South Africa, Mozambique and Woooooooooooooooooow

A Mozambique Sunset

I will do a full posing about my Mission Trip to Mozambique. This is just a short update to say I am now back and so tired. I have seen things that have changed me, I have been to maybe one of the most beautiful places in the World, I have eaten more sand than a man should ever eat, and been made food by people who really know how to share food.
We were shown amazing hospitality in Johannesburg that made us all feel so special and loved, we were shown Soweto and the Apartheid museum.
As I have said I will do a full Blog once I have my head a little more sorted, my brain is in overload and I am slowly sifting through things and will update my diary then this blog.

Speechless

Some days I am left speechless, words completely fail me.

I had a days work at Cube (the production house that give me the cover work when their Producer is away) and had a wonderful day. Anyhoo I arrived home an envelope was waiting for me with an amount of cash in it for me to go towards Mozambique. I was moved to tears and left speechless; during the time since I decided to go on the mission, I have been so touch by people who have been so generous, with time, talent, Prayer and financially.

There is absolutely no way I could of ever have afforded to go on the Mission, I did feel I should go and after seeing Mission Team Leader and Prayer I filled out the forms. I went to the interview and felt it was right to go and through peoples generosity I am able to go. I cannot thank everyone who has helped with me to go enough. I give my thanks God for such wonderful, loving and caring friends.

I have been a little busy over the past week or so, I have been doing a little production for Cube, a production house I do holiday cover for. This has been wonderful, I love working there as everyone who works there are just so nice.

I have been shopping for bits and bobs for Mozambique this is time consuming but quite enjoyable, I also went into Brum today to have my IPod looked at...the LCD is is staring to go....unfortunately it is just out of warranty so I must put up with it, I am sure it will last for a few more months yet.

I need to get some Dollars...not the best time to be buying Dollars...bugger!!!

Church yesterday was great as a team we were commissioned to go out to Mozambique and that was really special, I was also prayed for by a wonderful lady called Janice, who has spent the most of the last 20+ years in Sudan working for God. The last few weeks have been am emotional roller-coaster, though I do sort of expect that as I am a nervous fligher and I am also not great with new things...an old dog and new tricks spring to mind....

This may well be my last blog until I return.

A weekly update....

Crikey how time speeds by..... Last week I was in Bournemouth doing the I.T. and tech stuff for a conference with Dave Pope it was an interesting time and I did enjoy it, though there were points that I thought I would not enjoy....but I was proved wrong.
I have spent the week also mulling things over, I can't seem to find a job...I keep looking, I email, I write, I phone....nothing! So what next? I am praying for guidance.
In roughly 11 days I fly out to South Africa and the first leg of a mission trip, that I find quite scary it has come around quickly. I am starting to excited about visiting somewhere new, somewhere I don't know or understand the culture, somewhere completely out of my comfort zone. I am sure God will use to open my eyes and change me.
That is about it really, I am quite busy up to going away so my weekly Blog...when did it become a weekly blog? I have blogged upto 3 times a day in the past, then most days now sadly it has become a weekly blog. I guess Blogs are to be used as when.... If anything happens that warrents a Blog I will blog......

Music for a Mission UPDATE

I haven't blogged much as I haven't had much to Blog about. Things are little slow I am still looking for a job, I spent a day with Mrs EB's brother and we remixed his live album that was recorded about 14 months ago. It had been mixed and sounded OK, but it needed a few tweeks for myself to be really happy, and Mrs EB's brother felt the same. Its a Blues album and sounds wonderful and has some great guitar and harmonica playing on it.

Well that leads me on to "Music for a Mission".... what can I say?, I thought I would be really struggling to raise the money needed for the Mozambique Mission, but after this weekends sales I have raised the money!!!!! Praise the Lord. I will still be selling the album after the services at Church and the funds will be going to the Mission trip fund to help others raising funds. I am so amazed by the sales and the generous people who have paid quite often over the odds for the album.

The feed back from the album has been really encourging as well, people who bought the CD have quite often come back to me and said some really great things, one lady at Church last night said "I will have one of those I heard it at a friends in the week..it is wonderful"

And that is about for now.

Music for a Mission

Well "Music for a Mission" is completed, the artwork is back and the CD's look great, well they sound great too...

The idea for the CD came about as a way to try and raise the money needed to go to Mozambique with my Church in November of this year. I don't have the money to go, but I believe that I should go and after a chat with Mission Team Leader, I asked some special friends and my beautiful wife if they would help me. All of my friends are only too happy to get rid of me for a few weeks and said yes. After a little planning we recorded Piano. Drums and guide vocals at Sutton Baptist Church one evening in July, then Skip came round during a few days of August and laid down the bass and lead guitar. Over the next few weeks, Skip Amy and Mrs EB recorded most of the main vocals, Gaynor came round and recorded her lead vocal. A Friday evening was set aside and a few friends came by and sang the choir parts. Amythen came round and sung her song beautifully and also played Flute and recorder. I then spent a few days mixing, remixing running down to the car listening to the mixes, then tweaking.

