The Quarterly News Magazine of Torch Trust for the Blind
OUR AIM: To overcome sight loss as a barrier to finding a personal faith in Christ and to living a fulfilled Christian life.
From:-
TORCH TRUST FOR THE BLIND, Torch House, Torch Way, Northampton Road, Market
Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9HL, U.K.
Telephone: (01858) 438260, Fax: (01858) 438275, email: info@torchtrust.org
Charity Number 1095904.
Northern Ireland Activity Holiday
It’s commonly said that nobody’s indispensable. It makes sense. We can fall into the trap of thinking that things will fall apart without us - and they probably won’t. But I think the Bible teaches something else - that we are all indispensable in God’s kingdom. Each of us has been equipped by the Holy Spirit to serve in a unique way. 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that every part of the body is vital to the health of the whole.
Torch work so much depends on people gifted by God to serve Him in a myriad of ways. Although the Torch staff are very much a team, the skills and abilities of each suit the diversity of activities, processes and technologies that fill our busy weeks. When there’s a gap we feel it. The same is true for Torch Fellowship Groups. The Groups struggle when one of the team is missing.
There are still gaps to fill: leaders at Torch House and always more volunteers, especially to support the Torch Fellowship Groups. But however much we want to fill the gaps it can’t be just anybody filling them. We pray that those who join us will be God’s choice and discern a sense of calling that unites us in the vision for the ministry that we believe God has given us. Everyone brings a unique contribution ... everybody is indispensable.
Over recent months much prayer has gone up to God on
behalf of the blind people in
Our prayer has been that during this time of great hunger they might be included to receive food when it is distributed to their sighted friends. So imagine the delight when the disability minister was seen on TV and it was heard stated on the radio that all blind people and those with other disabilities should be registered in their villages to receive help. With support and help from those overseeing the fellowship groups many names are now on the lists that have been drawn up ready for when the relief is brought in. Surely this is a change of heart that only God in His great mercy could have brought about. Praise God! Let us keep praying as it will be a mammoth task to distribute food to those who need it.
Winston Chidzambuyo, Administrator for Torch Trust in Malawi, writes: "The most encouraging thing is that almost all of the Christians have not been shaken in their faith by the problem."
[Picture of Dalimani, a blind lady who was the last of the ex-beggars to be re-housed, is jubilant: "God has remembered us and we thank Him!"]
A conference was held in Chikwawa
district with 263 people attending. "Nothing unusual for
Many of the blind people wanted to read library books but
it was very difficult for them to go to the centre to get them. A mobile
library was set up, four men giving their time to get it running, covering four
areas. They each have a bicycle, provided by a friend of Torch in
"I thought as a blind person that the Lord wanted nothing to do with me. Then He spoke to me at Easter time this year. I saw He wanted to use me but it meant I had to change my ways and repent. I now have a new heart. I used to worry about my sight but now I have spiritual sight, which is more important than the physical. I thank God for setting me free from all the evil that was in me, for forgiving me and changing me on the inside." [Testimony of a blind man recently born again.]
Oseni and his undernourished son called - they were going to beg for food. They were poorly dressed and smelling as they had no soap and had been travelling for two days. I found Oseni a jumper, and a tracksuit for the lad. They needed a blanket, but all blankets had been given out. All I had was on my own bed. Earlier that day the name of a book by Richard Wurmbrand had come to my mind: "If it were Christ, would you give Him your blanket?" These words came again into my mind. What else could I do?
It wasn’t long before Oseni was gleefully clutching a warm bed cover. Immediately he wanted to pray and thank God for it. (He had no idea it was mine.) His heart was so full of thanks for what he had been given and his prayer was very moving.
I wrapped the blanket in a sack, tied it up with a strap so that he could carry it over his shoulder, and it wasn’t long before he was on his way home, also with a little money for food.
[We received this report from Pro-Lumina. Through specific gifts, Torch has been able to support the houseparties at Lazuri for those from Dumbraveni and other asylums.]
Production has been busy, with the first braille Children’s Bible in Romanian, plus some selections of Bible stories in co-operation with the Romanian Bible Society.
A visit to
Lazuri House has welcomed three groups so far this summer and we are seeing real spiritual growth. With great joy, two men accepted Christ, and one lady has now been baptised. Thank you for your continuing prayer and financial support, as many ask to return to Lazuri or come for the first time. The demand constantly grows and we long to be able to fulfil it.
