Last Pics from Drakensberg

The last day of hiking took us way out of the National Park to Cannibals Cave past several waterfalls. Beautiful winter sunshine meant that noone got burnt, though we did run out of water on this trip.

What was quite interesting was the food that would boost us. We found that cherry tomaotes were incredibly encoragng on the long hike as well as oranges and chocolate and the obligatory sandwiches.

One day we were horrified as we sat down to find our sandwhich bag was missing. How could we have dropped it??!! We sat horrified sharing the few snacks and morcels we had. Eventually we stood up to go and Jad (12) found he had been sitting on them all the time!

The beautiful Drakensberg. This range behind us is called the amphitheatre.

Our final destination. Cannibals Cave actually took us out of the National Park for a couple of hours. We had all settled for looking at the cliffs and seeing any small cranny and saying, "That must be the Cannibals Cave." Only Richard (in the hat) persevered to find this spectatular cave and came back to lead us there

This and more was the inside of the cave.

On the way..this was the section that had been burnt the previous day

Shawn (15) with Jad (12)

All in all it was memorable trip...with over 45 kms covered and no major setbacks injuries or complaints!!

Are you praying Old Testament or New Testament?

I recently heard a series of talks on prayer by a Louis Giglio

His basic point was that generally we pray for four things on a regular basis that really, as Gods children and New Testament Christians, we should realise are not in line with our beliefs. He was suggesting we upgrade or remix our prayers to reflect what we actually believe.

The things were:

1) God bless me/us/the situation/this meeting/ this time/ this journey etc

2) Be with us/Go with us here/there/as we go

3) Protect us from harm

4) Forgive us for our sins

Can you think why these are are not such New Testament prayers?

See below!

1) God bless me/us etc

The point is that through salvation through grace and becoming joint heirs with Christ, God has already blessed us to the nth degree. The promises are in the bank and there to be claimed and received by faith. We dont have to ask for Gods blessing as through Christ he has already blessed us over and above all we could ask and think . How would you feel if you gave something to a child (full blessing) and then they kept asking for it. Frustrated?!

How about instead praying that we can bless Him!

2) Be with me/us...go with me /us

Jesus has already promised to "be with us aways even unto the end of the world." He has already promised to "never leave nor forsake us." If these promsises are to be believed (which they are) the last thing we need to pray for is for God to be with us, as He already is!!!

By leaving these things out and praying for other things we can make our prayers more effective.

3) Protection.... is not necessarily a New Testament given. In fact we are promised that in the world we will have tribulation/ or trouble. Nearly all the apostles came to a sticky end somewhere. If we are always praying for protection and asking for protection and looking for safety and security for oursleves and our families we may be frustrating Gods greater purposes.

(He shared the story of an Australian missionary Graham Staines who was murdered with his two sons outside a home for lepers in rural India in January 2000. He had served in India for 30 years. His wife and remaining daughter publicly forgave the murderers and committed their futures to India. the incident had a major impact on India as a whole and turned into a marvellous testimony and victory for the cause of Christ in India)

I must say I find this one a little tricky as this is something you generally always pray for especially on long journeys and mission trips. I think the point is that these prayers need to be bracketed with the request to glorify Him in whatever ways He sees fit. .....?

4) Forgive me for my sins.

Finally and most simply He already has.! The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. We need to confess our sins but His part of forgiveness is already in the bag!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It is already in the bag . It is done. It is finished.

Interesting concepts, hey?

Punishment no more

Just a little thought .... I went to church recently and enjoyed a little clarification..sometimes bad things happen to people and they can be tempted to wonder.."is that God punshing me? after all i am not perfect and I make lots of mistakes etc" and I would normally say "No, .....I dont ..think so!"

But it was clarified for me that for His children, those who have received His son into their lives, there is no such thing as "punishment" any more.

Punishment looks back in to the past at what you have done; chastening or training looks into the future into what God is making you into.

