Simunye

I'm sure many of you have heard about the recent violence against African nationals from outside of SA in Johannesburg. This week it spread to Durban, and yesterday it ignited in Cape Town - so the three major centres of the country are now scenes for horrendous violence, lawless looting, and racial hatred.

While no one has called or emailed and asked if I'm alright (you all obviously love me so much! :o) ), some other people here who are from England have had people asking, so I thought I'd let you all know what is going on.

If you didn't watch the news or listen to the radio you'd probably not notice anything was happening in Durban, so long as you live in the right area. The sort of place I live is about 5 miles from the scene in the picture (the picture is of a few people at the police station who are some of the many who have been displaced violenty from the township across the road, and forced to flee), and if you drive on the major roads, you'd drive around all this and not see anything. That's because so far the violence has been confined to township areas (which tend to be off the beaten track), and perpetrated late at night against people from other African nations such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, and Somalia.

The reason? Purportedly there is a lot of rivalry and resentment against these immigrants, who are accused of stealing all the jobs, and even stealing women. As ever, there's an element of truth there, but most black South Africans I speak to say that these foreigners are very hard working and so they get jobs and take jobs local zulus, for example, won't do.

But in reality these mobs of people are reportedly little more than drunken, bloodthirsty thieves, who have killed, raped, looted, and burned their way to stealing lots of cell phones, TVs, clothes, etc. While some are saying they want to kick foreigners out, many victims of violence have their ID documents stolen from them (hence they can't leave) along with everything else.

The worst case I've heard of was against a Mozambiquan in Jo'burg a few days ago. A mob set fire to his shack, and then when he ran from the blaze they shouted in Zulu, "Don't let the foreigner get away!" They grabbed him, doused him in petrol, and then threw him back into the blaze to burn to death. A Zimbabwean speaking to BBC news said that they can't sleep for hearing the sound of this man's screams as he slowly died.

There have been three major hotspots in Durban that I know of - Cato Manor (where the boys I've often mentioned come from), Umbilo (the sort of area we play 5 a side soccer in), and Chatsworth (the mainly Indian community where many from our church live, bordering the township of Mlazi). So far it has been black South Africans (who admittedly do have the rough end of the stick here) against other black Africans. But many do draw comparisons to situations recently like in Congo and Rwanda. Potentially it could spill over against Indians and whites, and even against different black South African tribes (I know one Sesotho guy who is a little concerned because he doesn't speak Zulu well enough to pass for a zulu. Other guys in the church from, for example, DRC, are very worried, with some too scared to go to work).

So today Themba, Johannes, and myself went to Cato Manor police station to see what our church would do to help the displaced people. Johannes' (a member of the staff working particularly with developing our HIV projects) contact in the municipality asked us to come and see what was happening. She explained that there were around 550 adults, plus children, staying on the grounds of the police station. Thankfully it doesn't get too cold at night in Durban, but cold enough (though in places like Cape Town and Jo'burg it'll be very cold - even freezing). The facilities are feeling the strain, with toilets getting blocked up, lack of space, getting food to people, etc. Many people come with only the clothes on their backs.

And to see some of it is just heartbreaking. I saw a girl who couldn't have been more than 15 carrying a 2 year old or so (maybe a sister) just walking through the grounds of the station, and I just thought, "How can people be so brutal against someone so vulnerable?"

Chief Buthelezi, leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party which is very strong in KZN, came to visit the station and did a press release there as blankets and food donated by the IFP was distributed.

At the moment many police stations and church buildings have become effectively refugee camps. The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to return to any normality, and these people may end up settling elsewhere, which is something akin to the dark old era of apartheid.

Simunye is a strong Zulu word, and it means 'we are one'. Chief Buthelezi used it today when urging people not to leave the country. I guess though it all depends on who you mean by 'we'. The wonder is that we all could just as easily be like this. This isn't a South African thing, this is a human thing - a sinful, fallen, human thing.

I ask you to pray for us as a church that we may shine like lights in this crooked generation (which exists not only in SA, but across the world), and to pray for those who have been so brutally treated. Many have lost everything, even family members. Some think it better to be in Zimbabwe where there is little food, and where Zanu PF thugs do things much like they do here. Do pray - God is powerful! If I find ways in which any of you might be able to help further (e.g. through gifts of money to enable us to give to those made destitute), I will let you know.

I come home in three weeks or so. Who knows how much longer I'd be welcome here anyway?

Four Weeks To Save The World

So here it is - it's now less than one month until I come home! It's come so fast, but even though it's so near it really hasn't hit me yet.

