the JOURNAL of my JOURNEY

Showers

2006-12-21T00:55:00.001Z

The rest of my time in Africa was spent in Uganda this year. Though the rest of the team had gone separate ways when I went to Kenya, Hazel Bech rejoined me in Kampala, Uganda and we taught a class of pastors and leaders using the training program we'd been using the past few years in Tanzania. It was really well received, and I feel confident that a number of those leaders are going to apply what they learned to make a real difference in their communities.

I think the thing that really made the biggest impression upon me in Uganda was the running hot water. The event was held in a hotel, and we were given nice rooms that had hot running water. I took hot showers every morning and felt like I was close to heaven! It's amazing how many things we in the west take for granted, but then when we go without these conveniences for awhile we realise what a real blessing they are!

I've had lots of different kinds of showers out on the mission field. Sometimes I get the pleasure of running water, but it's ice-cold. In those cases, especially when the weather's already chilly outside, I just jump in under the water and try to keep myself from screaming. After I survive the initial shock without a heart-attack, my body adjusts somewhat to the chill and I get about my business...but I do it quickly.

Another common experience is the bucket and bar of soap. Sometimes I am sent to a small square room with a bucket of water and my soap and told to go at it. The first time I went into such a situation, I looked at the little bucket and asked myself, "Now how do they expect me to get inside that little bucket?" But then in time I realised the idea was that I was meant to pour the water over my head. In time I started carrying a small plastic cup with me on these travels so that I could pour small amo

More about Africa...

2006-12-08T21:23:00.002Z

When I speak to Americans and Europeans, most seem to have very specific assumptions about Africa and African people. Many assume that all Africans live in extreme poverty and are always being chased by snakes. However, the truth is that the great continent of Africa contains many different worlds, some of them only miles away from each other.

In August, I spoke at a conference in Nairobi, Kenya at Africa Nazarene University. The experience was so different from the work I'm used to doing in the rural African villages that I almost forgot sometimes that I was in Africa at all. We had power-point presentations and modern music, and many of the people I worked with seemed like they came from an entirely different place than many of those with whom I was accustomed to working.

After long days of plenary sessons and workshops, I also spent time with the university students who attended the conference. Large groups of us would crowd into one of the dorms and talk about God and life, and the conversations sounded to me like the same kind of conversations you might expect to have in London or Los Angeles. They talked about the same television shows and movies, and the girls even wore blue jeans instead of traditional African dresses.

One young Kenyan lady told me she thinks God may be calling her to be a missionary but that she's not sure how she would handle living in difficult conditions. "I went on a mission trip to one of the villages on the border once," she told me, "and it was really difficult. There was no electricity and no running water. I mean, I'm used to being somewhere where I can just plug in my laptop!"

It was really quite an eye-opener to realise how much some of the cities in Africa have become so similar to the West whilst in other parts of the same countries people still live with their ancient traditions and cannot even imagine how their neighbours live. This jounral entry is not meant to be a critique of either situation but simply an observation. We live in an interesting, ever-changing world.

World Aids Day

2006-12-01T20:02:00.000Z

I stood there in the middle of Africa with a child in my arms, and I wondered how many Christians in the West would condemn him to death in the name of politics or religion. As we have been approaching World Aids Day, I have been listening to the voices of many American evangelicals and come to realise that there are an unfortunate many who would indeed do so.

The beautiful child of whom I'm thinking had a big smile on his face. He had just finished playing Frisbee with one of our team members and then had been chasing me around the compound until I let him catch me. Then I picked him up in my arms. As I looked at him and his bright smile, I couldn’t help but to wonder what his future will be like. Will he accomplish great things? Will he marry and have children? Or will he even live to be an adult?

In many East African countries the percentage of people who are HIV positive is staggering. I have held the hands of many children who will not reach adulthood because of this terrible disease. And yet I keep hearing people speak with contempt about the AIDs situation. Some say that AIDs is God’s judgement upon homosexuals and that it is therefore in some way deserved. Others say that it is a problem always brought on by some kind of immorality and therefore not worthy of our compassion.

As I held the child in my arms, I wondered how we could ever have reached a place where we could turn a blind eye to the suffering masses in the name of “justice.” When we do so, we fail justice miserably and instead become collaborators with the worst kind of evil.

And in case some people are thinking that the standard is different in Africa somehow than it is in Europe and America, let me also mention that I’ve held a lot of hands in America as well. There are somewhere around a million people here in the USA who are HIV positive. Those statistics may not be nearly as high as in such places as Africa, but they are still disturbing. And these statistics cut into every walk of life. Some people think AIDs is a homosexual disease and that everyone who has it lives a gay lifestyle. This would appear to be very far from the truth however. According to the UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV/AIDs Epidemic: December 2001, as many as 80 percent of people diagnosed as HIV positive are heterosexual, and statistics are also quite clear in pointing out that a significant number of those who are HIV positive have been infected by their marriage partners or their parents. There is no one specific group of people who is alone infected by this disease. However, even if there were we would still have no right as Christians to deny compassion to its victims.

We need to be reminded that there is no such thing as an innocent person, so when we dismiss people as simply “deserving” of this disease we take a moral position that is very dangerous indeed. We make ourselves judges and juries of mankind when we ourselves are judged by Scripture as all being guilty of sin. “There is none who is righteous…no, not one” (Romans 3:10), “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). If it were not for God’s mercy, none of us would stand. The only hope any of us has is to turn to God and accept the gift of His grace. This is a gift that Christianity teaches is available to all people, regardless of who they are.

It seems to me that many of the people who turn a blind eye to the AIDs crisis are people who disguise their bigotry towards certain people groups under a banner of religion or politics. Many who are of certain political persuasions, for example, automatically dismiss homosexuals as being less worthy of God’s grace than other people even though the Bible makes no such distinction. And if they see someone whom they know has been infected by this dreaded disease, they put a label on the person and turn away.

But here is the truth…The truth is that if we are truly to be Christ-like, we need to learn to take people like this African child in our arms and show them love and compassion regardless of where they come from, what they look like, or how they have lived. And here’s the shocking truth…even right here in America or Europe, you may not have to look across the sea to Africa to find someone who needs to be embraced with God’s love as he or she faces this terrible disease. You may only have to look across the street or even across the room.

How will you respond to the AIDs crisis? Will you respond with Christ-like love and compassion? Or will you simply walk away?

Lots of shoes

2006-11-28T01:27:00.000Z

I have a lot more shoes now than I did a week ago! Why? Because I went to León, Guanajuato!

León, Guanajuato, the fifth largest city in Mexico, is also known as the Shoe Capital, and not without reason! The city features large factories that not only produce shoes, but also boots, belts, jackets, and other leather accessories, serving both national and international markets. People go to León from all over Mexico to buy shoes and other leather goods, and there is even a large indoor shopping mall that is ALL shoe stores! For anyone obsessed with shopping for shoes, León would probably be their idea of heaven. Imelda Marcos, for example, would probably become a Christian if she thought it might get her to Leon.

