All posts in Life

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…

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.

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.

Pretty Excited�

by Hugh on February 26, 2010 in Life with 5 Comments

Booked a honeymoon this week… amongst other places will be going here…

Pretty excited… so, anyone out there knows from this picture where we’ll be going…?

2 New Blogs

by Hugh on January 22, 2010 in Faith, Life, Random with 1 Comment

You should definitely check out two new bloggers who would be fun to read. They may be medical students, but contrary to the stereotype they’re actually quite interesting.

Also, both Northerners, which causes amusement for me when they read the Bible. They love Jesus and as you can see love swimming…

Check out Liz and Laura…

Engaged

by Hugh on January 3, 2010 in Life with 3 Comments

The Happy Couple

Happy New Year!

Good news… HughBo is Engaged to Miss Ali Payne!

Ali is a primary school teacher and a bit of a loud mouth. Her friends call her ‘Tosh’ a nickname derived from an alleged likeness to DI Tosh from The Bill.

Ali's Fat Engagement Ring... donations welcome

HughBo was pretty smooth if I do say so myself… a trip to see the Lion King (borrowed some old theatre vouchers), a 3-course dinner at a classy Pizza Express (£10 off courtesy of Tesco), New Year Fireworks (free), a bit of snow (free) and an engagement ring (£10 off from a Christmas present Post Office voucher).

Just shows that I’m still a romantic at heart…. “Will you make my decade?…”

She said YES… bonus.

Save the date: Saturday 31st July 2010

Ps. I still maintain all weddings are the same

Cornhill Lunchtime Excursions (part 3)

by Hugh on December 2, 2009 in Life with No comments

Ok, one more week of the first Cornhill term… and 3 more sights I’ve been to, there can’t be that many left within a 20 minute walk… They’re not really sights, but I also found a Frenchman selling giant meringues and an outdoor BBQ that made really good hot dogs by Southwark Cathedral.

Sir Francis Drake's, Golden Hind

St. Helen's Bishopgate, and the Gherkin

Monument to Great Fire of London

Cornhill Lunchtime Excursions (part 2)

by Hugh on November 12, 2009 in Life with No comments

Bit of a longer walk this week, made it down towards the South Bank where I found a few little tourist sites… can you believe they charge £11 to get in St. Paul’s Cathedral!!

St Paul's Cathedral

Tate Modern

Globe Theatre

Cornhill Lunchtime Excursions (part 1)

by Hugh on November 3, 2009 in Life with No comments

While at Cornhill (a Bible college that I go to, just near London Bridge Station on Borough High Street) I like to chill out in my lunch break and often go for a walk… here’s 3 interesting places that I’ve been so far this term, all a short walk away: