Mozabique Mission post 2

We arrived hot, sweaty and very dusty in Angoche, though the others in the other cars obviously had air-con so felt cool and relaxed!!! Our first views of Angoche thanks to J were of the harbour...Angoche used to be the Worlds exporter of Cashew Nuts, until a virus hit the trees and the factories went bust. There are about a dozen boats moored up at the harbour...they never moved when we were there.

Angoche is now a subsistence town, people fish, sell the fish so they can survive if they don't sell the fish they eat the fish. Obviously this isn't everyone but it does seem to count for a lot of the people especially on the islands. Some will be farmers, goats and chickens seem to be feral but will belong some people, how they can tell who's are who's is a thing I have wondered about as they have no markings or tags?

Anyhooo back to my Mission Trip. The next morning we were up at 5am!!! I know arghhhh.....But as it gets light at about 3:30am and when it gets light it gets even hotter you tend to wake early. This was the first dedication and was on the mainland It was about 25 minutes away near the beach. The village was called Thamoole (pron Tamooley). This dedication affected me the most, it was biggest culture shock I guess.

Arriving at the village I was blown away buy how simple the village was, grass and mud huts, children looking after children. Then I heard the singing coming from the Church, it was beautiful. We weren't actually having the dedication service in the Church as the Church would not be big enough, so they had erected a temporary Church for this occasion.

In the Church, after taking our shoes off!!! Chris had forgotten tell us this little gem, they had found us some chairs (that wouldn't happen again!!)

We were all introduced, then all of the other visitors were introduced, people from other Churches, from different districts etc. This was just wonderful and would mean so much more after a few more dedication services to see how far some of these fellow Christians had actually travelled!!!!

We then went into a time of worship, I was moved to complete speechlessness!!! I know me!.. this lasted for about 30-50 minutes??? not really sure (the worship not my speechlessness) Then 3 of the team gave testimony or a prepared sermon, then the dedication of Kithaarpu, followed by 4 sermons, and communion, communion was really special, unless I could hear a translation of what was going I was a little lost sometimes, but having communion was a united Christian act. We had a little more worship and prayer, lunch was prayed for and then the service was over. During the sermons, Ian asked if I would fetch the water container he had in his car.... I was passed the keys and off I went, and burnt my feet in the sand I ran back...to much laughter from some children sat in shade outside. Put on my shoes and then fetched the water.

Water was the largest part of our lives. The house we were in only had running water from about 5am to 5pm. That water was brown and needed to be filtered so we could drink it!!! in the heat and humidity of Mozambique you needed a lot of water, and coke (isotonic drinks replace the salts and sugars lost) We also needed to wash.... There were two large water buts in the bathroom for washing and flushing the toilet. (more about this in a later blog...back to Thamoole)

I had brought some modelling balloons to make stuff for the kids...I started to do this and ended up mobbed not just by kids but by adults and it was ugly. I stopped after 20 minutes. (again more about this in a later Blog) We were asked into the Church, it was laid out with mats and some large cooking pots of food. I walked in and burst into tears. The generosity of the village was so overwhelming. I don't think the basics of Christianity had ever been shown to me in such a way. I left the Church to try and compose myself and bumped into Chris, I thanked him for letting come to this amazing place and just cried. The love and compassion of Christ is an amazing thing, I believe I glimpsed a tiny part of it that day. We sat on the mats in circles and a man came round and washed mour hands, again I just cried, it was all so scriptural and so amazing. I have been a Christian 22 years I like to think I am a fairly nice guy and an OK Christian, Thamoole showed me I have so much to learn, even the basics are so important. Sharing and serving each other.

We had lunch of Coconut rice, chicken in a wonderful sauce and beans. (also it contained a bit of sand, well more than a bit) I loved every mouthful. To be honest I would have eaten and loved anything served to me I felt so honoured and humbled by the Thamoole/Angoche people.

