Shall we Sing a Song for you?

I know it’s been a while – you may remember that we left off with that video of Rudi…

The adventure continued, when after hurriedly getting our photos taken with Rudi, we tried to make it to at least leave for Pietermaritzburg before it got dark.

After we found our backpackers in PMburg, we headed out, on the recommendation of one of the dudes there, to an Indian place where we had Bunny Chows (a curry inside bread). The woman running the place was some craic and took a real shine to young Curry senior.

Bunny Chow

We were staying in PMB so we would be right on the motorway so we could leave early the next morning. However the lunatics tried to take over the asylum about how early ‘early’ was and we left at half 6 (which was a compromise!)

Breakfast after a good few hours driving through lines of toll booths

We arrived in St Lucia in time for lunch and then did an afternoon hippo and croc boat tour

We suspected the crocs were fake, the only sign of life was their eyes moving

The hippos were definitely real

Tho Steve Irwin didn’t jump on hippos, did he?

However their teeth did provide much entertainment

Then it was back to our latest backpackers for a braii

All in one room like a big happy family

The next morning Stevie and the Currys got up early to try and go on a whale watching tour. The rest of us went on a wee walk thing with a guide in the hope of seeing more interesting creatures.

It started off well with nice wee beasties like this

However rumours of more turned out to be false advertising

Matt watches in vain

We then set off for Swaziland. However instead of our original two rubbishy hire cars (pictured below), we now had swapped the turquoisey one for a Polo, after the police pulled over the other car coming into St Lucia and informed those in it that its tax disc was out of date. Aul Avis! However handily there was an Avis place in SL. The woman there was going to give us another rubbishy car, but Curry argued with her that we coulda been arrested or suchlike and so we ended up with the polo.

So after another stamp or two on our passports we were in Swaziland!

Some of the roads were pretty class for driving

With the sun setting, we arrived at our backpackers and then headed out to get tea. We were going to go to a Steakhouse but somehow we ended up at a Chinese?

Joel enjoying his Chinese

The next day was Sunday but we didn’t really make enough effort / get up early enough to find a church (we still hadn’t quite grasped how early they start!)

So, having left our backpackers (just in time for another few great switch-if ideas), heading North towards SA again, we drove into a big park place and listened to a Driscoll sermon

(after retrieving Simon from a tree)

Dear, dear, dear. Dear, dear.

Look dear

Evie

That’s enough dear

By now of course, we were shouting ‘Elephant!’ every time we saw a big rock

And that was about that for Swaziland. We crossed the border again and arrived at Kruger View Backpackers, where the man running the show made us a braai. I think we were all agreed that it was the best backpackers we stayed in during the holiday. Simon talked to some Spanish woman in Spanish. I was impressed! The fence of Kruger Park itself was at the back of the backpackers – it’s so close that you’re meant to be able to hear the Lions roar.

And, if I ever manage to sort through Matt’s 100 million photos…

Kruger is next!

So after a few hours sleep following Rathfriland, young Tait picked me up soon after 5 (am) and we headed to Larne. We got the boat to Troon, minus young mistheboatwell, who ended up going to Cairnryan and public-transporting it to Airdrie. Impressive.

After chilling with Chris (Willy went to a ram sale instead) and meeting the new batch of CTI boys, we headed to Lendrick Muir to help set up.

Duguider getting stuck into the vball

After a spot of vball, Andrew gave the first talk. The theme for the weekend was taken from John 15:12 – “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you”. The four talks were on loving one another, caring for one another, serving one another and encouraging one another. We are to love each other because Christ first loved us. If not, we’ll stop loving when people let us down. We’ll love for what we can get out of it. But Jesus loved unconditionally. Christ didn’t give up on us.

Following the first talk we had some icebreakers

…at least, that’s what we were meant to be doing!

Megs and Hayley

Helen and Kim

Then we moved on to a beetledrive – it’s the only place anybody actually gets excited about them!

Charles claims victory

Then we had a chinese, don’t have any pictures of that, but I suppose I could always put on one of Megan.

Birthday cake for Jess

After the talk on the Saturday we did some games.