[Mike Townsend reports from Romania, August 8th:]
For three weeks, teams from
As I write, the building is a hive of activity. The aim of the Scottish team is to leave just some outside work for the Romanians to finish. Then we can register with the authorities and think about opening.
A big thank you to the Scottish team. They have worked hard, and also raised the funds for their own travel and the materials they have used.
The summer camp for blind and partially sighted children -
27 of them from all over
Earlier this year Torch started producing books in a CD format using DAISY which has revolutionised the listening experience.
A CD has many advantages when compared with conventional cassettes, not least of which is the fact that the information can be compressed into MP3 files, so a typical book of, say 10 cassettes, is now stored on a single CD without loss in quality (the maximum capacity of a disc is 50 hours of audio, the equivalent of 30 standard cassettes!).
DAISY (which is an acronym for Digital Accessible Information SYstem) allows the information on the CD to be structured - ie recorded onto a number of different layers or "levels" allowing the listener to easily navigate through the book. This would allow for example the listener to skip from chapter to chapter, and then, by changing the level, to skip from section to section within a chapter. Depending on the nature of the book and the way the disc has been set up, DAISY will allow the option of hearing footnotes and references or even the description of illustrations. A special feature peculiar to Torch books is that after a Bible reference has been given, the listener has the option of hearing it or returning to the flow of the main text.
A DAISY book can only be heard using a special DAISY player which costs around £250 (or £30 to convert your computer into a player). Most people tend to borrow a player from the RNIB as part of their Talking Book Service which has an annual subscription of £70 (although many local authorities will cover this cost).
The players are easy to use with self-voicing controls and many have a number of useful extra features such as remembering how far you have got in the book, the ability to place "bookmarks" in favourite passages, the capability to play ordinary music CDs, built-in rechargeable batteries for listening on the bus (via the headphone socket!), and the facility of telling you how much time is left before the end of the book (could make the difference between going to sleep now or listening to the climax). My favourite feature is the speed control which allows you to increase the rate at which the book is read without altering the pitch of the reader’s voice - ideal for hurrying along a slow reader or reducing the tedium of a boring passage!
At present all the DAISY books are recorded and edited at Torch House instead of in the homes of volunteers; however that’s not because the DAISY books are more difficult to produce than the cassettes (if anything they’re easier), it’s more that we are still developing and standardising the system.
There are 3 recording booths at Torch House which are sound-proofed and free from the whirr of a computer’s fan or air-conditioning unit; here 2 local volunteer transcribers, Ann Barraclough and Penny Ulyett, do most of the reading for the DAISY books; Ann is an academic linguist and tends to record more of the study kind of books, Penny has a younger more dramatic voice and tends to record books with dialogue and action (which she does standing up to maximise feeling!).
We have spare capacity for a male transcriber local to Market Harborough if anyone is interested ...
As well as books, Torch also produces two different DAISY
discs of daily devotional Bible readings. Everyday
with Jesus has been produced for over a year now and has about 130
users; they especially enjoy the way you can use the disc to go straight to the
next day and easily move around the various sections of that day. Also the
compression into MP3 files has allowed the inclusion of the "Further Study
Recently the DAISY treatment was extended to Scripture
Both types of devotional disc are produced to cover the same time span as the print editions and are available as an alternative to the cassette version.
The ultimate DAISY disc has to be the Bible where the
system lends itself to quickly finding a particular book, chapter and even
verse. Torch plans, in association with Hodder and
The transcription work has already been completed by professional actors so the next stage is to format the structure. This is not as easy as you might think; a DAISY player does not have a numeric keypad so if you wanted to look up, say Psalm 119:176 (the last verse in the longest chapter in the Bible), you would have to press a button 176 times once you’d located the relevant chapter! One possible solution lies in dividing the Bible up into manageable chunks of a few verses before selecting the actual verse you’re after. Also it is hoped to incorporate the ability to surf through the section headings, eg "The Parable of the Lost Sheep", "Jesus Walks on Water" etc, as this is the way many people find their way around the Bible.
Hopefully the DAISY New Testament will be available for purchase from Torch by early next year.
Once people have experienced a DAISY publication they are reluctant to return to the hiss and inconvenience associated with their old cassettes. Thankfully Torch is addressing that issue through starting a DAISY library.
So far the library is small with only 15 books but as the process develops we are accelerating the rate at which the books are produced. In time all new publications will be produced in both DAISY and cassette versions, and the long term goal is to make much of our catalogue of books available as DAISY CDs.
