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.
Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart!
Orange Stripes or Welcoming Hearts?
These words of Jesus keep running through my mind: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Do I really believe them in a way that informs how I live and do my job? Does it apply to organisations as well as people?
I am passionate about what distinguishes a Christian organisation from a secular business. As a manager of a business for many years before coming to Torch, two things dominated my agenda: finding and distributing the resources to keep it running (feeding it) and presenting or promoting it to the outside world (clothing it).
Both these things matter at least equally to a healthy Christian organisation. The difference lies with the way they rank in the scale of priorities. Jesus tells us to put first His kingdom (do God’s will) and his righteousness (do it His way) and not to let the feeding and the clothing worry us - for God will take care of these things for us just as He does for birds and flowers.
Ron and Stella Heath (Torch’s co-founders) certainly grasped this truth when they set a pattern of faith and prayer that Torch continues to embrace.
Give thanks
Some 220 people gathered in St Jude’s Church
Mike Townsend was able to bring breaking
news of Casa Torch in
Speaking of the tragic year in
Paul Lindsay, Centre Director for Christian Vocations, delivered a motivating closing address from Philippians 3. He invited us to pause to reflect - to give thanks for what is past - but to forget - or “leave it, put it down”, and “press on” with a single-minded commitment to God’s calling.
From
From
From
From
From Torquay: “Thank you for your tapes, they are a great blessing to me. I am partially sighted and they have brought me so much nearer to God.”
From
Barbara Redman, Torch Holiday & Retreat Centre (HRC) administrator
Suzanne Powell, Library Admin Assistant
Winston Chidzambuyo, General
Administrator, Torch
James Brookman, Audio Transcription Coordinator
Val Smith, Bookkeeper
Oc‚ digital printing system - printing 5,000 pages per hour
Perfect binding system - improved binding for Bibles and other giant print books
Wrapping machine - for mailing magazines more quickly
Scanner - automatically scanning print books
Recording booths - all fitted out for DAISY recording by volunteers
SU Daily Bread on DAISY CD
Pilot DAISY Library started - 20 books transcribed
71 audio cassette books transcribed
72 braille books transcribed
28 giant print books transcribed
Chichewa giant print introduced in
New Website - www.torchtrust.org
A Clearer Vision booklet for churches
Braille and giant print programmes produced for the New Wine convention for the first time
Motherwell, on the 15th of October, was a place of “thanksgiving”
for Torch Fellowship Groups from all over
There was some real old gospel music from Ministry in Song,
and Colin McIlvena told the story of the Scottish
teams working in
Exciting and challenging news came from the groups, and
Mike Townsend presented highlights from the Torch year.
[Mike Townsend writes about making disabled people welcome in Church.]
“Should we put orange fluorescent tape round the pillars in our church to make them visible?”
I was mystified by the caller’s question. In most churches the pillars are all too visible! It turned out that the church was entirely grey, and people were injuring themselves in the gloom. The leaders of the church wanted to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and make the pillars visible. Fluorescent tape would certainly do this. It would also make the clear but garish statement, “This church complies with the DDA.” I suggested colourful posters and a fresh look at the decor.
Church is a place where all should feel welcome. A mere compliance with a set of legal requirements does not touch the heart. Many disabled people feel awkward when the adaptations are “in your face” and obviously for “them”. Has your church met the requirements of the DDA, and is it continuing to fulfil the ongoing obligations? Excellent! But do disabled people feel really welcome in your church?
“Jesus had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34). That word “compassion” means “suffering with”, or “really feeling what others feel.” We need an attitude of heart that places us where Jesus would want to be - right in the experience of others. I need this to understand people with different disabilities from blindness. Most church members need this God-given shift of heart to provide a church for all.
My church has just embarked on the 40 Days of Purpose course using the Purpose Driven Life. The church has provided large print and braille daily reading books (produced by Torch), large print and emailed sermon outlines, large print and electronic leaders material, car drivers and accessible venues, and clear views for lip readers. This was not a box ticking exercise, but sprang from an understanding that all are equal parts of the body, the church.
[A Clearer Vision, a booklet produced by Torch, is a guide to help churches and groups to fully include blind and partially sighted people. It is available in print, giant print and braille, price: £1.00.]
It’s been encouraging to have a number of people respond to our call for people to be “Church Reps” for Torch. How about you? Would you like to help Torch raise its profile by representing Torch to your own church and maybe to other churches in your neighbourhood? Email churchreps@torchtrust.org , call David Palmer at Torch House, or tick the item on the response slip.
[David Palmer introduces himself ...]
After an absence of five years I have returned to Torch!
It’s great to be back - this time at its new premises in Market
Harborough - and to see some familiar but also new faces! Returning to Torch as
the National Fellowship Leader I feel a real sense of excitement at what God
wants to do, if also a little daunted at the size of this new role -
principally to encourage and support the development of the Torch Fellowship
Groups around the
During the summer I visited some of the groups, listening and talking with those I met and seeking to gain an understanding of the group activities and the needs of visually impaired people. As a result of my visits and discussions I have been gathering together a few ideas as to how I might support and expand the valuable work of the groups. These ideas focus broadly around four points:
Christ: The groups must continue to be Christ centred, enabling people to find faith and to be nurtured in their faith.
