Dear Editor
The letter from Revd Canon Paul Vann, in the Michaelmas edition, regarding Beacon Books and Crafts in Cwmbran, has inspired me to tell your readers about the Rainbow Centre in Chepstow, Monmouthshire. The Centre comprises a Christian Bookshop, called The Word, and a Fair Trade Café, called the Harvest Coffee Shop.
The bookshop stocks a wide selection of books and Sunday School material, greetings cards, CDs and DVDs, candles, local honey, and second hand books.
The seed for the Centre was sown in 1990 when an ecumenical prayer triplet felt the need for a Christian presence on the high street; an oasis, bringing together the sacred and secular worlds. So they began praying on a regular basis. Eight years later the seed began to grow when the new Pastor for the Chepstow Baptist Church arrived, with considerable experience in setting up and running Christian bookshops and coffee shops. 
Churches Together in Chepstow asked the Pastor to explore the possibilities of the long ‘prayed for’ shop. Premises, affordable and big enough, were hard to find but, after much prayer, a ‘suitable’ place was found – The Green Dragon, a centuries old Inn, which had been empty for a long time. Before commencing major renovations, a praise and worship service (one of many over the years) was held on the premises to thank God for His faithfulness. By 2001, after much fund-raising, the shop was ready for opening, appropriately named ‘The Rainbow’ - a sign of God’s promise and faithfulness. On1st December 2001, after many setbacks but in God’s good timing, the doors were opened for business.
The Rainbow Centre is worked mostly by voluntary staff. Please visit us when you are next in Chepstow:
38 Moor Street, Chepstow, NP16 5DF
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 4pm
Find out more about the Centre on: www.rainbowchepstow.co.uk
Lorraine Sampson