Of course, I wasn't there just for the shoes. I was there to preach at the First Church of the Nazarene in León. My friend, Daniel Cordoba had been the pastor there previously until his death last year, and interestingly enough another friend of mine, Leonardo Peralta, is now pastoring that church. We had a great week, as a number of people came to faith in Christ, and lots of amazing things happened in people's lives.

The most amazing thing, however, was the opportunity this visit gave me to see the continuing fruit of previous visits. I got to meet with people who had really been impacted by what God had done in their lives in previous visits, and it was amazing to hear their stories about how those visits had lasting impacts on their lives. One woman remembered in detail a sermon I preached a few years ago that impacted her life amazingly. As she told me about the sermon, I didn't at first even remember ever having said the things she repeated to me, but once she finished I not only remembered that I had said them, I even remembered the occasion. After that particular sermon, I had felt like I had done a terrible job and accomplished nothing. Hearing her tell me how the things that I only said that once had changed her life reminded me that we never really know what kind of impact our words might have upon the people we meet.

Also while I was there, however, I got showered with gifts. Among them were 4 pairs of really nice leather shoes and a really nice leather jacket. I actually had to get an extra bag to put the gifts in! It was great! The people in León are so kind and generous. I look forward to going back again one of these days...but of course not just for the shoes. :-)

The cross-dressing drunk

2006-11-21T00:22:00.000Z

One thing that I really love about the work that I do is that I get to meet many different kinds of colourful characters. Recently, in Africa I met a very interesting cross-dressing drunk.

Now, of course, in some parts of the world such a sight might seem a bit more common, but in the rural villages of Africa it seemed very surreal. A crowd had gathered to hear us share the message of God's love for the village, and while I waited to go up and speak a series of local choirs were singing. As they were singing, at one point a very exuberant drunk man joined one of the choirs and started dancing. The people obviously knew him and simply laughed good-naturedly.

After doing a bit of a dance, he came up to all of the team members and shook our hands with a great big smile on his face. Then he dance a bit more and left. "Where'd he go?" somebody asked. We guessed that he must have gone away and that we probably would see no more of him that day.

However, 15 minutes later he showed up again. Only now, he had changed into an elaborate African dress. He had a handbag under his arm and was holding a large parasol over his head. He walked right through the crowd, came to us and shook our hands. As he shook our hands this time, he curtsied in exactly the way Tanzanian women always curtsy. Then he sat down with the women and listened quietly throughout the sermon.

I would have loved to have found out his story. He was very different from anybody else I'd ever met in the heart of Africa.

The witch doctor in Tanzania

2006-11-18T17:25:00.000Z

Right...I promised ages ago that I would tell more stories of Africa. I now ALSO have stories to tell of India, as well as lots of other interesting things that have happened lately, but I've managed to get myself so busy that I haven't kept up on my journal. That has become a habit lately...but once again I have decided to try to write more often. I will begin with the story of the witch doctor in Tanzania...

At one location where we were sharing the message of Christ's love with a community in Tanzania in August, there was a large crowd gathered to listen. As the local African choirs sang and danced, suddenly a man in a long robe walked into the middle of the crowd. Many of the people started to get very nervous, and they moved away from him. For a moment, we thought we were going to lose the crowd.

Who was this man? We found out that he was the local witch doctor. He didn't like what we were doing, so he had come to try to intimidate the crowd and keep anybody from responding to our message. According to what I was told, he was a very powerful magician and a very dangerous man to anyone who called themselves his enemy.

A strange thing started to happen as the man stood there. Not only did the attitude of the whole crowd start to change, all of us on the team started getting overwhelmingly sleepy as the man stood there and stared. Was this some kind of curse? Some kind of magic? I wasn't sure, but I knew I had to take action just in case (and before we all fell asleep!).

I went up on the platform to preach and started praying out loud. I said, "I am a child of God, and I claim the authority of Jesus Christ who lives in me as I bind any evil spirits in this place and command them to leave in Jesus' name." Then I continued to pray for the people before I preached, but as soon as I had said this the witch doctor walked away. We never saw him again, and a lot of people came to Christ. The new church planted in that village is moving along well.

the first two weeks in Africa...

2006-09-05T21:19:00.000+01:00

In my first two weeks back in Africa, I met a lot of interesting people, including a witch-doctor and a cross-dressing drunk. In addition to 500 people coming to Christ and two new churches being succesfully launched, I also had the privilege of seeing, however, that a lot of good things have been happening as a result of the training that we have been offering the pastors and leaders in Tanzania over the past few years. Currently, about 50 acres of land are under cultivation in the villages, with food being made available for the people in self-sufficient projects the people can maintain themselves. Also, 68 orphans are being taken care of directly and another 25 indirectly. Also 32 widows are being taken care of by the churches due to all these self-sustaining projects. In most cases the orphans are being put together with the widows, thus creating new family units.

Each church is doing something a bit different, something specific to the needs and cultures of their villages. There have also been a large number of projects started, each one particular to the community. In one case, a church has started raising chickens, some for meat and others for eggs, and they are using some to feed orphans and others to sell and generate further income for ministry in the community. Another community has planted maize and, due to a bumper harvest this year, they were able to feed the whole village with plenty left over to sell.

One village is growing a vast quantity of baby trees, which are being sold to people in the community at a small price, thus giving them the ability to submit to a recent Tanzanian law requiring every landowner to plant a tree. The projects are many and varied, and each one is serving the goal of helping the community and also operating as a self-sufficient ministry project with no needs of continuous funds from outside. In a number of cases, the whole villages are getting involved in these projects, and the word is spreading as people are now saying, "Look now how these Christians love." These projects are relatively new but already a great deal is happening through them. We're looking forward to seeing what happens as these works continue to grow.

I also spoke at a conference in Nairobi this weekend, and as a result of this conference a door may be opening to spread these kinds of projects all over Africa. If that works out, it could really have an impact on a lot of communities all across the continent! In addition to that, also as a result of this conference I just spoke at, another project is in the workings that may go international very soon. A lot of exciting things are happening!!!

At the moment though, I've got a few days off before going to Uganda and training pastors and leaders there. I'm also tired and hungry, so I'm going to go get me some food now. The stories about the cross-dressing drunk and the witch-doctor will have to wait for now, but I'll try to get to them before too long...

(note: the above entry was written on August 23rd, but due to technical problems it was only possible to post it today)

Superman Eats at Burger King

2006-07-15T21:50:00.000+01:00

Superman saw my underwear. Does that mean he really DOES have x-ray vision? Not necessarily, but I guess I'd better explain...

I arrived in London late on Thursday night and quickly realised that I didn't have any clean clothes to wear the next day. I decided that, in order to hold things over until I got a chance to wash clothes the next day, I should try to find a place where I could buy a new pair of underwear for the morning. It was after midnight already, so I didn't know what the odds were that I would find an open shop at that hour, but as I was in central London I knew that it was at least a possibility. After walking around for a few minutes, I found a little newsagent's near Piccadilly Circus where my hotel is, and I noticed they were selling "souvenir" English boxers with the Union Jack on them. Not what I would typically choose, but I figured nobody would see my underwear anyhow. The important thing was that I would have something to wear when I got up in the morning!