Church: Local churches and fellowships play a vital role in the life and witness of the groups. Therefore I am keen to see the network of church reps established, highlighting the needs of visually impaired people, promoting Torch and acting as a bridge to the local groups.
Community: Creating stronger care networks within communities, link Fellowship Groups with pastoral workers, churches, support agencies and social services.
Creativity: I am a great believer in the value of small groups, which present a wonderful opportunity to be creative and imaginative so that the style of every group is unique to its community.
Do pray for me in my new role, and that we all may be open to see God use us in perhaps new and unexpected ways in order that His kingdom is extended amongst blind and partially sighted individuals.
* * * * * *
David, Marie and Simon Palmer have recently moved to a
house in Market Harborough. Since previously working for Torch, David has been
working with churches in
Marie is from
Two new groups have got off to a good start. The
Fourteen people from the
It was a wonderful day which went all too quickly. Gareth Smyth commented: “I shall treasure my braille books from Torch even more now I have seen all the hard work and devotion that has gone into making them.” 16 more people are coming from NI for the day on 29th November.
Earlier in the year Carol Nokes had the inspired idea of suggesting to Torch Fellowship Groups that they purchase a giant print Bible to present to their local library. Each volume of the Bible carries a label in the flyleaf that gives contact details for the Fellowship Group so that those who use it know where they can find out more about what Torch has to offer. So far over fifty Bibles have been given to libraries.
A real bonus in making people aware of Torch at work in their neighbourhood has been the reporting of this project in local press. Most presentations have yielded a short article and a picture.
But it hasn’t stopped there. One Group (Glengormley) presented a Bible to Jordanstown school for the Blind. Another - Exeter & Exmouth - presented one to the Action for the Blind Hotel in Teignmouth. And it doesn’t have to be a Torch Fellowship Group that makes the presentation: Evesham Baptist Church purchased two whole giant print Bibles, one to keep in the church and one to give to the town’s library, and Desford Free Church and Desford Church of England are joining together to put one in their library.
Many retirement homes will have residents who are losing
their sight. The Bath Torch Fellowship Group are
presenting a giant print Bible to Bridgemead elderly
people’s
Each volume can be labelled with the contact details that will make a link to your Group or church.
Torch produces the New International Version of the Bible in large black (24 point) type. The Bible is printed on special lightweight paper and divided into nineteen slim volumes that are easy to lift and handle. Hardbound with gold lettering on the blue covers, they look good too. Each volume is priced at £4, which covers most of the cost of producing it. A whole Bible can be purchased for £70 with a special price to Torch Fellowship Groups of £60.
For personal use Torch also produces the NIV Bible in a paperback format using ordinary paper. Each of the 37 volumes that make up a complete Bible can be purchased for £1 and a whole Bible is priced at £35.
Want to know more? Contact Carol at Torch House on 01858:438260, email: caroln@torchtrust.org
What a year! The refurbishment of Torch
One visitor commented:
What can I say about the holiday ... It was wonderful. I really felt as if I was home. You were all so kind to me and it felt just like being part of an extended family. Also can I thank you for the spiritual help and blessing you gave to me. I hadn’t been able to talk to anyone for a long time like I talked to you and I have felt that I can accept things in a better way. I met some lovely real Christian people and it has boosted my faith tremendously.
So much depends on people. Many volunteers, both from the
A fuller than ever programme is set out in the new Torch
Lapson Mbewe
and Bitten Masamba - Torch Fellowship Group
co-ordinators from
In those two weeks they spoke at a number of meetings
locally and a few further afield. it
was a wonderful experience for them, and a blessing to us and to all they met.
People who had prayed for them were able at last to put a face to a name, and
their prayer support will have benefited greatly. They are instrumental in
ministering spiritually and practically to over 1,000 blind people in the Lower
Shire area of
Lapson commented: “We
really feel so encouraged by the way people responded to all that we shared
with them. It’s important to hear that people will be praying for the
work in
[Lapson and Bitten each have
many others as well as their own family to support. They have returned to a
tough situation. The Malawian President has finally declared the country a
disaster area with up to 5 million facing starvation. Please continue to pray
for
[Winston Chidzambuyo, Malawi Torch Trust Administrator, passes on some thoughts:]
When I first gave my life to the Lord, “I have decided to follow Jesus, where He leads me I will follow” was one of the common choruses in those days and I used to sing it again and again. Now today after following Jesus for some time, especially as a full time servant of the Lord, the chorus means much more to me than it did back then.
For sometime up to the end of December last year, the pointers had been leading me to working full-time with the blind and partially sighted people of my society. Many people, including some of my closest friends, seem not to see the need and goodness of working with these brethren, but as for me, my life has been directly blessed.
Maybe my experience on a recent visit would explain. In
August we paid a visit to the Torch Fellowship groups in Nsanje
District. This is the most southern part of
We visited two more groups where we met with 73 brothers and sisters from nine Fellowship Groups.
