Christmas

As a church we were out singing carols in Tesco's this morning, trying to bring a bit of the real spirit of Christmas into the slog of buying.  As it wasn't just music we were offering but bags of sweets and booklets I hope we provided a small oasis in the busyness of Christmas Eve.  People were certainly surprised to be told that we weren't collecting money (until our friendly bank employee provided a bucket for the cash which will go to Tearfund). 

One of the songs we sang was written fairly recently, is thought-provoking and has a beautiful melody.  For those who haven't come across Mary, did you know? here are the lyrics.  There are many examples of it being sung on Youtube.  Look it up, it'll haunt you

  Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
  Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
  Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new;
  And the child that you delivered will soon deliver you?


  Mary, did you know that your baby boy would give sight to the blind man?
  Mary, did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand?
  Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod,
  And when you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again,
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb

  Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all Creation?
  Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
  Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb, 
  And the sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM?

                                                               Buddy Greene & Mark Lowry

One of the things I'm enjoying about writing a blog is the opportunity to inflict my thoughts upon anyone who cares to read them.  Here's another of my favourite Christmas verses.  This one is taken from Louis MacNeice's Autumn Journal. 

  There was a star in the East, the magi in their turbans 
        Brought their luxury toys 
  In homage to a child born to capsize their values
        And wreck their equipoise.
  A smell of hay like peace in the dark stable -
       Not peace however but a sword
  To cut the Gordian knot of logical self-interest,
       The fool-proof golden cord;
  For Christ walks in where no philosopher treads
       But armed with more than folly,
  Making the smooth place rough and knocking the heads 
       Of Church and State together.
  In honour of whom we have taken over the pagan
       Saturnalia for our annual treat
  Letting the belly have its say, ignoring
       The spirit while we eat.
  And Conscience still goes crying through the desert
        With sackcloth round his loins:
  A week to Christmas - hark the herald angels
       Beg for copper coins.


That's it, I've got it out of my system for now.  No verses next time.

I hope you all have a very happy Christmas and make space for Jesus in the busyness.

A First

 

I'm sure that during our progress to Nigeria and definitely once we get there that I will be experiencing a lot of things for the first time. Today, if you like, was the first first: I went to a football match!  I'll now give those who know me a minute to get up off the floor.

Admittedly, spending a Saturday afternoon in the middle of a Scottish winter sitting outside (or even inside) watching football would not usually be first on my list of priorities (although James does it each time the team is playing at home) but we were invited as a family by Roy MacGregor, the Ross County Chairman, to meet him there this afternoon.  I'd got in touch with him as one of James' first questions about going to Africa was about the football there.  Afternoons watching Ross County play are one of the things he'll miss most when we leave.  Roy arranged for us to have lunch in the executive lounge, James to tour the dressing rooms and all of us to watch the match as well as being able to fill him in on our plans for Nigeria. As Mission Africa does a lot of outreach work through sport with streetkids Roy's offer of some strips for us to take out was much appreciated.  It's good to know that soon the Nigerians will realise that there is an alternative to Manchester United.

I was impressed by the vision and ethos expressed by the chairman.  Ross County is "more than just a football club"; the work it does encouraging young people and being involved in a positive way in the community throughout the week is just as important as winning games.  It's not a "Christian organisation" as such but with many of the senior figures within it followers of Christ it has great potential to be a force for good in society.  Mission is not just about leaving home and country to live for Jesus overseas, it's about doing God's work wherever he's put you.

My first football match was a time of meeting new people, feeling my feet turn into blocks of ice and experiencing the powerful atmosphere of the crowd.  I think the bravest person on the field is the referee.  Whatever you think of his decisions, it's a courageous man who can withstand the palpable waves of hatred which resonate throughout the ground when a player has to be sent off but this ugliness is countered by the amazingly uplifting emotion of a goal from the home team.  If only people were as passionate for Christ as they are for their football team.

Practising

Today I got in bit of practice in case we ever have to go to rural Nigeria.

