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.
Our Annual Thanksgiving Service held in Harlow in October was a great opportunity to look back and celebrate God’s goodness over another year. It brings to an end the year in which we have celebrated 75 years of The Torch magazine. The Israelites were encouraged to look back and remember how God had led them through the desert for 40 years; not only led but provided for them during their epic journey too. So it’s good for us to look back over three quarters of a century of Torch and acknowledge how God has led and provided. Of course looking over our shoulders is not a smart way to determine where we go. But it can help set the way we go forward.
Back in September, I was invited to lead a morning service at the United Reformed Church in Workington. Imagine our excitement when afterwards my wife, Pat, and I were taken out for Sunday lunch in the very house where it all started back in 1931. Now the Hunday Manor Hotel, it was once Winscales House, the home of the Trench family. Although unaware of Torch, the hotel’s owner knew that the Trenches had run a Sunday School for local children in the house. He turned out a picture of the family; in it are the three sisters who later responded to loss of sight of their coachman by learning braille and starting the devotional magazine under the title, “The Torch”.
It was a similar response to the need of Wendy, a blind young person and new Christian, that started Ron and Stella Heath learning braille so that she may have some Christian literature to read. In 1959 the connection was made between the Heaths and Trenches, and the Torch Trust of today was born. Stella took on the editing of The Torch magazine and has continued to contribute to each edition save for the most recent. A stroke in July of this year has affected her language ability. Do pray for her continued recovery.
Mr and Mrs Heath and the Trench sisters could be genuinely called “Good Samaritans”. They responded to the need encountered in their life’s walk and did so with open-ended availability.
At the Thanksgiving Service, evangelist Victor Jack encouraged us to act with compassion. Compassion is one of those values that we take from the history of Torch and hold onto tightly for the future. Compassion is evident in the responsiveness to need that has characterised the history of Torch from its roots to the present day - and has largely driven and shaped its growth.
Literally “suffering with”, compassion gets us involved. We consciously put ourselves in the other person’s shoes and seek to look at life from their perspective - but without ever losing the wider perspective on life that God gives us. Our model is Jesus. He was always compassionate to needy people, never condescending, always affirming. With Christmas in view, the incarnation tells how in Jesus God put himself in our shoes and, setting no limits on the cost, came alongside us. Whether our needs have anything to do with loss of sight or not, we can all come in our brokenness to the one whose compassion has saved us.
Shortly we enter a New Year: let’s “go in peace to love and serve the Lord”.
Gordon Temple
Four years ago we launched Every Day with Jesus daily Bible readings in the DAISY audio format and then added SU Daily Bread. Now nearly 250 people benefit from this service. In the Spring of last year we started a DAISY pilot library with just five titles. Most recently we distributed a free sample DAISY CD of the four Gospels as prelude to launching the entire New Testament in this format, the ideal medium for an audio Bible. So what sort of reaction have we had?
There have been criticisms, particularly about packaging, which we have changed in response. But overall the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. One lady called from London to say how thrilled she was with the DAISY Gospels; another told us she had listened to all 10 hours!
“I find DAISY easy to use.” Mrs. Ridgley, Sussex.
“I love my Every Day with Jesus and Scripture Union Daily Bread on DAISY. It’s wonderful.” Mr Driver, Essex.
“I particularly love Every Day With Jesus on Daisy.” Mr Spragg, Worcestershire.
“DAISY helps you to take the book in more. I think it comes over clearer and I really enjoy the DAISY books this way. I think I will read more of a variety of books on DAISY discs.” Pauline Tapping, Essex.
“I find DAISY easy and I'm able to navigate it. If I miss a bit of the story it’s easy to go back. I think it's brilliant. I particularly loved the Gospels on DAISY that was sent as a sample.” Mrs Gillespie, County Antrim.
Library Leader, Lydia Tebbutt, says: “Now the DAISY Library has grown to over 70 titles with 120 borrowers registered. Our borrowers have taken to DAISY to such an extent that they are reading titles in categories which they wouldn’t normally choose, simply because the format is such a joy to use. We have DAISY titles in the popular Biography and Fiction categories as well as a selection in Spirituality and Study. So if you have a DAISY player then try some of the Torch Library books.”
Call the Torch Library on 01858 438266 or email library@torchtrust.org.
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The New Testament on DAISY CD in Today’s New International Version is now available from Torch and the RNIB, priced £3.99.
An English actor-read audio Bible on a single CD that allows you to look up book, chapter, section and verse. To order call 01858 438260 or email info@torchtrust.org.
To find out more about accessible media Bibles request our new free booklet, “The Bible for Blind and Partially Sighted People”.
The giant print books and magazines we produce have to be folded and stapled before they can be sent out, and we are glad to have a modern machine to do this in one operation. In addition, the new machine is able to trim the front of the magazine to give it a nice tidy appearance. It is fast and simple to operate so helps to speed our production and enable us to meet deadlines.
