Ba da ba ba bah . . . .

I’m lovin’ it!! We finally have wireless internet access!! At our house, ha, you’ve got to be joking me. The local McDonald’s now has free wireless internet and it’s been a lifesaver. So, you should all take back every negative thing you’ve ever said about McDonald’s. We are 9 days down on our waiting of up to 15 working business days for the internet to begin working at our house.

All the locals here know about our struggle to get internet access in our house. They love taking the mickey out of us because our group from arguably the most powerful country in the world has been unsuccessful for 5 weeks running to get internet access in our house. In Africa they have a saying “T.I.A.” meaning “this is Africa.” We’ve adopted that saying here in England saying “T.I.E.,” “this is England.”

Seriously though, it is nice to have wireless access because our FYM’s and staff for that matter are finally able to connect with friends and family on Skype, Facebook, Myspace etc. because those services aren’t available on public computer. It’s currently 7:12 in the morning and I’m here at McDonald’s with one of my participants. It’s so cool to hear the joy and life in his voice as he sees (gotta love web cams!) his family and friends for the first time in almost 2 months. God is good.

As many of you know, God has placed it on my heart to spend some time in Africa at some point. I believe God has confirmed that in my heart and has just told me to wait for his timing. It’s something I’ve been praying about and I believe God is beginning to tune my heart to Africa. So, if you would, please pray that God would speak to me and clearly reveal if he is leading me to Africa when my time here in England comes to a close this summer.

When I told a good friend of mine here Dave that I think God might be leading me to Africa, he told me that I couldn’t go to Africa without learning about African theology. He pulled out a stack of books and said that he’d “let” me go to Africa once I had read the stack of books and could convince him I was ready. So, I’ve been reading the first of the five books he pulled out called “Black and Reformed” by Allan Boesak.

Two of my favourite statements from the book thus far are:

True freedom never consists in fleeing form the world and its problems, in acting as if the only concern of the Christian were “heaven.” . . . . True freedom is not the art of mere survival. . . . The truly free are those who realize that God is the basis and the guarantee of their freedom. They therefore regard every curtailment of freedom as rebellion against God. . . . They know, also, that freedom, as is true of justice and love, is not a passive state and status. It, rather, is a movement, an action. God liberates persons, as was said above, so that they can enact and embody justice. Allan Boesak “Black and Reformed” p 9-10

True love and justice, as I have said, enable persons to realize the full potential of their humanity. In this situation a person can be an authentic person. Humanity is extremely important; it is not a general and empty concept that can be given any content one desires. Humanity is an important concept: it functions in the context of God’s activity among us. At the center of this activity of God is the Christ-event. Allan Boesak “Black and Reformed” p 10

I think these excerpts from this book capture the essence of the struggle not only in Africa, but all around the world. I believe these statements are rooted in my favourite passage from Scripture at the moment that I am daily challenged to live by:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that the captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come” (Luke 4:18-19 NLT).

Something else that has been such a blessing in my life is my prayer partnership with my good friend at the Gainesville AIM office, Don Rock. Don is the director of the Ambassador program for AIM. Back in September we agreed to daily pray very specifically for each other and then catch up once a week on the phone to share what God is doing and pray together over the phone.

While life has gotten in the way a once or twice and we haven’t been able to catch up, it’s been such a rich and rewarding experience for me. We talked on Wednesday and it was ace to share both joys and struggles. I think the thing I appreciate about my friendship with Don the most is I believe we are very honest and real together. There’s really not any fluff and sugar coating anything. We tell each other how it is and celebrate the joy and pain of life together. I thank God every day for Don, of course, in the manliest way possible.

Please be in prayer for me this weekend as our team will be away on a retreat in Wales. Here in Manchester there is a core group of “young” adults ranging from 16-40. In many ways, the hope of the church depends on the life and growth of this group. This group is assembled from all over Manchester but meets regularly at the Manchester Cathedral, which is the main church in the Manchester Diocese. Our team’s purpose in going on this retreat is to invest in and encourage this group of young believers that in many ways are the last hope for the Church of England. I’ll be leading worship at the four sessions this weekend so please pray for me as well.

Well, that’s about the latest here. Stay tuned to my blog for a major update about a special someone in my life . . . .

I close with a challenge and a bit of wisdom from a Starbucks cup:

You can’t lead the people, if you don’t love the people. You can’t save the people, if you don’t serve the people. -Cornel West. University professor, Princeton