Catrina Benham's Blog

Saturday was a gift of a day to more than 50 women from our Church community. Worship, teaching, fantastic food and friendship; rest and relaxation; "son-bathing" in the most beautiful and peaceful surroundings. I'm talking about the women's prayer retreat "Deeper into God's Presence" organised by Tess and her team; with the day led by Liz Babbs . Liz was great -warm, humorous, down to earth. There was nothing "spooky" or super-spiritual about her teaching. Instead, she led us in prayer and meditation techniques so that we would each be able to develop our prayer-life. We listened to Jesus' teaching about the vine and the branches, and then really slowed down and really listened. We visualised being right there alongside the woman who met Jesus at the well. it was powerful stuff - keys and tools to take away to use in our own personal prayer life. Liz encouraged us to "pray continually" in a very normal and easy way. I've jus...

Last week I wrote about Inspire, Unique's mentoring programme. We're currently signing women up for the next round of mentoring that runs from September 2009 to June 2010 . The closing date for applications to our next programme is 12th July. So if you want to be involved, then please fill in an application form, which you can download from the Inspire webpage . I wrote about the older women teaching the younger women in my last blog (do you think you could be a mentor? If so, come and have a chat with me or with Caroline ) This time, let's hear from Rebecca about her perspective on being mentored in Inspire. "My mentor and I did not know one another before we started meeting. We knew each other only by name and face. So we spent some of the time just getting to know each other. My mentor did quickly create an atmosphere for me to feel comfortable and safe in. She is an amazing listener and in most of our meetings allows me time to just talk and work through what I a...

Just a quick reminder to bring any coats and shoes for Serenje to the Kerith Centre tomorrow (Sunday). The shoes are for children aged 5-15 and need to be hard wearing winter shoes/trainers which will withstand cold weather and long walks.The coats are for children aged 3-15 and need to be clean, warm and washable. It's winter in Serenje,a time when many children stop going to school, because it's too cold for them to make the long walk without extra layers and something on their feet. We can make a real difference just by looking in our cupboards and giving the coats and shoes that our children have grown out of. Or, if you don't have any at home, why not buy some from a local charity shop, or even buy new? It's such a simple thing, to pass on our outgrown coats, but in doing so we are enabling children to access education, and lives are changed for good. Together our money and our giving will go such a long way.

50 FIFTY 50 FIFTY 50 FIFTY 50 FIFTY 50 FIFTY 50 FIFTY 50 So yesterday I wrote my 50th blog entry - hoorah! I believe that any sort of work or accomplishment needs to be rewarded, don't you? In light of that philosophy, today's the day I'm going to redeem my "free coffee" voucher. I like coincidences (often God-incidences) and coincidentally 50 is the number of lengths that I swim early each Wednesday morning. At the sports centre - every Wednesday I can - always 50. And yes, I count - I count RELIGIOUSLY. And this is how it goes: 1-10 - " Oh my goodness it's cold. My goggles are leaking. I think I recognise that lifeguard does my bum look big in this?. I'm never going to manage 50 today, in fact no-one will know or care if I do less. Yes, less will be fine and then I'll head to Starbucks for a grande skinny latte and fruit bread yum!" 10 - "Ok, we're getting somewhere now, a fifth of the way done already." 13 - "That's ...

Mentor - A trusted counsellor or guide / A wise and trusted friend Titus 2 contains the instruction that the older women should be teaching the younger women. Now when I first read that, I saw old women - not older . I think the older women in our Church community are awesome, but I really didn't want to wear the label "old". So I was glad to hear a Talk recently that pointed out we're all older women to a younger woman - even the 30 year old is an "older woman" to the 20 year old, who is an "older woman" to the teenage girl. I see mentoring playing a big part in the outworking of this teaching.When I first thought about being a mentor in Inspire , I initially felt fearful- I was anxious that someone who walked alongside me would see the real me (and then what would they think?!); feeling inadequate and totally sure I wouldn't know what to say ; I was worried that I didn't know the Bible "enough" or pray "enough" or was...

Would you like to... Grow in your Christian life? Meet regularly with another Christian woman? have courage to change habits and lifestyle with God's help? If so, then Inspire could be just what you're looking for! Inspire is Unique's mentoring programme. The next mentoring season runs from this September through to June 2010. Pairs of women commit to meet every 2 weeks during this time. If you're interested in taking part, then you can contact the Inspire team, led by Caroline, who has such a huge heart for all the women in our Church community. Forms are available at the Kerith Centre reception (they need to be returned by 12th July,so don't delay!) I've thoroughly enjoyed my own involvement in mentoring (more on that tomorrow!); and I really would encourage all women to take part - don't rule yourselves out! It is a wonderful means of growing as a Christian and of developing new friendships. Inspire:"Sharing life with a wise and trusted friend"

I had a fun time last night, joining the Activate women for their meeting and helping them celebrate their first birthday! Activate is the Unique book club, enthusiastically led by Ope. Every 6-8 weeks they meet in two different locations, to discuss the current book . Last night involved a lively discussion of the Rob Bell book "Velvet Elvis". Next they're reading C S Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" . All the books are chosen by the book club members - recommendations of inspirational and spiritually uplifting books. Ope is passionate about inspiring women to come together to read books, sharing their thought and views. Also for women to develop spiritually and to strengthen themselves and one another.To socialize and build sincere and loving friendships. Last night was great - there was a real cross section of women there - lots of laughter too! If you think that Activate might be something for you , you can find out more information on the Unique webpage ...

This morning I had the privilege of taking two Assemblies about Zambia,at Sandy Lane Primary School, Bracknell, where I work part time.Over the last year, the children, parents, staff and whole school community have been building links with Kankoso Basic School in Serenje, Zambia. We've written letters and sent photos, pictures and writing about our school. We've sent them some disposable cameras so we can see what their school life looks like too. One of the extraordinary things that our school did was to raise £800 for Kankoso school. I'm so proud of the school community here, for rising to the challenge so creatively and quickly. On my recent trip I had the opportunity to see how the money's been spent in developing the school garden. The garden is being developed so that the pupils can be given a meal at school, before their long walk back home to the villages. The school has purchased lots of gardening tools, seeds and fertilizers. They've made good progress wi...