Rising above the challenge

This week Lyn and I are in Calgary, Canada, attending an Emergency Disaster services conference. There are about 200 delegates - which is a fantastic crowd to draw for the first ever emergency conference in this territory.
On the way over we flew via Chicago, where we had a long layover while waiting for our connecting flight. We found ourselves a comfy spot in the departures lounge and enjoyed a read. While we were waiting, a guy came up with 2 x big, heavy computer bags hung over his shoulders. When he chose his seat, just across the way from us, he bent down and swung the bag straps over his head. It was then I noticed that the sleeves of his jacket were just that - sleeves. He was no arms. He took off his jacket, then proceeded to make some phone calls using his feet to activate his phone and speaking into the bluetooth earpiece he was wearing. (the thought did cross my mind - how would he have coped without a bluetooth headset?). I couldn't help overhear his conversation - and judging by the things he was saying he obviously held down a very responsible job. At one point I noticed he was putting on a watch, using his feet to deftly fasten the leather strap. I don't know about you, but I find it hard enough to do up a watch strap using my fingers!
He boarded the same flight as us. After we landed and headed towards the immigration desk he came past us, heavy bags around his shoulders but walking purposefully towards the counter. When he got there he went to an automated booth; put the bag down, got his passport out using his feet, activated the machine in the same way and was through and away while we were still waiting in the line!
I mentioned to Lyn that I had been impressed by the deft way he had put his watch 'on his wrist'. Don't you mean 'on his ankle' - Lyn replied. Thinking about it, of course it was on his ankle - he hadn't any arms! It was then I realised that whilst his disability had initially drawn his attention to me, the way he himself had found ways to rise above that physical limitation and beat the challenge meant that I was no longer seeing it either.
We all face challenges in our lives - perhaps they are physical, maybe they are emotional or practical. But they don't have to prevent us getting on with life and making the most of what God has given us. If we don't make them an issue, chances are others won't either.
I thank God for the example that young man was to me at the airport and the inspiration he provided to get on with life and rise above the challenge.

Salvation Army video on You Tube

I realise that I'm a bit behind the times, but I have just discovered a special section on You Tube called 'SalvationArmyvideo'. I found it when viewing a video of a special event that happened recently in Leicester Square, London. For some time FedEx have been good supporters of The Salvation Army's emergency response. This year they have donated 5 brand new canteens to be used in emergency ministry around the world. One canteen has been given to the UK territory. The vehicle was handed over at a special ceremony in the West End, and the film is available.
I've added a 'video bar' to this blog site (see over to the right of the page), where you should be able to click on and view the film. Check it out - it's worth a look (just allow a bit of time for it to be loaded as it's a high quality film - so a large file size)

Facing the future

It seems a long time since I last 'blogged'. It's been a good few weeks. The last 10 days have been spent in southern India. Along with about 50 others from The Salvation Army we gathered in Kovalam to review how our tsunami response programmes have gone. (check out the photo slideshow on the right of this page)

Amazingly, over 3 years have passed since the Boxing Day tragedy of 2004. The public outpouring of generosity which swept like a wave over us in those early days have seen over US$60 million donated to The Salvation Army. That's fantastic - but also creates a huge level of responsibility to use the funds wisely and well. The conference took an honest look at our programmes; identifying strengths and weaknesses and trying to reach recommendations which will enable us to respond even better should something so terrible ever happen again.

As we spent the week reviewing the last 3 years I was reminded of a journey I made 11 years ago. I was heading to Bosnia to work in a welfare centre in Sarajevo, providing support to NATO troops deployed there. The RAF offered me a seat on a military troop carrier and I remember boarding the plane with soldiers heading for their posting as part of the peace keeping operation.

We were flying in a DC10 plane. The strange thing about these military planes is that the seats face backwards. It's an odd feeling when you thunder down the runway for takeoff straining against the seat belts as you try and stay in your seat. I'm told the seats are arranged this way because it is supposed to be safer. If the plane were to crash there are likely to be more survivors. It might feel strange, but looking back is safer than looking ahead.

Looking back is easy. Highlighting mistakes or picking holes in the way others have worked is no challenge. But having the courage to face the future and make changes based on lessons learned is much harder.

The future is unknown - and that can be scary. But the 'blank page' gives us a fresh opportunity to make wise decisions. May God give us the courage to face the future with determination and anticipation.

After you, please

It used to be said that one unique quality of the British was our willingness to queue and to do so politely and patiently. I don't know whether this was testament to good manners, humility or respect. Whatever it was, it seems to be diminishing these days.