In September author, Margaret Cundiff, came to Torch House to record her book, Living by the Book, which is based on the Sermon on the Mount.
Margaret already has eight other titles in the Torch Library, the most popular of which is I’d Like You to Meet, about some of the extraordinary people she has met in ordinary life as an associate minister in Yorkshire. This book has resulted in a rash of letters from our Library users with comments like “a most inspiring book”, “very helpful” and “a great blessing”.
Amazingly Margaret managed to make the audio recording of her book in a single session of five hours with only a brief break to give an interview for Torch’s forth-coming radio show on Premier Radio.
The book sounds good. One reviewer summed it up with the comment: “for her [Margaret] the greatest sin is to make Jesus dull”.
September 30th marked the end of the most amazing financial year for Torch. Twelve months ago we faced a year in which our budget told us we were likely to run out of cash. In faith we went ahead seeking to follow God’s guidance and holding on to the Bible verse, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In the event God has blessed Torch with the greatest surplus ever in its history - wiping out the cash deficits for the past three years. In recent years our annual income has hovered around £600,000; this year it has topped £1million. How good is our God!
The main source for all the extra money has been a series of large legacies, which totalled almost four times the legacy income typical of previous years. All came from people who had either benefited from Torch’s ministry or served as volunteers. How their prayerful generosity of past days has blessed us today!
This now gives us the challenge of discerning the purpose for which God has given us extra funds. And we must take care not to initiate things that could substantially increase our basic running costs for future years. Donation income covered less than half our running costs and dropped slightly compared to the previous year. Although up on previous years, committed (standing order) income still amounts to less than one fifteenth of running costs. With increases in National Minimum Wage and energy costs, those running costs increase way faster than inflation. It just reminds us, that even when we have a pile of money in the bank we are living by faith just as much as ever.
Make sure you order your giant print or braille calendar 2007 before stocks run out! A bargain at £2!
As library books have become surplus in our Library here in UK we have been able to send them for use among our English-speaking braille readers overseas.
During Janet’s recent visit to Malawi she was able to visit some of the borrowers of the braille books and hear how much they are appreciated.
Kresiya Kampango said that the only friends she now has are braille books. Before the library brought her books, she used to have a lot of hard times - no one to talk to, nothing to do. She has learnt such a lot from the book called, The Amazing book of Bible facts. She says, “I really find happiness after reading the books. Books bring life and healing in me. Books take away loneliness from me.”
Harlord Tambala, a lad of 19 years, said that on finishing school he had nothing to do at home, only sitting and sleeping. It was not easy to find a friend in his village. He said, “Having the books brought to my house really brings life in me. The books I have so far read have really moved me up, and I now have a clear understanding of spiritual life; books like Man of Compassion, Man of Prayer and Jesus Here and Now. Yes, reading is now taking away my loneliness from me and who would have thought those dots would be like a friend to me? I thank God for these books.”
It is always an encouragement to be with the five staff and their families at Torch House in Malawi, who continue faithfully in their work producing the Bible volumes and visiting the Torch Fellowship Groups.
Winston Chidzambuyo, Administrator, shares about one blind man, Mr Jeffrey Mkwenje from Mbatamira Torch Fellowship Group in the central area. He says, “Mr Jeffrey had never been to Church before but heard preaching of the word of God on one of the visits to the Group. He believed in the gospel and accepted the Lord as his Saviour. He now attends one of the nearest evangelical churches together with his wife and children. He said at first he felt rejected by society and the world as a whole, but now he is assured that the Lord loves him. He says he has also experienced God’s love extended to him through the ministry of Torch Trust.”
Then there are those who live in the rural areas and give of their time to support and visit the blind people. It is always a challenge to see what they are doing and wonderful to see the way God is blessing this commitment.
(A report of Janet’s recent trip to Malawi available on request or from our website)
[Adina Tole writes of the Summer Camp at Dezna ...]
It was amazing to see the children’s faces when they got to the Summer Camp - full of joy, hope and ready to start a dream, a short dream of their life but a wonderful dream.
The mornings were full of craft activities, good food, afternoons at the swimming pool in Moneasa on sunny days and indoor activities on the rainy days.
Football matches were especially enjoyed by the boys … Bible stories, songs in the evenings, followed by drinks and sweets. A lesson we learned over the past years from these blind orphans was that the love you give is the love you get back. On one morning they made cards for the people they love, so a girl named Andrea made me a card in which she wrote (of course with somebody’s help): “Adina, thank you for the way you love me, I will always love you”. I started to cry when I read it; even when we give so little from our soul we get 100-fold back, as the Bible says.
So, wherever you are, get ready to be involved in this dream, a short dream but one which lasts for ever, here at the Dezna camps, in Romania.