After dinner we had our hands washed again. Then a few of us were shown shown around Vitor's house. a small Hut with a small kitchen, living room and a tiny bedroom. 8 people live in Vitors house...I left speechless again.

Vitor is the leader of Tariki ya Haakkhi which is a group of 5 Churches where the dedications will be taking place. Well 4 dedications. Vitor is an amazing man, and a very good pastor. Whilst in his house I made his children some balloon swords....this seemed to go down very well.

Mozambique Mission Part 3 (A few Problems and what we did on some of the Rest Days, rest days indeed)

On the Mission we did have a few problems, most were concerning health and the heat, I had a migraine one day, that took me out of action. I sent out a txt to Mission Team Leader back at home and I was prayed for and it had lifted by the evening!!! A couple of others had upset tums and were taken out of action for the odd day but over all we all did very well.

The other problem we had was after the first dedication. We were all full of the joys of an amazing day, we arrived back at the men's house (there were a lot of us as about 6 or 7 extra people had arrived from The Organisation to join in the first dedication) We were visited by the Police and immigration. Obviously we all kept a low profile and let Missionary Man + J deal with this. There was a lot of talking at the front of the house, a couple of armed police kept their eye on everything, when I say armed, I mean armed to the teeth, Side Guns, AK47's and hand grenades!!!(a tiny bit over the top I think). Missionary Man and J would update us and say things like...well they want to check our passports and visa's, then, what the man from immigration really wants is a bribe!!! There was no way we would pay him a bribe so, things got a little worse. He wanted all passport numbers, names and visa numbers. J started to write these out for him then he said no, no, no I want everyone to come down to the Immigration Office with Passports.

So off we all walked or were frog-marched I'm not sure really.but it was all jolly interesting. There will have been 20+ people all standing in his office, the armed Police waiting over the road with an eye on us. And one by one we had our passports and visa's checked, well the team from the Mission Organisation couldn't have theirs checked as they didn't have them with them... and Missionary Man hadn't had his passport stamped at immigration, he had given in his passport along with Missionary Girl and Boys and they hadn't stamped his passport. This was a big problem or so the Immigration Officer said. Missionary Man would have to go back to Nampula and try and sort it out. J would stay with us and Missionary man and Missionary Boy along with the Mission Organisation team would go to Immigration in Nampula.

Missionary Man's passport should have been stamped when he entered Mozambique, but they hadn't done this. This is a way of generating some money as they charge you $50 a day for not having it stamped!!! Well Missionary Man spent a very frustrating morning in Nampula, the Immigration man had caused himself a whole heap of problems!! when they got to Nampula and the Organisation team arrived with their passports all sorted with the right Visa's his boss was not well pleased and told him so. Mozambique are trying to encourage tourism and this was a real spanner in the works. Anyhoo Missionary Man couldn't get it sorted so J told him to come back and see what happens at the Airport. (Guess what? he left Mozambique without any problems at all, the Power of Prayer is amazing)

We all felt a little deflated and attacked back at the Men's house. I made us all some Homemade Soup for out tea, a hearty soup with loads of fresh vegetables. After Tea I lead the devotions I felt it was a good thing to debrief about the day in full. I started off by reading from John and the washing of the Disciples feet. Then said how I been so affected by this service, the washing of our Hands, the food and how I felt we had helped lay a massive foundation stone for the Church in Angoche, and if we do that Satan would be really cheesed off and we should expect to be attacked and this really felt demonic. As a group we had a great discussion and a wonderful time of Prayer and reclaiming of the day for God.

The day after the dedication was a rest day. I had a walk up to the shopping centre or Down Town Angoche ..... well this is an amazing thing. I think there are about 12 shops all selling virtually the same thing. I walked down to the town with Mr and Mrs Administrator he was buying some provisions for the team, cokes and other bits and bobs.

Mr & Mrs Administrator buying things in one of the shops in Down Town Angoche

I thought I would have a look at what was available....not a lot to be honest. As I have said Angoche is really a subsistence town so I guess there is no point stocking trinkets and nick-knacks that wouldn't sell in a month of Sundays. But there again in one shop window there was a clutch from a Morris Minor? I think there must be 30 cars in Angoche and not one of them is a Morris Minor.