I then spent time in Photoshop doing the artwork, asking Mrs EB to spell check then tweaks then respell check. The result is "Music for a Mission" a 9 track album of Contemporary Christian worship music and a bonus track written By Mrs EB and Timelord called "Praise You Again" I am asking for a minimum £10 donation plus P&P all Monies will go to my Mission fund and remaining Monies will go to my Church's Mission Fund to support our mission partners or for future missions.

Track Listings

Happy Day
On Holy Ground
These are the Days of Elijah
Never Let Go
Your Love has Lifted Me
You Give Rest to the Weary
Be Thou My Vision
There is a Hight Throne

Bonus track

Praise You Again

Blown Away

Every now and then I get moved and this evening I was moved to tears. I belong to a Church where God is moving and working miracles within the Youth. I am so proud of these guys and the way they are going for it. Well this evening two of the young Ladies asked me to watch a video they had produced....
Facebook Video I don't know if you can see this if you are not a friend of these guys on Facebook though.
Please watch it and enjoy.

A good weekend

I had a good weekend all the more so as Mrs EB had returned from her camping trip with GB. Mrs EB had a very husky voice due to her losing her voice on camp.... I am just really pleased she is home safe and sound. Saturday evening we went to Simla for a curry, it was a welcome home meal and I told the guys at Simla that I was checking up on the food for Tuesday when 16 of us go for my Birthday Balti...Mmmmmmmmmm tasty.

I was on sound again this weekend at Church and I also did the sound at a very quiet wedding on Friday, about 20 people and the Bride and Groom, they had been on Alpha and wanted to marry. It was a very special wedding.

Team Leader did his final sermon on Hebrews...and of course it was amazing, we really are a very blessed Church to have such an amazingly humble and fantastic teacher. Team leader told me a very funny joke on Sunday.

Patient: Doctor, I think I'm a moth!
Doctor: (looking at his notes) You are not my patient your Doctor is next door
Patient: I know but your light was on.

Made me chuckle.

After church the usual suspects went to the Jockey, well the usual minus a few on holiday and those heading to Cornwall. It was a nice crowd last night and we had a good chat and laugh. Later today I am off for another Jab to allow me to travells to Mozambique and later this week my good friend Skip will be coming round to hopefully do some more guitar and bass on the album. I really need to start the vocals and think about artwork and stuff. I am also going to pop up to the mission we are doing on Falcon Lodge and do some balloon stuff....

All in all good fun.

Wednesday

I have had a trip out to the MASTA Clinic!!!! the what? well if you intend to visit places that don't have the same diseases as us you need to visit there for a Cholera injection as my GP clinic doesn't do that one? well if only it were that easy!!!

Monday I called to make an appointment, the message said leave your name and number someone will call you back, I believed this statement of fact and did just that. I phoned at 10am and by 6pm no one had called me back? So yesterday I went to Handsworth Wood and visited the centre to ask for an appointment I have one for next week. Joy of joys....

I have a friend...well I like to think I have a few friends, but one friend who emigrated to Beijing a couple of years ago, we worked together at GWR Creative in Nottingham knocking out adverts by the dozen every day. Well my friend Richard has started a blog!!!! only a few years behind everyone else...but he was always like that (a little slow) It is good to welcome Richard to the blogosphere. I hope you enjoy Richard's slant on life, which seems to be a hankering for American food? I think I would want a good old English Roast or British Balti, each to his or her own huh?

Lastly, I have heard off Mrs EB from the Girls Brigade Camp that she has laryngitis via a text as she couldn't phone.. what luck huh, she never has that here!!!! I knew I could never be that lucky.

An Update ....

I have not been feeling good again? I am not sure what it is...it might be my medications or a virus or something? I am feeling very rough with a stomach that is doing untold things, a migraine that won’t lift and ..........

Anyhoo Mrs EB is off GB camp this Saturday!!! It is her first time with GB and I am sure she will have fun camping. I have a week alone I wonder what I will do about food...any Ideas? (bet it will involve Curry)

Thanks to Amy, Pete and Mrs EB I have started work on the Worship Album that I hoping to release in September to help raise the Money to go to Mozambique. My good friend Skip is now back from his guitar playing in Keswick so I am hoping he can pop round and start work on the guitar and bass.

I then need to organise an evening or Saturday for my friends to come round and sing!!!! that will be great fun and I know will sound great.

A Mission.......Mozambigue

My Church is sending a team out to Mozambique for two weeks at end of November and I have been accepted on to the team. This is so exciting and also very challenging, firstly health wise I have to get the all clear from my Dr, and financially I have to raise £1500.00 or there abouts.

This is making me a little nervous, it is a lot of money especially when you are unemployed....I have a plan to make a Worship album...don't worry I wont be singing or playing on it. I have some amazingly talented friends who hopefully will do that for me. I actually have 5 tracks virtually ready!!! last year we made an Album for Mullins Burger to help finance a 2nd year at Nexus but that wasn't to be, so it was mothballed and 4 of the tracks off there are ideal. I have also recorded another track with my great friend Skip and that is nearly finished..it just needs some harmonies and recorder... so the album is half finished.

So I have an idea for raising some of the money.... Mrs FLN thinks I should auction off a day on The Robber Button ..... who knows? I do know that if it is right for me to go that God will provide the money for the mission trip.