So I picked them out and went to the cash register to make my purchase. I was shoulder to elbow with a really tall man who was in front of me in line. It turned out he was Brandon Routh, the guy who played Superman on the new film, Superman Returns. He was just out of the London premiere of the film & was also stopping in the shop for a few things. So Superman saw my underwear, but not with x-ray vision & not while I was wearing it!

I ran into him again at Burger King a little after midnight. He was directly in front of me in line again, and this time I noticed ironicly that there was a large poster hanging directly above his head that had a big picture of him on it and was advertising the new movie. Interestingly enough, however, nobody in the large crowd seemed to notice that it was him. I could tell that he seemed to want to just relax a bit after the big premiere earlier in the evening and so assumed he might not want attention to be called to his presence and to be bombarded with hundreds of autograph seekers (though he was standing right under a picture of himself!), so I decide not to say anything that might call unnecessary attention to him. I just discreetly commented to him saying, "Hey, that looks like you." He laughed and said, "Thank you."

Interestingly enough, today I was wishing that I could find Superman again because we could have used some help in a search for a missing child. I was hanging out with my friend, Veronica, who was visiting with an educational tour group with her son, Aaron, when one of the kids from the group went missing. We searched around the city for hours and ended up involving a host of security guards at a Turkish Festival we had passed through, as well as the London police department, in the search.

I remarked that if we had Superman on the case, surely he could find the boy! However, rather than calling out to Superman we just called out to God and continued the search until we received a phone call from the hotel saying that the lost boy had found his way to the hotel on his own and was safe and sound. The young lad certainly gave us a scare, but it at least made our day adventurous. It also gave us a chance to learn to know a number of fine London police officers, who were all very kind and helpful. Even after we confirmed that the boy had been found at the hotel, they insisted on sending two officers to stay with him for the two hours it would take us to get to the hotel ourselves and pick him up. When we finally arrived, they took us outside with the young boy so he could have a photo opportunity in front of their police car.

Those who follow my journal may have noticed that I have not posted to it in ages. I've been doing well though and have been as busy as every preaching and teaching all over the world, and things have been going great. I'm taking this week off, however, and am getting some rest before returning to a busy schedule of preaching in Africa, Scotland, America, Mexico and India over the next few months. For the next few days, I plan to do nothing but read books, eat good food, visit a few museums, and wander around the streets of London to see if I can find any more superheroes roaming these streets.

Ice Cream Falling From the Sky, and other things...

2006-04-18T22:24:00.000+01:00

One thing I really enjoy when I'm travelling is when I get the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of others. When, for example, I go to Africa with someone who has never been there before I love watching them experience those things for the first time. Or when friends and family from America come to visit me in Scotland, it is always fun to watch their reactions to things in the culture that I have grown accustomed to.

Well, this week I've been seeing snow through the eyes of an East African and it's been fascinating. Erick Oguta, from Tanzania, has been visiting here in Montana where I'm preaching this week, and we are doing some meetings together. It's been snowing quite a bit the past few days, and Erick had never seen snow before.

As we were driving in it two nights ago, he said, "If this were to happen back home people would think the world was ending." Yesterday morning, I had to coax him out of the house. He didn't want to go out because he said, "It's scary outside!" I did finally get him out though and he had a good day, though he's really glad the snow seems to be slowing down now.

We discussed how he might explain what he saw back in Africa. The closest thing anyone thought of was the concept of ice-cream falling from the sky, but I think that probably still falls a bit short of an accurate description.

It's amazing really to think about how many things each of us take for granted as part of life wherever we live but which are completely foreign concepts to people in other parts of the world. Just as Erick will struggle to explain snow, today we spoke to a Kiwani's group and tried to explain the concept of poverty to them.

We did the best we could to explain the situation in Africa, but I have a feeling that our best attempts were not much more precise than the idea of ice cream falling from the sky. People who have never seen it can never truly grasp the concept. Most Americans and Western Europeans would also think the world was coming to an end if they saw muddy streets with a stream running through them that doubled both as a toilet and drinking water; if they saw broken down huts filled with starving families, and fresh graves being constantly dug for AIDs victims in a land where the average lifespan is 35 years.

All the same, we are glad to be able to share something of the work in Africa and our attempts to help the poor, hurting and dying there. And we are grateful that people are able to get just enough of a glimpse that their hearts break for the people and they reach out to them. Without the help of people who care we wouldn't be able to go there and keep on making a difference.

This Friday we'll be speaking to a big group of Americans to share the vision for the work we do in Africa and to give them a chance to support us through their prayers and, if they feel so inclined, their gifts or even their personal presence in Africa to help educate, treat or help the people in various ways.

Though it will simply be fun for Erick to try to explain snow to Africans, this week our goal is to explain Africans to America. The great difference is that this is about much more than ice cream falling from the sky; this is about life and death. And it is my hope and prayer that, as ineffective as mere words may be, we can give them enough of a glimpse that they will want to help us to reach out to them.

An American Airlines Nightmare

2006-04-09T22:52:00.000+01:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated my journal. It's been so busy lately that I've had a hard time keeping up on things. The following, however, is the story of my adventure with American Airlines during my recent trip to Ireland. The trip to Ireland was great, but I had a little trouble getting there (and my luggage had even more trouble than I did!). The following adventure will probably be one that many weary travellers can identify with...

Thursday 16 March –

I check in at the American Airlines desk in Los Angeles International airport for my journey from Los Angeles to Dublin via Chicago. “I’m afraid the flight to Chicago is going to be delayed sir”, the young lady tells me. “The only way you’ll make your connection to Dublin is if they hold that flight.” She assures me that it is possible that the flight from Chicago will also be delayed, but just in case she says she has made a reservation for me on the next evening’s flight.

The flight eventually leaves LA and arrives in Chicago 3 and a half hours late. When I get there that evening, I discover that the flight to Dublin has already been gone for over two hours. However, there’s nobody around to tell me where to go next, so I wander around the airport until I finally find an American Airlines representative. He tells me I am to go to the rebooking centre in a certain part of the airport and pick up a red phone.

I walk to the rebooking centre and find a row of red phones. When I pick it up, a voice asks me how she can help me. I explain my situation and say that I really need to get to Dublin right away if there’s any way at all that it can be done. She tries to figure out how to get me on another flight across the sea but discovers that there is nothing that can be done. I say, “Well, I guess I’ll have to go on tomorrow night’s flight to Dublin.”

“No, sir,” she tells me. “That flight is already full.”

I explain to her that the agent in LA reserved me a seat on that flight already just in case. She explains to me that no such reservation exists and its impossible to put me on that flight. Eventually, however, she figures out she can put me on an Aer Lingus flight on Friday evening. Since this is apparently the only option open to me, I accept. She gives me the flight details and hangs up.

Now I have a reservation for the next night and I think to myself: “Now what? Where do I sleep tonight?”

