One Thousand Snowflakes

I don’t have the answers. But nor do the Government. On a day when lives are declared unimportant with the new deportation rules, I have ventured into poetry….. be kind!

 

One thousand snowflakes fell today. I didn’t count them, but they were there.

One thousand migrants landed today.* I didn’t count them but they were there.

We discuss the weather, talk of a cold start. We ignore the migrants, talk of a cold heart.

Closed gates. Closed doors. New rules. No choice.

Having risked everything, they are lost. Lost in a system that values politics before life. Lost in a broken world that talks of snow in March. And hides its eyes to the melting lives of a desperate people.

No surprise.

 

*The actual number of migrants detected landing in small boats in January was 1180.

Why, Who, What - A Lockdown Narrative

I hope it’s here now. The end of a year of lockdowns, viruses and fears. As we step out of our doors, it’s a good time to assess what we want from our future freedoms. Is it just more of the same, or have things changed?

A technique I use with potential clients for autobiographies/biographies is to ask them three questions.

When someone wants help in writing a book, I ask WHY, WHO and WHAT. In that order.

WHY do you want to write a book? WHO is it aimed at? And WHAT is the content. Too many go straight for the story - the WHAT. But the other two questions are more important.

WHY write at all? What’s your reason? The
same can be asked as we come out of lockdown. Are you just going to go back to what you did before? The same old job? The same old patterns? The same old activities? That may be fine, but lockdown has given us an opportunity to ask WHY, to take a look at reasons and motives. To check that WHAT we were doing before is still worth doing today. (I recommend Simon Sinek on this – his book Start With Why is worth your time).

WHO are you writing for? Or to turn it around to a lockdown discussion, when you do what you do, WHO is it for? Just for you? For family and friends? Why not look wider? Maybe consider activities that help society? There will be a massive need for more Foodbanks in the UK coming out of lockdown. Around the world, with rich countries using lockdown as a reason not to give, there are immense needs in developing countries. And if you have a Christian faith, there are ways to support those working in the hardest of conditions around the world.

WHAT is the easy bit. The stories we tell in book terms. Too many start here. But as lockdown ends, before we do what we do, before we return to doing what we always did, ask WHY and WHO first.

As lives open up again, as hugs become possible again, as this time of lockdown becomes history, determine to make history.

“Such is of the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” JRR Tolkien

Stealing from the Poorest to Feed the Richest

What do John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May have in common? All five former Prime Ministers have condemned Boris Johnson’s decision to cut the UKs foreign aid spending, reduced from 0.7% of national income, to 0.5%.

That’s a reduction of around £4.5 billion a year. It may sound a lot and a reasonable saving to make but against a Covid home spend of around £210 billion and counting, not so much.

But in terms of the effect internationally, it’s devastating.

Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell (part of Johnson’s Conservative party) estimates the result of the reduced aid will mean nearly a million girls will be deprived of education. It will mean a lack of access to contraception for 7 million people and it will mean 5.6 million children will not get the vaccinations they need. A further 3.8 million people could lose access to clean water. Most tellingly it will mean up to 100,000 deaths as a result.

Under the cover of saving in the time of a pandemic, Johnson is playing politics. His hard talking, non-caring right wing in his party were getting rebellious. So he decided they were more important than the lives of children in poorest countries. He ignored the pleas of the former Prime Ministers and former development secretaries.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called the decision ‘shameful and wrong.’ The CEO of Tearfund says ‘People living in poverty are already pushed to the brink of survival every day. This decision by the UK government is a harsh, badly calculated decision and could not have come at a worse time.’

Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron says ‘The Government wants to make clear that we are looking after our own. But in doing so it sends a message that Britain is becoming insular, heartless and irrelevant. And it forgets two other vital principles from our Christian heritage. That of grace: a gift of something perhaps undeserved but freely given. And that of service: looking after those less fortunate than ourselves.’

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown says ‘The UK’s path-breaking commitment to ending world poverty yields far-reaching benefits and its aid programme is one of its most valuable global assets.’

For ‘is’, read ‘was’.

Shame on you Mr Johnson. You have stolen from the neediest to fill the political trough of the rich and greedy.

REPOST: When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say....

 On Armistice Day, this is a repost of a 2011 blog when I visited Kohima in Nagaland, the home of the famous Kohma Epitaph:

Over the last three weeks, I have had the immense privilege of working with some of the most wonderful people in the world. I'm sure there will be more stories to follow, but this seems appropriate with Remembrance Day around the corner.  

