Diary w/e 4 Aug 2018

Sun 29 Jul

This was an unusual day. I rarely get asked to-reach except at the Immigration Removal Centre but as well as being there at Harmondsworth in the evening I also had an invitation to preach at the Spirit and Life Family Bible Church in Copley close which is within a mile of our own church building. This is their denomination which I would call black Pentecostal. I shall blog a separate article giving details of my experience.
I then heard from Katy who had been pianist at our own morning service saying that we had a lunch invitation from two church members who are brother and sister. Also invited were Dave and Ardienne Hills who are with us in their summer vacation from Westminster Seminary , Philadelphia. It was a feast of food, friendship and fellowship. From there Katy drove us, me and the Hills, back for our evening service. I did not stay for Gethin'Jones' final sermon for us before he leaves as a missionary to Paris. I was at my evening duty. Around twenty detainees. New men from the usual countries, Nigeria and Ghana, but also one from Ivory Coast. It was my second sermon on Genesis 3 but I still have enough prepared for at least one more sermon on the Fall.I returned home tired but refreshed.

Mon 30 Jul

One pastoral visit including a look at the progress on our new church building. Producing part of the family tree to show the line to the murdered Florence Little in 1921. She was my father's fourth cousin.

Tues 31 Jul

To the City for U3A summer school. Two excellent lectures on the French Revolution and Modern Politics from a history lecturer. The one on Oliver Cromwell from an amateur I think. Frankly and without conceit, I could have done better. I certainly understand his puritanism better than the lecturer. Busy on Ancestry for the family tree.

Wed 1 Aug

Accompanied Katy watering Rachel's garden as they are in Cornwall. 17 at weekly prayer including six elders and two deacons.

Thu 2 Aug

Histology of polyps removed at recent colonoscopy was satisfactory so no further testing for a year.

Fri 3 Aug

In Mardy,Abergavenny having driven through the Cotswolds, round Gloucester, along the Severn to our friends' farm and then through the Forest of Dean to our B&B here. Never seen this forest before. This would have been what the country was like before agriculture and urbanisation.

Sat 4 Aug

From Abergavenny to Abertillery where we first visited the cemetery to find the location of the restored grave of my father's fourth cousin, Florence Little, murdered by a double killer in 1921. We went to see the house where she was born and the street where she was killed by 15 year old neighbour, Harold Jones after he had been welcomed home as a local hero, found not guilty of a previous murder. At the Metropole Theatre we met author Neil Milkins who led the memorial service marking the restoration of the graves. We then returned to the cemetery for the unveiling of the two restored memorials. We met family of both murdered girls and many local people. It was wonderful to experience the sense of community in a South Wales valley. Professor David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham University commended the Abertillery people for not hiding this tragedy but remembering their history and going on with no denial or forgetting. I was very pleased that Neil Milkins spoke about resurrection and led in prayer. Afterwards there was a reception in the local community hall and I was able to talk with Little relatives. In 1921 none of my family knew that they were related to a murdered girl. Her mother's maiden name was Weeks but that was never publicised  and you have to go back four generations to find the family link.