St. Mary Magdalene & St. Denys, Parish Church, Midhurst

The Republic of  The Gambia is formed by a strip of land that extends horizontally inland from the west coast of West Africa. It is becoming an increasingly popular holiday resort for British tourists with its palm-fringed beaches, cool mangrove swamps and amazing bird life.

 

In November 2004 Bishop Lindsay of Horsham and the Revd. Mark Payne, the Diocesan World Mission Adviser, took a group of parishioners from across the diocese to this country. The visit was part of IDWAL (Inter Diocesan West Africa Link) linking Anglican congregations in the Dioceses of Chichester, Guildford and Portsmouth with Anglican congregations in the Provinces of West Africa. Chichester is linked with Sierra Leone, Guinea, The Gambia, Liberia and Cameroon.

Gambia Link

Sarah Taylor’s Ordination at Christ Church, February 12th, 2006 with Father Andrew and his daughter Megan

Christ Church, Serrekunda

Bishop Lindsay and Sarah Taylor at Midhurst Harvest Festival Service October 2005

Our visit to The Gambia was more than a holiday – we were pilgrims and we went hoping to gain some insight into the real Africa, ready to learn about The Gambia’s rich culture and traditions that are so different from our own. As guests of the local Anglican Church we shared in joyful worship together and experienced warm and generous hospitality.

 

The population of The Gambia, around 1.3 million, is approximately 95 per cent Muslim. Nevertheless the Anglican Church is vibrant and lively reaching out to the community through a number of projects, such as schools. We were able to see several of these where we were disturbed by the dire lack of resources, impressed by the neatly dressed children in their school uniforms and enthralled by their songs of welcome.

We returned home with a changed outlook on life and a deeper knowledge of The Gambia that we do not want to lose. Following on from our visit a link has been established between the parish of Christchurch, Serrekunda, and Midhurst church. Bishop Tilewa of the Gambia was able to pay a brief visit in May 2005 and explained to us the need for a new primary school in his parish to fill the gap between already existing infant and senior schools. Local children meanwhile attend Muslin state primary schools where the classes often have around 60 children in them and just one teacher – with no classroom assistants – the norm in this country! The new school will allow for classes of about thirty children instead. It is to be called Archdeacon Matthias George Memorial Primary School.

 

Midhurst church and Midhurst primary school have contributed financially towards this much needed school and have raised to date approx. .£4,500 towards the target of  £14,000.

 

One of the spin-offs of this link was the visit of Sarah Taylor for three months in 2005. She came over to Midhurst deanery to extend her training for the ordained ministry and it was a real joy to welcome her into the community. Rev. Andrew Cunnington and his daughter Megan were able to make a return visit in February 2006 when Andrew preached at Sarah’s ordination service.

A recent email from Sarah reads as follows:

 

“I am now redeployed to St. Mary's Cathedral in Banjul, the mother Church, together with Rev. Fr. Odio. He is the Priest in charge and I am the Deacon there to assist him and also I am the Interim Parish Administrator. All this took effect on May 1st 2006. You know why I like this ministry- no two days are the same- I personally, love adventure. There are lots of varieties in this ministry.

 

 “As Parish Administrator, I am responsible for the day to day running of the Cathedral; I preach once or twice a month at the Cathedral. I visit  housebound parishioners of about 24 members twice a month. I give them consecrated  bread  and wine, pray and sing with them. Some mornings I would do Deacons morning prayers. I attend early morning service 3 times in the week at 6.45am in our St. Thomas Chapel. I officiate at funerals. In the month of May, we had 3 funerals. Even I was called upon to go pray and give Holy Communion to one of them at the hospital who was at the point of death. It was an experience for me being my 2nd time. I remembered when myself and Fr. Andrew visited one of your members in Chichester. A lady who was struggling with death at the moment the husband was sitting there and just watching her die. That was an eye opener for me.

 

“Also, I’ll be moving down to Banjul at the mission house, so I can be near my church members. I think I’m needed there. I’m really working full time for this ministry and I am really enjoying every bit of it.”

Our Harvest Appeal  2007 and News from The Gambia

 

The partnership that we have with the Church in Serrekunda, The Gambia has been a source of much blessing to us and to them. It has been wonderful to hear recently from Bishop Tilewa that construction work on the new school is now underway. Midhurst parish church and primary school have been helping the parish of Christchurch, Serrukunda raise funds for Archdeacon George Memorial Junior School since the summer of 2005 and so we are now following the progress of this building with much interest!

 

Limited funds have held up the works and at present phase one only will be completed – this is the construction of three classrooms and toilets. Even so it is hoped that classes will start for children this month.

 

Pictures of the on-going work are being emailed through to us and are displayed on the Notice Board inside the church.

 

Once enough funds are raised, the work on the rest of the school building will begin. It is good to know that our fundraising is now beginning to bear fruit. The financial donations from this year’s Harvest Appeal will again be sent out to Serrekunda for the new school building.

 

Being able to support work for children in this way means a great deal for our friends in The Gambia. We continue to pray that enough funds will come in so that the whole school building will be finished soon. If you would like to contribute towards this project your gift can be made at the Church Harvest Festival on Sunday 4 October or if you prefer, handed in to one of the churchwardens during this month. (Gift-aided donations are encouraged.)

 

Next February a group from Chichester Diocese are visiting The Gambia and will be meeting Bishop Tilewa and the parishioners of Christchurch. Among them will be two of our parishioners, Joan and Peter Plant. We look forward to hearing about their trip on when they return!

 

Please contact Geoff and Sue Haines (Tel: 816526) for further details on the links that we have with The Gambia.

 

October ‘07 Update .. See further down the page for more details.

The Harvest 2007 appeal has so far raised £4241, including £1642 in memory of Alec Annand.