Book launch – ‘i, church’ – the MC’s

Three book launches, three MC’s to walk you safely through them… and just TEN DAYS TO GO til the first…

Focusing on one of the strong themes of the book, ‘i, church’ that the church is far more about the people than the place, we decided that the MC’s of the book launches should reflect that. Thus i invited people who are both important and significant to my life to host the events from the front and help keep the times short, sharp and interesting.

Theran Knighton-Fitt

Theran Knighton-Fitt i have known ever since the day i was subbing in for his grade 6 afrikaans class and he came and asked me how to spell a particular word. i can’t remember what the word was but i immediately started spelling and he was carefully writing down the letters W…O…O…R…D…E…B…O…E…K… When i was done i said to him, “What does that say?” and he replied, “Woordeboek” [Afrikaans for dictionary] and i responded with, “Correct, go and look it up.” [Which is perhaps why i am no longer allowed to be a teacher]

i have always known Theran as someone who takes life and spirituality seriously, not content to be spoon-fed answers or ever satisfied with the status of the quo. He and his wife Debbie and their growing family have just returned from a long stint in Canada where he studied theology at Regent College and it is great to have them back in South Africa.

He [or at least his alter ego Faran], was also largely the inspiration for my silly Dangerous Things You Can Least Expect character, Brad Fish. So you can know you will be in for a fun, entertaining and philosophical evening.

Theran will be hosting the book launch at Vovo Telo, Thursday evening the19th, starting at 6.30pm – only 18 spots left and so imperative you RSVP to brettfish@hotmail.com soon if you are hoping to make this one.

Arthur Stewart

Arthur Stewart is an American-African [my description!] who i met many years ago when he was running an intentional community up in Pretoria and i was interested in hearing more about that. Since moving to Cape Town we have connected on a number of different occasions from Warehouse events and Selah reflection days to Generosity Dinners and more. With a huge heart for pastoring and drawing alongside Christian leaders and others, as well as seeing the kingdom come in real and transformative ways, Arthur is someone who tbV and i share some substantial D.N.A. with.

Arthur also kindly stepped in and facilitated a time of listening and prayer with some of our favourite people, when we were looking for a place to stay, which really helped give us some direction and affirmation at an important time. So with Arthur the mood is likely to be reflective and thought-provoking.

Arthur will be hosting the Saturday 21st March morning launch at The Warehouse, which is at 12 Plantation road in Wetton and which will be starting at 9.30am. There is still considerable space at this one, but please stilol RSVP to brettfish@hotmail.com so we know how much coffee to coffee.

tbV aka The Beautiful Val

Often referred to as ‘The Lovely Val’ by people who didn’t quite get the tbV memo, this lady probably needs a little less introduction, but my amazing wife Valerie will be taking on MC duties for the Stell/S West leg of the Cape Town launch.

Val has been hugely supportive in creating opportunities for me to finish the book [pre-Americaland] and then touch it up, finish it off and get it into book-resembling being’ness and it will be an absolute pleasure having her as one of the MC’s. Her tendency to challenge ideas and refusal to settle for the way things have always been has been hugely helpful in terms of formulating some of my own ideas on things as far as church is concerned and we try to figure out this thing together. With tbV at the helm, expect light-hearted, provocative and eloquent all rolled into one. [And maybe even a foreign accent if we’re lucky!]

Valerie will be hosting the book launch in Vlottenberg on Tuesday 24 March at 6pm at Clubhouse, Digteby Estate, Vlottenberg, Stellenbosch.

So there you have it – the clock is ticking and we are so looking forward to hanging out with all of you – please feel absolutely welcome to invite friends and anyone else you know who might be interested in hearing what this is about. Just please get them to RSVP to brettfish@hotmail.com so we can expect their arrival… see you soon…

[To see a little bit of the journey from Surreal to “Hey, i have a book”, click here] 

Open letter to Brett “Fish” about Christmas and the end of the year

hey Brett “Fish” [well, this is a little awkward, cos that’s me, why are you writing to yourself weirdo?]

as the end of the year approaches at pace, i thort i’d i’d just drop in [okay, you’re being weird again, you do know this is still you writing, right?] and share some quick thoughts [wait, quick? okay, maybe this isn’t you] and comments so you can end 2014 well.

