Ecumenical Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

30 people from different churches made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from 7^th June to 15^th June 2016.  They included members of the ecumenical congregation called London Tamil Christian Congregation and their Tamil Friends, and who are from different denominations such as Catholic, Anglican and Methodist and Pentecostal. Pilgrims also came from   Anglican churches in Southwark Diocese, St John the Baptist, Angell Town, St Hugh’s Bermondsey, and friends of All Saints Church Battersea.  The pilgrimage was organised by the Revd Jessie Anand through ‘Special Pilgrimages’.  

The pilgrims were all ages from 21 to 75 years old and from different international cultural backgrounds (Sri Lankan, Indian, Irish, Scottish, Pakistani, Canadian and American).

On this ecumenical journey to the Holy Land the pilgrims saw how our differences in culture and in faith expressions but never prevented us from sharing our common faith in Christ. It also encouraged everyone to understand others’ culture and to accept each other as they are.

The historical context of gospel stories and the political background of that era in the Holy Land were well explained to the Pilgrims through an excellent guide, Walid, from a Muslim background. There were opportunities, too, to meet local Palestinians, Christians and Jews.

There were visits to the project in Bethlehem called Wi’am run by Zoughbi Zoughbi, the baby hospital at Bethlehem run by CAFOD, and a meeting with  two Jewish friends in Galilee who take care of Palestinian Children through trauma counselling and other meaningful efforts to bring peace. These were eye opening for all the Pilgrims to understand the present situation in the Holy Land regardless of their religion.

The early start every day of the Pilgrimage gave us the energy to learn more about the places we visited.   Morning and Evening prayers and Holy  Communion services in different holy sites facilitated our continuous focus on who we are and the purpose of our pilgrimage.  The Holy Communion services in Shepherds’ Field, Dominus Flavit, Carmelite Chapel, Transfiguration (Chapel of Moses in Mt Tabor) , were led by the Revd. Anand Asir Anand from All Saints Church. We had Sunday worship at St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem led by Dean Hosam. In our Pilgrimage the opportunity to meet other pilgrims from India, Australia, Brazil and other countries gave an experience of the worldwide Church in the Holy Land which was memorable and marvellous. We sang at  St Ann’s Church in the Old City of Jerusalem and we listened to the  beautiful singing of pilgrims from Brazil in the same Church. Carrying the Cross and doing the Stations of the Cross in the Way of the Cross challenged many of us to focus our mind on Jesus’ suffering in the midst of a noisy city.

Mt Olive, Mt Zion, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, Masada, the Dead Sea, Yardenit, River Jordan, Cana were the main places were chosen for our pilgrimage.

Pilgrims were moved and inspired by the pastoral services such as renewing the baptismal vows in the River Jordon and the renewing of marriage vows. These services encouraged them to build their faith as baptised Christians, and to build their family relationships as a Christian family.

Pilgrims expressed their views about this pilgrimage with comments such as: “A lovely week of spiritual refreshment”; “… makes Bible more meaningful, lively and a real book to read”; “ Physical exertion - walking in the hot weather (between 30 and 40 Centigrade ) resonated with the healing stories of Jesus  and gave holistic healing at the end”.

The following questions were asked by the pilgrims and taken as their continuing reflection for their journey:

·         How can I be a peace maker in this Holy land through meaningful praying?

·         Why do I ignore Mary and Joseph in my Christian journey?

·         How important it is for me to take Jesus’ life and ministry as an example to build my faith!

·     Visiting 2 places of burial - the Garden Tomb and Holy Sepulchre -  made the pilgrims reflect  on where the exact place was that Jesus  died, was buried and rose again.

The following inspirational thoughts were shared:

Religion makes mistakes but seeing and accepting another person regardless of their religion (Christian, Jew, or Muslim) is the way to bring peace as Jesus did.

Our imagination about the places of Holy Land may be different from what we see now. But it is not a place but a person (Jesus) that is most important for our spiritual journey.

