What a grand time we had together last Thursday. It was a splendid day thanks to Rachel Meynell and her team.
We gathered at 11 o’clock for coffee. A group of us immediately got stuck into a Bible crossword which was quite challenging but with our combined brain power, and a few hints from Rachel, we completed it slightly ahead of another group, which rather pleased us! I believe craft activities were also available.
Then we had a most interesting and exciting talk/interview with Brian Bird about his adventure of a lifetime. In 1989 Brian had been a crew member on a sail around the world yacht race organised by Chay Blyth. To make it more difficult they sailed westwards against the wind and currents, often thousands of miles away from terra firma for weeks on end. The seas were mountainous and on one occasion while working on deck Brian was swept by a huge wave almost into the sea but somehow ended up with his arm hooked round a pole. Phew! Thank you, Lord! Also, Brian was able to pray for another crew member who had been suffering from sea sickness for three weeks and was in a very bad way. After prayer he slept for eight hours and awoke recovered. What an amazing answer to prayer! Meanwhile Hazel, Brian’s wife, was at home teaching in school and the trip provided her and the children with a fascinating project for the six months that Brian was away. We were able to bombard him with questions around the table while we enjoyed our cheese, cold meats and salad lunch. And seeing we were on holiday we all had an ice cream.
The afternoon entertainment required our little grey cells to be at work again! Phil and Maggie Richards had organised a series of quizzes. Firstly, photos of locations in Maidenhead which we had to identify and locate on the map. Lastly, some very intriguing photographs each made up of three people and we had to guess who they were. There was one made up of Rachel, Ian Miller and Jon Drake. We got that one right, the others were more difficult. There were also some general knowledge questions. Thank you, Phil and Maggie.
We rounded off the day with tea or coffee and cake. Thank you so much to Tracy, Sandra and Wei who kept us fed and watered throughout the day.
It was a great day for fellowship and growing friendships.