And so it is....

So it begins - the preparations, the thoughts, the handing on, the "last time" for this and for that. It's 9 weeks today that I will fly "home" to the UK, and I say "home" because now home is very much Durban for me. I don't think other places, I don't seek other places - I'm settled.

But God is rarely a person who remains, or allows us to remain, settled. Not that a certain kind of being settled (satisfying relationships, plenty of challenges, a big work to be getting on with, a rich culture and landscape to explore and enjoy, etc) is a bad thing, just that there are bigger things to be thinking about and our Father is always keen to move us on to those.

The last few weeks have been more crazy hectic busy times. Let's try to give you a summary of what's been going on. Also, I realise that my blog will be coming to an end (at least in this form) soon, so I think I'd better complete it while I still have the chance.

• Preaching - On March 16th I preached for the first time at Hope Church on 1 Cor 10:31 ("Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"). I had a tight time restriction of 25 minutes (we had a busy morning, including baptisms), but I managed to stick to it and preached with uncharacteristic clarity and bundles of passion. Everyone loved it and received it well, and it was great to be able to preach again after so many months. What pleased me was that here I was preaching in another context, to a lot of people who wouldn't necessarily respond well to convoluted preaching, yet I managed to communicate well. It fills me with faith that I'm not always going to be unable to connect with the various people that God will one day have me lead.
• Pete and Emily - During Mandy's last week in Durban (more on that later), my super duper friends Pete and Emily arrived to stay with me. It was a bit of a squeeze in my little place, but we coped alright. I also managed to juggle the visit and work quite well, which was a lot less stressful for me, and I was really grateful to them both for being quite releasing in giving me time to just get things done or to spend some of those last precious moments with my lovely girlfriend! We had a great time seeing cheetahs chasing impala, seeing hippos, and running from rhinos on safari, went for a long hike in the Drakensburg, had a sumptuous Sunday roast lamb lunch (hats off to Pete), and generally caught up. Even though it was a short visit, Pete and Emily both came away not just having had a good break, but touched by this wonderful country (as flawed as it may be, as everywhere is).
  
• Load shedding - The first night Pete and Emily arrived we had "load shedding", which is the polite term for when your electricity is turned off because there's simply not enough to go round. We managed to still get a good braai going and had a nice night with Gary and Nicky's house sitting guests from Cape Town. But in the last couple of weeks it's been mad. Often twice a day for two hours at a time the electricity is out. Worse still, it's often out from wither 6-8pm or 8-10pm, so often interupting when you want to be cooking (electric stove). You can't really tell if your power is out until you get near home, so you either have to head home normal time and chance that it's out, or head home late and chance that you missed it. It's very difficult to make plans for your evening as you don't know when you can cook, or what you can be doing while the power for you and your whole neighbourhood is out.
  
• Mandy leaving - And so we come to the infamous March 26th 2008. I got up early to take Pete and Emily to the airport (I've visited that place far too much recently!) and after that was done waited for the call to come around to Mandy's to help pack. It was such a complicated mix of emotions on both sides, and seeing that in each other further stirred it all up in ourselves. But we got through the packing, sorting through old memories, boxing things up, arranging to pass on little trinkets, etc. How we got through the day I don't know! Thankfully after a while a lot of friends began to arrive as we made our way to the airport. We had a long time to chat and reminisce in the bar upstairs, and then came the final moment. We hugged, kissed, waved, but managed not to cry (at least for a while), and then she was gone. We all left for home a bit quiet - nothing seemed all that worth talking about any more. Someone so immeasurably dear to all of us was gone in some crucial sense for good. Imagine the joy of Heaven, when all those in Christ who have been separated will be reunited, never to be apart again! How wonderful it will be - every severed tie, every diminshed friendship, every heartfelt agony of distance gone for good! It was a very tough few days as it kept sinking in, as contact was very limited, etc. But by the grace of God we got through it, are getting through it still, and will come through clear the other side.
  
• Teaching materials - We've been producing a fair bit of teaching material at Hope Church recently. We put together a ministry team manual and training course, are continually building our Connect Group leader training, are developing things for worship, teaching series on money, etc. For this last one I've been put in charge as editor general for the series, eventually tying it together in a short booklet of teaching covering most of the major biblical thoughts on the matter. It will probably be one of my last tasks here at Hope, but it's started a trend I aim to continue. Drew even said in the team meeting the other week that from what I've done for the ministry manual, my preach, and the Connect Group manual, that I have a gift of clarity (yes, you heard right!), and he wants to see me start off on a road of producing more written material and teaching. It was very out of the blue, but it was so encouraging to hear and has confirmed to me many of the things that God has spoken about me doing in time to come. I hope to continue to be able to output my thoughts in an upbuilding and accessible way when I come back to London.
  
• Teaching - Hayibo! The whole teaching thing is long and complicated. My original thoughts of what I would do when I returned from SA was to get into teaching through the Graduate Teacher Program, and then use that as a base from which to go church planting later on. Turns out that the whole thing is very complicated, no one gives you straight answers, and that to start in September I probably need to have already applied and be at home now. Could start in January, or do a different program in September 08, or just do something else altogther (which is sounding appealing at the moment!). The whole process is extremely long and frustrating, and I can see why there's a shortage of teachers! Any thoughts and most certainly prayers would be valued on this as I do need a job when I come back to the UK.
  
• Weddings - Speaking of jobs, if you know anyone looking for a wedding photographer from July 08 onwards put them in contact with me, please. I've done a whole number of weddings, both in the UK and SA, and have a fairly sizeable portfolio of photos in a variety of locations and situations. I can be quite flexible on price and generally do things on very generous terms. I'd love to have 3 or 4 jobs in this coming summer, so even if you don't know anyone please just pray I get them! Also if anyone wants any random photographic work done (landscapes, family portraits, etc) then just let me know and we'll work something out.
  
• Beulah group - Esther, Rebekah, Stu, James, and Alfie have just left from their visit to Cape Town and Durban. Been nice to catch up with some Beulah folk again and it's given me a bit of an advance taster of what it will be like to be surrounded by Londoners again. We've done the usual stuff and seen the usual places and it's been good, but seeing as I've written a lot today I'm gonna cap it there.

Got 5 a side football again tonight. Let's see if we can win one for once! Salani Kahle!