Simplylife

Zambia 1977 (2)

2009-04-13T19:43:00.000+01:00

I ought to have been very much 'at home' in the small church in Luanshya - indeed I was made most welcome by all; they were very hospitable. Yet, the very fact that this African church was so much like my 'home' UK church troubled me. It so happened that my church were discussing the public role of women (a thorny issue during the 1970's!); as I saw the very gifted missionary lady sidelined by the 'system', I became even more convinced that we had got it all wrong.

Another bone of contention in UK churches (within our 'narrower' group) was the subject of ladies' hair and head covering. I saw immediately that many African women could never grow long hair (as mentioned in 1Cor 11) so the admonition of St Paul had only a limited, cultural application.

Although the church situation caused me to 'think again' about things that were 'cast iron' beliefs in some UK churches, my faith in Christ remained unshaken. I enjoyed the Zambian countryside and wildlife: I was very privileged to see a Cardinal bird, and also a chameleon, and many amazing striped and spotted frogs. I was not so keen to face a small cobra a yard from me in a friend's back garden! I think that my sprint would have at least equalled an Olympic record! I think that the snake was probably just as afraid as I was.

All in all I enjoyed my visit to Zambia, a country with immense potential for agriculture and copper production. I left with the realisation that God had used the visit to stir me up to think again about numerous traditions and beliefs that I had really taken for granted. It was good for me in my Christian pilgrimage.

Zambia 1977

2009-04-04T07:35:00.000+01:00

My very first passport, and my first trip outside of the UK. My employers sent me off to Zambia for a month; what a culture shock for me! We flew in to Lusaka by a large jet, and then by a smaller plane to Ndola, and on by road to Luanshya, where I was to spend one month working at the Baluba Copper Processing Plant. The town was well laid out, with avenues named after exotic plants - I stayed in a villa in 'Jacaranda' road.

The manager of the project turned out to be from the same part of UK as I was, so I had a good welcome. I also discovered that an English family at the church in Luanshya were not only from my birthplace but had been members at my childhood church, and were well-known to me: they were flabbergasted when I turned up on their doorstep! They introduced me to a church in Luanshya that had been founded by missionaries from the same church background as myself. All very cosy, you might say, but I soon found myself asking questions about my own beliefs and understanding of Christianity.

As I was staying for a month I was allocated a roomy villa which I shared with a colleague who returned to UK after about 10 days. To my surprise, I was allocated a 'boy' (older than I was!) to look after my laundry and keep the place tidy. I did feel somewhat uncomfortable about the arrangement - especially when I found out that he lived in a small 2-room hut with his wife and 7 children, whilst I had the sole occupancy of the villa for another three weeks.

I attended the church with my friends and immediately was struck by the way in which we had 'angliicised' the African church. The hymns were in English (16th c variety!) as were the prayers - Africans using 'Thee and Thou' while addressing God. The congregation was approx 80 people, 90% of whom were Zambians. The leadership was all male - and all white. There was one Scottish lady missionary who was probably the most knowledgeable and talented Bible teacher, but she was not allowed to preach in the presence of men! I found myself thinking more about the ways in which we 'do church.' ................ to be continued.

Apologies

2009-02-17T16:53:00.000Z

My apologies for being off-line for the last month or so. This is not because I was asleep, or in prison, or dead, or even in a Mental Hospital! It was 'simply' because of a complete shambles by my ISP who could not have been more unhelpful if they had tried! However, I now have a new ISP, changed e-mail and much faster broadband (I hope).

Bear with me, and I shall soon be blogging again.

Travel Days

2009-01-06T22:58:00.000Z

For more than half of my life, I lived in the UK and never travelled beyond Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. I didn't have a passport until I was 40. My first trip 'abroad' was to Zambia, which was a great culture shock. It was my work in engineering that opened up the world to me (at Company expense, of course). That is not to say that I didn't appreciate my homeland, but I found God teaching me 'new' things that, perhaps, He couldn't get through to me in my 'normal' circumstances. That doesn't mean that He did not speak to me in early life (He certainly did - of which perhaps I'll write more later) It is just that sometimes we need a different perspective on the things that we have always believed, and God has a unique way with each individual.

I found a new word today: 'opsimath' which is 'a person who learns later in life.' That seems to fit me! [Of course, when I was a young man I knew everything, especially about the Bible and Christian teaching, but now I am certain that I am an opsimath!]

So, in my next post, I hope to tell a little of Zambia - and what God taught me there.

WELCOME!

2008-12-12T20:33:00.000Z

This is the very first post on a brand new blog. My aim is to share some of the things I've learned in my life's journey. It is amazing how, as we live out our lives, in very ordinary circumstances, we find that God speaks to us quite unexpectedly. If you look back over the last few days, or weeks, you also may see that there have been times when Jesus has been very real to you. I hope that, as we blog along together, we shall all become much more aware of God's presence. One of my favourite little books is 'The Practice of the Presence of God' by Brother Lawrence, in which he talks, in a very down-to-earth style, of how he found God in everything he did - even in the drudgery of washing dishes and cleaning floors. But, you know, that ought not to surprise us because the Bible reminds us that 'God is near us and in Him we live and move and have our being.' So, in these posts I am concentrating on things that God has taught me in varied ways and in different places from Zambia, to Japan, the Middle East and Europe, as well as here in the U.K.