Record sale of books at festival

With more and more Christian festivals every year one of the friendliest has to be Gorsley Festival, near Ross-on-Wye, on the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire border.

Gorsley Chapel Baptist Church, which is only half a mile from junction one of the M50, again provided a top line-up for five days over the August Bank Holiday.

Jan and I ranthe European Christian Mission stand (pictured below) for the third year running and we were given a brilliant welcome.

Senior Minister John Lewis and his team at the Baptist Church, which has an average weekly congregation of more than 450, put on a well-run festival.

It ranged from a stunning flower display in the church to an in-flight simulator provided by Mission Aviation Fellowship as well as a first class worship and teaching session for all ages.

Groups attending were as diverse as Gloucester Christian Motorcyclist Association,  Newent Choir plus the Good News Centre, also from nearby Newent.

The leadership was a family effort as the Rev Dr Clive Calver, now senior pastor at Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, Connecticut, USA, and his son Gavin gave the teaching on the Good News and the Kingdom while Clive’s wife, Ruth, led some of the seminars.

On Saturday night the main marquee was packed to overflowing for an evening concert with Graham Kendrick.

The whole site was buzzing as coach parties arrived on a day trip from South Wales to see the flowers while the campsite was packed with those staying for the whole festival.

I confess we weren’t braved enough to camp, preferring to stay at the nearby 19^th century Malswick Mill, a first class bed and breakfast location complete with its own carp lake.

There were many visitors to the mission tent and for a break there was always the food area nearby where tables were heaving with home-made cakes, cream teas and local produce.

It was a great success for us in that we almost ran out of literature on the ECM stand handing out more than 120 magazines.

One day it was good to meet up with some old friends from Shrewsbury when a coachload came to the festival and I managed to sell them some copies of Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel.

But we were there mainly to promote ECM and to sell copies of God’s Secret Listener, published by the Monarch Division of Lion Hudson in Oxford, of which I am delighted to say I sold a festival record of 126 books.

Another gift for Victory School

I was delighted to be able to send Berti Dosti another £500 this week as the latest net profits so far this year from the sales of God’s Secret Listener to help pay for more poor children to be educated at the Victory School in Lushnje, Albania.

Last year I was able to send £2,000 to pay for 80 poor children to attend the school.

Berti, who is pastor of the church and also principal of the school, said these youngsters would not have been able to afford the three-year course without these gifts.

Victory School, which started in the autumn of 1997 with just eight pupils, now teaches more than 750 pupils a year offering classes in English, Italian and computer studies.

Students, whose ages range from eight years to 40 plus, learn English by using the New Interchange scheme for adults and the Cambridge method for youngsters.

The scheme consists of five levels and students study each one for six months by coming three times a week for afternoon classes. The children also attend a state school in the morning.

Interestingly, the pupils do not wear a uniform, but the teachers do, all having a pink overall, some of whom are pictured below.

The students will also be given the chance to learn Microsoft Word be as all new students at the school are given free computer lessons for a year.

With Albania now a member of NATO and wanting to join the European Union more and more Albanian children wish to learn English to give them a better chance of a job.

If you would like to read more about the Victory School email me at John@jbutterworth.plus.com  to buy a copy of God’s Secret Listener, published by the Monarch division of Lion Hudson, for £7.50 including postage within the UK or £8.50 anywhere in the world.

Trans World Radio joy at book response

I was delighted to receive an unexpected email from Trans World Radio in America this week in connection with my book, God’s Secret Listener.

It’s the true story of Berti Dosti, a captain and radio specialist in Enver Hoxha’s Albanian army, whose job in the 1970s and 80s was to listen in to the world’s airwaves to give the Stalinist dictator early warning in case Britain, America or Russia were about to invade.

Berti, pictured below, never found an enemy signal, but he stumbled across a radio programme broadcast by Trans World Radio and the European Christian Mission into the Balkan country which had been closed to the rest of the world for 47 years and had banned Christianity.

At great risk to himself Berti became a secret listener and after communism fell in the late 1980s Captain Dosti became Pastor Dosti of a newly-revived Albanian church and the principal of The Victory School in Lushnje, which now teaches English to 750 Albanian youngsters every year.