The excitement was too much for David

Lainey and Rocco

Megan dancing

In the afternoon there were various activities on offer; the Jesster and I (joined by Joshua, Campbell and Catherine) played a bit of crazy golf, before some football:

Some of the other activities on offer

Spot the ball

Divewell

Not quite sure why Connor is trying to catch it

In the evening we had a concert:

Dewey buying his first Haggis in preparation for him and Rocco’s ‘skit’

“Americans suck!” – Tim Duguid (repeatedly) (it was actually pretty good!)

Megan doing a bit of karaoke

Ems

Sam sung a few songs

The dancers

This was probably the highlight for many

Though it was all too much for Gav

We look forward to pictures such as these appearing on Mission Brochures soon :-P

There was then a guest appearance by king Apu, who found it very hard to keep a straight face

Ably assisted by Matt (actually, I should have kept all the pictures of people laughing for below this!)

Not quite sure what this was about!

Dick and Duly

On the Lord’s Day we were joined by a few more folks for worship

Afterwards there was a special presentation to Sam and May who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary

“It’s all about Jesus Christ” – Sam Bell on 50 years of marriage

There was also a presentation for David and Angie who were stepping down from the organising committee

Then it was lunch, clean up and home! In the words of Rocco “Never in my life have I gone to a retreat where a congregation has spent a whole weekend in fellowship with one another, in order that the congregation can become a family as Christ has intended for His Bride.”

Jamie still smiling after cooking all weekend!

“Save us from the day when we’ll be known as a church that is renowned for its Bible teaching. We only want to be known as a church that is a community of Christians who are living for the glory of God. The Bible teaching is the means to that end. It is not the end in itself.”

An Elder Must be a Sheep Feeder

(‘but the feeding of the sheep is of such importance in the heart and the mind of God that when these Old Testament priests were failing in the responsibility to feed the sheep, God comes down and He comes down very, very hard on them.’)

Before I put on the photos from the weekend I better do a post on Rathfriland if I want to have any chance of getting 5 stars in Mrs G’s Book of Blogs (tho I fear I face some stiff competition from Norwegian flower pot blogs)! Especially after she was emotionally scarred by the picture of Stevie in the last post…

So anyway, the team arrived in Rathfriland last Monday morning after my heartfeld plea at the CY Summer Conf (where I was NOT laughing at my own joke – Jonny, Joel!) failed to pick up any new members for the team (and in fact for a time during the next week we were reduced to 2 before an 11th hour offer from Catherine Morrison brought us back up to a healthy total of 3).

Those 3 again…

The activities for the week were to do door-to-door during the days, and meetings in the evenings (preceded by a time of prayer), on the theme “God changes lives”. On the doors we were accompanied by Barry and the indefatigable Tom Cromie. Speakers at the meetings included the minister of 1st Rathfriland (“God is changing lives in Rathfriland”) and Barry (“God changed the life of a famous politician” – Wilberforce).

Ok, I’ll spare you another photo of us, here’s one from the pilg!

The best thing about the team was getting to know the people of the congregation, and we were out at different members’ houses for tea in the evenings, as well as being wonderfully provided for by Hazel at lunch times :-)

On the afternoon off on Wednesday, Mrs G took the girls shopping and I went to see Gary, who was house-sitting a mansion.

On the Thursday morning, Prof. Robert McCollum (the distinction is becoming more necessary than ever!) came to give a presentation to the older people/people who were free during the day on the Covenanters.

Rathfriland Covenant Renewal 1854

In the evening there was a Coffee Bar for the young people of the congregation, although with pizza and ice cream sabbaths / floats (sortof like milk floats but not) instead of coffee. We also tried to encourage them to get more involved in the wider denom.

…but just in case they don’t, here’s a photo of them playing volleyball!

A healthy amount of football was also played

The team departed on Thursday night, as we were going on to the 2 weekends, having had a thoroughly enjoyable week in Rathfriland. We got to meet some great people, including some ‘outside the box thinkers’, and can now pray for Rathfriland with a far greater knowledge of what’s going on.

And so do please that God would keep on changing lives in Rathfriland, more and more, and that He would use the booklets given out, the conversations had, and the talks at the meetings to bring people to Him.