Where in the world am I?

Yes, for the next two weeks I'll be in Senegal, West Africa. Internet access may be limited but, whenever I can, I'll post updates on my Africa blog: click here

Soon on the move...

Journals for outreach...

Writing, printing and assembling 100 booklets (in three different languages) brings a great sense of achievement when the task is finally completed. Just when I thought my job was already done (writing devotional booklets in English and French for the team members of our Planting Together outreaches) I got news last weekend that two new people had joined our Spanish team - and that, not speaking English or French fluently, these two young women would need the outreach journals available in Spanish. A friend was able to help me with the translation, and I managed to complete the Spanish journals today. The booklets have been printed now, and I spent the early part of this evening stapling them together.

These "quiet time journals" give team members three weeks' worth of devotional material, to help them spend personal time with God every day, and grow in their relationship with Him while they are serving practically in West Africa.

Now that the booklets are finished, I can turn my attention to preparing the teachings that I'll be giving during the orientation camp in Thies, Senegal. Thanks for your prayers during this week of preparation. I leave for Senegal one week from today.

Senegal, yes! Sunshine, no!

It's that time of year again. Following the success of last year's "Planting Together" outreaches in West Africa, teams will soon be heading to Senegal again for this year's initiative.

An accident earlier this year dealt a blow to my own plans for returning to West Africa this summer. Battling a bout of pneumonia in March, I was inhaling to clear my sinuses when a lump of vapour rub "exploded," showering my face with hot vaseline and boiling water… and leaving me with third degree burns down one side of my face. Four months later, the injury seems to be healing well, but doctors have told me that it will take a while for all the layers of skin to grow back, and that the new skin has no melanin in the meantime.  This means that, if my cheek is exposed to sunshine, it will turn brown and stay that way. I've been told to keep my face out of the sun this year - at least until Christmas time. That might be easy to do if you live in the winter half of the world, but it's not so easy if you live in Spain and are planning a trip to Africa. It looked for a while as if I might need to cancel my involvement in "Planting Together" this year.

However, to cut a long story short, I've been able to buy (all the way from China) a rather interesting hat that covers the burned part of my face. I have to confess that it makes me look rather like an extra territorial, or a character from a Star Wars movie, but at least it allows me to spend a little while outdoors when the weather is sunny. 

In the end, I've decided to go to Senegal for just two weeks this year, instead of for the whole month that was originally planned. I'll fly down to Dakar on  29th July, work for ten days on the final preparations for the camp, be there to welcome the outreach teams in the second week of August, be part of the "Gather and Go" orientation camp, and then return to Spain in mid-August.  The difficulty of protecting my face from the sun while out planting trees, and the fact that my strange and ostentatious  headgear would make it challenging for me to have meaningful conversations with African villagers made me decide that it probably wasn't practical for me to stay in Senegal for the planting and outreach weeks of the project. It's disappointing, but it seemed like the wisest decision under the circumstances.

I'm nonetheless thankful that I can fly down to West Africa in just twelve days' time, and be there at least for part of the "Planting Together" adventure. This year we have outreach teams coming from Spain, England and Hong Kong, as well as from Mali and Senegal. There are slightly fewer foreigners this year, and so the percentage of Africans will be even higher than it was last year. Thank you for standing with us in prayer, as the countdown begins and all these young people - African, European, South American and Asian - prepare to serve God and to serve the African continent together.

From Malaga to the nations….

They were Koreans and Filipinos, New Zealanders and Australians, French, Swiss, Norwegian, Spanish and American…. and they work in places as diverse as Cambodia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Senegal and Spain. Why would such a diverse group of people come together for a one-week seminar in Málaga?

The answer is that they were attending our second "preschool in a suitcase" workshop, which is designed to equip teachers to pioneer biblically based preschools in developing nations. It was a joy to work with this highly motivated group of people and to know that their investment will make a difference in the lives of many children in many nations over the coming years.

It was particularly encouraging for me to meet Og Sun, a Korean lady who attended a PCYM (child and youth ministry school) that I led in Paisley, Scotland, during the 1990s. She served as a missionary in Jordan for many years and is now working with a new team in Egypt. What a joy to meet someone that you had the privilege of training nearly twenty years ago, and to see that this person's life and faithfulness are still bearing such good fruit.

