Fellowship Breakfast, 9th February 2019 Salvation Army Speaker Ian Emery

In 2015 my husband and I went to Ireland for a grand tour of both north and south, and what a wonderful country it is, with friendly people and wonderful scenery.

Our tour finished in Dublin and during our time there we went to visit a church / cathedral which shall remain anonymous – due to my inability to remember the name.

As we were walking up to the church we saw a bench which appeared to have someone sleeping on it. As we drew nearer it became apparent it was a homeless person, and nearer still we realised it was a statue of a very moving nature.

Close examination revealed the statue was barefoot and the feet wore the nails of the cross. What a moment. When we help the homeless we are helping Jesus. A powerful message. As a church we at Whittle and Clayton Brook support the work of the homeless shelter in Blackburn run by the Salvation Army.

As part of making this support and the work of The Salvation Army more visible we have invited a gentleman called Ian Emery to join us at Clayton Brook on the morning of Saturday 9th February. He will share with us the nature of the work going on in Blackburn and hopefully give us some idea of how this is fundamental to their sharing the gospel message.

Arrangements for breakfast are still to be organised so I can’t promise you a feast as was shared at the last fellowship breakfast in October but I can guarantee there will be food and beverage of some nature followed by a stimulating morning.

Please try to join us as I feel we all need to be more aware of the needs of the homeless so abundant on our streets at the moment. As I write this there is a homeless person (ex-military) recovering from having had a lit firework placed in his pocket. We live in a cruel and heartless world – let us think of how we can change that world for a few people.

To reserve a place please see Gill Lancaster at St Johns or Kathy Bigio at Clayton Brook.