God in Action!

overlooking Erwood

Summer is here and its about time we updated you on what has been happening in Breconshire these last few months.

In our last update we mentioned that Ifor led the funeral of a lovely Christian lady.  As there were so many comments after this, we requested that the next hill prayer gathering be overlooking her village and neighbouring villages.  Over the few months since this prayer gathering we have seen God working dramatically in that area.

A relation of the deceased was involved in a quad bike accident.

We were third on the scene, having followed a prompting to go via the back road to our destination.  The first person on the scene managed single handedly to lift the heavy quad bike off our farmer friend, while the slight woman who was second on the scene pulled him out.  We saw this happening before we got out of our car.  God must have given them both supernatural strength.  Our friend, in a lot of pain and shock, was taken away by ambulance to the nearest hospital where we caught up with him a few hours later. By this time he had been diagnosed with a broken sternum, eight broken ribs, a punctured lung and a fractured shoulder blade and pelvis. He knew God had been looking after him as it could have been infinitely worse.  We remarked how fortunate he was not to have been under the heavier engine end of the quad. His reaction was "What do you mean? I was holding all four wheels up off the road with my chest!" We prayed with him for a speedy recovery but were not prepared for the speed:  a couple of weeks later he drove himself to Hereford market and a week after that was singing a solo!

That same day of the accident his wife, driving home tired, found herself in a ditch when she dozed off.  God was obviously looking out for her as well as she was not hurt although the car was written off.

Our diocesan missioner friend who had been living in that same village found she needed a house to rent for eighteen months.  To cut a long story short, the diocese are now renting my parents bungalow for her so we have taken it off the market.  She had befriended a lady in that village before she moved into our bungalow and took me to meet her. She was happy for us to pray with her for an
injury to her ankle and fractured bones just above. Six months after the accident she still could not
put any weight on it and was in severe pain.  She was due to see her doctor a few days later about the possibility of further surgery. He had given her something like an ice pack to wear in her shoe but this didn't help much.  As we prayed she felt a sensation in her thigh, then the ankle area went hot before going "nice and cool" and the pain subsided. When her doctor saw her he decided not to operate after all because of the sudden improvement. As arranged I saw her later that week.  She had just walked the length of her kitchen without any crutches! I told her that on the drive to see her, Jesus spoke to me about her having shattered nerve endings.  She confirmed this was very much an issue but she had omitted to tell me. As I prayed this time she felt the ankle and lower leg start to tingle and the pain reduce further. She was due to go with a group of friends on a walking holiday at

the end of the week and was happy to take "The Shack" as a holiday novel to read. I encouraged her to keep receiving her healing from Jesus whenever she had her leg up resting. She managed a short walk using Nordic poles with her friends' encouragement. When I visited her on her return I found her working in her shed at the bottom of the garden, having left both her crutches in the house! She had loved the Shack which helped her work through some personal issues and has gone from being an atheist to the beginnings of discovering a relationship with Jesus.  She is back driving again and as a result I haven't been able to catch her in lately, but she has become a good friend.

I got to visit three others in that area.  One, who has read Angus Buchan's book, is now also reading The Shack.  Another, who has read Angus's book and Heaven is for Real, is now reading Corrie Ten Boom's "Prayers and Promises for Every Day".  The third person has recently discovered she has secondary cancer and listened when I tried to encourage her with the story of how Ifor and I prayed for a young woman several years ago who Jesus healed completely of cancer. She is not open to prayer yet.  Please pray she will be.

Other hill prayer gatherings have been over Glasbury, over Builth and over Hay on Wye before the Hay Festival at which Christie Glossop, Christian Chief Vet for Wales was speaking on the controversial topic of badgers and TB.  She is a part of the Goshen Project at Bronydd Mawr which prays for farmers. All the farmers that asked for prayer before having their herds TB tested had clear results.