Trans World Radio in America were delighted with the story and bought 250 copies of my book last year to use in a direct mail effort to supporters and potential new ones.

In this week’s email, Bob Hall, Director of Donor Services of TWR Americas, wrote: “Response to your book God’s Secret Listener was very positive when we used it as a donor premium in our direct mail efforts.

 “Since the book has such a close connection to TWR and was very well received by our constituents, we would very much like to use this book on a regular basis.”

TWR, which broadcasts in 230 languages to more than 160 countries with millions of listeners, wondered if we could print the book in the USA.

After speaking to Tony Collins, editorial director of the Monarch division of Lion Hudson who published the book, I was delighted to be able to tell Bob that we already print God’s Secret Listener in the USA and we could provide him a sizeable order.

The story of how American Paul E Freed started Trans World Radio in 1954 and how they came to be broadcasting from Monte Carlo into Albania is told in my book.

To order a signed copy for £7.50 in the UK or £8.50 anywhere in the world including postage email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

Amazing meeting at Keswick Convention

I have just returned from a very successful and enjoyable week at the Keswick Convention.

It is the third year running I have been and I would say this was the most memorable for the many fascinating people I met and also the number of copies of God’s Secret Listener I sold.

It also made a difference that it hardly rained unlike the previous two years and that I was helped very ably on the European Christian Mission stand by the East of England volunteer Don Gyton and Philipp Ruesch who works for Trans World Radio in Vienna, Austria. Don is pictured left and Philipp on the right on the stand.

As well as European Christian Mission and Trans World Radio having links as told in Captain Berti Dosti’s story, published by Lion/Monarch of Oxford, the two agencies are now working closer together to help promote each other.

I again stayed in Brun Lea Guest House in Stanger Street which I can thoroughly recommend. It is only yards from the town centre and about 100 yards from the Earthworks exhibition area where all the mission stands were situated.

There were more than 3,000 visitors to the convention which went very well.

In particular I thought the guest lecturer, Andrew Dilnot, who spoke about Biblical principles in the funding of the care of the elderly was first class. He spoke well and the ensuing discussion was very helpful.

Andrew certainly has an impressive CV. He is Principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford; a Pro Vice Chancellor of Oxford University; Chairman of the United Kingdom Statistics Authority; Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies from 1991 to 2002 and Chairman of the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, which reported to the Government recently.

What amazed me was the number of faithful mission supporters visiting the convention and how many of them commented on how moving they found Berti Dosti’s visit and interview at Keswick last year.

But for me the most amazing event was when someone mentioned my name while I was in the coffee queue and a young man came over to me and asked me: “Are you the John Butterworth who was a dormitory leader at the Felixstowe Explorer Camp in 1989?”

I said I was and then Simeon Locke said he had been in my group for two years running when he had been nine and ten years old.

Simeon is now married to Gemma and they have a young baby daughter Elodie.

They are about to go with ReachAcross to help the church in Kayes in Mali in West Africa or if the political situation in that country worsens they will go first to Senegal.

I was touched he remembered me and delighted he came over to introduce himself to me.

It capped a memorable Keswick Convention for me.

If you would like to order a signed copy of the book for £7, including postage within the UK or £8 anywhere in the world also email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Auspicious day for Sali Rahmani

July 26 will always remain an auspicious day for Sali Rahmani, whose story is told in God’s Secret Listener.

Thirty-six years ago today the former Berwick-upon-Tweed Bible College student married Helen McGinley at Mosspark Baptist Church in Glasgow.

After a three-day honeymoon in Berwick-upon-Tweed, the newly-married couple drove out to Munich where Sali began a new ministry there helping overseas workers.

He also continued sending his Christian tapes in Albanian back to the European Christian Mission studio in Rawtenstall which were then beamed into the Balkan country by Trans World Radio in Monte Carlo.

Sali, pictured below, never realised how important his wedding day was until six years later in April 1983 when he decided to combine a trip home to Kosovo to see his parents and to go into the nearby villages and towns to find if there were any listeners to his radio programme there.

