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A New Vision for 2025 – 2030 Something exciting has been stirring at St George’s. We are seeing growth numerically and spiritually. We are seeing people of all ages com-ing to faith in Jesus. We are seeing God moving powerfully amongst us week by week. Following the completion of the last five-year vision (which was about church revitalisation and growth) we now step into a new season. Our church’s values remain the same (Jesus at the centre, the bible is our guide, and people matter). Building on these values and all that God is doing amongst His church, we have a new vision for 2025-2030. At the APCM in May, we presented the vision we believe God has given us for the next season of church life: Over the next five years we want to be: changed by His presence, with a passion for discipleship. This vision calls us deeper into God’s presence and strengthens our passion for discipleship. This isn’t just a plan, or a new strategy—it’s about transformation, revival, and a commitment to living out our faith boldly in the coming years. Jesus is at the heart of everything we do. He is the reason, the foundation, and the future of St George’s. Our worship, prayer, preaching, and outreach all flow from a desire to glorify God and seek His presence. We are stepping into a new chapter where we long to be marked by, empow-ered by, and known for the presence of God. Imagine a church where we truly listen to His voice, obey His call, and confidently exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave to equip His church. Being changed by His presence means relying on God wholeheartedly and expecting great things of Him. We are trusting Him for growth—not just in numbers, but in spiritual depth, renewal, and spending time in his presence. As a resource church, we have a unique calling to equip and release people into ministry, not only within our own church family but across the wider world. We will work with expectant faith, longing for God to move mightily in this next season. But transformation doesn’t happen passively. That’s why this vision is deeply rooted in a pas-sion for discipleship. We want to be a church prepared for what God has for us in the next five years. If God brings people to us, we must be ready. Jesus calls us to make disciples, and true disciples spend time with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. This isn’t just for a select few—it’s a call for everyone in our church, whatever age or stage of life. Imagine a community where growth is intentional, where each person is equipped to live out their Christian faith boldly and authentically. We long to see lives transformed by the grace of God, where people step into salvation and are nurtured into whole-life discipleship. This means preparing spiritually and practically; creating spaces to pray, structures to encourage growth, and a commit-ment to support one another as we step into all God has for us. All this starts with prayer. We are committed to building a community of people who will pray 24/7 (so we will need to find a venue to make this happen) allowing the Holy Spirit to fuel everything we do. We will prepare our church to welcome and disciple those who come through our doors, ensur-ing that spiritual growth is possible at every level. But this vision isn’t just about us, it reaches from St. George’s, into Stamford, to the villages, the market towns, and even to the ends of the earth. This is a vision of expectancy. It’s a call to step deeper into God’s presence, to build a church marked by faith, and to see lives transformed through discipleship. SOME QUESTIONS? • Are you ready to be part of this movement? • What gets you excited about this vision? • What could you do in your quiet time or small groups to spend more time in God’s pres-ence? • What can you contribute to discipling others in the life of St George’s? Ben Topham, Associate Rector Rector’s Update Every couple of months I attend a board meeting in Lincoln for the Resource Church leaders to feed-back on how things are going on the ground. The first quarter has been an encouraging season and here are some of the highlights. Good News from Grantham: The most exciting thing by a distance is that St Anne’s are seeing people become Christians. One family of 5 have asked to be baptised. Mum came to toddler group and ‘God matters’ explorer course. Dad has been listening to sermons online and met Andy 121. Con-sequently, the whole family have joined the church. Another man who became a Christian last year is ready to be baptised. Every week they are still see-ing new people in church, including new families who have come through the after-school club. In April their average attendance was125 (19 chil-dren). Easter Sunday saw their largest gathering yet (144 including 24 children). They have just add-ed a new part time administrator role to their staff team. Good News from Spalding: There has been a significant change for the better in the financial situation. The Projected 2025 Budget was a £25k deficit as they start to pay an increasing portion of staff costs for the two posts funded from the strate-gic development fund. They are currently running a small surplus for the first quarter with one off gifts responding to Greg’s teaching on giving. They give thanks for the 20 children each day on an Easter holiday club where the vast majority were not from church families. Each Sunday they average 110 across two services including 12 children. Good News from Boston: Holy Trini-ty Boston have appointed a new vicar to follow Lis and Ian Ward who left a year