An Evangelical Church in the Heart of Thatcham

How far would you go?

Thinking of the most basic staples of life, our bread and water, I wonder how far you would be willing to go for them?

I recently came across a couple of stories which showcase what people have been willing to do.

The first is from a village in East Java province called Klepu. There the residents of the village, during the summer, have to walk an hour and only to descend 10 metres into the precarious depths of a cave. They go down a steep and slippery ladder just to get their hands on one or perhaps two buckets of cold fresh water.

The other was of a priest in northern Ethiopia who every day scales a 250 metre cliff just to get to his church, which is cut out of the cliff face. It takes him 2 hours each way and he leaves in the morning, for what is essentially his daily commute, at 6am. This incredible and breathtakingly dangerous ascent up into the heights is, as he says, to get his daily bread. This is his time with God reading, studying and meditating on God’s word preserved in ancient books that are kept in his church which goes back as far as the 5th Century AD.

So, how far would you go to get the true essentials of physical and eternal life?

The book of Proverbs, chapter 2, provides a “shop window” into God’s advice:

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands … turning your ear …applying your heart …call … and cry aloud …look for it as for silver … search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”

All I can say is: go for it, don’t hold back, and you’ll never get hungry nor thirsty.

Pastor Hedley

I am the Pastor at Thatcham Evangelical Church in West Berkshire. This is an FIEC (Fellowship of Evangelical Churches) affiliated church.