Before we went through the gate into the stone circle above the  
quarry to pray over Builth Wells,  Barbara had a strong prompt
to pray for our protection. As we did so we sensed shields
surrounding us and over our heads like Roman soldiers, and an angel carrying a huge sword went ahead of us.  We had a sense that whatever had been going on in the past on that hilltop was still somehow affecting the town and valley below and needed forgiveness and cleansing. Three of us prayed with banners around the stones and over the gulley alongside. Much prayer was prayed over the town.  Afterwards Barbara was going straight on to an arranged meeting on the showground with some of the management and county leaders of the Young Farmers' Clubs to ask again for a live nativity to be staged by the latter group at the Winter Fair whereby Young Farmers dressed as rowdy Biblical shepherds spring up in different parts of the showground and ultimately converge at a central point where carols will be sung. Unlike last year, this time they were all very enthusiastic and started putting forward their own ideas along those lines!

The YFC have an annual drama or pantomime inter club competition.  This year our small, local club of Aberedw won not only at  county level, then at the Wales level, but then went on to Torquay for the UK level ... and came second!  A number of these brilliant actors and actresses were in the youth group I led. I went to watch their dress rehearsal before the long journey and could easily see how they had got through to the grand final.

This spring the Anglican Renewal Ministries, which used to host Flames of Fire at the Builth Showground, put on "Flames Rekindled" for a day. It was good to catch up with old friends from around Wales and parts of England, and meet new ones. In between the speakers, individuals were invited to share what God is doing in their areas; Barbara spoke about how the Lord has recently enabled CCRW (Christian Centre for Rural Wales) to have the upstairs rooms above the Glamorgan Building throughout the year. The following day it was good to have Stuart and Pru Bell, who stayed in the county overnight, to speak at an extra gathering for local Christians.

Also since that prayer time over Builth Wells I have been invited to show slides on Uganda at both the Anglican church there one Sunday and Builth Wells W.I. Both seemed to have quite an impact on the audiences.  Moses, who runs one of the two schools we support in Uganda, has recently sent me some photos of their new location on the edge of Kampala after being pushed out by their landlord from the original school.  Now they have built classrooms, a dormitory where the children share mattresses which they now have, sown and harvested their first crop of maize and have a few goats and pigs as they aim to be more self sufficient and learn new skills. Even so they have had to weather a hunger gap between crops in these early days. Do visit their Facebook page "Tentmakers minis." Both Moses and Pastor John Okello  need your prayers.

I had the opportunity to pray for healing for a farmer's wife recently and it was great fun watching Jesus do just that!  He seemed to be giving her the works, removing the pain and bringing back full movement to her neck, spine and various other parts of her body that He knew about but we'd not mentioned.  Such joy!


Rather than trying to gather a group, we have started inviting individuals and couples around for a meal so that each feels special.  This has helped us in building stronger relationships as well as being enjoyable all round. One of these guests who came after the hill prayer over Glasbury, was keen to borrow the book Waking up in Heaven.  This is the true story of a young, damaged mother who found Jesus and His unconditional love in a remarkable and life transforming way when in hospital.  This is the latest of a number of books our friend has borrowed, the first being The Shack. It is certainly a book to recommend.

You may remember Mrs Pugh, our wonderful 104 year old neighbour who died last year. (Her twin sister died a few months later)  She was an enthusiastic member of Erwood Chapel and the members and friends dedicated a bench to her in the chapel graveyard, overlooking the River Wye.  This attracted a large crowd who afterwards enjoyed a table tennis demonstration by her great grandson Rob who did well in the Paralympics and is currently number one seed in the world. His one handed serves, while his other hand maneuvered the wheelchair, had a terrific spin! What an outstanding example to everyone who has suffered a major injury and refuses to be restricted in life by it. Mrs Pugh was rightly proud of him.

This spring we had a wonderful few days at the annual Christian

Farmers' Gathering at Top Barn near Worcester where Andreas Keller from Switzerland talked about spiritually understanding and healing our land. As we walked the farm, Andreas taught us how to be aware of the different atmospheres, ask the Holy Spirit about them and pray and proclaim as He leads. We soon tuned in. It was very eye opening.  He taught us about how God sees our bloodlines too and the relevance of past and future generations.

