Wednesday 31 July 2013

Sabbatical Day 7 (31 July)
Got half of the final talk done yesterday morning. All of the afternoon was spent renewing the loans on books taken out of the Gamble Library at Union Theological College (that £5 Life Membership taken out in 1979 has proved its worth over the years!).
Calls at Assembly Buildings, The Scout Shop, the Co-operative Bank, Boots, Holland & Barrett, Superdrug and SS Moore's took in the rest of the afternoon. (thought of organising a competition for whoever could work out what I might be doing in each place - but then thought better of it!). Most (but not all) of these calls were to obtain 'necessaries' for Africa.
Who should arrive in the Scout Shop while I was there but Stephen Cowan (who I will be staying with in Kenya). He confirms that we will be sharing the same flight to Dubai on Friday as he heads for Nairobi and I head for Kenya.

This morning I hope to complete Talk 5. Grass needs cut this afternoon before the rain comes.
Still have to think of a sermon for Sunday 11th August. Your prayers continue to be valued.
Jim

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Sabbatical Day 6 (30 July)
I managed to get most of talk 4 done yesterday on Jesus as shepherd, farmer and disciple - as always it will need refining. In the afternoon I went to our local surgery for the last of my vaccinations. We're fortunate in having a  travel clinic in Greenisland with a Travel Nurse.
Apart from the obvious like Tetanus, Diptheria and Polio, I've needed to be vaccinated against
Hepatitis A
Typhoid
Meningitis
Rabies
Yellow Fever

Not all of these are available on the National Health Service. A prescription costs £15 a time (just for the script!). On top of that Meningitis was £45 and Rabies a whopping £109.80!
Still, better to pay the money than get the disease.
Yellow Fever is interesting in that it is a live vaccine (the others are dead). A stock is kept in the surgery, so no prescription needed. It cost £38. A certificate of vaccination is required to enter Uganda and Kenya although I've been told that they tend not to ask for it for people coming from outside Africa. It may be asked for, though, when moving within Africa from Uganda to Kenya,.
Todays' agenda:
To start on the final talk. I want to try to draw things together in this one.
I'll also have to go to Union Theological Library to renew the loan on the books I've taken out and I've a few more things to gather together for taking away, so there are some shops in Belfast to visit.

Jim

Monday 29 July 2013

Sabbatical Day 5 (29 July)




Sabbatical Day 5 (29 July)
Yesterday I took a Sabbath within my Sabbatical and refrained from work. I did though take some time to read further through Margaret Ford's biography of Uganda's Archbishop Janani Luwum. I took advantage of the good weather to sit out in the garden and read. Just as I turned the page to chapter 8, the thunder-clouds gathered, massive drops of rain began to fall and I had to run indoors.The title of chapter 8? 'Storm Clouds Gather'!
I was able to draw together something on the Apostle Paul's leadership on Saturday morning. I preached a sermon recently on Acts 20.17-38, which instead of taking the usual line of focusing on what Paul said to the elders, instead looked at Paul's own leadership style. This was able to form the basis of one of the talks I am to give. However, it is interesting to note that, while I divided the sermon into two parts (with a hymn between the parts) in Greenisland, to enable folk to cope with what was a longer sermon than usual, it was only half the length expected (demanded?) for one of my talks in Uganda. So instead of the usual challenge of 'what to leave out' a different one - 'what more to bring in'.

Our son Andrew was with us over the weekend



We organised a barbecue which my brother John, his wife Patricia and son Jaime came to (their daughter Hannah was pre-booked to another barbecue.David joined us after the picture was taken.
Having been warned about scorpions by Stephen Cowan the day before, I managed to lean back against a wasp that was sucking the resin out of the wooden chair you can see in the picture and got stung in the middle of my back. I don't think I've been stung by a wasp since childhood. Thankfully I had no allergic reaction and the pain was short-lived. With that and the unusually warm weather on holiday in Norfolk and here at home (warmer than it currently is in Kenya) I feel I am being well acclimatised.

This afternoon I visit the Travel Nurse at our local surgery to get the last of my vaccinations: the completion of a three-part course in Rabies.

Do pray for me as I continue today to try to produce the talks for Uganda. Today I want to look at Biblical Leadership as we see it in Jesus.