|
THE
EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN JERUSALEM AND THE MIDDLE EAST |
|
Telephone: Telefax: Email: FROM: |
NICOSIA 22671220 NICOSIA 22674553 georgia@spidernet.com.cy THE DIOCESAN OFFICE |
2 Grigori Afxentiou P O Box 22075 NICOSIA 1517 Cyprus |
|
__________________________________________________________________________________ DIOCESAN NEWS - June 2008 __________________________________________________________________________________ |
||
| RETREATS |
| In April we had a
few spare minutes to work on promoting the Katafiyio Retreat House.
This involved asking the Diocesan web managers to alter wording so
if folk search for “retreats in Cyprus” they can more easily find
us. The Bible Lands editor kindly put a large advertisement in the
current issue of the magazine. We also sent out a “Special Offer”
email advertising “4 nights for the price of 3” and from that we
have had a number of enquiries. We also had a promotional day for St Paul’s, Nicosia, and the organisers, Suzie and Susan, later wrote the following article to go with the photograph: “KATAFIYIO” became a “retreat” from the hustle and bustle of Nicosia on the afternoon of 19th April, for some members of St Paul’s Cathedral, Nicosia. We were joined by several members of other Nicosia churches for a very enjoyable visit to this beautiful house. Maggie and Judy showed everyone around and we were given a most informative and interesting talk about the history and renovation of the house by the architect owner. No afternoon in the country would be complete without Afternoon Tea and the refreshments were enjoyed by all! Maggie then showed us around the village to walk off any excess calories! The afternoon was a wonderful time of fellowship and we had an opportunity to learn about the value of retreats in our busy lives.
It
has been wonderful to lead Individually Guided Retreats for folk
from the UAE, Jordan, and Iraq recently, and shortly we have
folk coming from Kuwait and the USA. The house has also been
used by folk from Paphos needing to make daily visits to a
relative in hospital in Nicosia. The one comment we keep hearing
from folk is “as soon as we walk into the courtyard we feel the
peace”. |
|
NEWS FROM AROUND THE DIOCESE: |
|
| CHRIST CHURCH, ADEN | |
| We
asked for visitors and we got what we asked for – from Bishop
Michael and Julia’s visit in mid February, until now there has been
no day without them. At moments it’s been exhausting, it’s
also been encouraging and invigorating. At present, Trevor and
Sarah Sait are with us from Paphos. They were drafted in last week
to make buckets of fruit salad for a reception we were suddenly
asked to put on for British Minister of State, Kim Howells. They
have also sorted dusty files and seen much of the country. On one bus journey eastwards to the wonderful desert city of Seiyoun, the security insisted the bus they were travelling in with our volunteer, Pete Welby, be accompanied by two jeeps with heavy machine guns and a patrol car – one vehicle for each of the three foreigners! A few days ago, Archdeacon Alan and Pam Hayday flew in from Bahrain. It was lovely to hear Pam’s distinctive laughter fill the community centre as we gathered with the staff for mid morning tea. We think they liked Aden in all its scruffiness but were shocked by its poverty and surprised at the scope of the work carried on through Christ Church. And not so long ago, the Revd Stephen Miller came in with John Banfield to help us look hard at the work here and to see in particular how the administration and management could be strengthened and simplified. They did not come in the Flying Angel but we did squeeze in a tour of the port in a new pilot cutter. It was a very good visit and we continue to work with enthusiasm on their proposals, which, refined and expanded will, we hope, go to the next Standing Committee. Two days ago we celebrated the feast of Pentecost with full worship in Tagalog, English, Telagu, Shona, Swahili and Amharic followed by a spontaneous lunch in the garden under the Neem trees. We felt the Lord had visited his people and we were glad. Peter and Nancy Crooks |
|
| CARING FOR OUR SEAFARERS | |
| There
is a poster in the Limassol Mission to Seafarers Centre which reads
“What have seafarers got to do with you?” Well – as we all should
realise, living on an island seafarers serve our needs every day!
