Monday 31 August 2020
Monday 24 August 2020
Wednesday 19 August 2020
World Humanitarian Day
Humanitarian aid workers around the world provide life-saving support for people in nations affected by war, famine, poverty, natural disasters. In these current days all of those problems are exacerbated by the global pandemic of coronavirus. August 19th has been declared World Humanitarian Day by the United Nations. A day to commemorates humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work and honour those who diligently seek to help those in need despite the dangers to themselves. Let's give thanks to these real life heroes!!
Almighty God, Creator of the world and the nations. we pray for all those near and far who are suffering in the face of conflict, disaster and this current global pandemic. We give thanks for all the men and women who are willing to sacrifice their own safety and comfort in order to heal the sick, feed the hungry and comfort the lost and the bereaved. We pray especially for all those working tirelessly to fight Covid-19. Help us, Sovereign Lord, to never take for granted all that we have. Amen
Monday 17 August 2020
Monday 10 August 2020
Tuesday 4 August 2020
National Coast Guard Day
August 4th is Coast Guard Day honouring the courageous work of coast guards all around the globe. Did you know, for example, that when Hurricane Katrina struck the Atlantic coast of America in August 2005, the US Coast Guards saved over 33,500 lives!
It got me thinking about another excellent charity - RNLI
** The RNLI was founded back in 1824 by Sir William Hillary. It is the oldest lifeboat service in the world.
** In WWII, between 27 May and 4 June 1940, nineteen RNLI lifeboats sailed to and from Dunkirk to assist with the evacuation of 338,000 stranded servicemen.
** Today there are 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, covering 19,000 miles of coastline. They include four on the River Thames, and five inland stations – at Loch Ness in Scotland and Carrybridge, Enniskillen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg in Ireland.
** RNLI has 445 lifeboats (including 7 hovercraft) in service.
** Lifeboats are predominantly orange because it makes them more visible on the water.
** When someone is in danger in the water, every second counts. Lifeguards are often the first on hand to help. All RNLI lifeguards hold an internationally recognised beach lifeguard qualification. As well as having vital lifesaving skills, they must be able to complete:
• a 400m pool swim in under 7½ minutes
• a consecutive 25m underwater and 25m surface pool swim in under 50 seconds
• a 200m beach run in under 40 seconds.
** Most lifeboat crew members are volunteers - ordinary people who simply and selflessly want to save lives at sea. When the pagers go off, they drop everything and are regularly called away from their families, their beds and their work, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
** Every year, these volunteer life-boat crews and lifeguards help and rescue thousands of people and have saved over 142,700 lives since 1824.
It got me thinking about another excellent charity - RNLI
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Saving Lives at Sea
** The RNLI was founded back in 1824 by Sir William Hillary. It is the oldest lifeboat service in the world.
** In WWII, between 27 May and 4 June 1940, nineteen RNLI lifeboats sailed to and from Dunkirk to assist with the evacuation of 338,000 stranded servicemen.
** Today there are 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, covering 19,000 miles of coastline. They include four on the River Thames, and five inland stations – at Loch Ness in Scotland and Carrybridge, Enniskillen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg in Ireland.
** RNLI has 445 lifeboats (including 7 hovercraft) in service.
** Lifeboats are predominantly orange because it makes them more visible on the water.
** When someone is in danger in the water, every second counts. Lifeguards are often the first on hand to help. All RNLI lifeguards hold an internationally recognised beach lifeguard qualification. As well as having vital lifesaving skills, they must be able to complete: • a 400m pool swim in under 7½ minutes
• a consecutive 25m underwater and 25m surface pool swim in under 50 seconds
• a 200m beach run in under 40 seconds.
** Most lifeboat crew members are volunteers - ordinary people who simply and selflessly want to save lives at sea. When the pagers go off, they drop everything and are regularly called away from their families, their beds and their work, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
** Every year, these volunteer life-boat crews and lifeguards help and rescue thousands of people and have saved over 142,700 lives since 1824.
Donate to the RNLI and help save lives
Sunday 2 August 2020
An Update from Sonali Mishra
One of the lovely parts of my role is the continuing contact I have with students who have graduated and returned to their home nations, or maybe gone on to study elsewhere.
Today I received a lovely update from Sonali Mishra, from India, who came to the University of Greenwich for a three month internship last summer as part of her PhD. Sonali joined in LOTS of our Chaplaincy activities and I believe they helped make her experience here extra special. If you look back to 22nd July 2019 you'll find a blog post that Sonali wrote entitled 'My three months in the UK'.
She now writes thanking us for all the support she received during her time here and saying how much she cherishes those memories.
Today I received a lovely update from Sonali Mishra, from India, who came to the University of Greenwich for a three month internship last summer as part of her PhD. Sonali joined in LOTS of our Chaplaincy activities and I believe they helped make her experience here extra special. If you look back to 22nd July 2019 you'll find a blog post that Sonali wrote entitled 'My three months in the UK'.She now writes thanking us for all the support she received during her time here and saying how much she cherishes those memories.
Sonali, we want to say a
BIG CONGRATULATIONS
to you on the completion of your PhD!!!
Happy Eid
This weekend has been the celebration for Eid al-Adha. A time when Muslims would usually get together with family and friends and enjoy a feast. Well, many Muslim students are a long way from their families and at this current time there are obvious limitations around social gatherings.
However, it was a privilege to offer my garden yesterday as a safe space where we could maintain social distancing but still enjoy each other's company. Many thanks to Basel & Aiste, Ahmad, Hazem, Mohammed, Arwa, Ahmed and Muhanned for such a lovely few hours ... great company and scrumptious food.
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