Imagine that your house has been destroyed. Imagine that a huge bomb has gone off, or that a gale force wind has smashed through Stoke on Trent.  Imagine combing through the remains of where you once lived. What would you save?

​Look back to the feature on day 21. This is what happened to Peter. His house was destroyed by a German bomb. One of the very few things that was saved from the rubble is seen in the picture below.  What does that say to you? 

This cross is nearly 80 years old and has been in our family ever since the war. It makes me think every time I see it. After all isn't that what being a Christian is all about.........?

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I would like to sincerely thank everyone of the individual contributions from the last 24 days. When I first mentioned this project to Fr. Michael, I was not sure firstly, how he would respond and secondly, how the parish would respond. I have been humbled by the response and enthusiasm on both counts. The Beyond Adversity advent calendar 2020 is a testament to the community spirit and support from St Teresa's parish and St Joseph's school.

Merry Christmas to you all!

As Christmas now really begins to draw near, and we think of the baby Jesus in the stable, today's page in the advent calendar is about what happens when parenthood takes a different pathway from what was expected. In the same way that Mary and Joseph's experience of parenthood was far from usual, so the account below makes us think of what challenges may be faced by parents of disabled children. In the end though, only one thing really matters.......

Finding out that your child is disabled is a bereavement, although in our case, our initial reaction was relief. After years of knowing something was wrong and being told our child would “grow out of it”, after years of having our parenting skills and home life called into question, we were vindicated. Then came the bereavement as we realised that many of the things we had hoped our child would do: live independently, go to university, have a good job, would never happen. Our child’s future became narrower and more limited and at the worst point, our greatest aspiration for our child was that they would not end up in prison.

Having a child with complex needs and behavioural issues is very isolating.  They don’t really have friends and cannot manage to attend any activities for mainstream children.  They don’t often get invited over for tea and never for sleep overs. This means that they spend all their time with their parents. Things get more isolating when they attend special school, as these schools do not have after-school clubs or holiday clubs and often finish as early as 2.15 pm.  This limits how much parents can work and time and again we have found that as a parent of a disabled child it is assumed that you will not have a job. Special schools are often further away than the nearest mainstream school and although transport in generally provided, it means you never meet the parents of the other children.

Talking to the parents of other children becomes a challenge as the common ground begins to disappear. For example, we have sympathised with other parents over “I am disappointed with my daughter’s spelling test result”, while thinking “we just wish our child could write”. Some things begin to be just too shocking for some listeners such as “Our child has smashed up their wooden wardrobe with their head” and you begin to feel as if you live on another planet.
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So how to cope? First and fore most has been the strength of our own relationship. Often in these situations, the parents’ relationship is the first casualty. The parents of other disabled children have been the greatest help, especially in signposting us to access benefits.  Once children have specific diagnoses or are in receipt of specific benefits, they can access activities for disabled children. One thing leads to another, almost like going up levels of a video game, and eventually we were able to access care and respite. Then we have had the support of our families and friends and more recently a self-help group, where you do not shock, no matter how extreme an event gets described, as the group members are all living with similar problems.

So it has been the strength of the relationships we have formed, of love that has pulled us through.
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It truly is the most powerful force in the universe and God is Love.

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At times we may feel alone, but how many of us have gone to a country where we know NO-ONE......? This is the true story of Alex who went to Sweden as part of his degree program. There may be parts of this story that you can reflect on, and resonate with  in your daily life and the struggles that we all face, especially in the current pandemic.

There is a saying in Sweden that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. This typically Nordic piece of wisdom is certainly true. Nonetheless, no amount of warm attire will prepare you for the challenges of the Swedish winter.

Like many of us, I have experienced my fair share of British winters. Sometimes we experience snow, on other occasions, disappointingly, we face weeks of rain. However, when I experienced my first Swedish winter, on my Year Abroad in Uppsala during 2018, all other winters I had known paled in comparison.

First, there was the darkness. The sun rose at a lazy 10am and then set a few hours after lunch at 2pm. With only four hours of daylight, every second of sunshine became precious. Then, there were the clouds. I recall weeks and weeks of grey cloud with perhaps a ten-minute reprieve to remind us that blue skies did still exist. But, when the temperature plummeted to a chilly -25 degrees, we faced the coming of the snow.

