Travelling...

Animals can be uncannily clever at times. Just like my dogs in Cape Town, my cats here in Spain seem to have a sixth sense that warns them a trip is coming up. They snuggle a bit more than usual, and they hover around my suitcase when it appears - even climbing inside it if they get the opportunity. Anyway, I'll be in Scotland for the next nineteen days, so Gabriela will be looking after Tamba, Teddi and Tobi while I'm gone. I hope to meet up with some of you when I'm in Falkirk, Bathgate and Paisley this October.

Seasons... and ligaments

The seasons are changing and summer seems to be drawing to a close here in the south of Spain. The leaves on the trees are beginning to change colour and be carried off by the winds; we're now able to sleep under the sheets and not on top of them like we did in the intense heat of August; there are fewer people congregating at the ice cream parlours in the late evening hours; people are enjoying their last few dips of the year in their swimming pools; children and teenagers are back at school again, and we've moved our Sunday church service from 7 pm to its winter slot of 6 pm. Later this week, I'll notice the change of weather even more, as I'll be flying to Scotland for several days of meetings with YWAM's Western Europe leadership team (WELT.) Interestingly, the week of meetings is being held at Stanely House in Paisley - the property where I led the Child and Youth Ministry training course (PCYM) for several years in the 1990s.

I was reading in my Bible this morning that the church is compared to a human body, with Jesus as the head. Colossians 2: 19 says that God will make the whole body grow strong when it keeps in touch with its Head and is strongly supported and held together by its ligaments. I've been thinking about what "ligaments" could represent in the life of a church or group of Christian believers. What are the things that link and join us together in this strong way? Our worship, our shared belief in God's Word, our partnership in extending His kingdom where He has placed us, our love and commitment towards each other...?

I've had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the importance of ligaments this summer, and to experience first hand the effects of torn or weak ligaments. In August I tore a ligament in my left thumb and had to have my hand in a splint for five or six weeks. Have you any idea just how many things are difficult to do when you have only one thumb?! Then, just as the thumb was back to normal, I twisted my ankle on an uneven stair. After hobbling around on it for three weeks and not seeing much change in the level of pain, I began to fear that maybe I'd been walking around on a fracture, and decided I'd better have it checked. As the doctor looked at my x-rays, he told me that the pain wasn't from the hairline fracture, but was from the ligament/tendon which had "calcifications" and wasn't healing as quickly as it should. So now, after having my hand immobilised last month, I'm suitably embarrassed to end up with my foot immobilised this month.

If you look up the word "ligament" in a dictionary, you'll find its primary meaning of a band of fibrous tissue that connects bones or supports organs... but you'll also find a secondary meaning of "any connection or unifying bond." Let's look after our relationships in the Body of Christ, so that our unifying bonds do their job of holding the body together and testifying to the love of God.

The rain in Spain..

After such a long hot summer, it was rather a surprise to have a full day of torrential rainfall and flooding yesterday. In fact, the rain was so heavy that I had no electricity for five or six hours. I'm house sitting this weekend, and so I found myself reassuring a somewhat nervous border collie who really didn't like the thunder and lightning at all.

In complete contrast, today dawned bright and sunny again. From where I'm staying, at Villa Rehoboth, I could see the town of Alhaurin spread out before me, with a clear view all the way to the airport and even to the sea. I'll be staying here at the new villa for a few days while my friends are in England.

Back home again

Yesterday, I was up at the crack of dawn (actually before the crack of dawn, to be more exact) so that I could be at Geneva airport in time for my early morning flight back to Málaga. Now I'll be in Spain for a few more weeks before heading to the UK for another leadership team meeting in October. Spanish school holidays are over and the kids went back to school this week; so I'll be resuming English lessons with Gabriela, who's now in her final year of primary school, as well as teaching French again in a couple of different settings.

I'm pleased to report that my hand is finally doing much better and the thumb is slowly gaining strength again. The first joint is still a little sensitive, but I think it's getting better all the time now, and it didn't prevent me from typing all the notes I needed to take at the university meetings last week.

Looking to the future... and the past

I've mentioned before that the training schools I work with - like the Leadership Development Course (LDC) or the Principles in Child and Youth Ministry Course (PCYM) are accredited with the University of the Nations, an international Christian University founded towards the end of the 1970s. As the U of N movesfurther into its fourth decade, a group of us have been meeting in Switzerland this week for a "think tank" time of considering new developments and possible new degree tracks for the future. It's also been a stimulating time of hearing from the Lord and praying into different areas that He drew our attention to during the week.

Meanwhile, the U of N's parent organisation, Youth with a Mission, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and we're looking back with thankfulness on half a century of God's faithfulness to us in our mission endeavours around the world. If you're not familiar with YWAM, you might find it interesting to read the article in this month's Charisma magazine (see here for the online version.) Although written by a journalist rather than by a YWAMer, it gives quite a good overview of things that we've been involved in over the past five decades (or three decades, in my case.)

Airport Alterations

Today I flew from Malaga for the first time since they opened the new airport in March; I couldn't believe how different it was, and how big. Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if a team of airport renovators are following me around wherever I go. When I first lived in Vienna, a few decades ago, the airport there was rather small, but it was greatly expanded by the time I left. Then I moved to Glasgow for a few years and, before I knew it, they had started a big expansion of the airport there too.

My next stop was Cape Town, where the little airport - back in the early 1990s - hardly deserved the title of "international." But by the time I left South Africa, Cape Town airport was rather an impressive place that had won some awards for being the "best airport on the African continent." And now Malaga, too! If the airport in your city needs a facelift, just let me know and I'd be glad to help out by moving to your part of the world for a year or two. (Only joking; Malaga's my home airport for the time being.)

Anyway, my destination today was Geneva airport in Switzerland, and now I'm in the little village of Burtigny, where a group of around 60 people will be gathering this week for a "think tank" concerning the future ministry of the University of the Nations. I'm staying in a quaint, really old Swiss house (on the left above) and it's been fun to re-connect with some friends that I know from different parts of the world. At the moment, we're still busy with the preparations, and the conference itself begins tomorrow evening. Thanks for your prayers.

Off to Switzerland

I've been doing my hand exercises diligently, and I'm pleased to report that I've already gained almost total mobility again with my injured thumb. It still has no strength, though (no pinch: I can't grasp things or pick them up) and the joint is still incredibly painful - though I'm not sure whether the pain is still from the injury or whether it's just an increase in the arthritic problems I was already experiencing in that thumb, even before the accident.

But I'm off to Switzerland this weekend - to the University of the Nations campus in the little town of Burtigny - and I'm trusting that my hand won't be a hindrance to things that I need to do during this "think tank" week for the University. I'll be in Switzerland for eight days before returning to Spain again.