Catrina Benham's Blog

What an amazing day yesterday! Michael and Esther Ross-Watson are such a gift to us at Kerith.Michael preached 3 superb messages yesterday, and together they prayed so warmly and tirelessly for people last night.  I'm going to take the time this week to listen again to Michael, and I encourage you to do the same. What an amazing life story! Overwhelmingly we heard a message of HOPE, of LOVE and of GOD'S FAITHFULNESS.  Let these words that we sang, and heard read from the Bible linger with you today - let them in - let Him in.                                         "He loves us, oh how He loves us" "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way he loves us." For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through fa

Do you ever get the feeling when you wake up, that you've only just closed your eyes and laid your head down on your pillow? When I woke up this morning it was just like that and here was my train of thought (travelled in seconds - I'm scary in the morning!)..."here we go again"..."do I have what it'll take to do all that's ahead today?"..."It's a new day, and...I'm alive!"...which connected with a great song we worshipped with on Sunday "From this grateful heart I live, I'm alive because of the sacrifice You made. So I say Thank You, Thank You for the cross". Even lying in bed, seconds into a new day, we can make choices about how we go into the day. I was just really thankful for the Holy Spirit's prompting with that song this morning, because it turned me around. These tweets helped too - guess it was a "God whisper" to live with gratitude and thankfulness! "Acts of gratitude make one grateful

Looking ahead, I've got some extra demands on me , on my time and energy this week - and it could feel overwhelming, and I could get really grumpy! But I want to do this week well. To do the important as well as the urgent. To remember that only people are eternal. To have a great rhythm to my life. Today would be Karena's birthday. Thinking about her this morning I remembered that she loved Jesus passionately; she loved her husband and children fiercely; she loved her family and friends; she loved having fun; she loved shopping and also coffee! So today I'm aiming to follow her example. I'm remembering my own words about rocks, stones, pebbles and time management. I'm prioritising the One Rock. Soon I'm off to London for a braces appointment and I'm going to embrace the day ahead - I've got some work to do on the train, but I'm also going to look for opportunities to connect with God... and I'll enjoy that coffee! I pray that you know God&#

Just a quick entry to remind you that tomorrow is the Inspire Regional Ladies day at Camberley hosted by the Beacon Church. 305 women are expected, but they still have a few places available - just turn up with £10 and a packed lunch! A few of us from Kerith are going...so if you're interested, get in touch either personally or through the Kerith reception (01344 862699). I'm really looking forward to a day with friends. Bev is a great woman - sparkly eyes, full of faith and fun! She will lead us well tomorrow. Our friend Liz Green from Reading is also speaking. She is a great friend of mine. A holy, faith-filled woman, she challenges me to live wholeheartedly for God. I've been thinking about Real 2011..beginning to plan and dream for next year's conference. There's something special about choosing to set aside a day. A day out of our generally busy, active days and weeks. A day to spend with other women, to worship, to hear from other godly women. It's abou

Thanks to Penny for spotting my previous blog typo re the Gift day total - it was actually a fantastic £110,000! As an example,just £5 will enable a grade 9 child to take their exams to get into High school. Next year one of the ways that the money will be used is to support orphans and vulnerable children through their schooling.We want to enable 1,900 children to access their education through funding from the Project. Education in Zambia is essentially free, but children need to have their uniforms, pencils and books bought for them. they also need shoes and they need their exam fees paid. The children are so proud to have uniform and shoes - bear in mind that for many it is their only set of clothes , so they wear it constantly.The parents and grandparents of children in the Project reported that the children were no longer embarrassed to go to school, now they have their uniforms. Great that our giving gives dignity to the children in Serenje.

The First rock in the Vase I've heard / read the same illustration a few times just in this last week. Initially I'd think "oh yes, I know that one"...but then (penny dropping moment) I just wondered whether God was perhaps speaking to me...and I hadn't yet listened? Really listened and taken it in and applied it to my life - know that feeling? So this morning when "Confessions of a Tired Supergirl" appeared in my inbox I finally listened. She explains it far better than I could AND she's already been applying it for real, so I think I'll leave it to Susannah .  ...No condemnation - I pray that this encourages, challenges and inspires you. His mercies, grace , love and forgiveness are new every morning. There is grace for today . The first rock in the vase....can make a big difference. "I was reading The One Life Solution by Henry Cloud the other day and he gave an illustration about time management saying that our life is like a

What an amazing weekend in Church! Fantastic to hear the personal stories of all the people being baptised .So encouraging and so faith-building to hear how God changes lives. Wonderful to worship together and to hear the preaches from Ben. Lydia and Liam. We announced the completely amazing Serenje gift day total of over £111,000 too! Boy oh boy, such a rich day! And yet this morning was cold and dull and wet. So I still needed to dig deep this morning - I couldn't rely on yesterday's incredible grace and blessing . Today was a day off so I took the dog on a lovely wet walk in the woods with some other brave souls - a great start to the day! Once home, on went the lights and the heating; and up went the volume on "Beautiful Exchange" by Hillsong. A large cup of coffee and I was all set up for a good day! I heard a lovely sound this morning ...my daughter's voice. Yes she really was silent for over 48 hours! All in aid of being sponsored for Project 125. Like ma

