Archive for June, 2010

World (lack of) Vision

by Hugh on June 28, 2010 in Life, Politics with 3 Comments

During my recent trip to Malawi I had the privilege of visiting the Recapo Orphanage on the outskirts of Lilongwe (on the Salima road). The people there were very friendly, from all ages and backgrounds. I was impressed on two accounts: 1) It wasn’t just a place people got handouts, it was a place for education, training, working and the empowering of vulnerable people. 2) The staff who ran the project had a great vision for expansion and the future work of the Orphanage.

But we saw something pretty shocking too… World Vision has been supporting the project and has provided a sewing machine and a maize mill to allow the orphanage to generate some income. I guess it’s like one of those alternative gifts you can give… how kind.

Unfortunately World Vision is seriously lacking in any long term vision, a Maize Mill requires electricity to run, so you would have thought that World Vision would have also provided a generator, or some solar panels, or connected them to the grid. As it turns out they did none of these things.

It would cost about £4500 to get connected to the grid, but even then, the orphanage cannot afford to pay the electricity bill, the ideal would be some solar panels so that they can have a sustainable electricity supply which doesn’t cost them to run. The orphanage explained that this maize mill had been sitting idle for 2 years.

We have been hoping that some local business leaders may be willing to provide some sponsorship for this project, however it would be nice if World Vision followed through on the half done job and provided whatever means necessary to get this Maize Mill up and running? If you know someone involved in WV, please ask them…

Tactical Weaknesses

by Hugh on June 19, 2010 in Current Affairs with 4 Comments

Well last night was fun wasn’t it? Waste of 90 minutes of my life.

Hey, Fab, here are two changes which would make England play better:

First – take off Heskey, now whatever you think about Heskey as a player, the tactics clearly aren’t working. He doesn’t seem able to link up with Rooney (which is a major problem). But more crucially having Heskey on the picture causes England to play long ball football, not pretty, so far not successful because the gap between forwards and midfield is too great. Even if Heskey can bring the ball down there’s usually little option. The change needed is either to go for a 4-5-1 with say Gerard playing off Rooney, or keep the 4-4-2 but try playing Rooney and Defoe instead.

Second – if you play a 4-4-2 you need some width. Last night Lennon didn’t seem to want to run with the ball, and there was no one down the left. Cole and Johnson, two of the most attacking wing-backs in the world rarely crossed the half-way line in anger. So, everything was aimed through the middle, where Gerard and Lampard under perform. So rather than sticking to Gerard-Lampard-Barry, and sacrificing your width, I would play Wright-Phillips down the right, Lennon down the left and probably Gerard and Lampard in the centre, add Barry into the mix if you play a 4-5-1.

I think these two tactical observations are hardly ground-breaking… Fabio must have seen these, so it’s bizarre that he didn’t address them. I wonder if it is fear… particularly on the width side… where were Cole and Johnson? Why did Lennon not run with the ball? Who was playing left midfield?

Fabio – change it! Maybe this guy was right…

How to make a Chapmans

by Hugh on June 17, 2010 in Life with 3 Comments

One of the little treats in Malawi is a drink they have called Chapmans. It seems to be quite a traditional drink in Southern Africa and it’s very simple to make, it’s also very refreshing!

There’s 3 ingredients:

Sobo Orange (equivilant is Fanta I guess)
Sprite
Aromatic Bitters

So basically you’ve got a fizzy orange – you add about half and half of the Fanta and Sprite.

The key ingredient is this ‘Aromatic Bitters’ pictured right which gives the drink it’s flavour.

I’d be very surprised if you can buy it in your average UK supermarket, but you can certainly get in quite cheap online here.

Best served with a bit of ice and a slice of lemon.

Area 50 Baptist

by Hugh on June 16, 2010 in Faith, Life with No comments

This is Area 50 Baptist Church in Lilongwe, Malawi. Lilongwe is a funny place, it’s the capital city, but there’s no much of a centre, everywhere is really spread out, and Area 50 (they don’t really have proper names – it’s like a city district I guess) has the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere as you head down the dust track to get there.

Last year Bishop Hannington Church helped to pay for the roof (so that the building wouldn’t fall down), it was great to serve there. We ran 3 evening classes on Principles of Exposition, looking at how we can rightly handle the Bible, including stuff on Parables and Old Testament narrative.