Because Jesus took our punishment for us, we are no longer under punishment. But we are in training and anything that happens to us is for a purpose and a reason , a part of His love for us and an investment for the future! Nice huh?

"He suffered and endured great pain for us,but we thought his suffering was punishment from God. He was wounded and crushed beacuse of our sins; by taking our punshiment he made us completely well.

All of us were like sheep that had wandered off . We had each gone our own way, but the Lord gave Him the punishment we deserved." Isaiah 53

The Yes Man ( Are you one?)

About a year ago (?) a movie called the Yes Man came out starring Jim Carrey. Quite hilarious really and based on the true story of a young journalist who following a break up with his girlfriend, had made saying "No!" to invitations and opportunities a habit. Until one day, he met a man on a bus who told him " You should say Yes more. People who lack passion are people who say No to things."

It had a big impact on my life as socially I was a bit of a No Man! An offer for tea or a drink would often find me nervously looking at my watch and saying , " So sorry but I think I better get on!"

I decided to become a Yes, Man and say "Yes" as much as possible to all invitations and possiblities!

Since then I have seen the tremendous benefits of being a Yes Man.

It has improved the quality of my life 100 no 1000%. Two recent events lead me to writing this post and coming out of the closet , so to speak, to confess that "Yes, I am a Yes Man!!""

We have a project in Malawi working with a church that has a big emphasis on missions to the rural areas and has planted 26 churches so far. However they lack a central church for meeting and for gathering. All resources have gone into the rural areas. We wanted to build them a church, but it is sooooo expensive to build a big church, (thats what they need) so that despite raising some funds we were ready to give up. Yesterday I went to a church to pick up some donated shoes and we were invited to coffee. (in the past I might have looked nervously at my watch and said, " I think we had better be going.") This time I responded with enthousiasm and we sat for a coffee with a nice lady called Sally. We talked and shared together and she mentioned that theyhad just built a new church. They used to be in a tent she said. "A big tent that could hold 450 -500 people. It is sitting outside right now. Someome had said they would pick it up but they had never come."

I believe that this tent is for the work in Malawi and we will transport it up there.

If I had not said yes to the coffee it would not have happenned.

Secondly the once in a lifetime trip that Natasha is on now is because we refused to say no to an invitation even though it seemed ridiculous for us to get all the way up to Kenya to answer it.
It was absurd to think we could do it but we wrote and said we were interested and would like to come and since saying "Yes" to that the Lord has opened doors, supplied a camper and made it happen.

So Just Say Yes today and watch your life change. God is going to open doors today! He is going to provide oppotunities today to make your life an exctiting ride rather than a dull monotony. Will you sign up for the ride of your life by becoming a YesMan!! or a YesWoman!!

I hope so!!!

First pictures from Natasha

Crossing the Zambezi ..with this monster truck on the fery with us: it needed all sorts of manoevering as at first the ferry could not launch of because of its heavy weight.

The camper coming off the ferry

Entering the border crossing at Kazungula (Zambian border)

The stunning Victoria falls ..this is when the water is at low ebb.

Natasha with Mike and Donna at the Vicoria falls.

This monkey put his hand in the camper window and stole a banana and some almonds.

Bibles for the locals!

Natasha launches out on 9,000km return trip

Please keep Natasha (and me!) in your prayers.

At 5am Saturday September 11th Natasha set out on a 6 week 9,000 km round trip to deliver
Bibles and literature to a rural church in Western Kenya. Since being a young girl growing up in Kenya she has always dreamt of making this trip and the Lord has rewarded her with the desire of her heart. They will be going through Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania on their way to Eldoret, Kenya. Tonight as I write she should have crossed the Zambesi , staying at the the David Linvingstone Safari Campsite between Livingstone and the Victoria falls.

The camper has been running like a dream and it whets the appetite for future mission trips to Zimbabwe, Southern Congo, Angola and Zambia.

(I am Home Alone for 6 weeks. Please pray that nothing will happen at home to spoil Natasha's trip!)

Natasha has said she will try to post pictures and text on her way, Lets hope she can!

