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March 20, 2008
The Wonderful World of Computers
My laptop computer having died a couple of weeks ago, I have now been told that Evesham, who made my desktop computer, have gone belly-up. It was reported to have gone into liquidation on 4th Jan, and stopped selling PCs from 8th Feb.
Having extolled the benefits of Evesham a few months ago in this post, I now feel a bit silly.
Continue reading "The Wonderful World of Computers"
Holy Island, Northumbria
I've just been away for the weekend to Northumbria and Holy Island, or Lindisfarne. I had a lovely much-needed break, with the sun out, and the sea wind whipping across and blowing away the cobwebs. The scenery was beautiful, and the island fascinating, with the historic castle, church, priory, and lime kilns. I only took a few photos. Here is the castle:
But I also found it moving, especially the stories of Aidan and Cuthbert. In 635AD Aidan came from Iona, and settled on Lindisfarne. There he established a monastery as a missionary base to bring the gospel back to England. He and his trainees learned language, lived simply, devoted themselves to prayer and study, lived and ministered with the poor, and went out sharing the gospel and forming Christian communities.
On the island is the church of St Mary, which houses a copy of the Lindisfarne gospels (the original being in the British Library). The beautifully artistic book is the work of Eadfrith, a monk on Lindisfarne, who died in 721. The oldest part of the church is from before the Norman conquest of 1066, and it is thought that it is built on the original site of the original monastery founded by Aidan.
The remains of the priory, built by Benedictine monks following the 1066 Norman conquest, can still be seen:
There is of course a long tradition of fishing on the island, and the harbour is lined with the upturned hulls of large fishing boats, now turned into work sheds. Many of these boats were once part of one of the large Herring Fleets that sailed off the east coast of England.
And finally, just a few scenic shots of the mainland Northumbrian coast and countryside, and of Bamburgh Castle:
Tags: lindisfarne photos
March 13, 2008
HELP !
My laptop just died.
Fortunately I had backed up all my folders. But I have lost all my email from the last 4 months.
If you have written me recently and have not had an answer, or have sent me a change of address or other important info in the last 4 months, could you re-send it, please....
Thank you!
March 12, 2008
Back to the UK
I am now back in the UK. I will be out of Burkina for four months. I am based at home in Cardiff, but will be travelling a lot, including spending most of the month of May in the USA. I will put my itinerary up here soon. But first I need to get a holiday...
The Last Days
We had a great time with the last few days evangelism. In the villages we went to, people were very welcoming, with hundreds coming to see the Jesus film and hear the preaching of the good news of Christ. At one village, after we had finished, two guys came up and started insulting us and the way of Christ. But they were then told off by the other villagers. Most of the people seemed keen to hear the message of forgiveness and new life in Christ.
Wells, Soccer, School
* Wells. We now have a date for the well drilling. We will be drilling six wells and repairing about 5 in the month of November. These will be in various villages around our region. They will cost about £3500 each, and we are raising funds for that.
* Soccer. Ian from my church came out to talk with Pastor Adama about the idea of doing a "soccer school" - training kids in football, and training church guys as trainers. Soccer is great for building relationships and breaking down barriers. We are planning this camp for Sep 2009.
* School Plans are forging ahead for us to build a primary school in Gorom-Gorom, and so we are raising funds for that too. The school will be run by the church, but open to people from all backgrounds, and will particularly aim to reach the poorer local community. Burkina has one of the lowest literacy and school enrolment rates in the world, so this is key. We hope to have the school built by Oct 2009. But in the meantime, we plan to open it in a rented room in Oct 2008. I will write more on this soon.
De Dub Dub Dub
I have had a young English guy, David, with me for a couple of weeks, and it has been great to have him around. Pierre asked him to teach him to say grace in English, so David playfully tried to teach him "Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub." Pierre found this hilarious, but could only manage "De dub dub dub". So whenever he wanted to ask Dave to pray, he would just say "de dub dub dub", and that now meant " It's your turn to pray!"
March 01, 2008
Heading (to my other) home soon
In about a week I will be on my way back to the UK for a few months.
In the meantime I am off tomorrow to Tasmakat and Chofalboy for a couple of days. These are two villages where we hope to drill wells later this year. For these two days we are going to show the Jesus film and announce the good news of the love of God in Christ. Thanks for your prayers.
Hope to see you soon.
Riots in Ouagadougou
Recent demonstrations in Burkina Faso have developed into riots. Rioters attacked government buildings and set up road blocks with burning tyres in the capital. The problems started in the second city of Bobo-Dioulasso and in Ouahigouya, and spread to the capital, Ouagadougou, on Thursday, the day I left to come back to Gorom.
The riots appear at first glance to be a popular uprising, the spark for which was recent increases in prices. We have all noticed these price rises and the word on the street accuses the new prime minister, Tertus Zongo of being behind them.
Is all as it seems...?
However, while steep price rises have indeed occurred recently, and the government should probably have acted earlier, all may not be as it seems. Zongo has been trying to crack down on corruption, and insisting that import taxes owed to the government – often avoided by “special arrangements”- be properly paid. This is one factor that apparently has been behind the rises.
Taxes on the wealthy are supposed to help the government pay for education and development and decrease dependence upon external aid. However, powerful and wealthy traders who offer bribes to avoid paying heavy taxes are not happy that their scams are being scuppered.
Further, in another town the potential riots were extinguished by careful handling of the main provocateurs, many of whom appear to be people kicked out of previous positions of local political power. Are the genuine needs of people and the gullibility of the press being manipulated by powerful people with their own agenda?
The government has announced a 3-month ban on import taxes on basic staples such as rice, milk, flour and salt, while it looks at the situation and pursues negotiations.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso riots prices tax trade corruption
