There are more than 33 million children in the world today who have been forcibly displaced, more than 700 million children live in extreme poverty. About 1 billion children are 'multi-dimensionally poor', that is, they lack necessities as basic as nutrition or clean water. unicef.org

It's easy to see these shocking statistics as just numbers, but each one of those numbers is a suffering child. If we saw just one of those children as our own child, would that change our mindset and sense of urgency? I was deeply challenged by those statistics and wrote this prayer:

These Children are our Children
There are children in this world in need, with no family to care for them or to encourage them, insufficient food, education, love,
    These children are our children
There are children in this world in isolation, no one to dream with, no future to dream of - no energy to dream.
    These children are our children
There are children in this world in pain who are abused in body, mind or spirit, who have their childhood taken from them, child soldier, child slave, a child no more.
    These children are our children
We would not, could not ignore those children if they were ours.
We would move heaven and earth to rescue, protect and nurture them.
Jesus said '… "whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."Matthew 18:5
Let us, in Jesus' name, be their family, their encouragers, let us feed them and educate them.
    These children are our children
Let us, in Jesus' name, be their companions, their friends, let us dream with them.
    These children are our children
Let us, in Jesus' name, be their protectors, their healers, let us give them back their childhood and hope for the future they deserve.
    These children are our children
Let us welcome each child as our own child, a member of our own family, a child of our own heavenly Father. Amen.

Hilary Swift, 13th October 2021

St. James' Church is now open daily. Please do come in and enjoy our beautiful church when you are passing. Look at the Diary here for formal and Zoom (virtual) services with this recurring link. Some recent services were recorded on YouTube - you can catch up here.

You can see here some thoughts, prayers and sermons that would have been heard at Saint James' and other Benefice churches, including all the weekly thoughts that you see here. Also, you can see Virgina Smith's weekly homily from Coldharbour here.

Tony Berry, the Rector since 1993, retired at the end of September 2021. See the Vacancy page for information and updates on appointing his replacement.

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