[1] Don’t stuff your face. 

i know you get excited when you see favourite food types that you don’t normally have and somehow internally feel like you have to eat as much of everything as you can because you may never ever see that food again, but STOPPIT, remember the vow of never gourging yourself ever again [and how often you’ve broken it] – rather slow down and just get a taste of everything and go for appreciation and celebration over preparing yourself for the winter hibernation  [you are not a bear, my friend.] Also, post-Christmas meal bloatedness is not attractive to you or anyone else and it feels horrible, so really, just slow down and go for quality over quantity.

 

[2] Don’t hate outwardly on the carols.

We get it, you don’t like Christmas carols [okay so now we’re talking to onesself in the royal we? you’re kinda starting to scare me now] but it’s okay that other people do. So keep your unappreciativeness on the inside so that those who do enjoy them don’t have to feel bad for playing them when they do. There will be an end to the madness. After December 25th i think it’s only fair that they are banned til next year August again.

 

[3] Christmas on strangers.

Let’s be honest, most of the people you know and love have more than enough stuff and the ability to get more of what they don’t have or want, so don’t let them be your focus [and maybe you can do a little better in 2015 to have some more people in your life who don’t, yeah?] but look out for the opportunities to encourage, spoil and treat those who might be less well off. Good job on finally buying a copy of the Big Issue you’ve been threatening to for months, but now let’s see how you can get a little more lavish on car guards and petrol attendants and others who cross your path. And intentionally look out for a person or a family in and around your life who might just be needing a special boost. God and people have been so generous to you this past year and so really it is the least we can ask for you to be more of the same. Give intentionally.

 

[4] Stock Take 2014

This has been a bit of a crazy year of transition, which you are still in the middle of [i mean, that should be ‘we’ right? cos you’re still writing to yourself, which is still kinda creepy. JUST SAYING. Also notice how when anyone says, ‘Just saying’, they’re usually not? Ooh, that’s good, you should tweet that one.] and it has been crazy busy since returning from Americaland, so make some time [and do it with that Val girl, she’s pretty hot!] to sit down and look back and write some lists of people and things you are grateful for, of lessons you’ve learnt, of things you don’t want to repeat and maybe finish up with some goals and ideas for 2015. And you know she likes beaches and beautiful things so do it near a beach or a beautiful thing. [She won’t mind if cocktails are included].

 

[5] Date your wife. 

tbV has worked really hard, especially these last few weeks and so make the few days she gets off really special. You know what she likes [and it’s not sitting at home playing tower defence on your tablet, well she does like that but not as the thing, more as the thing after the thing] and so throw in a little bit of dating and spoilingment and help her finish the year much refreshed and feeling loved. She is a good one that lady.

 

[6] And finally, just get that flippin tattoo already. 

Quit whining about not having just the right design and flippin make a plan and get it done. You have birthday money saved up from almost a year ago and so you really just need to get on with it and do it now. Seriously. This is beyond sad.

Oh, but do try and avoid some of these:

Journey to Robben Island: Part ii – introductions: an african amongst us

One of the most moving times of the whole weekend was actually right near the beginning, when after arriving at Robben Island, and dropping our stuff off at our rooms, we met together for introductions.

We had to go around the room and introduce ourselves and say why we were there. i had the task of following my incredibly gifted wife who has such a powerful way with words that she immediately won over the room with her talk of being the salt Elisha threw into the poisoned water in 2 Kings 2 which immediately purified the water which had caused death and miscarriages until that moment. And how she wants to be used in the same way, in this country, where waters have been polluted and poisoned…

i decided to just speak from the heart and in a diverse room of passionate people, spoke about how i see myself as African and this was an opportunity to dig deeper into the story of my country that i care so much about. Seeing my new friend Nkosi nodding, as if to say, ‘Yes, you are African. You are one of us.’ and just generally feeling a sense of love and acceptance in that small circle of people was such a powerful and moving moment for me.

i am NOT European. i was born here and have lived here for the majority of my life and this is my home and my land.

i am African. despite what some may say because of the colour of my skin.

i am African. and i wear it proudly.

a phrase i heard on the weekend, which i love and am going to adopt, is the title, ‘Man of the soil’ and that is what i am.

i am African. deal with it.

