Be holy because I am Holy – Leviticus 11:44

It always amazes me when we receive confirmation from our Lord. Here at St. John’s and St. Mark’s we believe in the Word, Prayer and Worship – so should we be amazed when what we want is what God wants?

Let me explain – I have learned over my Christian journey God will do what He wants, when and where He wants – it is not up to us to decide when someone comes to the Lord, all we can do is support and pray and show God’s love to those all around us.

For the last nine months we at Frydays have been supporting our local community with meals and food bags. We even cooked and delivered 247 free Christmas meals - joining with The VETS Breakfast Club, The Lions, The Council and The Rotary Club to do this.

I still thought to myself “are we doing enough” and I have been praying as to how we can help families who are living in food poverty. And so to go back to thinking about God’s timing – we were not ready for this work last year, even though I thought we were.

With Mark, Ann-Marie, Ti and the Frydays Team working together we now have started a new scheme with Whitehall Academy and the Church School to provide a little extra help for those local families that are struggling. A lot of these are working people - it is not only families that are claiming government benefits.

On Tuesday 3rd February we launched this new scheme. Ti delivered food parcels to Whitehall Academy. As Ti left I thought to myself “we would have struggled to do this last summer”.

We all know we need to have faith in the Lord. We must also remember our Lord is Lord over all. He not only sends his blessings but he will also protect us and keep us walking on the right path.

Lastly thank you to my loving Church Family who have helped in so many different ways. Covid has been an opportunity to show God’s love. Bless You all. Clive Upton