Creoso -- Welcome!
by: Gwen Hopkins

Saturday Ramblins, Vol. 2, No. 1 (January 9, 1999)

Author's Note: Hi there to everyone. I started my own newsletter called Gwen's Place about eight weeks ago, with items included each week about my part of Wales in the United Kingdom. I didn't realize at the time that it would lead to Jon asking me to write for Saturday Ramblins. I hope that I am up to the task in hand. I leave my writings to what I feel God wants me to say and pray that it will be the right thing said at the right time. I know I can trust in him.

I bet a lot of you are like me and sometimes wonder why things happen in our lives, sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Have you ever wondered that it is God at work in your life. I know from personal experience and now lay all my trust in him.

Wales was a country of coal mines and chapels, also of mountains and valleys. It is very small in comparison to the United States. Now the coal mines are all shut down and many of the chapels as well. But God is coming back to Wales, I can assure you of that - not that he ever really left. For many years now, he has spoken to me of one of his greatest gifts to us: love.

As we go into the millennium, let's go there in love - love for all peoples and nations; in peace - for 1 John 4:21 tells us, "… he has given us his command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." Some of you will say this is easy with family but hard to those who hurt us. I will tell you a true story that happened to us a few years back. God showed me love and forgiveness, and to this day I know the life I have now is of God's leading. I had for many years wanted to run my own business and with a friend an opportunity came along to do this. I sold my home and we moved to West Wales to set this business up. My family and I ended up in Cardigan and I started attending the local church there.

Within six weeks I had lost everything. The friend went off with all of our savings, as I hadn't banked them, but kept them with us in cash. We went through a really rough time. The person concerned also stole our car. When I finally realized what had happened and the police were called in, he was found at the side of the road after attempting suicide. All the money was gone. We were left penniless. My daughter, Tammika, was ten at the time. My husband suffered greatly and has since suffered three strokes (he is now 75 years old and still with us). I had to carry the burden of this for the whole family and went to my pastor's wife. The pastor was abroad taking a convoy of food and clothing to where it was needed.

As I explained to her what had happened, I realized that although we had lost everything including our home, that I only felt love and forgiveness for this person. He had accrued gambling debts, which we didn't know about, and used our money to try to get himself out of trouble. His thought was to gamble more to replace what he had taken.

He did go to jail for this, but God was with me and led me through it all. God showed me instead why he wanted me in that part of Wales: to carry on his work. I was able to go out and evangelize about the love of God, which, I learned by experience, can over come everything. Today, we are still a poor family in financial terms but I know that we are rich in God's love, and to love and forgive those who do us an injustice is God's leading.

I pray for God's blessing on you all and that you will live in God's love.

A Blessed New Year to you all.

Pub. Note: We are happy to welcome our friend and correspondent from Wales. Gwen's column, Creoso, will appear monthly in Saturday Ramblins.