Walking 30km from Ely to Cambridge
The team had a fantastic day on Saturday walking 30km from Ely to Cambridge to celebrate 30 years of Christians Against Poverty!
Poverty is so much more than going without. Poverty destroys lives. It robs people of joy, hope, and opportunities. It tears families apart, isolates those most in need of support, and leads many to believe there is no way out. CAP has been committed to seeing transformed lives, thriving churches and an end to UK poverty since 1996. Every day, local churches like ours are reigniting hope and sharing the love of Jesus in action though local debt centres like Ely and District CAP. CAP is committed to ending UK poverty and the despair it brings, restoring all that it has stolen. With your help, the Ely and District CAP team have raised over £850 to help make this difference and change lives.
We met up at St Mary's Church at 8am on Saturday morning, it was cool and breezy but a dry and bright start to the walk. Six of us set off following the Fen Rivers Way on the east side of the river passing the pumping station near Barway, the Fish and Duck Marina near Stretham and Kingfisher Bridge nature reserve with its water buffalo. We had a brief stop at the 7 mile marker at the Five Miles from Anywhere No Hurry Inn at Upware (to early for opening time though!).
The next part of the walk seemed much more remote, following an embankment near the river but with lots of cracks from the hot weather in summer for unwary feet. Towards Waterbeach a bridge across a small lode was closed which resulted in an extra mile detour including across a very muddy field! The rain had started by now, but luckily fairly light. We were all ready for a proper break at the Bridge Inn in Waterbeach at the 13 mile marker, and a hot cup of tea with our sandwiches!
From Waterbeach, the last third of the walk was along much better paths alongside the river, with attractive views despite the increasing rain. Even when you are into Cambridge, the paths are in green areas so even when you could here the crowd at the football stadium (Cambridge lost) or the roads, it still felt quite rural. Only the very last mile to the station was through houses and it was a relief to reach the station and out of the rain! But what a sense of achievement to have completed the 30k challenge and had a great time even with the weather!
Following a clear footpath with a map app to help means a long walk can be fairly straightforward, even with unexpected diversions! We have the all-weather gear, the map and refreshments to help get us through the journey and hopefully the fitness and stamina needed too. This can be like the CAP journey out of debt, and like the journey through life too.
CAP clients have the team to support and guide them and the support hub team in Bradford to map their unique journey out of debt with the local team as the guides to facilitate this. Life is also a journey, with many more unexpected twists and turns, but we have a guide to help us on this journey too, and this is a guide who our team introduce each client to as a help on the whole of life's journey.
God’s Word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Psalm 119:105
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1: 5 - 7 (NIV)
Prayer
Please pray for all our Ely and District CAP clients and for all those living with poverty and debt, that they would know the love and support of CAP and all those who give their time, money and skills to help put an end to poverty and debt.
Pray for all those who have completed the CAP 30k for 30 years challenge and for the money raised, that this will help support the Bradford Hub in the support and care that they give to local debt centres like ours and to their work in raising awareness and challenging poverty in our society.
Comments