Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, CEO Sarah Dawkins and Church Partnership Coordinator Vicki Bryson gathered with 35,000 others in the beautiful grounds of Wiston House Estate to celebrate Big Church Festival. Vicki shares about how it went.
As one of the exhibitors in ‘the Expo’, we ran a Torch stall for 3 days where we talked to people about the work of Torch, gave out torches, braille wristbands, and leaflets, and spent time making Torch’s name known. We spoke to many supporters of Torch, including members of Torch Fellowship Groups, people who had been on Torch Together holidays, former staff members, and others who had been blessed by the ministry of Torch either personally or through a family member. We also spoke to several people who hadn’t heard of Torch but were excited and encouraged by the work that Torch is doing.
At the exhibition, we met a lady who had recently experienced sight loss. We were able to tell her about the resources that Torch had to offer and explain about the free Pathway audio player that Torch could send her. She was overwhelmed by the difference having such easy access to hearing Scripture could make in her life, and was excited about being able to be part of the Torch family. It is these encounters that remind us why exhibitions and conferences are so important for us to be at as we see God’s blessing in action.
We are currently looking for volunteers who would like to represent Torch at exhibitions and conferences – these include specific sight loss exhibitions as well as large Christian conferences such as Big Church Festival. We need people who are passionate about the work of Torch and happy to talk to those who come and visit the stall. If this is something you would be interested in exploring please contact volunteers@torchtrust.org or 01858 438260.