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Showing posts from 2011

Pyramids and Papyrus.

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One of the mixed blessings of getting older is that there are fewer things left to do!  One of my things was to see the Pyramids. That has been now ticked off the list of things to do before I die. But I have added a caveat to this accomplishment. See them properly next time and not from the roof of a rather persistent local's house who really would rather we had paid a lot more money to him and he could then have taken us into the enclosed area at a special rate.... just for you... very cheap...etc etc. Instead we climbed the steps to the third floor roof and had an amazing view across the roof tops of the rambling suburb that is right up against the tourist zone that is the Pyramids and the guarding Sphinx. A 16 hours stopover on the way back from Tanzania to the UK meant this whistle stop visit to these ancient tombs of the Pharaohs was possible.  We got a taxi from the airport hotel and off we went. Very clear instructions of what we wanted were totally ignored by the driver

Kilimanjaro revealed.

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All this week we have been working in churches and at a World Vision Conference in the N E of Tanzania.  Every place we have been has been on the lower flanks of  Africa's highest mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro.  I have heard of this mountain all my life and remember watching the old movie called the Snows of Kilimanjaro. I know a lot about this mountain, it is almost 20,000 feet high and is a volcano. It rises above the vast African plains of the Tsavo and Masai heart lands that stretch for hundreds of kilometers in every direction. It has captured the imaginations of countless generations of African tribes who live in its sight.  European explorers, settlers and writers have immortalized it in our psyche. It is shrouded with mystery as much as it is wreathed in cloud. Arriving at the nearest airport, Kilimanjaro International, I strained to see the fabled mountain from the aircraft as we came into land.  All there was to see were  clouds.   Our hosts greeted us and assured us that t

Flags and the Rugby World Cup

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New Zealand is hosting the Rugby World Cup at the moment. This means the country is in fever pitch and flags are everywhere. Taupo is hosting three teams the Springboks, S Africa's team for the uninitiated, Wales and Ireland. Having a coffee down by the lake we were joined by several Springbok team players the other day. Not that I knew who they where to be honest, they just showed up and fans were snapping photos of them.  We even sat on a plane once with the All Blacks (NZ's fabled team again for the uninitiated.), but it was half through the flight before I realised who they were.  However I digress.  It's the flags that I have noticed.  Everywhere you can see the flags of the various nations being displayed. It has meaning for people. Flags tell you something. Earlier this year we were in Scandinavia and noticed the flags there too. In Norway at Pentecost, Olav raised a huge Norwegian Flag to celebrate the day. It seemed fitting that the wind of the Spirit was caught

Danish Pastries, Danish bacon, Sweden and of course Abba.

How different are these two countries and how close!  I was amazed on crossing the ferry from Sweden that in a short 20 minutes we were in Denmark. Helsignor to be precise, or Elsinor as Shakespeare fans would know it.  Didn’t meet anyone called Yorrik, which is just as well as I am sure I would have made some dreadful puns. Not even a Gertrude or Ophelia but we did meet some great Danes and shared some great food all of a Danish variety. We even got to celebrate the mid summer festival warming ourselves by bonfires along the beach with crowds of people watching  the sun drop into the Kattegat until late into the evening. The coastal path at Gillilije boasted some memorable spots including one favoured by Soren Kierkegaard who loved to sit and gaze out across the grey sea thinking great and deep thoughts. These mostly eluded me to be honest as I never was much good at philosophy, but we did sit at his bench and like him gaze, think and reflect. “ The highest and most beautiful thing

Island Hopping in Paul's footsteps, in the Med

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Visiting two Mediterranean islands, both separate countries, in two weeks is a form of island hopping that I hadn't planned on. But on this journey following in our Father's footsteps that is just what we have done. Cyprus and Malta. One in the east off the coast of Turkey and Syria which is Cyprus and the other Malta, smack bang in the middle, 65km off the coast of Sicily and close to Libya.  Both islands strategically placed between Europe and the Middle East. Linda and I have never been to either place before but we had heard about both places.  The reason for going to these islands was to lead conferences and teach on the revelation of the Father's love.  We discovered that we were also staying in places that the Apostle Paul had visited nearly two thousand years ago.  We stayed in Paphos on the western end of Cyprus where Paul had preached and planted a church.  According to the legends and tourist books there is a ruined church where there is a stone pillar which re

The Snows of Kilimanjaro...well, almost.

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Africa continues to fascinate and challenge me.  Three weeks, three East African countries, all so different.  We were in Uganda for the first week at Jinja overlooking the river Nile teaching an Fatherheart A School. Then a week later we were in Tanzania to teach another Fatherheart school about the love of the Father. In between was an overland  road trip across Kenya that took 5 days. Five of us in a Landrover. Ingrid, Winette, Mark and us two. The Swahili word for a journey is safari!!  Well our safari took in the Kenyan Highlands where they grow tea; we stood astride the Equator; the urban sprawl of chaotic Nairobi; the vast plains of the Great African Rift Valley, Masai land and the legendary Masai Mara, then on into Tanzania. We encountered one of the worst roads I have ever driven on in my life.  The five of us bounced along and around huge pot holes along the main tourist road to the game parks. There were real zebra crossings which helped to ease the pain of

Southern Comfort

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I have struggled over the years to grow wisteria. Several attempts have failed and other times we have moved on before we could enjoy the lush blossom of this climbing vine as they take up to seven years to produce their first blooms. This year we have been in the "Deep South" of the US for several weeks and have delighted in so many southern comforts of which wisteria is but one. Time and again we were confronted on the journey by strands of trees that had been colonised by climbing wisteria. In some cases the vines reached up over thirty or forty feet. The cascades of deep violet blossoms seemed to hang like curtains in the treetops draping the sprouting new green leaves in soft pendulous swags.  There is such beauty in the South. The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and the soft hills of the Piedmont North Carolina that stretched out before us when we woke up one morning gladdened the heart.  Bird life abounds from the ubiquitous black vultures to the majestic soaring of

C. Baxter Kruger, C.S.Lewis and the Shack revisted

A good friend in Australia sent me a gift by email that has enriched our last weekend for a while in New Zealand immeasurably.   We are off on a jaunt shortly that will take us to numerous places and connections with many great friends in the Fatherheart Family around the world.  You can see where we are in our comings and goings on the side of this blog if you are interested.  Anyway back to the gift. It is a yet to be published, latest offering, from C Baxter Kruger.  If you have read any of my previous blogs you will know that I am more than a little impressed with this writer.  He is a theologian....stay with me it's worth it....his writings make my heart sing and shout for joy. They are the best. So now he is writing again and this time he is exploring William P Young's theology in his world best seller "The Shack". Those of you who loved The Shack will stay with me, I'll come to it on a moment, but I know there are those who have had their reservations a