Unable to find any other American Airlines representatives on the concourse, I find my way eventually to the ticket counter. I go to a ticket counter and explain my situation to the agent. I say, “If I’m stuck for a day, I could really use a place to sleep tonight.” She books me in a nearby Holiday Inn and charges me $49 for the room.

I then go to baggage reclaim to ask what’s to happen with my luggage. I have to wait in line for awhile whilst the lady working there is incredibly rude to various other passengers. Then when my turn comes, she tersely tells me, “You can have your luggage taken off for the night, but you’ll have to fill out a change order and wait two hours for it.” I am REALLY exhausted, so the thought of waiting around two hours for my luggage doesn’t appeal to me much. She tells me, “But if you just leave it, your record shows that your luggage will go with you where you go tomorrow.” I have my doubts, but I’m too tired to be bothered so I decide to go to my hotel.

I go to the hotel on a shuttle filled with American Airlines passengers who have all been stranded for the night. They’ve come in from different places, but all of them missed their connections to various parts of the world. We hang out for a few hours in the hotel bar and then all go to our rooms for a night’s sleep. It’s a good thing I have this chance to sleep because, though I don’t know it yet at this point, the next day is going to be REALLY crazy!

Friday 17 March –

I go to the airport 3 hours before my flight in the afternoon because I want to allow plenty of time.

I wait in line at the Aer Lingus desk, and when I get to the agent she looks at my baggage tag and informs me that American Airlines has not released my bag to them. She says she can’t check me in until they have the bag. “You’ll need to go back to American Airlines and get your bag from them. Then you can come check in.”

American Airlines is in a different terminal, so I take a shuttle to that terminal and arrive in a HUGE room filled with American Airlines lines that are divided into sections A,B,C,D and E. I haven’t a clue where I should go, so I explain my situation to the guy at the entrance to section C. He tells me, “Go to line E.”

I walk WAY over to section E and wait in line. When I finally speak to an agent and explain my situation, she tells me, “I can’t help you here. Go to section A.”

So I walk WAAAAY over to section A and wait in line again. When I get to the agent there and explain my situation, he makes a phone call and then comes back to me to say, “Your bag is downstairs in baggage claim. You need to go to the desk at carousel number 5 and tell them to release your bag to you.”

I ask him, “Can you guarantee me they’ll give it to me? I asked them for it last night and they said I’d have to wait two hours for it.” He assures me that if I’ll tell them “the agent upstairs” told them to give it to me because I need it for another flight they will give it to me immediately.

I take the trip back to the luggage carosels and go to carousel number 5. I wait in another line and notice that the person I am about to speak to is the exact same lady who was so rude to me the night before and wouldn’t give me my bag. When I get to her and tell her what I was told, she says, “I can’t help you. Why are you coming to me?” I told her the agent upstairs told me I was supposed to. “Well,” she huffs, “you can’t get bags off at this desk. Go to carousel number 6!”

So I go to carousel number 6 and wait in line again… When I talk to the lady there, she asks another lady what to do. The other lady goes to a back room and comes back later to tell me that my bag is not back there. She looks at my file on the computer (apparently) and then declares, “Your bag’s already in Dublin sir.” I suppress the urge to say, “The airline can get my bags to Dublin but can’t get me there?” and simply ask, “Are you sure?” She insists that it is a certainty that my bags are already in Dublin.

I go back upstairs to the HUGE room full of American Airlines desks. Now I’m struggling to think straight and don’t know where I should go next. So I go to the First Class desk because it’s the only place where there’s no line.

I explain to the agent there that I’m not a first class passenger but that I’ve been getting the run around from various people for an hour and just need to talk to somebody who can tell me what to do next. She barks at me, “Oh please! What do you mean you’ve been getting the run around! There ain’t nobody been giving you the run around!”

I remain calm and say, “I didn’t mean you personally. But I have been getting the run around from other people and I just need somebody to help me figure out what to do next because I’ve gotten confused.”

She calms down and asks me for my story. Then she explains to me that its just the baggage people because they don’t work directly for the airline. She says they always have trouble with them but that the American Airlines employees themselves are always efficient. Then she prints out a boarding pass for me and says, “Here you go sir. You’re all set.”

I notice that the boarding pass is for that evening’s American Airlines flight which I’d been told there were no seats available on. I say, “I thought I was being sent to the Aer Lingus flight.” She explains to me that she’s sorted things out and I’m now on the American Airlines flight again. I also notice that the boarding pass is on Business Class so assume she must have arranged an upgrade for me out of sympathy for my troubles.

I then get in line for security. About halfway through the line, I examine my boarding pass further and discover that its in the name of MAURICE Lewis, not Christopher Lewis.

I go back to the First Class desk. The agent I talk to is busy, but the agent next to her waves me over. I explain to him, “I was just with her and she gave me this boarding pass, but that’s not my name.” He takes my passport and compares the name with the passport. He agrees. So he goes on the computer and after awhile says, “I don’t see your name on this flight at all.”

“Right,” say I. “That makes sense. As I told her, I thought American Airlines had protected me on Aer Lingus.”

He looks me up on the Aer Lingus flight and says, “Yes. There you are. You’re on Aer Lingus. I can’t help you here then. You need to go back to Aer Lingus and check in there.”

To be fair to the last two agents, at the point when I went to First Class I would probably normally have known I had to go back to Aer Lingus, but after all the lines I’d waited in I was just confused and had gone to that desk to ask them to clear my confusion. I sighed and simply said, “Ok. I’ll go back there. But one question first. Can you confirm for certain the status of my luggage because they won’t check me in unless they’re certain.”

“Yes sir,” he said. “Your record is clear on that. You’re luggage is already in Dublin.”

I go back to Aer Lingus and wait in line again. Then I end up back with the same agent who had sent me away two hours before. “Mr Lewis!” she exclaims. “I’m so glad to see you! We were beginning to worry you wouldn’t make it back. Did you find your luggage?”

“Well,” I explain. “After two hours of waiting in various lines they have assured me that my luggage is already in Dublin.”

She looks confused and says something about how that doesn’t make sense. She says, “Just a second sir. We really can’t check you in until we’re sure about your bag.” She starts to walk away to make another phone call when another agent tells her, “Oh, American Airlines called over here to tell us that Mr Lewis’ luggage is waiting for him in Dublin.”

“OK,” says she. “I guess we can check you in then.”

She checks me in and I head to the gate. When I get there the plane is already boarding, so I get on board and fly to Dublin.

Several hours later, I arrive in Dublin and go to the baggage desk to enquire about my bag. A girl looks at my record on the computer and asks me, “Is it blue?” She then proceeds to describe it in detail.

“Yes,” say I. “That’s the one.”

“It’s still in Chicago, sir. But it will come over on the next flight, and we’ll deliver it to you tomorrow.”

Two days later my bag finally arrives. It has a big American Airlines sticker on it that says “RUSH! RUSH!”

On the 27^th of March, I fly back to America. I make it back safely, I’m glad to say, though once again my blue bag gets lost in Chicago. I can’t say that my American Airlines experience was very impressive, but the rest of the trip was great. I loved my time in Ireland and look forward to being back there again in the near future.