The first three or four months of the year I have been slowed right down by a virus, followed by a condition in my ribs triggered by that virus.  During that time God has clarified and focused my calling and particularly what He wants me to be doing this year.  It has also given me time whilst resting to read some very inspiring books He has put my way.  The first was a Christmas present which I can thoroughly recommend and from which I have copied many quotes. Incidentally, we have since heard that a woman at Mervyn's baptism (see last update) whom I prayed for who was about to have a hip operation did not need one afterwards as all the pain has left her and full movement has returned. Thank you Jesus.
A book I found at Top Barn was by Angus Buchan, called "Jesus ... a Farmer ... and Miracles".  Another good book.  A farmer suffering from severe depression came to the huge Angus Buchan event we helped organise at Bronydd Mawr last year. During the evening he went forward in response to what Angus had said and instantly felt the depression leave him and be replaced by the Holy Spirit.  The former has never returned and the latter never left Him.  He's a changed man, full of joy and has a new job which he enjoys.
The book I am currently reading, "the Freedom Diaries", was recommended by a good friend. It is book of conversations with God which started much to the surprise of the author.  I find it affirms what I have believed increasingly over these last years.  So many get stuck at the cross, forgetting that it opened the door for us to walk through to have a two way relationship with our Creator.  Its a book that needs to be "out there" but currently it is only available from the stockists in New Zealand. However it does have its own Facebook page by the same name.



It was encouraging to have Benjamin Francis stay with us for a few days. He is very involved in mission in India and a number of the counties in that region, heading up Big Life and also the BMS overseer for India. We drove him around a bit for him to get a feel of the area. During that time we hosted an evening where a number of Christians in the county came to hear him. Being used to densely populated cities, he jokingly remarked to the group that he understood how it was difficult to find people around here!  Despite this contrast in population and culture, what he said and demonstrated were very natural and helpful.

Ifor has been involved with a number of cases with Farm Community Network, helping farmers and their families who have contacted the Christian charity looking for advice, help or simply a listening ear.  So many isolated farmers these days are going through so much turmoil that there often doesn't seem to be a way forward for them. Because of the huge mid Wales area and the few FCN counsellors, this has often meant him travelling long distances.  This is well worth it when people can be linked up with what they need, problems solved and even lives saved.

As well as preaching most Sundays, helping a widow with no family, taking huge farming funerals and being heavily involved with the Baptist Union of Wales as president in what has been a difficult year, Ifor is still working as a rep for Bowketts.  Not surprisingly he has not been able to do as much of this work as he would have liked to.  However, he did stand in for someone with a broken hand for six weeks in the stores.  This gave him an insight into the work involved there and surprised a number of the customers who knew him with different "hats".

 The store work included  filling sacks with whatever feed had been ordered using a fascinating Wallace and Gromit type machine, getting to grips with operating a bobcat that uses levers instead of a steering wheel and of course the forklift truck. Sorry the short video is on its side!

The dairy herd where Ifor milks has expanded to 550 cows.  When there was a busy period of getting the cows back in calf, they had three milking in the parlour at a time for six weeks. During this time Ifor was milking five or six mornings a week, but is now back to three mornings a week and enjoying it.

We have had four big events on the family front this year.  First was the arrival of our nephew Owen, first grandchild to my brother and sister in law.  Its so good having the cousins close in age.  They will no doubt have lots of fun together in the future. Then we celebrated Ifor's mothers 90th birthday.  She is happier in her new surroundings than we have seen her for many years.

It was wonderful to welcome our new
daughter-in-law Ellie into the family on Easter
Day when she and Kevin were married at St. Denys's church in Lisvane, Cardiff.  It was lovely that they asked Ifor to preach, me to do the flowers and for the whole family to involved in various ways.  What a joyful occasion for both families.