Durban has become to me a new home. It's not somewhere where I have lived - it is home. Even more than being able to get a sun tan in winter (like today at the beach where it was 27C), the people I know, the sights I see, the culture all around, and the fact that it in some way feels uniquely "mine", mean that I'm going to be very sorry to leave.

But I must look forward, and there is much to look forward to. It will be great to be back with so many other great friends, to be close to Mandy, to be a part of a couple of great weddings this summer, to see family, etc. That's just catching up on things that I've left, but there's also whole new things with teaching (though there's still no definite road forward before 2009), being involved afresh and from a new perspective with where Beulah Family Church has gotten to, working with new people, and just getting into a new stage of what God has for me in my life. Even looking recently at this spate of horrible youth killings in London has spurred me to pray. Something stirs deep within me, and I just know God is going to bring a powerful response to this situation. If he should use me, then let Him use me. As the least suited of pretty much any person it will only serve to clearly show His surpassing power.

I feel stirred also to see what God will do with some other things. I think being here in SA has definitely helped me to be a lot more nuts and bolts at times, and to just get on with things. I'm much more in the frame of mind to just push the boat out a bit when it comes to evangelism and mercy to the poor.

I've also been doing a fair bit of writing in the last few months. I'm putting together all of our series on money into a book that Hope Church is going to use in Durban, and potentially elsewhere. I've helped produced Connect/Cell Group training manuals, and am still expanding it, as well as a manual for doing "ministry" in terms of praying for people. Along with preaching, it's a lot of writing and communication, and I think it's helped sharpen the things God has put in me. I think this writing thing is going to go a lot further too. I feel a burden to somehow take it outside of the church (though equipping believers is a huge passion of mine) and into the world - to make the mind of God known on the things that are happening in our days. I don't even know where to begin, but it still stirs a sense of excitement in me as I think about what God may do.

I am also excited to see what God is doing in me with regard to my character. It's been painful, and will continue to be so, but God has been dealing a lot with my stubborness and outright arrogance. There's a long way to go, I'm sure, but God is repeatedly on my case at the moment. It's so amazing.... things can go from crushing failure to amazing success in almost no time at all. I think an awareness of how we're not sufficient to boast of anything in ourselves (which comes after failure) means that God is right on board and working alongside the humble attitude that should be there always. What a thought - that perhaps the biggest obstacle to the work of God in our lives is ourselves. Our pride is like a tap, that opens or closes the flow of God's gracious working around us. That's why things can change so quickly, I think - because a big change has happened in us, meaning God works, and all the results depend on God. I'm sure there'll be a lot of the "same old Cook" when I get back, but God is doing something too - putting in such a bigger heart. My focus is usually first and foremost on "being right". If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but my concern is on what's right, and then on making sure I'm in line with that. But just as faith and knowledge without love are nothing (1 Cor 13:1ff), so rightness/correctness/truth without love is also nothing. In fact it just mutates something beautiful into a monster - a harsh measuring line that only exposes inadequacy. In essense it's law, which may be right, but leaves things unchanged and only gives a verdict of right or wrong. But grace is love, the love God is. Grace does not compromise, but it does change. It doesn't just confirm itself as being right, but makes other things right at its own expense. God once spoke to me and told me I'm like Judge Dredd, "I AM THE LAW". But by his grace He's helping me to be grace to others, not law - to be loving and upbuilding and not just right (which I'm often not anyway!). This is just a continuation of a long journey, but it's good to see that it is continuing, and I do look forward to seeing some of its new fruit in days to come when I'm back home.

So in these last few weeks in Durban I've still got a lot of tying up to do, things to see, and people to say goodbye to. After three weeks I think my car insurance claim is finally in the right department (after numerous phone calls!), and so hopefully it will be done by the time I leave.

Anyway, nothing too new or profound at the moment. By now I've either got used to things in SA where I don't really comment on them so much now, or I'm just settled enough that nothing new is really happening. But you can check out my Flickr page (link on the left), as I've uploaded a whole lot of pics of where I've been and what I've done since January. Enjoy! See you in four weeks!

Happenings and non-happenings

Oh my! It's now May 2nd! The days are getting shorter, noticeably colder, and also wetter here in Durban. Just as I finally get used to ridiculous tropical temperatures (I think Ghana definitely helped Durban to feel a little more normal!) it gets all cool! I think I might never feel warm again this side of 30C!

