Who are the ‘naughty people’?

Ian Kirk-Smith reflects on a powerful piece of ministry at Meeting for Sufferings

by Ian Kirk-Smith 7th October 2011

  The room was full of Friends from every corner of Britain. A gentle hum of voices had calmed to stillness. Meeting for Sufferings was settled. Worship began.  The silence, after some minutes, was broken by ministry. A Friend revealed that she was a grandmother and had recently been talking to her grandson. He told her that, when he grew up, he wanted to be a farmer and that he wanted to produce food – but ‘not for the naughty people’. His grandmother was slightly taken aback. She explained to him that the naughty people also needed food. We had a responsibility to them.