The following day with all the family together (apart from the newly weds!) we had a slightly early celebration picnic for Thomas's first birthday in the warm sunshine. This was also the occasion when he took his first couple of steps!

The family continues to grow - we were all thrilled to hear that Katie's and Sam's second baby is on the way, arriving in October.  Quite a birthday present for Caleb who will be two that same month!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragements which keep us going. Bless you all.

Out with the Old, and in with the New!

Happy New Year Everyone!  2014 has been a year of lots of good things and some not so good things, which I'm sure has been the case with most of you.  Yet already God has brought about some wonderful and surprising turns of events as we move into 2015.

On Christmas morning our lovely soon-to-be daughter-in-law Ellie found a gorgeous diamond ring in the toe of her Christmas stocking!  She and Kevin came up during the Christmas period so we could all celebrate together as a big family. We're all looking forward to their wedding in Cardiff on Easter Sunday. Over the twelve days of Christmas we hosted fourteen people for most of that time, rising to eighteen on one day!  It was lovely having all the family including our two little grandsons over Christmas.
On New Year's Eve Ellie had us all carefully removing the flesh from oranges, carving the tops, pouring oil over the pith wicks and lighting them. They looked spectacular outside - even floating down the stream!  Great fun!

Another big surprise is that Ifor's got a new job! Still doing everything he did before but now with an extra string to his bow. Before Christmas he saw an ad in the local paper. Bowketts Farm Supplies were looking for a sales representative, selling feed and fertiliser etc on the farms. The ad just  'jumped out at him', and after praying and talking to a few people, he decided to go for it. He went for an interview and got the job, despite telling them he was a Baptist minister and he'd never sold anything in his life.He's working solely on commission, which means his hours are his own and he can fit in with everything else he's doing. On the morning of the interview he prayed for guidance, and he read in Matt 10 v 42 in the Living Bible about being a representative for Jesus! So now he's a rep for Bowketts and for Jesus.

This has opened up wonderful opportunities for Ifor to go around all the farms, making friends and building relationships. A perfect way to get involved with the farming community which blends seamlessly with his role in Farm Community Network (formerly Farm Crisis Network) and Rural Chaplain to the county.  He has already had a few sales, met lots of farmers he wouldn't have otherwise and is generally being very well received.   Before Christmas Ifor started taking a stall for FCN to some of the markets.  Now he is combining that with being a more approachable sales rep and is having some good conversations. He gets on well with the staff and generally is enjoying the work.

Also new this year, Ifor has taken on our veg patch, starting with covering it this autumn with two years worth of duck litter from the stable and all our compost bins!  Jack in the Beanstalk, here we come!  He and Kevin have worked hard leveling and digging out huge bolders from a slippery muddy slope down to our footbridge.  They have done a thorough job and now we have a new artificial lawn there which looks so much better and feels safer.

It was a privilege for us to go to Chris Collins' induction at Woodville Christian Centre in Cardiff just before Christmas.  He and Jan and his young family joined the church soon after we did when Ifor was training at Cardiff Baptist College thirty years ago and we have been good friends ever since. Its a real call of God and his heart is soft to follow Him. It was great to meet up again with Mike Fuller who was our minister there all those years ago when he sensitively led that church into renewal.  Just before the induction, on their way back from Cefn Lea, Chris and Jan called in to see us.  As we four prayed together, I "saw  a long, straight mud path with earth banks, but said nothing at that point. Then Chris said he was seeing a  long straight furrow (aah! same picture, just different scale).
He said he saw Ifor and I pushing seeds into this furrow in a line.  All the seeds looked the same, but some grew into plants, others into bushes, others into huge trees.  We were not to be concerned about how much time we invested in each one - we would not know which seeds would be the more productive ones.  Each one mattered.

This prophecy also reminded me of one I had been given four years ago where I was seen to be treading acorns into the ground, some of which would grow into huge oak trees - but again I won't know which, so tread them all in firmly.

