The Parish Magazine March 2021

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12 The Parish Magazine - March 2021 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to advertisements Independent And FREE Advice For All Individual & Company Members • Switch to an alternative scheme – If you are currently insured, switching to a competitor can mean substantially lower rates • Pre-existing conditions covered – It is often possible to include pre-existing medical conditions currently covered by your existing provider • Improve your coverage – We can frequently improve your cover whilst also lowering the cost of your premium • Complexities of different schemes – In many cases, people are over insured – we can ensure you are covered with a scheme that meets your individual needs and requirements • Full cover for cancer treatment – Many polices do not cover cancer in full – we are able to advise on your current level of coverage For further information, please call Steve Maguire at M&L Healthcare Solutions:- PHONE 01628 945944 or 01223 881779 Email: steve.maguire@mlhs.co.uk quoting ref: The Parish Magazine M&L Healthcare Solutions is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Reference number 554206) ADD Plumbing & Heating THE FUNERAL PEOPLE A FAMILY BUSINESS SERVING SONNING SINCE 1826 READING 0118 957 3650 HENLEY 01491 413434 CAVERSHAM 0118 947 7007 ALSO AT MAIDENHEAD, BRACKNELL, WOKINGHAM, THATCHAM TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY FUNERAL SERVICE AND DIRECT CREMATION FLORAL DESIGN & MONUMENTAL MASONRY PRE-PAID FUNERALS, LATER LIFE LEGAL SERVICES BEREAVEMENT CARE WWW.ABWALKER.CO.UK Experienced plumber & heating engineer Free written estimates – no job too small Many positive testimonials from local residents ‘Trustworthy, reliable and efficient’ ‘Excellent attention to detail’ ‘Meticulous in his work’ SELECTED Independent FUNERAL HOMES 0118 934 4624 07932 072912 addplumbingsolutions.co.uk
the parish noticeboard — 4 The Persecuted Church For various tragic reasons Lebanon was in the news during last year, but their issues have been under-reported. During October, fires raged along the coast of Syria and Lebanon, yet there was scant media attention. Garda World reported that fires burned across Lebanon amid high temperatures and strong winds, and Army helicopters, and civil defence teams were dispatched. The Guardian said the fires broke out in the Mount Lebanon area and that state media had reported that a mine exploded in the Wazzani area because of the fires. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. However, the paper also reported that a fuel tank exploded inside a Beirut building, killing four and injuring several. This was on top of the blast at Beirut’s port on 4 August, when a massive explosion killed at least 200 people and injured about 5,000 others. In the aftermath, the Lebanese government resigned amid growing public anger. Lebanon also has an economic crisis. In September, VOA News reported how observers were saying that the country was in its worst financial crisis since independence in 1943. Public debt amounts to 150% of GDP, making it one of the highest in the world. In 2018 this magazine featured an interview with Esther Gayfield, an American businesswoman who worked with refugees in Beirut for a year. She went there again in 2020 and told me that it felt very different. It was 'hard and heart-breaking to witness,' she said. 'The economic collapse began to take hold in late 2019, sparking the revolution and the resignation of the government. A new government was formed to help them dig out of their crisis, then came Covid-19, shutting down the economy and crippling society. 'The economic cogs were barely moving again when the 4 August explosion effectively blew up people's hearts, their hopes, and their dreams. If they were losing hope before, the explosion shattered any remaining glimmer into smithereens.' She told me that the economic collapse and the explosion 'helped destroy the upper middle class and the middle class.' The banking crisis and economic collapse meant they lost access to all their cash: 'They once may have had something saved for a rainy day. Now it is gone.' she said. 