Anyway, it's fast closing in on 6 weeks until I come home. These 6 weeks are going to be a little different than I imagined though. On Sunday just gone I had a rather unfortunate run in with a Mercedes C180, i.e. I crashed into one! It was actually his fault (changing his mind and crossing from right hand side of a crossroad junction to turn left, and so right across my path), but I still ended up driving into the Merc that was deciding to park itself right in front of me. Thankfully I braked fairly well, and managed to steer a bit so I more glanced him and spun off, rather than slamming square into him. His car was good enough to drive away, mine, not quite so lucky. Given the age of the car it's almost certainly a write off. Thankfully again, the other driver has taken full responsibility and has arranged for me to claim from his insurance. Hopefully I'll hear more next week, but the claim is now already underway.

It does mean that for my last little while in Durban I'm car-less.... something you don't want to be when you have to travel 8.5 miles to work, a mile to the nearest shop, 5 miles to the nearest friend's house, and all this over big Durban hills! As it stands I'm either able to hitch a lift or borrow a car for most things I need to do. It is limiting though. I used to be one of the people who could provide a ride for people, now I need a ride. Being a leader in this context generally means you need a car, because that's often the only way you can see people or gather them. For example, it's going to be practically impossible to get my Connect Group together now I don't have a car. It's hard to grasp just how vital having a car is in this environment. I remember from the moment I arrived until now several times where I've been reminded that things just break down here without adequate transport. Getting adequate transport is one of our big challenges. Oh, sure, it wouldn't be a problem if we were just talking about building a church full of middle class families who could all drive. But when including the poor, students, even just ordinary people with reasonable jobs who can't afford a car, and people who come from far away, yes, we need cars! So don't be surprised one day if I end up asking some of you to help a key leader in the church here to buy a car - it's not a luxury, but crucial to operating an all inclusive church in this context.

That was the happening - my car crash. By the way, I was unhurt apart from a small sprain on my right wrist from holding the wheel (I did use my left hand too, but somehow it wasn't hurt!) at the moment of impact. The non-happening is my Teach First application. Things have opened up remarkably to allow me to apply, and my application was warmly received. The problem is that I need to be back for an interview and assessment day on May 14th, which is not just inconvenient but totally impractical. So that's that one out.... there's not really any way around that. I think that applying to start September 2009 would be good, but we'll see.

So for now it seems that I don't know what I'll be doing when I come back home. All things being equal, I think it's better to have a job than not, so I'll be looking for one, but I don't know what. It's hard to think of something you'd really like to do, that would really be of some long term use, but that you might only do for a year. Any thoughts, people? Answers on the back of a postcard, please!

See you all soon!

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!

Zoom zoom zoom!

I've borrowed from the famous Mazda slogan to describe the last few weeks. As you might imagine they've been very busy indeed. Since JC left I've had a brief while to just try and make sure that a few necessary things were done before going to Ghana for Julian and Liz's wedding (whom you might or might not know). I was in Accra, and the surrounding area, for about a week, before flying home to Durban and to my lovely Mandy, who greeted me with a big hug and a very personalised little lunch for us to have at the beach. Awww! Since then it's been a combination of catching up on all the stuff I've been letting go, catching up with people, and just this weekend going to a nice house in Salt Rock (up the coast from us in Durbs) with Mandy, her old housemates, and their respective partners. It was great to get some time away where I could actually relax rather than host, guide, photograph, or whatever, and great for Mandy to get some quality time with her nearest and dearest, as well as get some much needed R&R.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you a little about Ghana. I could tell as soon as I got off the plane that it is a very different place from SA, especially from Durban. On paper it's quite similar - coastal city, lots of people, tropical type climate. Still, it was worlds away in a lot of ways. Infrastructure was not as developed and nothing had that feel of a wealthy country. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, but from the outset it does strike you that there's not a lot of room to make things nice, just to make them work. I didn't expect, and certainly didn't require, it to be a lot different, but with the African Cup Of Nations being held there only a week or so before I arrived I expected that there might have been a little more glitz to the place.

Still, after getting out of the airport from my late flight I was picked up by Julian's dad, who led me to the car where I met the rest of the troup. I was given a can of warm Guiness as a welcome (they love Guiness in Ghana and brew it there, to their own tastes, I'm sure). Even at 11pm or so there was still plenty of traffic (something that never changes in Accra) and we crawled along back to our hotel.