[For part iii of our Journey to Robben Islans looking at the spirit of the island, click here]

Journey to Robben Island: Part i – an open door

i never particularly wanted to go to Robben Island. in fact, to be honest, for a time i particularly didn’t want to go to Robben Island.

Something about growing up in a not too politicized environment perhaps and then later not really seeing the point or perhaps thinking it was a ‘flavour of the month’ kind of vibe with everyone going and it being such a touristy thing.

But then somewhere along the line [maybe when i was in Americaland and we would drive past Alcatraz on the bridge and i’d think, ‘Well, i can’t go there cos i haven’t even been to Robben Island] it changed and it was ‘a thing i would like to do someday’. but it always seemed booked up and quite expensive and so never became an actually planned reality.

WHY THE CHANGE OF HEART?

On the 27th of November, tbV [the beautiful Val] and i received an email that contained this invitation:

“SACLI’s youth team, Freedom Mantle, is putting together a small event (about 20 younger leaders) on Robben Island for young Christian leaders who are passionate about coming together to transform the nation in their generation. I have attached some documents that give more details. The head of the Freedom Mantle team is Siki Dlanga, who is based in the Eastern Cape. 

The young leaders will aim to discern what God is doing in the nation at this moment, specifically around the identity of this new generation of leaders and the calling we have to achieve in our lifetime. The outcomes of the Imbizo will hopefully provide the beginning of some foundations for a deeper and broader process of discernment as we clarify how we understand the movement God is initiating in our nation at the present time. At this stage the participants are a mixture of artists, activists and academics. 

Could you join us on Robben Island from the morning of 5 December to 7 December and be part of this discernment process? December 5 is the one year anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death and the 90th anniversary of the birth of Robert Sobukwe and we will include some symbolic spiritual acts around committing to picking up the Mantle of the older generation of Godly leaders in our nation. We will be sleeping in the prison. Most days will be facilitated prayer and conversation. On Dec 5 Archbishop Njongonkulu, who was a prisoner on the island for 10 years, will join us to lead some symbolic actions committing ourselves to picking up the leadership mantle of our elders.”

The invitation combined two things i am absolutely passionate about – God and South Africa and so it was a no brainer. The trip was fairly pricey in terms of what we’d want to spend on a weekend, but it included the expensive tickets to and back from the island and so was an easy purchase.

i imagine, in the next few days, as i try to put some words together to try and adequately give some kind of glimpse of the depth and significance of this week to me and us as a group, that i will fail dismally, but i will try. Suffice it to say it was an incredible group of people, some deep and involved conversations on a number of issues facing our country and the church, and some incredible food and profound experiences.

One of the highlights for me was getting to hang with my friend Nkosivumile Gola who has written a number of times for this blog, such as this piece on First Steps towards a Really New South Africa, to be able to eat together and have some back and forth conversations. And he was just one of the legendary young leaders that were brought together for this Indaba.

So glad i went – many reflections to come [both online and privately] and a copy of ‘Robert Sobukwe: How can Man Die Better’ by Benjamin Pogrund to dive into, as i start to increase and diversify my knowledge of the South African story thus far.

[To continue with this journey and read about my identity as an African, click here]

will the real slave owner please stand up

Yesterday was Heritage Day in South Africa.

a number of the museums were offering free entry and tbV [the beautiful Val] suggested that we go and visit ‘The Slave Lodge’ in town.

being the museum-loving guy that i am [not quite as much as the raiSIN-loving guy i am, but close] i built up some enthusiasm and Yes, Let’sed along with her, cos i knew it was something she wanted to do.

and, like with a long hike, or pretty much anything outdoorsy, by the time you actually get me there, i do tend to really enjoy it and so i am really glad that i went.

i think ‘fun’ and ‘enjoyable’ are not the right words to describe a visit to a place used as a symbol of incredible torture, racism and unjust incarceration, but i guess a sense of ‘i needed to see this and be reminded again’ if that could be encapsulated by a single adjective would be the word i would use.

