As you will all know by now Banks and I are walking all Summer for Christian Aid. On Saturday 28th June we are doing the walk from Midsomer Norton to Bristol and it would be great if other people could join us for the day. Simon and Jen are already going to be there but it would be fun to have loads of people. The distance is 20 miles which I guess most people would be capable of (it’s not easy though so be prepared) but we could also arrange to meet with people in Keynsham later in the day if you want a shorter bit or you could walk to Keynsham and stop there. Anyway, please let me know if you’re interested, try to get a team!

I guess this means that we may also need some volunteers who don’t want to walk to drop people off in Midsomer Norton and pick people up from the Grange at the end of the day (the route just happens to go through Warmley) if anyone would be kind enough….

There is a videographer making a video documentary of the walk and he has decided that it would be good to film that day’s walk so you’ll get to be on a documentary (don’t let that out you off though!). He is also filming at the Grange on 8th June. He says there’s no need to do any acting up for the camera but feel free!

Let me know a.s.a.p. Thanks.

Who wants a free t-shirt?!

Christian Aid is involved in an event taking place in Castle Park, Bristol (by the Galleries) this friday and saturday called ethical expo.  Its basically a show case of how you can buy all your everyday stuff with an ethical twist.  Loads of the companies that are listed in our ‘Prophetic Shopping’ list will be there.  See here for more info.

Of course you might want to come just for the fun of it, which would be great.

But we could really do with a few more stewards, which would involved standing around for a couple of hours in the sunshine whilst wearing a fetching fluorescent vest.  And for doing that you would walk away with a wonderful ethical expo t-shirt!  If you can spare a couple of hours (or more) please do let me know.  And even if you can’t spare the time, why not come along…you know you want to!

At Aardvark this past Sunday, a couple of people from BCF came to talk about some practical help that is needed for a group of women they are working with.  Things like painting & decorating, gardening etc.

We have created a list of people who are willing to help, and when a need arises we will ask around to see who is available.  If you haven’t already signed up and would like to, please let me know.

Think of it as a great opportunity to put the hope that we have been talking about into practice…

Pete Osborne

I’ve found God, says man who cracked the genome

THE scientist who led the team that cracked the human genome is to publish a book explaining why he now believes in the existence of God and is convinced that miracles are real.

(that was one of the top read articles on Times Online today… i always find stuff like this encouraging)

God’s Eye View.

Scenes from the Bible have been imagined by countless artists over the centuries, but never quite like this. God’s Eye View portrays four key Biblical events as if captured by Google Earth

(see if you can guess wheat they’re of… they should be pretty easy)

these where posted on a design blog for a design magazine… apparently it was one of the most commented articles on they’ve ever had.

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

“He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, “like what’s going on here?” Diaz says. “He asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’”

Diaz replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.

“You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’”

“No, I just eat here a lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.’”

Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”

“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. “He just had almost a sad face,” Diaz says.

The teen couldn’t answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”

The teen “didn’t even think about it” and returned the wallet, Diaz says. “I gave him $20 … I figure maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know.”

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen’s knife — “and he gave it to me.”

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”

“I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

from… http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89164759

(apparently NPR… is the public radio network… it looks a bit like a radio only BBC in america)

what do people think about stem cell research?

i’ve read a bit about it on the bbc website. people have been getting annoyed with the catholic church for being vocal in critising the new bill that’s going through parliment that allows human embryos to be mixed with animal ones which could potentially help us get cures for some pretty nasty diseases.

but i wonder if the catholics are right. it makes me feel quite uneasy really… it sounds a bit nazish to me (harvesting some people for the sake of others). people want power and to play God… it goes right back to adam and eve and is stem cell research part of that or is it a legitimate way of searching for cures? do the ends justify the means?

i guess what it really comes down to is whether stem cells are people or not? because if they are then it’s obviously very very wrong. if they aren’t fully a person then it’s still a moral dilema but i guess it’s not as black and white.

like most things, because it’s hidden and doesn’t really effect us it’s easy to ignore and carry on with our lives… especially if it would cause conflict to bring up.

anyway just wondered if anyone had any thoughts.

perhaps i’ll write to my MP?

In the continuing tradition of great food at Aardvark, we will be having a meal as part of our evening on March 16th.

We will be starting Aardvark a bit earlier - at 7pm - so there won’t be muffins beforehand that week.

It would be really helpful for those involved if we have an idea of how many people are coming - and if you are bringing anyone.  So, please leave a comment here to say if you’re coming, or talk to me in person… preferably before next Sunday (March 9th).

March dates for Aardvark can be found over here!

We will be having a meal on the 16th - so watch out for details of that.

Also, on the 23rd it’s Easter Sunday, and there will be no Aardvark that day.

Aardvark is not happening in the evening of February 24th (this coming Sunday).

The reason is that a couple of people are getting baptised in the afternoon of the same day.

The baptisms are taking place at Hanham Baptist Church (click here for map) at 2pm.

If you’re going to the BCF morning meeting at the Grange beforehand, it’ll be a pretty quick turnaround, so we suggest you grab a drink somewhere and then head over to Hanham Baptist.
Then after the baptisms (3:30/4ish), we will be having a bit of food at our place in Kingswood (see me or many others for the address).  We’ll be doing baked potatoes, so if everyone could bring some sort of topping (that you like to eat), that would be great.  It would be helpful to have some vague idea of numbers, so if you are planning on coming, let me know or leave a comment here.

Pete Osborne