Evening Prayer at St Edward ’ s Today ’ s Evening Service at 6.30pm led by Rev Carl is Contemporary Worship and Prayer on the theme of Holocaust Memorial Day. Tea at the Vicarage You are cordially invited to partake of afternoon tea today at the Vicarage (100 Church Hill) from three o ’ clock until half past four where a warm welcome and a scrumptious repast awaits. All proceeds are for the very worthy Lepra charity, fighting disease, poverty and prejudice. Do come along and support this cause and help to cure leprosy victims, improve prevention and reduce the stigma surrounding the disease. Holocaust Memorial Day Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day commemorating the day on 27th January, 1945 when the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviets. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, many of the inmates had been sent out on a death march although there remained over 7,000 people sick and dying. In total there were over 6 million Jews brutally killed during World War Two. At Auschwitz, 1.1 million people were killed in gas chambers, about 90% of whom were Jewish, as part of Hitler ’ s Final Solution which also included extermination of Romany people, Soviets and Polish. Yesterday was also International Holocaust Remembrance Day when the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur were remembered. In Cambodia, between 1975 and 1979, under Pol Pot ’ s Khmer Rouge 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians died through starvation, execution, disease and overwork, all in the course of Pol Pot trying to nationalize the peasant farming community along communist lines. In just 100 days in 1994, upwards of a million Rwandan Tutsis were killed by the governing Hutu and in the Darfur ethnic cleansing in the early years of this Century, there was an estimated death toll of 400,000 as well as many more incidents of brutal rape, woundings and torture. Rev Carl will be incorporating some appropriate texts in this morning ’ s service as well as more liturgical resources for this evening ’ s service. Pam ’ s Recruiting Drive As the number of our congregation enjoying refreshments after the 9.30am service has grown considerably since its inception, Pam Capps and her team would like to increase the number of volunteers who assist, both before and after the service. They are seeking ladies or gentlemen to help with the setting up and serving of the refreshments. The cakes are also provided by the volunteers. If you would like to help with this enjoyable social activity, please speak to Pam or phone her on 771275. Parish Magazine Apologies for anyone expecting to find the February Parish Magazine in church today. Due to a combination of reasons, printing is not expected until next week.