The hotel itself seemed quite reasonable, though I was soon to get a taste what the rest of the week was going to be like. After my lengthy travel I largely just wanted to sleep. However the air con in my room, which was supposed to be on before I arrived, was not even working. Sounds like a luxury, and it is, but in Accra in February it's a lot closer to necessity! Still, I wasn't too perturbed, knowing that most of Ghana does fine with no air con and so could I. I fortunately got a fan, and with that running on full power pointed right at me I could just about sleep! I thought Durban was hot, but this place was something else! Even at midnight it was so warm and so humid. On the flight home the plane gave stats about conditions and even at 1000m up after taking off from Accra at midnight, the outside temp was still 23C! Given that temperature is supposed to drop off at 1C per 100m, even at half that rate it was 28C at midnight! When I first arrived and came off the plane I noticed instantly that my cooled hand luggage developed dew drops of condensation before I even got to the ground! Because of this I managed to go through the best part of 45 litres of bottled water aside from what we had in restaurants or at stops in petrol stations in just one week! You sweat and sweat, but don't cool down. The one thing that is easier to bear than Durban is the sun. Because of the dust and the general cloud Accra always had this thin misty veil of cloud that was completely uniform. This did a lot to make sure that though it was hot, the sun didn't blast you too directly.

The next day we started to do the usual wedding preparations and that involved us driving to lots of places and often waiting around a lot as Liz and Julian and others did lots of stuff while I sat in the car with the leftover people and read (which I was glad to have the time to do). We got to see a lot of Accra this way, though it's always nicer to be on foot and meeting people. Through a communications mixup about measurements (easy to do when you don't have a standard on where to measure, say, the shoulders, let alone when you're dealing with people who don't have such a technical command of english to distinguish clearly between, say, waist and hips) none of the dresses made for the wedding fitted, and so had to be altered. One of them had no less than 4 attempts and only still got to barely okay!

Our hotel did us no favours too. We often found we had no running water because the pump had died (most water in Accra is supplied by outdoor tanks that are filled by delivery from a truck, not piped in underground). Other times the air con didn't work in one room or another. Other times breakfast would just be very late. Other times electricity would go out. This all came to a head when on the morning of the wedding everyone wanted to get ready and there was no water! After about 4 hours the water was returned and the hairdresser finally arrived. As they were working the electricity went out due to some seriously burnt out mains wiring! Not a good thing to be happening on your wedding day!

Still, the wedding itself all seemed to go well in the end, and there was a huge party at the end with the Ghanaian's really giving it some. I had by then changed into my own Ghanaian suit, which I had made for me during the week. It looks a bit like pyjamas, but it's cool. The fabric I picked out and then had it made by a guy nearby. Total cost - about £10! It's a little off in the shoulders, but for £10 I'm not complaining!

Ghana is a very religious country, with pretty much every shop, building, and tro tro (taxi/minibus) sporting a Christian type of name. Things like "To God be the glory Hair Salon" are not uncommon at all, along with "Washed in the blood Salon", or "By His grace Mechanics". Unfortunately it's a very superstitious and superficial thing in the majority of cases. People think that if they give a bit of lip service to Jesus he'll make everything go well for them like a good luck charm. The "prosperity gospel" is such an issue, it seems, in Africa - more than it is perhaps anywhere in the world. Of course, it's easy to point out specks and not see your own logs. Just as grinding poverty opens the door to prosperity gospel, so does western philosophical disillusionment breed a gospel of "self-fulfilment" or "inner healing" or just plain worldly leisure. As in all these things, there's a kernel of truth, but turned inside out and stuffed into a package of other worldly nonsense.

This is why I was so glad to be able to hook up with the Newfrontiers church in Accra. Of the many good things, I think they managed to contain the grain of truth that God's ways are good and pleasing and fruitful, without losing all proportion. You simply can't say in Ghana that God thinks your poverty is irrelevant and has no interest in changing it. It's not true, and it's unhelpful. For an affluent western church it may be that we give this very little thought, because, having everything we want, we devote ourselves only to matters of the soul, etc. But God made all things, visible and invisible, and all things He has made are good. If anything I think in the west we tend to oscillate between a thankless material greed and a superspiritual asceticism (rejection of material and boldily things) - neither of which glorify God. At City Of God Church it seems, as in Zim, they have well learned that God is keen to bless people as they fulfil his plan to work, to be fruitful and productive, and to supply the needs of others.

