Giving thanks in Algiers

It has been a busy couple of weeks at Holy Trinity Algiers where the church recently celebrated their patronal festival. Their Priest, Craig Watson, writes: ‘normally this would have been celebrated at Trinity, as the church is Holy Trinity but this year the Islamic festival of Eid al Adha coincided with Trinity, so we moved it back a week and had it at Pentecost. The celebration was wonderful as you can see from the pictures. The life of HTA is thriving and we give thanks to God who is at work to build us up in so many amazing ways.

We have been encouraged by visits from senior diplomats for meals, along with those in less senior roles.  This enables us to build relationships, and it allows us to support members of the diplomatic community who often feel a bit trapped in their Embassy bubbles and this can lead to a sense of isolation. Opening our home means we can provide somewhere for people in the diplomatic community to come and relax, refresh and just be themselves. We continue to make ourselves available to the diplomatic community by attending the Brit Club each week which, although run by the British Embassy, is frequented by many nationalities, mainly diplomats, who speak English. This leads to many interesting conversations and contacts.’