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.
In this edition of The Torch, we start a new series: a study of the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is a book of expression of feelings arising from a dire state of affairs in Israel at that time, and the prophet, Habakkuk, has become desperate to see God do something about the situation.
Have you ever felt as if your world was falling apart? Nothing going right ... All hope fading ... God seems nowhere ... You feel like saying, “Whatever’s happening? God, where are you? Aren’t you going to answer me?”
At times like this we long to understand what’s going on; but the fact is, we can’t because our minds are finite and God’s ways are infinite. He does not expect or require us to understand the mystery of His ways. What He does require is our trust. Just as He said to His disciples when they were panicking in the storm on the lake and thought Jesus was doing nothing to help them, He wants to ask us also: Where is your faith? It doesn’t matter how small – Jesus said the size of a grain of mustard would do – but we have to ask ourselves, where is it? What is it in? Our own ability to sort things out? Our own skills? Other people? Situations changing?
The wonderful thing is he helps us, by His Spirit, to put our faith – however small – in Him. Such a wonderful peace follows, because with that faith comes the assurance that He is in control, He knows what He is doing and He is working out His plans – however incomprehensible to us – and His plans are always good. How do we know this? Because Scripture says so.
In the book of Jeremiah, the Israelites were in a situation where they felt God had abandoned them, and God, through the prophet, Jeremiah, encouraged them with these words:
“I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 Living Bible).
What a wonderful promise to these ravaged, devastated people who could not possibly understand God’s ways at this particular time ... And this promise is to us as well. Let’s remember it ... lay hold of it ... claim it in our dark times, and God will bless with untold riches of peace ... comfort ... and even a deepening of our confidence in Him, rather than lessening.
We pray this magazine will encourage your heart and bring you fresh knowledge of our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Jill Ferraby and the editors
by Michael Stafford
This little book is one of the “minor” prophets, just five books from the end of the Old Testament. We might think that “minor” means “unimportant”, but this is not so. They are only “minor” in the sense that they are short compared with other books of prophecy, but they are important as God’s Word to us today.
Habakkuk is unknown apart from his little book. Probably a very ordinary person who was not considered great, like Isaiah or Daniel. God uses ordinary people in His service as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:27: “God chose the foolish and weak things of this world to shame the wise and strong”.
Habakkuk lived six hundred years before Christ came, in the time of Daniel, Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Under King Josiah there had been a reformation in Judah, which had outwardly got rid of idols and restored true worship, but it hadn’t changed the hearts of the people, and the nation descended again into a very low spiritual state. It was ripe for judgement, which was to come through the rising super-power of that day: Babylon.
Habakkuk’s book is not a prophecy to the nation, but a dialogue with God. It begins with a “sigh in his spirit” and ends with a “song in his heart”. Chapter one contains the prophet’s first complaint, and God’s answer. What the prophet says is described as an oracle or burden. The pressure of this burden has so built up in the prophet that his complaint comes out as a torrent of anger at God.
“How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘violence’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice. Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralysed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”
Would we be so bold in prayer? He accuses God of not listening (inattentive); of not saving (inactive); and of not caring (insensitive). Is it wrong to be angry with God? There are times when we cannot understand what God is doing – or that He seems to be doing nothing. There are international, national, and personal tragedies which happen and which we tend to blame God for. God is not offended by our anger at Him so long as we do not maintain that anger after an initial outburst. We will need to return to a position of trusting Him, even though He does not always reveal to us the reason why certain things have happened.
The nation of Judah had become hardened to the decline of morals, to injustice, to violence and to lawlessness, which is exactly what is happening in our world today. Often, like Habakkuk, we ask, “why doesn’t God intervene?”
The Jewish people had forgotten King Josiah’s reforms, and the new king – Jehoiakim – was not concerned with righteousness and justice. The country had become poor, because Jehoiakim had to use state funds to pay tribute to Egypt so that that country would not attack. Yet the King spent a great deal of the nation’s remaining wealth to build palaces for himself.
Habakkuk asks, “Why, Lord?” Why don’t you do something about it, he thought.
God answers Habakkuk’s complaint in verses 5‑11. Here is part of that answer:
“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling-places not their own ... Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on – guilty men, whose own strength is their god.”
God says firstly that they should look out at the world and see what was going on. The Jews were guilty of looking inward and being only concerned with themselves. Often our horizons are too limited. We need to look and see what God is doing in our world – the way things are moving on. Do not be like an ostrich, which is said to bury its head in the sand so it can’t see the things it doesn’t like or which make it afraid.
