Waterways Chaplains can be influential in the lives of those they meet. I (Charles) first came across this boat a few years ago. It was moored and looking abandoned along the towpath, with a CRT enforcement notice attached. There was nobody on board, but other boaters told me that there was someone living aboard. I simply left a leaflet with my phone number inside the cockpit.
Some weeks later I received a phone call, ‘You left a leaflet on my boat, can we meet up?’ We arranged to meet in a local café that weekend. In fact, we met up on several occasions and B even came to church a few times. After a while he began to bring his mother, his uncle and once or twice even his daughter. There was great excitement when, after one of my own assuredly tedious sermons, B phoned me to say that they had stopped in a layby on the way home and his daughter gave her life to the Lord there and then.
Isn’t it funny how the Lord works? B used to say that I was helping him to rediscover the Christian faith that he used to have when he was younger. I thought, we were just having coffee in a café!
B has now met and has married the very lovely Jenny. He invited my wife and I to his wedding. He wrote inside the invitation that “I was the most influential person in his life in recent years”- Except for his lovely new wife – I guess!
Ben has given me permission to tell his story.
Finding The Way by Steve and Fiona
As we cruise the cut we often come across people in need. Sometimes that need is financial and we are grateful that we have access to the small grants from the chaplaincy. More often than not, however, the need is for something more specific and we are glad that God knows what is required and equips us abundantly in advance for these encounters.
This year, we have provided food and water, a windlass, mooring pins, a solar controller, magnets, pieces of string, an oil-absorbing sock, a tin of car bodywork filler, an automatic bilge pump and a Pearsons Guide. The final gift got me thinking.
We had come up the Grand Union with an ex-GUCC working boat. Recently purchased and vaguely aware of the need to avoid some winter stoppages ahead, Boater J was pleased to have our company in the broad locks. He was not on the internet and made vague comments about how far he was planning to go, revealing how little he knew about what lay ahead. Before we parted ways, I insisted that he receive our battered guide to the Grand Union and Oxford Canals with a chaplaincy leaflet tucked inside as a gift. I knew he would enjoy the journey so much more once he could see where the difficulties lay and where he would be able to access facilities for refreshment.
Of course, if he’d asked, I would have been delighted to hand him an even more worthwhile guidebook – one of the pocket New Testaments that the chaplaincy provide. In this, the difficulties that lie ahead are clearly prophesied, but alongside there are words of comfort and clear directions to the source of living water and spiritual abundance
How much does winter warmth cost? by Charles
I first met the owner of this boat a few years ago. She is a very friendly lady, but one whom some people might find it hard to befriend.
Recently her boat was involved in a collision, receiving damage to the transom which now leaks. At the time another WWC was able to help her out with a pump for the water, but it has inevitably made the whole boat damp. This does, of course, have an effect on her health.
Although the insurance has paid up for the accident, she has found it difficult to get the repairs done locally. It’s unlikely that the vessel would survive the long journey up the River Severn to be repaired elsewhere. Now sadly, her engine is also broken down and she cannot move the boat under its own power.
When I met her recently, because of the damage to her boat, she was unable to even get to the supermarket. I offered to take her by car the next day. My wife and I went together [safeguarding appropriately observed] and picked her up at Saul Junction. That day was very cold, windy and was raining heavily. She came out of her boat without wearing a coat. I asked about the coat, “I don’t have one of those”, she said.
While she was doing her shopping in Tesco’s, My wife saw a suitable ladies coat in the sale for a mere £20. When we all met back at the car, we asked if she would be offended if we bought her a present. We went back to the shop and she tried it on.
Every time I have seen her since she is always wearing the coat. “I love it”, she said, “I live in it”.
A mere £20, to keep a person warm throughout the rest of the winter! Worth it!
I guess this story is ongoing.
In other news
The past twelve months have seen some changes with the Severn and Avon hub.
While we still have the rock-solid ministry of both John and Gill Speight and the ever-active Steve and Fiona Burt, we have other WWCs who for different reason found that they now need to take a step away from the Waterways.
Liz Angel has stepped back from the towpath and stepped into parish ministry, filling the gap left during an interregnum in Tetbury; and Barbara Lang has accepted the role as leader of the Eastington Community Church of Christ the King.
Although we miss their work on the towpath, we are all pleased that they are finding new ways in which to serve. We are still in touch with both of them and look forward to the time when they are able to return to us.
We are also very fortunate to have Chris Kitching, based in Penarth, Mid Glamorgan. Chris is becoming a regular among both Penarth and Cardiff Bay Marinas and visits the Monmouth and Brecon canal when he can. Chris has now completed his probationary period and (at the time of writing) is making arrangements for his commissioning.