Food, fuel, and countless raw and manufactured goods arrive every
day in Cyprus by merchant ship – indeed apples to xylophones! In
fact, over 90% of global trade travels by sea. Therefore, none of us
can do without the people who crew the world’s merchant ships. Limassol is the port for delivery of most of the goods for “down here” in the Greek Cypriot part of the island. The Mission to Seafarers Centre in the Port serves many of the needs of the men and women who come in to harbour. The Centre provides a peaceful haven, a place from which to send an email or surf the internet, somewhere to meet friends, a shop where some basic items can be bought, a dropping off point for mail and somewhere to pick up letters from family and friends, and a chance to have a confidential meeting with the Port Chaplain if there is a problem on board ship, or where his counsel is needed. As well as providing a haven for merchant seafarers there are many young foreign crew members, who work very hard staffing the crew ships for 9 months of the year, who visit the Centre to have a brief time away from their ship. After re-organisation of our facilities – including three new computers, webcam and SKYPE – we have a bright and welcoming place for seafarers to relax. |
|
|
Thanks to
the great Team of volunteers who staff our Mission Centre we are
able to offer friendship and a sense of care and concern for our
visiting seafarers. Please pray for all who work at sea and for the
many other people who through the shipping industry provide for so
many of our daily needs. |
|
|
STOP
PRESS: 1. We had a sailor who was threatened with dismissal because he had photographed his ship making an illegal discharge out at sea. He came to see me and after various consultations with the different parties involved the matter was satisfactorily settled. 2. We had a sailor who was threatened with dismissal because of becoming ill whilst on duty. It transpired that the condition was a pre-existing one which he had not declared when having a medical last December. After negotiations with the captain and owner the seafarer was given full pay upto leaving the ship and costs of travelling
Remember Sea Sunday – July 13th
2008 |
||
| ST HELENA’S , LARNACA | ||
|
Centenary Year
Celebrations Palm Sunday. We welcomed The Gatehouse Singers from Ayia Napa who shared with us in the presentation of Christ’s Passion, in music. We are currently seeking a replacement Organist. Tim Fairhead our organist for the last year or so is leaving the island to study in the UK. St Helena’s has experienced an 18% increase in giving during the first quarter of the year, and growing younger in the church with the recent Baptism of Oliver Williamson on Sunday 25 May. Oliver is 18 months old and did not sleep in the arms of his parents, nor Doug’s! A lively morning service! Wednesday 21 May was St Helena’s Day. The Centenary celebrations and events continued at our Service of Celebration on that evening. This service contained many different elements, including a visit from the Bishop of Kition’s representative, who addressed the Congregation with a message on behalf of the local Orthodox Church. Our Choral item also had a Cypriot flavour, 6 singers were brought along by our organist for the evening, Nota Avraamidou |
||
|
|
|
|
|
After
the recent launch of St Helena’s Centenary Appeal, the Church is
currently investigating: |
||
| ST CHRISTOPHER’S CATHEDRAL, BAHRAIN | ||
|
The Fourth
Annual Charity Wheelathon was organised by David Axtell and a team
of volunteers from St. Christopher’s Cathedral on Friday, 18th April
2008 In some of the worst weather conditions Bahrain has experienced this year, several hundred enthusiasts braved a sand-storm to help with and participate in the fourth charity Wheelathon to be organised by St. Christopher’s Cathedral. The prestigious Bahrain International Circuit was the venue, currently home to motor racing in the Middle East. The track was silent, yet full of action and cheers. How? A hospital bed race was a popular preliminary during which nine teams of five adults wearing fancy dress each pushed a hospital bed down a short stretch of track, rushing a fellow team-mate (the patient) to the waiting ambulance. St. Christopher’s School teachers won the trophy, a bed-pan presented by the provider of the beds, the American Mission Hospital. Coca Cola, a corporate sponsor, won the fancy dress award and came third in the race. The Wheelathon itself: anyone of any age was eligible to enter and complete the full 5.8 km circuit as many times as they liked using any wheeled transport they choose, providing that it was not motorised. A range of bicycles and roller-blades featured. New entrants were two scarlet wheelbarrows, plus a sand-yacht which two teenagers tacked round the hilly track with remarkable tenacity. For the very young and less ambitious, a shorter flatter circuit was available, but none the less demanding. Prizes were awarded to those who generated the highest individual sponsorship within each age group: up to five years old, 6 to 10 years; 11 to 14 years; 15 to 18 years, and adults. Bob Kirsopp won the adult prize, the seriously, serious biker in black!
Nearly
BD5,500
was raised from individual and corporate sponsorship. The
charities to benefit include the
Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation,
and
Think
Pink Bahrain
which supports breast cancer awareness. A great and rewarding
afternoon, despite the sand-blasting. |
|
| HOLY TRINITY, DUBAI | |
|
As part of our Mission 2010 planning in Dubai,
Sharjah and the Northern Emirates we acknowledged the need to
provide more opportunities for Youth in the chaplaincy. The last
Diocesan Youth Project in Turkey had revealed that young Christians
in the U.A.E. were very privileged in comparison to the youth of
Iran and Palestine. They wanted to engage in more radical issues. Fr
John Weir established a link between Dubai and an Anglican Community
in Delhi called the Delhi
Brotherhood Society who had worked
with the poor and underprivileged in India’s capital city since