On the evening of Chris's induction we were blessed to receive two complimentary tickets for the Cambrensis Christmas Carol concert at St. David's Hall.  What a special way to round off a great day.

Leading up to Christmas I did a stall selling Ugandan jewellery in Builth Wells Winter Fair which was very popular. One woman came and told me how she would love to go out to help them in the schools in Uganda.  She would like to come and hear a talk and slideshow at St Mary's in Builth Wells which I have been asked to do during the sermon slot of their morning service on 1st March. Incidentally this date will be the 40th anniversary of when I gave my life to Jesus! What a special day that was!

Once again I was asked to take a year group at the school near Newport where our son-in-law teaches.  The children were very responsive as they watched and learnt about life in Uganda and they enjoyed having a go at balancing books on their heads, doing African dancing along with the DVDs I showed them and even attempting to do both together!  Unfortunately this year they were not allowed to sell the jewellery because of concerns about Ebola, although Uganda is the other side of the continent.  However they very kindly donated the offering they collected from the school choir concert to go to the schools they saw on the slides in Uganda.  Moses' school has been uprooted this year and has had to rebuild on a site the other side of Kampala.  It has been a very difficult year for them but they have seen God honour the work they try to do amongst the mostly orphans there. This year Moses will be ordained!

I joined Ifor at both the Remembrance Day services he led.  The morning one was at the ancient and fascinating chapel of Maesyronnen where Prince Charles visited last year. It was built on to an old cruck house in the 1600s  The members, many of whom joined us at the Alpha course we ran in Glasbury cafe and the "Table Talk" weeks at the pub, move to sit around the large Stuart table whenever they have communion.The ministers' names on the pulpit go back to the 1640s. What stories this place could

 tell!
In the afternoon we led a Remembrance Day special in Erwood Market Hall for the whole village, complete with video clips and a memorabilia table.  Our friend Anne Roberts together with Erwood Chapel organise regular cafe style services there now and these attract more than attend the services in the chapel. The following month the Cafe style service was a special  WW1 centenary carol service, following the booklets beautifully produced by Hope, Tearfund and Sports Chaplaincy UK which were later given as souvenirs for people to take home.  They included explanations, Bible quotes, a moving article on Christmas Day in the trenches in 1914, testimonies and an update on what Tearfund is doing in Syria.

We were invited to the Erwood Show Dinner in the same hall - a huge affair where nearly a hundred people were treated to a delicious sit-down meal provided by the local pub next door. It was a wonderful occasion which also enabled us to sit with farmers we didn't really know.  I also went to two W.I. Christmas dinners.  The Aberedw W.I. combined this with the 90th anniversary celebrations of their founding.  Fun to look at the old photos and try to recognise people!  The caterers from the pub next door excelled themselves and my friend made the beautiful icing flowers on the celebration cake which was baked by another friend.

 Sadly we have been to a few funerals these last couple of months.  One of these that Ifor was asked to take was the funeral of the elderly Christian mother of a farming family in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, very near to where I lived as a teenager.  People who knew me from then said "Wow, is that your husband?!"  As usual Ifor was able to easily speak of a relationship with Jesus while applying it to the character of the deceased, never allowing the service to be morbid.  The graveyard and chapel were in a very dramatic setting and a couple of hundred people came from all over the county.

It was a thrill to witness Mervyn's baptism in January by his cousin who is the minister of the Elim church in Brecon which Mervyn and his wife now attend regularly.

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It was exciting to see a new Christian from Brecon whom Jesus has recently set free from addictions also being baptised.  God is good. At the service we were able to pray with a few of people.  One of these, awaiting a hip replacement, felt the pain leave as we prayed.

A friend and I went to pray around a house where there has been much oppression, depression and sickness for many years.  As soon as we prayed for protection and to work with the angels, suddenly we were both aware of a huge angel turning up right in front of us.  My friend said "That was quick!", to which I replied "Yes, and its huge!".  After praying around all the rooms we felt that this time the house was at last cleared.  Time will tell.

