Visit with the Harmons

Greetings in the name of the Lord,

 One month has passed and it is amazing to see how fast time gets along.  We continue to be busy with the ministry at Henley Baptist Church.  We are enjoying the fellowship and are having a great time.  The Sunday morning attendance continues to grow.  We are meeting new folks every week, as people stop by the church during the week for coffee/tea and scones.  As we introduce ourselves to newcomers, it seems that our reputation preceeds us.  Or as we greet people, they say, “You must be the new pastor.”  It is not so important that they know who I am, but who Jesus is.  That is why we are here.

 Last Sunday, Henley Baptist had a new member.  We are excited for the church and the Kingdom of God.  The lady is a former member who had moved to Wales some time back, then recently back to Henley.  Nadine and I visited in her home and encouraged her in the Lord.  I believe she will make a great member.

This coming Sunday, February 25, I will baptize our organist.  She has been a believer for a few years but has never been baptized.  This is going to be a great day for the church. 

I mentioned to you before that we have a lady who turned 100 in January, Miss Edna Gane.  She has been in the hospital for a few days in Stratford.  Nadine and I have visited her several times.  She was to come home today. She missed her home so much.  One day she will be heading for her heavenly home and will be rejoicing to finally get to her real home.

People are still responding to my sermons with words of encouragement.  Last Sunday, I was talking about how God helps us with our stress points.  I thought I would give the church a stress test.  I asked them to complete some sentences related to stress.  Sentences like: I am ready to throw in the ________; I want to resign from the human ________; I am just a bundle of _________; My life is falling ________.  Things like that.  Then I used one more sentence for them to complete (they were doing so well).  I said, “I am at the end of my _________.”  They were supposed to say ‘rope’.  Instead, they shocked me when they said ‘tether’.  I have never heard that folks could get to the end of their tether (you can tell I have a lot to learn).

Even though England is financially very strong and very modern, there are some areas where we find them to be a little different from the States.  Most of the homes, at least in Henley, do not have dishwashers.  Nor do they have clothes dryers.  Most of the flats are small but are very expensive.  They do not have garages (some of the larger homes have a single, or in rare instances, double car garage).  Many of the older ladies in the church do not have cars and have to walk or take a taxi to wherever they need to go.  Many of them walk to church, even on Wednesday night.  A lot of them walk about a mile each way to get to church or to town.  I was told that, in years past, folks walked 5-7 miles (one way) to church, many of them walked back for Sunday evening service.

Henley Baptist Church and Hockley Heath Baptist Church (I have been preaching at Hockley Heath on Sunday afternoons) were the beneficiary of the goodness of God and the kindness of a man named George Muntz, who many, many years ago, with his own money built the two church buildings.  He said that God laid it on his heart to do so and blessed him with the resources to build both churches.  Today, Henley Baptist Church is one of four Baptist churches in the entire country with a steeple (spire).  Three of them are indebted to Mr. George Muntz. 

On Saturday, February 24,  Nadine and I will travel with friends to a city called Sudbury (south east of Cambridge).  We will attend the induction service of Nigel Ford as he becomes the new pastor of Sudbury Baptist Church.  We first knew him at Stafford Baptist (north of Henley about 45 minutes) and then at Cirencester Baptist (south of here about an hour).  We are looking forward to our reunion with Nigel and Val.  They have been such good friends.  Sudbury Baptist Church is an exciting, growing congregation and I am looking forward to hearing great reports as God continues to work there.

More next time….

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It seems like we’ve been here a lot longer than a month for some reason.  There are many things about the States that we really miss, of course.  But there are so many things about England to love and we take great pride in being here to love these people and this country, and to represent the USA.  The people are so gracious to us and, get this, LOVE OUR ACCENT!  Well, I never thought about people from the States having an accent before.  I guess to them, it IS an accent!   

Today is Friday and our day off.  We will be touring around the local areas today and taking care of a few personal things as well.  It’s always a great day when we get to go find “new” tea rooms and places to experience FOOD!!  (Remember I don’t like to cook - you remember that, don’t you?)

England has a tea room on every corner!!  And we love it!  If we don’t come back home looking, speaking, and acting British, we’ll be surprised.  Have never had so many “biscuits” (cookies) and “scones” (biscuits) in our whole life.  Have to admit, though, we do miss our American food - like MEXICAN FOOD, YUMMY CHEESEBURGERS and the likes.  Oh well, I think we can do without a while longer in order to have the great experience that we’ve been privileged to be a part of so far.  Our kids both kept saying, “It’ll be such a great experience - you’ll have such a great time”.  And you know what, they were SO RIGHT!

