Trevor and Linda Galpin - Ministering the love of the Father - TLG Mins (US) Inc

Orama means 'vision' and it is the name given to the centre we have been staying at for the last three weeks on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand.  The reason we are here is to teach at the three month long school run by Fatherheart Ministries called Inheriting The Nations School, INS for short.  For three months the students have been sharing in an experience together of studying, resting, enjoying the natural environment and drinking deeply of the amazing love of God as their Father. Great Barrier Island is about 90 kilometres off the east coast of New Zealand and acts as a barrier from the storms of the South Pacific Ocean that batter Auckland and the Gulf of Hauraki from time to time.  This is the third such school we have been part of.  About 65 students have come from 16 different countries to invest three months of their lives in going deeper into the revelation of the Father's love. The major focus of the school is to explore the Father's love for the n...

Vermont is full of surprises. This was our first visit to the state. It turned out to be too brief and we are looking forward to going back again next year.  We had been there a week for a Fatherheart School and each day brought new surprises.  First there were the autumn colours disappearing fast as the week progressed and as the wind blew them away. We did get to drive up to the hills on the first Sunday afternoon for a tantalising glimpse of the beautiful surroundings.  Then there were the many tourist attractions that were on offer which will have to wait for next time. Ben and Jerry's Ice cream was founded and created just down the road from where we were staying. Alas we didn't get to take the tour and the obligatory tasting that is involved. There was also the famous Cabot cheese factory and store, Green Mountain Coffee, maple syrup, cider apple donuts, the list goes on and on.  This is the perfect place for a foodie like me. We visited the von Trapp famil...

I was not expecting the drive to State College from Newark, New Jersey to be so memorable. It was in fact spectacular.  The Fall colours which are legendary, were in just about the height of their glory. I was completely taken by surprise. I have seen autumn colours in the UK and New Zealand and they are very beautiful.  However this was something else.   It was mile after mile of fabulous breath taking magnificence.   Hyperbole is inadequate here.  For mile after mile every hillside, valley and river bank, was covered in masses of colour. Each turn of the road revealed another amazing view of golden tones and hues.  There were almost every variation of the pallet from yellow to purple, there were golds and russets, reds and browns and colours I have no name for. The colours demanded description but they also defied it. Each tree, normally subsumed and lost in the vastness of wilderness and forest, seemed to be displaying itself individually in its...

One of the signs of getting older is shorter nights I've decided.  I find I am increasingly waking up earlier in the mornings such as today, 5.30 am and I'm up. Ive been on Facebook, answered overnight emails and now I'm writing a post on the blog.  Added to that it's my birthday and its a big one!  I should be really laying in bed and just enjoying.  But I'm actually enjoying being up.  I like the quiet of the early morning.  I occasionally get to see a lovely sunrise as a result.   This one was taken in August from the beach in Zanzibar where we were having a a couple of days break before starting a Fatherheart A School on the main land in Tanzania.   These early mornings are so often times of reflection for me. I know that doesn't work for everyone but they do for me!   I'm finding that there is great benefit in just sitting and being. After I've done the emails and things and made a cup of tea, there is time in the early morning to...

On the banks of the River Nile, about 2 kilometres from the source of the Nile as it flows out of Lake Victoria, in Uganda, is Mto Moyoni.  It is a retreat centre literally on the banks of the river. The beautiful gardens stretch down from the collection of bandas, that make up the accommodation, right to the waters edge.  It is a haven of peace.   To get here involves a rather challenging journey from Entebbe International Airport through the sprawling jumble of modern Kampala which has no understanding of town planning or roads suitable for modern Africa. On a good day it takes about three hours. The senses are assaulted in every way on the journey. Noise, traffic, pollution, crowds of people, animals tethered by the road, women carrying every conceivable bundle on their heads, bicycles loaded with produce and firewood. Bodas (motorcycles taxis) carry whole families, trucks billowing out filthy exhaust,  pot holes that you could lose a bus in, police road ...

The Waddenzee wasn't exactly on my radar to be honest.  Actually I had never heard of it before January this year.  Now I am a seasoned seafarer on that particular sea, too many seas but never mind. It all began last January when Linda and I were walking along the lake shore of Lake Taupo one glorious summers afternoon.  As we walked and talked a two masted sailing ship full of tourist glided past.  I gazed at it and said to Linda, "I'd love to go on a proper sailing ship one day."  We joked about putting it on our bucket list - that list of things you would like to do before you die.  The problem with a bucket list is that as you tick them off as having done them you have to think of more things to do.  I am a great believer in living life to the full and I think we stop growing when we stop having adventures and challenges. Anyway, about two weeks later we got an email from some dear friends in The Netherlands asking us if we would like to join t...

Sitting in the Piazza Ducale, in Vigevano, Italy can be extremely self indulgent. The whole experience is an assault on the senses. It is a veritable feast of Italian life and culture. For the antipasti, (starters), there is the richness of the architecture. The Piazza is said to be the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing in all of Italy after San Marco, Venice. It's proportions are 1:3 apparently, which is difficult to see unless you are an architect. However it is undoubtedly pleasing to the eye and balanced in its aspect with the Duomo at one end and its colonnaded walkways, providing shade and protection from the weather, on the other three sides. Next in the feast comes il primo piatto (the first course) which undoubtedly must be the cafes and gelateria, that jostle for attention and offer invitations to share the delights of fabulous ice cream, aromatic coffee and if, like me, you love the distinctive combination of the two that the Italians have created, an affogat...