HIGHLIGHT

the most powerful room for me was an exhibit focusing on women throughout the apartheid struggle, both black and white, who had played some key role in different ways. The exhibition is called ‘There’s something i must tell you’ and it is by Sue Williamson and if you are in Cape Town you should really try and make the time to see it.

From Albertina Sisulu to Helen Joseph to Mamphela Rampele and more there is a series of screen-printed protraits of women who were involved in different ways in the struggle against apartheid.  One that had a profound impact on me was a woman named Jeanette Curtis Schoon, who, with her six-year-old daughter Katryn, was killed by a letter bomb meant for her husband in June, 1984. Not because her story was any more profound than any of the others, but because there was a six year old caught up in it i guess. What an absolute mess our country has emerged from. No wonder there are still scars.

MOMENT OF TRUTH

We also watched a fifteen minute movie on the slave trade in the Western Cape and as we heard about the conditions on the ships used to bring slaves to South Africa [which i never knew – Dutch East India Company’s early missive to those in South Africa was don’t make slaves of the locals because you don’t want to cause trouble – we will ship you some of ours, which meant from India and China and other places] i found myself responding with a very strong, ‘HOW COULD THEY?’ which was followed up by quite an immediate, ‘HOW COULD WE NOT?’

Yes, what happened in this country was particularly horrific and unacceptable, but i’m not sure that we’re all that better. While ‘the people of the past’ propogated racism and slavery, we tend to sit back and allow [or maybe more purposefully ignore or pretend it’s not there] injustice and not even act as if it is a problem.

What sucks hugely for me in this matter is i don’t have the answers. i drive past ten thousand shacks every time i go to the airport and i don’t know how to ‘fix’ it or even ‘make it a little bit better’.

i drive past women in the street offering themselves for an evening, or is it an hour, of pleasure at their expense, and i know it is so completely wrong, as is the system of fear and power and ‘ownership’ that keeps them there, but am not sure of what to do in any way or form.

People at the traffic lights begging for money [how great i have gotten at looking busy or not making eye contact, or maybe just how easily i throw out a ‘No, sorry’ although i am trying to be better at making eye contact and smiling and initialising some kind of communication to at least be acknowledging their person’ness]

And on and on.

DAMNED IF YOU DO, DAMNED IF YOU DON’T

So we are in a place of wanting to make a difference. Somehow. To someone [or hopefully someones]. I feel like too many people around us are just happily and comfortably living their lives without even giving any of this stuff any thought. At the same time there are a whole lot of people giving this much more thought than i have and making much more of a difference.

But figuring it out can be difficult.

tbV and i are taking time to choose where we will live for the next part of our journey in South Africa and even taking time to be intentional in where we might live has been judged [in the commentary section].

Shenaz told us we were being too gangster:

It is getting boring hearing about you going to poor areas. Often these people are not as clever as you and out of a job. They are basically losers (don’t mean it in a bad way), who are hard to help. But always you are on a platform above them like a man feeding dogs at a kennel. It is the same, same, same – maybe you should consider going to a place where the people are more clever and successful, and try to change their minds instead? Preach outside Caprice on Camps Bay for example. These people are dropping R1000 an evening or more. I’ve heard of some at Shimmy Beach dropping R10K for a bill. This is SIN! Real SIN! Go there – go preach to these people. That my friend is a challenge for you and it could make a huge difference. Imagine convincing a queue of people to donate R100K to help the poor instead of using it for cocktails? Be a street preacher on Camps bay this summer and change things. Otherwise you’ll be on the streets of some area – helping another tik-kop or whoever and its circular – they go back to it usually. Go to Camps bay and get people of power and influence and money to help. I know you don’t want to hear it as you are in your comfort zone of helping the less clever, losers (as above) and you know how to handle that. TIME FOR A CHANGE.