'Then they lost their houses in the explosion as it largely impacted the more middle-class and the Christian neighbourhoods.' In July 2020, Barnabas Fund invited donations for destitute Christians in Lebanon. They reported that the Lebanese pound had lost 80% of its value since October 2019. This drove up prices in a country dependent on imports. Some people, they also said, had given up using money and were bartering goods online. Electricity was being cut off for the majority of the day and there is growing social unrest and crime. They quoted a Lebanese church leader who wrote that 'We have many social problems and collapse of family lives … and of despair dominating, and that hits the faithful community'. The Parish Magazine - March 2021 13 News, features, and links by Colin Bailey: please read for awareness, and support by prayer, financial or otherwise. This month the focus is on the crises that have hit Lebanon in the last year. 'Hearts, hopes and dreams shattered by explosion' HARD AND HEART-BREAKING FAMILY LIVES COLLAPSED Beirut properties destroyed by the huge explosion in August 2020 Joseph Khoury, dreamstime.com Esther Gayfield points out that it is critical to continue to feed the hungry, especially as 'Lebanon has the number two worst economy in the world, just behind Venezuela, and they remain at a dangerous precipice that could send them tumbling to number one.' Esther firmly believes that we need to support the believers in their local communities. Stress and trauma of staying have made them 'desperate to leave.' She says that it is a very dangerous place for the church to be. 'Christianity has been at a precipice in the Middle East for years, and Lebanon could end up like Iraq, completely devoid of the Christian community that had existed since Christ's apostles evangelized the area.' Also, there are many Syrian Christian refugees in Lebanon, who have fled war and anti-Christian persecution in Syria. Very few dare, say Barnabas Fund, to live in the refugee camps dominated by Muslim Syrians, so they get no help from the UN and refugee agencies. All the available jobs are needed by the Lebanese host community, themselves in a terrible plight. Most Syrian Christians in Lebanon have not been able to get residency permits. You can donate to the Barnabas Fund project 'Middle East Fund to help Christians' via: https://tinyurl.com/y4swm6wc or 0800 587 4006 Needless to say, the key message is 'Pray for Lebanon'. Sources and further reading Garda World on the Lebanon October fires: https://www.garda.com/crisis24/ news-alerts/388146/lebanon-wildfires-continue-to-burn-across-lebanonoctober-10 The Guardian on the Lebanon October fires: https://www.theguardian. com/world/video/2020/oct/10/wildfires-erupt-in-mount-lebanon-area-afterheatwave-hits-country-video The Guardian on the October fuel tank blast: https://www.theguardian.com/ world/2020/oct/10/lebanon-beirut-fuel-tank-explodes-in-building-basementkilling-four BBC on the fire at the Port of Beirut: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worldmiddle-east-53668493 VOA News on Lebanon’s financial crisis: https://www.voanews.com/middleeast/lebanon-still-facing-financial-crisis-one-month-after-massive-explosion Barnabas Fund article, Lebanon on the Brink: Help Destitute Christians Today: https://barnabasfund.org/latest-needs/lebanon-on-the-brink-helpdestitute-christians-today/ Barnabas Fund article: Syrian Christian Refugees Need You! Help Our Brothers and Sisters Trying to Survive in Lebanon and Armenia: https:// news.barnabasfund.org/syrian-christian-refugees-need-you/
Page 1 and 2: The Parish Magazine - March 2021 1
Page 3 and 4: Serving the communities of Charvil,
Page 5 and 6: The associate vicar's letter The Pa
Page 7 and 8: the parish noticeboard — 1 The Pa
Page 9 and 10: the parish noticeboard — 2 On ref
Page 11: The Parish Magazine - March 2021 11
Page 15 and 16: feature — 1 MARCH 2021 Daffodil m
Page 17 and 18: feature — 2 The Parish Magazine -
Page 21 and 22: from page 19 feature — 7 Claude's
Page 25 and 26: around the villages — 1 The Paris
Page 29 and 30: In the first of several 'champagne
Page 31 and 32: around the villages — 4 Anniversa
Page 33 and 34: HEALTH The Parish Magazine - March
Page 35 and 36: THE ARTS Behold the handmaid of the
Page 37 and 38: the sciences Learning from the youn
Page 39 and 40: PUZZLE PAGE CROSSWORD Across 1 Sugg
Page 41 and 42: CHILDREN'S PAGE The Parish Magazine
Page 43 and 44: Please mention The Parish Magazine

The Parish Magazine March 2021

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