The time has come around again in writing to one other to share what has been going on during the last year. At this time last year, our annual newsletter was written, and printed in colour, but was never circulated. We can’t remember why, except that each year seems to be busier than preceding years whatever we do to reduce non-essential activities. Having decided that friends like to get news rather than a few words in a card, this year we have again sent out very few cards, and only to family members.
Tim is still at Keele University studying English and Economics. The English he finds relatively easy, but perhaps that is because it comes very naturally to him, but the Economics is requiring some steady hard work. He’s enjoying being a student, but we can see that he doesn’t enjoy being under pressure to perform. He continues to be very sporty, playing football regularly and going to the gym. During the summer he supplemented his income by working nights at our local ASDA, an experience he didn’t enjoy, but stuck to with his usual perseverance.
Ben is in the second year Sixth form at Reading Blue Coat School taking French, German and Economics at A level. Moving into a new school for sixth form has not been easy, but Ben has adjusted and his teachers are generally pleased with him. He has a conditional place at University, but we are by no means convinced that University would be the right choice for him because although he is very bright, he is not academic, and some other way forward may be better for him. At a time that the government is moving towards 50% of young people going to University, we are aware that the failure rate is about 23% with 17% dropping out of higher education altogether. Ben keeps himself in necessities with a paper round.
In the middle of March, Mike was made redundant from Hogg Robinson, where he worked as a database programmer, fallout from the September 11 World Trade Center event. Having been told by the CEO that no one would be made redundant, this came as a surprise, but was welcomed eventually as an opportunity to change direction.
Easter was at the end of March, and the family joined Whiteknights International Church (with whom we worship) at Moorlands Bible College for a long weekend away with some of the international students who join us on Sunday evenings. The college is close to Bournemouth, set in delightful grounds, and has a well-appointed sports hall, so there was always something for everyone to do. Tim joined us from Keele, and we all enjoyed the few days away, Mike walking in the New Forest and Janet enjoying gentler walks up Hengistbury Head on the coast. The weather was pleasant too.
In the middle of April, Mike celebrated his unexpected liberation with a week in Portugal visiting Peter and Jane Richards who work as language school teachers/missionaries in the areas around Mondim de Basto where they live. He very much enjoyed the time (spent moving from restaurant to restaurant - please don’t get the wrong idea), and commented (continuously) on the similarity between modern Portuguese architecture and what he had seen in central Africa where there is a strong Portuguese influence. Janet had to stay at home because Ben was taking A/S levels during May and June.
At the start of July, Ben went on German exchange to the northern Black Forest for two weeks, sampling youth hostelling, visiting Bodensee, working in a kindergarten, and attending a German school along with Lotte and Eva his exchange partners. Ben’s German improved rapidly during this time because we had made a pact with Lotte’s parents, Sebastian and Rita, that they would feign ignorance of English during this time. Originally, Ben had been partnered with Lotte, and one of Ben’s school friends had been partnered with Eva. However Eva’s partner dropped out, and Lotte had written to us (in excellent English) suggesting that Eva, who had not been to the UK before, should take her place. We felt that Lotte had been so kind in offering to drop out, that we should invite them both to come the UK, although Lotte would remain Ben’s official partner. This arrangement seemed to work well.
While Ben was away, his parents exploited their unusual freedom by going away to ‘little England beyond Wales’ where friends offered the use of a holiday cottage in a place called Marloes, southwest of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire. This was the second visit to this delightful area where we felt very much at home, and although the weather was unpleasant in most of the UK at this time, Mike and Janet enjoyed lazy days on the sandy beach and visits to sundry craft shops scattered in towns around. They did not repeat the horse-riding they had tried last time they were there when Mike had suffered extreme chafing on his legs and Janet had not been able to get off the horse (dismount is the technical term) at the end of the ride. Neither did they repeat their inability to get round a 9-hole golf course in less than two days.
At the start of August, Mike and Janet went to Summer Conference at Rora House in Devon for a few days, staying in an American tent, similar to a poly tunnel. The tent appealed to them because it had been designed for full-size Americans rather than the midget Europeans most tents are built for. As an example, the family car could have been parked inside the tent (but not with inner tents in place) and not be noticed by passers-by. The conference was enjoyable and valuable, as well as being an opportunity to renew friendship with many people.