He was arrested by the Yugoslav police who accused him of propagating the Christian message, mostly through his radio work.

After days of questioning they produced a couple of plastic bags with an Albanian John’s Gospel in it, plus a large straw to keep the bag afloat, some chewing gum and Christian literature on which there were Sali’s contact details.

What do you know about these, demanded his interrogators? Sali knew about them, but very wisely, he had asked the Christians involved not to tell him too many details. Now he was glad he had been careful.

Some Christians had approached him with an imaginative scheme to get the Christian message into Albania.

This group had filled 1,000 plastic bags and dropped them into the 335 kilometre-long River Drin in Kosovo to float downstream into Albania.

His interrogators refused to accept that Sali had nothing to do with this unusual plastic bags mission, despite all his protestations.

Anyway, the interrogators told him it had been a useless enterprise as the authorities had fished all the plastic bags out of the river.

So Sali was delighted when he was visiting Christians in Kruje about ten years later and one of them produced the plastic bag and Christian literature, which he had found in the river and had read.

Meanwhile, Sali was wondering how he could convince them of his innocence, when one of the interrogators let slip the plastic bags had been put into the river on Saturday, June 26, 1976.

Suddenly Sali shouted with delight. “I can prove it wasn’t me. I had nothing to do with those plastic bags dropped into the river. I wasn’t even in Kosovo on that day.

“I was a couple of thousand miles away,” he said triumphantly. “I was in Glasgow, it was my wedding day.”

Sali’s story is told in God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion/Monarch of Oxford.

To order a copy for £7.50 including postage in the UK and £9 anywhere in the world email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Birthday congratulations go to Alma

Belated birthday congratulations go to another unsung heroine in the Albanian church as Alma Syla celebrated a special milestone on Saturday.

A couple of weeks ago it was celebration time for Berti Dosti’s wife Tatyana. Then at the weekend it was the turn of Alma, pictured below, a deacon and a leading member of the Way of Peace Church in Lushnje and also the senior teacher at the Victory School.

As a young girl Alma grew up at the end of the Enver Hoxha era. She had always wanted to be a teacher but she had to do it the hard way.

When Communism fell she managed in 1990 to get a post in a remote village school as well as gaining a scholarship to study at a university in Tirana.

To get to the school in Spolet, it meant catching the 6.30am bus from Lushnje for an hour’s journey before a 45-minute walk through two villages to the school, where she started teaching at 8.30am and finished at 1.30pm. Then she had to repeat the journey, arriving home at 3pm.

After a meal and a rest, she started her own studies and preparing the next day’s lessons, until 10.30pm, depending on whether there were any power cuts, which were frequent in those days.

She travelled to school with on the bus with Elsa, a Christian teacher at the school who helped her become a believer.

In 2000 Alma started teaching at the Victory School and has played a pivotal role there and in the church.

Congratulations to Alma and I hope she had a memorable day with her husband Drini and two daughters Sabrina and Kaltrina.

Alma’s story is told in God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion/Monarch of Oxford.

To order a copy for £7.50 including postage in the UK and £9 anywhere in the world email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Albania strikes oil

I am indebted to journalist colleague and friend Barrie Farnsworth for sending me a press release announcing that Albania has discovered massive oil deposits in the Adriatic Sea.

This Balkan country already has one of the highest economic growth markets in south eastern European and this discovery is predicted to produce around one billion barrels of oil giving a huge boost to the economy.

Indeed, the discovery has led the Balkan nation to consider how it will best spend its new found fortune given that Albania earns 10% of gross production and makes 50% of earnings from oil sales according to the standard contract that the government uses with foreign companies searching for oil.

Ravin Maharajah, Partner of Lalzit Bay Resort and Spa, the 5 star luxury residential development, pictured below, on Albania’s Adriatic coastline, commented: “There are very high hopes for an oil boom in Albania.

"Indeed, foreign direct investment into Albania derived from global conglomerates Shell and Petromanas joining in partnership to explore for oil in the country will no doubt increase, making a real impact on the Balkan nation.

“As well as banking on oil, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will assist the Albanian government in September 2012 with a project that aims to rejuvenate Albania's outdated railways with a particular focus on rehabilitating the Durres-Tirana railway line seeing as 40% of Albania's population is based there.