Rush Hour Down Town Angoche

With Pipi in the shopping centre of Angoche

So we had a few rest days, on one of these I went to the market with Missionary Girl, the market is a wonderfully colourful place full of colours, smells (some not so nice) people and dust. I went with Missionary Girl as she can speak Portuguese and would help me buy some Kapulana's (a wrap worn by ladies) I wanted some as gifts. Missionary Man asked us not to take any photo's of the market as it a Muslim area and it may cause some problems. So I don't have any photo's from there.

In the Men's House we had a house man called Assani, Assani was Mr & Mrs Missionary Man's House Man. And as Mr Missionary Man said he is a golden find; he is honest and a very hard worker. He will look for work, he would do our washing, ironing, if the water was off he would walk to the Girls House and fetch water.... and he would cook a meal for us on the rest days. This is a photo of him cooking for us. He is an amazing cook

Assani Cooking us a wonderful meal

Now when I am away on I usually keep my head shaved, it saves time and its so easy to keep tidy, well don't let Missionary Girl and Mrs G loose with your razor........

The Men's unlike the Girls house only had Water for part of the day, also the Girls house had Air-con in the bedrooms...we didn't. I had a fan in my room that was louder than an aircraft taking off, which is more than Mr and Mrs Administrator had in their bedroom. A shower usually consisted of.... Standing in the bath next to a large container of water with a Jug, poor a jug of cold (well luke warm) over your head, this felt wonderful as by then I was boiling hot. Then washing yourself down, get another Jug of water and poor away. 1 shower completed, the toilet cistern needed to be filled the same way after use.

More about Dedications and 8 weddings in my next posting.

Mozambique Mission Part 4 (8 weddings and a boat trip)

The next dedication was just amazing. We had to be up very early 4 a.m!!!! and walk to the harbour beach to catch a Dow at 5 a.m to an Island called Khelelene (pron Keya-laynee). The boat trip was 3 hours which I loved every second of. We sailed past Islands that could have been in Bounty adverts, I dipped my hand in the sea and it was as warm as a cool bath.

On some of the little islands there would be guys fishing with big nets catching everything they could, these nets would be so heavy when they were pulling them in it would make you wonder if they ever would pull them in.

When we arrived at Khelelene there was a shortish walk to a rest area a small gazebo like area they had built for us. we were then invited into the Church where one of the best things I have ever tasted was waiting for us.

The Church on Khelelene

Fresh green Coconuts!!! I have had a coconut before, they are brown and sometimes they have a little milk inside... naaa. Fresh green Coconuts taste nothing like that. The milk inside is clear and just has a hint of a coconut flavour to it, but they do taste slightly fizzy!!! and it is so refreshing!!! I have never tasted anything like it in my life. God knew what he was doing creating the Coconut. As Ray Mears the survivalist says...If I was ever marooned on an Island with Coconuts I could last forever. The tree gives you... Food, shelter and the best drink ever.

Cutting open our Coconuts for the best drink ever.

Enjoying God's Bounty!!!! without the chocolate.

After a break and time to collect our thoughts we were taken on a small tour of the island and to the beach. We were followed by loads of Children who it seemed were mesmerised by us. They would hold our hands and keep looking at us smiling, it was just wonderful. When we got to the beach I was taken with how beautiful the Island was and how perfect it seemed, I said to Missionary Man that the island was Paradise, to which he replied, Yes if you don't have to live here. Which was very true.

Some of the Children who had followed us to the beach playing in the sand.

A fisherman showing us his catch

Some of the fish caught drying in the sand, if only I could of bottled the smell!!!!