[Mike Townsend adds stories of the lives of some who came ...]
We looked at God as the caring Creator. Manu and Mihaila are ten year old twins from a Gypsy background. They are extremely poor, but bubble with enthusiasm and energy. Totally blind, they just loved being part of the “Dezna Despots” the music band which made a “joyful noise to the Lord”. Manu was particularly thrilled to realise that his name, Emmanuel, means “God with us”, and that Jesus, his creator, cares for him. Think of him this Christmas as you sing those carols.
Yolanda is from Moldova, the poorest part of Romania. We discovered, this year, that at the last Summer Camp she had given her heart to the Lord. Her teacher, Getta, commented that she is a different girl. About a dozen children indicated, this year, that they wanted to give their hearts to the Lord. Pray for them all, that Jesus will make a real difference in their lives whatever circumstances they live in.
One UK volunteer said, before booking, that he did not have a church background. The Bible teaching and working with the kids, together with the situation in Romania, has caused him to totally rethink his life. Pray for him.
[While on a visit to Kenya, Cecil and Irenee Bingham were able to visit this school. They report:]
We met a remarkable young man named William. He spends most of his time transcribing text into braille for the visually impaired children as the Kenyan government send the same textual curriculum to all schools in the country, regardless of the need for different format.
Visually impaired adults too use the school’s postal address for delivery of their braille, giant print or audio magazines, including those from Torch UK. For those who live in remote places outside of Thika town, he often delivers the Torch packages to the recipients himself.
However, the need for better equipment tends to hold him back. Updated equipment, such as an embosser/typesetter to replace the slow Perkins brailler would help him immensely in the wonderfully motivated and envisioned work he is doing for God in this school.
Some years ago we were supplied with a large quantity of pictures and text printed on plastic sheets, which we were to emboss with braille descriptions to make an overview of Bible books, as an exhibition that churches could use both for sighted and blind people. Sadly there were technical problems and the project was abandoned. We wondered what to do with the pictures, as it seemed a terrible waste to throw them away.
Now we have made them up into books, with the text in giant print between each picture. The pictures themselves are big and bold, so will be visible to many partially sighted people. These books are now being sent out to African schools, where partially sighted pupils can have the benefit of them.
Clive Leakey, one of our New Groups Coordinators, has been working very hard in seeking to establish new Torch Fellowship Groups in Bedford, Coventry, Nottingham and South London. In fact the steering group for Bedford had their first prayer and planning meeting on September 14th. The amount of interest that Clive is generating, both from those willing to lead or assist and those wishing to attend, is hugely encouraging. We give much thanks to God and a heartfelt thanks to Clive for all his efforts.
We are delighted to report since our last edition that we have added eight new Torch Church Reps to our ranks! Three ladies have volunteered from Scotland and others from Weston-super-Mare, Witney, Dartford, and Tonbridge.
We are grateful for them and for all our Church Reps and the valuable role they undertake in being advocates in their local fellowships. But we would appreciate more. If you want details of what is involved and would like to receive the resource pack and the twice yearly newsletter Share@Church please contact David Palmer on 01858 438272 or email: davidp@torchtrust.org.
As this year is named, “The year of Connections”, it’s great to report on a strengthening of connections with RNIB in N Ireland.
Having had the encouragement of meeting and sharing together with the RNIB Director and some Managers, we’ve subsequently been privileged to present the work of Torch Trust to many of the RNIB staff and volunteers, of whom quite a number are blind or partially sighted. We have also been invited to join them for several Exhibitions throughout NI.
At Torch HRC it is a joy and a challenge to have such a variety of people come to our holidays. We are all different, we have different looks, needs, abilities and beliefs. We aim to accept everyone as they are. We are a Christian Holiday and Retreat Centre, and what a difference that should make! It’s our aim to make Christ evident in our staff, volunteers and building, as well as our programme.
We have found that living out our faith day by day has spoken into people’s lives in a powerful way. Many who come to the Centre for a holiday do not have any faith, and it’s been wonderful to introduce them to Jesus. The challenge is to continue to provide a programme that is all-embracing and all-inclusive.
At Torch HRC, one of the most vital ingredients of a fantastic holiday is the food. All our guests love homemade, nourishing, tasty English food - in abundance!
To provide this, we need a cook/chef. We cook for approximately 20-30 each holiday.
If you would like to be a part of our team by being responsible for the cooking menu planning and ordering etc, please get in touch. It is a live-in or living locally position. Please contact Gail on 01273 832282, email: gailw@torchtrust.org; or John Darby: personnel@torchtrust.org
We are so aware that through the goodness of God we have much to share with blind and partially sighted people - books, magazines, Bibles and daily Bible readings, Torch Groups and holidays - but so few know about them. Radio is the most direct medium for reaching them. So we are working towards a weekly magazine style programme on Premier Radio.
