Recent reports from our friends at NEST to follow

PASTORAL LETTER


Dear Friends,

Here we are seven months or so into our Covid situation, and sometimes the whole thing seems like a roller coaster. Numbers down, then up again. The threat hanging over us of a renewed period of restriction with all the family and individual angst that brings with it. The building is not open for Sunday Worship, but elsewhere in this magazine you will find an article describing the things that are alive and well around church in spite of the building being closed.

As always, I am grateful for the little stories I hear of individual care and concern expressed for friends and neighbours – especially those who need particular thought. Thank you for making a difference.

After a year spent as our Interim Moderator, Very Revd Finlay Macdonald, during which he has brought the church to the brink of important steps in the way ahead, has demitted the post. Rather in the style of Moses, who had to hand over to Joshua for the final push across the Jordan. (He will be reading this and laughing at his Locum’s flights of fancy.) More to be said, but for the moment these two. Finlay’s work in preparing the way for a stable move forward has been wonderful to behold. His many acts of wisdom and kindness (some of them unseen) have brought positive enhancement to the situation. Secondly, as a colleague, I pay tribute to Finlay’s kind friendship and guidance. He has made my time here a great and enjoyable experience.

On my own front, I continue as Locum for the meantime. I have to take two months (unpaid) leave of absence to undergo treatment for Prostate Cancer – and they will start on the 15th October. It may be that I will be able to be back for Christmas. I realise that the timing could have been more helpful. But there we are.

When a new Interim Moderator is appointed, it will be up to him or her to determine practical steps on the way forward. But in the meantime, Pamela and I and the Kirk Sessions will continue to serve the people of God in the best way possible.

Grace and peace,

John

BEIRUT

Conditions in Beirut grow worse each day. After the enormous explosion on 4 August which killed nearly 200 and left 6,000 injured the city has struggled to bring order from the chaos. Hospitals and schools as well as winter food and medical supplies have been destroyed; the country’s infra- structure is on the point of collapse and the cabinet has resigned en masse.

I have been reassured to hear from friends and colleagues at NEST (Near East School of Theolo- gy) where I studied in 2018 but although they have survived the blast, their accounts reveal the extent of the damage and the suffering being endured throughout the city – as well as the chal- lenges ahead. Over 300,000 have been made homeless.
NEST has appealed to friends for support and solidarity. You will see a fuller report in our Sep- tember Magazine, and also news from Sylvia Haddad, who runs the school in the Sabra-Shatilla refugee camp which both Finlay and I have visited during our respective visits to Lebanon.
Thank you for your support and prayers.

Pamela Strachan, OLM

If you wish to contribute, our Treasurer, Ronald Ireland has arranged to receive cheques through the Church office.
Please make cheques payable to Peebles Old Parish Church of Scotland, clearly marked on the back: BEIRUT NEST Recovery and post them to the Church Office at High Street, Peebles, EH45 8SW

Alternatively, a contribution can be made through Christian Aid. Further detail for the Beirut appeal, here please https://www.christianaid.org.uk/