ago. Adrian Morton currently serving in Wellingborough in Peterborough Diocese will be licensed on September 15th. Good News from St George’s: Sunday average attendance has been steadily increasing since Jan-uary. Jan 409, Feb 439, March 464, April 491 (Easter Day 565). In addition to this about 50 peo-ple are watching the services live online in real time as we live stream the service. Our biweekly Wednesday midweek HC averages about 15 peo-ple and the weekly Friday Connect service around 22 people. What Next? The diocese is making a bid to the na-tional church Strategic Mission and Ministry Board Fund (SMMIB) for extra funding to support the new diocesan vision for the next ten years. The bishop hopes to make a bid by the end of year when he is clearer on a locally owned diocesan strategy. I am assured that resource churches will continue to play a part in the next plan, so we are waiting to see what that means for us, including extra funding for potential church planting curates like Andy to join the team at St George’s. I will be advocating for both St Anne’s and St John’s to be resourced for their next steps as well. They are both good training grounds for planting curates, as is St George’s, and there is further potential to plant into Grantham and Spalding, three or four years hence for St John’s and St Anne’s. More widely, there are market and seaside towns across the diocese where the church needs revitali-sation and resourcing to reach its full potential. We can work together as a Mission Lincs Network in partnership with the diocese to help revitalise the wider region. Martyn Taylor Interview with Caroline Avnit Caroline Avnit has been part of the St Georges family since 2021, but she has a fascinating story to tell about how she got here. Caroline grew up in South Africa, the daughter of an outspoken atheist father, but attended a Christian school as a teenag-er. Despite this, she says that she always had a great sense of spirituality, sometimes demonstrated through having dreams that came to pass the very next day. This “gift” of spirituality led Caroline to pursue different routes to understand and develop the op-portunities that opened up as a result. She started studying psychology at university and included comparative religious studies as a second major subject as she felt drawn to understand more. Her search to develop her spirituality led her to meditation, Reiki, yoga, and what she describes as eastern philosophy and energy work. “ She said she had seen Jesus on a couple of occa-sions, when she was practicing Reiki on individuals. It subsequently turned out that these two people were both Catholics. She had also, on occasion, seen angels’ wings hovering over the cars of peo-ple she had been working with, and then discov-ered that their mothers were anxious about them driving, and would pray when they knew their daughters were on the road. Despite having seen and experienced these things in the spiritual realm, Caroline didn’t see any need
Message A New Vision for 2025 – 2030 Something exciting has been stirring at St George’s. We are seeing growth numerically and spiritually. We are seeing people of all ages com-ing to faith in Jesus. We are seeing God moving powerfully amongst us week by week. Following the completion of the last five-year vision (which was about church revitalisation and growth) we now step into a new season. Our church’s values remain the same (Jesus at the centre, the bible is our guide, and people matter). Building on these values and all that God is doing amongst His church, we have a new vision for 2025-2030. At the APCM in May, we presented the vision we believe God has given us for the next season of church life: Over the next five years we want to be: changed by His presence, with a passion for discipleship. This vision calls us deeper into God’s presence and strengthens our passion for discipleship. This isn’t just a plan, or a new strategy—it’s about transformation, revival, and a commitment to living out our faith boldly in the coming years. Jesus is at the heart of everything we do. He is the reason, the foundation, and the future of St George’s. Our worship, prayer, preaching, and outreach all flow from a desire to glorify God and seek His presence. We are stepping into a new chapter where we long to be marked by, empow-ered by, and known for the presence of God. Imagine a church where we truly listen to His voice, obey His call, and confidently exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave to equip His church. Being changed by His presence means relying on God wholeheartedly and expecting great things of Him. We are trusting Him for growth—not just in numbers, but in spiritual depth, renewal, and spending time in his presence. As a resource church, we have a unique calling to equip and release people into ministry, not only within our own church family but across the wider world. We will work with expectant faith, longing for God to move mightily in this next season. But transformation doesn’t happen passively. That’s why this vision is deeply rooted in a pas-sion for discipleship. We want to be a church prepared for what God has for us in the next five years. If God brings people to us, we must be ready. Jesus calls us to make disciples, and true disciples spend time with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. This isn’t just for a select few—it’s a call for everyone in our church, whatever age or stage of life. Imagine a community where growth is intentional, where each person is equipped to live out their Christian faith boldly and authentically. We long to