On this Holy Week two long-time residents have been preparing to move out of the House. While it is sad for me to think about Charis House without these two residents and their beautiful children, it is a perfectly timed Easter reminder of the opportunity of a fresh start each of us has been given.

Melissa has lived at the House ever since I first arrived. She is around my age and has an adorably chubby little boy named Jacum. Over the course of working a few Friday nights, I have encountered situations with Melissa that will stick out in my memories of the place. Not all those memories are positive, but each has a place in making her journey even more amazing.

Just before Christmas I witnessed Melissa hit an all time low after returning to the House overdosed, confused, and with Jacum. I looked after the baby as we waited for Jacum to be collected by his rarely seen father. As Jacum left and Melissa was sent to the hospital, I stood with the other Staff member and we both just wanted to sit and cry. Her story had seemed to be going well.

While that story seems sad, after I reflect back I'm able to see God's hand in so many parts. For Melissa to get Jacum back, she gave up alcohol. After that night, she made a decision to not drink, and she's done it. For almost four months she's been completely clean and while she wouldn't admit it yet, I've seen a much happier Melissa. While she is excitedly decorating her new flat, we have also had a lot of talks about her fear of moving away from a place that offers so much support to each woman. I know it is a good move for her, and I pray that the support she's received at the House has helped to empower her and allow her to embrace a fresh life and new opportunities.

The other women to move on is named Trudi. Trudi has a five-year old daughter named Christina. Their story is one of domestic abuse and constantly running. I won't share her past because it's the way in which she's so quickly re-adjusted and positively added to the House dynamics that makes her such a special person. Trudi tells it like it is. I have personally learned from her ability to be open and honest in most all situations. She has been the resident to initiate Sunday dinners each week, to start dance parties on a Saturday night, and to help the children make cakes after school. I have loved her enthusiasm and the way she has been able to use her story to help many of the women at the House who need direct advice from one so close to many similar situations.

Christina has been a wonderful experience for me too. She came in as a five year old who talked as if she was thirty. Because she had never interacted with other children, her behavior has been amazing to watch as she's begun to just play and imagine.

As I listen to both of these women share details of their new houses with smiles and excitement, I have seen the ultimate dream of Hazel as she she opened the doors to Charis House. To allow women an opportunity to just come and live with a family that supports and tries their hardest to love. For these women to build up the confidence to know that they are a beloved child of God who is capable of living a life of meaning and happiness. I know that Trudi and Melissa will leave still doubting a God, but I also know that I see Him when I look into their excited smiles and I know that He will follow them as they hopefully began anew.

Wishing each of you a blessed Easter season,
Aubrey

A bit of History...

Hazel is a women who I work with every Thursday afternoon. She is the founder of Charis House and someone I've grown to admire deeply. While working with her I often get frustrated that she lives in a world without schedules. There is no time other than the present and her office upkeep is a reflection of this. My very first task with Hazel was to "organise and manage" her file cabinet. It was a tedious job to say the least, and after I'd finished I just wanted to sit and have a chocolate. Instead, I was offered a cup of tea and an opportunity to learn a bit more about Hazel and how she'd come to be living a life filled with a daily ministry to a group of women often marginalized and sent away by many other organizations.

It wasn't until I traveled with Hazel to a church's Tearfund supporter meeting that I learned the complete history of Charis House. Hazel tells a wonderfully entertaining story about how she had been making a birthday cake for one of her children when a women appeared at her doorstep. Abused, hurt, and living in a generally empty lifestyle this women needed a home. Hazel called her church. Her church had no answers or solutions. Hazel was frustrated with this answer and began complaining as to the lack of the church's help in situations that seem so obviously in need of a sharing of God's love.

I really like how Hazel describes this story and I won't really be able to do it accurately, but she says that it was because of the birthday cake that Charis House began. When Hazel was little, her mom made a big fuss over birthday cakes and Hazel always had a beautifully decorated and tasty cake on her special day. Hazel admits she is less skilled at cake making than her mother, but she's always tried to do the same for her children. The homeless women at Hazel's door said to her, "I've never had a birthday cake." Hazel says it was at this moment that she stopped complaining about the church and realized, she was the church. She opened her home and Charis House began.