During my time in Nagaland, an extreme North-East State in India, I was able to drive to Kohima. Here there is one of the best kept war cemeteries I have seen, a memorial to all those who gave their lives in what was the turning point in the Indian war against the Japanese in 1944. Amongst the thousands of graves, each one recording a British or Indian soldier, usually in their early twenties, there is a poem, called the Kohima Epitaph, and copied by many other war memorials. This is what it says:

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.


Simple and poignant. Still as true today. Let's not forget.

In the Name of Capitalist Freedom?

This morning I read that across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and elsewhere, Palestinian refugees are suffering at new depths because of the pandemic. People in Gaza are searching through rubbish to find food as Palestinians battle unprecedented levels of poverty.

And then I read that if I want to watch my two favourite football teams this weekend (Manchester United; born in Manchester, Leicester City; live in Leicester) it will cost me £29.90. I am told that the money will go directly to the Premiership clubs to help with a lack of matchday income. This of course is additional income to the clubs, on top of regular TV rights paid by Sky, BT and others (a total of around 4.5 billion -yes, billion- pounds a season).

These are the clubs that regularly pay players in the millions (David De Gea  £19,500,000 per season) with an average wage of around £50,000 per week (nearly 3 million pounds a year). They are the same clubs that have rejected a plan to fund smaller clubs (I appreciate the proposed model was flawed but where’s the real alternative?)

We live in a society that in the name of capitalism and freedom has distorted our moral values to allow the rubbish heaps in Gaza, children dying through hunger, a lack of pure water and more, whilst perverting reasonable business practices beyond recognition.

How about some sensible public ownership, a better tax regime, an increase in our international aid budget? And a government that isn’t afraid to say something is plain wrong when it so obviously is.

As someone with a Christian faith, I appreciate that ultimate answers are beyond the political arena, but that doesn’t absolve me from speaking out and doing what I can. As to this weekend, my small contribution to the coffers of the Premier League will instead go towards a Compassion child.

Thirty-Eight Plus Two

Ethiopia is directly mentioned thirty-eight times in the Bible. Probably the most famous reference is that of the Ethiopian eunuch who is baptised by Philip (Acts 8:27). In addition, there’s plenty of references to the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10) with many scholars believing that Sheba is also Ethiopia.

I’ve recently returned from Ethiopia and the annual Leprosy Mission conference, held in Addis Ababa for the first time. When I think of Africa I think of heat. But most of Ethiopia is on a high plain – Addis Ababa is 7,200 feet above sea level. No wonder I was feeling it walking up the stairs at the hotel!

As part of the Leprosy Mission conference, we celebrated the Wellesley Bailey Awards. These are annual awards given to celebrate the life and work of Wellesley Bailey, the founder of The Leprosy Mission. The Awards honour those who have made extraordinary contributions to society through overcoming the social stigma and physical challenges of leprosy. 

This year the two winners were Birke Nigatu Teka from Ethiopia and Kofi Nyarko from Ghana.

Birke overcame the stigma of the disease and the belief system of her people that considered it untreatable. She saved her own money, secretly went to the hospital and underwent two and a half years of treatment. She faced many other problems, including attempted rape, but refused to give up, acting as an ambassador for others with leprosy. She has established a leprosy women’s association and has developed working groups, producing local handicrafts. She serves on a number of national associations and boards and in her own words, is ‘proud of my up and down life’. Those ups and downs have changed many other lives.

Kofi was abused as a child, and neglected by his family. It was a stranger who recognised he had leprosy and helped him escape to a leprosy hospital. Today Kofi is a spokesperson for those with leprosy and is a member of a number of national and international agencies. He says that it is because of his leprosy that he has become so popular!

There are thirty-eight mentions of Ethiopia in the Bible and it’s not possible to add to scripture. But there are two more stories worthy of inclusion.

Meeting John

He's smartly dressed in a business shirt and suit trousers. And he's just offered me a cup of tea.

John is a warehouse supervisor during the week. His accent gives him away as coming from the Black Country. And today he's a volunteer at a hospital, making tea's and coffee's, helping with meals and washing up.

Imagine that. Five hard working days in the warehouse and then giving your Sunday away to care for the sick. Wow.

John's not the only one. Jo and Judith are the nurses on duty today, on the men's ward at Burton hospital. Their love, care and attention help these largely older men maintain a degree of dignity and decorum in the most difficult of circumstances.

And that's why I'm here. Dad's had a fall and the care from John, Jo and Judith is helping him make it through.

Could the NHS be better? Sure. Does it need more money? Of course. But because of selfless giving and compassion, it's one of the best and most inclusive healthcare systems in the world.

