Catrina Benham's Blog

·        Monday was my Birthday, and I had a really lovely day of treats and sunshine and rest. The evening finished with a relax in front of "One born every minute" on the TV - I love to share in all the stories of new life and family.        And then of course we all woke up on Tuesday to hear the terrible news of the terror attack, many injured and the deaths of 22 children and teenagers and mothers and fathers.      Their loss will ripple through so many many families, schools, communities. 116 people were taken to eight hospitals and 75 are still being treated, including 23 in critical care, some with life-changing injuries. This includes five children at the Royal Manchester children’s hospital.       The images conjured up in my imagination are too horrific, it's almost too sad to think about,       But I know that I can't hide away from it.    ...

It's hard to know where to start, as I've had so many amazing experiences, meeting some really inspiring people over my 13 days in Albania and Macedonia! Before I share any of the stories, I want to give thanks to God for being with us - protecting, helping, enabling us to do all we did with love and grace, and without getting into any trouble or harm!  A song from my past has just come to mind "In Him we live and move and have our being" and so I'm writing this with thanks to God, as it really has all been in God's strength.  Travelling to eastern european countries?  Speaking to women in different cultures?  Bringing relevant teaching?  Praying for, loving (and hugging!) so many different women?  Doing a TV interview in Albania? Being away from home and all things familiar for a couple of weeks (and keeping positive)? I'd have never dreamt that I'd be doing such things, or indeed that I'd be able to, but it's not in my own st...

There are only a few Albanian words I'm confident saying, "Zoti bekoft" - "God bless you" is probably my most used phrase, closely followed by "Faleminderit " - "Thank you".  I've been in Albania for a few days now, and we've served at the UNIKE Conference led by Miranda Ajeti. We had a wonderful time - the 400+ women who attended were as friendly as ever, and we were smothered in hugs and numerous kisses! God was so good to us - the women were hungry, and really appreciated the worship and the teaching - it was a privilege for us to serve them.  Alice has been taking photos and spending time with the teenage girls. Iris has been warmly embraced by the lovely "vintage " ladies - and they were so encouraged and blessed to hear that she and Glyn had consistently prayed, every Thursday for all the Albanian women.  I' ve just been interviewed for Albanian Christian television (Media7) by a lovely lady called ...