Marjorie Phelps MBE always had a real heart for people, especially those in need. At the request of a friend, she got to know a former inmate from Gloucester prison who came to Stroud. Through her contact with this young man, she got to know others in a similar, marginalised position and began to invite them to her house for something to eat. In the 1990s she would walk around town, with bags of food, and hand it out to anyone she thought looked in need. Her church, Stroud Baptist, recognised the need for help and agreed that they would get together a team of people from different churches ready to offer support on a more official footing. The service grew and in time Marah became a registered charity.
What’s in a name?
We are a Christian charity and the name comes from the book of Exodus 15:22-26 :
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”