All I did was glance out of the window at the hens in the back garden.
A small (actually it was rather large) furry nose was poking out from behind the slide trying to get past the aggrieved poultry in an attempt to steal their food.  IT WAS A RAT!  The hens did a good job keeping it at bay and it was still hiding behind the slide whilst I got on my wellies, picked up the spade and rushed out to do battle, watched from the upstairs window by my male relatives. 
I was all set to inflict GBH on the creature and banged the slide in an attempt to flush it out.  I expected it to shoot out from the side and give me a good shot at it.  I did not expect it to charge at my legs.
I'm afraid I turned rather girly, squealed and jumped back as the rat dashed off towards the neighbour's garden.  Needless to say, Fraser and James were collapsing in gales of laughter as they observed from the safety of the house.  It's a good thing to be able to provide harmless amusement to others.

Now the eglu and hens are up for sale.  (Anyone interested?)  There have probably been rats around for months but I haven't known about it.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss; now I've seen one I can't ignore it.  The hens would have had to go to a new home before we left, they're just having to go a little earlier. 

Another whistlestop tour of Ulster

Things have not stopped moving from the time we were accepted by Mission Africa.  Sometimes it seems as if the 18 months of waiting were the build up before the rocket launch - I just hope it doesn't stall again.  The week after we got back from our interview in Belfast I was thrown into the lions' den of the Dingwall  Free church ladies mission group to take my first meeting.  They were all very nice and if you're going to have problems getting the laptop to speak to the projector it helps if you're only 5 minutes from home and can send out an SOS to your husband to run to sort things out.  After that things went swimmingly.

Last week we flew to Belfast again, having once more deposited the children with our long-suffering friends.  They got to see Cinderella in Inverness, we got to drive in the dark through the snow down the A9 to the Edinburgh airport Travellodge in time for our 5am start the next day. 

There were no interviews awaiting us this time, instead a couple of days of orientation at a lovely centre near Portadown.  It was great to meet two other new Mission Africa couples as well as some old hands who'll be returning to Nigeria in January.  Of course we spent a lot of our time talking about practical matters. Just how much chocolate can you get onto the plane? (apparently Nigerian chocolate just doesn't taste the same) and will the espresso machine work out there? - all vital pieces of information necessary for health and happiness.

On a more serious note, the ethos and expectations of the Mission were discussed.  We'll be going out  to do God's work and serve his people  - love and respect are more important even than chocolate and coffee.  We don't want to let him down or be a hindrance to anyone else in their closer walk with God.  With a good support team, plenty of prayer and an amazing heavenly Father we'll do our best.  Chris, a local minister who came to lead devotions on the Thursday, had great words of reassurance to all of us as we face the rather daunting tasks ahead.  We are God's beloved children.  Before we do anything he loves us completely.  There is nothing we can do to make him love us more.  He desires our company and our love; our deeds are a mere bonus, the outpouring of a love that he first showed us.  It's a good thing to remember when you feel inadequate for the task ahead.

Apart from the fun and fellowship one of the most interesting sessions was led by an ex-RUC special operations officer who still advises investigative journalists and organisations working in insecure areas.  He was there to teach us about security, what to do if you find yourself in a situation you really don't want to be in.  Let's just say that now I know what to do if Fraser drags me off to some dodgy area of Glasgow.  Despite dealing with what to do if you're ambushed and your car is being fired on (get out of the side opposite the direction of fire obviously!) there was no sense of fear or worry.  Bad things do happen to good people doing good things but God is with us throughout.  Be prepared, don't be stupid, avoid trouble if you can, fight back if you have to but even if you're overcome remember that God is still there to give you the strength to cope with anything.

As a backdrop to all this training outside the wind was howling and the rain lashing.  I wasn't particularly disappointed not to be able to go out and practise crawling out of a car under fire but the weather didn't bode well for our flight back to Scotland.  We didn't know that Hurricane Force 1 was battering Edinburgh airport until that was the reason given for the cancellation of our flight.  We couldn't believe that the Forth Road Bridge was actually completely closed - that would add a good few miles onto our journey home, if indeed we could find a route to the north that wasn't blocked by fallen trees.