On the friday I went to see the school that they run, including the new site where they were building for expansion, and hoping to eventually move the whole school. This would then free up the buildings the school uses on the church site at the moment for other ministries. Looking around the site, and in fact all around Ghana, there were lots of unfinished buildings. The idea is that if you own some land you build something, anything, there and fast. If you don't then, because of the lax enforcement of land ownership, someone else will just come and build on there, or the owner will "re-sell" it and let the two "owners" fight it out. Some of the people in the church were telling of stories of this sort of conflict from their own building works, where groups have even come with machine guns and forcibly removed the construction crew (for all that Ghana is actually very safe).

The reasons for running the school are many. It's not first an issue of lack of availabilty. There are lots of schools, and many that are cheaper than New Nation School. But what they have in mind is to offer a proper education without cutting corners. There is simply no school like that anywhere nearby (where for example teachers don't slack off during the day so that they have reason to further educate the kids for a few more hours outside of school time and so get more money for more hours work). With the evident religiosity in the country, the school aims to bring faithful biblical teaching to a wide range of people and not leave them locked into a lifestyle of unbiblical fog that clouds them ever seeing the truth and gaining eternal life. The other big aim is to bring the kingdom of God into that society, particularly when it comes to tribalism. There are, I think, 76 tribes in Ghana, all of whom generally don't like one another. Most schools will by default (by being in a certain area, or by people moving their kids to places where their tribe is represented strongly) only really be suited to a certain tribe and not be welcoming of others. The church has battled hard, and continues to do so, in helping people to see the unity of all nations in Christ. They hope that if they can teach children at a young age to accept one another, that this could have much bigger effects across the society. In just a few years God's favour has so been on them that they have grown in the region of ten-fold (as a school) and continue to do so as they are recognised as one of the best in the area. Perhaps their idea of seeing thousands of people raised a different way is not such a crazy one!

On the Sunday I visited church itself, which was distinctly Ghanaian. Most stuff was done in english, but there were some other languages in their joyful celebration too. It was a very simple affair, but I instantly felt quite at home - much more so than I did at another church I went to while there. After the service I was invited to lunch at John Kpikpi's house, where I met his family and other guests. It was wonderful to be able to relate to all these people from all over the world, and I was so glad to really meet these people and just learn a little about where they are, what they're doing, etc. Just looking at how much I've written I can see that I've learned quite a bit and been challenged by yet another context, which in turn makes me see a bit more of my own outlook on the world.

So that was Ghana, in very short form. Lots more could be told, lots more went on, but for now that will do. It is a very cool country in a lot of ways, with welcoming people, and a rich culture. The evident chaos that is there is in a lot of ways part of the charm. May God bless the 76 nations there powerfully through the heirs of Abraham's promise in that place.

Coming back it was more rush rush. At one point it looked like I might miss my flight, which would have been disaster. Our van, which had driven us around all week, decided to go very funny and was struggling up even slight hills. The suspected culprit is water in the fuel tank, as it was fine before we filled up on our way to Kakum rainforest reserve. But it did look like we would break down about 3 hours drive from Accra! The grace of God alone got it back to Accra, and when it died finally I was able to jump out and get a taxi the rest of the way. Phew! Still, I prayed very earnestly at that point. It was again a prompt to both pray with that "God, you must do something here" fervency more often, but also to put myself in more situations like that - not breaking down in vans, of course, but in exploits to build the Kingdom that require that faith and expose me to that "risk" (though how can it be a risk when we can only ever gain?). Like I said I don't want to ignore the "prosperity gospel" of the west - the good life, the happy life, the life of ease and blessedness alone. Whether we know it or not we are prosperous, and we take our prosperity as a given and as a birthright. May it not cloud our view of eternal prioirties and choke down our faith.

Nonetheless I made it in good time for my flight, which was delayed, and which meant I missed my connecting flight in Durban. The back section of the plane from Accra had 90 seats, and there were three of us! Soon many people joined us three as we folded up the armrests on the bank of four chairs in the middle and got some kip! I think only now am I fully recovered though, with regard to sleep!

Got my folks coming out on Thu, then Pete and Emily a few days after my folks leave. There's the possibility of going to Zambia after that, but I think between money and time I won't end up going. Shame.

Anyway, much love to you all! Keep the emails and such coming - I do read them and do try to reply as quick as I can. Not long now until I'm back!

Oh, that reminds me, while in Ghana with the time alone to read and pray and think (so valuable.... I don't do it nearly enough), I decided that I feel God is still saying for me to head back to London in June, and take up teacher training there for a year and see where that leads. Mandy agrees with me, and neither of us want to compromise on God's purpose one bit. JC and the others at Beulah think this is right too. I think what's changed for me is that I'm now wanting to do it with my whole heart again - the way God delights in. Watch this space then, folks! Any prayers, prophecies, advice, etc would be welcome!

