It is always a pleasure and a privilege to gather as Hands at Work Advocates. This year our day was held at Hollywood Christian Life Centre near Birmingham and hosted by Peter and Deborah Steele. Thanks to them both for their hard work in catering for the day and arranging a time of shared worship. Also, to their pastor, Steve Crossthwaite, for opening the day in prayer.
The first session was led by Wedzerai Chiyoka, a familiar face to the Hands at Work UK women’s prayer group as she often joins them from her home in Uganda. She had been visiting the UK and delayed her return home to join the Gathering. This was so appreciated as she was able to pass on greetings from Hands at Work founders and leaders in Africa, George and Carolyn and Levi and Prag. She also provided an update on the Hands at Work news from Africa.
Catherine (Cat) Clarkson was our next speaker. Following thirteen years as an International Volunteer in Africa, Cat has recently taken a sabbatical back in the UK. She shared how Hands at Work has changed over the last thirteen years “in every possible way, although the model and prophetic call to the church has not”. She also talked very movingly about how her life has been changed by her time with Hands. She shared inspiring stories of children who had grown into becoming young African Hands at Work leaders. She talked about her future plans – sharing how God has called her back to her home city of Southampton, where she will be working with the vulnerable from a community base called, ironically, ‘The Hub’! She finished by reminding us of verses from Isaiah 58, including from verse 10: ‘Feed the hungry and help those in trouble’.
Our next session was spent listening to reports from those who were part of two visiting teams to communities in South Africa in 2024. The first was a party of ten ladies from one of the Woodlands Churches in Bristol, led by Hazel Askew. The second was a mixed group from St Andrew’s in Biggleswade, led by Chris Parker. One of this group, a young man called Adam, talked about the sense of ‘community and family’ he discovered in Africa and how he had felt a ‘touch from God’ for the very first time during the trip. Time was taken to pray for Helen and Sheila, both nurses, who were departing on a child health visit to Malawi two days after the Gathering.
After a light lunch, including delicious local samosas – apparently a ‘must’ when visiting the Midlands – we reconvened to listen to Becky Warnock from Suffolk and Lesley Bentley from the West Midlands. They shared what partnership meant to their churches, and the words ‘mutuality in ministry’ seemed to capture the relationship between UK churches and Africa. We then watched a video from Jackie Okindah, updating us on the recent gathering of Hands at Work African leaders in Zambia. She also shared a fresh perspective on how much team visits mean to the children and Care Workers in our communities. She reminded us that God is ‘El Roi’ – the God who sees – and whenever we visit Africa we are helping people to feel seen.
After a small group discussion around the previous session, we went into a question-and-answer session led by Dan Waspe, also visiting the UK from Africa, and Oliver Westmancott, chair of the Hands UK board. Amongst other topics they discussed the transition of Hands UK with the impending retirement of David and Jane Newsome. Time had been put aside to thank David and Jane for their amazing leadership, which included a touching video of thanks from Hands leaders worldwide – such has been their impact. They were presented with gifts and prayers of thanks said. It was good to hear from David and Jane that they will still be involved with Hands UK as they serve as Advocates for their home church. They also shared their plans to support refugees from their Midland’s base. Thanks were also given to Becci Leung and Oliver for their hard work navigating Hands UK through this time of transition.