Both Dick and I miss all of you, but we hope that we’ll come back to you better people with bigger hearts and a more perfect love for others.  In the meantime, please remember us in your prayers.  DICK NEEDS IT !!  (I’m smiling here).

Our love and prayers to all of you,

Nadine 

Dear Friends and family,

We received about 2 inches of snow over night and it is still snowing at present.  It reminds me so much of God’s great covering, because of His mercy and grace, of how He covers our sins and wrong choices.  Today, take a moment to praise His Wonderful name for His goodness and love.

 I want to take just a moment to talk about 3 things, then Nadine wants to update you on our visit here.  The country of England is going through a time of transition.  Tony Blair is about to leave office after 10 years of serving as Prime Minister.  In my opinion, he has done a great job in the midst of troublesome times.  He has been heavily criticized, primarily because of his partnership with President George Bush in the war in Iraq.  I have talked to folks here about him and they agree with me that Tony Blair is a man of great character, integrity, and with a passion for serving his country.  Please pray for him and this country as they both transition.

The state of the church here is sad.  The Methodist Church has had to close over 300 congregations this past couple of years.  The Church of England is facing difficult times as well.  There are not enough pastors to care for the churches.  I met a retired pastor yesterday, who is 90 years old and still serving (part time) 17 churches in his area.  In a recent article, the Baptist Union reported that over 20,000 children have stopped attending Baptist churches in the past couple of years.  This country seems to have forgotten God and is paying the price for that lapse of memory.  Even though, in the Anglican churches I have visited, I see advertisements about Tony Campolo and have seen Rick Warren’s books for sale, and it appears that the church really does care.  Yet they are losing ground rapidly.

Henley Baptist Church (where we serve) is over 300 years old (1688).  At one time, according to Gordon Trinder, church administrator and town crier, this church had over 100 children in Sunday School.  Now there are none in attendance.  The church is getting older and as the older ones die off, what will its future be?  I asked Gordon what his vision for the church might be.  He told me that he longed to see children return to Sunday School as in the old days.  

Here are some prayer needs: 1) That we might be able to help the church regain her lost vision and help them develop a plan for the future  2) A full time pastor   3) That God will use us mightily while we are here   4) That God will bring about a spiritual awakening in this country which will begin in Henley Baptist Church. 

The church does hold its coffee and teas every week, but this is for the older crowd in the church and community.  I believe they want to grow, but have lacked leadership to guide them.  The church has been without a full time pastor for over 4 years.   It seems that the church is in a maintenance mode rather than a growth mode.  I want God to help us change that. 

Remember I mentioned to you that I looked for the stocks at Stow on the Wold?  Last week I let Nadine drive the car for the first time.  What flashed in my mind as I held on for dear life was, “Where are those stocks when they are really needed?”

Hey, it’s my turn now!!  I didn’t think the idea of those stocks was so funny!!  What would being out in the snow and rain do to my hair???

We are loving this country and its people.  What a joy they are.  They are the most hospitable people we’ve ever seen.  As we go into their homes to visit, we ALWAYS get to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and either cake, a scone (a biscuit with raisins/cranberries), or a “biscuit” (cookies).  Confused?  Took us awhile too.  Needless to say, we are not neglected!

Being part of the traffic in this country is WILD!  I have sucked the air out of the car so many times it’s a wonder the tires aren’t flat!  Man, it’s something!  Dick does really great.  He has only pulled out on the wrong side a very few times, usually coming out of a parking lot before we get to the street.  For now I am content to be a passenger and BACK-SEAT DRIVER!!  Yeah.

The towns, villages and countryside are indescribeable.  You just can’t imagine what it’s like unless you’ve seen it with your own eyes.  Beautiful.  Everything is very, very old.  I guess if you’re not into old buildings/churches/castles, etc., you might not agree with us, but if you have an appreciation for things that are hundreds of years old, you would love everything about it.  I have to say that as we get “older”, Dick is cultivating a really big appreciation of the “old” stuff (me)!

Fridays are our personal days off and we have been seeing the surrounding areas and shopping (Mmmmmm) to my little heart’s content.  Well, not recklessly of course, but it’s been fun.  We went to a town called “Tewksbury” last Friday and saw their Abbey which was built over 900 years ago!  It really blows your mind to think of the technology they possessed that long ago.  Truly amazing (and beautiful).

I made my first scones this morning (from a box mix, of course) and my husband was impressed!  Well, okay, so he gets impressed easily when something comes from the oven!  Will let you know how my skills (?) progress.

TV is not too extensive over here, but at least they provided us with a television which I’m very thankful for.  We only get 5 channels, none of which are the Turner Classics much to husband’s chagrin!

Remember us in your prayers.  We love you all. 

 The Harmons