This autumn two Prayer Groups plan to become Fellowship
Groups - Llanelli in South Wales, and Accrington in
There is interest in starting Prayer Groups in Torbay,
Do get in touch with us if you would like to be linked to one of these groups.
"Absolutely fantastic! More than a holiday. I re-dedicated myself to Christ and moved to a new place with Him through the waters of baptism." - Gareth.
"The best yet! Special thanks to Kevin for excellent teaching." - Ian.
"Activities brilliant! I’ll miss everyone terribly!" - Stephanie.
"Great time of fellowship and
adventure. Doing ‘abnormal’ things: Zipwire; wheelchair race; crates; archery etc.
Kevin’s messages so appropriate and his ‘madness’ with us did
much for our enjoyment!" - Christy (
"Fun-packed ... especially enjoyed sharing communion together." - May.
"A ‘knock-out’ company of people." - Martin.
Cecil and Irenee say, "Amen! Any bookings for 2006? First come ..."
After hearing about last year’s Activity Holiday, I decided to give it a go and found a week of challenging activities, lots of fun and great times of fellowship.
Visits to an activity centre ... swimming, archery, zip wire slide and a crate challenge (harnessed to a security rope and then standing on as many crates as possible before losing your balance). We managed anything from 4 to 25! Everyone in the group had a go at something.
The week included attendance at local churches on the Sunday and a time of worship with Matt Redman on the last evening.
On 7th May at Torch HRC and 18th June at Torch House about 350 people came to view the work of Torch. It was wonderful to meet old friends and new and to give thanks to God for His continued faithfulness.
Remember: every day is an open day at Torch - you are all welcome to visit and see the work God has privileged us to do for Him.
"I was amazed how many people were interested in our Christian materials," commented one person who helped at Torch Trust’s stand. At Sight Village you’re surrounded by hi-tech magnifiers, synthesised voices gabbling away on computers, mobile phones and gadgets that do just about anything - like the talking skipping rope that tells you how many jumps, how long you’ve been at it, or how many calories it reckons have been burned off by your exertions.
It’s vital that Torch is made known in places where blind and partially sighted people gather outside a Christian setting. A good and rewarding time was had by all!
In the last "Torch Family News", we wrote about the importance for Torch of making ever more connections with churches, and with blind and partially sighted people. Now we’re doing something about it on an unprecedented scale.
Earlier in the year we were involved with Spring Harvest. Since then we have exhibited at five more Christian events ...
· Keswick Convention - guess where!
· New Wine - Shepton Mallet
· New Horizon - Coleraine
·
Baptist World Congress
-
·
Living Water -
Torch produced the Keswick songbook in braille and giant print and the braille songbooks for New Horizon. For New Wine we produced a guide to the programme in both media, with an enlarged colour map of the site in the centre of the giant print edition. Gail Whitaker writes: "What a fantastic two weeks meeting lots of visually impaired people of all ages and their families, as well as being able to encourage church leaders and the general public about visual awareness. The stand with the simulation glasses and a perkins brailler attracted many people, especially children. One special girl called Hadley aged 11 who is partially sighted learnt braille over two days and wrote this letter in braille: ‘Dear Torch Trust, I really enjoyed looking at your stall at New Wine. I have read all your magazines and I enjoyed them very much. If there is anything for me to do to help please write to me and I will do the best I can to raise money for Torch Trust. Yours sincerely Hadley.’"
And the Torch houseparty at Keswick was a great success too, with the Torch stand on the street leading to the Convention Centre attracting a good number of enquirers.
All told, we will have presented Torch to over 50,000 Christian people and the thousands of churches they represent. Please pray that conversations and literature taken will ...
· build fresh support for Torch’s ministry;
· increase the awareness of Torch among blind and partially sighted people.
Saturday 22nd October 2005, 2:30 pm, Speaker: Paul Lindsay
of Christian Vocations. St Jude’s Church,
The church is in St Jude’s Road just off
Saturday 15th October 2005, Motherwell.
Saturday 12th November 2005, 2:30 pm,
There’s so much more for Torch to do than can be
tackled by the permanent staff alone. Volunteers and short-term workers are
vital to the work - some working at Torch House or Torch
At present there’s Luiz
and Deise Tondo and also Ranieri Figueiredo, all
originally from
Val Smith joined Torch in June as bookkeeper, working every day until lunchtime. Val is a deacon at Market Harborough’s Congregational Church, as is Julia Barker who worked in the same role for a few months but who has sadly been obliged to retire through ill health. Val is married to Peter, lives in Harborough, and has known and helped Torch folk living in the area over many years.