Thankfully for us the earlier Belfast-Edinburgh flight was still sitting in Edinburgh.  The wind was too strong for anyone to open the hold and get the luggage out.  We got two of the last five seats on that plane and sat there watching as every half hour it was delayed again.  The wretched thing was still stuck in Edinburgh an hour after our cancelled flight had been due to take off.  By this time I was looking forward to an extra night  and dinner in a Belfast hotel paid for by Flybe but it wasn't to be.  Two hours after we should have left, five hours after we arrived in the airport (yes, we did get there rather early, it's starting to feel like our second home in Belfast) we were sitting on the tarmac feeling the plane sway before it was even moving and enjoying the festive atmosphere of relief produced only by those who thought they wouldn't be on a plane at all that night.

Somehow it's reassuring to have a pilot with a sense of humour.  He announced that, "You probably know why we were delayed.  The weather was pretty bad in Edinburgh and to be honest it's not much better now.  Sit back and enjoy the flight as best you can," in a lovely growly Scottish accent.

We had seats at the rear of the plane, all the better for seeing it swing.  I actually enjoyed the exciting takeoff and landing. That's proper flying.  We got back to the car by 11pm, happy to hear that the bidge was open and secure in our ignorance of the major holdups along the A9.  The evidence was there though.  I imagine the road-clearers have rarely been so busy sorting out fallen trees.  They did a great job and we had a very clear journey home without even the snow we'd been more concerned about.  The sight of the house at 2am was very welcome.

Now there's not much lined up before the New Year except school and church Christmas activities.  We'll keep you posted.

An iceberg in Africa

We're sort of up and running now. Got the blog titled (not that easy a process, let me tell you, and subject of many a full and frank discussion!) and active.  Now all I have to do is fill it.

The story so far (for those who haven't heard) ...

In July 2010 we went to the first week of the Keswick Convention.  After the evening mission-focused meeting both Fraser and I felt separately that God was wanting us to go out to serve him in Africa.  We didn't know where and we didn't know doing what but it was a strong call so we started investigating a large Africa-based mission organisation.  There were so many challenging forms to fill in (ask the poor souls who had to fill in references) but we struggled on.  Unfortunately this organisation kept putting barriers in the way:  your children are the wrong ages; it'll be very difficult for us to find somewhere you can both fit in; perhaps you ought to put off going for a few years.  It was rather discouraging but we still felt convinced of God's call to us now, not for a few years' time.  He knows us as a family, he knows how old the children are and if it wasn't the right time for them to go he wouldn't have called us.  In the end we withdrew from the application process for that organisation and wondered what God would do next.

What he did was draw my attention to the Mission Africa website.  There was an appeal for editors to work at Africa Christian Textbooks (ACTS) which would suit me well so I phoned for more information.  When I spoke to Paul Bailie (Chief Executive) I was overjoyed to hear that the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN), next door to ACTS headquarters, was looking for a librarian, Fraser's dream position.  Not only that but there was an excellent international Christian school in Jos, about 12 miles away, where James and Ruth could go - God doesn't do things by halves.

Needless to say, we attacked another set of application forms, put our poor referees through the process again, flew to Belfast for an interview and were accepted to serve with Mission Africa in November 2011.  It seems to have been a long time since the initial call but God's timing is always perfect.  He may not have answered my prayer for "give me patience NOW please" right at the time but I'm sure, with all its exercise, my patience muscle is a bit more developed.

We are hoping to go out to Jos, Nigeria by June 2012.  This'll mean we'll have a few weeks to settle in before the children start the new year at their new school.  Before that we've got to build up our team in the UK.  I have this rather incongruous image of our mission work being like the tip of an iceberg.  I know that icebergs are not the first things to spring to mind when you think about Africa but Fraser, James, Ruth and I are only the tip, we're not the most important part of God's work, only perhaps the most visible.  The majority of the iceberg, the part that gives it stability and allows it to continue to do its icebergy thing is all below the surface.  There's no way that we can go out to Africa to serve God if there are not people serving God in the UK and supporting us through prayer and financial giving.  We need our team and we're very grateful to those of you who have already said that you will support us.  It's the family of God working in partnership together to promote his kingdom, each doing what they can.  It's exciting; it can be daunting if you focus on the mountains that have to be overcome, but it's wonderfully reassuring and humbling to see God work.

There will be more later when I'll tell you about our exciting trip for orientation in Northern Ireland, security training from an ex-RUC Special Operations officer and trying to fly back to Edinburgh in a hurricane.