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Newsround Spring 1999

Latest articles from CDF Newsround

Presidents Letter

Although a little belatedly may I wish you a very happy and blessed New Year. As we come to an end of the millennium I realise that I won't see as much of the next one as I have seen of this one - not unless of course I live another hal f century!! However, I can confidently say that He who holds my future has been more than faithful during the past half-century. With St Paul I can testify that 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have comm itted unto Him against that day of His return'. So with the hindsight of past experiences which have refined and strengthened our faith, let us walk with boldness into the future to live and work to His praise and glory.

At the end of March, Ian Wilson is leaving for Nigeria where he will be part of an evangelistic team, preaching, teaching and doing some emergency primary dental care and health education lectures. He will value your prayers during this time. Ian is our part time student coordinator and he is a gifted speaker with a passion for souls. He is an encourager and has done a lot to make CDF known to students in the dental schools up and down this country. As a result a good number of students attended the family conference this past October. It would be good to see more CDF groups meeting together around the U.K. and if you are interested in holding one then get in touch with either Ian or myself. We could then help with the arrangements and provide the speaker. Meeting together with other like-minded people would deepen our fellowship together to be encouraged to be witnesses to our faith in a professional sphere. There are meetings planned in Cardiff, Bristol and Glasgow in the near future - get in touch for further details. I am looki ng forward to our Day Conference and AGM, which will be another opportunity to get together. The programme this year is less ambitious so as to allow more time to let people get to know each other. Details are enclosed with this magazine and I look forwa r d to seeing in Nottingham on Saturday, 8 May.

Following on from a change in the constitution to admit other members of the dental team as full members I am concerned that we have not progressed very far with this. I would love to hear from folk who have any ideas of how we should progress in this direction or could give me some contact names of hygienists, DSA's, dental technicians etc. etc.

This year's New Year's Honours listed two of our members for which we are extremely proud. Margaret Seward was made a Dame of the British Empire and Alan Lawrence received an OBE. Well done and congratulations to both. Harold Jones could not be with us at our Council Meeting this time as he is once again visiting the Christian Dental College at Ludihana, India where he will teach and counsel. He will also be an encouragement to the staff, especially to our CDF colleagues working there. We are asked to pray for Dentaid - an organisation who are committed to 'match the needs of dentists in the developing worl d with the availability of unwanted, good quality, dental surgeries and equipment, donated by dentists in the UK'. They also seek to arrange short term visits for dental personnel. Due to their expansion they are in the process of forming a limited compa ny registered with charity status. CDF Council and Dentaid are exploring ways in which we could work together in various areas and your prayers are asked for this.Please remember the work of the CDF in your prayers and let us not cease praying for one an other.

With Christian love and greetings. Chris Evans

Dear All,

Just thought I would get in touch to let you know what I've been up to recently.

My apologies for not being able to see you all at the council meeting.....I'm afraid there was a training/orientation day for the Nigeria trip and the 6th was the only day when they could get the whole team together.....my apologies once again but hopefully this note will keep you up to date as to where we are going. Things could start to get busy with local church commitments, overseas trips etc over the coming year.... and although there is plenty of space to book other things in too, it would be great to look ahead and put some strategic CDF events into that.-again I need your input/constructive thinking as to how this is developing....i.e., Which conferences/exhibitions do you want me to go to?...should I be visiting CDF member's Churches?...or do I just concentrate on the general Student population ?

Request...Please please please.... I NEED GOOD MISSIONARY/OPERATIVE DENTAL PHOTOGRAPHS / SLIDES TO DEVELOP THE DEMO BOARDS AND ANY SLIDE SHOW PRESENTATION TO DENTAL SCHOOLS ABOUT CDF'S WORK......OTHERWISE YOU GET MY CHOPS SLAPPED ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! My love to you all...sounded like the Queen that!

