June 2005
Rev'd Peter and Nancy Crooks
News
June 2005
Rev'd Peter and Nancy Crooks
News
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C/o
Bryn Ffynnon |
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Friends Fond greetings from the hills of Wales! It's a windy, overcast summers day, but the scenery is beautiful and from where we sit we can see cattle and sheep grazing. It's also three months since Peter had the first signs of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, while we were together assisting our eye team on the island of Socotra. The last months have been eventful and significant, not only for us, but for friends and colleagues. The medical people have been impressed and encouraged with the progress and return of movement to Peter's limbs in such a relatively short time. Nancy's diary of six week ago recounts the challenge for him of mounting three steps to the static caravan where we stayed for a week, and attempting a small incline for the first time. Yesterday, accompanied by our shaggy dog, Webster, we ascended the hillock behind the house and ventured down a steep bank to a beautiful stream. Webster wallowed happily in the pebbly shallows. Later in the day we re-introduced Peter to the computer. The mouse required two hands because the arms are still very weak and finger control is severely limited, but even this is a great contrast to what they could manage only weeks ago. At one time, just turning the page of a book was exhausting. Kind friends continue to enquire whether and when we might return to Aden. Our reply is that we hope it may be possible before the end of the summer. Soon after we had flown from Socotra to Dubai, Bishop Clive Handford contacted the Revd Ben and Bobbie Chase in the USA, who had served in Aden before, about standing in during our absence. This has proved a wise and realistic provision. In Dubai Peter had optimistically told the Bishop he would be back on duty within weeks! |
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Without a director, both clinics and congregation have coped very
well, but the arrival of Ben and Bobbie was greeted with enthusiasm
and relief, both by Mansour (our administrator of whom we have
written in the past) and the church members, especially Frank and
Chena Underhill and others who have helped with the weekly services
and care of the fellowship. All of them have continued to be
wonderfully supportive of us with almost weekly e-mails and phone
calls. Unfortunately, Ben's wife, Bobbie, has been sick with amoebic
dysentery but seems now to be recovering. At the moment, Dr John Sandford Smith, who was with us on Socotra, is back doing another intensive week of surgery at Ras Morbat Clinic, while our regular surgeon and wife are home on vacation in Cuba. Rana, of the eye team, is attending a month's refractionist training course in another city in Yemen, arranged by the Christian Blind Mission. And in August, Valentina, our much loved and long serving Russian midwife returns home to her family in Moscow. We will all miss her and no doubt she will have some pangs herself when she comes to leave. In the autumn, we hope to call on a UK-based, Christian medical organisation to assist us in evaluating the current work of our clinics and in planning their future development. When they were started, there were many more expatriate staff, and when Valentina leaves, there will be ourselves and our Ethiopian colleagues. This doesn't trouble us. It seems right that the majority of our staff are local people. We value each of them enormously, but we do feel the work and witness there would be strengthened by the presence of two more fellow Christians with the appropriate professional qualifications. At about the same time, we expect to have with us for a few weeks, a young Egyptian ophthalmologist, commended to us by Bishop Mouneer of Egypt. It could be the beginning of a valuable partnership. |
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Over the past months, friends and acquaintances have exclaimed, "It must have been so frightening/ shocking/awful for you!", and others, including a nurse in the intensive care unit in Dubai, have enquired whether the experience of GBS has shaken our faith in God. We are grateful for these questions and will gladly try to respond to them. We hope you can bear with the reflections that follow; we don't expect future newsletters to be quite so taken up with ourselves. In answer, we would say the loss of movement was awful at the beginning, but we were helped by Dr John in getting an early diagnosis of Peter's complaint, the assurance that there was treatment for it and hope of a good recovery. Those early days were mostly taken up with the business of coping with the increasing disability, and Peter found himself curious as to how it would all unfold. Later on in hospital there were bleaker moments for us both, but also the discovery of untapped wells of mutual love, patience and appreciation. In it all, and from the very outset, we actually never doubted that the good purposes of God were at work and his gracious care was demonstrated to us in so many ways. On Good Friday (which we'd so looked forward to keeping in Aden) John Weir, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Dubai brought us communion and anointed us both. With him we sang, "My Song is Love Unknown". The loan of a CD player and instrumental versions of popular Christian hymns not only raised our spirits but were appreciated by members of staff on ICU, who asked often for them to be replayed. We've mentioned before our morning and evening singing of hymns and reading of Scripture. We continue to discover depths within them, which in easier times passed us by. Few lines have meant more than the following from the Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter, which Nancy copied into her diary ;
Interestingly, it
had been our intention to visit Dubai and to strengthen the links
between Christ Church and the congregations there, who over the
years have been so wonderfully supportive of the work in Aden. It
was a wish that was unexpectedly and wonderfully fulfilled. On our
last Friday there we worshipped at Holy Trinity and Peter managed to
stand and sing with the rest of the congregation, who had shown us
much kindness. |
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| On a different and lighter note, we've enjoyed being in Britain at this time of the year - seeing cherry and hawthorn blossom, trees bursting into new leaf - beech, larch, oak, rhododendron and azaleas. For much of the time we've been based with Peter's brother, Bill and his family at Wokingham, a few minutes drive from the physiotherapist and only a little more from Tim and Alison in Reading. Life for the Wokingham family is rarely dull, but has recently been enlivened by the presence of an irrepressible springer spaniel puppy. She frequently offered us a pre-wash lick at 6.30 am (we slept in a corner of the dining room) to be followed by presentation of a wide selection of the family's shoes. Not satisfied with these, she sometimes tried to drag off items of our clothing before we could put them on! |
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In every way, it was a
happy and stimulating place to stay. Now, we are lodged back in
north Wales with Hywel and Glenda Davies, who keep our dog, Webster.
It's great to have room to ourselves and space to unpack. We hope to
be here until we return. A fortnight ago we spent some days in Cornwall with Tim and Ali. The weather, which was mostly grey, didn't stop us enjoying Cornish pleasures - an excellent cream tea, enormous pasties, yummy ice cream and fish and chips. We revelled in the beauty and fascinating story of the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Tim and Ali competed to push the wheelchair and passenger down its many paths and cheerfully coached us through the rules of new board game in the evenings. It was fun!! |
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At another rather
difficult time in our lives, a good friend helpfully directed us for
the first time to the writings of Henri Nouwen. We found ourselves
returning to them again recently and our eyes were caught by the
following striking lines: |
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Jesus must become the
heart of my heart, the fire of my life, the lover of my soul, the
bridegroom of my spirit. The thousands of people, events, ideas and
plans that occupy my inner life must become all one in the one and
only name: Jesus. I know the only way for me to see the world is to see it through his eyes. Everything has to become very simple, very unified, very focused. It's no longer a question of being up to date or well informed. At this moment in history - my own as well as that of the world -- I have to go to the very centre of being, where God's word becomes human flesh, where death and immortality embrace. There is really no long aquestion of options. With an unmistakable clarity I have heard a voice saying, "Give me everything and I will give you everything.." |
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Rev’d.
Peter Crooks
Christ Church
P.O. Box 1319, Tawahi, Aden
Republic of Yemen
Phone/Fax: +967 2 201204
Email: chrchu@y.net.ye
