NEWS AND EVENTS
For a week in July/August, over 4,500 Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts and their leaders met in the New Forest, Hampshire, to celebrate100 years of scouting. As part of their activities, participants were invited to enter a quiz, 100 questions for just £1.00. Thanks to Brian, one of the leaders who works in Romsey Post Office, all the proceeds were donated to the Oxford Mission.
The following e-mail was received from Ramen Paul in July, praising the work of the Oxford Mission:
‘My name is Ramen Paul, and I am an ex-student of the Oxford Mission. I stay in Delhi and am doing very well by the grace of God. Whatever I am today is only because of the Oxford Mission. I’m really happy with the way Mr Arijeet Roy is working over there and I wish him all the best. If there is anything I can do for the Mission I will feel happy’.
Manab Naskar, a former Oxford Mission boy and a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, came south to visit Gill Wilson, John Corrie, Margaret How and Barbara Mathieson. He played his cello to the delight of all especially Barbara Mathieson, whose brother, Father Theodore Mathieson, was Superior in Behala for a number of years and in whose memory the Mathieson Music Centre was built.
Romsey Abbey were holding a Harvest Festival Service on Sunday, 7th October and Manab had been invited to play his cello at the service and a Bach solo during the Communion. The Oxford Mission was able to have a table to promote our work at this Service and Margaret, Manab and Mary Marsh looked through a number of photographs and made up an exhibition of the Mission’s work for the congregation to see. A good number of magazines were given out and a fair amount of interest was shown. Later on that day, Manab played for David Johnson, a Church Warden at Romsey Abbey, who had visited the Mission in 1989 and again in February 2007. See David’s account on page…..
The Right Reverend Bill Down is travelling to Bangladesh and India in October and November 2007, and The Reverend Alwyn Jones in January and February 2008 (health permitting). We wish them a safe journey and look forward to reading about their trips in the next edition.
Foneaid is an organisation that will pay £3.00 for every mobile phone sent to them, of any age and condition. They will provide leaflets, posters and collection bags, and once you have collected 50 phones, they will collect them free of charge. This may be an up-to-date and interesting way to fundraise, as places such as police stations, railway stations and mobile phone shops have unclaimed phones which could be added to the collection. If anyone is interested to find out more details, please contact the General Secretary.
The company who currently print our magazine is offering the chance to have a calendar designed and printed with photographs relevant to the Oxford Mission (1 photograph per month). The calendar could then be sold to our supporters, for them to give to family and friends as a Christmas present. The good thing about this service is that there is no minimum order quantity. Should we be looking into this in time for Christmas 2008? The General Secretary would be grateful for your thoughts.