This snow was incredible! It was the sort that settled and didn’t melt for months. After the first few weeks of snow, all the colour drained out of the world. Each morning, enormous lorries, with snow ploughs attached, would scrape the roads to keep them open. Every evening, workers would build towers of snow along the pavement, often nearly as tall as the surrounding buildings. In Stockholm, the sea froze, and people used the ice as a shortcut when walking to work. Yet, despite the beauty of my surroundings, faced with darkness, cold, endless snow and little sunshine, getting through the winter was a struggle.

This winter, we might not be quite facing Scandinavian blasts, but we are managing COVID-19. In Sweden, it was the help of my friends and family who inspired me and the knowledge that even if these circumstances were challenging, there was a need to keep on going. And, as something which might be strange, the chance to experience this winter was an opportunity in itself. An opportunity to test your personal resilience and to think of new creative ways to keep your spirits up.
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So, if you’re struggling this winter, remember that you have already successfully weathered most of the storm that 2020 has brought. Keep going and have faith that He is by your side.

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Events from the past should sometimes stay in the past, other times lessons can be learnt and used in the present.  Read the true story below from the second world war and use it to reflect on your own experiences. I challenge you today to look into your past, what lessons can you learn? 

​              OUR VERY OWN DOODLEBUG: 21ST JULY 1944
 
 
There were 2,419 V1s (Doodlebugs) sent to London and in the early morning of 21st July, 1944 our very own V1 flying bomb carrying 850 Kg of high explosive was making its way to our neighbourhood of Penge in South East London. Penge received more V1s than any other part of London and was dubbed “Doodlebug Alley” as a result. We lived in number 10 Arpley Road and were asleep at home, in a Morrison Shelter, a steel cage-like table inside our living room our neighbours at the back, the Carters, in the next road, at 7 Blenheim Road, were also asleep, but inside an Anderson Shelter, in their garden. The Anderson Shelter was made from curved, corrugated steel sheets and half-buried in the garden. There was a brick wall between us and the Carter’s house.
 
My two younger brothers were being evacuated from the city that day, and all their clothes were upstairs in two neat piles with their ration books on top; my two younger sisters had already been evacuated to Rutland. On that fateful morning, my mother, decided that we could all spend a bit longer in bed.  A decision that would affect all of our futures.
 
At about 6.50 am we heard the familiar pop, pop, pop of a V1 approaching. Then its engine stopped and it started its dive to earth: at this point one started to count to 10 and if you were lucky enough to reach 10, it meant you were alive! On that morning, we did not hear the usual explosion. We were either too close or maybe we were stunned. The doodlebug had landed on the Carters’ property. The wall dividing our property from the Carters’ provided some protection from the blast, but our roof was blown off, all the windows broken and suddenly, there was dust everywhere. We were lucky, as the Carters, in their Anderson Shelter, were all killed instantly. 
 
It was wartime in London, and events such as being bombed were part of normal everyday life.  In peace time the damage and deaths would have been a great personal tragedy but back then you just got on with it. My father, who was in the National Fire Service (NFS) throughout the Blitz, found a large tarpaulin and rigged it over our house as a temporary roof and the windows were replaced with a thin white canvas type sheet and we moved back in.
 
The current pandemic reminds me of the war as it has affected everyone, whoever they are and we are all living under a new normal, which would have been unthinkable previously. Once again, we are “All in this together” and we should draw strength from the fact we are not alone in the problems we face. Also, you might imagine that this experience made me hate the Germans, but I was lucky enough to travel to Berlin regularly with my work, and I developed a great affection for them and have spent many happy hours learning their language. So in more ways than one, I have moved from the adversity of my wartime experiences to hope in the future.

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Fr Michael reflects on the adversity we all face... the future.  In this film he talks about the future of the parish.  How can you make a personal commitment to have a heart for Jesus, his Church and his mission?  How might you be able to play in active role in the life of the parish in the coming months?