The District Commissioner of Serenje, Mr Stanley Chibwana The DC is appointed by the government - his role in Serenje is similar to that of a minister or a mayor in the UK. Mr Chibwana and his wife are both Catholic believers and very supportive of the Project. We initially visited him in April 2009. The team in June 2010 also visited and he facilitated all that was needed to get the Girls’ dormitory site measured for Ralph to prepare to draw up the plans. On this visit we showed him the plans that Ralph has drawn up. His response was “ Our prayers are making a huge difference…if teenage girls are not in school then many of the girls would have early marriages..as early as 14 years of age” “Teenage girls live so independently (in Zambia Compound) but it is desperate – they are unable to cope with all the pressures of their education and they are vulnerable to temptation.” We were very grateful for his time; and very encouraged by his support. He also told us some i

Pastor Bernard Ngosa Pastor Ngosa is the Pastor of Rock of Hope Church and the Chairman of the Project. (The full name of “The Project” is “The Integrated HIV/AIDS response in Serenje”) He is married to Annedy and they have 3 children- Sylvia is 23; Ephraim is 10 and Bernadette is 7. Annedy leads the women in their Church; she also leads worship and she is a nurse and a hairdresser! Pastor Ngosa is a leader and a man of influence in Serenje. He often led community meetings and he translated from Bemba into English for us. Pastor Ngosa is a great communicator . I caught a couple of great quotes from him on this recent trip On the partnership between Kerith and the Serenje Pastors Fellowship: “We are in eachothers lives for a purpose” On the invaluable role played by the team of Volunteers:  "We owe it all to the volunteers - you are our hands, feet, eyes and ears" Pastor Ngosa's Prayer request: To fulfil all that God’s called me to do.

Bishop Samson Kasele is the Pastor of Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church (PAOG). He is the EFZ representative in Serenje. He is married to Ruth, who is the District Women’s Director. They have 2 children – Shiloh (14) and Samson (6). Bishop Kasele is a humble leader, held in high regard by the other pastors and people in Serenje. Bishop Kasele wrote Simon a very encouraging letter this week - here's an extract for us all: "Know this that your efforts are not in vain. The Lord you serve will surely reward you all. You didn’t just choose a place convenient to you but as the Lord directed you. You opened your hearts wide to us and your sweetness flowed through out. Keep up the spirit." Prayer request: God to cause His grace to abound on our ministry as we oversee our area

Pastor Vincent Chizunga has led Tabernacle of Grace Ministry Church for the last 14 years. It is a church of approximately 30 people – one of the 8 small churches that meets in Kamwala Basic school’s classrooms each Sunday. Pastor Chizunga is married to Miriam, and they have 6 children plus 2 orphans. Miriam is a trader – she has a market stall and buys from farmers in the villages. Vincent is based at home, so he deals with the children and also has some small business initiatives. This Church and Pastor are fairly typical of the wonderful serving men and women we met in Serenje. They work hard and are totally committed to their people.

Pastor Mtonga Pastor Kelvin Mtonga is the chair of the Serenje Pastors’ fellowship (a group of approximately 26 Churches affiliated to EFZ in Serenje). He is married to Emmoli; and they have 4 sons, 2 daughters and also look after 1 orphan. They live very near the centre of the Boma (town centre). Pastor Mtonga is very industrious – they built their home, he has a workshop attached to his home and runs a carpentry business. He built his own tools. They also keep pigs and are growing maize and other vegetables. As he said “we are tent-makers!” Their church has about 40 members; and they meet in a local school classroom on Sundays. Midweek they meet in the Pastor’s home.  Mrs Mtongo cooking nsima for lunch  Pastor Mtongo's Carpentry workshop  Maize growing in their garden 

(Simon and the pastors sharing the plans for the girls' dormitory) In working with the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) we have a network of churches, pastors and volunteers that were already serving the Serenje communities and people.  Mrs Leah Mutala is based in the EFZ headquarters in Lusaka, and has been the Programme coordinator for EFZ for the last 14 years. She works under the EFZ Executive Director Reverend Pakota Munsa.There are 26 churches and pastors affiliated with EFZ in Serenje, t heir representative in Serenje is Bishop Kasele. The pastors are a wonderful, servant-hearted bunch of men. Typically most of them lead small churches with congregations of about 50 people. Most of the pastors that we met are not financially supported by their congregations. To earn money, they and their families farm, garden, have market stalls and are very industrious in other "tent making" activities. This week in the blog I'll be introducing you to some of the