This is a new year and our God is always a God of new beginnings.  We'd like to leave you with this quote we came across recently, written by the prolific writer, " Anonymous".

This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will.

I can waste it or grow in its light and be of service to others.

But what I do with this day is important because

I have exchanged a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever.

I hope I will not regret the price I paid for it.

Summer/Autumn 2014

The summer of 2014 has certainly been a long, mostly hot and dry one. Even September turned out to be the driest since records began in 1910. The clematis around our front door has been stunning for several months.

Much prayer went into the Angus Buchan event at Bronydd Mawr this summer.  As I was walking up the hillside with the prayer group to the huge cross recently planted there (enjoy the story of this in our last blog), I felt the Lord say to me "This is the rooftop of Wales". After the 22ft cross was erected, we heard that the local name for the area is Bwlch y Groes (pass of the cross) which suggests there may have been a previous cross there, or at least one carried through the pass. The owners of Bronydd Mawr recently bought the common.  Since this purchase they learnt of a prophecy saying they would buy a hill!

We then went on to pray around the shed where the event was to take place.  Two people brought prayer banners declaring the sovereignty of the Trinity and an explosion of the Kingdom of Heaven into the shed.  A swallow fluttered around the tops and corners of the shed that we couldn't reach, and then a collared dove flew right through the length of the barn!  Fancy a dove flying through a dark shed on a sunny day!

Much preparation was involved in steam cleaning, clearing ground for erecting portaloos,  collecting and erecting chairs and stage, and so much more.  The local newspaper had printed three separate articles relating to the anticipation of and preparation for the event.  The long awaited day unfolded and below is the report which the newspaper printed.

Over 700 people packed into the sheep shed at Bronydd Mawr Farm, Trecastle on Tuesday, 10th June to hear
Angus Buchan, the South African farmer/
who always draws huge crowds.  The seats had all been taken half an hour before the event was due to start, and still people kept pouring in.  Despite the torrential rain over the county that day, even in the nearby village of Trecastle itself, the lane up to the farm was bone dry and the field set aside for parking had dried out enough to take the 300 cars without any hiccups.  Several buses also brought people from further afield and there was a happy, expectant buzz about the place.


As the strains of Dyma Gariad (Here is love) subsided, Angus took to the flat-bed trailer stage.  The vast crowd hung on his every word as he not only showed he understood the times and predicaments people find themselves in, but also offered hope, encouragement and opportunity to step out in faith into the future.  Streams of people pressed forward to respond to his message and reports are coming in of people having been healed, outlooks and situations changing and a fresh hope springing up.  One farmer, who had traveled from West Wales, said he felt over eight years of depression just lift off him and a new hope and joy take its place.

Breconshire was the start of Angus's seven day speaking tour which continues in Ireland, Scotland and England, finishing in Worcester on Monday 16th before he returns to his farm and orphanage in South Africa.

As a follow up to this successful event, Rev Ifor Williams, himself an ex farmer, will speak at Bronydd Mawr on "Growing Your Faith".  This will be at 7.30 on Thursday, 19th June to which all are welcome.

After the worship, Ifor introduced Dr. Christianne Glossop, chief vet for Wales. She spoke about her passion to see TB eradicated and about a prayer group that meets regularly at Bronydd Mawr to pray against this awful disease and other matters affecting farmers.  Ifor then introduced Angus Buchan.  As he spoke a dove did three circuits inside the barn!  When Angus gave a call at the end, people kept on coming forward to commit or recommit their lives to Jesus. Angus himself was still buzzing about the Trecastle event when he got back to South Africa.

At the follow up evening a man from Trecastle told us how he had decided to come to hear Angus but was unable to turn right from his drive to join the constant stream of traffic.  Instead he had to go left to find a break in it.  As he joined the stream he said almost all the cars, from both directions, turned up the lane to the farm.  He couldn't remember Trecastle ever having seen anything like this before.  This man signed up to do the Christianity Explored course at Bronydd Mawr, starting at the end of the month.

