September-October News

2002

September the 11^th Memorial Service at Washington Old Hall 

At the 12^th century Ancestral home of the Washington family the people of Washington came together to remember those who were killed in the attacks of September the 11^th in the United States.  I was asked to speak along with others and offer prayers and thoughts on this auspicious day.  The service was very well attended with several hundred coming together for the ceremony and the raising of the American flag by British fire-fighters and police as a sign of respect for those who gave their lives to rescue the victims of the attacks.

Interviewed for TV	September the 11th Remembered

Terra Haute

On The 14th of September, Callie Maxon now from Terra Haute, Indiana, arrived in Washington to work with us for almost 2 weeks leaving Washington on the 26^th and the UK on 28^{th of} September.  In the future Callie would like to be able to come and work with the people of Washington.  She was a great help during her time here.

5 Families from Sunderland

On the afternoon of The 23rd of September, we received a phone call from the Housing Group in Sunderland to ask if they could bring a group of Asylum Seekers to the building for a meeting with them and the police.  They arrived by taxi a short time later; they had fled the Ford Estate area of Sunderland because of a perceived racial threat.

Things did not go according to plan and the 5 families ended up spending the night in the church building.  This meant the preparation of meals, sorting out bedding and everything to make them as comfortable as possible.  There were more than a few tense moments as the authorities tried to convince them to go back to their homes in the Ford Estate.  Several of the Asylum Seekers threatened suicide.

Finally, after a great deal of negotiation they left the building for Gateshead and Newcastle on the following evening at around 8:30 PM.  They were placed in temporary accommodation until something better could be worked out.  To date they are still living in the temporary accommodation.

Baptism

On the 29^th of September, Fadila Hadri from Algeria was baptised.  Fadila has been a great blessing to the church.  Please pray for her as she seeks asylum in the UK.

Container

On the 3^rd of October, our shipping container finally arrived for the storage of furniture.  Through some funding that we were able to get through the Asylum Project we were able to purchase a large metal shipping container in which to store furniture.  This furniture is donated by members of the community and we give it to those in need.  Previously we had been storing the furniture in the church building, but recently we had been handling too large a volume of furniture to make this practical.  The other issue is that all the space in the church building is now being used and so there was no room to store this furniture.  This will allow us to continue this valuable service to the community.

	Furniture Please

MP Visits

On the 4^th of October we had a meeting with Fraser Kemp MP for Washington East.  He represents out area in Parliament and we were very honoured to have him come and spend several hours with us.  He asked lots of questions about the work that we do here and he pledged his support and offered to help us in any way that was needed. 

We were also delighted to have a meal cooked and served by several of the Asylum Seekers.  Fraser was able to eat this meal in the room that had been his first classroom as a young child.

ESOL Classes

In October we were approached by Sunderland College to see if we would consider running English classes for Asylum Seekers in the building 3 days a week.  The previous venue for these classes was not working well as they only had 4 students attending.  We agreed to this and we now have more than 30 students registered and attending classes at the Church building.  The college has been delighted and has allowed us to use the building a great deal more of the time.

British Nationality

            Because of the work that I do as a Magistrate I have received British Nationality.  The fees were paid by the Lord Chancellor’s Department and Joshua and Heather were also able to receive British Nationality since they were under age 18.  We now hold Dual nationality.

The Thomas family