Jesus was born, brought up, did ministry, was buried and rose again. His ministry needs to be continued through us as pilgrims in our journey to share the Christ-like nature.

Revd Jessie Anand

Easter, Easter Picnic and Easter Bhajan

The days of Eastertide are a real joy to the LTCC!

We entered into our journey of Easter on 27th March at the River Court Methodist Church, Hammersmith. The Easter Picnic was organised at  Battersea Park on Saturday 8th from 10am to 4pm. Easter Bhajan was celebrated on 24th April at the River Court Methodist Church.

The above gathering meant a lot to us this year. We were able to experience the resurrected Lord’s presence in mysterious ways. Particularly on the day of our picnic even though the weather forecast was not very promising for a picnic,
nearly 41 of us  gathered in the Park.

It was amazing how LTCC members invited their family members with children for this great event! Children were encouraged to play, wandering around the Buddhist Pagoda, enjoying the natural beauty of the Thames river and the park. When both children and adults enjoy in a big ground it seems they feel freedom within themselves. They chatted, laughed and ate together amazingly in the park. We experienced the hospitality of the nearby All Saints Church in the Parish of Battersea Fields. At the end of the picnic children and adults had Reflection separately in the Church. It was beautiful to see the gathering, with familiar people and strangers meeting together in unity to understand the Resurrected Lord’s peace and joy together!

Easter Bhajan was another fabulous worship with children, Young people and adults sang and danced in the worship to express their joy of knowing the Risen Lord! Mr. Solomon’s reflection on ‘Easter’ and singing songs with Triple Treble and Kent Gospel Team was marvellous!

In all these, those who attended never failed to reflect on the journey of Emmaus with the Resurrected Lord Jesus!


My fervent and continuous prayers for us are to grow in Unity in the knowledge of Christ. May that journey be full of surprising opportunities to walk and witness for  the Lord Jesus Christ!

Revd Jessie Anand,
Minister, LTCC

Christmas Party on Sunday 27th December 2015

It was a great occasion and lots of hard work was done by the junior coordinator Rajie Muthukumar for the Christmas Party  on 27^th December at Hammersmith. When I entered the church, I felt our children are really God’s gift to our own families and our Church family. Rajie Muthukumar introduced that evening and helped each one of us to hear the cry of the baby Jesus while we sang the carols together. After that, a little reflection encouraged the participants to reflect on different names prophesised by prophet Isaiah about the son of God. Children were asked to remember the verse 6 from the chapter 9 and they were encouraged to memorise. The children’s performance exhibited their music and singing talents which came out fantastically. Robin and Kalyani Appadurai conducted games and facilitated the participants to get involved in.  Games such as throw ball, passing the ball while music was played, and finally Bingo generated team spirit and encouragement of one another. We enjoyed eating together too. The coming of Santa Claus and his distributing gifts to all of us added to the fun. There were 12 children, 2 youngsters and 24 adults attending this celebration. Different families brought their families and friends to celebrate the Christmas Party with us.  Children had a good dance with Santa that showed they enjoyed his visit.  At the end the children reminded themselves about the names of the Son of God mentioned in the book of Isaiah with more excitement. Rev. Asir Anand offered the final prayer.

 It was a good celebration enjoyed by all of us, adults and little ones!.

Rev. Jessie Anand

Outing ended up in sharing Mission

On behalf of LTCC this year outing was organised  by one of our Council members to Littlehampton on Saturday the 5^th August 2014. Morethan 40 people including adults and children joined the trip. As usual people were collected in 2 different places before 9am: South Harrow and Heston Methodist Church. The weather was not very promising in the beginning and the travel also had many constraints because it was not up to our expectations, but our joy of being together was not taken away from these challenges. We talked, played, laughed and ate together.