In August fifteen who had expressed an interest in this project, most of them blind people, gathered at Torch House to shake down the ideas for the programme. It was a productive day. Following from it, Sarah Brookman took up the part-time role as Coordinator to help us make it a reality. Becky Gradden has since become involved in providing the recording expertise.
Our formative team met with Premier Radio’s Peter Kerridge and Claire Southall at Torch House in October. Plans for the programme were crystallised with an aim to start by Easter 2007. There’s still much to be done in preparation, especially training of the team. Pray on!
[Paul Pearson reports:]
This holiday is organised by Mike and Edith Townsend. Mike can speak French, so there are no translation worries.
Held at the Spring Harvest Holiday Park in the Vendee near the Atlantic coast, the emphasis is on holiday more than on teaching and worship - the sessions just 45 minutes in the morning and an hour in the evening. These were well led by Rob and Marion White.
There is a good restaurant on site, though I would have to say the best food is outside the camp in the local restaurants. There is a swimming-pool, and the trips out into the beautiful surrounding countryside are excellent.
We have recently had to send our aging copiers away to be overhauled at great expense. It has been difficult to manage with the production of magazines, etc while they have been away, and it is no longer possible to buy the same machines we use, as cassettes are slowly being phased out in favour of CDs.
We wonder if any of you know of churches or organisations who have high-speed cassette copiers which they no longer need. It would be so helpful if we had some machines available as back-up for when our production machines need attention. Do let us know if you can help.
Sarah Brookman, wife of James our Audio Transcription Coordinator, has joined as Coordinator for the Premier Radio programme, working two days per week. They live in Evesham with their three children, William, Peter and Edward.
Bridget Naylor rejoins Torch after a gap of 12 years to work 3 days per week as Transcription Assistant, supporting Sheila Armstrong.
Beth Goddard has moved into Torch Holiday & Retreat Centre as a live-in assistant to work with Gail in support of the running of the Centre.
Rev Simon Allaby joins to work as General Assistant at the Centre for 16 hours per week - contributing in every way he can - from house maintenance to giving Bible talks.
It was a special day in the life of Torch when Sue Murphy married to become Sue Angell, wife of David. The Torch Choir (Sue is a choir member) sang at the service in Market Harborough Baptist Church on 14th October. David worked at the old Torch House in Hallaton some years ago, so will be known to many readers. We wish them both God’s richest blessing on their life together.
However closely you follow news of Torch it’s likely you know little of our Trustees and the part they play. Having just appointed two new members it seems an opportune time to introduce them.
Of our eight trustees, four are blind. They all have guide dogs so our meetings have a canine parallel. Dr Mike Townsend lives locally at Fleckney where he and Edith run Fleckney Manor Training. Mike is a deacon of Fleckney Baptist Church and is also a Trustee of the RNIB, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Through the Roof. Carol Eddon is a former braillist on Torch’s staff who now lives in Bristol with husband, Peter, where they are actively involved in St Chad’s Church. Marilyn Baker is best known for her songs, concerts and retreats. Through Marilyn Baker Ministries and along with her partially sighted and deaf companion, Tracy Williamson, she is involved in a diverse ministry.
One of the newcomers is Rev Glen Graham, minister of Salisbury Road Baptist Church in Plymouth. Glen is an enthusiast for the Torch Library which he uses for his theological studies. He is married to Rowan, who is partially sighted and works as a website developer.
The other new addition to our board is Dr Clive Dilloway. Now retired after a career that took him to the upper echelons of BP’s management, Clive has recently stepped down as chair of the Bible Society. His wife, Kate, is one of our most capable braille transcribers. They live in Haywards Heath, West Sussex and Clive also serves as Chairman of The Board of Finance for the Diocese of Chichester. Heather Williams, having worked for RNIB in rehabilitation for the blind for 20 years, then became housekeeper at the old Torch House in Hallaton. She now lives in Fleckney and works part-time in the Torch Library. Andre Clowes lives in Leicester with his wife, Audrey. He is a retired architect and member of Goodwood Evangelical Church. Last, but not least, there’s Rev Ron Wells, chair of our Trustee board. A retired free church minister he lives with wife, Jenny, in Plymouth where they are involved with Mutley Baptist Church.
So what is it that the Trustees do? They carry responsibility for the Trust; ensuring that it is properly run, serving its purpose consistent with the terms of its governing documents, operating within the law and using its funds and property to full advantage. They meet six times annually, usually for a day but once a year, in January the meeting is extended into a two-day retreat to allow more time for prayer and to consider longer-term strategy. At their meetings they are joined by John Darby (Company Secretary), Michael Stafford (as minutes secretary) and Chief Executive, Gordon Temple. The meetings are listed in the Prayer Diary, so do pray for them.