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Volume 2 Issue 5 |
December - January News 2000-2001 | |
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Wedding Trip On The 1st of December, a bus full of people left Washington for Glenrothes, Scotland to attend the wedding of Maria Holder to David Coggin of Murfeesborough, Tennessee (Daughter of Martin and Cathy Holder). Everyone had a great time, and it was wonderful to be able see Alex and Moyra Strachan again. David and Maria will be living near, and working with the church in Cumbernauld, Scotland. Luncheon Club On The 20th of December, we had a special Christmas meal for the people that normally come to the church on Wednesday for their meal. We had 25 people in attendance and they were entertained by a group from the Ambitions project (over which Michele is a trustee). This is a group that tries to help underprivileged young people get a good start in their working life. We also had a representative from the local Citizens Advice Bureau come along and meet everyone in order to assist them with any problems that they might have. We have the only Luncheon Club running in the city and this has received a good deal of notice both in the local press and in government circles. Asylum Seekers In January, we began a new work helping those seeking Asylum. The British government has a new policy of dispersing those seeking asylum throughout the country. At present there are 21 families living in Washington from such places as Columbia, Russia, Moldavia, Iran, Chechnya, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Armenia, and parts of Africa. We have given Bibles to many of the refugees, as well as helping with food, clothing, transportation and other needs. Two of the families have been regularly attending church. One of the families is Muslim, but they do not seem to mind learning about Jesus Christ. Please keep these families in your prayers. If they are granted Asylum they will be allowed to stay, but if they are not they will be deported back to their home countries. Many of them firmly believe this would mean their deaths. New Car With the continued deterioration and increased cost of fuel and decreased reliability of our van, we thought it prudent to seek a second vehicle. We purchased a very small, Toyota Yaris in early January. It has already proven itself a very valuable tool. It gets about 50 miles to the gallon, which is a vast improvement over the 20 miles to the gallon of our van. With fuel near $5.00 per gallon, that is a real savings. It also allows us to be more flexible and go in two separate directions without having to rely on the very time-consuming public transport system. University Work In January, I turned in a major piece of work that is for my doctoral work. That work has been accepted. They either accept or reject it. If it is rejected, then it would mean a major reworking of the entire Thesis. With this step completed, I will now be able to get on with the research and writing of the individual chapters of the Thesis. At present, I spend one hour each week in class at Durham. I have been taking a course in Advanced Aramaic, translating Deuteronomy 22-24 in the early Jewish translation and commentaries of this section of scripture. Magistrate On The 15th of January, I was officially sworn in as a Magistrate. It caused quite a stir in court when they heard my American accent. Since then I have been interviewed by an area Newspaper reporter and by BBC radio. Evidently, I am the first foreign citizen to be a Magistrate in the history of County Durham. Magistrates are also known as Justices of the Peace. The office of Justice of the Peace is a very ancient one in England. They were first appointed in the year 1264 by Simon de Montfort to keep order in the areas in which they lived. The title Justice of the Peace was first used in the Justices of the Peace Act of 1361. Part of it reads: In every county of England shall be assigned for the keeping of the peace one lord and with him three or four of the most worthy in the county, with some learned in the law…” This statute empowered the Justices “to pursue, arrest, take and chastise” as well as enquire into crime, and imprison those who failed to satisfy them in their enquiries. This power with amendments still remains to this day. I have begun my training and will be sitting in court as part of the bench in early June. This will take about 2 days per month of my time, but I think the benefits will be felt for many years by the church here in Washington. The Thomas Family |