We played in a vast area of a play ground. We started playing with the majority of mixed groups both young and old and men and women. 2 of our congregation senior members played the cricket and that was a marvelous image I still carry. Gradually all of them took part in the games and played together. During lunch time each one shared their food. We had enormous amount of food which were organised and displayed. The food was  shared with the helping hands of our volunteers.  As time went by the ground was full of people joining from many other organisations on that day. So we had another challenge, our place was trying to be encroached by others. When others moved in, some of our conversation helped me to think about how we have grown up spiritually. When our place was taken away by other people, our members were encouraged by one another to understand other people. We were able to share the ground with them as the ground belongs to every body. We were able to continue playing  our games happily in our given space until 2.30pm and some of us were visiting the sea shore as well. After 2.30pm we had been given for our own time with our family. What a great testimony!

At the end of the Outing, before we got into the bus, one person was down by a severe stomach pain. Those who were with him panicked how to help him. There were few nurses amongst us. One of the nurses immediately came and helped. But her hands were already weak. She recently had a fracture in her hands too. 2 hrs later the friend was feeling better. When we were about to depart from Heston Church he was telling everyone, the nurse (our member) who helped her was like God to him. What a wonderful testimony! People need simple help. They expect compassion.

Everyone can help when we have confidence to share our capacity no matter whatever situation we go through .Christ came into this world to share this model of Compassion, holistic contribution in Mission to share what he have. This year Outing encourages to see how LTCC is growing with  Christ like Mission in our challenging situations.

Rev. Jessie Anand

Fun day reveals God’s generosity

Fun day 2014 was a glorious witness for God's generous action in the life of LTCC held on 5^th July from 2pm to 7pm at Andrews Church at South harrow. Slowly and gradually the ground was filled with people from extended Church Families.  The day started with the blessings of rain. But it never stops to see the enthusiasm of the participants to express their community spirit in our activities on that day.

Games were organised by the Youth and the Fun day organiser fantastically to play inside and outside of the Church Hall. The participants were divided into 2 groups and  given the  colour Red and Green, to encourage the belongingness within the groups. We experienced laughing and encouragement which was fantastic. The group leaders were given the opportunity to choose the competitors for each game was also enjoyable. 


Regarding Food on that day, Who would bring and what would be available was a mystery. But the result was colourful and immense. 
Lots of generous hands provided scrumptious food. When the food was provided the plate was full. What a great joy!

There were more than 50 participants and very glad to note they were mixed age groups. Familiar and unfamiliar people had fun together which was the climax of that day! Age, gender and religion were the mixer of combination of the group. Children and youth brought real family atmosphere on that day. We laughed, chatted, ate and played together.



Two relaxing stalls were there. One was the collection of beads and jewellery which were the hand works of one of the committed Congregation members which was excellent! Children enthusiastically encouraged to approach the participants to sell the different items which seemed to be a marvellous efforts from our younger generations. This was much appreciated.  All were ready to do the nail polishing and supported financially for that day!.

The final was men’s foot ball and cricket Teams. Very loud and well participated.  Women were not only watching but they encouraged one another to play shuttle. Some played the game first time in their lives! It generated the health consciousness as well. 



Finally the prizes were distributed. The  Organiser and the youth put their energy to appreciate all the families through this effort. 
We ended with the LTCC thanks giving prayer both in Tamil and English: bless the Lord Oh my Soul all that is with me bless His Holy name. Bless his Holy name. Bless the Lord Oh my soul and forget not all His benefits. Amen! 
Yes, we really need to uplift our hearts to give thanks to God who was generous and brought committed people to put their energy for the success of this day! All glory to God and let His name be praised! May the people worked hard be blessed by Him.

The Rev. Jessie Anand

Pilgrimage is always remarkable one in our Christian journey

LTCC had a great privilege to encourage people to do a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 16 of us including myself joined the Special Pilgrimage Tour. 

Altogether there were 53 people journeying for 8 days (from 9^th to 16^th Nov 2013) and stayed in various Hotels at Bethlehem and Tiberius.  Rev. Leszek Gamracy led us at the pilgrimage.

Every day our journey began with prayers which was encouraging and was a good reflection for each one of us to travel to the places  where Jesus lived and worked. It helped us to focus more  on our  own spiritual lives. As we were travelling in coaches throughout these fantastic 8 days we had a great privilege to attend the Mass at historic places  such as in the church of St John the Baptist at Ein Karem, Church of Dominus Flevit  at Beth-Fage, Shepherd’s field, Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional site of Cana, and  the Basilica of Transfiguration. 

