One of the highlights of this year’s trip was on the Wednesday afternoon, 22nd October, when the small hall in Lom Baptist Church was temporarily turned into a beauty salon. About 30 ladies from the church squeezed into the hall to receive a little pampering from Janis, Jeanette, Jennifer and Maureen, who offered the opportunity for a haircut, foot or hand treatments or a chance to try flower arranging. After a cup of tea and some Scottish delicacies, the Lom ladies were given little cards with pictures & bible verses about beauty. After small group discussion they shared what they thought the implications were for their everyday lives. They focused on the need to develop inner beauty by walking closely with God and bringing beauty into the lives of others by caring for them in practical ways, putting the needs of others before our own and sharing the good news about the beautiful things Jesus has done for us in bringing us salvation. At the end of the meeting, the ladies were encouraged to take the flower arrangements they had made and other little presents to people who needed to know about the beauty of Jesus. One lady pointed out that they should not give them to friends as the Bible encourages us to love our “enemies” and several ladies described later how they had given the gifts to people they found it difficult to like or to sick people and had had opportunities to talk about God's love to these people.
