Catrina Benham's Blog

I am enjoying a final Starbucks coffee with the team in the airport before we fly off to Zambia! We are all set and getting excited! I am not sure how much I will be able to update this but check out the Serenje Blog . Thanks for all those who wrote letters to the Zambian women. Please pray for us, Love Catrina xxx

This time next week I'll be in Africa! We're going to Zambia again - to the Serenje area in Central Zambia. It's such a privilege to travel out with a team from Kerith Community Church. Our Church is working with Christian development Agency, Tearfund , and its partner , the Evangelical fellowship of Zambia ( EFZ ).This is the first of two trips planned for 2009; and on this one we'll be spending time training Leaders in the community. More details later this week (and at the Church Prayer Meetings Wednesday and Thursday evening) However, I know many of us want to do "something". For very many of us as a community that will involve giving money, but it can also be as simple as writing a letter of encouragement. Our November 08 Unique event was an Action Morning and one of the very successful activities was writing letters to the women in Serenje . I'd love to go out armed with more letters! So would you write one please? The idea is simply to bless and...

Today is a "normal" Saturday for us - made up of family time and children's sporting activities. We might include a visit to a coffee house or maybe a walk with a dog. We'll eat together tonight and watch some Saturday evening family TV. Mostly we view Saturday as Sabbath in our home, because Sundays are so full and busy! However, sometimes Saturdays are different - a gift to one of us as we take the day out for some spiritual input like a conference (can't wait for the Erwin McManus day on May 9th). Personally I know that these days often prove to be landmarks in our spiritual journeys. One of the reasons for this is that we're setting aside the day, we're stepping outside of the ordinary and everyday; clearing the day and our minds and spirits for God to speak to us. Well, we have a gift of a day planned for you! It's on Saturday 27th June, and it's a Prayer Retreat Day for women, entitled Deeper Into God's Presence. Tess and her team have pl...

We had a great Easter weekend at Church - 2 Good Friday gatherings, plus the 3 Sunday meetings, each one with baptisms. It was especially meaningful in our household as both our 11 year old daughter and our 13 year old niece were baptised. Many of our family came along to support them too, which was so cool. One of the thing I love about baptisms is the stories. Each one is different, each one's journey towards faith in Christ is unique. For each one there "came a point" where, as one man recounted, "God found me, when I was ready to be found". It's always so humbling and so moving - and it grounds me and reminds me what it's all about. I reckon Jesus was glorified through the stories, the baptisms, the worship, the serving, the hard work, the Message and responses for salvation and baptism. It was a good day! "Jesus be glorified in the earth, be glorified in the earth, Jesus your name be glorified" (Oh, and yes, there were chocolate eggs too!)

Here are some random things that have made up my last week! Tuesday: Teaching day today. Tufty the Guinea Pig (aged 5) sadly died from kidney disease this afternoon - we had to make the difficult decision to have him put to sleep. Wednesday: Celebrations...Alice is 11! Simon and I celebrate our 20th Wedding anniversary! Special breakfast, special lunch, special tea! Thursday:Last day of term for one of the places I teach = Party day! We buried Tufty tonight in the Grandparents' garden. Meanwhile the 2 bunnies keep escaping into next door's garden - oh what fun for them; oh what a pain for us! Friday: School assembly to celebrate achievements - proud mummy and daddy. Much house tidying and last minute jobs before travelling down to Devon for the weekend. Saturday and Sunday: Away in Devon to continue the anniversary celebrations! Great weather - lots of peace, quiet, space, eating (eg cream tea) walking and talking - and absolutely no responsibilities = bliss! Monday: Washing m...

Wednesday We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary today (I'll try and put a 1989 photo up soon for your amusement!) with a great day out . We did a 10 mile circular walk around the Thames - one of those walks in a book - including a lovely meal in a pub. So brilliant to spend time together just walking and chatting. I took my camera too. Simon was very tolerant when we came upon a graveyard - one of my favourite places to visit and photograph - I just love the images and all those stories! Thursday " We must learn to be as open about our failures as we are about our successes. Without this kind of honesty, we create a false image that causes others to needlessly struggle" T D Jakes Ever since I read this quote a month or so ago, it feels like God keeps reminding me of it and I just need to keep letting it sink in. I know it's true, but what it actually practically means is another thing.