelope from the Council addressed to the asylum seeker at our address.

It took a month of writing letters and phone calls to Southampton City Council to convince them that we had not moved and that the asylum seeking family did not live at our address, indeed they had never even visited our home. It took another month for the Direct Debit to recommence. I asked who had advised them that we had moved. No answer.

Then guess what? Today, I received a letter addressed the the asylum seeker at our address from Southern Water. Here we go again. Was it the estate agent? If so, were they under some kind of legal obligation to notify the local Council and utility providers of the forwarding address for the asylum seeker?

I am now half expecting to receive letters from our telephone, gas and electricity providers addressed to the asylum seeker as well.

And to make matters a little more confusing still, the letters were addressed to the partner of the asylum seeker whom I’ve never met and who has lived and worked abroad for some while.

Photo taken in the Walled Off Hotel, Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine

by Lou Lam

I once heard someone say, that daily prayer and scripture is as important for a new mother, as milk is to a baby. I knew it would bring much-needed life and nourishment to my tired being. Life with two little ones has been quite a shock to the system, to say the least. No antenatal course quite prepares you for the requirement of such a total sacrifice of your body and self. The vulnerability, pressure to avoid mistakes and harassment of expectations is often overwhelming as I would fret over my attempts to “sort my life out”, portray an appearance of success, pursue professional dreams, grapple endless to-do lists, toddler-going-teen tantrums and navigate commitments to my family. In a season where I didn’t have the time for many words, I longed for a tangible assurance of God’s presence. But carving out time for myself to shower or eat, let alone have quiet times has felt quite impossible. Daily brain fog becomes the norm on better days or sleeps deprived migraines on others. At times I even struggled to string thoughts together talking to friends.

We thank God for Richard Bewes, for his biblical teaching, his inspirational books and his pastoral heart. We were honoured to have Richard and Pam as members of Christ Church, Virginia Water since 2013. It was a privilege to have Richard join our preaching team and mentor several of our staff team. Richard also helped launch Peacemaker Trust in May 2017. He was a valued and respected member of the Peacemaker’s International Board of Reference. Continue reading →