climbing hiking camping

I don’t know her name. But God does. A big city in central India. The middle of a Christian festival. Over 400 had come forward for prayer and to commit their lives to Christ. A feeling there was meant to be one more. A debate with God. ‘Really God, there are 400 here already. What’s one more? And the meeting has moved on. It would be difficult to say something now.’ But, no. I’m sure God is prompting me. There is a girl here, He says to me, a student. She’s been away from faith in Christ for a while. But she’s here tonight. And she should have come forward. Okay. The announcement is made. The meeting moves on. Many people healed. Amazing times. Then, as we make our way back to the car at the end: ‘Please sir, please sir. I’m the one! I’m the girl! It’s me.’ I don’t know her name. But I know that on that night, in the middle of a crowd of thousands, God singled her out. We prayed. I left. We may never meet again. But I know that on a warm night in central India, a young student girl ga...

Again, to misquote C S Lewis, the pages are once more rustling with adventure. I will be writing my daily journal in a different country and continent for the next two weeks as I take a team out to Kolkata for a week, and then another team to Hyderabad for a week. Working with local churches, there will be much to do- children's fun days, visiting sponsored children, teaching pastors, reaching out to communities. Lot's to do. Lot's to write. Lot's of life to celebrate. The Bible says 'I can do all things through Him who strengthens me'. (Philippians 4: 13).

We decide where we go and what we do in life.   We choose whether we lose our days in TV soaps and game shows or determine to achieve more by our lives.   We decide whether life is an existence or an achievement, whether we leave a memory or a mark on our generation.   Bryn Jones

Dear day, It was tough yesterday. Tough to live. Hard to breathe. But you’re a new day. You’re ahead of me. And I’m going to live you. I’m going to squeeze the life out of you today, dear day. I’m going to care. And I’m going to laugh. Give. Smile. Stand up when I fall down. Walk.... Run. Breathe the air. I’m going to appreciate the simple today. And lose myself in something pleasurable. I’m going to listen. To God. And to my friends. Did I say I’d stand up if I fall down? Oh yes. Not only that. I’ll laugh. Laugh at the trivialness of what used to upset me. Today, dear day, I’m going to live you. Poem based on the 16 Habits of Exuberant Human Beings by Kate Bratskier

Isaac Asimov was a science fiction writer and fifty years ago in the New York Times he predicted what 2014 would look like. At the time he was living with inventions like eight-track tapes as being cutting edge and with no sign of personal computers and the like, so that helps us understand how far seeing he was. How did he do? 1.        Coloured glass that can change colour to suit the mood and rooms that can change colour at the touch of a button. -           Correct. Not common in homes yet, but the technology exists. Last year Mercedes introduced sun panels that darken in response to the extent of sunlight, already common with sunglasses of course. 2.        Lab grown meat to cope with the food crisis. -           Correct. Lab grown burgers were produced for the first time last year. 3.        Self-...

The first time Miss Turner noticed her, she stood quietly at the back of a group of girls. She and her brother were fairly new arrivals at Bulembu, their parents having died of AIDS. Nontando was a shy girl, Miss Turner thought. The girls were there to spend their merits. All the 400 rescued children were in school in Bulembu and merits were given for good work and good behaviour; rewards to spend. Miss Turner was particularly pleased to land the job of running the merit shop. She saw many of the children she cared for in the trauma unit- those that had been most deeply affected by their loss. And she saw Nontando. Each term, when the shop opened, Nontando came. And each term she stood with her friends, looking on as they spent their merits on sweets, books, toys and comics. But not Nontando. She just stood, quietly watching. ‘Hi Nontando, don’t you have any merits to spend?’ ‘Yes Miss.’ ‘So where are they? Where are your merits? What would you like? Sweets? A book maybe?’ ‘No Miss. I...

ON THE DAY WE TRAVEL TO BULEMBU, HERE'S A RE-POST FROM JULY 2011  TO TELL YOU WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT AND WHY IT'S WORTH IT..... You drive for 5 hours from Johannesburg, through the mountains and over the Swaziland border. What greets you is quite breathtaking. Bulembu is an old mining town. When the mines closed nearly ten years ago, the 10,000 population moved out. Bulembu became a ghost town. Until someone had a vision of what could be. Today a Christian trust owns the whole town. All 4,000 acres. The population is back to 2,000. There are successful industries in wood production, water bottling, honey production, a bakery, a dairy, successful tourism. All from nothing. Most of all, there are 200 orphans saved. Bulembu has become a centre for rescued children. With the worst HIV rate in the world at around 40%, and an average age expectancy of just over 30, Swaziland is slowly dying. Children die daily. Bulembu is changing the statistics. Their aim is to be a sustainable com...