The Chaldians of Babylon were growing in power and nothing could stop their advance. Even the mighty city of Nineveh, capital of Assyria, would fall before them. They were totally ruthless and cruel and had no respect for anyone. They seized places not their own – which may remind us of a more recent ruler of present-day Babylon, who tried to annex Kuwait.
The apostle Paul used the words of Habakkuk 1:5 in Acts 13:41, as a warning to those who reject Christ. Many may scoff at the gospel, but God will have the last word, and his judgment will fall on those who reject the Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The Babylonians scoffed at kings and rulers (verse 10) and put them in cages to make them a laughing stock in public places. This very thing was to happen to Jehoiakim’s brother, who became the last king of Judah. He was taken in chains, after having his eyes put out, to Babylon where he remained a prisoner for the rest of his life.
All this was a great shock and grief to Habakkuk, who had hoped for a more comforting answer from God. It led to his second complaint, which we will consider in the next edition of The Torch.
by Mum Heath (co-founder of Torch Trust)
We were completely lost!
We had arranged to visit two blind friends. They sent us instructions to find their home, but later they asked us to go to a restaurant for a meal first. We were sure we could adapt their original directions to find the restaurant.
The journey went fine. Our instructions were, “Go under a railway bridge and turn left.” We couldn’t find that railway bridge! Instead we were stuck in an industrial park, with no-one in sight to ask the way.
We reached for our mobile. “We’re lost!” we cried to our friends.
“Just keep talking,” they said, “and tell us what you see. Then we’ll work out where you are.”
“There’s a bakery on our right,” I said.
“A bakery? Oh! I think you are going in the wrong direction – you will have to turn round.” We wondered where we could U-turn in that busy thoroughfare. We were lost!
We travelled backwards and forwards along that road for half an hour, and then eventually, we spotted a sign to the restaurant we were aiming for. As we turned out of the road we’d spent more than 30 minutes in, we noticed its name: Wilderness Road!
Are you lost in “Wilderness Road”? Do you long for God to guide you ... to know what you are aiming for? If you have set your sights on earthly riches, sinful pleasures, or having a fine home, or a status in your set, and are not looking to Jesus to lead you on, you may well be stuck in “Wilderness Road”.
Make sure you clear your mind from your own ideas, so that God can lead you into His will. Romans 12:1-2 is a very good guide:
Present your bodies to the Lord. Surrender your life to Christ.
Be not conformed to this world. Don’t be misled into wanting what everyone else tells you is right. God’s will seldom obeys the fashion of the moment.
... by the renewing of your mind. This is the secret, to have a new mind, a new outlook, to be God-centred.
... that you may prove what the will of God is. If you really want the will of God, use your spiritual “mobile”, and keep in touch with Him at all times. Then you will never get lost in the wilderness!
But you need to follow His way even if it crosses yours.
When the time came to move on from our home in the annex of Little Torch, I remember saying, “I know one thing, I’m not going to live in East Grinstead”. It was all because we couldn’t find anywhere to have a cup of tea on a bank holiday! (We just didn’t look in the right places!)
We prayed for guidance, but couldn’t find any suitable property anywhere. Then, in a local paper, we saw an advert for a house that was suitable, and within the price range. It was in East Grinstead! That was when my spiritual “mobile” made me aware that God was directing us to East Grinstead against my will. Now I thank the Lord for the fellowship and friends I have in that very town. I marvel at how suitable the property is for the Shalom service we are engaged in. God knew best – I didn’t.
I am glad He led us to the place He had chosen for us.
He will do it for you, if you take time to listen to your spiritual mobile!
David Palmer
[David, National Fellowship Leader for Torch, tells his story.]
I love walking. The wilder the place the better! Having a mother who lives in the depths of Northumberland on the edge of the Cheviot Hills has some distinct advantages!
I so often see life as a series of long walks. Different terrains, different weather conditions and different experiences. Sometimes windswept mountain tops alternating with misty valley beds, or quite often, simply flat and uninspiring.
My life has had a number of mountain peaks and low valley experiences – too many to recall!
But here are a few: growing up in a nominal Christian family, attending a boarding school with a homosexual chaplain, having a fractious relationship with my dad and generally being of a headstrong disposition all conspired against my having anything to do with the Christian faith.
