Halfway through September last year our vicar Simon, together with his wife Helen set off on a trip together that took in both the wonders of Northern Spain, together with work across the ocean in the Caribbean. He writes:
Every seven years or so, the Church of England encourages its clergy to take a break from ’normal’ ministry (whatever that is) and take on something different. This time round, this act of generosity was matched by the trustees of The M13 Project, who encouraged their manager Helen to do something similar. So began the adventure...
Walking has for number of years been a passion for us both (you may well have seen us walking our "4 park walk" around the community at strange times of the early morning), and so we were interested in taking this further. We settled on on one of the ‘Camino' walks – ancient pilgrimages that followed a number of routes with Santiago de Compostella in Spain being the final destination. We started in France in the cathedral in Bayonne, and nearly 7 weeks and 870 km later, having carried our stuff as we walked, we reached the final cathedral there . For those who like following maps, you can read and track how we fared here.
After a brief break back in Brunswick, to wash clothes and repack, we set off to Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica. Our church has been a supporter of Operation Restoration Christian School (ORCS) for a good number of of years including passing on a sizeable 'thank offering' taken at the completion of the first phase of our Refurb project. Here, Helen and I got to help out at the school and experience first hand the joys and challenges found within this amazing country (with thanks to Natasha from our Brunswick congregation who together with her dad was able to show us around that first weekend). The five weeks went all too quickly, before it was time to say goodbye, and after the most lovely holiday reuniting with Jed and Millie over Christmas, it was time to return to the cold (weather), but warmth of the fellowship and family found back home.
Every seven years or so, the Church of England encourages its clergy to take a break from ’normal’ ministry (whatever that is) and take on something different. This time round, this act of generosity was matched by the trustees of The M13 Project, who encouraged their manager Helen to do something similar. So began the adventure...
Walking has for number of years been a passion for us both (you may well have seen us walking our "4 park walk" around the community at strange times of the early morning), and so we were interested in taking this further. We settled on on one of the ‘Camino' walks – ancient pilgrimages that followed a number of routes with Santiago de Compostella in Spain being the final destination. We started in France in the cathedral in Bayonne, and nearly 7 weeks and 870 km later, having carried our stuff as we walked, we reached the final cathedral there . For those who like following maps, you can read and track how we fared here.
After a brief break back in Brunswick, to wash clothes and repack, we set off to Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica. Our church has been a supporter of Operation Restoration Christian School (ORCS) for a good number of of years including passing on a sizeable 'thank offering' taken at the completion of the first phase of our Refurb project. Here, Helen and I got to help out at the school and experience first hand the joys and challenges found within this amazing country (with thanks to Natasha from our Brunswick congregation who together with her dad was able to show us around that first weekend). The five weeks went all too quickly, before it was time to say goodbye, and after the most lovely holiday reuniting with Jed and Millie over Christmas, it was time to return to the cold (weather), but warmth of the fellowship and family found back home.