At this time of year we start to think about Christmas, in fact some people have already bought their Christmas trees just to cheer themselves up.
In the past other churches connected to The Besom have asked their small groups to put together hampers for our clients. As this is the first year I’m championing The Besom I’d like to ask if there are any in Christ Church who would consider putting together a hamper of their own.
The Besom is a nationwide charity set up in 1987, providing a bridge between those who want to give, be it time, skills, money or things, and those who are in need. The guiding principle of The Besom all over the country is our reliance on prayer, if we have a need we pray about it and God provides, sometimes we have a client who needs an item which we don’t have, so we pray for one to be provided and God moves someone to offer precisely what we need.
At Christmas, though, we do ask. We traditionally provide our clients with hampers, these don’t’ contain ‘bog standard’ items like loo roll or tins of beans but nice Christmassy stuff to make what would otherwise be a miserable time of year at least bearable and, hopefully, happy.
Normally groups are paired up with clients so they know what to provide, but this year the response has been so overwhelming that nearly all the clients from the beginning of the year until now have been catered for: but we still need more hampers for new clients we’ll be helping from now until Christmas. We don’t know their names or needs so we’re making up generic hampers to give them.
If you feel God is leading you to offer a hamper please pray about it and whether your hamper should be for a single person, couple or family. If you would like more details or would like a hamper collected please email me on christopher.purdy@live.co.uk or the Besom in Ashtead organiser, lynne.slater@btconnect.com, with the word ‘Hampers’ as the subject.
Chris Purdy