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!!!

Book "How to Overcome Problems" published in Pakistan

As Pakistan is ravaged by terrible floods we can report that the book How to Overcome Problems has just been translated and printed into Urdu. We believe that this is a momentous moment in the work in Pakistan as it will bring the encouragement of Gods word down to the level of ordinary people. We also pray this will be the first of many books printed in Urdu which will offer faith building solutions to the people of this troubled area. Our friend Yaqoob will be distributing these books in the local prisons and during trips to deliver physical aid to flood affected areas. Our prayers go with him and we encourage anyone looking for a Christian investment to look no further than this wonderful opportunity to "feed His sheep" in their time of need.

World Cup Plays

Unfortunately due to me having to be hands on in alot of the dramas we dont have so many good pictures of our world cup exploits on the streets and stages of Joburg and Pretoria.

We gathered a group of young people from the age of 12 -18 (many who had never done any drama before) and performed in a wide ranging variety of places.

We performed twice in churches in different locations where they had set up larger screens for the public in township areas. These performances really were a blast! In one church they were already having revival meetings so the people were pretty geed up by the time we performed and the atmosphere just became electric! Explosive and dynamite, are other words that come to mind. Great for the young people to experience the effect of a simple drama done well to music.

(We do mimes to music that I have mostly copied from youtube basically as it requires the least dramatic ability and has an enormous power and effect over the viewing audiences) We then had the pleasure of watching South African games with the local people with all their ups and downs and enthusiastic reactions.

We performed twice on the street leading to the main Pretoria stadium Loftus Park. This on concrete with a little battery power system. It was fun with lots of people passing by on their way to the stadium or just soaking up the atmosphere. What a privilege it was to be in Africa at this time. The boundless optimism of the people is really awe inspiring and puts to shame my British reserve and rather frequent cynicism!

We performed three times at a Fan Fest in New Town (central Joburg) Twice we performed on concrete at the back of the Fan Fest. The highlight was a group of thirty or so high school students who loved the combination of dance and drama that we did at half time. So much so they refused to watch the game when it restarted and begged us to carry on. We were all armed with loads of Gospel tracts and magazines and so everyone took something away with them.

The theme of our message was an appealing one. "Every great team has a great coach. If you want to be great you need a great coach too. Here we have a message for you from your coach, Coach Jesus. He wants you on His team. He will always encourage you and help you to become a world beater and a champion, with the sure knowledge of ultimate victory in the end!" So it was fun to have a relevant message to go along with the football frenzy that also gripped us all.

On the third New Town visit we were booked on the big stage only to be replaced by the Minister of Health doing an Aids initiative. We took it all in our stride and encouraged the young ones to go out of the Fan Fest and distribute masses of tracts etc. We were suitably rewarded on the next visit with an appearance on the big stage and loud sound system, It was grrrreat!!! As we came off the stage, people were obviously really moved. "That was amazing. it was just like a movie!" one chap said. What we were doing really gripped people and that was encouraging.

Finally we did some performances at township venues where there was no stage and no concrete even and sometimes at first no people! We all felt "What are we doing here?". However we hung in there and were rewarded as the crowds showed up and the Lords Spirit moved in the unlikeliest of settings. Praise the Lord!

Our conclusion has been that we have something powerful to offer and that we need to perform a more professional team to reach the high schools in the area..... this is somethign I am very much looking forward to.

We already have a weekly Student Christian Meeting at Diepsloot Highschool and the young people there are such jewels. We look forward to opening up other such meetings at many more local high schools as a follow up to drama and dance performances.

Lets hope and pray we can make the most of this opportunity!

More world cup pictures

The team in Hatfield, Pretoria

Mike with enthusiastic students

Dancers in action

Andy takes out demon.

I get taken out!