Again this island is a fishing Island and as we headed back to the Church we would come across area's of fish drying in the sun, you could smell them way before you ever saw them!!! We walked back by what must be the High Street!!! half a dozen or so houses with produce outside for sale Mango's, Rice, this root that is mashed up into a porridge that has no taste or nutrients but fills you up, clothes and this shop that even had Haribo!!! Julia you could live here!!!!

A General Store that even had Haribo!!!

As we were walking back to the Church we passed a slightly larger hut that even had a satellite dish next to it, it was a cinema and had a couple of posters up advertising films!! both were the violent types like Fight Club!!! Just before the Church we walked past a small hut and the little boy who was holding Mr Administrator's hand mimed getting drunk and said no and pointed to the Church!!! Then he mimed smoking a Joint and did the same...obviously what goes on that little hut come pub...but at least this little chap of about 8 new it's wrong to get drunk and high....

The service was again just amazing and it left me emotional and totally drained, it is just amazing that during most of the services I didn't really understand the words but I knew what was being said. I can see God working and feel that he is changing the lives of the Koti. Whilst the service was going on a little girl sat near me and would inch her way closer, eventually she got close enough and got up the courage and touched my arm where I have a tattoo and rubbed it gently with her finger then looked at her finger to see if it had come off. I couldn't help but smile.

After the service and a wonderful meal, the same sort of meal we had before Chicken, Beans and Coconut Rice, we had 20 minutes to refresh ourselves before we headed back to the beach to catch our Dow back to the mainland. I looked up at a Coconut tree and there was this little boy maybe about 8 years old, standing happy as anything a good 20 feet up at the top.

The Dow trip back was a little more exciting the wind had got up a little bit and this made the boat rock a little. I thought this wonderful, a few of the team didn't really like it, which is understandable. As we got closer to the beach the boat needed to cross the waves and of course this made the boat rock a lot....Yay I thought, it's like a fair ground ride. I don't think everyone agreed with me.

The next big thing we did was head inland early one morning to attend a wedding, this wasn't a Koti wedding but a Macau Wedding, Macau in an area a little further inland. It was a wonderful honour to be invited to a wedding and I was very excited to attend. It took quite a while to arrive at the wedding because the truck we had borrowed belonged to the shop we had earlier purchased the cokes from and changed our Dollars to the local currency at. Well, he wanted us to deliver some corrugated zinc roofing in exchange for the use of his truck. This involved a trip up a wonderful dirt track to a house nearly finished. We all thought ohh a Church with no roof!!! I hope I have enough sunscreen on. Everyone got off the back of the truck the roofing was removed and everyone got back on and we headed back down this track. It was so funny, as no one knew what was happening.

On the way back down this track I saw a Mongoose!!! Yay I saw some real African wildlife. It took probably another 30 or so minutes to arrive at the wedding, and an area had been saved for us at the front in the shade under a Cashew Nut tree, that was shedding cashew nuts, one landed on my head!!! and it hurt. There were a few sermons 5 I think and Missionary Man did 2 of them, the 2nd one was due to a misunderstanding about a passage and he cleared up what was being said. (Paul and it's better not to marry, Missionary Man explained the context and all was OK)

Sitting under a Cashew Nut Tree (sorry I am yawning) (yes I am in Mrs EB's trousers)

We then went through 8 Marriage ceremonies!!! I know but it was just amazing and wonderful 8 couples wanting to stand up in front of a entire village and say we believe in Christ and want to marry and promise to stay faithful to each other and God. In these Muslim Villages and the culture of many wives and divorce, it is an amazing and brilliant thing. Though affection is not really shown, after the vows (supplied by our Church's previous Minister using the book of common Prayer, the; to have and hold, richer or poorer) The couple give each other a small piece of wedding cake and then some mango juice, wipe each other face and then kiss...well a peck on the cheek. Then it's a big cheer and you then give them a present, usually a small gift, and most people do give them a present, some sweets, a small amount of cash, fizzy pop, a head scarf etc. After the amazing weddings we went to the Church and were given a wonderful meal of Goat, beans and Coconut Rice and then someone came in with some wedding cake for us. It was possibly the best and longest wedding I have been too, unless of course I was at your wedding and then that was the best wedding.

