Focus

Gladys Christine Wood was born in Ceylon, she preferred to be called Christine. Her father worked on Foreign Service in Ceylon and India.

 According to one of her books Christine was 3 yrs of age and living in Westcliffe on Sea. She had a brother Jack whom she adored. Her father spent a lot of time away in India and sadly she did not know him as a loving father and she never remembered having a conversation with him.

 Christine spent her childhood summer holidays enjoying the long days of sun where she had the freedom of exploring the sea, and the creek and beyond at Leigh-on Sea (she loved the warm mud between her toes) and developed a deep love of wild nature. She spent very little time at home as her father and mother always argued and Christine was often in the middle of it all.

 She was sent to a Convent to learn how to speak properly and acquire good manners. On one occasion during a deportment lesson, a girl she described as a tell-tale and a sneak who could recite catechism by the yard, reported Christine to one of the sisters for swinging on a vertical pole. This to Christine was the last straw as she had put up with this girl’s tale-telling for a whole term and could stand it no longer and punched her on the nose. Christine was no push over. She was sent home and she told her brother the story, where he replied, ‘you should have bashed her harder’. The Mother Superior was in rage and told her she was sinful and lost and that the gate of heaven was closed to her. Christine’s answer was ‘Oh no Jesus can unlock the gate and let me in. She remembered these words from the hymn, ‘There is a green hill far away…’ which her mother sang to her when she was very young.

 She moved with her mother to Tolworth, at the age of 12. A school friend invited her to a Crusaders Bible Class. Her teacher made the gospels live for Christine and planted Christ in her heart and she put her trust in God. She finished her education at a Commercial Training College.

 Jack, Christine’s brother whom she loved was a keen young soldier; he died in Egypt at the age of 21 in the war through an infection. She sadly lost a beloved Brother and friend.

 Christine worked as secretary to an official at Cable & Wireless during the war years, and at this time Christine had an insatiable thirst for bible knowledge and fell into the clutches of the Exclusive Taylorite Brethren, in Brighton, where she wandered off the King’s Highway as she put it.

  She rented a flat in Brighton and through her painful search for practical Christianity Christine met Geoffrey Wood (no relation to Douglas) and with his help and the help of Rev. John Stott of All Souls, London, Christine escaped from the legality and burden of dogmatism. She fell in love with Geoffrey and they were married in 1958 and eventually moved from Brighton to Surbiton. She spent rewarding years as a Secretary to a director of Punch Magazine. She also began her writing ambitions and her first children’s book was published in 1965. She went on to write eleven more children’s books, one of which was translated into Swedish and Norwegian. She became an editor of the ‘Decision’ magazine published by the Billy Graham Evangelisation Association. Christine ran a children’s Bible Class with Crusaders. She was well liked by the children and she received many handmade gifts that reflected this love into her heart, more than any Exclusive Brethren teaching. Her first adult book Exclusive By-Path pub.1976 describes her childhood, her teens and her testimony to the faithfulness of a loving Father.

After 3 yrs of marriage and at the age of 33, Geoffrey her first husband went into hospital in London to have an ingrown tooth removed, he smiled and waved to Christine as the train pulled out of the station. He died from a heart attack during the operation. Facing this tragedy she drew strength and peace from many bible promises lifting her out of the grief into which she had slipped.

 A year later she met Douglas at a houseparty. Their friendship deepened and the warmth of it did wonders in healing Christine’s broken heart. Doug bought her a ruby/diamond engagement ring and now they were moving towards a brighter tomorrow. They were married by Rev. W Hitchcock in 1968 and spent their honeymoon in Weston Super Mare. They were devoted to one another and early in their lives they bought a tandem and rode through miles of Surrey countryside together where they had many a funny tale to tell. They have been together for 43yrs.

 Christine & Doug became members at Hook EC. in 1977. At this time Mrs Walton invited Christine to a bible study which she ran in her home. Mrs Walton became a great friend and prayer warrior to Christine over many years and after Mrs Walton’s death Christine continued to lead the bible study to which some of her friends attended for over 20ys and the study only finished two years ago. I am told that the women in the group thought very highly of Christine’s teaching, and her knowledge of the Bible. The weekly bible study in Surbiton included two ladies who travelled from Bournemouth and Cambridge. Margaret Ellis who was one of her ladies commented ‘this study at Christine’s was the only spiritual input she had for many years.

 Christine and Doug had the opportunity to visit Canada and while there Christine taught students at the School of Christian Writing. Douglas also gave his invaluable help with the students as he too had been involved in writing. Doug authored a biography of Hugh Latimer titled ‘Such a Candle’.

 Christine went on to write her book ‘My time in your hands’ published 1994. This book tells of her life experiences underlining the importance of tuning into what God is saying in all situations.

 In their later years Christine/Doug both regularly attended our small group at our church Hook EC and it is here Stephen my husband and myself gradually got to know a little of Christine and Doug.