Although my background is in education, preschool has not been my main area of experience, and so I was serving only part time in the workshop. One afternoon, I taught about the four pillars of our preschool curriculum:

1. Knowing God as Creator
2. Knowing God as Father
3. Knowing Jesus, who is "God with us" 
4. and Knowing the Bible, the written Word of God

These four pillars that form the foundation of our work with preschoolers actually allow them, at a very young age, to begin forming a biblically Christian worldview that equips them to answer the most fundamental questions of life - things like:

1. Who am I and where did I come from?
2. What is valuable and important in life?
3. Where am I going and what hope do I have for the future?
4. and How can I know what is right and wrong, truth or lies?

This important area of worldview is one that I often teach and work on with pre-teens, as it forms such a foundation of security for entering the teenage years and growing into adulthood. I believe personally that the pre-school years (3- 5 year olds) and the pre-teen years (10 - 12 year olds) are two of the most important times of lives, in terms of receiving good input and forming a strong foundation for our lives. So I was glad to be able to teach on this area as we considered the sort of curriculum and themes that are appropriate for preschools built on Biblical values.

When I haven't been working with seminars or workshops at the retreat centre, I've been preparing for my upcoming trip to Senegal, and enjoying some holiday time with my parents who are visiting from Scotland. This week's programme has included trips along the coast to Benalmádena and Fuengirola, as well as a trip inland to  Coín (where we killed two birds with one stone - doing some shopping in the town while my car was at the mechanic for its annual service.) Tomorrow we're heading back along the coast to visit Marbella's old town and marina.

First things first

I’ve been reading in the Biblical book of 2nd Chronicles about the huge amount of wealth and effort that King Solomon invested in building a beautiful temple and royal palace, and equipping them with treasures made of solid gold. Sadly, it seems that those wonderful treasures were only there for 50 years or so. Early in the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, they were carried off by King Shishak of Egypt. Rehoboam had brought judgement on himself and his people by failing to build his life on a right foundation. 2 Chronicles 12 vs 14 says that he did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.

It’s not enough for us to be one of God’s people, simply because of a past decision to trust in Him for salvation. We also need to get our basic foundation, our attitude of heart right, or it will be very easy for us to slip into pursuing things that are wrong for us. Rehoboam already had a shaky foundation because his father had married foreign wives and his mother had been an Ammonite who worshipped false gods. But Rehoboam didn’t need to be determined by that; he could have made a personal choice to set his heart on seeking and obeying God, and that would have made all the difference.

In fact, we see in this chapter that even a small change in heart attitude can make a really big difference. Shishak was set on completely destroying Jerusalem, and God told the people that they had brought this upon themselves by abandoning the only true God. When the king and leaders heard this, they didn’t try to defend themselves or protest their innocence; they simply humbled themselves and acknowledged that God’s judgement was just.

Humility is a key that allows God to act on our behalf, even when we don’t deserve it. When God witnessed the humble heart attitude of the people, He moved in mercy and delivered them from the Egyptians. (See vs 5 - 7.) Lord, may I always respond with a humble heart to the situations and circumstances of my life.

However, sin still brought some consequences: although the people were not destroyed by Shishak, they still became “subject to him.” God allowed this (vs 8) so that they could learn the difference between serving the one true God and serving the rulers of other lands. 

The sad symbol of this settling for second best is that Rehoboam had bronze shields made  (vs 10 - 11) to replace the gold ones that had been carried off to Egypt. Those bronze shields were guarded diligently, just as people today might strive to protect something they cling to, but which is really only a second best. Many believers today are serving and “subject to” other things - things like prosperity, popularity, personal comfort or whatever - and they protect those things zealously... perhaps not even realising that those are only "bronze shields" and that they’ve allowed God’s best to be taken away from them.

What’s the key to living with God’s fullness of life and not with a second-best experience? We need to put first things first and set our hearts from the beginning on seeking and obeying the Lord. 

What have you set your heart on, more than anything else?

Summer in Spain

We're almost half way through July, and my parents are more than half way through their summer holiday here in Spain. We've been into the city of Malaga a couple of times and also visited different towns and parks along the coast. When I'm not being "tour guide" for my parents, I've been working with some of the summer training weeks that we hold at the leadership retreat centre; last week we had a seminar for missionary leaders, and this week we've just begun a workshop for people who want to pioneer Christian preschools in developing nations.

I'm also pleased to report that today I managed to get my visa for Senegal. I'll be flying down to West Africa on the 29th of July to prepare for this year's youth camp and Planting Together outreaches. Thanks for your prayers.