During the summer, plans to erect a summerhouse in the garden changed somewhat, and with the help of skilled friends and an extended period of dry weather, a high specification chalet (insulated, decorated, carpet, power) at the top of the garden now houses desk, filing cabinets and a computer with broadband connection and all Mike’s books. This was a major physical effort, and Mike wondered at times whether he was going to make it.
Near the end of August, Lotte and Eva arrived for their visit to the UK and we broke all records and visited Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and Windsor Castle, and even went for a couple of rides up and down the Thames on a cruise ship. It was in London that we parked the car in a most unusual car park that, at high speed, carried the car up and away in a pod, and returned it to us some hours later, on proof of ownership and £20. We enjoyed the girls’ visit and managed without anyone having to sleep in a tent in the garden.
Meanwhile, continued attempts to get programming employment met with failure, the bottom dropping out progressively from the employment market as corporates followed each other like sheep into stagnation. Company after company in Reading laid people off month after month and it began to appear that self-employment may be the only way forward. Mike began to advertise his services locally, offering (i) to fix computers, (ii) to give advice on buying and using them, and (iii) to provide private tuition to secondary level students in mathematics and computing. Towards the end of the year work came in dribs and drabs from agencies specialising in tutoring.
During September and October, Janet started seriously designing Christmas cards to sell for profit under the name Mary J Cards. It became clear to Mike that Janet had hidden talents, because the designs were without exception very saleable, and the quality was high. They visited a few craft fairs together to clarify the designs and also called on shops and garden centres to see whether they could sell them through them. In the end it became clear that they would sell best through local contacts and eventually through a website when this could be set up. Nearer Christmas, Janet turned to designing general greetings cards selling well over 100 cards within a few days. Watch this space.
Later in the Autumn, Janet accepted the offer of an extra morning at the surgery where she works as a nurse, and, in addition to Monday and Tuesday mornings, with a colleague, ran a blood clinic from 7am to 11am on a Wednesday morning. It proved very pressurising with a record 120 patients packed into four hours, and after four months, Janet had to abandon it on doctor’s orders.
In October, we heard the very sad news that Jack Kelly had died, and Mike drove up to Scotland for a few days to be present at the funeral. Jack and his wife Eileen, had been loving friends for many years, and Mike had stayed in their big house in Auchenheath near Lanark for six years, driving through to Edinburgh to work and being involved in the building of the church that met for many years in that place. The funeral provided an opportunity to join with hundreds of other friends, and Jack’s family, to remember his life, and the tremendous influence for good that he, Eileen, and their family had been for many years.
Throughout the year we have had the pleasure of having Kikuyo Shinohara, known to us simply as Kik, staying with us as part of our extended family. Kik has been working in Gyosei College, now renamed Witan Hall (whatever that means) by City University who have taken it over, as a teacher of English. We enjoy her company and also the dilution to a house full of males that she provides. We also benefit from numerous discussions about far-Eastern culture and all that sort of thing.
Churchwise we continue with our friends in Whiteknights International Church with about 28 to 45 people meeting together on a Sunday morning (someone has provided me with accurate statistics!) at Leighton Park School where we rent rooms. Whiteknights Park is the name of the University campus close by, and we have a lot of international people coming, so that’s where the name came from. At present we have representation from Russia, Korea, Japan, Venezuela and China on Sunday evening meetings so we do have an international flavour. The big thing is that there’s opportunity for input into the meetings, something you don’t get everywhere.
This newsletter went out by email to those ones we regard as our dearest friends. However, to keep the size down especially for people in Africa, or those who don’t have a fast modem, we included links to photographs, rather than include the photographs in the text. Our websites are undeveloped, but we hope to work on them over the next couple of months so they will improve. Mike has bought a digital camera, so current pictures of the family will be much easier to obtain.
In the new year, Mike hopes to develop his business with help from InBiz, a private company who provide business advice under a government initiative, but we have no doubt that “dependence on God” is what it’s all about. As we get older in the Christian life, it seems to us there are two things we need to do. The first is to hold fast to the former things: don’t allow ourselves to get ‘old’, but to hang on tight to first-love, etc. And the second thing is to learn to depend on God more and more as our own abilities decrease. You may have more insight, but it’s the way we see things appear at present.
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