Urgent Need in Pakistan

As we know there is such a great need in Pakistan right now and we are priveledged to be co- working with a church there, Missionary Services of Pakistan, to help the flood victims.
Here is Yaqoob in blue shirt with food and clothing donated by his congregation.


Yaqoob on the way to the flood areas

His team distributing food........

Yaqoob handing out food parcels

Yaqoob counselling and praying for young man

Yaqoob distributing newly printed books "Overcoming Obstacles"


Yaqoob encouraging the locals

Distributing newly printed tracts.

We have known Yaqoob for nearly 5 years and have visited him twice in Pakistan. At such a crucial juncture in Pakistans history its a priveledge to be able to bring the blessings of Gods word to such a desperate people.

Further pictures from the Drakensberg

Here are some further pictures from the Drakensberg...2nd day of hiking!

We came across this cave with suspiciously modern cave drawings!

We reach our destination. Amanda (13)poses the question, "What is the point of walking all the way uphere, eating and walking all the way down again." Typical teenager logic!

Siki rests with Darren and Jad at the end of the hike waiting to be picked up by mummy! Sore feet!


On the third day this camera stayed at home. Suki and Gemma relax with Oli and Maries youngest , Charlie. (Charlene)

Our truck. in a few days leaving for a 9,000 km round trip to Nairobi..everyone is so excited..just a few last minute obstacles to over come.

Mum and Gem relax at the camp..so beautiful ! (both the people and the camp!)

Our little team!

The third hike all the way out of the National Park to Cannibals Cave came next and hopefully will have pics soon to share with you.

Sponsored Hike in the Drakensberg

This has been a very odd couple of weeks as we have been working on several different fronts.

1) Natasha has been preparing for a 5-6 week (God willing no longer than that!) to Kenya. This all began in response to an email request that was received at the beginning of the year. Living by the "Yes Man" principle (have you seen the movie and /or read the book?......basically try to say yes to every opportunity!) we didn't want to say we couldn't answer this invitation, so we wrote and said that we would try! Many months passed; we bought our camper, converted it with the help of a fantastic carpenter..and met a couple who also felt the need the answer this call. Now Natasha is 2/3 days away from this trip of a lifetime as she takes thousands of Bibles, books and tracts up through Africa to Eldoret in Western Kenya, stopping off at various places on the way.

2) With the Pakistan flood situation we have been doing everything we can to help our coworker and friend Yaqoob Ilyas as he makes trips into the interior with food and Christian literature. Quite miraculously he had just finalised the printing of an inspirational book, How To Overcome Your Problems, and a series of gospel tracts as the floods struck. God willing I hope to make a trip there at the beginning of November. However for right now we are desperate to raise funds for him and the work he is already doing among the refugees (more pictures following.)

3) We have also been working on a long planned sponsored hike in the Drakensberg Mountains. This was to follow last years successful three peaks climb in the UK that raised money for the printing of Bible study books in Urdu for our work in Lahore, Pakistan. This event was to raise money for a church building in Malawi. In the end our family with Oli and Marie's family combined together for three days of completely arduous and exhausting hiking!!

The combined team! Altogether 5 adults and 11 kids

Day 1 This was our longest hike and I did it alone with the three oldest boys. 17Km of hard climbing. ( our previous plan to do a 21 km hike was scuttled when we learnt it was 1o hours ONE WAY!!, meaning a 18-19hour round trip)

We hiked past Mahai Falls up to Basutho gate , back down via The Crack!

The boys at the Mahai falls

Shawn at Basutho gate with the Amphitheatre in the background.

Shawn prepares to go down The Crack!


The view from the top of The Crack! Scary!!!

Going down a chain ladder on the way down !

Shawn bathing ...mad dogs and Englishmen!

Second day team on the way up a 14 km hike to Devils Hoek......

On our way to the Devils Hoek !

The aptly named "Policemans Helmet".

OK I will post this now but more coming soon..it was stunnng and lots of fun as all the kids had friends along!!!