At Pollards Hill Baptist Church, (PHBC) and I dare say, in many churches, there are many in the congregation with hidden talents.  So many people who for one reason or another are fearful of ‘shinning their light’ so all can see.

Recently, at PHBC, thanks be to God, two members took the brave step of showing everyone one of their gifts.  We’ve celebrated two members publishing their first books of poetry.

These books, document their journeys and how their faith was the Rock on which they were able to hold during their most troubled times. These books give testimonies to their unwavering trust in God and how this belief has carried them through life.

I had the pleasure and honour of speaking to both of our budding authors. This is my interview with Pauline Barnes who was the first to publish her book, “Deeper Yet”;  I’ll be sharing my talk with Mechael Elizabeth on her book, “Perfectly Imperfect” soon, so keep an eye out for that:

Firstly, I began by asking Pauline to give us a sneak peak into ‘who is Pauline Barnes’?

PB: O.K. so It’s easy to say I am a mother and grandmother, a daughter, a sister, cousin, niece, teacher, friend etc. But that is not the sum total of who I am. If you were to strip away those components, would I still be me? It’s interesting how we become defined by labels, but I think what really defines us is the relationships we have with God and with others. I lost an aunt last year and I am so thankful I have another aunt, but if I didn’t have another aunt would I still be a niece?  Do you see what I mean? If my identity was defined by the fact that I’m a niece who would I now be?  As I contemplated retirement, because my identity had been so closely affirmed by my career, I found it quite difficult to make the decision to retire. Having retired and just working one day, I see the folly of wrapping up my identity in my career. So as I’ve reflected over the last few months, I’d like to think that my relationship with God supersedes all other relationships (or careers) and because that relationship never changes I guess my answer is I am a child of the living God.

EC: You’ve been a committed Christian for over 20 years, did you grow up in a religious family?

PB: In some respects yes, my guardians were Seventh- Day Adventists, and  when I     came to England aged 10, my mother continued to send me to church although she never went herself.

EC: How did you come to faith, if you did not grow up in the church?

PB: I went through some very difficult periods in my life, ill health and a broken relationship had left me feeling completely alone and there came a time when I just cried out to God: started going to church, changed school, moved house and got baptised at PHBC and simply never looked back.

EC: What made you choose Pollards Hill Baptist Church as your home?

PB: Oh my goodness, that was so simple. My daughter who was 6 at the time made the decision. We had seen both churches, the Anglican church to the right and the Baptist church to the left of our house. So I said to her as we stood outside our house that first Sunday morning, “Left or right” and she said “Left”, so we went to the Baptist church. We went to other churches over a period of about 10 months and after attending a homegroup I decided finally on PHBC.

EC: Now tell us about your book – “Deeper Yet – Reflections on Life in Poetry and Prose”

PB: The book is about my journey into faith. It charts my experiences – the highs and the lows and also my thoughts about our shared responsibilities to create a more just and healthy world.

EC: What inspired you to put these poems in a book – after all, you must have been writing over many years?

PB: The thing is I never set out to write a book and have it published. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I enjoy writing and have a collection of pieces going back to my early twenties. When I became a Christian my writing intensified as there were so many things I did not understand. When I was diagnosed with cancer almost 13 years ago, my cousin suggested I chart the journey in writing. I found this quite difficult so I decided to have conversations with God and that seemed to work. During ‘Lockdown,’ I started to collate what I’d written and added to them. Two people shared their books with me and  I was invited to your book launch and began to feel that publishing them could be an option.  I showed what I’d written to a few people and to our Pastor, Pastor Deji, and with their encouragement I decided to publish. There came a point though when I got cold feet so I asked God how would publishing bring glory to Him and the response was ‘Publish and see.’ And so I did!

EC: I know this is like asking a mother who’s her favourite child, but do you have a favourite poem?

PB: There is a poem (Black man in de white house) which always makes me smile and so it’s easy in some respects to see it as a favourite. There are others which takes me back to a really difficult time in my life and makes me ‘well up’ sometimes. The poem ‘Just Enough Grace’ falls into this category as I vividly remember the tiredness I experienced after my surgery. I didn’t feel ill, just extremely tired. There are poems which brought a lot of pain as I wrote them and  Why, Why, Why? is one of these. There are other poems which makes me tingle that the God of the universe loves me so much, all I do in those poems is praise Him. Others, which makes me sad at the thought of Jesus’ suffering, but whilst they make me sad, they also help me to remember to live a life of service. So, do I have a favourite? I’m not sure!

EC: I know the proceeds from the sale of your book are being donated to a number of churches, why?

PB: People have poured into my life and this is a way of giving back I guess. You took care of PR for the book and got me an interview with Premier. Pastor Deji, my publisher gave of his time and resources.  God has been so, so  good to me and though I’m not trying to pay God back, (I couldn’t do that in a trillion,  trillion years!) I feel it is important to give to the work of the Kingdom.

EC: The book is now officially launched, I know you held your launch at the Pollards Hill Baptist Church – how was that?

PB: It was an amazing day! I think I might have been in a bit of a daze.  I really was not expecting to see so many people there, so I was very pleased. I still have not looked at the video of the launch so not sure how I answered the questions that were asked. I’m building up to having a look at the video though.

EC: Finally, How can people get their hands on your book?

PB: My website paulinebarnes.co.uk and on Amazon.