In our Leyland Home we have George and Phyllis Reed. Brother Reed featured in the March 2004 Newsletter. This issue we are featuring Sister Phyllis Reed who was born in 1920 in Truro, Cornwall.

Sister Reed went to Truro Grammar School and then on to Truro Business College with the aim of becoming secretary for a member of parliament, her father being an ardent Conservative. Changing her mind, Phyllis worked as a GPO telephonist and later as a school teacher. In 1940 Phyllis married George.

Before coming to a knowledge of the truth Sister Reed attended services at the Truro Cathedral, and then later at the Methodist chapel. On finding the Truth, Phyllis was baptised at the Fishponds Lido in Bristol in 1942.

During the war years, Sister Reed remembers doing pavement witnessing with placards and one attached to her daughter's pram. She received her call-up papers, but continued working hard in the ministry in Chippenham, Wiltshire, being now only the fourth baptised publisher in that small group. Phyllis was given the daunting task of organising their vast territory stretching as far as Melksham and Devizes. Most of the time she worked alone in the ministry with the testimony card.

Phyllis also remembers the wartime meeting places, one of which was a chicken hut. The seating was just what could be found at the time, a long bench that kept tipping over or a very large linen basket that kept collapsing. Phyllis regularly pushed her daughter in the pram for miles during the blackout to get to these meetings. Any night, once darkness fell, she would hear the drone of the bombers arriving, and even during daylight they had to run for cover from the bullets.

In 1958 George and Phyllis began pioneering together. They have served in Cornwall, the Southampton area, Wales, Kent, and London. Whilst pioneering, Phyllis has been a part-time land-worker, flower picker and buncher, shop assistant selling and making 80 Cornish pasties daily and making sausages. In the congregation Phyllis was used as territory servant, and back call servant, and has served on a congregation committee alongside her husband George.

Phyllis and George have also had the blessing of gathering together the nucleus of a new congregation in Wales and the privilege of helping more than 70 people to dedication and baptism.

Phyllis says she has had a wonderful life serving Jehovah and is very grateful to now be in the Leyland Home with all her dear faithful brothers and sisters.

Buen Viage

Farewell to Melissa, who has been dealing with all the resident and authority invoicing in our head office. She and her husband are off to pioneer in Nicaragua, joining her predecessor, Sarah, who did the same job. We wish them all Jehovah's blessing in their Spanish speaking assignments.

STOP PRESS: Jah-Jireh announces Charitably Funded Beds.

Why? - Because government/local authority funding is being refused more & more.
Who is it for? - Those who have been refused funding, cannot fund their own care from capital, and yet really need looking after. Primarily it is to help long-time faithful servants of Jehovah, who come well recommended, but are no longer able to care for their own physical needs.
Who can apply? - Brothers & sisters who have been turned down for funding by social services, and really need caring for.
How is this possible? - It is made possible by the donations and legacies of others.
How can you help? - You may not be able to care for someone yourself, but your donations (one off, regular or by standing order), can help us to meet their needs in a loving spiritual environment. If you are in a position to contribute towards funding deserving residents in this way, your generosity would be much appreciated.

Pre-Bookable Respite Beds

We have set aside a room at each Home specifically for providing pre-bookable respite care. This means that someone who is looking after a brother or sister, and who wants to go on holiday themselves, will be able to pre-book the care at the same time, and in the same way as booking their own holiday. Further details are on our website.

Building for the Future

In addition we have a separate fund for building a new care home in the Medway area of Kent. Donations for this can be sent to Sort Code: 01-09-51, Account No: 60032030. (Gift Aid can be used to increase the value of donations to either fund. If you would like to know more, please e-mail us: friends@jah-jireh.org

A bit of background

How the authorities will provide care in the future has been the subject of much discus-sion in the media. The direction seems to be moving away from placing individuals in care homes, but rather keeping them in their own homes, and sending in carers at different times of the day. Our trustees having been watching developments closely, and considering what changes we can make so that we can still provide care for those brothers & sisters in need, who cannot realistically be cared for in their own homes by such visits. Of course, our brothers & sisters also have spiritual needs which cannot be met by incoming carers, whose timing may make meeting attendance difficult. Con-versely our Homes provide a good daily spiritual environment and take seriously the need to assist our residents to prepare for meetings and attend where possible.