REVEREND Alison Richardson led the Sunday, February 7 service at Crediton Methodist Church when her theme was "A Solitary Place".

The reading from Mark 1 told how Jesus healed many people and then went to a solitary place to pray.

Jesus spent time in solitude to be intimate with God because God was the very source of His being. In this solitude God strengthened Jesus to face what would eventually happen to Him.

Alison said we should all make time for personal prayer, meditation and contemplation. We must enable God to be our wisdom and power. We should never be too busy to listen to God and we should grow in the likeness of Christ.

On Sunday, February 14, Cathy Gerrard led the service and her theme was "Kingdom Love".

Cathy reminded us that it was Valentine’s Day when we think about love.

In the Plymouth and Exeter Methodist District it was known as Cuttack Sunday. In 2011 a partnership was formed between the P and E District and the Cuttack Diocese of the Church of North India following a visit by Rev Alison Richardson and another Methodist Minister.

Cathy said God showed His love for us by sending His son who died so that we might live. This is love and is the means by which we can be forgiven. In the reading from Luke, Jesus said we should love our neighbours and was asked "who is my neighbour?”.

Cathy then asked Rev Richardson how she first came to go out to North India over 10 years ago. Alison explained that she had been invited to talk to a Women’s Empowerment Group in the poorest of tribal villages in the Cuttack district.

She went with another Methodist Minister and they encountered extreme abject poverty amongst the Dalet people who face discrimination, lower education and employment rights and sexual abuse.

A short video was shown of a lively service in the fishing village of Pentakota. Dalets make up 95 per cent of the Church of North India. Alison showed several photos she had taken on some of her visits to India.

Cathy asked how we can love our neighbours – the Dalet people. Alison was grateful that the Plymouth and Exeter partnership was growing. We could remember it in prayer and support the Dalet people by experience and sharing our faith and learning about their culture.

The intercessory prayers were led by members of the District Team who had visited India. May we feel the love of God’s kingdom and strive for joy, justice and equality of the Dalet people.

Bronwyn Nott