Our time of singing, praying, chatting, eating and reading Bibles all enabled us to think and reflect   on Jesus who was moving, walking and living to give glory to God in those places 2013 years ago and his miracle and teachings all became living again within us. This experience cannot have more words to explain! This can only be experienced individually. Because every one’s experience is different!

We were able to remind our sacraments such as Baptism and Marriage and we were led to renew our Baptismal vows at Yardenit (the Baptismal site of our Lord Jesus) and to renew our wedding vows in the traditional site of Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle: water was changed into wine.

16 of us as LTCC family members were able to reflect during our daily evening prayers separately from the larger group with reflections and readings. Some though not able to attend the prayers everyday, the conversation with them and the reflection they carried were more inspiring and encouraging one as well.

Swimming in the Dead Sea was also a remarkable experience (we were floating and not swimming). This situation made me to think more on the power of God over His creation!

When I came out of the very moving Mass at the Bascilica of transfiguration, I was challenged by some of the young people from Catholic News from Canada to interview some of us including myself to express our reflection on ‘how this pilgrimage to the Holy Land makes difference in our lives’ which was encouraging and thought provoking for our future..

Their question made me to reflect on my 8 days of journey with the ecumenical pilgrims from Catholic churches and our LTCC congregations as an Ecumenical Christian Congregation. Very challenging and thought provoking experiences to me and I do hope many of us could feel the same! Visiting these places makes the Bible real and our faith livelier. Many times I had the God given opportunity to have conversation with  other pilgrims and local people where I met them in different sacred spots and local shops. One time particularly I was perplexed when I saw the following words written beautifully on the wall in Nazareth during our lunch.

I asked our coach driver the meaning of those words: ‘’Nahunu  Noridu Ilhaya behorea’’ ,  He said,’’ we are hear for living together’’ .

What a wonderful testimony! Christians, and Jews are giving the message to us that they are there in the Holy land to live together. I took this challenge; I am here in this world to live together in the midst of perplexed and peace less people and situations. Giving peace was the unique reason Jesus came to this world to help us.

Rev. Jessie Anand

29^th Nov 2013

Day trip to West Wittering in 2013

The main purpose of this day outing was to understand each other better within LTCC.

 51 members  started the journey from London to West wittering on 10^th August.  It was marvellous to see some of  LTCC family members bring their own family members.  They too laughed and chatted with us. So we were able to realise how much more LTCC is welcoming and integrating with unfamiliar people with Christian love. Every item of the day  brilliantly revealed the participants intention to mingle with one another and sharing what we have with one another.

While we were travelling in the bus lots of Sri Lankan folk songs inspired people not to forget their childhood and the life experiences back in Sri Lanka. Songs were played loudly with Tambourine music.  Lovely breakfast was shared in the bus.

Once we arrived the seashore parking fee was a challenging one to everybody. In addition to that  the elders encouraged and inspired the members to focus on the itinerary of that day to have proper organisation and  relaxation.. When we were in the sea, an elderly friend (Rajkumar’s Aunty..75yrs old) swam in the sea which was challenging and motivating many of us never to fail to appreciate her confidence to swim in her age!

Afternoon was a time we had different choices to see the creation and men and children were able to play Cricket joyfully together.

We had  fantastic time spending time in the seashore before our lunch together and Games and later filled the day with people’s own choices in the afternoon and we retired to our bus  at 5pm.

People never forget to praise God for the food and understand Jesus miracle story of 5 loaves and 2 fish motivated which  the disciples to collect the left over which filled  12 baskets.

Only one or 2 coffee shops were on the seashore. As we came out of the seashore  people felt how much more we were able to  relax in God’s creation without any shopping .Singing, Swimming, playing, chatting and eating were the highlights s of that day.

In His Service

Rev. Jessie Anand