see lives transformed by the grace of God, where people step into salvation and are nurtured into whole-life discipleship. This means preparing spiritually and practically; creating spaces to pray, structures to encourage growth, and a commit-ment to support one another as we step into all God has for us. All this starts with prayer. We are committed to building a community of people who will pray 24/7 (so we will need to find a venue to make this happen) allowing the Holy Spirit to fuel everything we do. We will prepare our church to welcome and disciple those who come through our doors, ensur-ing that spiritual growth is possible at every level. But this vision isn’t just about us, it reaches from St. George’s, into Stamford, to the villages, the market towns, and even to the ends of the earth. This is a vision of expectancy. It’s a call to step deeper into God’s presence, to build a church marked by faith, and to see lives transformed through discipleship. SOME QUESTIONS? • Are you ready to be part of this movement? • What gets you excited about this vision? • What could you do in your quiet time or small groups to spend more time in God’s pres-ence? • What can you contribute to discipling others in the life of St George’s? Ben Topham, Associate Rector Rector’s Update Every couple of months I attend a board meeting in Lincoln for the Resource Church leaders to feed-back on how things are going on the ground. The first quarter has been an encouraging season and here are some of the highlights. Good News from Grantham: The most exciting thing by a distance is that St Anne’s are seeing people become Christians. One family of 5 have asked to be baptised. Mum came to toddler group and ‘God matters’ explorer course. Dad has been listening to sermons online and met Andy 121. Con-sequently, the whole family have joined the church. Another man who became a Christian last year is ready to be baptised. Every week they are still see-ing new people in church, including new families who have come through the after-school club. In April their average attendance was125 (19 chil-dren). Easter Sunday saw their largest gathering yet (144 including 24 children). They have just add-ed a new part time administrator role to their staff team. Good News from Spalding: There has been a significant change for the better in the financial situation. The Projected 2025 Budget was a £25k deficit as they start to pay an increasing portion of staff costs for the two posts funded from the strate-gic development fund. They are currently running a small surplus for the first quarter with one off gifts responding to Greg’s teaching on giving. They give thanks for the 20 children each day on an Easter holiday club where the vast majority were not from church families. Each Sunday they average 110 across two services including 12 children. Good News from Boston: Holy Trini-ty Boston have appointed a new vicar to follow Lis and Ian Ward who left a year ago. Adrian Morton currently serving in Wellingborough in Peterborough Diocese will be licensed on September 15th. Good News from St George’s: Sunday average attendance has been steadily increasing since Jan-uary. Jan 409, Feb 439, March 464, April 491 (Easter Day 565). In addition to this about 50 peo-ple are watching the services live online in real time as we live stream the service. Our biweekly Wednesday midweek HC averages about 15 peo-ple and the weekly Friday Connect service around 22 people. What Next? The diocese is making a bid to the na-tional church Strategic Mission and Ministry Board Fund (SMMIB) for extra funding to support the new diocesan vision for the next ten years. The bishop hopes to make a bid by the end of year when he is clearer on a locally owned diocesan strategy. I am assured that resource churches will continue to play a part in the next plan, so we are waiting to see what that means for us, including extra funding for potential church planting curates like Andy to join the team at St George’s. I will be advocating for both St Anne’s and St John’s to be resourced for their next steps as well. They are both good training grounds for planting curates, as is St George’s, and there is further potential to plant into Grantham and Spalding, three or four years hence for St John’s and St Anne’s. More widely, there are market and seaside towns across the diocese where the church needs revitali-sation and resourcing to reach its full potential. We can work together as a Mission Lincs Network in partnership with the diocese to help revitalise the wider region. Martyn Taylor Interview with Caroline Avnit Caroline Avnit has been part of the St Georges family since 2021, but she has a fascinating story to tell about how she got here. Caroline grew up in South Africa, the daughter of an outspoken atheist father, but attended a Christian school as a teenag-er. Despite this, she says that she always had a great sense of spirituality, sometimes demonstrated through having dreams that came to pass the very next day. This “gift” of spirituality led Caroline to pursue different routes to understand and develop the op-portunities that opened up as a result. She started studying psychology at university and included comparative religious studies as a second major subject as she felt drawn to understand more. Her search to develop her spirituality led her to meditation, Reiki, yoga, and what she describes as eastern philosophy and energy work. “ She said she had seen Jesus on a couple of occa-sions, when she was practicing Reiki on individuals. It subsequently turned out that these two people were both Catholics. She had also, on occasion, seen angels’ wings hovering over the cars of peo-ple she had been working with, and then discov-ered that their mothers were anxious about them driving, and would pray when they knew their daughters were on the road. Despite having seen and experienced these things in the spiritual realm, Caroline didn’t see any need