Since the event we have heard that far more local people came than we'd realized, especially many of those who had read one of the fifty copies of his book "Faith Like Potatoes" that we'd been circulating around the county.  As we go around the farms this autumn and winter to collect up these books, it will be interesting to see what the readers made of them. 

We have been to a number of the local shows this summer, selling the paper bead jewellery made by the children from two Ugandan schools we are involved with. At one village show we sold over £200 worth of jewellery for the children!  These have again opened up new opportunities to do slideshows to various groups

One of these slideshows at a the Fuchsia Society led to me being offered a free table to sell the jewellery and promote the work at Brecon Gardening Club's annual show in the Market Hall in Brecon which for me was very worthwhile. It was lovely that my auntie and her friend were able to join me there.

With the lovely weather we've had over the summer, we invited our neighbours to a BBQ at our home which was lovely and relaxing and gave opportunity to get to know them better. On another occasion Ifor was asked to speak at a BBQ in Bwlch for the local Gideons.
It was a happy occasion when Ifor took the wedding of Mervyn and Eleanor's daughter. As they came out of the chapel they found six of the local Young Farmers' Club holding an archway of pitch forks for them and all the guests to walk under. (We had the same lovely surprise at our own wedding 37 years ago!)   Ifor has also taken several funerals, including sadly the funeral of Geoffrey, one of the founding members of our first home group here, after a long and determined fight against cancer.  It has not been easy for his Russian widow who has had to make lots of big decisions so soon after the funeral.

We have been preaching in numerous churches over these last few months and Ifor has led many Harvest Festivals which are generally very well attended in this rural area, often being the only service that people will attend.  One of these was right up in the Gwesyn valley where he had recently attended the funeral of one of the two members of the chapel there.  The coffin was carried across the valley on the wooden bier stored in the back of the chapel.

I was asked to speak at a women's group at the Baptist church in Abergavenny. Instead of doing lots of talking, I had them learning for themselves how to hear God speaking to them through both natural and man-made objects I placed on a central table.  So following in the footsteps of Jeremiah and many others in the Bible, they had a go and found that not only does God speak in a variety of ways, He also is not that difficult to hear if only we "tune in" to Him!  They were both encouraged and challenged by some of the things He said to them and showed them.

After speaking about our work and vision at a SWBA meeting in Brecon, Ifor continued on to Warwick, with a couple of church-in-the-home planters from near Newport, to meet with Wolfgang Simpson, author of "Houses that Change the World", by kind invitation. We also went to the

New Wine Cymru summer Leaders' conference in Swansea with Randy Clark and I went  another time to the Caleb Advance, hosted in Brecon. Ifor went to a two day discussion in Birmingham along with BU representatives from Scotland and England, looking at ways forward.  In June I went with Lucy and Timo to the Company of Burning Hearts three day conference in Cardiff with Justin Abrahams, Ian Clayton and Paul Keith Davies.  Different but good. Since then I went with a friend from Crickhowell to a follow up School of the Spirit with Justin Abrahams.

At the Baptist Union of Wales Assembly, Ifor was inducted  as President. Unfortunately this has not been an easy year for the BUW, as discussions to unite Baptists across Wales have broken down, resulting in some difficult meetings which Ifor has had to chair. Ifor has also been heavily involved with Farm Community Network activities, including a new initiative at a monthly cattle market. After a lot of work making contacts around the County, some of those contacts have resulted in some intensive pastoral care. Sometimes we seem to be spreading ourselves very thinly over a wide area, but God showed us recently that a key part of our work is simply to meet people here and there and be a spiritual influence at key times in their lives. A bit like Jesus who often met people on the road, spoke into their lives, and then moved on.

The hilltop prayer group continues to meet, and one month we prayed from a hill overlooking Erwood and Llyswen and beyond. Another month took us back to a hill overlooking Llanwrtyd Wells. Here we met Richard and Jan.  Richard was on the staff at a YWAM base in Scotland and since then they have been leading a church plant there before moving down to Llandrindod Wells recently. This month we prayed over Crai.  The Lord is wonderful in giving us Spiritual insight to help us know how how He wants us to pray in these areas.