Last week I was heading out to Reading. The journey around the M25 was a real drag; hold-ups and delays meant I was running late for my appointment. At the junction onto the M4 the slip way is a 2-lane road which narrows to one lane as it joins the new motorway. The build up of traffic meant there was a tail back on the slip road. A guy just in front of me in his Toyota sports, in the outside lane, decided he would drive level with the car to his left, holding the cars up behind him even though his lane was moving faster. This created a gap in front of him. The cares behind grew increasingly impatient. The young woman immediately behind started shouting, swearing and engaging in a bout of 'middle finger saluting' (if you get my meaning!). Eventually, frustrated and annoyed, she pulled over into the other lane. The Merc who took her place was less patient and tried to force the driver off the road. A drag race ensued and the Merc won, edging the Toyota guy out of the way. As I watched the show it left me wondering what was this all about? No one actually got there any sooner - the traffic was solid, for heaven's sake!

The following morning I sat in prayers at IHQ, taking up my usual seat next to the window so I could look out of the window and watch the world in Queen Victoria Street. After a few minutes a couple of police motorbikes appeared and stopped the traffic. Drivers hurrying to get to work were brought to a halt. A few minutes later a limo carrying someone 'important' sailed around the queue and past the lesser mortals trying to get to work and earn a crust. They didn't look very happy about it!

We don't find it easy to give way to others, yet the Bible (Romans 12:10) talks about 'in honour preferring one another'. That might be easy when we genuinely have respect for someone else, but what about those who we maybe don't actually look up to? I leave you with a couple of translations of that verse. I wonder what this says to you, today?

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. (the Message)

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (New Living Translation)

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. (NIV)

Glowing!

Exodus 34: 29 says, ‘When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD’.
This week I had the privilege of seeing a modern day version of that story. I’m currently in Peru with Mike Caffull visiting areas impacted by last August’s earthquake and checking out The Salvation Army’s humanitarian response.
On Wednesday Mike and I headed south east out of Pisco to the smaller town of Ica. In a small suburb just outside of town live about 700 families whose rural homes suffered. Most of the houses suffered some damage, many were completely destroyed. SA relief teams were there very quickly and set up community feeding kitchens. Here we are 6 months later. The kitchens have all but shut but, far from being the end of the story, it seems things are just starting. People in this village didn’t know The Salvation Army before the disaster; there are no corps in this area. So officers and soldiers came in from outside. A team even came for a couple of weeks from southern USA. They used meshing and poles to construct a temporary shelter for the kitchens. It also became a base for starting worship services. Amazingly, people were drawn to the meetings because they saw in the lives of the relief workers something special.
A soldier couple have agreed to stay here for a year. They have a full SA programme going. How about this for statistics:

Adult attendance at Sunday worship – 45
Children and youth at Sunday worship – 30
Soldiers sworn in – 20
Junior soldiers enrolled – 11
Recruits for soldiership – 11

Other weekly activities:
Home League
Junior Soldiers class
Sunday school
Discipleship meeting
Prayer meeting

I quote the numbers because they quantify things, but numbers don’t tell the story. I met with Mari Lou who is the community leader. She and her grown up daughter have become soldiers. As she told me her story, her face positively glowed with a radiant smile. She's in the photo behind Major Alex Nesterenko (seated). Coming to the services has introduced her to Jesus and given her hope for the future. She’s desperate for the Army to stay – no longer giving freebie food parcels but lifting people’s spirits, introducing them to a real and living faith and giving them hope.
I wish I could bring you all to see this group – it would so inspire you. It’s Salvation Army mission at its best and I’m so proud to play a small part in it.

Within these walls

This morning I got up at 6am, showered, dressed and by 6.30am was sitting by the pool, drinking hot coffee and catching up on some overdue work in peace and quiet. What a wonderful way to start a morning, eh?
After a while my colleague Mike came and joined me (check out Mike's smiling face in the pic). We joked that we don’t often check our mail by the pool - a lovely change from normal office routine. What was most ironic was that this gloriously peaceful scene took place in the Peruvian town of Pisco, in the middle of a community not long ago devastated by an earthquake.
The hotel was pretty good, the shower had been hot and the bed comfortable. We sat protected by a high wall, completely cosseted from the destruction just a few feet away on the other side. It could have been another world. Not long after (having enjoyed a delicious ‘American Breakfast’ of fresh rolls and jam, more coffee, scrambled eggs and ham) we checked out and headed back into the chaos, dodging piles of rubble as we drove to our next port of call.
Some might say the opportunity to withdraw from reality was a welcome break. And believe me; I don’t for one moment underestimate the blessing of being able to stay somewhere comfortable when most of the population of Pisco are still living in tents, wooden huts or derelict buildings and tarpaulins.

