Dear Friends,

Just recently, whilst clearing away some clutter, we came across a poster. It was advertising the film ‘Gladiator’ and had the caption ‘What we do in life echoes in eternity’. What a challenge! It certainly shook me into taking stock of my life again and lifted my horizons. In an age when we are all tempted to live for the present and to focus on materialistic goals, it is good to be reminded that our earthly lives form part of a much bigger canvas and are set in a much grander context.

That truth was wonderfully reinforced at a Thanksgiving Service I attended a couple of days ago at Danehill, in West Sussex. We had gathered to celebrate the life of Gill Sayers who had faithfully served the Lord Jesus in West Africa and latterly at the nearby West Watch where she had helped to run the Zion Centre, used for our youth weekends. Anne and I have regularly visited West Watch over many years and have greatly enjoyed getting to know Gill and her husband, Howard, since they took over as wardens about 10 years ago. Former missionary colleagues and friends of West Watch joined family members and local Christians in giving thanks for Gill’s loving personality, gentle manner, gracious ministry and fruitful life.

Gill’s nursing skills had made an immediate and dramatic difference in a rural area of Guinea Bissau. Her training of local nurses helped to ensure long term medical care in a very needy district. Her humble Christian witness had contributed to the emergence of thriving churches in that area. As a local had put it, when Howard and Gill returned a few years ago and were totally overwhelmed after a lavish feast was thrown in their honour, “Years ago you planted some seeds and now you have tasted the rich harvest!”

This quite helpfully brings me to our own Harvest celebrations here in Middle Wall - as I write I am involved in the final preparations for the Harvest Festival Services. Though they will have passed by the time you read this letter, we continue to remember those who have faithfully planted the seeds of the agricultural and the spiritual harvests that we so richly enjoy. But we ourselves are also called upon to be workers in Christ’s field! We each have a vital part to play in ensuring that there are future harvests of the Spirit. Jesus urges all His followers to bear fruit - “fruit that will last”! (John 15v16.) In this tremendously inspiring way we are able to see that our present lives can take on an eternal significance!

Your friend and pastor,