The next post the last two dedications.

Mozambique Mission part 6

This is by far the hardest post of the Mission Trip posts, my thoughts and musings about what I have learnt and taken away from the trip. Angoche is a poor town, I don't mean I can't afford those new Nike trainers poor, I mean hand to mouth poor, so poor that people sometimes cannot afford to eat. Angoche is a town that was once a really splendid town and a town that was once very rich before the Portuguese left and before war. But now it's a tired town, but it is also a beautiful town and a safe town. A town were Children can run around bare foot and play all day long. There are hardly any cars a few motor bikes and lots of pushbikes.

There is a gentleness about Angoche that you would never see here in England, it will take years for that horrid must buy, buy, buy, must have consumerism to catch up, if it ever does. I guess to have that they would need money, and in a way I hope they don't get it, as I like seeing kids playing in the streets being children, though I do wish they were at school at least some of the time. I am not saying the people of Angoche are happy, they are not, but there is a peace from not having to fight to get the latest Wii or PS3 for the kids or the latest BMW or Prada handbag. I saw a little boy playing with a flattened drinks carton with 4 big seeds in each corner pulling it on a string. It was a crude car, he was quite contented. It brought a tear to my eye, not for him, but for me.

I think being there and sharing with the Churches in Angoche spending time with a wonderful team of friends from my Church has shown me that I need to listen to God more. Being in a church and not understanding I spent time listening, I heard God talking through things; seeing someone get a book of God in their own language and hugging it. Having someone serve you by poring a jug of water over a bowl and washing your hands is just so powerful, as Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, these men washed our hands. Catching a Dow a basic wooden boat that hasn't changed in thousands of years and was probably similar to the boat that Simon Peter fished from, the sort of boat that Jesus walked out too. These things spoke to me in a way I have never had before. I was left unable to control my emotions on a few occasions but I didn't really care, I know God was working on me. I don't know yet what he was saying, I need to wait upon God and listen.....see I am learning.

I was part of a team an amazing team, we all bought along our own strengths and weaknesses and it isn't for me to point any of these out about the team. I will say that Mr & Mrs Teamleader did an amazing job, I think a large part of the success of the mission was due to them. and the way they served the team. I enjoyed my time with each member of the team our chats, our evening Devotion's, each night lead by a different member of the team, and each night was just fantastic. I believe I have grown as a person on this trip with the help of this amazing group of people.

One day on the Mission, it was Missionary Man's birthday and to celebrate this an evening meal out was organised, Missionary Girl did this at a restaurant, she pre-ordered the food and it was an amazing buffet of chicken, fish, king prawns, chips!! and Coconut rice. I was blown away by that evening, the food was excellent and it was just a wonderful night, one that I will remember for many years.I am trying to think of all of the emotions I felt during my time there. I had so many things going on in my head I at times I found it hard to cope. I saw things I didn't want to see and felt things I didn't want to feel. Seeing young children with rickets in ripped clothes and hungry it hurts, it cuts really deep, I wanted to hold the child, make everything better for him, but that wasn't why I was there and if I tried, it would cause so many problems.

As Missionary Man said it was all about how we were perceived, so we couldn't go out to one of the small bars and have a quiet ice cold beer. We were a large group of white people, and that caused us to be a crowd puller, we had people outside our house watching us most of the time, I really didn't like that, I felt like I was a goldfish in a bowl and as Missionary Man said whatever we did would be common news around the town within a very short time. So if I went for a beer it would be perceived that we were all drunks, people go to bars to get drunk....that is the perception. So whenever we were on show, which was anytime we were outside of the houses, we had to be on our best behaviour, and as anyone who knows me that isn't always my best trait....but I managed. Though I have to say when it was so hot and so humid a ice cold beer would have been very welcome on more than one occasion. So helping one child would have meant helping every child.... and that wasn't possible, so I would pray for them, it was all I could do at that time.