Others might describe it as escapism, of course, and those walls got me thinking. What other walls exist in my world? Am I truly honest about the things of my life? Do people know the ‘real’ me, or do I hide the truth behind a wall of deceit? Do I put up barriers around me to shut out things I ought to face up to and deal with?
It’s nice to shut out unpleasant truth, but unless we confront reality we can’t deal with issues. What do I mean by that? Well, here are just a few of the questions that I need to confront honestly:

• How deep and genuine are my relationships?
• What do I really contribute to the church in which I worship?
• Why is it my personal devotional time gets so easily squeezed out by other things?
• Does the public image seen by others truly mirror the ‘real’ me?
• Do I actually believe in the power of prayer – if so, why don’t I spend more time praying?
• Why can’t I remember what vegetables my daughters like?

I could go on and on. Walls - worth a thought, eh?

Looking back at His leading

There’s a saying – what came first? The chicken or the egg?
A thought – does God prepare you for future service by leading you into particular areas or does He take the paths and choices you have made and use the skills you’ve developed for the outworking of His will in your life? Without getting too bogged down in a theological debate that I’ll never be able to answer, during the last weekend I found myself marvelling a the way God seems to have led us in the recent years and how the present is miraculously building upon the foundation of the past.

Last week (Valentines Day) Lyn and I went to see ‘Strictly Come Dancing Live’. It was a great night out. The day marked the 12th anniversary of my very first international deployment. It was Valentines Day 1996 when I drove off in a small Red Shield mobile canteen from Gutersloh heading for Bosnia. In so many ways I drove off into the unknown. I knew nothing of Bosnia, I knew nothing about international military procedures and I had no knowledge about the way IHQ worked and the ministry of the International Emergency Services section. Three months later I returned home having had an experience which changed my life and one which was to impact upon my whole family in a way I could never have imagined. It led to my involvement with the Emergency Services section and subsequent appointment as Coordinator of The Salvation Army’s international emergency ministry. It opened doors to places I would never have dreamed of visiting and situations I had only previously witnessed through TV news reports. It brought me to places around the world I would never have visited otherwise. In fact, I’m writing this whilst sitting in a small hotel in Lima, Peru, en route to visiting the area of Pisco which was impacted by an earthquake 6 months ago.

Last weekend we drove to Portsmouth. We recently learned that Lyn and I are to become the Commanding Officers of the Portsmouth Citadel corps. It means a move of home and a fairly drastic change of work (for me, at least). Desperate to see something of our new home we made a quick visit to suss out the lay of the land. We found the street and then the house that is to be our new home. We felt like spies as we pulled up just far enough down the road to take a peek without alerting the suspicions of the current occupants who might be inside. The girls were in the back seat with heads ducked down so as not to appear that we were looking! We then drove down to the town centre and parked up behind the Salvation Army church building. As we walked around it and took a few pictures we were conscious of trying not to appear too obvious in case someone saw us (isn’t life stupid?)

Having spied out the new land we drove to the Gunwharf Quay outlet mall, wandered around the shops and sat overlooking the bay whilst we drank coffee in the Spinaker Tower café. The winter sun warm bright and warm, taking the chill out of the air. Crowds milled around enjoying the start of the half term holidays and we had a wonderful afternoon. I confess it was idyllic. My mind wandered back just 3 years to the university open days that Lyn and I attended with Rebecca. She was looking for the best Uni at which to study. We went to a number of places and I was the proud parent who went with her to investigate Chichester Uni. This was the place she chose and during the last 3 years we have had some wonderful visits to the area. We found a lovely B&B close to the sea at Felpham and have made it ‘our place’ for weekend visits. As we’ve explored the area we have grown to love it and have often said how great it would be to live in the region. Lo and behold, farewell orders have us moving to Portsmouth. We didn’t apply for that position, we didn’t try and influence the choice, but we now find ourselves preparing to move to a place we have already fallen in love with. Did God know that when he opened the door to Chichester Uni for Rebecca? It seems too much of a coincidence otherwise.

I confess that I’ve rarely been aware of God’s leading at the time – it’s only when I have looked back and seen that a series of apparently random choices have laid foundations for future steps that I could never have anticipated. God has been good and I’m convinced He will continue to lead and guide. I look forward to discovering how this will manifest itself!