The next day we met another coordinator and visited two more Fellowship Groups. Although these brothers and sisters looked not to have much in this life, they did not complain for anything, but instead they were very happy. Although they are going through a very difficult time of famine, still they were trusting on their Lord to meet their daily needs, including food. We need to remember them in our prayers.
From 16th November to 3rd December Michael Stafford will
be visiting the Torch work in
Some time will be spent in the braille and giant print production area, sorting out technical problems, planning the work for the future months, and encouraging the staff in their activities. Visits will be made to some Fellowship Groups and help given where possible to those blind folk who are desperate for food. Please pray for discretion to distribute the limited resources wisely.
“The dream is coming true,” exclaims Adina Tole as she sees the Scottish team finishing off their work on Casa Torch. Nearly ten years ago, the Tole and Townsend families stood on the site of derelict houses in the centre of Dezna village. One day, blind orphaned and abandoned children will feel the love of Jesus here. Once the registration process is complete, we shall welcome the first children for assessment to see if Casa Torch is the home for them. But there is a lot to do. Top on the list for prayer is the right couple to be house parents.
The teams from
The Summer Camp was great. At least two came to faith in Jesus. Liviu has been to 3 camps, the first when he was 8. His mother had just died, and he was living with his drunken father and uncle, both of them on drugs. This year Liviu put his trust in Jesus, and says that God has helped him over the years. He still lives with the drunks and drugs in that wreck of a house. Pray for him.
The
“We had a really blessed time, fun and fellowship. The thing that struck me most was the Garden Tomb because it is empty!”
“It was a great experience visiting the
“I am so thrilled as I realise now that I was reading my Bible in black and white but while I was in Israel it became ‘in colour’ to me and I shall always be grateful for the opportunity of visiting the land of the Bible.”
Ever wondered if you could help Torch in a practical way? Torch relies increasingly heavily on volunteers. Right now there are some areas of the work that critically need new volunteers.
Live-in help: Torch
Audio producer/editors: Could you come to Torch House for a
few days every two or three months to record and edit one of our 6 audio
magazine titles? They go to thousands of blind and partially sighted people all
over the world. Torch can provide accommodation at the
These may not be for you - but may be of interest to somebody you know - a relative or a friend at church.
Contact John Darby by email to personnel@torchtrust.org , call 01858:438260 or use the reply slip.
House parents -
Leader - General Administrator: Torch needs a gifted administrator to work with the Chief Executive in the overall leadership of this increasingly diverse and demanding ministry. Experience of general management including personnel administration are the essential qualifications.
Assistant Leader - Production: To lead a small team producing audio, braille and giant print books. Well-developed IT skills are essential and some experience of printing processes would be desirable.
It’s good to look back over the last 12 months and give thanks for God’s amazing provision. Time and time again our faith has been rewarded. Once recently when funds were exhausted we made it a special focus of our morning prayer-time and by coffee time we were celebrating the arrival of a legacy cheque for over £22,000. “Before they call, I will answer,” says the Scripture! (Isaiah 65:24).
More recently when we were again struggling to pay the bills we devoted a whole morning to prayer. We started with worship and then from 11 am to noon prayed specifically for God to provide in a number of ways. By far the biggest prayer request concerned the VAT paid on our new Torch House.
We always felt it unjust that we had to pay VAT on a building used for charitable purposes, and for over two years we had been arguing our case. For months we had been chasing for a reply to our most recent letter to the authorities. When I returned to my desk at lunchtime I was stunned to discover an email sent at 11:56 am by Revenue and Customs confirming they now agreed the building can be zero-rated. All told this is worth at least £100,000 to Torch and the first block has since been returned to us, praise God! This allows us to repay interest free loans generously made to support Torch during the year.
Join us in thanking God that the preliminary accounts for the year ended on 30 September show a modest growth in income. It has been encouraging to see a dramatic rise in Gift Aided donations and some increase in regular standing order gifts, though these still account for only a small proportion of the monthly cost of running the work - now running at around £1,850 per day.
Our expenses exceeded our income over the year by over £100,000. Staff salaries have come to dominate Torch’s costs despite paying only the National Minimum Wage. This increased in October by 4%, pushing this expense up still further. We face a very real challenge to our faith. If nothing changes, the deficit for the year ahead will be a similarly enormous figure. We value your prayers as we seek God’s guidance.
[Breakdown of income and expenditure for 2004-5 is as follows:]
Income:
General donations: £241,000 (42%)
Legacies: £160,000 (28%)
Restricted donations: £78,000 (14%)
Holidays: £51,000 (9%)
Literature: £33,000 (6%)
Interest: £7,000 (1%)
Expenditure:
Staff pay: £327,000 (48%)
Premises: £90,000 (13%)
Overseas outreach: £81,000 (12%)
Other costs: £83,000 (12%)
Production: £63,000 (9%)
The 2006 giant print and braille calendar is still available - at £2.
Tactile Christmas cards - with giant print and braille inserts: pack of 10 - £3.50.