Archive for July, 2010

Trip to Bristol

by Hugh on July 22, 2010 in Life with 6 Comments

A little while ago me and some other chaps popped over to Bristol for a weekend, don’t really know why.

Anyway, not a lot of note happened, but we did visit two very different churches which were well worth a visit…

In Bristol centre we visited Wesley’s Chapel, the oldest Methodist Chapel in the world! We had a look around, saw his study, stood in his pulpit, all in all it was a good experience to see a bit of gospel-ministry history.

We also went to a somewhat different church on the Sunday morning. Not in an old chapel, but in a school. We visited Grace Church Bristol one of a number of Sovereign Grace churches planted in the South-West/Wales.

 

We received a warm welcome and met with a guy who I remember from CU Leaders training, there was good coffee and a relaxed atmosphere. We moved in to the main meeting room and sang some songs… I was particularly pleased to have sung the song ‘All I have is Christ’, a song from the Looked Upon album which I love – possibly to be played during the signing of the registers!

Nathan Smith, one of the Pastors was preaching through Ephesians (which was good stuff). It was a church where I, as a conservative Anglican felt comfortable and at home. There weren’t any uninterpreted tongues (or interpreted for that matter) and the prophecies which were given weren’t about how the church is going to see revival but clear and simple encouragements for the believers there, which all goes against some experiences and stereotypes of charismatic churches… a gentle and sensitive display of a more charismatic practise. If you’re in Bristol do go and pay them a visit…

Unreported Africa

by Hugh on July 21, 2010 in Current Affairs, Life, Politics with No comments

Something else I meant to say following the trip out to Malawi was to note, with some concern, the role that China is playing in the development of Africa.

The first time I noticed this was at Addis Ababa airport where a large group of Chinese engineers (they had hard hats) was waiting to board a flight to another part of Africa (possibly Nigeria). This disturbed me, mainly because one of them spat on the marble floor of the airport – disgusting! I found a story in the New York Times reporting on China’s resource exploration of Chad, maybe they were on their way there…

The second time I noticed this was on the way in to the centre of Lilongwe. The Peoples Republic of China are building a new parliament building for Malawi, at a cost of around 2 Billion Kwacha (about £40 million). Now there are a number of questions that surround that…

Why did they need a new building? Couldn’t that money have been better spent? What are China hoping to gain from this? All valid questions, with the third question being most puzzling and concerning as China position themselves to have a potentially unhealthy influence in African politics.

There is another dimension to this story. This project is not providing massive employment for the Malawian people because the construction workers are Chinese, often Chinese convicts released from prison to work in Malawi, and with Chinese convicts bored in Malawi there have been reports of crimes including rape having been committed by them.

Is this a Chinese takeover? A solution to their overpopulation? A global search for natural resources? Whatever it is it strikes me as a development that needs to be watched with care…