Poppyland Benefice Bulletin , , , , , ,

Sunday 25th April The fourth Sunday of Easter

Services for April & May

25th April: 10am Southrepps 2nd May 10am Antingham followed by APCM 9th May 10am Overstrand followed by APCM 16th May 10am Northrepps followed by APCM 23rd May 10am Southrepps followed by APCM 30th May 10am Trimingham followed by APCM

(APCM for Sidestrand 12 noon Thursday May 20th at Reading Room, Thorpe Market 6.30pm Friday 28th May in Church)

Leave Please note that I will be taking my post-Easter break next week ~ Thanks Siân

Letter from Jan Balfour

God is our refuge and our strength – a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46 v.1) Jesus was a wonderful story teller, who knew the best way to communicate with His listeners, explaining the truth to people in ways they could understand. I love listening to other people’s stories especially when they’re sharing the ways that God has helped them through the years. On the Bible Society website there is a link to people’s stories, sharing how the words of the Bible have strengthened them and sustained them especially in difficult times. The Bible verse at the top of the page has always meant a lot to me, and I just wanted to share one of my stories where this verse became very true for me. Many years ago I took our son Ben, then aged 12, ( a very long time ago!) on a camping holiday up at Robin Hood’s Bay near Whitby. We travelled by train to York, both of us with huge, heavy back packs carrying all our equipment and then caught the bus over the moors to Robin Hood’s Bay, which took two and a half hours, uphill and down dale and round all the villages. We have often said that we could write a book about all the folk who got on and off the bus, but that’s for another time! We arrived at our destination in a thick sea fog, like the ones we get here on the coast, which lasted three days! Despite that we did really enjoy our holiday, walking the couple of miles each evening through the fields to get our fish and chips.

Every day we saw walkers arriving at the Bay having completed the 200 mile coast-to-coast walk from St Bee’s head in Cumbria, so we bought a map promising that one day we’d come back and walk the coast-to-coast. Then we decided that rather than catching the bus back to York, we would walk back along the path to the railway station at Grossmont, about a 20 mile hike. Although we had done some walking, we were novices for this sort of walking.

We packed up our rucksacks on the last day and walked up from the town up an extremely steep hill. Our packs were so heavy we could hardly move upwards, and were exhausted only 2 miles into the walk. There were no signs to tell us which way to go so we just walked straight on over the moor. About half a dozen snakes went across our path which was quite scarey; Ben yelled ‘well we’re not going that way Ma’! So we walked round on the road till we found a sign, but I knew that God had guided us and looked after us right at the beginning of the walk, which was very reassuring.

Not having a lot of hiking experience, we hadn’t brought a lot to eat or drink. I thought they’d be shops on the way, in the villages marked on the map, somewhere we could stop for a while. It also turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. Our packs were so heavy – we hadn’t heard of travelling light! At about the half-way point Ben was finding it all too much, so I carried some of his stuff as well. After about 15 miles we were well and truly done in, and of course, hungry and dehydrated. We sat down in a flopped state by a waymark sign that just said ‘public footpath’ in every direction. I realised I’d been quite foolish to undertake the journey, but I just quietly prayed for God to help us, because we had no idea which way to go and we were so exhausted.

Suddenly we saw a man who seemed to appear out of nowhere, walking towards us, bearing in mind we’d hardly seen anyone all day. I wonder sometimes if he was an angel sent to help us; well he was certainly a very Geordie one! He said he was staying at a nearby hostel and had come out for a walk and was lost, but he had a photocopied map with him. Using that between us we managed to work out vaguely where we were going and the possible route out. It was such a relief to have someone to talk to and walk with. It was quite a walk out of where we were, and we just followed him, so grateful that he was there. I dread to think what would have happened if he hadn’t appeared. So we finally made it to the road which led down to Grossmont railway station, our friend having gone in a different direction. We staggered into Grossmont, definitely the worse for wear, and sat drinking long refreshing drinks in a pub garden – we couldn’t face any food, but we then had to walk a couple of miles to a campsite, so we could return to catch the train the next day.

But that story will always stay with me. That God was our refuge and our strength and was certainly present with us in our troubles, and helped us out of them, even though they were self-inflicted!

Of course, we learnt such a lot about hiking that day, and have done quite a bit since then, important lessons having been learnt; but also I know whatever situation I’m in I don’t have to be afraid, because it taught me how close God is to each one of us and how he is always our help and our strength. He is only a prayer away. The following verse (v.2) in Psalm 46 says ‘ Therefore will we not fear’ and further on ‘Be still and know that I am God’. And ends with ‘the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge’.

Prayer Chain and Pastoral Support Confidential requests for prayer can be sent to Rev Siân either email [email protected] or ring 01263 833790 (please leave a message) and I am happy to receive calls or emails about any pastoral matters and very happy to have a chat with anyone if they ring so please do get in touch. Thanks.

For General enquiries or for Liz: [email protected]