Thought for the Week

Tag: strangers

  • Light shines in the darkness

    The war on the people of Ukraine is appalling. The relentless bombing of cities and smaller communities wreaks mindless destruction of property and kills men, women and children. It is heart-breaking to see people leaving their homes carrying a few precious possessions with them. Little children carrying only a favourite toy. Thousands of people sheltering […]

  • Who is my neighbour?

    Recently I was driving on a fast dual carriageway when I saw a man in the central reservation waving his hands. As I got nearer, I saw an elderly man who looked very confused standing near the other man. It seems the elderly man had dementia, had left his care home, and had wandered onto […]

  • Baby Asher

    The birth of a first child is an occasion for great joy. In June Pete and Grace, who work at Hebron School in India, rejoiced in the birth of their son Asher and their families and friends rejoiced with them. When he was five weeks old Asher was taken ill with vomiting and admitted to […]

  • Good news of great joy

    Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His parents, Mary and Joseph, lived in Nazareth, a small village in Galilee. The Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, had decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. Everyone had to return to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. Because Joseph was a descendant of […]

  • The “lullaby mothers” of the DR Congo

    The outbreak of Ebola in the DR Congo is very serious. Over the past year more than 2,000 people have died out of more than 3,000 cases. Nearly 600 of those who have died are children. New treatments are available, but many people are afraid to seek treatment because this involves being isolated away from […]

  • Light shines in the darkness

    The terrorist attack on London Bridge on Saturday 3 June came without warning and many innocent people were caught up in the tragic events. Kirsty Boden, a young nurse from Loxton in South Australia living in London, responded immediately and ran to help the victims of the barbaric attack. As she ran to help the […]

  • Loving the strangers among us

    When he boarded a Wizz Air flight from Romania to Luton Victor Spiersau had no idea that he would be front page news in Britain. Victor comes from Transylvania, a very poor region in Romania which itself is not a wealthy country. He left his 19 year old fiancée Catalina Curcean in the dilapidated home […]

  • Welcoming strangers

    The birth of Jesus brought great joy to Mary and Joseph, but it also involved significant trauma. The news that Mary was pregnant seriously threatened her reputation for purity and integrity in her home village of Nazareth. The circumstances of the birth were extremely difficult as Mary gave birth to her first child in a […]