Peace!

JC in Durban

The second of my 2008 visitors has come and gone now. John Clevely (JC), the leader of Beulah Family Church in Thornton Heath, UK, that sent me out here, came to visit me and get acquainted with the church out here. He arrived last Friday morning, and yesterday left for Zimbabwe for the second leg of his trip to Southern Africa.

Unfortunately (or not, in some ways), JC never got to visit Hope Church on a Sunday as we were sent off to Mtubatuba where JC preached. From there we went around Hluhluwe (where I got a flat tyre and had to change it in the middle of a game park with 200 lions!) and St Lucia, where we saw hippos and crocs. Mtuba was an interesting visit though. JC preached his favourite Ephesians 1 sermon, provoking a strong response from the gathered people. I felt very much to jump out in things and not just sit back and watch, so I brought a prophetic word that seemed to be the launch pad for a whole lot more contribution in the meeting. I had a few other things I could have ministered too, but I struggle to know what would be too much for a visiting englishman to do in someone else's church that doesn't know me so well!

JC also got to meet Mandy, which was good. She gets the seal of approval, not least as a Spurgeon fan! :o)

Though I'm still busy with things here to do with students, Cato guys, publicity, preaching (now set for Mar 16th!), writing, training, etc, I did manage to get a good bit of quality time with JC. It's so vital that we maintain relational links with some real depth, not merely for our own sakes, but because that's the sort of fellowship God would have us share with one another.

One of the things we talked about a bit was what I'm going to do when I come back to the UK. As it stands I still can't see any leading of God that supercedes any direction to go back to Thornton Heath and to get into teaching. It would have its many difficulties, but I have faith in God for whatever future He, in his sovereign wisdom, calls me to. Mandy has been quoting the stories of great modern missionaries a lot recently, and it's a good reminder for us to be no less radical than they. They weren't special people except that they allowed free reign to their love for Jesus in obedience. In truth they (and not they, missionaries, only) lived the life God calls us all to to a greater extent than many of us dare to do. Along with Steven Curtis Chapman, who I listened to this morning, I say, "I wanna be a God follower, I wanna go wherever He leads; I wanna be a God follower, I wanna walk the trail He's marked for me - more than anything!"

I think that trail in the last of my months in Durban is leading some exciting places too. Watch this space! :o)

The delightful Miss Baxter

I'm sure most of you have heard the big news - I'm no longer single! A picture of my lovely woman is alongside - her name is Mandy Baxter, from Northern Ireland. She's been out in SA for 4 1/2 years, been in Durban for about 18 months, has been living by faith the whole time, is an amazing woman of God, and leads the youth work here as well as playing a big role with the students. The long and the short of it is that at first she thought I was a jerk (as they all do!), but she got to know me better, and God literally has orchestrated our coming together. It was two weeks ago today that she basically put me on the spot while I was just figuring out quite what to make of the whole situation. Since then we've gotten to know each other very well and can so see the hand of God on this whole thing. Obviously I'm a very happy man because of this, and I am daily more and more pleased with the surprises unfolding in this woman that God has blessed me with.

The difficult thing is that she goes back to Belfast on March 26th, and I'll be in Durban until June 16th. What we do after that is very interesting, because God has clearly led her to be involved in the church plant we're doing into Belfast. Even before this I wasn't totally sure what I would do when I returned, but even now I'm not entirely sure either. What I do know is that I want to do God's will, even if that means we spend a fair bit of time apart in the next months. If that's God's plan, He'll give the grace to make it a season of blessing rather than decline. Obviously my preference would be to be where Mandy is until we can both set a new direction together, but I want to know what God's will is, not mine. So please do pray for some guidance in this, as well as general wisdom to build our relationship healthily.

For two weeks in this might sound like big plans, but we're both mature people (she's actually 27 - 1 year and 4 days older than me), we haven't come this far lightly but after much consideration and prayer, and because this we've been able to cover a lot of ground quite quickly rather than messing around in learning to trust one another. Neither of us is looking for a casual relationship, so naturally we're seeking to make serious decisions.

God's been giving me a lot of wisdom and grace to be able to "do well" so far and quickly handle things that would otherwise have become very difficult. I trust he will continue to do the same as I keep looking to Him to help me lead in this relationship.

Anyway, most of all I just want you all to know, and to celebrate with me for a good thing has come to me (and Mandy would say the same thing about her too! :o) )! The Lord gives, the Lord witholds and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!