Currently Hazel and her family live in a flat in Charis House. This means that while most other staff go home at the end of the day, Hazel is always there. There is an amount of privacy, but Hazel lives her life alongside the women at the refuge. On special occasions, Hazel and her family share it with the women living at the House at the time. On Christmas, we all shared a meal together. Every Sunday evening Hazel and her husband join any willing residents to a time of fellowship and prayer in the Dining Room.

It's because of Hazel's willingness to live in the moment that she is able to just flow along in the situations she's faced with daily. The women I have meet so far are all wonderful individuals filled with a desire to do what they see will help them to survive. Hazel has created a home for women who often enter the house with hostility towards a world that they feel they've never belonged in. During my short time here, I've learned that Hazel has a lot, a LOT of patience towards each of these women. She is able to look at each one as an individual and not just another teenage mom or alcoholic.

I ask for your prayers for Hazel and for all the women living at the House now. Currently the House is filled with a group of women that I truly admire. There is a single mom, just recently escaping the abuse of an ex-husband. A young, gypsy traveler and her daughter, rejected by her family and learning how to live in one area for more than a month at a time. A wonderfully talented mother of four who daily fights a battle with alcohol and its temptation to escape to it yet again. A women running from an old, abusive partner where she spent the entire first four years of her daughters life camping in tents all over the UK. I ask for prayers for each of these women, who despite having these past experiences are able to live together at Charis House and have Saturdays where we all sit together and laugh over a dinner.

God's Peace over these last few cold months of winter.
With love from Buxton : ) Aubrey

Charis House Christmas

CHRISTMAS!!! The Christmas season puts so many people in such jolly moods! There was tree decorating and multiple school nativity plays Charis House children were in. It was interesting to be a part of a charity during Christmas. People are so generous and the community surrounding Charis House gave so much to the women and children in donations both financially and with really nice Christmas gifts.

Christmas Eve was a night filled with reunions. Many old residents come back to the house on Christmas eve to share in a meal, exchange cards, participate in a Christingle service, and even see St. Nick. The Christingle service was lead by one of the staff and aimed at all the children that were there. It is a tradition to place a candle in an orange and tie a red ribbon around the orange. The children then used tooth picks to put the fruits of the spirit on (in gummy form) and stick them
around the candle in the orange. The orange represents the earth and the candle is the light Jesus brings to us. I'll have to say I was a bit nervous trying to help around 15 small children light candles whose bases where not flat and also had toothpicks poking out from all directions. But, there no one was injured and the House didn't burn down. With the lights turned out and only the candles lit, Charis House children, new and old residents, and staff joined in singing "This Little Light of Mine" and it was simply beautiful.

The peacefulness did not last long because shortly after, Father Christmas came with presents for all. I had spent a good bit of time in weeks before sorting various Christmas donations and then wrapping them. This was a very jolly job and wonderful to watch as Father Christmas handed out all the gifts to wide-eyed children (and adults).

Christmas Day was a slightly more stressful event. I really enjoyed being at the House for Christmas, but it was much different than the usual family-filled and comfortable Christmases I am used to. One staff member was cooking the Christmas dinner for about 20 people. That's a LOT of roast potatoes and turkey! The decorations looked beautiful and sitting down with people of all sorts brought together for one dinner added even more color. For me, its hard to imagine a family not sitting for a meal at Christmas, but for the resident and her son sitting across from me, it was their first true Christmas dinner. It was a delightful time, but it was work. The house is filled with a lot of women that have a lot of needs, especially over holidays where there is emphasis on family or even for some, a heightened temptation to drink. There was the usual Charis House craziness in preparation, but also as usual, God just put things in place and we all were able to sit and talk and laugh for an afternoon. The menu was delicious and fancy! We had a starter a main meal, AND Christmas pudding.

So much energy is brought to the house when old residents come back. They share such stories and many of them are very thankful for the time they spent here. Among the old residents was Sioma and Jurmriah. Jurmriah has grown so big! Sioma is doing very well and is now living on her own. It's wonderful to see God give a family to those whose feel they need one. For one whose own family is a bit far away this year, spending the Christmas season among those who feel that Charis House is their only family was a memorable and pleasant time.