east-to-west Thoughts & Prayer Requests

September 2020 – The New Normal?

It’s arrived… September is here and for many families, the tentative first steps in returning to school are being taken, and the east to west office begins to come out of hibernation having been largely closed over the past five months. As I ponder what this means and try to write this month’s wePRAY for the third time, I realise that the past six months or so have had an impact on my mindset and how I perceive things. Both initial drafts looked at the challenges of Covid-19 and how we’d begin to transition into the ‘new normal’. They spoke of people’s responses to facemasks or how we need to cling to a God who is never changing in the uncertainty and fluidity of our current experiences, and I wrote about the problems and potential barriers that we’d be faced with heading back into schools and hospitals. But then the lightbulb went on! I re-read what I’d written in the opening paragraph and realised that it spoke of something that had all but evaporated over the past months of lockdown: hope! As things slowly begin to re-open and we return to working face to face with young people, both in school and at St Peter’s Hospital, so hope returns. Connecting in person, looking into their eyes and reading their body language as well as listening to their words… Hope. Being present with one another and sharing learning, fun and laughter… Hope. Training new team members and meeting with old… Hope! Experiencing the joy of being in one another’s company once more… You get the point!

A quick Bible Gateway word search reveals that there are 180 references to hope in the bible, and interestingly, one of the greatest clusters of hope is found in the book of Job. A man brought so low by life that all hope seemingly has gone… and yet in his experiences he remained resolute in his love of God. It was in God that he found his strength, in God where he discovered his refuge and in God where despite all his pain and suffering his hope remained.

As I emerge from lockdown like a hibernating bear (my wife and kids would probably say that this analogy needs a reference to a sore head!), I realise that the one thing I missed most was hope… I’d stopped looking for it and as a result felt overwhelmed. I’d become indifferent and unpleasant, self-absorbed and callous…all the things that the positivity of hope helps me overcome. So maybe as I emerge from lockdown a bear with a sore head, I can become the butterfly God intended me to be… I can but hope!

We continue to pray that you stay safe and don’t forget, if there are things you’d like prayer for, you can email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

by Dan Beedell, Head of Income and Communication , east to west

And as always, east to west would appreciate our prayers as well.
Their specific requests for this month are:
•    Please pray that as the new school year begins to take shape, students, parents and staff would feel reassured and secure in the way in which school will now look and operate.
•    Pray that the east to west team are able to work effectively within the parameters that have been put in place, and that any potential obstacles to the work they do are eased aside and paths are made straight.
•    Pray with thanks that God has given them the opportunity to meet face to face with young people once again… Pray that He would give them the right words and responses to those they serve.

[“east to west” is one of the charities Runnymede Deanery has worked with for many years, providing support workers with a Christian background for some local schools.]
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