What a year!

2007 was quite a year for us.
We began it by having to tell our lovely Corps plant in Northallerton that we would be moving on and that they would not be getting replacement officers. With the future of a work we had put our heart and soul into on the line we prayed like we had never prayed before. A local leadership was put in place and they have faithfully carried on the work, even managing to provide a meal for 36 people on Christmas Day! Thank you Lord.

In February I went on an unforgettable trip to Ethiopia, whilst Alan waited with great anticipation for our marching orders. I have already blogged on some highlights of the trip but here is one more photo. These two children live in the prison with their mother. Conditions have improved through Prison Fellowship but they have no education facilities and only a small yard to play in. When they are 12 they will have to leave and fend for themselves unless relatives can take them in, which is unlikely. Pray for them. God spoke to me clearly whilst in Addis Adaba about ministry among women in slavery to addictions, prostitution or trafficking.

In June we celebrated 25 years as officers with a trip back to our first appointment in Alderney in the Channel Islands. It was as wonderful as we remembered and the little corps has soldiered on despite not having had officer leadership for 7 years. Praise the Lord an officer was appointed in July.

For us we have proved God's faithfulness over and over again and made some wonderful discoveries about his grace in every appointment It has been and continues to be a most fulfilling, exciting and challenging life to lead. Bring on the next 25 years!

And so July came. We were not only leaving the beautiful county of Yorkshire after 23 years but also the division we had been in for the majority of our service. We had been involved in planting new corps for the past 13 years and going back to corps leadership, which is very different. I was leaving behind prison ministry which I loved and we had become "childless" in that our youngest daughter was away for the whole summer and then gong to Uni. Yet God gave us a peace about the changes and it has been a joy to have been at Pill Corps for the last 6 months. This picture is taken outside our hall after being marched from the quarters to the meeting by our Colour Sergeant.

We ended 2007 with a real sense that God has placed us here, to build on what has been achieved and move outwards. The verse God has given us for Pill is Isaiah 54:2-3

"Enlarge the place of your tent stretch your tent curtains wide do no hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left. Your descendents will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities."

Happy 2008 everyone

God bless

Carol