I read President Trump's comments on the NHS. A bit rich coming from a man who is planning to unravel a first attempt at universal care in his country. He really has no idea.

But then.... he hasn't met John.

REFLECT: REVIVE: RENEW

This is not the usual short blog from me- you’re going to need patience to read it, but there’s a REWARD if you get to the end.

I don’t go in for too much reflection on these pages, but 2017 was a life-changing year, so here goes.

I’m so grateful for such a wonderful wife. My youngest daughter constantly reminds me that I managed to secure a beautiful woman- well beyond everyone’s expectations! And to have four children and two kids-in-law, all of whom love God is an amazing blessing. As for the two grandkids, don’t get me started!

As I REFLECT on the year, it was mixed, with doors closing and others opening. To be dropped from the lead team for our Leicester church was a real sadness. We remain leaders in various capacities at ‘home base’ in Peterborough and will continue to support Leicester as much as we can.

But other doors opened. Not least with the Leprosy Mission and Mission24. To be Chair of the Leprosy Mission England & Wales is an immense privilege. This often forgotten and still stigmatised sickness deserves all the support we can give.

And to be Team Pastor for Mission24 was one of the greatest surprises of 2017. It matches my passions for teaching and for encouraging the next generation. As part of this, working with Jonathan Conrathe and Carlos Anacondia in Argentina was personally life changing. I was well and truly REVIVED.  I look forward to continuing the work with our ten Mission24 Interns into the New Year.

Book writing has come on apace. One book was published this year and hopefully, there will be two next year.  I’m mainly writing biographies and ghost writing autobiographies. I love it!

And the blogs trundle on too. I’m retired from the pensions industry but I give some support to Pension Geeks- and for that I get the best job title in the world: Executive Geek! The Pension blog is mainly along the lines of pension communications. The Church History blog is very occasional, but reflects my love for it. And this blog has now been read by over 80,000 people from its start back in December 2006. I don’t think that’s record breaking or anything, but it seems to work. I have readers from all around the world, including Europe, India, Africa, the America’s and even Russia and China. (If that’s you- thank you for reading).

As to next year, I look for God to continue to RENEW me. And there’s the challenge for you too. You’ve read this far. Read on and be RENEWED. We give New Year resolutions a hard time, but the New Year is a watershed moment in the calendar, and we can use it as a memorable moment in our own lives. A date we can attach to change.

Here’s the REWARD for reading this far: Decide on two things. One thing to drop for the New Year and one to start. The one you drop doesn’t necessarily have to be something bad. It may be something that has run its course. Something that needs REPLACING. As to the new, make it attainable – a step at a time. Not a RESOLUTION that gets broken in the first few days of the New Year. Small steps work. Martin Luther King said ‘Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.’

Decide on those two things. One to drop. One to start. If you’re a pray-er, pray about it. If you’re a thinker, think about it. But make the changes. A step at a time. I pray your REFLECTING results in REVIVAL and RENEWAL in 2018.

India - 70 Years On - Still the Jewel

At the age of 17, I heard God speak to me. Your views on this will depend on who you are and what you believe. For me it was a very real moment- the only time (so far!) I have heard God audibly speak to me.

His words were ‘Ralph, I want you to go to India.’

I responded by trying a few Christian agencies, but nothing materialised.

At college I met my future wife. Roh is of Indian origin. I reasoned India had come to me – I didn’t have to go anywhere!

And then, nearly 30 years later, Roh and I are in a Christian meeting. The leader of the meeting calls anyone to the front who has a heart for India. We went forward, expecting to be praying for the country. The next thing we know, someone (who doesn’t know us and is not aware of the back story) is prophesying over us and sending us out to India!

We went there a few months later with some experienced missionaries. I expected, because of the call in my youth, that there would be some longer term relationships established. And that’s just what happened. The moment I met Joel, a pastor and apostle who lives near Hyderabad, I felt God prompting me that this was the man I would work with.

Joel and I have worked together for nearly 20 years now. Roh and I have taken many teams. But right now we can’t.

As India celebrates 70 years of independence, it is also facing increased persecution of Christian’s and Muslims. There is extensive violence and a Government who appear to be turning a blind eye to it.

It is no longer safe to take teams out to help with medical camps and children’s clubs. Hindu fundamentalists are causing widespread persecution.

Seventy years ago, India became independent. It may no longer be the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, but it is surely still a jewel in God’s crown:

The LORD their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.’ Zechariah 9: 16.

I pray that despite the persecution, the church will stay strong, knowing God’s care and protection.