Remembering the piano man...

2006-03-07T22:30:00.000Z

When I was nine I had a dog named Anthony. It's an unusual name for a dog, but that was my way of paying tribute to a young man who had a special place in my heart. The human Anthony was a 19 year old young man who played piano for a musical group called the Kingsmen with whom we worked regularly in those days. He was the best piano player I would ever have the opportunity of working with, but he was more than just a piano player. He was a good man.

My family and I had a lot of good times with this young man, whose full name was Anthony Burger. We laughed together, played together, made music together, and travelled together during those early years of my life. And we always remained a part of each others' lives even though we didn't see much of each other in the later years.

The last time I saw him was at a Gaither Homecoming concert. Over the past few years, he worked for Bill Gaither as the pianist for the Gaither Vocal Band, and I heard that they were doing a concert nearby where I was preaching. Anthony didn't know I was around, so I decided to surprise him.

Anthony was standing by a stall where his CDs were being sold. I walked up to him and didn't say a word. He looked up at me, smiled and started singing, "I say L, I say L-O, L-O-V, L-O-V-E. Everything livin' needs love, everything livin' needs love." Those were the words of a song I used to sing in the concerts we were in together when I was a kid. Then the next thing I remember him saying was, "Hi Chris. How's your dad?" We had a good chat, and I also enjoyed watching him playing his piano again in the unique way in which only Anthony could play.

It was a real shock to hear recently that Anthony had suddenly passed away. He was playing at a Gaither Homecoming cruise in the carribean. After he played a song, he collapsed on stage. They tried to revive him backstage, but it was not possible. At the age of 44, he had died of an apparent heart attack.

I have a lot of good memories with Anthony, and I cherish the role he played in my childhood. He was a good man and will be missed.

Español

2006-02-18T20:47:00.000Z

I'm going back and forth between two languages lately, and I love it!

Last Sunday, I preached in English at an African American church in Chicago, the Morgan Park Church of God, and it went really well. 5 people came to faith in Christ, and afterwards I had a great time of fellowship with the people, including family members of my dear friend, Darnell, who now lives in Scotland. I also had some quality time with my good friend, Lana, who lived in Scotland for a year but is now back in Chicago.

This weekend, I'm in California and once again am preaching in Spanish. I'm back at the Winton Church of the Nazarene, which is a church I helped launch a few years ago. We had a Spanish service last night during which 3 people responded to the call to believe in Jesus Christ and 5 others told me they were rededicating their lives to Christ. Then I stayed up late with some old friends (Eddie and Mariela...I performed their wedding ceremony a few years ago) having a wonderful chat in Spanish.

I love working in Scotland, but I think one of the things I really miss when I'm there is the Spanish language. It feels great to be able to use it again during this tour of meetings in America.

back from my sabbatical...

2006-02-08T19:08:00.001Z

I’m cold.

During the month of January I was incommunicado whilst away on my long-awaited sabbatical. I was in Nicaragua, and it was amazing! I stayed with friends who have an organic farm on an island called Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. The weather on that tropical island was perfect. The view of the volcano, as pictured below, was also amazing. It was warm and sunny most of the time, and I spent many relaxing hours sitting in a hammock reading a book with a slight breeze keeping it just perfect.

But now I’m in Chicago and I’m cold.

I left Nicaragua on Friday night after the hottest day I had experienced in ages, and I arrived in Chicago on Saturday for one of the coldest days I had experienced in awhile. It’s actually not dreadfully cold for Chicago. For that matter, it’s not much colder than the kind of weather I’ve come to expect in Scotland during the coldest time of year. However, the abrupt change from the 80’s and 90’s to the 20’s and 30’s is a shock to the system indeed!

I don’t mind though. I’m really glad to be in Chicago. I love this city! I’m here to preach and teach for a few days before I go to California for the rest of the month. I preached at a Spanish speaking church on Sunday, and it was a really powerful day. I prayed with many people afterwards who said that God had really touched their lives in a life-changing way. Among them, one young man gave his life to Christ and two others rededicated their lives to Christ.

I’m grateful, however, for the time I had in Nicaragua. Now that I’m back to work I intend to update the journal regularly again, so I’ll probably share some of the stories about my time there soon.

For the moment, however, I think I’ll just crawl under a big blanket and try to warm up a bit.

Moving on...

2005-12-20T11:23:00.000Z

This last weekend marked the end of my time at the Riverside Gospel Church in Kirkintilloch. It was a time of both sadness and rejoicing. It was a sad time because it was a time of goodbyes; it was a time of rejoicing because it was a time of giving thanks for the many good things God has done in people's lives over the past two years.

On Saturday night, the church gave me a nice send off party. After a great meal, they had a program in which a number of people stood up and thanked me for the help they had received over this time. It was a touching time in which many people thanked me for things I had never even realised had made a difference. It was an encouraging reminder that God has indeed been working mightily in many people's lives.

At the end of the program on Saturday night, they presented a slide show whilst playing Michael W Smith's song "Friends." As the song played, pictures of me with all my friends from the church passed in front of me, bringing back memories of many good times together. I had a hard time holding back tears as all those wonderful memories were brought to mind.

On Sunday, I preached twice. The church was packed for the main service, and three more people talked with us afterwards to tell us that they had surrendered their lives to Christ in response to that day's message. Then in the evening, I preached my last message to the church. My friends, Narineh and Daniel, also came along to support me during my farewell service, and Narineh and I sang "How Great Thou Art" together in Spanish, Farsi and English.

I thank God for these past two years. I have seen a lot of people come to Christ and have been able to stick around long enough to watch a number of them grow. I have seen many people grow and change so much over the past two years that one would hardly recognise them as the same people. And I have made friends for whose love and friendship I will be grateful for the rest of my life because knowing them has also changed me.

time in Kirkintilloch drawing to a close

2005-12-10T15:54:00.000Z

It's hard to believe that my time in Kirkintilloch is coming so quickly to an end. That day when I arrived in October of 2003 seems just like yesterday in some ways, while in other ways it seems an eternity ago. A lot has happened in this time, and in a way I feel like an almost entirely different person than I was then.

Tonight is my first farewell event. The youth fellowship from the church is taking me out to see a pantomime. I've never been to one, so it should be an interesting experience. Then next week, the whole church is having a dinner and a special service afterwards to give thanks for the time we've spent together at Riverside.

This past week, I've been kept busy trying to make sure all the business is taken care of that needs to be done before I leave, and this next week will be more of the same. I'll also be busy at church events and visiting various people that I won't be seeing in awhile. Then my last Sunday at the church is on the 18th. It will be a sad week in some ways, but I think it will also be a time of celebration as well for the things we have seen God doing in people's lives.

Paris, Thanksgiving, etc

2005-11-30T20:20:00.000Z

I only have five minutes on this computer, and it has a French layout so some of the keys are in different places. That means I can only type a few words.

