There's room in our inn!

It seems quite shocking that from his birth in a stable, through his ministry with 'nowhere to lay his head' to his final night under the stars in Gethsemane Jesus seemed to never have somewhere to call home. Thankfully most of us can take having a home for granted. But not so, for many people who catch leprosy. Many of them still have life stories that include rejection by family and friends and being driven away from home and village. Jesus understood this and was often seen showing kindness to people with leprosy.

The desire of The Leprosy Mission is to follow in Jesus' footsteps and show his kindness to people who through leprosy 'have nowhere to lay their heads.' People who look for acceptance and a place to stay but like Mary and Joseph see doors slammed in their faces.

One such person is Pastor Innocent Pundu and his wife Charlotte from Congo, Africa. He led a successful ministry in his church until he and his wife contracted leprosy in 1994. Their church immediately rejected them because many cultures believe leprosy is a punishment from God. The whole Christian community shunned them and they were told they were a danger to churches and might bring punishment on them. Every door was slammed in their faces. They drifted between churches always being asked to leave when their leprosy was identified. Even their family abandoned them and their seven children.

In 2002 Innocent sought help from TLM and we provided him with a home and put him in touch with a sympathetic church. TLM encouraged them to invite Innocent to be their Pastor and he said 'it was like passing from animal status to human status'. Today he has five growing churches and is Principal of a large Bible Institute.

But it all began when TLM provided Innocent and Charlotte with a place to lay their heads and promised that there would always be room in our inn. TLM never slams the door in the face of people in need and always works to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Now Innocent can look back and see how wonderfully God remained true to him even when churches turned away in fear. One of the greatest gifts we could give to Innocent and his family was a home and the provision of a place to rest his head.

If you would like to find out more about our work and even how to provide someone with a home please do contact me.

Mike Griffin

01842 750631

Greetings

Well we've been welcomed, so we must be here officially now.

Liz and I were brought up in Hemel Hempstead. Liz worked as a chairside assistant for a dentist and I worked in Local Government housing (mostly in Hemel Hempstead Town Hall). We started attending our local Methodist Church when in our thirties, when we had a couple of children and before very long I had candidated and we were living in Bristol for two years training. We were there at the same time as such characters as John Millard, Graham and Vivienne and Penny Birkhill.

Even while at college I sensed a sympathy with rural Chapels (they seemed left out) so I was stationed at the rural end of the Reading and Silchester Circuit with 6 Chapels. As the Circuit had 9 Ministers, I had some good support, while being 10 miles away from the centre of things ... independent enough for me!

After 6 years there, we were ready for some proper rural and went to the Week St.Mary Circuit where we replaced Peter and Mildred Evan. I was then in a one Minister Circuit with 9 Chapels and this time lots of farmers. It would be hard to say that more than about 2 Chapels were even in a village, so the busiest place in our area was the market on a Friday... so I went there as often as I could, becoming Chaplain eventually.

We stayed there for 8 years in all and when we moved, the District appointed me as half time Superintendent of a 4 Minister, 21 Chapel (next door) Circuit and half time Chaplain for Cornwall's farming people. I had 6 Chapels again and Liz had 3 in her half time job.

Things did get more than complicated after a couple of years, when I developed epilepsy. I've only ever had seizures in my sleep (so don't worry, I won't frighten the horses) but it upset my driving. Before that I'd done 13,500 miles in a year, split between District and Circuit, now I needed volunteer drivers which inevitably meant less miles in all.

Moving here means less Chapels than I've ever had before (5), access to transport when I can't drive (we only had 1 bus a day in Cornwall) and obviously a whole change of mind-set. Sadly I've just had to get used to thoughts of another 11 and a bit months without driving, because I had another seizure last weekend, just when I'd hoped to get my license back after a clear year. (Expletive deleted).

I still don't know what that may mean for the future, but I'd certainly value your prayers for Liz and me while we come to terms with it again. If this raises issues for others in a similar situation, I'd be pleased to chat. Volunteer drivers may be welcome too at times.

Yes, I do feel a bit flat at the moment.

Roger Greene

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