Newsletter

February 2005

News

Annual subscriptions

 

The committee have reluctantly decided that it is necessary to increase the subscription rates this year.  This is mainly because we expect that changes in the YHA group booking system, which will affect the way we book and pay for events, will require us to pay much more in advance for events.  The cost of insurance and printing have also increased significantly.  The new rates are:

 

Single             £13
Couples          £19
Unwaged        £  5

 

My apologies for this notice being late: it was intended to be in the last newsletter but missed it.

 

Club Tithe

 

The committee would welcome suggestions for worthy recipients for the club tithe.  Traditionally we have supported organisations that have connections with a club member.  Please give suggestions to a committee member by the end of February.

 

Jeremy Sharp

Treasurer

 

Prayer Focus

 

“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years.... the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises...He is patient with you...”Peter 3:8

 

Lord you have given us time, and yet sometimes it feels as if we are poor stewards.  Help us to see time from your perspective.  Thank you that your thoughts are higher than ours, and your purposes are eternal.  Help us to surrender to your different time spans, which are usually much longer than we would expect while waiting, and frequently span years.

 

Thank you that you want us to spend time persevering in prayer even though it might sometimes seem an empty time.  Thank you that waiting upon you is a clear biblical principle.  Please help us willingly spend time alone with you to see matters from your perspective, as you alone can bring the solution we need.

 

Thank you that there are no quick fixes, even though you can also work things out in the twinkling of an eye.  Thank you that when something is to change, you make a way open up often through an amazingly quick sequence of events - please help us to hear when you are moving in our situation and follow your Holy Spirit’s lead.  Thank you for fulfilling everything in perfect time, never too late or too early, and that later we can see why it was better that way.  Thank you that you are working a greater weight of glory through the situation.

 

Please help us during times of testing and sifting to understand your purposes.  If we are set aside for you or employed for you, just let your will be done in us.  Please help us to understand what you want us to learn and get from these times, even if we are unhappy and frustrated about how we may have used our time.  Please get our focus back on you.  Thank you that we can depend on you to provide, especially when we do not have enough time.  Please help us know when to leave work, and when to have leisure or rest.  Thank you for time with others, and for walking.  Please help us to use the time wisely in building each other up.

 

We pray for those we know who seem to have so little time to themselves, who may be carers, or have non-stop responsibilities, and for those for whom time is soon to run out.  We pray for those who are not enjoying time, through suffering anxiety or emotional problems, and for those who feel they have too much time on their own.  Please give them a sense of your presence, of your everlasting arms, and your ability to help in time of need.  “My times are in your hand….”.

 

In Jesus Name.

Amen.

 

Ever thought about Shetland?

 

Shetland's only youth hostel is a princely place of polished pinewood doors and spacious washrooms.  I'd rate it four-star accommodation and it fittingly welcomes the traveller who has just arrived at Lerwick on the overnight comfortable brand-new ferryboat from Aberdeen.  Shetland is full of surprises for those who imagine the islands are behind the times and perhaps the nicest surprise are the quiet roads which soon appear once sleepy little Lerwick is left.

 

Pretty scenery interspersed with former fishing villages (the fishing industry has long since vanished since foreign trawlers took the fish), abundant birdlife, textile mill museums and archaeological sites await you, whilst Shetland Tourism has arranged a most comprehensive choice of accommodation throughout the six main islands.  The simplest way to check out Shetland is to use the website www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/visitor.

 

Cyclists should find the empty country roads a joy after mainland Britain, whilst walkers would do well to read Peter Guy's "Walking The Coastline Of Shetland" books before visiting these Islands.  There is a network of bus services out of Lerwick and the visitor is advised to carefully study the times of ferryboats that link the key islands very efficiently to one another.  The bird-watching enthusiasts will enjoy visiting Fair Isle, 25 miles off Shetland and served by a daily boat from Sumburgh.

 

Richard Blackwell

 

You are always welcome to email articles about travel information that you think might be of interest to other club members.

 

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