to become a Christian. At the same time, her aunts, who are staunch Christians continued to pray for her and she believes this was fundamental to her becoming a Christian. When she and her husband decided they wanted to leave South Africa and move to the UK, they began the process of getting the documentation lined up for the move. What they thought would take 3 months, turned into 3 years! In 2018, whilst they were still waiting for the paper-work to come through for their move to the UK, Caroline was till teaching yoga and Reiki. One element of the Reiki course was to connect with an angel or “guide” in meditation. Some months be-fore, Caroline had done a “Maranatha” (“Our Lord, Come!” ) meditation, without realising the full impact of what that meant for welcoming Jesus into her life. During this Reiki class, she played a 30 minute recording of the meditation, to help her class to find their “guides” and decided to also do the meditation herself. As soon as she began playing the recording and entering into meditation, she experienced a very clear vision of Jesus. “This time was different. Previously, he’d been there for someone else. This time, he was there for me. He was a person that I could have physically touched, and the experience continued for half an hour. The most amazing thing that I had never experienced before was the overwhelming feeling of unconditional love that I felt from him. When I came out of that experience, I knew immediately that my life was forever changed. I didn’t really know how it was changed, but that became clear as I spent time with my Christian aunts, joined a church and bible study group, and read the bible etc.” “I completed that course, but after that never taught any more and put an immediate stop to everything ‘new age’ or eastern. For up to two years later, I had people approach me for courses, but I explained I had become a Christian, and didn’t do that any more. I am really happy that some of my students have since become Christian themselves.” What brought you to St George’s church? The process of immigration was not a smooth one. Caroline and her family were on the last flight to leave South Africa and land in London as the Covid 19 lockdowns started in March 2020. She says it was weird arriving into a London that was empty and quiet. The next 20 months were a story of travail, as they moved through the country staying in 39 Airbnb’s in different places. They had planned to rent a property but, because of Covid, renting proved impossible. “To say that I could only have got through that time because God was holding my hand is an understatement. They had returned to London in order to get their daughters’ passports renewed, and had decided to try to settle in Scotland. But one morning, as their current Airbnb was coming to an end, her husband booked an Airbnb in Stamford, just opposite St Martins church. “I said, where is Stamford, and what on earth made you book that? He said ‘I don’t know, something was just telling me to look in Lincolnshire!’” When they arrived in Stamford for two weeks in the Airbnb rental, they immediately just knew this was where they wanted to live, so they started looking for properties. Caroline and her daughter went for a walk across the Meadows, and up towards Austin Street. Caroline had an Instagram account, where she would post pictures of architecture, flowers, etc. but she particularly loves doors. There were so many lovely doors in Austin Street, and her daughter made her promise that she would only take one pic-ture of a door, which she did. Later, looking at estate agent rental details, she saw a cottage that looked attractive, particularly as it had a large fireplace. When the estate agent took them to view the property, the door was the one she had taken a picture of, and which led to the secluded cottage where they now live! She started going to St Martins church when they first arrived, but then went online to look for a church, she went to a service at St George’s. She’d seen that there was a group called Coffee Plus, and felt God tell her to join that. In church, she sat next to Chris Roberts, and the following week behind Sonia Adkins. Sonia suggested that she should come along to Coffee Plus, where she has now become part of the leadership of that group. How does poetry fit in with your faith? “I’ve writ-ten poetry since my childhood. Words have always been important to me. Words are about communi-cation, and prophecy is about communication, so poetry can be part of the way God communicates with His people. I think you are meant to speak God’s heart into people’s lives and into the life of the church. They’re intertwined. There’s plenty of poetry in the Bible – the prophets, like Isaiah; the beautiful Psalms, Mariam, etc. Obviously, not all the poetry I have written has had a Christian element to it, but hopefully my poetry is inspiring irrespective and wherever possible, spreads God’s love. ” Caroline was Stamford’s Poet Laureate for the last year (finished on 30th April) and has written and read poems for Remembrance Day; Battle of Brit-ain; Ukraine to name a few. She prayed a great deal about every one of her duties as Poet Laureate – that the Holy Spirit would speak through her words to the people gathered. She had a pic-ture