NOT ONLY A COMMUNITY FRIDGE, BUT ALSO...

...somewhere you can go for a good cup of percolated coffee and a slice of delicious cake for just 50p. and also someone to chat to - that’s Swindon Community Fridge at Gorse Hill Baptist Church, Swindon every Monday, although the Fridge is also open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Yesterday, Heather, one of the organisers of The Community Fridge, asked me if I would be responsible each Monday for getting out the Prayer Tree and setting up the Prayer Table, which is in the room where our visitors also have their coffee and cake on a Monday.  I said I would be happy to do that, so this morning before I left home I printed off a couple of my photographs with some encouraging Bible verses on them, ready to put them on the wall above the table.  Last week I suggested to Heather that we move the table so that it was more obvious in the room, and she was happy for me to do that.  

Apart from the fact that the Community Fridge welcomes about 120 people every day, where they can obtain 5 items of free food, we are also aware that being part of a Church, prayer plays a very important role in all that we do.  In fact, before the Community Fridge doors are opened each morning, we pray - not only that those who come through the doors will be blessed and that they will see something of the love of God through us but also for ourselves that we will be quick to show His love to everyone we come into contact with.  

The Prayer Tree was set up so that people could put the names of those they wished us to pray for on a paper leaf or a card and attach it to the tree.  For many people, particularly if they are not linked to a Church, this is an easier way for them to ask for prayer for loved ones or for themselves, because often they may feel embarrassed about asking someone personally.

There is also a selection of small booklets, some of which you can see in my collage at the bottom right and although you can buy them, these were written and donated by Ben Huddleston, a friend of Meg, one of the volunteers at the Community Fridge, so it is good to be able to give these away, free of charge to those we feel would benefit from reading them.  I gave some to one lady today who told me she was going through a difficult time and she was delighted.  I also told her that we could have another chat next week when she comes and if she wants to ask me any question, she can.  

If you are interested in the booklets, please get in touch with Ben direct at BenHuddleston@gmx.com.  They cover a wide range of subjects such as Thoughts from the Shed, Paws for Though, Seasonal Thoughts, Thoughts from the Garden, Thoughts for Troubled Times, Thoughts for Anxious Times and Thoughts on Stuff and would be great to post to friends to encourage them.

One of my roles at the Community Fridge is to chat to people whilst they are having coffee, and many of them open up and chat quite freely - so it’s good to reinforce the fact that this is part of our Church’s mission in the community and to tell those we chat to that we will pray for them.  

A good morning, which ran into quite a large part of the afternoon - and I even learned how to use the Church photocopier - thanks Hilary - a job I haven’t done since I left work 13 years ago!  Mind you, when I was at work, we just had bog-standard ones that printed in black and white and working in a Solicitors’ office, we then had to colour in all the plans, but sometimes that was a welcome relief from all the typing - and colouring can be quite therapeutic!  

I also learned that when you are spraying tables or anything else with an anti-bacterial cleaner, you need to leave it for at least 60 seconds for it to do its work before wiping it off!  Thanks for that Debs!

Another great morning/afternoon - but rather tiring because I had to go on the bus, because of course, Mr. HCB is at Cheltenham for four days this week at cricket - I haven’t heard from him so I assume that the rain we had here didn’t stop any play there!

“I used to believe that prayer changes things, 
     but now I know that prayer changes us, 
          and we change things.”
Mother Teresa