2011 BCA Festival - 11.30 am June 25th

held at St Anne’s Church, 125 Salusbury Road, Brondesbury, London, NW6 6RG.

It was good to see more than 50 people at this year’s Festival. The Festival began with the Festival Eucharist; there then followed a Belizean Lunch of rice and beans and chicken, a message from Bishop Philip and a presentation from our guest speaker Tom Emmett. The AGM followed and then there was time to enjoy meeting friends old and new.

Toby Marchand preached this year, taking us though a moving exploration of the ordinariness and the extraordinariness of Belize and of the love all of us share for that country, whether born there or, as it were, adopted. He rooted this for believers in the example of St. John the Baptist and in our path of Christian discipleship, concluding “in company with the Lord, who loves Belize and loves each of you, you need not fear for the future. The purpose of the Belize Church Association is to bring support and prayer and concern to the situation of the church in Belize and to rejoice in all that is being done for good by the churches there. If this yearly gathering here in London brings a little more knowledge about Belize, a little more fellowship with each other, a little more encouragement to Bishop Philip and the clergy and people of the Belize Church, then it will be well worth us having got together”.

Malcolm Lambert presided - it was his first time at a Festival. Malcolm Lambert presided - it was his first time at a Festival. Malcolm introduced new music, notably a song by Fr. Richard Ho Lung, the Jamaican Jesuit who is both a talented musician and a leader in the cause of social justice in that country. It was also thanks to Malcolm that for the first time we heard a Scripture reading in Creole; Michelle Orio-Rowen read Matthew 11:10-18 from the Belize Kriol Bible Translation Project version, in which, for example “what went you into the wilderness to see? A man dressed in fine raiment?” is translated, “If unu waahn fain pipl weh jres op eena fansi kloaz, goh luk eena palis”.

Thanks to the Catering Team, an excellent Belizean lunch was served with customary efficiency, whilst wine was, as usual provided by the High Commission. We were delighted at the presence of three distinguished guests: H.E .Kamela Palma, the Belize High Commissioner; Lady Caine, widow of a former High Commissioner; and Pauline Fisk, author of ‘In the Trees’, a novel based on her and her son Idris’s experience of the Chiquibul rainforest in southern Belize.

We are indebted to Tom Emmett, who gave a succinct and most interesting account of the time he spent last summer as a volunteer working at the Liberty Foundation’s Children's Home in Ladyville. Some of the young people present were especially interested and we would not be surprised to see some of them following Tom’s example in the future. For more about Tom’s time with Liberty, click on the link button, where you will also find Liberty’s website address.

At the AGM, gratitude was expressed to Anne Miles and Norma Best for their many years of service on the Committee. We also made a presentation to Chris Stuart in recognition of his years of service as our Treasurer. He presented the annual accounts, which showed that we had again been able to send the £2,500 we have promised to the Belize Diocese whilst continuing to support three Anglican primary schools. We welcomed Jingjie Casey, who is from Smethwick in the West Midlands, to succeed Chris as Treasurer. For a list of members of the new Committee, click on 'about', and 'committee' above.

Two days before the Festival, Bishop Philip Wright and his wife Carla paid a brief visit to the UK. The main reason for this was to enable Bishop Philip to join 'Introduction to the Alpha Course' at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, where the course is based. The couple flew out for a few days in New York to visit …, our sister organisation there. They returned to attend a USPG conference and to visit Belize’s partner Diocese of St. Alban’s. Three members of the Association, John Wilkinson, Rita Mitchell and Sheila Fairfield, had lunch with Bishop Philip and his wife on June 22nd.

Bishop Philip has appointed John Wilkinson to be his Commissary in England and has asked Enid Powell to be instrumental in developing links with St. Alban’s.