In my early 20s I experienced a “low valley” in the form of a very serious road accident resulting in a seven-week stay in Stirling Hospital and two months convalescence at home. Apart from the inconvenience of a shattered leg, however, it was a valuable time to think and reflect and, like the prodigal son in Luke 15, I started to “come to my senses” recognising that God loved me and had a purpose for my life. Returning home was a valuable time to heal my leg but also to heal my relationship with my dad. I also took a decision to be confirmed within the Church of England, something I had refused earlier. Furthermore during that time I managed to secure a job in a career I had long been seeking – with Grants of St James, the then leading wine merchant. Four weeks after commencing the post, my father quite unexpectedly died of a heart attack aged 59; how grateful I was for that precious time we had shared together during my convalescence.
My somewhat chequered career continued.
The real breakthrough in terms of my Christian faith came when I visited Zambia in 1985 for six months, involved with over 400 other people from all over the Commonwealth touring the country. It was during this time that I came into contact with a number of Zambian Christians living out their faith in often very difficult situations; I found this vibrant and very appealing. They demonstrated a faith incredibly dependent upon God that I wanted for myself. So on my return I joined the staff of a large Christian centre and committed my life to Christ.
Five years later I was back overseas, this time in Peru, South America. Again, it was an extraordinary privilege of working alongside the local church in the slums of Lima with Peruvian Christians living out their faith in inconceivable conditions.
Other high points have been: two periods at different Bible Colleges learning from God’s word and learning from fellow students from around the globe ... Two fantastic spells of working in churches in Newcastle upon Tyne and St Leonard’s on Sea ... The incredible joy of falling in love, marrying and sharing my life with Marie and our son, Simon, now aged nine.
The latest significant low point was being made redundant from a church post in Chorleywood after a period of only 18 months – a very painful experience. But God has led into new pastures with Torch and this new role of National Fellowship Leader. It is a great time to be on board with them and I believe there are exciting ventures and challenges ahead.
Isaiah 42 is a lovely passage – particularly verse 16 – of God’s promise to lead us by unfamiliar paths, ways we have not known, turning darkness into light and making the rough places smooth. Why? Because God loves us and will not forsake us. So in that knowledge and experience I press on to know him in increasing measure whatever the condition of the path ahead.
On 3rd May we had our annual Day of Prayer. Torch work is so diverse that the day goes by amazingly quickly. It was such a good day with a touch of God’s presence. Thank you to all who shared in that day from their own homes.
Konzere in Malawi saw 800 visually impaired people gather together for a weekend. Nowhere else have we seen blind people brought together in such numbers to give encouragement to each other.
Michael Stafford recently spent three weeks in Malawi. Work has started on a large quantity of New Reader Portions: 6 volumes of Bible stories in grade 1 braille.
The Hope for the Blind Foundation, this year, is celebrating 30 years of service.
by Gordon Temple
We often feature the work of other Christian organisations working with blind and partially sighted people. This time we report on a conference where several such organisations – those based in Europe – got together at Torch Holiday & Retreat Centre in the south of England. Starting with the work of Torch in the UK we travelled progressively further afield as each organisation shared its work and its vision.
La Cause is based in Paris, France, and works in the French language providing an audio library of Christian books. Martine Haage who leads this aspect of La Cause’s diverse ministry with great enthusiasm told of their digital audio Bible and some practical projects such as sending eye-glasses to people in Africa.
Nueva Luz in Madrid, Spain, was our next destination. Working in Spanish, this tiny organisation serves not only the blind people of Spain but also those of most Latin American countries. As well as running an audio library of Christian books, providing Bibles in Spanish braille and producing audio magazines, Nueva Luz supports various relief projects in Central and South America. Accompanied by Ovidiu Vataselu, Antonia Padilla, who founded Nueva Luz after he lost his sight, came to the conference.
Next we toured to Romania, where two organisations were represented. From Dezna, the village in western Romania where Dezna-Torch is based, were Adina Tole and her daughter Demaris. Bubbling with enthusiasm they told us about the progress towards completing and opening of Casa Torch, a Christian family home which will soon take some blind orphaned and abandoned children currently in the state orphanages. Coming up in August will be the Summer Camp for blind and partially sighted children.
Moving east we came to Targoviste where Pro‑Lumina is based. George Iordan, together with his wife, Florica, told of their work in producing Romanian language Christian literature in braille, audio and giant print, especially the Bible in braille. Their passion for taking the gospel to the blind people of Romania and neighbouring Moldova was so evident. At Lazuri, the house they use to give holidays to blind people incarcerated in the asylums like the one at Dumbroveni, they pray they will have the resources to run ten such holidays this season.