While Sean didn’t think we were being gangster enough:

 Woodstock and Salt River is very trendy. Where do you guys get the cash to live there? If you really want to be “intentional” then why don’t you go live in Langa? The answer is because you don’t and that is understandable because of the crime. Kayamandi is like a walk in the park compared to places like Langa or even Lavendar Hill.

I suspect the answer might be, to some extent at least, found in making changes that are both huge and small.

Starting to recycle [we did this a lot in Americaland and it is something we would love to see happening on a more effective scale here] and encourage our friends to do the same. Buying fair trade and Free Range where possible and at least being intentional in terms of our consumption in a variety of ways. Figuring out how we do generosity and how we encourage those around us to do the same [Actually since coming home we are beyond well aware how incredible may of the people in our lives are at doing generosity – so making sure we follow suit i guess]. It might be paying attention to and sharing conversations on equal rights for women [like Emma Watson did so succinctly in her speech to the UN over here] or the environment [like Leonardo DiCaprio did in his ‘I pretend for a living, you don’t’ speech to the UN over here].  Starting to plant our own food and perhaps be part of a local space where others are encouraged to plant theirs.

It might be having conversations on race, particularly issues like racism and reconciliation [or following those already happening like over here] or human trafficking [like getting involved with Jamie the Very Worst Missionary and her team over here] and more.

It might be allowing bigger decisions be affected by the choices you make to make a difference. Like where and how you choose to work [Maybe there are some industries we should not be prepared to work for/with?]. Or where and how you choose to live. What you do with your resources – which includes time, money and skills or education.

Overall i guess it is summed up as living with purpose. Which is a message for everyone. But as a Christ follower, it feels like a particularly apt message for me. After all, close to 2000 verses in the bible call for me to get involved with the poor and needy and those who are considered by society as ‘the least of these’. How do i do this in the best of ways? I’m not sure yet, but help me to figure it out.

i read this quote online today and it feels true, at least in the collective sense. in the individual and family sense i still need to think about it some more.

‘When a poor person dies of hunger,it has not happened because GOD did not take care of him or her.It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.’ [Mother Teresa]

i dunno. this conversation has a ways to go. but we can’t do nothing. and throwing stones at me while i try do something doesn’t feel like it helps an awful lot, either. so meet me around the coffee table or have us over for dinner. or come to one of ours that we hope to throw soon. but let’s be working on this together, because i feel like together is where the solution to this lies.

 

Looked at the stars

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.

tbV and i have been home [back to South Africa after a three year journey in Americaland starting in Philadelphia and ending up in Oakland, outside San Francisco] for just over a week now.

after a really frustrating trip involving two and  half hours of fighting to try and get me on to the plane i had a ticket for, having to leave a box of paintings behind in SF, having the airline leave a bag of ours behind in Washington, losing movie capability for the last 8 hour flight after the refuel in Dakar…

and after a fairly frustrating week of disconnection in terms of trying to get phones and internet unlocked and set up and working [which we still largely haven’t, besides my dad’s old doesn’t-even-have-predictive-text-capacity Nokia which we have managed to get some air time on]…

we had the most excellent 5 year anniversary celebration at a place called Monkey Valley, which looks something like this:

but even more specifically, something like this [containing my very special someone]:

while there was both good and bad [and fun and difficult and crazy and amazing and ridiculous] about our time in Americaland, one interesting thing that stood out to me in both Philly and Oakland was the lack of stars… now i’m sure Americaland has stars [and i DEFINITELY got to see them in boatloadsfull on the houseboat trip i got to do on Lake Shasta] but i remember every time i came back to South Africa [which was twice during our stay] it was the biggest thing that stood out to me [besides the edible and tasty mayo, of course] – the fact that i could see a whole lot more stars than when i was over there.

i imagine it had something specific to do with the two places in Americaland we ended up staying, but it was one of the things that i remembered missing a lot when we were over there. and so it is so good to be back – and this weekend was ridiculous because we were high up on a hill and had a huge window next to our bed and so could lie in bed and see an amazing array of stars.

i have my own star constellation called ‘The Horse’ [because it looks like a horse, duh!] which a few of us discovered about 15 years ago on a youth camp [beyond ‘The Horse’ i seriously know Orion, the Southern Cross and on a good day can maybe point out the Big Dipper so not big on the constellations] and as we arrived back from our meal Friday night to the house we were staying in, i looked up and immediately saw it, and even better, the beautiful Val [tbV] looked up and spotted it straight away too.

just so good to be back. still not connected or plugged in or properly transported. and those things might take a while to get right. and missing a lot of people from Americaland for sure. but the stars are back. and so everything seems just a little bit more alright.

