not so silent

Today, on this cool Winter day in Whiteriver, South Africa, we have planted 9 Camellia bushes. Our vision is that as they grow they will form a walk down from the orchard behind our house. From a distance we hope to gaze on the white, pink and red flowers. Visitors who come to the farm will see a walkway of green bushes that will be flashed with camellia colour. Erin and I have planted the Camellias after the recent death of my best friend Chris, known to me as CD. He and I met at the age of 5 on the way to school and stayed lifelong friends until his death at the age of 60 years. At this point in my grief I feel nothing good came out of his death, nothing dampens the pain of loss, emptiness and unfulfilled dreams; not Camellias, not the fine words at his funeral, or laughter in sharing his life with others. So for the moment we have planted 9 Camellias to try and mark his life on a continent he was never able to visit. Camellias - because they were his favourite plant and

A typical landing scene  During May I had the privilege of flying in our helicopter with Joel to ASAM in Mozambique, and to be part of a mission outreach. We flew first to Chimoio and then on to Doa for two days, then to Mutarara for 5 days. We were a group of 5 people with various gifts and skills, plus local pastors. As two teams, every day we flew in to two remote villages where we were met by the local church. The pastors  in the villages were people I had met at the school ASAM where they were part of the twice yearly intensive teaching program.  It was truly amazing to meet these pastors in the own context where they live their daily lives. The pastors and students are part of a teaching program which takes them through 25 books over a number of years until they finally complete the course and graduate.  Three students who have graduated  Myself, Andy and Joao taught in the villages, and I was spoke about the role of prayer in our daily lives. I als

On my recent trip to Mutarara with ASAM, the celebration had ended and we were just about to leave the village.  I was told that someone wanted to give us something for the mission, to say thank you. Well my background informed me to get ready to accept a cheque. We gathered in a semi circle and a young man stood before us clutching an old worn back pack. Large cheque I thought! He opened the bag and out popped a live chicken. Oh  this is interesting - where in my training was I prepared for this? So I took my lead from my friend Joao and the young man told his short but eventful story. He wanted to give us a chicken to say thank you for showing care.  He wanted to say thank you to the mission fo r the help they gave , when his wife was pregnant with their child. He wanted to say thank you, for helping him after his wife died after giving birth. He wanted to say thank you to the mission for giving milk for the child after the birth. He wanted to say thank you, after