On a calm, warm day at the end of August, over fifty people gathered on the banks of the River Wye in Erwood to witness a lady being baptised. After doing a Christianity Explored course and the follow on course with Anne Roberts, the lady asked to be baptised in the river.  Her family came to support her. Two days later her husband had an unexpected encounter with God whilst installing a velux window on a roof!  He went home and looked for a Bible. Google suggested he start with the gospel of John where he found some familiar stories that he recalled hearing in his childhood.  He downloaded an app for his phone and started listening regularly to the whole of the New Testatment, on one occasion coming home at

 lunchtime to recharge his batteries! He is now on his eighth time around and loving it.  He has found himself to be growing in patience and friendliness, while she recognizes her confidence has grown, as the Holy Spirit works in their lives.  Anne is leading her and a friend in weekly bible studies on the Old Testament.

When we started "Table Church" in our home a week after the baptism, the husband asked  his wife if he could come too, which surprised her and the rest of her family.  Another couple from Rhayader joined us as we enjoyed a meal together, including taking communion in the natural way in which the early church partook. One said he wouldn't normally go to a church but he liked that. Another said it was brilliant.  The following week the second couple were unable to join us due to illness, but we still had a good time looking into the Bible around the table to find answers to some of their questions. Another person has since joined us.

A fortnight ago we restarted the monthly film shows in our home, for local people starting with the new film of the book Heaven is for Real which many people around here have now read.  This went down well, with a break in the middle for bring and share food and chat. Several people borrowed books afterwards. Two people from this film evening would like to start coming to Table Church.
As many people in the county now have read this book, we hope to encourage some of them to show the film in their homes, inviting their friends around to watch it with them.  This could be a way to precede Table Church in a number of homes.  One person in a church where we sometimes preach bought a copy of the book for her married daughter who enjoyed it so much that she asked her mum to send any similar books to her.  I suggested The Shack which is also proving an excellent tool in introducing the possibility of a God of love to people who don't go to a church.

Last month the Baptist College in Cardiff asked us to talk to their students for a couple of hours about how we are going about rural ministry and mission in Breconshire and relating some of the things God is doing.  We had some very encouraging comments and emails afterwards from the students. One informed me that as a result of me doing a similar talk a couple of years ago to a combined group of rural churches in Herefordshire, they have decided to look to employ a rural missioner!


An exciting time for our family was the wedding of our daughter Lucy to Timo in Estonia where our three other daughters were bridesmaids. It was wonderful my brother and family were also able to come and we enjoyed getting to know Timo's family. We erected a marquee in the grounds of Timo's family home on the edge of Lake Pepsi which forms the boundary with Russia.  We arrived in time to prepare for the big event,
including making the cake. The best tool to cream the hard muscavado sugar proved to be Timo's dad's electric drill!
But it turned out fine.  They asked Ifor to take the service, during which Mary sang Dyma Gariad as a solo and both sets of parents laid hands on the couple as we prayed for them. There were lots of interesting and lovely traditions from both countries which we all enjoyed. After the marquee was down and everything tidied away, we had a week sightseeing locally and then in the walled medieval city of Tallin with its many towers.                                           Lucy and Timo are now living back in Norway where Timo is leading the
worship at the YWAM base and Lucy is working in a kindergarten while she improves her Norwegian to the standard at which she can take a degree there in Social Studies.

It has been lovely this year getting to know our two grandchildren better. Thomas is now six months old and developing his unique character.  Caleb celebrated his first birthday combined with his dedication before he left with his parents for a fortnight in California, visiting family friends and attending a leaders conference with Bill Johnson at Bethel Church in Redding.

Sorry you have had such a long wait since our last update in May.  Sorting, clearing and putting on the market two houses from our parents has taken much time and been emotionally quite draining. But thank you for your much appreciated prayer support.