We Do Adventure

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" goes the old saying. That is not a problem this blog suffers from. I was reviewing our posts since the start of 2012 and realised they consisted only of updates on the state of our toilet and reports of us playing. That does not constitute a fair representation of how we've spent the last three months. In the interest of balance I thought we'd treat you to a picture of us at work. This is us smiling for the camera during a morning meeting with Budo, our Novi Most co-worker, and Dina, the local leader of the Evangelical Church, who we work with in Jajce. A large part of these regular meetings is keeping everybody's diaries coordinated. These are busy times and we all have individual projects we're working on, as well as activities for young people that we are working on together. Hopefully over the next couple of months we'll do a better job of keeping you updated on how these develop. (Thanks to Katie for captu...

Yesterday my brother tweeted about the unpleasantness of cycling to work in the rain. I remember those days. However, yesterday I made a short video on my walk into work. I present it here by way of comparison. October in Mostar is treating us well! (And, yes, I am fully aware our rain will arrive soon!)

‘Well, let’s pray it works’ is not an uncommon turn of phrase, although one often wonders how much praying actually accompanies it. It’s perhaps more indicative of a ‘hit and hope’ philosophy. And while hope is not to be underestimated there are better versions available than the ‘hit and...’ variety. When push comes to shove many people will turn to prayer, although fewer will probably admit to it. However for some of us prayer plays a more regular part in our lives. Prayer can be so much more than just the occasional cry for help or a random bless-me-please! It’s a connection with a God who is able to work miracles and change the seemingly unchangeable. If you like, He can deliver on a level that would meet the expectations pinned to Obama – only more so! That's encouraging given the nature of our work here and you can probably see why I got excited when somebody pointed out this extract from the Bible this morning: “They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doom...

I'm munching on what appears to be a plastic replica of a Jaffa cake but I'll resist the temptation to type another food related blog. Instead I should report the good news that we signed a contract on an apartment today. This has been some time coming. We don't move till next week but this is another step in the right direction. When they say 'let patience have its perfect work' it's all to easy to equate patience to hanging on an hour or two. We're learning that an hour or two is nothing. Again, they say 'it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive' and I can see that if you live only for the destination there might not be a lot of living going on. I love the movie Elizabethtown . In it there's phone conversation where one the main characters asks the other 'I've always wondered this: who are they?' The same question could be posed in this post. In the first instance they is James, the no-nonsense letter-writer from the Bible. H...

That's something we have to come to terms with as we leave England. There are some things that we've been working for that are going to seem unfinished. There are dreams and plans that we will never see the results of, or if we do it will be as spectators rather than as participants. At the moment I'd say I'm adjusting to this without much panic or anguish - time will tell whether that remains the case! The reassuring fact is that we're not leaving things to nothing. Whoever picks up and carries on what we've been working for is part of a bigger, grander, plan. God's plan. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church: I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. And that's where I’m at. I stole this title from this post from a Paddy Ashdown article I read earlier today . It's not breaking news because he penned it back in April 2007 before he f...