It’s true,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.

 

you will be known [by the love]

oh we Christians can be a hated bunch. and rightly so in way too many times and spaces [although almost always when we say or do things that aren’t particularly Christ-following in nature]

this week i was called a ‘reprobate’, told i have no spiritual teeth [i am not quite sure what that means but i think i was meant to be offended] , a ‘coward pastor’ and i think there was an insinuation that i am evil [when i said i was going to watch a movie with friends, the response that followed was ‘Even the evil love their friends and family.’ [and all this from someone who calls herself a ‘fellow believer’] all because i mentioned on facebook that i didn’t feel i had the authority to share effectively on the situation in Gaza because i am not up to speed on everything that is happening there.

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” [John 13.34-35 New International Version]

this did not feel like that.

last nite, tbV and i attended a wedding of some friends of ours in Americaland… this is four days before we leave the country where we have been living and working in non-profits and return to South Africa… also about two months ago they weren’t even engaged… there was an engagement and then a sense of ‘You’re leaving when?’ and then a scurrying to make a wedding happen so that we could be there before we left for SA. i was invited to MC at the reception after the wedding and we just got to spend a fun and fondu-filled evening with church friends and especially be there for a significant life event for some friends we have gotten to know and love over here.

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13.34-35 English Standard Version]

this felt a lot like that.

on the way home from the wedding, my beautiful wife Val told me a story of the way that some friends of ours really went above and beyond in terms of showing love to another friend of ours who was in a really bad place and feeling completely low. a welcome at the airport with some of her significant and favourite things and a week of just showering her with love and friendship and special attention. in a completely tired and shattered state, driving us home after the wedding and just so ready for bed, this story lifted my spirits immensely and gave me huge hope and was really not the hugest surprise knowing the people in question.

³⁴ A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. [John 13.34-35 American Standard Version]

arrive home from the party and discover an envelope that a friend and someone who had worked alongside me in the youth ministry had slipped into my hand at Friday’s farewell party that other friends of ours [that we hadn’t even spent crazy time with] had offered to throw for us – open it and read amazing and encouraging words in a card but also an immensely generous gift from someone who had spent so much of last year out of a job… catch a glimpse of the photo/message book that another friend of ours [again, someone who we hadn’t spent a lot of time with] put together for us to map out significant parts of our journey in Oakland and remind us of the people we loved and who loved us along the way… close my hand around the wad of cash my bossman gave me towards buying a new computer when we get home [before this one completely catches fire and burns up from overheating] and smile again at the pics of our visit to a place called ‘Bacon Bacon’ which could only be the best place to take me to celebrate the end of working for him…

^34-35 “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” [The Message]

all of those things felt a lot like this.

don’t get me wrong. there are definitely times to call people out and to challenge people when they are not living up to the message they are proclaiming. Jesus had a field day with the Pharisees and the people in the temple and on many occasions even His own disciples. there is a time for harsh words and sometimes even harsh actions.

But the first 3 verses of 1 Corinthians 13, remind us of this important principle:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Which is followed by this reminder of the kind of choice Love that often takes a little bit more effort, and personal cost, and perseverance, to achieve:

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails.

If the person or the thing or the event, does not have love, then it is not of God.

The Love of God is the tattoo of the Christian. It is the mark by which we will be known and recognised.

It will hopefully do the job of helping attract other people towards God.

Who is the Source of all that is Love and Good and Right.

Thank you to all of those who have loved us well in the whole of life, but especially in these last few weeks and days… it has been muchly appreciated!