Tonight I was sitting by the River Seine in Paris with my legs dangling over the river. There was such a sense of peace. I am thankful for breaks like the one I have enjoyed this week. My brother came and I joined him in Paris for a few days after Thanksgiving. Before that I had a big dinner with an American family near Glasgow. It has been a good week. No time for details though. Time is up! Will write more soon!

Life is so fragile, handle with care

2005-11-23T00:00:00.000Z

It never ceases to amaze me how fragile human life really is, and yet we tend to act as if we will live in this world forever. This year, I have been reminded again and again of the reality of our mortality. Less than 24 hours ago, I was hit with a double portion of this reality as in one phone call I found out about two people who had just lost their lives tragically.

One was Carlos Ortega. We called him Carlitos. He was a small man with a heart of gold. Whenever I went to Guadalajara, Mexico, he would be one of our main drivers. He would come to us in his old car and take us around to wherever we needed to go. He also helped out with our work in any way he could. He was the pastor of a small church in the city and really seemed keen to learn how to better help people. He also had a great sense of humour and could always make us laugh. I counted it a blessing to know him and always looked forward to the next time that we would meet.

I just found out, however, that Carlos stepped out into a street at the wrong time and was run over by a taxi. Next time I go back to work in Guadalajara, that huge city will seem empty without him in it.

The other was a pastor of a Spanish speaking church in America. I was actually just recently planning to call him because I wanted to take a friend of mine from Scotland to visit him at his church in a few months, but I got the news in the same phone call today that he also has just died. Apparently, he fell down a mountain in very suspicious circumstances. It appears that he has been pushed. I don't think it wise for me to write any details here at this time, but I was absolutely shocked.

It never ceases to amaze me how little value some people put on human life. That they would kill my friend like that horrifies me. Whatever their "motive" may be, it is just incomprehensible to me that someone could value ANY human life that little. However, it happens all the time. One of the new Christians in our church here has been dealing with the very same kind of horror, as his girlfriend was murdered a few months ago. Apparently, his brother killed the girl and then a few days later killed himself.

Life is precious, and we need to value it. We need to value the lives of others, and we need to value our own. The truth is, none of us knows how long we have in this life. We need to make the best of the time we have, and we also need to make sure we are ready for the life to come because we really don't know how long we have here. This isn't "sermonizing". This is reality, and I have been reminded of it more times than I like to think this year.

However, I refuse to despair. I will mourn, but I will not give up. I value life too much to spend the moments I have feeling sorry for myself. I will give tribute to the lives of those who have gone before me by living my life today as well as I can, ready for eternity while I value this moment that God has given me.

So for Carlos Ortega, Stan Grenz, Daniel Cordova, Bruno Radi, and the others I knew whose lives were taken so much earlier than expected in 2005, I give thanks. Each of their lives has helped to shape me in some way and to make me who I am today. But I will honour their lives, not by lying down in self pity at having lost such great influences in my life, but by living my life and valuing each day as a gift from God. Life is fragile. It must be handled with care...and it must be cherished.

Christmas Fayre

2005-11-21T13:08:00.000Z

As I de-iced my car on Saturday morning and put my gloves on my freezing hands, I knew winter was officially on its way. And that meant that Christmas was also on its way. This fact became even more obvious as I arrived at the main hall of Oxgang Primary School and found Christmas music playing and Christmas decorations all over the room. I then knew for sure that Christmas season had officially arrived! The occasion with which we were welcoming the season was a Christmas fayre that the Riverside Church was hosting for the community of Kirkintilloch.

Various businesses and individuals took part in the Christmas Fayre. Stalls were set up selling designer clothes at good prices, hand-made Christmas cards, hand-made crafts of various kinds, and other items of interest. We also had a chocolate fountain, which brought joy to the many chocoholics in our midst, and Santa Claus himself came down from the North Pole in order to take part in the festivities. A great crowd of people came out to take part in the day, and Santa (who looked suspiciously like our own Ian Ross from church) gave away a lot of gifts to the many children who lined up to sit beside him in his grotto. Outside, there was also a fun fayre operating with bouncy castles and rides. I didn't envy the workers who were out there in the below freezing temperatures, but the children didn't seem to mind at all.

Feedback from the day's event has been fabulous. It was another good opportunity to make contact with the community and provide something for the people who live in Kirkintilloch, and we had great opportunities to share with people who just needed someone to talk to or who had questions about God and life. Some of these people also joined us in church for the first time the next day, giving us yet another opportunity to seek to know them a bit more. We also raised a good amount of money for underprivileged children that we will be using to buy gifts for children in poor families who would not otherwise be able to afford a gift for Christmas, so in every way it seems to have been a very good way to begin the Christmas season.

In the community

2005-11-15T20:07:00.000Z

I had never been much into football (soccer, for those reading this in America), but recently I found myself in charge of a soccer tournament. It was a most interesting experience, and I must say it went really well.

A couple of weeks ago, as part of an effort to get the church more involved in the community, I was in charge of a family football tournament and fun day here in Kirkintilloch. The tournament was opened by Brown McMaster, the chairman of the Partick Thistle football club, and was well attended by the community. There was a good group of young people playing football, and we also had a fun fayre (kind of a mini-carnival) with various rides and attractions.

Graeme Adams, the worship leader at the church, worked with me to organise the event and did a wonderful job. Kenny French, from church, also proved invaluable in helping to organise and advertise the event, and just about everybody from the church participated in some way or another. We also had help from the Scottish Football Association, and local businesses helped to sponsor it in various ways. For example, Tesco (the grocery store) provided burgers and hotdogs for the barbecue that we had at lunch time. Also, the local newspaper was out to take pictures. It turned out to be a great day, and already I’m seeing signs in the community that the reputation of the church is beginning to change as people are seeing it as a group of people who care about and participate in the life of the community.

On the morning of the event, it looked like we were in trouble. The clouds were ominous and rain seemed certain. However, we felt confident that we were meant to continue, so we decided to go on with things with the assumption that the rain would not come. The weather held out for the whole day and the event was a great success. At the end of the day, the people running the fun fayre told us that they had two other events the same day in nearby towns that both got rained out, so ours was the only place where the weather allowed outdoor events to continue.

Now we’re getting ready for the next community event. This coming weekend, we are having a Christmas Fayre. Then next month we plan to focus on helping to give gifts to underprivileged children. It’s exciting to be able to be a part of making a difference in the community and to see people being touched by God’s love in a practical way.

Changed lives in Kirkintilloch

2005-11-12T18:12:00.000Z

It’s been great to see how dramatically God has been changing lives lately here in Kirkintilloch. The main service at the church has grown considerably in recent months, and its done so not so much through bringing people in from other churches but through the addition of previously non-churched people coming into our midst and seeking God’s grace in their lives. And God has been granting what they’ve been seeking in some dramatic ways.

A couple of months ago, a young man came into our midst who was going through a terrible crisis. He had recently been in prison and had since experienced a double-tragedy in which two people he loved died violently. I just happened to be dropping by the pharmacy where he was getting some medication when the owner of the pharmacy told me there was someone there who could really use somebody to talk to. I sat down with him, and we talked about how nothing is impossible for God. He perked up and got really excited about the possibility that even his life was not an impossible thing for God to change. He started coming to church and soon came to faith in Christ.