The Council discussed at their meeting on 6th February how the CDF could encourage local meetings of the Fellowship. Your editor then asked us to write a short article describing our Thames Valley Meetings and including some ideas for others wanting to set up their own regional meetings. We have written in the past about individual meetings so this is a more general article. However we have no monopoly of ideas and would love to hear about things that have worked for you so that we can try them out ourselves.

We have found local meetings not only enjoyable but invaluable in getting to know members of the fellowship. They are simple to run on a shared basis although it helps to have one co-ordinator who doesn't necessarily have to be a dentist. We usually have about two meetings a year moving round to different homes. People seem happy to travel 30 to 40 miles at this kind of frequency. Homes form an ideal place to invite other Christian dentists and members of the dental team who may not be members of C.D.F. Don't forget VDPs and dental students. We remember when we were students in Bristol being invited to John and Pauline Wilkies' house for meetings and this was a great ministry on their part.

Our meetings usually have from 9 to 16 people which will fit into a living room. The catering is either on a bring and share basis or a simple buffet organised by one person with a collection dish for contributions. Any profits can go to CDF Missionaries. It really is not too onerous and is a real ministry. The talk or slides are planned to last about 30 minutes but the questions and discussion go on longer.

We have had a variety of topics and speakers over the years including missionaries home on leave, or about to go out so that we can pray more intelligently (invaluable for use with the prayer list). We held meetings when we consulted about the paid worker. We also had an encouraging meeting last summer with Ian Wilson when we heard about progress with the scheme and with student work. Incidentally Ian (tel 01243 527245) would love to come and talk at any meeting you might hold so there is a speaker for a start! Don't forget that there are probably members or students within your own region who could give a short talk. Topics include clinical, ethical and spiritual matters as well as third world dentistry.

The social side is important too. This of course happens with the meal but we have had very enjoyable summer BBQs and garden meetings. Chris Evans looked magnificent when clad in his chef's apron and he wasn't a bad cook either! Summer meetings lend themselves to a Saturday afternoon and the whole family is invited. A few general games, some board games or even the dreaded computer games can make it an all age affair (or at least keep the teenagers occupied).

Winter and spring meetings tend to be held on a Friday evening at 7.30pm for members, spouses and guests. The programme consists of supper, a talk or discussion and if appropriate prayers. Our last meeting in November was to hear about the visits of local member Isobel Green and her husband Jerry, to Romania. Isobel showed slides of the beautiful country which also displayed the great needs of the area. The hospital in Baie Mare has 1,200 beds but has such a limited budget that patients are asked to bring in their own food and medicines. Isobel had persuaded the Royal Berkshire Hospital to give her drugs and serviceable but obsolete medical equipment to take out. She also carried out simple dentistry in the orphanage. We found it a most interesting and challenging meeting. A useful tip for any of you going on a short mercy trip or student elective is to take a slide film as these may not be obtainable in remote areas and are invaluable for illustrating talks on your return.

Personal invitations are very helpful in bringing outsiders along and we ask CDF members to make a point of inviting others. (phone or letter ) and send out spare flyers for them to use or photocopy.

We send a friendly worded flyer (often with Microsoft Clip Art) about two months before and then follow it up with details and reminder about three weeks before the meeting. Anne Hallowes, the CDF Administrator is very helpful in producing mailing labels and our word processor produces the invitations. If you would like samples or to discuss anything then please contact us on 0118 9868694 or email AlanL@bhaoral.demon.co.uk Anne would also like to receive a copy of your flyer so that she can pass it on to any new members moving to your region or people enquiring about the CDF. Anne can also send you CDF information and joining forms to have available at your meeting.

To sum up organising a local meeting is fairly simple, much appreciated and very worthwhile. It would certainly add a new dimension to the work of CDF in your region and help the fellowship to flourish.

Alan and Judith Lawrence

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New year.

