Carols for the Countryside

Yesterday evening there was a service of Carols for the Countryside and Pershore Abbey was packed.
Representatives from NFU, CLA, Young Farmers, Countryside Alliance and Farm Crisis Network were all part of the service.
Of all the people in all the world God could have chosen to be the first to hear the good news of Jesus' birth, it was the shepherds. First century Palestinian shepherds were not noted for the religious observances, in fact quite the reverse, and were looked down on by the religious people of the Temple. Yet the temple depended on the shepherds for the supply of lambs for the Passover. Today we still depend on those who work the land, yet they are pushed to the edge

• financially - average income per farmer last year was £13,800

• socially – many farmers are strangers in a village of incomers

• personally – suicide rates in farming are 1.8 times the average

Those who work the land today as much as then need to hear the news that God loves and values them. We need to show that love and valuing in action.