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The Alpha course is one of the ways in which we can attract new parishioners to St Teresa's Church. Read how one such parishioner heard the call from God in his life

Beyond Adversity Becoming Catholic
 
 
After years of attending a Catholic Church, getting married in a Catholic Church and bringing up my two children as Catholics I decided to do what I knew I always should and become Catholic. I made this decision just at the time Father Michael became our parish priest and it was with some nerves that I reached out to Father and asked him to help me in my journey. I think Father Michael’s homilies were the final push I needed!
 
The first step advised by Father was to attend the Alpha course which I began with 6 other people who were also on the same journey in their faith, the support we received from the group and the parishioners who welcomed and guided us led us to beginning our sessions with Father exploring the key doctrine and sacraments of Catholicism.
 
Through these sessions I knew that I had made the right decision and after a year of thought prayer and study I was excited to complete the journey. The next step was to attend the Cathedral in Birmingham with Father Michael and the group for a lovely ceremony where with my beautiful wife acting as sponsor, I became a member of the elect to be initiated into the sacred mysteries at the next Easter Vigil which happened to fall on the 11th of April.
 
The 11th of April was not only my Mother in Law’s birthday it was actually also the day I had been baptised 44 years ago! This seemed to be the perfect day for me but then the awful disease that has so affected the world, the country and our ability to celebrate our faith together became our ‘new normal’ and it was with great sadness that I realised that we could not celebrate becoming Catholic as intended.
 
Father Michael offered reassurance and although not on the intended day I became Catholic just a few short months later, Covid could not stop my journey in the Faith!
 
Although the process was delayed when I reflected and prayed, I saw that my journey had not been the year I had spent with guidance and help, my journey had been my whole life and I couldn’t have completed it without the help of many people not least our lovely and welcoming family that is the St Teresa’s Parish. 

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The church has been in lock down......but we have overcome adversity and come out the other side! The poem below is by my Dad, and sums up how he feels about it all. Always with a smile on his face! There are some pictures below of how various people have set up their own church at home during the lock down. How did you manage at home on Sundays? What did you do to remind your self that there is life beyond lockdown on other days of the week? How have you explored your neighbourhood? Your relationship with your neighbours and with God?

Oh no, not lock down again!
It’s getting to be a right pain.
No going out to chat to your neighbor next door
It’s quite hard especially when you live
On the tenth floor in a high rise flat
Still I will call him on the phone
We can have a good old moan
May say a prayer or two
Hope good things come through
Got a letter on the floor
Church is open once more
All we ask is you wear your mask
And keep safe distance apart
O Lord you heard our prayer, you came and listened to us
 
O Lord hear my prayer come and listen to me
O lord hear my prayer come and listen to me

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I am sure that we are all familiar with the story of how Jesus healed the deaf man (Mark chapter 7) but how can we carry out works like that? How can we carry out miracles? Can we read passages from the Bible and then think about the lessons that we have learnt? What skills that we have got and how we can apply them in the 21st century? Jesus was a great communicator and often used his skills to get a message across, but what if we are unable to physically hear the message. In today's feature, a young man, through the use of modern technology gains his hearing for the first time. What message should we we trying to get across to people and how are we using modern technology to help us do that?

My first memory of coming to England was at the age of four without hearing a sound. At the time I didn’t know why I came to England, but around at the age of five I knew the reason. It was because my Dad got a job over here. I am so grateful to my parents for coming over here because if I still lived in India, I might not ever have got eh chance to be able to hear…….
For a short time we lived in Coventry, maybe for a year or two. I used to see people talking to me but I still didn’t hear a thing they said. I think that was the worst time in my life because I never had any friends to go and play with when I was little. When I went to school my teachers unnerved me and I used to cling to my Mom because I didn’t want her to leave me. She was my safety blanket! During that time I visited a hospital where I had a hearing test and my Mom would have been told of my deafness. Coventry hospital gave me two hearing aids but they were useless. I still heard nothing and was unable to talk.
Two years later we moved to Stoke on Trent,  I was about six years old went to Harpfield primary school.  There was a lady there who introduced me to the idea of a special school, and although I couldn’t understand what she was saying there was a smile on my Mom’s face!
Four or five days later I joined the Willows primary school. I was very anxious when I saw that the teacher and the children were doing something very strange with their hands. There was one child who was just like me in a class of other hearing children. The teacher taught us sign language. It was very hard for me but I learnt and can still sign!
When I was in year 2 I was given the chance to have a cochlear transplant after tests had been done to see if I was suitable. The surgery took place at Manchester hospital and lasted about six hours. They placed an implant behind my ear which would hopefully help me to hear.
My life began to change immediately, I had speech and language therapy and all the teachers were there to help and support me. Living in a world with silence has now gone. The cochlear transplant was the best present that I ever had because it gave me the gift of hearing!
It made my life so different because when I was born in India, I struggled to communicate and socialise however when I came to England and my hearing difficulties were diagnosed and at the age of eight I had my first implant, it was amazing! Although I still struggle to hear some words when it is a noisy environment, I have a brilliant life and I really thank my parents who allowed me the chance to hear something!