"This will no doubt help push more tourism into the area further boosting the nation’s economic prospects.”

Maharajah continues: “As a testament to Albania's potential, our customer base is constantly growing with interest rapidly increasing in our 5 star resort.

“Indeed, the expectation of increased GDP growth as well as high visitor numbers in coming years thanks to a wider range of infrastructure projects such as the new railways, Lalzit Bay Resort and Spa will provide the perfect property investment opportunity for as little as €38,000.

Lalzit Bay Resort and Spa offers a premium, exclusive product to buyers who want the benefits of villa ownership including private gardens and terraces, exclusive services, and more privacy as well as a range of facilities including private swimming pools, a BBQ area, tennis courts and superb restaurants."

I wonder what on earth Communist dictator Enver Hozha would have thought of this economic boom and what he would have done with all this wealth if Albania had struck gold when he ruled from 1944-85.

 Would its history would have been so different?

To find out more about Albania read God’s Secret Listener published by Lion/Monarch of Oxford.

To buy a copy of the book, £6.50 including postage within the UK or £7.50 anywhere in the world email John@jbutterworth.plus.com   

Happy Birthday, Tanya

Happy birthday congratulations this week go to Tatjana Dosti who played an important role in the rebirth of the Albanian church.

Tatjana – or Tanya as she is known on Facebook – married Berti in her village of Melcan, near Korce, on Saturday, October 24, 1981.

She then moved to Berti’s home in Lushnje where they have lived ever since.

As well as bringing up their two children, Alta and Dorian, and looking after the family home Tatjana has played an important part in the church.

She hosted the second ever service in Lushnje in their home and every week for the next six months until the Way of Peace church grew too big for their flat and moved into a bigger building.

In 1997 during the troubles when angry crowds took to the streets Tatjana, who had been working as a court official, got up early to help her boss remove important legal documents from their office and move them to safety as the mob were setting fire to public buildings all over the country.

It wasn’t the first time that Tatjana, pictured below, had braved a violent demonstration.

She had been caught up in violence in Lac when Berti’s policeman brother had been injured and crowds had surrounded the police station.

She then helped Berti set up the Victory School and as numbers grew there and at the church she gave up her job to work full-time for both organisations.

The saying that behind every great man, there’s a greater woman is certainly true of Berti and Tatjana.

She is one of the quiet but unsung heroines of the new Albanian church.

I hope she had a great birthday on Monday.

I am too polite to say how old she is, but readers can work it out if they read the Dostis’ story in God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion/Monarch of Oxford.

To order a copy for £7 including postage in the UK and £8 anywhere in the world email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Charity CD to buy a cow

I was delighted to hear this week from a friend who was on the same Albania trip as I was in May 2008 and who has come up with a novel way to help the church in Lushnje.

Janet King, a trustee with the European Christian Mission and a member of her village choir, has helped produce a charity CD with the profits going to help a poor family buy a cow.

She said the visit made a lasting impact on her and she enjoyed meeting Berti Dosti, leader of the Rruga e Paqes (Way of Peace) Church and founder of Victory School, whose story is told in my other book God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion/Monarch of Oxford. 

Janet wrote in an email: “In Lushnje I found a group of people determined to make the world around them a better place for many families and young people with a variety of social, community and educational projects.

  

“Recently, with the help of aid from Holland they have rebuilt two primary schools in local villages.  

“Now the Cow for Life Project (CFLP) is one of their latest initiatives aimed at helping poor families from two villages by providing them with a cow which is either in calf or has a calf.” 

She added: “During a visit in August 2011 I was privileged to see ‘Daisy’, pictured below, as we called her, being delivered to one such family in Bitaj. 

“It was amazing.  To receive a cow is life changing for such poor families who suddenly find themselves able to have fresh milk, butter and yogurt. 

“If all goes to plan, Daisy’s first two calves will be sold and the proceeds put into buying another healthy cow in calf for another needy family.”

Janet said that when about 20 members of Burton Village Choir, pictured below, came together to make music for the St James' Carol Service at Ab Kettleby, Leicestershire, in December 2010 it was such fun that they met up  again in November 2011 to practise another five songs for Christmas.

