Chester will miss his river walks :-(

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Home safe

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Still waiting

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Waiting in the Airport.

Laura did this welcome home poster. We are all here waiting in terminal 2. Eating some very expensive sandwiches!
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They baked a cake!

Laura and Katie baked a cake tonight for Anna's return tomorrow

She loves kinder eggs and anything pink. Looking forward to sampling this delight tomorrow :-)
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Two out of three home :-)

Katie and Laura arrived back from their week of mission in Spain last night. They had lots of stories to tell. A wonderful experience for them all.
The whole story is told here. www.spain.wbcyoungpeople.co.uk

Thanks to Rich,Sarah and Tee for leading the team so well.

Anna next. We pick her up from Manchester airport tomorrow :-)
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Rev Rob !

People often wonder what I look like when I wear my dog collar(which only ever goes on for out of hours hospital visits)

So for here you go, one time only. If you see me in it again you're likely to be on your last legs :-).
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Shropshire Life. Late evening walk :-)

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Caddy has come to stay.

We have Phil and Tee's dog 'Caddy' keeping Chester company this week whilst the Wrights are in Spain.
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The intrepid Biker Pastor.

Phil sent me this pic from Spain today. He is biking down to meet with our team of young people who are on a mission in Spain.

If you want to check out their exploits. Then click this address

www.spain.wbcyoungpeople.co.uk
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Hospital visits.

Have been spending a lot of time over the last three weeks travelling back and forwards to Arrowe Park hospital near Birkenhead. Mum has been quite poorly with heart problems but is thankfully now a little more stable. This does mean lots of time spent in the car which is a blessing in many ways as it gives you plenty of opportunity to drink in some good preaching via podcasts.

Its true every cloud does have a silver lining.
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A bit of Perspective from Anna

This is a text I received from Anna. These are kids with a real daily need. If you want to feed and clothe and shelter one of them then you can. Anna is bringing back with her a list of kids that need sponsoring. It will cost you 25 quid a month. If you want to commit then drop me a mail
'Hey mum and dad! Could i give my sleeping bag and roll mat to a child here please? You should see what they live in, and they must be frozen at night, plus i want to give them something soft to lie on. These poor kids have nothin and its breakin my heart, i just want to bring them home!! So just wondering? Love you Xx...here is a pic of a tin shack that these children have to live in x'

Moving Times.

Last Monday the Lord confirmed a calling back to Liverpool for both myself and my family. I am to take up a post as part of the pastoral team at the Bridge Chapel in Garston Liverpool.

It will be sad to leave behind so many good friends and so many faithful brothers and sisters here in Wem. Our five years here have been a tremendous blessing to all us Whiteways and Wem will always hold a special place in our hearts.

But as we pray every day 'Thy will be done ' and the Lord has made it clear that we should go.

So its back to the city I left in 1985 in the days of Duran Duran and when Liverpool FC dominated the league! Let's hope with my return the reds will do the same by winning the premiership next season :-)
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Coffee morning.

One of the delights of ministering in Wem is the Thursday morning coffee morning at the church. You can't beat a good cup of tea/coffee and a chat and the odd cake or two :-)
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Moral , Spain 09

Some of our young people have gone to Moral in Spain this week. They are working in the town of Moral ,helping with a holiday bible club.

Katie and Laura are amongst them, so it is very quiet in our house this week :-)
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Sad day for Anna ....

Anna , my eldest daughter is away in South Africa at the moment working in an orphanage for children with aids .

She is pictured cradling a little boy who was very sick . Sadly today the little boy died .

As I said to Anna in a text ,"He has left your arms and is now safely cradled in the arms of Jesus ." Jesus Christ is the only hope that these kids have . Pray for Anna , her time in Africa is proving to be a very stretching experience one that she will never forget.

We all need to have compassion for these poor kids who have contracted this killer disease through no fault of their own .

Here is the link to the Orphanage ..Click Here

Norman & Joan had a letter from the Queen

This afternoon we celebrated in church Norman and Joan's 60th wedding anniversary . Great occasion . They brought the letter they had had from the Queen who writes to all couples who make it to this marriage milestone .

After the meal we had a Baptismal service which was a great blessing . Mark , Gayle and Sam where baptised . All members of the same family , husband and wife and son . We also dedicated little effervescent Sally their daughter in the same service .

Good Day .