We also visited for the women’s meeting, ran a marriage seminar day, and joined them for their Sunday service. For my part I taught on Bible Principles, Genesis 1-2 and preached on James 1. These were all translated into Chichewa, the local language.

My feeling was that the saying that the Christianity is a mile wide, but an inch deep is true. There’s a great passion for the Gospel, and there’s a great desire to be taught the Bible, but listening to some of the elders teach, it’s clear they really need training to help them rightly understand and teach God’s word… great to be able to serve them in that way.

Pregnant or Fat?

by Hugh on June 10, 2010 in Current Affairs with 6 Comments

Have you ever played this game? I have. Few people admit to it, but I think most people do on the inside!

Apparently it’s pretty embarrasing when you get it wrong and you offer your seat to a fat lady on the train, as this report from the BBC Website suggests.

If I do get a seat on the train, which is rare if travelling from New Malden, but common from Portslade, then my trick is to sit with head in hands, sleep or pretend to sleep… that way if someone who may be pregnant joins the train then it’s easy to pretend I haven’t seen them… no awkwardness, no need to move, and I don’t look like an awful man for not giving up my seat – does this make me a bad person?

Why Johnny can’t Preach

by Hugh on June 9, 2010 in Books, Faith with No comments

Whilst sat in a rustic lodge overlooking Lake Malawi I thought, I know, I’ll read a book! Fortunately close to hand was the ‘waiting-to-be-read’ copy of ‘Why Johnny Can’t Preach‘ a short book by T.David Gordon.

Gordon looks unfavourably on the general state of preaching in American churches, I agree with his summary and am sure it is equally applied (as a generalisation) to many churches in the UK also.

He sights two main reasons why Johnny can’t preach. Firstly because Johnny can’t read (texts). Gordon suggests that our culture no longer values literature, to the point where we don’t really know how to read properly. Gordon argues that we should get back to reading classical literature to hone our textual skills, or at the very least put a lot more work into scriptural studies including Greek and Hebrew.

Secondly, Johnny can’t write! Gordon says with the invention of the telephone and the Internet that we’ve lost the art of letter writing, of properly constructing well organised text. He says that this means we preach in a poorly organised way too.

On the whole I agree with Gordon’s assessments. We do live in a culture where reading and writing in the traditional sense are devalued, and this does have a negative impact on the way we read the Bible and come to structure and deliver a sermon.

However, Gordon misses one key step. How then do we preach, into a culture where these things are true. It’s all very well to properly read and understand a Bible passage. It’s all very well to compose a well structured sermon, BUT… this is not what our culture is used to or values… I would say it’s the job of the preacher, as well as to understand the passage, and to construct a sermon well, to also communicate with the audience in a culturally ‘normal’ way. Good book, and good insights, but I think misses a logical conclusion to his argument.

Sam Urban Hymns

by Hugh on June 7, 2010 in Faith, Random with 1 Comment

It’s rare that I see a new blog that compels me to mention it, but this is one.

A blog fundamentally about nothing, yet seemingly covering everything from music, film, politics, comedy, art, advertising, romance, facial hair and much more.

Check out SamUrbanHymns… here’s a teaser…

2010 Christian Web and New Media Awards

by Hugh on June 6, 2010 in Faith, Random with No comments

Check out the New Website for the Christian Web Awards! Entries are now open so why not nominate your site, or another’s to enter the awards. Last year was bigger and better than before… this year’s ceremony on the 15th October promises to raise the bar again as it showcases the best Christian websites in the UK! Hope to be there again!

The Christian New Media Awards were the first ever exclusively Christian award ceremony for bloggers and web designers in the UK. They were established in 2007 by Premier Christian Media to recognise and reward Christian achievements on the internet.

Now in its fourth year, The Christian New Media Awards continue to grow. The awards now feature a new media section, to recognise a wider range of Christian achievements in technology, from iPhone applications to VJ to flash games.

As usual, we’ll be awarding winners with a range of prizes, including £1000 for Best Small Church Website.

Malawi 2010

by Hugh on June 6, 2010 in Faith, Life with 1 Comment

This is the kid that I call 'Chubba' from the town we worked in... I would have quite liked to take him home with me... Madonna style!

So, I’ve been away for a little while.

Been in Malawi. Nice place. Warm Heart of Africa.

We were doing some Bible teaching with a Baptist Church in Lilongwe (coming from an Anglican church – shocking gospel partnership)… and also had a short break by the big lake, and saw some monkeys!

…more reports to follow.