“It seemed a pity to stop there,” added Janet, “we were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to keep going.

“We wanted to share something of our joy in making music to try to help others less fortunate than ourselves.”

They joined forces with nearby St Mary’s Choir in Melton Mowbray and this CD is the result.

All the proceeds from this CD, entitled You Raise Me Up will go towards the Cow for Life Project.

No money will go in administration fees as it will be transferred directly by Janet to a special CFLP account held by The Way of Peace Church.

The project has gone so well that they hope to raise enough money to buy two cows.

For more details on how to buy a CD for £10 email janetking476@btinternet.com 

Tea and talk at a National Trust house

The most interesting location where I have given a talk recently has to be Sunnycroft, in Wellington, Shropshire.

This substantial red-brick villa is a typical, small suburban gentleman’s residence from the late-Victorian era which is now managed by the National Trust.

I was invited to speak about my books by the Sunnycroft Afternoon Tea Group, some of whom are pictured below.

I had been once before to this villa whose contents and decorations have been largely unaltered for more than 100 years.

But it was good to see the place without the visitors streaming through – over Easter they had more than 1,000 people come in during the four days.

It was also interesting talking to some of the 100 volunteers who help keep the house and gardens in first class condition as well as being guides and answering the visitors’ many questions.

I had a number of questions from the Tea Group after my talk on the Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, and I was delighted that I sold copies of that book and God’s Secret Listener published by Lion Hudson Monarch of Oxford.

As befitting this welcoming group we finished with a cup of tea and excellent home-made cakes.

It was a very pleasant afternoon – despite the torrential rain outside.

If you would like me to give a talk to your group on either the fascinating history of The Lion Hotel in Shrewsbury, or Albania – the country that was shut off from the rest of the world for 47 years or Editing the fourth oldest weekly paper in Britain email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

Making tracks for an unusual press launch

I have had a different Monday this week when I went to a railway company’s press launch.

Long-standing friend Pete Mason asked me to write a press release last week for a group of Stone and Stafford railway enthusiasts for whom a 20-year dream is on track this weekend.

I thought I must attend and I was really impressed by the trains, the mile-long track and all the hard work put in by the group.

The Amerton Railway, near Stowe-by-Chartley had always wanted to own the land which it had been renting near Stafford to keep alive the Staffordshire railway heritage.

Now the owner of Amerton Farm & Craft Centre, Paul Williams, has agreed to sell the field on which the line runs to the Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway, of which Pete is one of the directors.

To celebrate this occasion the charity is holding a special open day this Saturday (May 5) for the public to see and ride behind a number of local historic engines.

At 1pm on Saturday (May 5) the Mayor of Stafford, Cllr Stan Highfield, will cut a celebratory ribbon to herald the next 20 years of narrow gauge railway heritage in Staffordshire.

It will be almost 20 years since the then Mayor of Stafford, pictured below, officially opened the railway on the Amerton site on March 27, 1993, by cutting a ribbon and making a speech from Isabel’s footplate before the train gave the mayoral party a special trip along the line.

“It will be a day of celebration and a great chance to thank all those who have helped make this dream happen,” said Derek Luker, chairman of the railway, who added that the money had been given by members and supporters plus a mortgage from the HSBC Bank.

 “It is also an opportunity to show the county’s tremendous railway heritage which is becoming a really popular tourist attraction,” added Derek.

He said the charity was staffed by volunteers whose aim was to restore, maintain and run narrow gauge locomotives.

The 115-year-old Isabel, which used to be on a plinth outside Stafford station, will be one of the engines giving rides on Saturday (May 5) from 12 noon to 5pm.

Built in 1897 by Bagnalls of Stafford the steam engine is now fully restored and will be operating most weekends at Amerton Railway along the mile-long track.

Two other engines will also be in steam on the day; Jennie built in Tamworth in 2008 and a 2007 Paddy vertical boiler while other diesels will be on display in the yard including:

Golspie built in 1935 by the Burton-upon-Trent firm of Baguley for the Trentham Gardens railway. When that railway closed, it moved to Alton Towers and then to Amerton, where the public can see it awaiting restoration.

