Thought for the week ...

Pride Month

PRIDE MONTH falls in June each year.  It is an annual celebration for the LGBTQ+ community and all their advocates.  The month of June was chosen in recognition of the Stonewall Riot of 1969; and across the globe various events are organised. 

In addition to being a time of celebration, it is also a time to raise awareness for a part of our community that continues to experience a degree of misunderstanding and discrimination.

To read more, check out this website:

Stonewall - Acceptance without Exception

Pentecost Sunday

What is Pentecost?

Pentecost always falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter. In the Christian calendar it is one of our most important Holy Days.  It commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles (the Disciples of Jesus) and other followers, who were in Jerusalem celebrating Shavuot (also called the Feast of Weeks) which was a festival of the harvest.

The Bible tells us that the apostles were celebrating this festival when the Holy Spirit descended on them. It sounded like a very strong wind, and it looked like tongues of fire. The apostles then found themselves speaking in foreign languages, inspired by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).  
In the Christian tradition, this event represents the birth of the early church.

As Christians we believe in a Trinitarian God. That word simply means that God exists as three persons - Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit  -  not three separate entities but God as three in one.

The very first mention of the 'Spirit' is in the second verse of the whole Bible. The account of creation, Genesis 1:2, says 'Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.'

In addition to the Holy Spirit being depicted in the form of flames of fire, it is also depicted as a dove. We see this in the account of the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17).

As a Christian, I believe that the Holy Spirit enables me to live a life faithful to God and to the teachings of the Bible. He acts as comforter (or Paraclete) to me, one who intercedes, supports and walks alongside me.  He is the Spirit of Truth, who acts as an advocate, particularly in the difficult seasons of life.

The book of Galatians 5:22-23, in the New Testament, describes the Fruit of the Spirit as: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  My hope and prayer is that some of those attributes are evidenced in my life.

A Good News Story

Not very long ago, Prof. Dennis Douroumis' research group at the Centre for Innovation in Process Engineering and Research (CIPER), University of Greenwich (Medway) was carrying out cutting edge research on 3D printed medical devices using state of the art 3D printers. 

However, the crisis of COVID-19 arrived, with an enormous challenge, and put a halt on much of our everyday lives. This global pandemic has resulted in thousands of COVID-19 infected patients requiring treatment from our front-line medical staff at the NHS. 

To fight the battle against this deadly virus, personal protective equipment (PPE) is an absolute necessity for the nurses and doctors at our hospitals. Several media reported that our NHS was experiencing a serious shortage of PPE and the lives of our front-line workers was at risk.

Right after the lockdown started in the UK, Prof. Dennis arranged a video conference with his research group about this current Covid-19 crisis and he discussed his initiatives with one of his collaborators from St. Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey, UK. He also suggested to his team about the design of a mask and face-visors which can help the frontline NHS workers. His research group took this idea of manufacturing PPE and promptly started working on the design and optimisation of the 3D printing process. It took about two weeks to optimise a complicated 3D printed manufacturing process and source all other consumables for the face mask and visors. 

Till now, 350 pieces of 3D printed PPE have been delivered to the hospital authority and manufacturing is still active to meet future demand. In order to scale up the manufacturing process, Bruce Hassan, a senior technician on the Medway Campus used their 3D printers to full capacity for us to deliver the desired number of face mask and face visors to St Peter’s hospital. 

As the crisis situation is still ongoing, Prof. Douroumis and his team have a plan to provide 3D printed face masks and visors for the PhD students and staff who are planning to return to the campus. This work plan is yet under discussion with Prof. Dennis and Pro-Vice Chancellor. Essentially, 3D printers came with a ray of light to mitigate the shortage of PPE at our NHS and fight against this global pandemic.

to Prof. Dennis Douroumis,

Atabak Tabriz, Uttom Nandi

and Bruce Hassan for all

your fantastic and vital work!!

Food Glorious Food

These have been difficult days for lots of people, in lots of different ways.  This post is to say a 

to Bookers Cash & Carry, Rochester for their generous donations of food, especially over these past two month; and also to Simon Morbey of St Mark's Church, Gillingham for facilitating these donations.

When the Medway Campus went in to lockdown, along with government advice, many students went home. However, some were unable to do that and have remained in student accommodation. Over the past two months I (Campus Chaplain) have been able to take 12 food deliveries to halls to support these students, many of whom are internationals.

"I’d like to say a big thank you for the free food donations, I know they have been greatly appreciated by myself and other students on campus especially during this difficult time. I’m also pleased to see that instead of the food being thrown away, it is being donated, it’s a nice thing to do and I’m grateful."  Cerys, UK

"My name is Sijun, an international student from China. I want to thank Bookers Cash & Carry, Simon, and our chaplain, Lynne, for helping with the donations of  food.  You have helped free me from spending a lot of time to line up to buy food, especially during the exam week. I commend you for your kindness."  Sijun (China)

"Hi. My name is Keegan and I was one of the unlucky ones to have caught the virus. I have suffered for two months straight and my underlying health issues did not help. However, all that you have done for me and the students definitely has helped. You’ve saved me several trips to the grocery store, not to mention quite a bit of money, and what student wouldn’t be grateful for that. So, to everyone who donated the food and helped Lynne, our Chaplain, to help us  ...  and of course especially Lynne herself  ...  a big, heartfelt thank you from an eternally grateful student. I can only hope to pay your kindness forward." Keegan (India)

"My friends and I are a group of international students. Because of covid-19, we reduced the number of times we went shopping. Since we have no means of transportation, the amount of things we can buy and carry is very limited. So, we are very grateful for the food you donated, which has helped us a lot. Thank you." Nanjun (China)

"I would like to say thank you to Bookers Cash & Carry for all the support offered during the pandemic period. Being an international student and not able to go back to my country, you helped me a lot during these hard times. I wish you all the best and thank you again for your support." Chintan (India)

Thought for the week ...

Happy Eid

To all my Muslim friends ...

Sending you warm wishes on this Eid celebration.  May your homes and your families be filled with love and peace.  May the year ahead bring you much joy and happiness. May you know the presence of God in a unique and tangible way. 

HAPPY EID-AL-FITR!