Sweet Pea weekend hits Wem

It's that time of year again . The Sweet Pea Celebration weekend in Wem . This is the towns big day and as a church we have opened up the building in orderto displaythe Henry Eckford stained glass windows .

Amazingly Sweet Pea lovers from all over Britain and indeed the world come to Wem to celebrate and enter their sweet peas in a competition ....

Laura as usual has grown some in our back garden and she kindly presented Nathan with a bunch tonight .... Don't think he has ever been given flowers before . he looked a bit worried :-)

Mums & Tots BBQ ..singin in the rain

John Taylor & I cooked up some very wet burgers for the mums & tots BBQ today ;-)

Lots going on ...

Sorry for not blogging lately. Mum has been critically ill so I have been back and forward to her in Arrowe Park Hospital. At one stage (yesterday) it appeared to be touch and go but thankfully today she has started to show signs of recovering .

Anna is having a very interesting time in South Africa . She has been placed in an Indian community that are predominantly Muslim and they don't take to Christians very well.She is staying at a Indian Pastors house whose brother was murdered the day before she arrived !! Also one of her team was arrested in the week and to cap it off the Pastors wife was rushed into hospital with a strange sickness bug on Thursday . We have been much in prayer for them all . It doesn't help that Anna doesn't like curry either ;-)

Much going on in the Whiteway household at the moment , never a dull moment ,praise God ;-)

At The Bridge ....

Way back in 1985 I started going to a church in Garston , Liverpool . Garston Bridge Chapel as it was known then was to be the birthplace of my Christian faith . Yesterday 24 years later I preached at that same church . It was a privilege to be able to minister in the place of my spiritual birth .

These days it has changed its location and is called Bridge Chapel but there are still many of the old familiar faces from years gone by .

Les Stamper is one of those ancient faces :-) ( sorry Les ) who runs a wonderful ministry for adults with special needs and last night the "Thursday Club" as the work is known took the evening meeting at the chapel . What a blessing that was , what a joy to see the faith that these people have . It not only brought a tear to Les's eye but to the majority of the 400 or so folk who were also privileged to be part of the service .

Keep up the good work Les and Co ..fantastic job that the Lord has clearly gifted you to do .

Bye to Anna & Abi...

The South African tour of duty began for Anna & Abi today . We dropped them of at the OM headquarters in Oswestry amidst lots of tears ;-) . Have a great time girls , see you in a month xx

Mens Northern Seminar on line

A few weeks back you may recall that Phil and I spoke at the Mens Northern convention ...some of you have requested a copy of the seminar . Well if you CLICK HERE and then scroll down to Seminar 4 you will be able to hear the chuckle brothers in full flight :-)

Wem Baptist Church Family Day at Adcote School

Great day today . Lots of folk turned out for a day of fun and games . Adcote School is a perfect venue for a family day . Everyone had a great day together . Thanks to those who helped organise it all ...well done guys ..

All the photos can be found by CLICKING HERE

Pastors Day out

A couple of times a year Phil , Alistair and myself get together to chat , listen to ministry and pray . The venue yesterday was Llandudno and the weather was very kind . We walked up the Great Orme which got my fat encrusted heart racing :-)

Great day and a great place to sit on the rocks and pray ...it was good to get some sea air in my lungs again .

We Bought five of these for this years holiday Bible Club "Bible by the Beach"

Great spot to sit and pray

Humpty Dumpty and his mate

I got my legs out ..

The three amigos

Thanks to all At Emmanuel ...

Gill and I enjoyed a great day over at Northwich yesterday . I was preaching at Emmanuel Church in Northwich .

Thanks to Gill ( Alistair's Gill) for her hospitality and for being sympathetic when I broke one of their chairs . I really must lose weight :-)

Bargain Hunt ...filming is Oswestry

Phil and I spent the day filming Bargain Hunt today over at Oswestry showground . It was a great day and everyone was interested in talking about our faith . Great day , great opportunity ..here are some pics .

It's all for Him ......

FOR HIM - Paul Washer from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

Tiring week..

Don't seem to have stopped still this week , busy days . Chester is also a little tired of the studies :-)

Bargain Hunt look out

Unbeknown to me Phil applied to go on the BBC show Bargain Hunt a few months ago ...anyway to cut a long story short we have been accepted and will begin filming the show on the 13th June . :-)

It should be fun and we are hoping to drive lots of folk to our church web site as a result .

I best go and brush up on my antiques :-)