of a dandelion head, with all the seeds being blown off it, and being spread to the listeners. Some of the poems have led to conversations with Date Time Event Venue 18th June 12 noon Midweek Communion Church 21st June 10am & 11.30am Church History Tours Church—Booking Required 22nd June 12 noon Lunch for Ladies St George’s Church Place, 1 Cheyne Lane—Booking Required 28th June 8.00am Men’s Breakfast St George’s Church Place, 1 Cheyne Lane—Booking Required 28th June 10.30am Anna’s Ordination Lincoln Cathedral 2nd July 12 noon Midweek Communion Church 5th July 10am-4pm 800 years Family Fun Day Church– Booking Required 16th July 12 noon Midweek Communion Church 17th July 7.30pm 800 years Civic Service Church—Booking Required 17th July 12 noon Lunch for Ladies St George’s Church Place Sunday Morning Services at 9.15am, 11am with All Age on the 1st Sunday and Holy Communion on the 2nd Sunday. Sunday Evening Services at 6.30pm with Holy Communion on the 4th Sunday Events & Services—June/July 2025 people about Jesus, and that’s part of the commu-nication process. When asked what the highlights of her walk with Jesus have been, Caroline said that every day was a highlight, as God speaks through many things and in many ways – through Scripture particularly; through nature; as well as through experiences of working with Mission 24 recently. She also gave an example where she felt prompted by the Holy Spirit and sat and wrote a poem about life and war, and a week later she was requested to write a poem for the Ukrainian service in Broad Street and realised she’d already done that! Those kinds of God-incidences give her great reas-surance. However, she does emphasise the value and importance of being grounded in the Word and the importance of prayer involving all parts of our lives. God is speaking to us all the time – perhaps mainly through the bible, but in many other ways as well. Our prayers will be better informed if we are able to hear and recognise His voice. This than gives us the confidence in being obedient to Him as He directs our lives. Requiem For Tomorrow Wrien by Caroline Avnit, for a service to commemorate three years on in the war against Ukraine, 24th February 2025 Out upon the elds of sorrow beyond the tenents of tomorrow shout the shadows of the past tell, what lengthy tales last? Sunower petals upon wind are blown whispered stories of those loved and known What war has torn, God can mend what fate has sown, He’ll defend What visits you in dream and waking all furious fear of the risks you’re taking, the bales fought and barely won lessons taught, yet now undone. Land of hope, corn and wheat a strength the enemy can’t defeat. Fight unl the rise of dawn then put aside all hate and scorn. If you sing that dying song, a requiem of things gone wrong hold onto the hope of day and never give your love away. Into eternity it would grow then soly, gently you would go, wings outstretched, light and free held in heaven’s golden memory.
to become a Christian. At the same time, her aunts, who are staunch Christians continued to pray for her and she believes this was fundamental to her becoming a Christian. When she and her husband decided they wanted to leave South Africa and move to the UK, they began the process of getting the documentation lined up for the move. What they thought would take 3 months, turned into 3 years! In 2018, whilst they were still waiting for the paper-work to come through for their move to the UK, Caroline was till teaching yoga and Reiki. One element of the Reiki course was to connect with an angel or “guide” in meditation. Some months be-fore, Caroline had done a “Maranatha” (“Our Lord, Come!” ) meditation, without realising the full impact of what that meant for welcoming Jesus into her life. During this Reiki class, she played a 30 minute recording of the meditation, to help her class to find their “guides” and decided to also do the meditation herself. As soon as she began playing the recording and entering into meditation, she experienced a very clear vision of Jesus. “This time was different. Previously, he’d been there for someone else. This time, he was there for me. He was a person that I could have physically touched, and the experience continued for half an hour. The most amazing thing that I had never experienced before was the overwhelming feeling of unconditional love that I felt from him. When I came out of that experience, I knew immediately that my life was forever changed. I didn’t really know how it was changed, but that became clear as I spent time with my Christian aunts, joined a church and bible study group, and read the bible etc.” “I completed that course, but after that never taught any more and put an immediate stop to everything ‘new age’ or eastern. For up to two years later, I had people approach me for courses, but I explained I had become a Christian, and didn’t do that any more. I am really happy that some of my students have since become Christian themselves.” What brought you to St George’s church? The process of immigration was not a smooth one. Caroline and her family were on the last flight to leave South Africa and land in London as the Covid 19 lockdowns started in March 2020. She says it was weird arriving into a London that was empty and quiet. The next 20 months were a story of travail, as they moved through the country staying in 39 Airbnb’s in different places. They had planned to rent a property but, because of Covid, renting proved impossible. “To say that I could only have got through that time because God was holding my hand is an understatement. They had returned to