Feature 12 and

Kevin the Hedgehog Richard and Pat Thorpe

Buy a Bar project

We could provide a bag of basic toiletries and things, which could be accessible at the hospital

start – they thought it was a great idea!

‘The big thing we went for is that the bags need to be accessible 24/7. We were so concerned that they’d be locked in somebody’s office. So the area we’ve got is accessible to the Red Cross, A&E and mental health services, which means the bags are ready for anybody who needs them.’

After setting up at the hospital, the ministry quickly expanded. Care Kitbags are now being given out through St Martins Housing Trust, Pathways, the YMCA and Shelter.

Over the Christmas period, the team again got thinking. Pat was struck with the harsh reality of Christmas without a home or family. ‘We took some bags to St Martins and asked what happens there at Christmas. The lady explained how they try to give everybody a gift and we came away thinking that there must be something we could do. But it’s an expensive time of year; people already have presents to buy and everything’s gone up in price. We didn’t feel like we could ask for another load of bags.

‘That’s when we had another God-given idea: we called it Buy a Bar. We asked corps members and the WI to simply buy and wrap a 200g bar of chocolate and write a message of love on the front. I got back to St Martins and asked if 75 bars would be enough and they said it would not only cover both hostels but also the emergency bed hostel.

‘It’s something that people felt they could do. It cost less than £2 and showed people that we care. We don’t always know what to do, and we can’t change things by ourselves, but together we can make a little bit of a difference.’

In the end, the team took 147 bars of hand-wrapped and signed chocolate – weighing almost 30kg – to St Martins, delighting the staff and guests.

‘During the Covid-19 lockdowns, the Care Kitbags have given the corps and friends an opportunity to care as they put these bags together,’ says corps officer Major Paul Robinson. ‘When people come to the corps for help, an immediate supply is available, enabling those in need to be supported.’

A member of the British Red Cross at the hospital spoke about an encounter they had: ‘A gentleman experiencing homelessness came in asking for help and a hot drink. I took his details and arranged hostel accommodation and he left with one of your bags. He was taken aback by what was in it. It’s really good to have been able to give him something “special”.’

Sadly, after igniting the spark of the ministry, Maurice was promoted to Glory on 6 October last year. But, by the power of his passion, concern and care, he leaves behind a beautiful lasting legacy that continues to make the world a better place, one bag at a time.

Snowmen Kitbags for St Martins

SIMON IS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT, SALVATIONIST

Fix your eyes on Jesus

Nicola Walmsley encourages us to lift our heads and look to God when times are tough

RECENTLY I’ve felt the need to remind myself to fix my eyes on Jesus. So many situations have arisen that have tugged at my heart and I have physically felt heartache. I’ve written about the heart in Salvationist before, with heartache being no stranger during extreme grief, but now I feel compelled to write about eyes.

God’s word encourages us to fix our eyes on him. The world would seek to distract us, vying for our attention and focusing our thoughts on things that can make us worry. Current affairs and personal circumstances can cause us stress and drain our stamina.

In 2 Chronicles 20 King Jehoshaphat calls out to God in prayer, when faced with the vast army of Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites who were advancing to wage war on him. He ends his prayer with: ‘We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you’ (v12). I know the feeling of not knowing what to do, while also realising that prayer is the best thing to do. When everything around me seems like shifting sands, I have been reminding myself to keep my eyes on God, for he is faithful.

I know I am not alone in feeling like this, as I hear many heartbreaking stories when talking with friends, family, colleagues and customers at work. So many of them have experienced trouble and heartache during the Covid-19 pandemic. Life goes on and we still face trials of every kind.

Reading through the book of Psalms we see David crying out to God on many occasions, especially when faced with calamity – and he seems to have plenty of it!

In Psalm 25:15–18 he cries out for mercy: ‘My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.’

David was no stranger to heartache. In one of his later psalms he says: ‘But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge’ (Psalm 141:8). Even through all his cries and outpouring of great anguish he admits he fixes his eyes upon God and finds refuge in him. We would do well to follow David’s example.

The apostle Paul also reminds us to look with the eyes of faith: ‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ (2 Corinthians 4:16–18). Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up!

I love the photo (above) of my brother, Tim, looking heavenwards while sitting in his boat on the Murray River in Western Australia. It was taken about a month before he was suddenly promoted to Glory and reminds me to lift up my head and fix my eyes on Jesus.

Sometimes our human understanding gets in the way. When

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up!