Dear friends,

When I first started in ministry, in 1990, I didn't have a computer and I didn't know how to use one.  I was, actually, very happy doing everything on a manual typewriter or scribbling notes on the back of old envelopes.  I was a sad but contented figure in a world where, to me, "digital" meant using your fingers!

It wasn't long before a number of wasted days, when I had to retype entire reports because I'd missed out a middle paragraph, persuaded me that a word processor might just be slightly more helpful than the envelope.  I have now progressed, skipping joyfully into the 21^st century, from the little green screen of Amstrad to the rather more gadget-ridden world of windows and word.

All this has made me wonder… how on earth did the first disciples, the Christians of the early Church, manage to run their newly formed ecclesiastical affairs without even the back of an envelope to scribble on?  How come the message of Christianity spread so quickly when everything about communication in those days was so difficult?

The answer lies in communication.  The wonderful world of technology may well we enabling us to communicate from one side of the world to the other in a fraction of a second, we may well be able to discover everything we want to know about anything at the press of a button, but at the same time we are being encouraged to spend more and more time alone, holed up indoors whilst we do it.  The one thing that has increased our ability to communicate is also the one thing that has decreased the amount of time we spend in contact with others, by that I mean real face-to-face, chatting-over-the-garden-wall contact between living, breathing human beings!

Whilst we may wonder incredulously at the glamour of the latest computerised devices, we should remember that they still remain tools for our use.  No matter how much you improve the design and flexibility of the fork, the food won't taste any better or get served up any quicker!

Among the reasons for the rapid spread of Christianity we remember the importance of first-hand communication.  The first word processors ever in the world weren't powered by electricity or batteries and didn't need chips- not even fried ones!  The first Word processors were human beings, telling the story of the Word made flesh.  Today we have this same story that we proclaim at Easter of God's love for the world dying on a cross and rising from the grave to defeat sin and death and to bring us life in all its fullness.

So… who are you going to tell?  Happy Easter!

Best wishes,   

I hope that by now you have had a chance to see the Summer catalogue.  For very small children there is a beautiful Sealife Mobile at a price of £8. For children a little older there are two Antarctic jigsaws for £5 or as I sell them separately for £2.50 each.  Both the mobile and the jigsaws come from Gospel House, Sri Lanka.  Of course there is as usual a beautiful range of Jewellery.

Not in the catalogue is a new range of Chutney, Fruit  Chutney and Mango Chutney and  a Curry Sauce.  These come from Swaziland.  They are all 100% natural, with no artificial colours or preservatives.  The profits support youth programmes for street children and orphans.

Remember when you buy fairtrade goods that you are helping someone to have clean water, educate their children and have a better standard of living that we take for granted.