Dreadnought, built in 1939 by Baguley, was used in Kent, Lancashire and Walton-on-the-Naze pier, Essex. It now works passenger trains on some Saturdays and will be running at the opening

Ernie’s Engine, the small Ruston diesel locomotive from Littleton Colliery, Cannock, is now used for shunting at Amerton.

Lorna Doone, the “Wren” class quarry loco which was moved from the Birmingham Science Museum to be restored in the Amerton workshops, was built in Stoke-on-Trent in 1922 by the locomotive manufacturer Kerr, Stuart and Co Ltd.

At the special opening day will be VIPs including County, Borough and Stafford Tourism officials, donors and members of the railway and representatives from HSBC Bank.

Youngsters with special needs from the Trinity Skills for Life in Stone were to enjoy the press launch together with local mums and babies who met through the National Childbirth Trust.

So far the launch has gone brilliantly with a page one picture story, pictured below, in the Express and Star tonight (Tuesday) plus a one-minute video clip on their video site.

It certainly helped that it was the only sunny day with blue skies for more than a week.

The Burton Mail has also given the railway good coverage and I am promised the Staffordshire Newsletter and other papers will also be running the story.

If you want a fun day out this Bank Holiday weekend for all the family do go to the open day at Amerton Farm & Craft Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Fascinating evening in Ludlow

I was delighted to be the guest speaker at this year’s annual meeting of The Ludlow Historical Research Group where I spoke about my two books, Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, and God’s Secret Listener published by Lion Monarch Publishing of Oxford.

Chairman Jonathan Wood, pictured below, gave me a warm welcome and I was impressed by this active group.

Founded in 1976, it has a vibrant membership and a very well respected programme of research and publishing.

They also lead weekend walks around this historic Shropshire market town.

I learnt that Ludlow was a planned Norman town and by the end of the 12th century a grid pattern of streets had been laid out which survive, virtually intact, to this day.

Members are encouraged to undertake research projects, either individually or as part of small groups.

Some of the topics currently being researched by our members include:

Records of Burgess Admissions: Four members have begun transcribing and analysing the records of the Burgesses (Freemen) of the Borough of Ludlow. When completed the transcription will be available and become an invaluable aid for work on Ludlow families and on the understanding of local politics.

Bastardy Bonds: The Bastardy Bonds have now been transcribed as far as 1745, and is approaching the stage of entering the details on to a database and analysing the results. A general pattern is already emerging. The unfortunate young women who made these applications to the parish for financial help were almost all illiterate hired servants. Putative fathers ranged from fellow servants and labourers to dragoons from the regiment of soldiers stationed at Leintwardine.

The Merchant House, Ludlow: The purpose of this study is to examine the construction, evolution and past occupancy of The Merchant House. This is a 15th century hall house that in more recent times gained international fame as Ludlow's first Michelin-stared restaurant and so played a key catalytic role in the creation of the town’s present gourmet status.

World War One Soldiers: An ongoing research project is looking into the backgrounds of the Ludlow men killed between 1914 and 1918 during the First World War.

I was also very impressed with the modern Ludlow Library and the excellent views over the town from the lecture room on the top floor.

My talk seemed to go down go well with a number of questions afterwards – and I also sold copies of both books making it an enjoyable and successful evening.

I also made a note to go on one of their town walks on a sunny weekend.

American visitors enjoy hotel tour

I was delighted to meet the Hall family from the USA and show them round The Lion Hotel this week.

A few days earlier Barbara Hall from West Milford, New Jersey, had emailed me to say that she was accompanying their school band who are performing tonight (Thursday, April 12) at 7.30pm at St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury.

She had looked up the historic inn online and came across my book, Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel.

Barbara emailed me to say: “I am eagerly looking forward to my visit to this historic hotel and to reading your account of its history. 

“I am a retired librarian and a long-time fan of British literature on many levels and would like to buy six signed copies of my book.” 

I didn’t realise until I met Barbara that she had come over with her family.

