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| The peace of God is a precious gift that cannot be gained through the strength of human might. We only find it when we are ready to abandon our own decisions and allow the depth of God's personality to enrich our hearts and minds. God's wisdom and love are experienced by those who live by faith, but how do others find it? Many might say that wisdom and love are already embedded in society and there is no need for God. Yet most have overlooked or forgotten that the wisdom and love which produces the best in our society come from Scripture and from those who live out their faith. Christianity as a background to people’s lives and moral decisions, and to government and the social life of Britain, has almost been vanquished, and those who live out their faith are becoming fewer, and in many instances, more elderly. Although many will see this as unimportant, it is a major concern for churches. This is why the Amos Scripture Care Trust has devised a model involving the elderly as well as the disabled and unemployed in an effective low cost mission to help people throughout Scotland rediscover the word of the Lord in their lives. (see ‘The Vision Behind our Teams’) | ||
| It is gratifying to know how much our work is appreciated. We have 297outlets for our cards, in Churches, Hospitals, Christian Bookshops, Retreat centres and through individual Christians. People often congratulate us on the quality of our cards, which are handmade. This is entirely due to the standards maintained by our three teams of volunteers, who usually manage to complete an order within 14 days of it being received. Our largest order this year was 1000 bookmarks for the Mother’s Union AGM. This is not the first time that we have received a large order from a well-known organisation, and we are deeply honoured that they trust our abilities to share the words of Scripture. At present we are only able to take on one large order a year, but with extra teams operating we will be able to take on more such orders. |
 Margo, Tommy & Ruth at the Bethany Christmas Hypermarket |
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This year we distributed 8020 cards. This may seem a respectable quantity for cards that are not mass-produced. However it is almost 2000 down on the previous year. This is not because of a failure in our teams, who have continued working throughout the year with only short breaks. The problem is that I no longer have the same energy as I had in the past, when I was able to take on the responsibility for design, team development, and marketing. This year I have been unable to devote much time to marketing, and our orders have declined as a result of this. A volunteer who is willing to spend a couple of hours a week writing to people who have previously ordered cards or people who may be interested in ordering cards would be a great help to us in this coming year. This person does not have to be based in Edinburgh. We were fortunate last year to receive help from two graphic designers. Vicki Broome is a young graphic designer from New Zealand, who was working temporarily in Edinburgh. In the three months she was with us she designed four cards for the workplace, using texts from Proverbs. The aim of these cards is to show those in the working environment, especially the young, the relevance of God’s words to their lives, and particularly their working lives. Hospitals and prisons have their chaplains, but few shops and offices have any Christian input. However, the churches are active in this area, especially in city centres, and here in Edinburgh the city centre clergy are working to increase their contacts with office and shop workers. We hope that they may find these specially designed cards could be a tangible means of helping people to focus on the word of God and its relevance to the workplace. George Rankin is a retired architect who has been with us since the summer. He has enabled us to produce new Christmas and Easter cards incorporating his paintings. Currently he is working on designs for our evangelical catalogue, an improved version of which we hope to publish later this year. Our Church underwent a major refurbishment last year. Although the workmen have been helpful and courteous, it has resulted in some disruption to our work. Power supplies were frequently cut off with the result that we lost messages on our answer phone. If you attempted to contact us and we did not respond, this is probably the reason. Fortunately the work is now almost complete and we have moved into the ‘Old Vestry’, which we share with the ministers of the church. To know that our work is now being carried out in a room where past giants of the church like Candlish, White, and the two Blacks counselled those in distress and prayed before entering the sanctuary for worship, is both humbling and challenging. |
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