26^th August, 2003

Griffin’s Gazette Extra

In the last Griffin’s Gazette I mentioned that I hoped to be going to work with a church as an assistant pastor. The Lord since then has opened up the way for us to fulfil this role. The church is called Dewsbury Evangelical Church, which befittingly is in the town of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and the pastor is Graham Heaps. We shall be moving up on Saturday 30^th August, hoping to start after a short break.

So what does this position involve? I will be working alongside Graham and the members of the church, in the task of evangelism, preaching, pastoral visiting, and all the other aspects of their work in order to gain some practical experience.

Liz will be looking after the boys (all three of them! [Liz]), supporting her husband, cooking, cleaning, ironing, washing up, hoovering, keeping the books balanced, banking, dusting, shopping, and in her spare time…

The finances are coming together and it looks very possible that I won’t have to take on additional part-time work in order to supplement my income. We are very grateful to all those who have offered to support us through this time, and take this as a further confirmation that Dewsbury is where the Lord wants us to be at this time.

We are rejoicing that we leave college with somewhere to go, and something to do to further the gospel but are aware that as well as being a stressful time for us both, the boys are feeling it too, especially Josh.

Josh has been recently diagnosed with dyspraxia, which is a condition caused by messages from the brain not quite reaching their destination as quickly as in a “normal” person (never met one of them yet!) Therefore his development in speech and movement is a little slower than it should be. He has begun to have speech therapy here in Bridgend but we’d appreciate prayer that he won’t get lost in the system as we move from Bridgend to Dewsbury.

Well that’s about it for this little extra, please take note of our new address and phone number. Our e-mail address will stay the same. Technology!

Oh yes, I had my Job exam retake this morning, results should be out in two or three weeks time, watch this space…

We are thankful to the Lord for bringing us this far and see his grace and love in our lives every day. We are also very thankful to everybody who has prayed for us over the last few years, written to us, emailed us, and who have provided us with the means to live.

If ever you are in Dewsbury please come and see us, our house will be open to all at all times (possibly with the exception of 4:45-5:00 p.m on a Saturday afternoon during the football season.)

Ben, Liz, Josh and Luke