Sheltering the Poor

Here are some verses from the Bible:

“Give counsel;

grant justice;

 make your shade like night

at the height of noon;

shelter the outcasts;

do not reveal the fugitive;

let the outcasts of Moab

sojourn among you;

be a shelter to them

from the destroyer.

 

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

then a throne will be established in steadfast love,

and on it will sit in faithfulness

in the tent of David

one who judges and seeks justice

and is swift to do righteousness.” (Isaiah 16: 3-5)

 

The second set of verses are often quoted. They refer to the day when Christ returns. The day when all is put right on the earth.

 

But they need to be read in the context of the verses before them. These speak of sheltering the outcast, the fugitive. We are called to rescue the refugee, the support those who have lost everything.

 

I'm aware of the politics that suggests we should close our borders in the UK. But the cry for mercy is central to the Christian faith. So, for me, I will support, shelter, welcome and care for those who have nothing. Even if the borders of my country close, I choose to open the borders of my life.

 

Thoughts from a Developing World

There was a big smile on his face. Almost as big as the rip in his jumper and the holes in his shoes.

‘Excuse me sir… are you Miss Turner’s father?’

I assured him I was.

‘Please say hello to her!’

And with that he was gone and I was back to mixing an endless supply of concrete.

I’ve been working in the orphanage town of Bulembu, Swaziland for the last two and a half weeks. Swaziland has one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the world. A poor African country by any measure, it would be called ‘developing’ in our ‘PC’ world.

But maybe it’s more developed than we give it credit for? Life there is simple – and poor. But the joy in that boy’s eyes as he recognised me as Lois’ father (Lois used to work there) was wonderful. We can help build, help finance and more, but one thing they don’t need is the joy of living.

As our team of 20 from KingsGate Church return to the ‘developed world’, there is much to reflect on. Contrast the openness of the children and their joy of life with our selfishness and desire to accumulate (I am immersed into a season of Christmas adverts upon my return). Contrast the love and care shown sacrificially by the Bulembu staff when compared to the jingoistic, racially motivated rhetoric of many politicians in the ‘developed’ world. Contrast the smile on the boy’s face with the anger and language I witnessed last night from the man in the passport queue.

Is the developed world still developing? I’m not so sure. The real meaning of Christmas soars above the tinsel and the ads. Let’s be big hearted, giving, inclusive and welcoming this Christmas.

I Still See Her Face

I still see her face. An innocent one-year old. Such trust as she climbed onto my lap and fell asleep. She had no idea as to what had happened to her and her family.

I’m so pleased that Amena’s story has made it into print. You can read my article on life in the Syrian refugee camps in the latest issue of Christianity Magazine.

By God’s grace, Amena and her family will find their way home to a peaceful country. In the meantime, let’s continue to pray.

Labels

When you meet someone for the first time, what do you ask them? Probably pretty early on it’s ‘what do you do?’ Or, ‘do you have a family?’ Maybe ‘where do you live?’

They are reasonable questions. They help us find out about the newcomer. But often, without realizing it, we are forming a judgement of them based on what we learn of their job, their family background, the kind of house they live in; possibly by the clothes they are wearing.

There was an interesting experiment recently. Six photographers were asked to photograph the same man, wearing the same clothes- so there was no outer differentiator. One was told he was a life-saver, another that he was a fisherman. One was told he was a millionaire, another that he was a recovering alcoholic. One that he was a psychic, another that he was a former prisoner.

The six resulting photographs of the same man in the same clothes are entirely different:

The labels we give people do not actually determine who they are, only how we perceive them to be. Every one of us is different. No two people are the same. We all have a precious God-given life, character, passion and a future beyond where we came from, what we do and how we look.

Let’s look beyond the obvious to what ‘can be’. Some friends of mine are doing this right now. I’m taking a team out to India in February to see how they are getting on. Children are being rescued, food and medical help is being provided. What others threw away as worthless lives, we are taking hold of, giving children a hope and a future. The Bible says God takes all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms— and they get properly fixed and fitted together in vibrant harmonies (Colossians 1: 19, the Message version of the Bible). So good that God didn’t asses us on what we can and can’t do!

The labels others have given don’t determine who we are.

The Pages are Rustling with Adventure (2)

Again, to misquote C S Lewis, the pages are once more rustling with adventure. I will be writing my daily journal in a different country and continent for the next two weeks as I take a team out to Kolkata for a week, and then another team to Hyderabad for a week.

Working with local churches, there will be much to do- children's fun days, visiting sponsored children, teaching pastors, reaching out to communities. Lot's to do. Lot's to write. Lot's of life to celebrate.