The same young man brought two friends with him, and they also soon came to Christ. Then another young man came into the church through the Teen Challenge ministry that the church is involved with, and he gave his life to Christ on the same Sunday as they did. All four of these people are coming from rough backgrounds of drug-addiction, but it’s been amazing to see how dramatically their lives have been changing over the past couple of months.

We invited all four of these new Christians to have lunch with one of the families from the church on Sunday afternoons and then started having a “coffee chat” after lunch. The “coffee chat” has become an informal chat over coffee and tea about life and the things of God, and it has given us a great opportunity to help these new Christians to begin to grow and to begin to find some answers for situations they face in life.

One of the four brought a friend with him, and she expressed after the first coffee chat that she was really moved by the things we were talking about. On Wednesday afternoon, she came to the Coffee Corner, which is the coffee afternoon we have at the church in which the church is turned into a coffee shop for the afternoon and people from the community come in to visit. We had a talk over coffee, and she asked Christ into her life.

Now there are others who are starting to come into our midst from the same kinds of rough backgrounds. On Wednesday night I stopped by the church to make some photo-copies, and a young man just “happened” to be passing by and see the lights on in the church. He walked in and began to share about his need to get his life right. He said he’d come to church on Sunday.

Then today, which is Saturday, I was working on sermon preparation in D’inisi, my favourite local coffee shop, and this same young man “happened” to come in for a cappuccino. We had a great talk about God and about his life, and he went away excited about coming to church tomorrow and about seeking a new beginning in life.

Also, on the same Wednesday night, I met another man who was standing in the parking lot of the church as I was leaving. He asked, “What do you do in that building?” I explained that it was where a church met. He said, “Really? That’s interesting because I was just thinking that I need to seek God and try to get my life right.” He asked if we could help him, and I expect to be seeing more of him as well.

In addition to all of these people who are coming from the background of addiction problems, a number of other new people have come into the church lately as well. It’s exciting to watch as they grow in the realisation of God’s love for them and to see their lives changing day by day.

It seems that the foundation that has been laid over the last couple of years here is starting to really bear fruit. My prayer is that when I leave here just before Christmas, we will have everything in place for all these precious people to continue to be helped and encouraged in their faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that we are working well in that direction as they seem to be relating well with the people who are being prepared to continue working with them in the year to come.

As I prepare for yet another new beginning in my ministry at the end of the year, I am thankful for all the people who have been experiencing a greater new beginning in their lives here in Kirkintilloch. All the glory belongs to God. “He who began a good work…will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6b)

Irish bluegrass

2005-11-08T15:57:00.000Z

It was a scene I would have expected in the hills of the deep south in America. But it wasn't America. It was Northern Ireland.

A few weeks ago, whilst over in Northern Ireland for the weekend, I walked into a house I'd never been to before and took my banjo with me. A friend of mine had asked me to bring it with me because the owner of the house liked the banjo and wanted to meet me. My colleague, Mark, was with me with his guitar, so we started playing. As we played, other musicians started showing up with instruments such as the mandolin, guitar and others, and before we knew it there was a bluegrass jam session in full swing.

After we played for awhile, the owner of the house told me that they had a bluegrass band and had been asked to play for a big event in Cork for Saint Patrick's Day next year. However, they had a problem. They didn't have a banjo player, and bluegrass is incomplete without a banjo.

He said they would fly me to Ireland for the event if I would play with the band for the event. I said, "I would be glad to, but I'll be in America at the time so it would be an expensive flight." However, he was not put off by this. He said they would fly me out from America if I could just make room for the event in my calendar.

I agreed, so in a few months I'll be taking on a new role...playing banjo in an Irish bluegrass band. Life is always full of new adventures and surprises.

My computer crashed

2005-11-02T18:52:00.000Z

Though my schedule is still very busy, I've reached a point of balance where I could start keeping up with things like my journal if it weren't for one thing. My computer's crashed! I've had a lot of trouble with it lately, and it has finally reached the point that it can no longer be saved. I'm borrowing a friend's computer today so I can catch up on urgent things, but I don't think I'll be able to really catch up with things until I have another computer. I have a new one on the way next week, however, so I plan to write more then...

busy, busy, busy

2005-10-12T23:41:00.000+01:00

Wow! I can hardly believe how busy things have been these past few weeks!!!

I promised to update my journal more often, but obviously I haven't done so these past couple of weeks. I've had visitors from Aberdeen and Montana, and I have yet another visitor from California coming next week. I've also been busy with work for the church and was in Northern Ireland last weekend, so it's been CRAZY!

It has been a very good couple of weeks though. Sometime soon when I have more than 5 minutes a day at my computer I will write an update on recent happenings, particularly on the fascinating trip to Northern Ireland I just came back from on Monday night.

For now though, its late and I start again first thing in the morning, so I'm off to my bed...

Pictures of Egypt

2005-09-20T02:05:00.000+01:00

I finally got my pictures back from my recent holiday in Egypt. It turns out I took almost 250! Don't worry, though, I will only subject certain people to all of them. However, I would like to post a few of them here for those who might be interested.

(NOTE- you may click on any of the pictures to open them to fullsize)

The picture above, of course, is of me standing in front of some of the pyramids. To the right is a picture of me standing on the steps of the Great Pyramid, which is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. It was from this pyramid that I used my cell phone to send text messages to a few of my friends in America and Britain. It was a strange feeling really to be using such technology to communicate instantly with people all around the world while standing on stones that were erected 4565 years ago.

While on my two week holiday, I spent the first week on this Nile cruise boat. We sailed up the river, stopping at various ports and visiting ancient temples and tombs as well as other interesting sites. We also had the opportunity to see some of the local towns and meet a lot of interesting people.

The picture to the right is one of the many I took of the River Nile. I spent many peaceful hours on the deck of the boat reading books, writing in my journal, or just contemplating the beauty of God's creation.

Besides visiting a lot of tourist sites and meeting a lot of people, I also read a lot of books while I was there. One of the books I read was Death on the Nile, by Agatha Christie. Part of that book was written at the Old Cataract Hotel, which is pictured here. This hotel was featured both in the book and in the film which featured Peter Ustinov as the detective, Hercule Poirot. Feeling very much like a true tourist, I visited this hotel with the book in hand when the boat docked in the city of Aswan.

The picture below is one of the many ancient temples I visited:

It's amazing how well some of these places are preserved after thousands of years. In some places, as shown in the picture below, the original colours are even still present on the stones.

It was a real adventure! As I went through all these ancient temples, I felt like a true Indiana Jones. It was great! In the picture below I'm reading an ancient message written in heiroglyphics.

Actually, I don't have a clue what it says! All I know is it has something to do with some pharaoh.

Almost as difficult to understand as the writing on the wall, by the way, is that shirt! I'm not sure what I was thinking when I put that on. I guess it made me feel more like a tourist or something!