Though located in England, Compass Braille’s vision is centred much further east, in Asia. Colin Dowling told of his recent visit to India and encouraged us with news of work being done by Indian partner organisations to support and encourage blind and partially sighted people. Compass Braille is producing braille Bibles in an amazing 35 languages, adding three languages each year. Colin’s wife, Glennis, shared news of projects supported by Sightlink, the mission arm of their work.
The final leg of our global jaunt took us to the warm heart of Africa, as Malawi likes to be known. Janet Stafford stirred us with the needs of blind people in this land, amongst the ten poorest countries of the world. She described Torch Trust for the Blind International’s response to both spiritual and physical needs. The growing number of Torch Fellowship Groups, the production of the Chichewa New Testament in giant print and the Tumbuka braille Bible (the seventh African language produced by Torch) were all causes for rejoicing.
There was much to celebrate. Collectively the organisations represented produced braille Bibles in 45 languages and most were now becoming involved in providing digital audio Bibles. But it was also clear just how big our global mission field is and how much remains to be done to bring the gospel and the prospect of a fulfilled Christian life to the world’s 160 million blind and partially sighted people.
by Norman Hillyer
The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. (Psalm 121:5-6)
The right hand indicates the south, the direction of the sun at the hottest part of the day. Danger from sunstroke we can understand. But the additional bit about the moon is not the psalmist indulging in poetic licence. He is saying, in effect, that divine protection is promised against real dangers (the sun), but also against the fear of imagined dangers (the moon).
by Peter Jackson
[You may remember reading, earlier this year (in Issue 2 of this magazine), about Peter Jackson’s gospel ministry called Keynote Ministries. He now reflects on his first introduction to The Torch magazine, as it celebrates its 75th birthday – and so does he!]
Miss E O Richardson was a teacher of braille at the Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind. I became one of her pupils exactly a week before my fifth birthday. Miss Richardson was a deeply committed Christian, a member of St John’s Anglican church in Birmingham. Before our lessons commenced each day, she would pray with and for us; then, she would tear off a text from the Scripture calendar, read and explain it to us. As we became more efficient at braille reading, she would encourage us to read around the class, moving the braille Bible volume from desk to desk. She also encouraged us to memorise verses from the Bible, and I seemed to have the kind of memory that Bible verses fitted into.
From time to time, a little book would find its way onto my desk. I never knew quite how it got there, but now I believe I know. This magazine with block lettering on the cover was The Torch. The channel through which it came was our Miss Richardson.
How could I have known then, just how much this little seed would grow, and how many lives it would touch in the future, including my own!
by Ron Wells (Chairman of Torch Trustees)
Back in 1903 Horace Rockaway applied for a Bank loan of 5,000 dollars to help establish the Ford Motor Company. His application was refused with a note saying “The automobile is a novelty, but the horse is here to stay”.
As recently as 1977, the President of the Digital Corporation said, “There is no reason to believe that any individual would ever want a computer in their home”. However a young man called Bill Gates thought differently and set up the Microsoft Foundation – and the rest is (as they say) history.
Somebody said it couldn’t be done,
but he with a chuckle replied,
Maybe it couldn’t, but he’d be the one, who wouldn’t say no till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grin, and if he was worried he hid
it,
And he started to sing, as he tackled the thing, that couldn’t be done, and He
did it.
History records how during the battle of Waterloo news of the conflict was flashed from hill top to hill top until it reached the capital London. At a critical stage in the battle two words appeared on the bulletin boards: Wellington Defeated. At that point heavy fog descended and communication became impossible. Fear spread over the nation and people either barricaded themselves in their homes or wondered if they could leave the country. Thankfully a wind sprang up and another word came through the hilltop signal men. The word was Napoleon; now the message read Wellington defeated Napoleon. At this, celebration and euphoria broke out because one word was enough to change the outlook of a complete nation.
When Jesus died on the cross, the Bible records that he cried out just one word: Finished. This was not a cry of defeat but of triumph. He had by submitting to death, completed all that was necessary to ensure forgiveness – a fresh start – and access into the presence of God, without fear or apprehension. That is one of the reasons that many church buildings have a cross on display, as a visual reminder of that unique moment in world history. In fact we all recognise that, in putting the date on our letters and cheques. Everything is now Anno Domini or after Christ.
Now that really is something to think about.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
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