Grandmother Barbara, pictured below with her son, Kevin, and daughter-in-law Mary were all in Shrewsbury to see their son and Barbara’s grandson, Sean, play the bagpipes in the West Milford High School symphonic band, known as The Highlanders.

Sean, like all the other musicians, was staying with families all over Shrewsbury.

For 76-year-old Barbara and Kevin, a physician, it was their first trip to England.

The group of 98 pupils and 31 adults had flown in on Sunday and had already given a concert to the Chelsea Pensioners on Wednesday morning as well as fitting in some sightseeing round London plus a trip to Stonehenge.

Then tomorrow (Friday) it is on to Edinburgh where the band will perform in the Scottish capital before flying back home on Sunday from Glasgow Airport.

Barbara said she had always wanted to visit England after writing to a pen friend during the war years from when she was 10 years old to 13.

“All I remember was the English friend kept writing to say ‘please send more jelly and stockings’.”

She said she really enjoyed seeing all the historical sights while son Kevin said he was amazed how helpful people were and how friendly English pubs were.

Barbara, Kevin and Mary, who had only been to London on her previous visit to England, were all impressed with Shrewsbury’s beautiful buildings.

They were fascinated by The Lion Hotel as I showed them the bedroom where Charles Dickens had stayed, the ballroom where Niccolo Paganini had played and where Charles Darwin had left on the stagecoach for the first part of his epic round-the-world journey.

Mary, who is a housewife and a volunteer helper with the band, said the school came every four years to Shrewsbury but added the all the members of the Hall family would like to visit Shrewsbury again.

I was delighted that as well as buying six copies of my book, Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, they also bought a signed copy of my other recent on, God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion/Hudson/Monarch of Oxford.

If you are coming to The Lion Hotel and would like to meet me so I can give you a tour of the building email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

I'm going to be a Grandad

It’s not only Berti Dosti, whose story is told in God’s Secret Listener published by Lion Hudson Monarch, who has become a grandad for the first time as I reported in an earlier blog.

When we went out to South Africa in February this year to see our son Andrew and his wife Michelle the first news we were greeted with was that Jan and I were going to become grandparents.

Michelle, pictured below, had only just found out she was pregnant and so we couldn’t announce the news until this week when she passed the 12-week date.

The baby is due in mid October and we are all delighted as it’s the first grandchild on our side of the family and the first great grandchild for Jan’s parents and also my Mum.

Jan has already offered to help by going out to Johannesburg in October and I have also agreed to play my part by staying in the UK as I would be more of a hindrance in their small flat.

Still I and the rest of the family will all be excited to see Andrew and Michelle plus baby when they come to England this Christmas.

More than 260 attend my lecture

Whenever I give talks to groups and societies on my two books, God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion Monarch, and Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, I usually expect an audience of around 30-40.

So I was delighted on Monday this week when more than 260 people, pictured below, from the Shrewsbury University of The Third Age turned up for my lecture in the Walker Theatre at Theatre Severn.

The University of the Third Age, founded in Paris in 1979, is open to everyone and has become an international organisation.

Their objective is to advance the education of, and provide educational interest for, people aged over 50 no longer in full-time employment.

They aim to achieve this through monthly meetings and through members' involvement in their study groups.

The UK's U3A was founded in 1982 and has been a major success. Today there are over 800 branches and more than 270,000 members.

I spoke to the Shrewsbury U3A group, which started in 1992, about ten years ago when I was editor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle.

Then there were around 100 people, but the group has mushroomed to now having 425 members and become so big that they have had to change venues a couple of times.

At the rate they are growing they will soon be too big for the Walker Theatre which is a modern lecture room with all the high-tech facilities and helpful staff.

It was a delight to speak there, made even more pleasurable by selling a number of books afterwards.

I was amazed how keen members were with the theatre reception crowded at 9.45 with people ready for the 10.30 lecture.

I was also surprised at their full programme and all their many study groups on a range of topic from wine to bridge.

The annual subscription, currently £16 payable each September, covers affiliation fees to the national organisation, four 'U3A News' magazines posted to members, and local expenses such as the cost of speakers and room rental for monthly meetings, postage and the publication of a newsletter. It also includes membership of any study group or groups.

