About 25 of us enjoyed a lovely weekend conference at The Greenhouse Christian Centre in Poole, Dorset, in October 2017. Emily Owen, pictured here speaking at the Sunday morning Communion, spoke powerfully about Elijah’s relationship with God and the lessons we can learn from him, weaving in her own journey of discovering God’s faithfulness in the midst of coping with the total loss of her hearing at 21 caused by the condition NF2.
Her talks were extremely moving and challenging and there were tears shed but much laughter too, especially during the fun time on Saturday evening. We had lovely weather and several of us enjoyed time together on the beautiful beaches. It was lovely to have Marilyn Baker playing for the worship too and at Emily’s suggestion, everyone enjoyed choosing their favourite hymns to sing.
The Greenhouse staff went out of their way to welcome us and for all who came there was that sense of being wrapped in God’s love and care. Flying Fingers Susanne did a fantastic job with STT and sign language interpreter Averil was a real blessing. In the Communion Service we took a love offering to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, so my dog, Goldie was very pleased! About £165 was donated which was a real blessing to Hearing Dogs.
I left both enriched and encouraged that as a deaf person I can join in and belong. I felt full of thanks to God and blessed with all that Emily shared, her words being so real and inspiring. Touched too as others shared very movingly or humorously on the Saturday evening. A real lesson that we all have something precious to give.
