Recycled Missionaries

Two recent posts on the Ref 21 website have left me itching to respond. The first is James Torrens’ article ‘Pragmatism’ (March 2012) and the other is the blogpost ‘Supermarket Sweep and Missionaries’ (April 3, 2012) by Paul Levy, minister of the International Presbyterian Church in London. James’ a

It is now just over four months since we left South Africa and arrived back in the UK. Often we are asked by friends if we have settled in and are enjoying retirement. If only!  In fact, we are not thinking of retirement and therefore we have not yet settled. It is well known around [...]

The words ‘Out of Africa’ not only refer to the title the popular 1985 film, but also now to us. But we are not the only ones to be out of Africa. Others include Bill Graham, Donald MacIver, David Miller, Douglas Campbell, Ronnie Christie and Norman Reid. Although these names of former missionaries

A certain air of finality descended on today’s ethics class. Well, it was the last class of this short semester. Ahead, the examination period looms. Students will sit the ethics exam on 3 November and that will be their last this year, to be immediately followed by the closing service and the colle

In a few days time the new academic semester commences and Elizabeth and I will start on our last lap at Dumisani Theological Institute. The last three years have flown by with almost indecent speed. Our original plan was to stay on until June 2012, but a number of circumstances, including Elizabeth

After last week’s excellent and refreshing holiday break camping in the bush, in Kwa-Zulu Natal, this too has been a good week. On Monday, Elizabeth had an appointment with her ophthalmologist who announced himself very pleased indeed with the outcome of the surgery on her retina. He said she could

Yesterday I went to buy petrol. Whether it is latent patriotism, or the fact that they alone take payment by debit card, we invariably support our nearby BP garage. It was here, some months ago, that Elizabeth met Johannes, who was the inspiration for her newsletter and blog post, ‘Jesus makes me ha

Elizabeth’s great-uncle, Herbert W. Dickson of the Qua Iboe Mission (now Mission Africa) was a pioneer missionary in Nigeria from 1922 to 1974, who each day read ‘Daily Light.’ His old dilapidated, held together with sticky-back tape, richly annotated copy lies before me as I write. His habit starte

Zionist leader It is Saturday afternoon and it is hot and humid; I am sitting on the veranda, enjoying the cooling breeze. I have just come back from Dumisani’s Sunday School workshop, which over seventy people attended. They were a very enthusiastic group, some travelling for three hours to get her

According to a recent YouGov poll, 30% of the UK population consider that 2010 was the worst year of their lives. Money, redundancy and relationships featured among the worries of those polled. For us, whilst the year was not an annus horribilis, it has been one of the most challenging we have faced