This is possibly my final note to you in CDFNews as I am passing on the baton of editorship. May I take this opportunity of thanking all those who have encouraged me and lent their support over the last 2 years, especially to the previous President, Lois Mason, and our current President, Chris Evans. May I also thank Anne Hallowes for her tireless work in organising and mailing the copies. Her help has been invaluable.I hope to return to CDF council perhaps later on in life but in the meantime, I will be dedicating myself to keeping the CDF Website up to date and promoting “Network Fellowship” via electronic mail. As well as that, if any member wishes to contact me regarding computer and Internet matters, please email me on “rob@cisdent.com. I will be more than happy to help.

The feedback we have got about Newsround is that the current format of four newsletters per year works very well at keeping members up to date. I certainly hope that this will continue for many years.

I attended a very successful Council meeting at the beginning of February where I got the impression that things were really moving in the Fellowship. I hope that these developments will continue and that the Lord will continue to bless CDF’s work.

After a break of nearly two years, because our former convenor Raman Bedi left for London due to his appointment as Professor at the Eastman, approximately 16 adults met in the garden of Ian and Lesley Knowles near Solihull on a sunny Saturday in early July. The children came along too and enjoyed various games and activities in the garden under the supervision of D.S.A. Jacqui Knowles (&Rachel). It was lovely to meet again, exchange news, share and American-style buffet and even play some croquet. Later we discussed further gatherings and prayed for the CDF President and council and some of our CDF-supported missionaries. The time passed all too quickly and we resolved to gather again on Jan 17th to hear about DentAid and other Aid agencies. (report to hopefully come soon – Ed)

If you are interested in hearing more about future meetings, please contact Ian Knowles on 01564 782493. Dental students from Birmingham Dental Hospital would be most welcome.

I have recently joined the Council of the CDF as Dental Elective Secretary. Since going on my elective as a student to the Dohnavur Fellowship in India, I have always been very keen on others having the same fantastic opportunity.

I trained at King’s College in London and graduated in 1990. I very much enjoyed my student days.

At present, I am an associate in a Christian practice in Stoke Gifford, Bristol. I’ve lived in Bristol since I finished at King’s and have been at this practice for just over 5 years. I am studying for my Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Studies (DPDS) which although fairly time consuming, I find interesting and good for keeping up to date.

I am married to Andrew who is a Housing Manager for North British Housing Association. We met when we were helping on a Pathfinder Camp in Felixstowe, 7 years ago. We are very involved in our local church - St. Michael’s, Stoke Gifford, where we teach 5-7 year olds in the Sunday School. Andrew is a member of the drama group and I play the French horn in Bristol Concert Wind Band. This all makes for a break from teeth!

In June however, our lives are to change dramatically with the arrival of a small Clothier! Watch this space! I’ll be taking a few months off from the practice but hope to return part time in the Millennium!

The summer of 1983 was significant. Not just a BDS, but also, in the same week, my marriage to Grace. During those formative five years at Newcastle Dental School I committed myself to following Jesus; became interested in missionary work and visited Nigeria for a six week dental elective; I started going to CDF conferences. A year as a House Officer and then three years or so in General Practice helped prepare me for going solo - not in the UK, but as a missionary dentist in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It was satisfying to provide General Dental Services to missionaries and national believers using a surgery that I re-designed and re-equipped myself. A small laboratory made it possible to do all my own acrylic denture work. There was the opportunity to train missionary nurses and Ethiopian Health Assistants in the gentle art of tooth extraction! The whole experience was not diminished by being evacuated in 1991 prior to the fall of the Communist government and having to return annually to the UK for our son, Jonathan’s, heart check-ups. We were forced to leave in July 1996 after it became impossible to renew my Work Permit.

For the last two years I have been employed by the Army, as a Civilian Dental Practitioner. I miss the variety of work that I did in Ethiopia, but I am thankful for a salaried position without the pressures of NHS General Practice. I enjoy cycling to work, 14 miles a day. Grace and I, along with our three children, are getting settled in North Yorkshire. Jonathan had, long anticipated, major open-heart surgery in May ‘98 and is doing well. We are involved in our local village Anglican church; leading a Home Group and playing the guitar. I am hoping to begin Lay Reader training later in the year.