I Drove to Angmering - Again! (And a day out at the SOS Conference)

It just dawned on me that I am letting my feats of derring-do go unrecorded!  I know modesty is a virtue, but lets not take it to extremes. I have driven to Angmering twice this month - the secnd time this Thursday I drove a sibling there too (you might think perhaps that the Derring-do belongs to her).

Anyway, the roundabouts went fine (I usually pray specifically about them), we had a good morning, finished our territory, had some talks with some people at the door, and then had a coffee at the hotel afterwards.

I have a part in the Ministry School coming up next week and the sibling who is my householder came round on Wednesday afternoon to go through it with me. She says we can and should do it without a script, which will be a first for me.  But given that I am to work on "Conversational Quality" probably a very good idea.

Today we were in Haywards Heath at the Sussex Ornithologist Society's Conference.   Its always a good day out - but a sadder and sadder one as every year the situation gets worse.

The Speakers were:

David Howey, on the Kittiwakes at Splash Point,  We must go over there and see them come the nesting season.  He did a brilliant job as the sound system kept crashing during his talk. They got if fixed for the next one, which was:

Viola Ross-Smith on "Seabirds - A Conservation Priority".   I found her rather hard to hear, but it came across clearly enough that seabirds are in a lot of trouble.  One problem of course is over-fishing - their foods supplies are dwindling.  Another horror is the way they are getting caught in fishing nets and drowning.

Then Lucy Groves talked to us about the White Stork project, which aims to restore a self-sustaining.free living, breeding population in Southern England.   They are working with Warsaw Zoo among others, and it all seems to be going very well.  Which was great.

Finally, the artist Jane Smith spoke about the Birds of the Hebrides, illustrating her talk with her lovely illustrations.  Col bought a copy of her book "Wild Island", which looks both pretty and interesting.

If only at least one speaker had referred us to God's word, specifically Revelation 11:18 in which Jehovah promises that he will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth".    Because what is so clear is that, despite the heartfelt efforts of so many sincere people, the situation is beyond us.  We need help. And it is on the way!