London in order to get their daughters’ passports renewed, and had decided to try to settle in Scotland. But one morning, as their current Airbnb was coming to an end, her husband booked an Airbnb in Stamford, just opposite St Martins church. “I said, where is Stamford, and what on earth made you book that? He said ‘I don’t know, something was just telling me to look in Lincolnshire!’” When they arrived in Stamford for two weeks in the Airbnb rental, they immediately just knew this was where they wanted to live, so they started looking for properties. Caroline and her daughter went for a walk across the Meadows, and up towards Austin Street. Caroline had an Instagram account, where she would post pictures of architecture, flowers, etc. but she particularly loves doors. There were so many lovely doors in Austin Street, and her daughter made her promise that she would only take one pic-ture of a door, which she did. Later, looking at estate agent rental details, she saw a cottage that looked attractive, particularly as it had a large fireplace. When the estate agent took them to view the property, the door was the one she had taken a picture of, and which led to the secluded cottage where they now live! She started going to St Martins church when they first arrived, but then went online to look for a church, she went to a service at St George’s. She’d seen that there was a group called Coffee Plus, and felt God tell her to join that. In church, she sat next to Chris Roberts, and the following week behind Sonia Adkins. Sonia suggested that she should come along to Coffee Plus, where she has now become part of the leadership of that group. How does poetry fit in with your faith? “I’ve writ-ten poetry since my childhood. Words have always been important to me. Words are about communi-cation, and prophecy is about communication, so poetry can be part of the way God communicates with His people. I think you are meant to speak God’s heart into people’s lives and into the life of the church. They’re intertwined. There’s plenty of poetry in the Bible – the prophets, like Isaiah; the beautiful Psalms, Mariam, etc. Obviously, not all the poetry I have written has had a Christian element to it, but hopefully my poetry is inspiring irrespective and wherever possible, spreads God’s love. ” Caroline was Stamford’s Poet Laureate for the last year (finished on 30th April) and has written and read poems for Remembrance Day; Battle of Brit-ain; Ukraine to name a few. She prayed a great deal about every one of her duties as Poet Laureate – that the Holy Spirit would speak through her words to the people gathered. She had a pic-ture of a dandelion head, with all the seeds being blown off it, and being spread to the listeners. Some of the poems have led to conversations with Date Time Event Venue 18th June 12 noon Midweek Communion Church 21st June 10am & 11.30am Church History Tours Church—Booking Required 22nd June 12 noon Lunch for Ladies St George’s Church Place, 1 Cheyne Lane—Booking Required 28th June 8.00am Men’s Breakfast St George’s Church Place, 1 Cheyne Lane—Booking Required 28th June 10.30am Anna’s Ordination Lincoln Cathedral 2nd July 12 noon Midweek Communion Church 5th July 10am-4pm 800 years Family Fun Day Church– Booking Required 16th July 12 noon Midweek Communion Church 17th July 7.30pm 800 years Civic Service Church—Booking Required 17th July 12 noon Lunch for Ladies St George’s Church Place Sunday Morning Services at 9.15am, 11am with All Age on the 1st Sunday and Holy Communion on the 2nd Sunday. Sunday Evening Services at 6.30pm with Holy Communion on the 4th Sunday Events & Services—June/July 2025 people about Jesus, and that’s part of the commu-nication process. When asked what the highlights of her walk with Jesus have been, Caroline said that every day was a highlight, as God speaks through many things and in many ways – through Scripture particularly; through nature; as well as through experiences of working with Mission 24 recently. She also gave an example where she felt prompted by the Holy Spirit and sat and wrote a poem about life and war, and a week later she was requested to write a poem for the Ukrainian service in Broad Street and realised she’d already done that! Those kinds of God-incidences give her great reas-surance. However, she does emphasise the value and importance of being grounded in the Word and the importance of prayer involving all parts of our lives. God is speaking to us all the time – perhaps mainly through the bible, but in many other ways as well. Our prayers will be better informed if we are able to hear and recognise His voice. This than gives us the confidence in being obedient to Him as He directs our lives. Requiem For Tomorrow Wrien by Caroline Avnit, for a service to commemorate three years on in the war against Ukraine, 24th February 2025 Out upon the elds of sorrow beyond the tenents of tomorrow shout the shadows of the past tell, what lengthy tales last? Sunower petals upon wind are blown whispered stories of those loved and known What war has torn, God can mend what fate has sown, He’ll defend What visits you in dream and waking all furious fear of the risks you’re taking, the bales fought and barely won lessons taught, yet now undone. Land of hope, corn and wheat a strength the enemy can’t defeat. Fight unl the rise of dawn then put aside all hate and scorn. If you sing that dying song, a requiem of things gone wrong hold onto the hope of day and never give your love away. Into eternity it would grow then soly, gently you would go, wings outstretched, light and free held in heaven’s golden memory.