She was sat on a rock in the river, alone, washing some clothes. This Filipina lady had her face looking downward while washing her clothes. It wasn’t a happy face. Though, not entirely sad either. It was like she was contemplating but aware that she...
“He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand— but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.” ~ Genesis 40:21-22 Miguel made a point last night at...
“Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” Matthew 24:28 NIV Yesterday, our pastor spoke in our church meeting about replacing worry with trust. You can find the notes here. Such a message will only grow in its importance and poignance over the coming months...
“We have been speaking with the site team at The Portsmouth Academy about the fire drill and have made the decision to postpone it again(!) due to the wet weather and soggy/muddy field (which is the main muster point for those evacuating the building). We'll...
"Do you know what that means for all of you?" "We've failed?" "Yes. We will be failing all of you from the weekend." Twenty five years on I can still remember my eleven year old heart dropping on hearing these words while sat in the dated, bare white-washed...
"He is better dressed than me in his stealth lycra", "he has bigger calfs", "he probably has more experience", "maybe his ride is just starting", "he had the benefit of me being a target". This sequence of thoughts flooded in immediately after I was overtaken by...
To imagine a life with more. More time, more meaningful relationships, more contribution, and growth, and contentment. A life of passion, unencumbered by the trappings of the chaotic world around you. What you're imagining is an intentional life. Not a perfect life. Not even an...
All that remained was a lone man in his hi-vis 'coverall', litter picker in hand, stood amongst hundreds of small pieces of colourful paper. Picking them up one-by-one, this looked like a job that would never be completed. There is something striking about the aftermath of a...
"WHAT IS THIS?!?!" I heard a determined cyclist express these words angrily on the Southsea seafront cycle lane on bank holiday Monday as he approached a dad standing with his two boys and a dog across both lanes. Moments before, the cyclist had already encountered another man...
She nervously and very slowly moved one knee up until her foot was touching the board. She then lifted the other leg, and then her whole body, before her head followed and also lifted up. With the sound of the park runners being encouraged across...
Fantastic and Frantic, Heartened and Humbled SEVEN years ago today I was making my way to Gatwick Airport for a trip of a lifetime. Heading down the home straight of my 20s, I was eager to get through the security line to start an adventure -- a...
They didn’t find me arguing with anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogue, or anywhere in the city. Acts 24:12 In a noisy world, making a noise is not going to cut it. It is such a...
Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself. On...
FIFTEEN people already had their go. Each took a swing at the big yellow ball with the tennis racket, launching it into the crowd of young sports stars of the future, running off to the white cone and trying to get back before Coach Ben...
The Lord spoke to Moses: “Send men to scout out the land of Canaan I am giving to the Israelites…” Numbers 13:1. This command came shortly after the Lord had allowed Moses’ sister Miriam to suffer a skin disease having spoken out against the instructions that...
Reclined at the table, sharing bread and wine with his disciples, Jesus knew what was about to take place. He also knew that one of the familiar faces at this intimate dinner – faces belonging to men once considered as outcasts, deadbeats, and general failures at...
I’m fighting in writing this poem right now, As a battle in heaven proceeds, In the early hours as I turn in my bed, I turn to the word for my needs. On my knees. I ask for help from above, As the struggle’s too deep to perceive, This quandary I have, In...
Here it is. One word. Making everything to date now part of chapters passed, with an Epiphany; a moment of sudden and great realisation, as light affliction gives way to glory that will forever last. How have we got to the edge? One instruction at a time, Moving where the cloud goes...
This is my Bible. I took it to Milford on Sea. Why? Because time at God’s feet, learning about David against Goliath, Led the next day to my own victory. This is my Bible, Given by my American housemate Moses, in Lesotho, 2014, As I stepped into a church in a cinema...
A knot that's not a knot, But a cord that can't easily be broken, As you begin to show us what's what, Through your word that's softly spoken. Benign. Kind and gentle. Our King, Lord - this is mental. By mental, I mean renewed, When the log in our eyes, Really does start...
Roses are red, violets are blue, But do we ever stop to smell them? Do we ever stop to just tell them we admire where they're at? Standing tall as God made them, in the garden, Those lilies in the field, how they grow just like that, Without work or...
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being...
"I think it's time to set a standard". You said. As I sat on the steps at the end of a Sunday morning. It was your mind that I hoped could be read, while your mouth was in motion, about how through our serving we might...
Here is a simple thought; You gave to me. If Jesus, just before the point of death, Suddenly jumped down off the cross, Cleared off the scars and blood, And was healed from head to toe; It would have been unbelievable. But we could have written it. He died. Was wrapped up. Placed in a tomb....
Set up road signs, put up guide posts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, Virgin Israel, return to your towns. How long will you wonder, unfaithful daughter Israel? The Lord will create a new thing on earth - the woman will...
I made it. It wasn’t as if I was wondering around the blizzardy east coast of America determined to find a suitable ‘Love Actually’ quote to dedicate my final blog post with. But that Prime Minister’s (Hugh Grant) opening quote at Heathrow airport arrivals, and the...
“Two hundred”. Now in very unfamiliar surroundings, the only non-Chinese looking person in sight and with no clear register of how safe I should be feeling, I was relatively confident that this official looking underground taxi rank in the station – complete with security guard...
On the sleeper train just past Shaoguan on Guangdong’s northern border; I’ve started this blog post six hours into the day-long journey to Beijing. Having left punctually from Hung Hom station, Hong Kong, at 15:15, we should be a quarter way into the journey now...
A strange, unexpected combination of Christmas tunes, Lily Allen and - the strangely frequently present in my travels - Corinne Bailey-Rae fill the airwaves as I pass the time in one of Moscow's three airports. I decided to play it safe and not fill my...
There I was, in the exact same position where Chris treated me to my first No.7 experience 16 weeks earlier. I could not have predicted the journey ahead for those 112 days between my first delicious taste of the spinach and feta cheese tart starter...
I was there for 2.5 hours before Livho, George, Rasta and Stume broke through the office door. No one was aware I was locked in for the first 2 hours. I didn't want to cause a fuss.~ The Life of Mohau ~ ...
I wish I was here just out of curiosity because Mandela mentions it in his book. If only it was that simple and fancy free. Even just a little treat to end a challenging week. Unfortunately there's more to it. Brooklyn Guesthouse. For about £30 it's...
There were enough reasons to feel awkward. I am for women, but I am not a woman. I might be grasping the very basics of Sesotho but I wasn’t ready for 3 hours of it. I was from a ‘well-educated’, greatly privileged background, less so one...
£33,000 raised towards Kick4Life FC’s work. 300 school children provided with access to HIV curriculum activities. These were some of the headline statistics read out by Co-Founder Steve Fleming in his final debrief to the group of 10 UK ‘All-Stars’ who had just experienced what,...
"Kick4Life are providing the pathway to follow. For example, if they tell me to not drink the beer and then I go away and am drinking the beer and someone ask me 'why are you drinking the beer?' and I say sorry, who is in...
September the first. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time being my first of a 3 month volunteer contract with Kick4Life (K4L). I'll be helping with the K4L hotel and No.7 restaurant come October and in the mean time will be...
Ever since the decision was made to talk to my boss about the possibility of travelling, life has taken quite an exciting, unpredictable and humbling direction. I guess that's exactly what I was looking for. Squeezing the last remaining items in to what will be...