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Sometimes just knowing that God is with you is enough. Keep this simple but powerful thought with you as you listen to and read today's feature.

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Sometimes in this world, extraordinary things can be done by ordinary people. The story in the advent calendar today is about one such person. Read the story, and think what you can do that perhaps you didn't think you were capable of!

​This is the true story (supplied by one of our parishioners) of a  living Person whose actions  resembles  Mother Teresa of India.
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The Founder of NAVA JEEVAN TRUST IN INDIA.
 
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood holy nation, God's spiritual possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light[ 1 peter 2;9]”
 
Mr P .U Thomas born in 1950's into a middle class family at Kottayam District in INDIA. From childhood he prayed to Jesus, “Mother Mary help me”. From the very young age he felt sympathy towards the poor and needy. When he was started school and saw children who has had no food, he gave his meal to them. At that time poverty was everywhere except in the rich families, Thomas also knew what hunger felt like. He left the school and did some hard works such as metaling (making big stones to small pieces) and with that money he bought food for his friends

One time he ran away from home with one of his friend in search of a job made some money to help others in a worse off situation. However, because of hardships and punishments he used to cry. And often he thought of going back home. Eventually he went back home and restarted school. Unfortunately for a while he had suffered with abdominal pain which meant that he couldn’t continue going to school. By now things had got so bad that he had an operation and was admitted in the hospital. During this time he made so many friends with doctors and other workers. He was healed ad became returned to good health. During this time also he was desperate to help others by collecting food from the hostels and giving to the needed ones in the hospital.

As a result, he got a temporary job as a porter in the same hospital where he was admitted. There he continued with charity work by giving food to the needy even from his salary. Later he got the permanent job in the same hospital and he continued to support the local individuals in need.

He got married and had 5 children. Four girls and one son who was born with Autism. He happily accepted and loved the child as he knew already it was his gift from God. Even though he and his family has to go through so many sufferings, he never stopped trying to helping others. At one time though he received help from other people., when his daughter needed £800 for urgent school fees, and they had no money at home. Mr Thomas was unable to pay and simply did not know what to do.

In the morning there came an old man in his 80's asked whether this is Mr Thomas's house, he said yes, the visitor give him £1000 and said this is for your daughter and he went away. Mr Thomas was telling people that even now he doesn’t know who that person was, but he was sure that it was a blessing from God!

Today, he has got a large home for his family and acquaintances, with about 200 people in it. He says it is his extended family, with some of them bedridden. Recently 178 of them were tested Covid positive, despite this, most of the m treated at home, with very few needing to be transferred to hospital . By the grace of Lord all became Covid negative and returned togood health. As a result of helping others throughout his life, he has got many awards and prizes. He visited Mother Teresa in Calcutta and stayed few days there. He got prize and appreciation from Pope Frances. He has done this service for 54 years. Supplying food for 5000 people in different hospitals. He has made this service as a trust known as NAVA JEEVAN TRUST.

The word “Nava Jeevan” means NEW LIFE, which is is very appropriate as we aim to overcome adversity and move into hope at this advent time. How can we help others in need?
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If you would like to find out more about this amazing person and the work that is carried out, please visit https://www.navajeevantrustktm.org/

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