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Michael Nhonya - or is it Eddie Murphy?

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My host for most of the last 3 weeks has been Michael, the General Secretary of the Baptist Convention of Tanzania (BCT), a collective of about 1,500 Baptist churches. He is a quite extraordinary Christian and someone I have grown to love and hugely respect. He is a doppelganger for Eddie Murphy, but twice as much fun! Through long journeys (here he is eating his beloved sumaki/fish, tilapia, while driving) and the sharing of stories and many meals together, we have become friends - kindred spirits! His story will amaze you. Here I am with his family as I took them out for a thank you supper on my last night at the old New Dodoma Hotel. Born into an Anglican Christian family, Michael's father was a natural evangelist and church planter - around 20 in his life thus far. The Anglicans made what he considered an unreasonable demand on him, so he became a Baptist (Hallelujah!) and he continued his work for God. Having lost his mother at an early age, Michael became a troub...
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James Bond, a nun's prayer and St Barbara

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I've been singing 'For your eyes only' all afternoon but have only been repaid with some rather strange looks. For those who can remember, the James Bond film (Roger Moore), For your eyes only, concluded on top of this astonishing Holy Trinity rock monastery, one of the amazing meteora of central Greece. The view from the top is stunning. Our little apartment is at the base of the nearest cliff. The Satnav told me we were 600 metres away but that it was going to take 6.3km to get there! We weren't going to do some Roger Moore type rock climbing so we drove, but at 36C it was still a challenge because you have to walk down before you climb up. I can feel a sermon coming on... The wall paintings are typically orthodox and cover every inch of the chapel's walls (no photos allowed, though one visitor showed amazing disrespect by taking photos in spite of being repeatedly asked not to do so). However, in one of the old, no longer used, monk's cells there we...
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A great way to spend a Sunday

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It was a real privilege for me to preach at The Rebirth of Kosova Church this morning, relying again on the excellent translating of Rrezarta. In my introduction I shared how it had struck me that the 50 year celebrations of a small step for (a) man on the moon were in contrast to the really giant step for humankind when Jesus walked among us 2,000 years ago. I also played the bass! I felt really at home, not least because of the genuine warmth of the fellowship here, just like at Hope Baptist Stourbridge. We then visited the capital, Pristina, and the famous Newborn monument which celebrates Kosova as a self-governing country. It was unveiled when independence was formally announced on 17th February 2008 and each year it is given a fresh face-lift to celebrate some issue of importance for the country. This year the issue is...? It's an issue that really needs to be addressed here. The beauty of those waterfalls we visited the other day is sadly in sharp contrast to the va...
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