I wish the U3A continued success. I was so impressed that I might join – when I have more time!

Meeting murdered policeman's father

I had a fascinating and successful weekend recently talking about my two latest books, God's Secret Listener and Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury.

On the Saturday morning I was the invited speaker for the first ever men’s breakfast for the village churches around Shrewsbury.

The organisers were delighted that 30 men turned up at the Four Crosses, Bicton, and they are already planning another similar event at the end of June.

I never expected to find another author in the audience but I was privileged to meet Robin Oake, a former Chief Constable on the Isle of Man whose son, Stephen Robin Oake, was an anti-terrorism detective with Greater Manchester Police.

On January 14, 2003, he was murdered while attempting to arrest a suspected terrorist in the city.

Robin, pictured below, has written a number of books including Father Forgive, published by Authentic Media, which tells of his son’s death and the issues it raised for him and his family as he learnt to forgive his killers.

I was really moved by the gentleness, humility and godliness of this retired policeman who now lives near Shrewsbury.

Incidentally, I must mention the efficient service and excellent breakfast served up by the Four Crosses at Bicton.

Then on Sunday I was invited by the Rev Canon Dr Barry Wilson, vicar of All Saints, Madeley, and St Margaret's, Betley, on the Staffordshire/Cheshire border to speak again at the morning service where I received a really warm welcome.

Finally, on Monday I spoke to the Meir Heath Windmill preservation and local history group in North Staffordshire.

The organisation was set up in 2004 in an effort to save the windmill, pictured below, which had been abandoned after centuries of working life.

It received tens of thousands of pounds of investment and the landmark, next to the Windmill pub, is now classified as a grade two listed building.

Organiser Gillian Swift, who invited me, said they were now planning a book to coincide with the Queen’s diamond jubilee this year.

They meet at Sandon Business and Enterprise College in Meir and I was really impressed by the modern facilities there and the members’ interest in my books.

All in all it was a fascinating weekend – and successful as I managed to sell my books at all three events.

To buy a copy of Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, or God's Secret Listener, published by Lion Monarch of Oxford, email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

Drought? Our problem is snow

In England we might be worried about the lack of rain and a drought this year with a hosepipe ban already in operation in parts of the country.

But in Kosovo the opposite is the problem. When we returned from South Africa we received a prayer letter from Gani and Adile Smolica, pictured below, whose story is told in God’s Secret Listener.

The couple left their Prishtina home in 1993 and played an important part in helping Berti Dosti and the young Albanian church.

Seven years later in June 2000 they returned to Kosovo to work for the European Christian Mission in Peja.

They wrote recently: “We have never seen more snow in our lifetime. It has been falling and falling for more than 10 days, and the snow layer has reached more than two metres.

“People have been coming to the meetings on foot cutting the thick snow with their bodies.

“Two Sundays ago we expected about 15 people to come to the service, but the most devoted ones came and we had about 30.

“Last Sunday, because the snow was deeper, only 20 came. During our service we heard the church roof cracking and squeaking, so we just prayed for about 15 minutes and went out to clear the roof of snow. 

“The roof is damaged and, as soon as the snow melts, we will assess the damage and decide what to do.

“We will most probably have to build a new roof. We’ll need a lot of prayer and finances for this project. But, God will provide for it.

“Praise the Lord that the church activities have gone well so far, despite severe weather and heavy snow.

“We thank the Lord for commitment of church members and their help to run the meetings.

“Very soon the snow will start to melt and there are great risks of floods. Pray for God’s protection and for His hand upon all of us.

“Pray for the people we have spoken to recently about God, as they had different questions in this bad weather.

“Pray for us as family. We have been quite low in financial support and have tried to cut many things that we usually do.

“Please keep praying for us and remembering us and our ministry for Him.

“This year marks ten years since we moved to the premises we are using now, and in September we are planning to have a modest ceremony to thank the Lord for His faithfulness to us. Pray for the organisation of that event.”

To read more of Gani and Adile's story in God's  Secret Listener, published by Lion Hudson Monarch in Oxford, email John@jbutterworth.plus.com for a signed copy for £6 including postage within the UK or £7 anywhere in the world.