The Bible says 'I can do all things through Him who strengthens me'. (Philippians 4: 13).

Nontando and the Merit Shop

The first time Miss Turner noticed her, she stood quietly at the back of a group of girls. She and her brother were fairly new arrivals at Bulembu, their parents having died of AIDS. Nontando was a shy girl, Miss Turner thought.

The girls were there to spend their merits. All the 400 rescued children were in school in Bulembu and merits were given for good work and good behaviour; rewards to spend. Miss Turner was particularly pleased to land the job of running the merit shop. She saw many of the children she cared for in the trauma unit- those that had been most deeply affected by their loss.

And she saw Nontando.

Each term, when the shop opened, Nontando came. And each term she stood with her friends, looking on as they spent their merits on sweets, books, toys and comics. But not Nontando. She just stood, quietly watching.

‘Hi Nontando, don’t you have any merits to spend?’

‘Yes Miss.’

‘So where are they? Where are your merits? What would you like? Sweets? A book maybe?’

‘No Miss. I don’t want anything today.’

Miss Turner was intrigued. Every time the shop opened, Nontando would be there. Every time, she stood and watched as her friends spent their merits. Miss Turner figured she was saving for something expensive. Maybe the beautiful coat that had been sent in recently?

Each time the shop opened, she asked the question. Each time, the same answer.

‘No Miss. I don’t want anything today.’

It was near the end of term when Miss Turner next saw Nontando. With a big smile on her face, she approached Miss Turner with a handful of ‘merits’.

Miss Turner smiled.

‘Nontando, you’re going to spend your merits. How wonderful! You have a lot there- you can get something really special! Are you after that lovely coat?’

‘No Miss.’

Slowly Nontando walked to the back of the merit shop and picked up a beautiful pair of black leather shoes.

‘Oh Nontando, I’m so sorry- those shoes would never fit you I’m afraid. They are far too small.’

‘No Miss. They are not for me. They’re for my little brother, Ciswe. You see, he’s not got any shoes. This is my present for him.’

There were tears in her eyes as Miss Turner closed the shop that day.

This is based on a true story although the children’s names have been changed. ‘Miss Turner’ is our daughter Lois who works in Bulembu. You can find more about the rescued children here: http://bulembu.org/

Stigma

You can read all about leprosy. You can look at the photo’s. You can study its effects. But it’s only when you look into the eyes of the leprosy patient that you realise how vile a disease leprosy is.

I spent two days at the Leprosy Mission Hospital in Kolkata last month. For me, as part of a three week trip to India, it was the most hard-hitting part of the trip. There were two looks in the eyes of the patients as I toured the wards. One was of hope, trusting the hospital could do all that was needed for them.

The other was of despair. A young man was there, 24 years old. He has already lost all his fingers and toes. He should have come earlier, but it’s not the disease, which is treatable nowadays, it’s the stigma. He didn’t come earlier because of the shame of the disease.

The Indian government are doing all they can to take away the stigma. But it’s still there. A lady in her 70’s was late for an appointment. The reason; the bus driver had seen she had leprosy and wouldn’t let her on the bus. This is the truth of the most stigmatized disease in history. No wonder Jesus centred on the person with leprosy. He knew to look in the eyes.

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say....

Over the last three weeks, I have had the immense privilege of working with some of the most wonderful people in the world. I'm sure there will be more stories to follow, but this seems appropriate with Remembrance Day around the corner. 

During my time in Nagaland, an extreme North-East State in India, I was able to drive to Kohima. Here there is one of the best kept war cemeteries I have seen, a memorial to all those who gave their lives in what was the turning point in the Indian war against the Japanese in 1944. Amongst the thousands of graves, each one recording a British or Indian soldier, usually in their early twenties, there is a poem, called the Kohima Epitaph, and copied by many other war memorials. This is what it says:

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.


Simple and poignant. Still as true today. Let's not forget.

Roller Coasters

I remember taking Lois on the roller-coaster. I didn’t want to go, but Lois, aged about seven at the time, would have none of it! It was okay. In fact I quite enjoyed it. The initial fear was replaced by mild apprehension which turned into a pleasurable ride.

That’s how I feel right now on the eve of another trip to India. This time for three weeks in three different places. There is always some apprehension- a very different country, the responsibility of leading three teams, safety on the roads, and so on…

But I’m pretty sure all that will change as I get off the plane at Hyderabad. The sights and smells will bring back a flood of memories, all of them good.

And so the ride begins….