In our house as I mentioned in an earlier post we had Assani, he was amazing. We would go out, leave our dirty clothes in the bathroom on our return they would be washed, ironed and waiting for us. He would cook us a meal on our off days. He wouldn't use the stove, oh no. Assani would cook via a charcoal burner, and boy could he cook, it always tasted amazing. Assani will be working for a couple who have come from The Mission Centre for a year to help with discipleship, he will be looking after them and will be earning a wage. I know they will be so happy with Assani he really is an amazing guy.

One thing I will never forget are the smells!!! when you live a subsistence existence you can be forgiven for not buying deodorant and I guess if you are really busy you may not wash your clothes. Body Oder is a big thing there or I guess it isn't a big thing, but you can certainly smell people coming.

It wasn't all hard work, we had some great times just being friends and enjoying each others company, one of my favourite times was when we went to the beach, white talcum power beaches with warm Indian Ocean Seas it was just wonderful and relaxing and some great fun swimming and just walking along the sands and letting the mind wander.

One thing about being in Angoche is I don't think I have ever had such dirty feet in my life and I am sure I still have mud and dirt under my toenails, I don't think I have ever had a shower got dressed and needed a shower again so quickly. I also have never felt so hot and so laid back about so many things either. I am guessing as the weeks move on I will feel different and then as weeks turn into months a lot of this will change and I guess I will go back to normal? I want to keep some of this "special feeling" that is one of the reasons for these blogs.

As long time readers of my blog will know I blogged most days after Matt and Chris's accident, this helped me to deal with everything, the feelings, the anger, the grief. So I am hoping in the future I can look back at these blogs and remember how I felt, remember those amazing things I did, the boat rides, the services, the people I met, the food I ate and most of all how God made me feel. I had some amazing times on this Mission, my last post on the trip will be about the last few days of our trip back to The Mission Centre and Johannesburg. In this post I am trying to reflect on the time I spent in Angoche. One thought I did have was, I wonder if this is the pace of life in Britain a few years ago, before the rat race. Though I doubt even Britain was that slow, everything is at a slow pace for a reason, it's so hot you can't do it any quicker.

I will finish this off by saying; Seeing God working through what Missionary Man and Lady have done has been one of the most amazing times of my life. I have a million memories and it is going to take a lot of time to actually sort through everything, so I guess there maybe another post or two about my feelings and how this mission has affected me, who knows? I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to go on the mission, those that prayed for me and those that bought the CD and those that gave so generously of time, talent and money, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

A little reflection

It is freezing cold and I guess we are at the hight of winter here in sunny Sutton Coldfield.... I was thinking about Mozambique this morning, it is a Parade Service at Church and I decided to stay at home this morning. I thought I could catch up on some reading of the News and do little surfing and maybe even blog a little. I am still quite confused over what I saw, felt and did on the mission trip to Mozambique. I am looking to the future and what I will do next and would really appreciate your prayers, thank you.

So this morning I went through a few photo's from my Mozambique folder, I really need to play in Photoshop and resize and edit them.... one day ...lol

So I thought I would share a few with you.

One of the many Islands off Angoche. Each island looks like it could be from a Bounty advert or a Pirate film or from Robinson Crusoe.

Once on the islands the beauty is just breath taking and the lifestyle simple yet very hard work as it is subsistence living.

The mangroves make up a large part of the islands and coastal areas and are really beautiful.

The main down town area of Angoche is a wonderful place full of life and chatter, though what we in a large town or city call busy and Angoche call busy are two different things.


My favourite of Gods reptiles are the lizard family and I especially love the Gecko they play a really important part of the war against Malaria by being nocturnal and eating mosquitoes by the thousand.


The Gecko doesn't have eyelids!!! they will wash their eyes clean by licking the eyeball with their amazingly long tongue. All bedrooms within an area that suffers from Mosquitoes should have at least 1 big Gecko in it. Though I know at least one girl who would not agree with me.

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......

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.