 Christine had over the years suffered with diverticulitis and in her later years this affected her appetite to the extent that she could eat only a few things. This eventually affected her physically. She was admitted to KH and also spent some weeks in Tolworth Hospital. Back home we tried every way to encourage her appetite (when shopping for Christine and asked what she really fancied to eat, she always said, ‘I fancy a banana’ and so we bought Christine bananas by the bag full over time and we often laughed together about what Christine called ‘her banana shaped life’ in those last months. Her appetite never improved and slowly she deteriorated, became frail and needed full time care. Early November we arranged a move from KH so she could have full time care at a Christian Care Home in Haslemere, Surrey.

 Christine never complained in her weakness and frailty and eventually she knew that her ‘time was in His hands’ and peacefully passed into the presence of her Lord on 2nd December from chronic pneumonia in The Royal Surrey Hospital.

 A carer that came to attend her daily while at home said to me that she was truly a gracious lovely lady.

I think all of you reading this would agree that there are many pressures upon us as women - and if you're like me, it can leave you feeling buffeted and tattered by life's expectations, demands and needs. But what it all boils down to, is this question: Where do we look to find our identity? This year at the London Women's Convention, we spent the afternoon looking into what means we use to measure our value as women. The speakers took us through a range of passages of scripture to show us that we really need to be looking into God's mirror in order to assign value to who we are and what we do. There was no mention of Proverbs 31 woman at all - the woman we aspire to be yet who leaves us feeling inadequate, godless and feeble in comparison.

Graham Beynon, a church plant leader, showed how entrenched we are within the culture we live - the culture that dictates what is beautiful, valuable and acceptable. He showed us how we are so consumed by how we look and what others think of us that we lose sight of what is really important - who we really are inside. He explained from Mark 7:20-23, that though made in God's image, that image is marred and distorted by sin, but that we hide that away and convince ourselves that we are really okay, because most people don't see the sinfulness of our hearts.

Graham left us with a challenge - to accept that God accepts us by His grace, because He is gracious, not because we are worthy. Our value lies intrinsically in having a true, God-centered view of ourselves; our worth is not dictated by how well we perform at work or as a mother or wife, but by God's declaration of unconditional love for us - so deep and boundless that He sent Jesus to die for us. If we see ourselves as God sees us, we no longer need to feel insecure or unsure of who we are, or consumed by self-importance; our focus must be upon God, and what He has done and continues to do for us.

As Andrea Trevenna put it, "there are times in our lives when we're more vulnerable to listening to the deceits of our hearts, especially when we are disappointed in our relationships". She went on to explore how the ‘can't haves' or the ‘don't wants' in our lives are like the bait on the end of a fishing line - we see the bait but not the hook, and before we know it we are caught up in the deceptions of our own hearts. We listen to the pressures of the world, or the own lies of our hearts, and we make judgements about them without giving a thought to God's word. Jeremiah 17:5-9 gives a clear picture of the two ways we can live - independence on ourselves or upon God.

Jeremiah 17:5-9
"This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out is roots by the stream;
it does not fear when heat comes;
it's leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
The heart is deceitful above all things
And beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

So, what is the answer to this predicament? Be conscious of your thinking; nurture your heart in the gospel of Christ; ask yourself, ‘Who knows better what I need?' Keep coming back to the Lord, immerse yourself in His glory and grace, and trust Him, no matter what life delivers me to or from. It is all in His hands.

In the words of Jane McNabb, ‘When I'm committed to my glory, others miss out. When I'm committed to God's glory, our praise of Him is a privilege and He is glorified. We are not insignificant to Him."

So, next time you hear about the London Women's Convention, can I urge to come a long and be uplifted, encouraged and built up, to go out into the world, onto your frontline, as a woman of God who knows where her value lies?

Submitted by Claire Neal

SAW THIS ON FACEBOOK FROM THE GOOD BOOK COMPANY

We all want our churches to be places where people feel at home. But in the busy-ness of the average Sunday morning it’s all too easy to let newcomers wander in and out without any meaningful interaction taking place. So here are our top 5 tips to help you welcome visitors to your congregation:

People who are primed
When you walk into a new church there’s nothing worse than being ignored! It’s great to have people on the door greeting visitors with a smile. And it’s even better to have others who give out books and show people to their seats. But what’s really needed is an ethos of welcome ... a whole congregation primed to look out for new people and willing to put aside conversations with their friends to go and be with those who are looking lost.

Priorities that are gospel-centred
While it is very convenient to be able to sort out rotas and agendas after the morning service, it’s more important to be showing the love of God to others. People trump paperwork! So be willing to put off the bureaucracy until Monday and focus on having encouraging conversations ... maybe even invite visitors to lunch.

Packs that are clear
It’s useful to be able to put a welcome pack into a visitor’s hand – something that will help them get a feel for who’s who and what the church is all about. So why not buy some plastic wallets and in them place: a welcome letter from the church leadership; details of the next evangelistic course and social event; a response card on which people can request further information and maybe something fun like a bar of chocolate?

Posters that help people navigate
Churches, especially larger ones, can be complete rabbit warrens. So make sure each room is well signposted so visitors don’t get lost!

Pop-round ethos
Once someone has taken the huge step of coming to your church, do make the effort to contact them. Whether it’s a hand-written note through their door, an email or a visit, make sure they know that you enjoyed having them with you and would love to see them again.

Submitted by Heatherlea Bristol

Below is a selection of testimonies from our recent baptism service. There will be more to follow including testimonies from past baptisms.