1877. In the summer of 2007 three boys joined the Brotherhood’s workers in running the Night Shelter for homeless children in Delhi. Their experience was challenging and life changing. The relationships made there began an ever closer involvement between our churches and the Brotherhood and consequently Brother Raaju George who runs the Children’s work in Delhi has been working and sharing ministry in Dubai and Sharjah. This year more young Christians from the Chaplaincy will work in the summer heat of Delhi alongside the rag picking children. The Delhi Brothers, also known as the Community of the Ascended Christ, and originally known as the Cambridge Fathers, have a position of privileged respect in social work, and in education because of their work with the underprivileged in the history of Delhi. Their current projects are impressive: The Centre for Children with Speech and Hearing Impairment (currently funded by the Dubai Chaplaincy); The Centre for Children of Sex Workers; a proposed Centre for Rehabilitation of Trafficked Women; a Day Care Centre for the Elderly; Hostels ; Deenabandhu School: Brotherhood Boys Home and Gender Resource Centre for training of Girls; the Night Shelter; The Development Centre for Mechanical Engineering and IT training…. all have grown from the faith and energy of a small group of Anglican Brothers rarely being more than 7 in number. They feel so positive toward those parishes in the U.K. who have funded their work: the Parish of Wye in Kent, and several parishes in the East End of London, whose own finances are meager but who can appreciate the needs of the poor. Ghandi, and Tagore were visitors in their time invited by CF Andrews an associate, to the Community House, together with a regular stream of Anglicans both clergy and lay, and nearly every Archbishop of Canterbury of the last century. The Dubai Chaplaincy is proud to be associated through our youth with the Delhi Brothers, and encourages other Chaplaincies in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, particularly those with Indian Church members to support the Brotherhood's vital work at this difficult time of precarious world economics, where the poorest are the greatest victims. Donations can be sent to the Wye and Brook India Trust, 8 Taylor’s Yard, Wye, Ashford, Kent TN2 5BT Tel: 01233 812209 email: wandbit@aol.com Or to The Delhi Brotherhood Society, Syndicate Bank , St Xavier’s School, Rajniwas Marg, Delhi-110054, INDIA Bank Swift Code: SYNBINBB126 Account Number 91152010005680 Website: www.delhibrotherhoodsociety.org Email: dbs@bol.net.in |
 |
 |
| PALM CROSSES | |
|
This
letter from
Mrs
Jane Wilson
in Exeter, Devon, was kindly forwarded to us by
Pamela Caulfield, the People’s Warden at St Barnabas
Church in Limassol. Please note that it is imperative that the
crosses are not put in plastic bags at any stage of the procedure as
this makes them sweat and they must be given the opportunity to dry
out naturally. Dear Pamela Postie has just delivered the latest Mazi Mas and I settled down with great pleasure (and a cup of coffee) to read it. I noted with special interest your descriptions of the palm crosses and thought you might be interested in what happens to them. Anetta had packed them all into 3 large boxes and sent them to me in Exeter on Tuesday 5th February. Parcel Force delivered them on the 7th in two days!! I kept them safe until the 27th, when I took them up to Exeter University. After a beautiful Evensong in the Chapel, a group of students joined us in a Common Room to make up the orders for Palm Crosses we had received from all over the Diocese. They are sold at £12 per 100. The students made up bundles of 20 and we put them into prepared envelopes with a message saying where they had originated. Orders varied between 50 and 500. A Postmaster had been warned to expect them! We worked hard for an hour and a half and all feel this is a worth while project. The monies received are sent to your Bishop after expenses and I know he should receive about £1,000. This project was started with a suggestion by Bishop Ashton as a loving return for the monetary support the Exeter Diocese had given to training Ordinands. I still have such vivid happy memories of my time at St. Barnabas and wish you all good blessings. With love Jane |
|
| PROVINCIAL NEWS | |
| DIOCESE OF EGYPT | |
|
|
| DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM | |
| 1. | On May 18-20, nearly all the clergy of the Diocese gathered in Amman for the most recent clergy conference. These occasions, which Bishop Suheil plans to take place frequently, are times for all the clergy to come together, support each other, discuss church issues, and make plans for the future of their ministries and the Diocese as a whole. This year’s conference had a very excellent spirit, according to Bishop Suheil, as it focused on the pastoral side of ministry. The next conference is planned for September. |
| 2. | The construction of a new church in the parish of Irbid, Jordan will begin shortly. This will be a great blessing on the worshippers there, as well as for visitors. Congratulations to our brothers and sisters in Irbid. |
| 3. |
A Women’s
Conference will be held in August 18-22 at the Theodor
Schneller School in Amman. Representatives from the
Diocese of Jerusalem and the Diocese of Japan will come together to
discuss topics under the general theme of working together to bring
about change. From the Diocesan Newsletter |
| BISHOP’S TRAVEL | |
|
In May, Bishop Michael and Julia visited Saudi Arabia. They visited congregations in the Eastern Province, known as the Canterbury Group and congregations based in Riyadh and Jeddah. With an up-coming visit to Baghdad, Bishop Michael will complete his first visits to all chaplaincies in the Diocese. In July, Bishop Michael and Julia will travel to the United Kingdom. The Bishop will be hosted by the Diocese of Exeter before attending the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England from 16th July to 4th August. The purpose of the Lambeth Conference 2008 is to enable the Bishops of the Anglican Communion to discern and share more deeply their Anglican identity and to become even better equipped for their Christ-given task of being leaders in God’s mission. Please keep Bishop Michael and all Primates and Bishops of the Anglican Communion in your prayers at this time. |
|
| VACATIONS | |
|
As many of
you will be preparing to take your summer leave, may we take this
opportunity of wishing you God’s blessings on your travels. If you
are in London in August, don’t forget the annual meeting of the
Association of the Friends at All Hallows Church on Monday 4th
August. The Diocesan Office will remain open throughout the summer. June 16th and August 15th are public holidays in Cyprus and the office will be closed. In case of emergency, please call Georgia on +357 99 619176. |
|