Our most pressing need is for one or more people to record our audio magazines. How about it? Have you ever fancied being a broadcaster - producing audio magazines for thousands of listeners? Here’s your chance. You could join our staff to do this full or part-time, or alternatively volunteer to do one magazine title - coming to Torch House to record and edit it every two or three months. A good "ear" for detail and reasonable IT skills are the essentials - Torch will provide training.
We are thankful to God for the way many of the gaps in our staffing have been filled since our move into Market Harborough but there are still critical leadership vacancies to be filled ...
· Leader: National Fellowship - to support and develop the work of our Fellowship Groups and build links with local churches.
· Leader: General Administration - to work with the Chief Executive on the overall administration of the Torch Trust work, particularly the personnel aspects.
· Assistant Leader: Production - to take a leading role in the production of Christian literature of all types in print, braille and audio media, with a view to becoming production leader.
If you are interested, e-mail personnel@torchtrust.org, call Torch House or use the response slip.
If it’s not for you then we invite you to request small leaflets about these vacancies which can be passed on to someone you think may be interested or displayed on your church notice board. Please pray that God’s call may come clearly to those whom He has prepared for these vital roles.
In the last "Torch Family News" we introduced the idea of Church Reps - people who would represent Torch ministry in their own church and maybe other nearby churches. We need to make many new connections, both with blind and partially sighted people who don’t yet know of what Torch can offer them and with others who can support the work in prayer and practical ways.
You already know about Torch - most people in most churches don’t - so we need your help to raise the profile of Torch and of the needs of blind and partially sighted people. Please e-mail churchreps@torchtrust.org, call Carol at Torch House or tick the Church Rep item on the response slip. A big thank you to those who have already "signed up".
We are working on materials to help you to present Torch effectively to your church. There will be a regular newsletter for Church Reps and information on our webpage to help. Please also put forward your suggestions. Following Torch’s involvement in the flurry of exhibitions, we have several sets of bright new display panels available for use at your church or at local exhibitions. Contact Janet at Torch House or e-mail janets@torchtrust.org to arrange a loan.
Authored by volunteer, Pat Lower, and illustrated by Claire MacDonald, a professional artist who gifted her time, the standard print edition of the booklet, "A Clearer Vision", is being enthusiastically received. The booklet is written to help church leaders and others that influence church activities to fully and naturally include blind and partially sighted people in the life of their churches. Order a copy for your church.
It is available from Torch House in braille
and giant print as well as standard print at a price of £1 (
We have been running for some weeks without any surplus in hand, but each time we come to the point of settling the bills there is just enough to cover the outgoings. Recently, faced with a batch of bills and insufficient available funds to cover them, we made it a matter of prayer in our morning prayer-time. When that morning’s post was opened we were staggered to find a legacy cheque for over £22,000. Praise God! It’s an exciting journey - but sometimes quite challenging too! Do pray with us that we can continue to meet all the bills as they fall due and still have something in hand to cover the ups and downs of coming months.
Even though the financial situation in the
·
To
·
To
·
To
It costs an average of £1,850 every calendar day to
keep Torch running - producing magazines, loaning library books, adding to the
library collections, supporting the overseas operations, and much more. If you
are giving to Torch, then a regular gift through Standing Order - however
modest - helps bring stability to our finances - many of the costs need to be
met on a monthly basis. And if you are a
Torch staff are paid only National Minimum Wage. Few can live on this income alone and like Torch itself, live by faith in God to provide. They appreciate your prayers and support too.
Torch’s new website has received approval - notably from blind and partially sighted people who find it easy to navigate. It’s being improved and updated regularly.
Good News - a monthly newsletter sent to Torch Fellowship Group leaders - can now be downloaded. For the first time everybody can read "The Torch" magazine. Previously available only in accessible media it can now be downloaded too.
With the Google search facility added, the Torch site can be searched and wider searches of the Internet made. Every day there is the Bible verse from our Scripture Text Calendar and the entry from our Prayer Diary, so there’s every reason to make the Torch website your home page.
Now’s the time to order:
· Scripture text calendar 2006 in braille and giant print - £2.
· CHRISTMAS CARD PACKS - Tactile Christmas cards: with giant print and braille inserts. Pack of 10: £3.50.