As interesting as the ancient culture was, however, I was also very interested in meeting the people of today. The row of shops in this picture is a typical row of local shops and reminds me in many ways of many of the villages I have known in central Africa.

When you leave the resorts and boats which are filled with tourists, you see a very different world than most of the tourists see. There is a lot of poverty in Egypt. It is not considered one of the poorest countries in the world, but still statistics say that 23 per-cent of the population were living in abject poverty in the 1980s and that the poverty rate has increased steadily since then. Most of the tourists I met did their best not to see this side of Egypt, but I made a point of going out where the people were to see for myself. What I saw, in many cases, was quite sad indeed.

On the positive side, however, the locals that I met were all gems. Though I did get hassled a lot in the tourist areas by people desperate to sell their wares, when I looked past the hassle I found genuine people with a genuine love of life.

The young man in the picture above is one of many that I enjoyed meeting. He took me and some new friends I'd made out on a felucca and showed us around a lovely little island in the middle of the Nile called Banana Island.

The island was small and consisted mostly of trees bearing bananas and other fruits, though there was one small shop which was obviously there for British tourists.

The picture to the left was taken on Banana Island with my new friends. They are a lovely family from England. The dad originally came from India, so we had some fascinating conversations about his home country, especially after they found out I'm hoping to go do some work in India next year.

The picture on the right was taken on the felucca. A felucca ride is a great way to enjoy the Nile as feluccas are small open sail boats that are small enough to sit very close to the water. As a matter of fact, they are so close to the water that I was able to reach down and put my hand in the Nile at one point as we were sailing.

The only difficulty with feluccas in Egypt is that there is often no wind at all, so when that happens they have to call a motorboat in to tow it. However, it is still a lovely way to relax out on the river, and it is a great place to be during a sunset!

The second week of my holiday was spent in a hotel in the town of Luxor. The picture to the right is the view from my hotel room. As the first week had been very busy with tours of temples, tombs and such, I took it easy for most of the second week. I read a lot of books, spent time with people, and just enjoyed being there.

I also got to visit some of the local restaurants and sample the Egyptian food. On the boat, we had mostly been given British food because most of the tourists were from Britain. Once I was on my own, however, I was able to eat what the locals eat, and the food was delicious! This picture taken in one of these restaurants on my last night there.

In the second week, the only truly busy day was on Saturday because that was when I took a day trip to Cairo. It was on that day, of course, that I visited the pyramids, and I also saw the Great Sphinx, which is 4,500 years old and is the oldest truly collosal royal statue in Egypt.

I also visited the Egyptian Museum, which is truly one of the most amazing museums in the world. It houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities anywhere, including the treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb and the mummies of many of the pharaohs, including the mummified body of Ramses II, whom many believe to have been the Pharaoh talked about in the story of Moses and the Exodus. It's a strange feeling to look at his distinct features, as you can almost visualise him as a living man even though he's been dead for over 3,200 years! I wasn't allowed to take any pictures at the museum, but I carry pictures in my head that I am sure to remember for many years to come!

I also got to go inside one of the pyramids! It was an amazing experience. The path inside was so small that I had to bend over the whole way, and though I had never suffered from claustrophobia before, as I crawled deep into this ancient structure with hundreds of people crawling through the same tunnel in front and behind me, my heart raced so fast that I could almost visualise it jumping through my chest. Though it was great to have had the experience of being inside the pyramid, it was even greater to get out!

In the picture on the right I am in typical Egyptian dress. I kept this outfit and wore it to preach at the local church here in Kirkintilloch when I got home. I don't know if anybody remembers what I preached about that day, but I doubt if they'll soon forget what I wore!

I truly had a great holiday in Egypt! I got a lot of rest, met a lot of good people, and had amazing experiences. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, and I hope one day to return!

Coffee anyone?

2005-09-16T02:12:00.000+01:00

I love coffee shops! It's not just the coffee that I love about them either. You can drink coffee anywhere, but only a proper coffee shop offers an experience. The decor and the music have to be just right. Otherwise, it might as well be a regular old restaurant. But when they get it right, for me its the perfect place to sit for hours to read a book, study, or work.

Back in 2002 to 2003, when I was still travelling all the time, I made it a habit to talk about the coffee shops I discovered in each town. I'll probably do the same thing again during my many travels in 2006, especially as many of these entries will likely be written in those coffee shops. But I've never taken the time to express my appreciation for the coffee houses here in Scotland.

When I first came to Scotland in 2001, I did not really find very many nice coffee houses. The culture was more into hanging out in pubs, and I found it very hard to locate a coffee shop that fit the standards I was looking for. However, in the last few years they have begun to pop up everywhere and are becoming very popular indeed. Some people believe that this is largely a result of the popularity of the American television series, Friends, which featured a group of young people who spent a great deal of time in a coffee shop. Whatever the case, the age of the coffee shop is definitely here in Scotland.

There are now 35 Starbucks in Scotland, though most of them are in the large cities. There are a few of them that I sometimes frequent when I'm in Glasgow, and there's a really nice one in Edinburgh that overlooks the Royal Mile. You can sit upstairs in comfortable chairs and look out over the cobblestone streets and the beautiful old buildings.

We've also got Costa Coffee and loads of other brand name franchises. However, the chain of coffee houses that I really believe to have gotten it right is Beanscene. As their website says: " Inspired by the coffee houses of 60s Soho, Greenwich Village and the Italian quarter of San Francisco, beanscene is a ‘home from home’, somewhere to kick back, relax and take life in on it’s most simple and enjoyable level." There are only ten of them so far, and once again they are just in the cities, but they are great. There is one not far from Glasgow Iranian Church where I have spent many hours preparing sermons and reading books.

Another good chain of shops is Caffè Nero. They currently have 217 shops across Britain, and they are far better than Starbucks in my opinion. Their coffee is better, and the ambience is also nicer. The only problem at the moment is that they allow smoking, whereas Starbucks doesn't, and I am allergic to cigarrette smoke so I can't stay there too long.

However, as good as all these chains may be in their own right, I don't think anything will ever take the place of a well-done locally owned coffee shop. Unfortunately, I haven't seen very many in Scotland that are well done, but we are fortunate enough to have one right here in Kirkintilloch that is well done indeed.

D'inisi is a local coffee shop that only opened here within the last few months, and it has been a wonderful blessing for me! Now I no longer have to travel half an hour's drive into the city to get a good coffee shop experience. It's owned by a local businessman who is very kind and interesting, and it has a great staff who all know me by name already. It's a great place to meet people, to read, to work, or just to sit and watch the world go by.

I suppose if my life wasn't devoted to planting churches I would be planting coffee shops. Barring that idea, though, maybe I'll just have to make sure all the churches I plant in the future are close to good ones. Rather than spending the money for an office the next church I work with could just plan cappuccinos into the budget and I could do all my work at the coffee house on the corner.

But my ramblings are getting crazy now. I've probably had too much caffeine today. I think I'll go to bed. Maybe I can write more tomorrow when I get back to the coffee shop!