South Africa

Aslan having lunch and a sunset view of Table Mountain (Cape Town). The latter taken from the roof of the home I stayed at for a couple of days.

Well, someone had to go!

Yes, I'm back home and finally a little rested after a 42 hour journey home and more issues with luggage. And if you're wondering about what my mother called "smalls", I had packed some in my "carry-on" but since I was the last one to board, I heard the attendant say, "No more roller boards" and my hand luggage was put in the hold and I never saw it again!


What do I recall?

• a missionary couple with a mother back in Denver with Alzheimer's and wondering what they should do
• the numerical strength of Reformed Baptist folk
• a healthy "Church of England in South Africa" congregation which must be friendliest that I've ever been to
• the ministry of Ronald Kalifungwa of Zambia (who is returning to his native country this month after several years in South Africa) who spoke powerfully on racism and the Bible
• the gentle piety of Martin Holdt (Pretoria)
• waking up to discover 3 "Beagle" dogs stretched out on the bed!
• roast lamb (yum yum)
• talk of cricket (South Africa are currently playing Australia and doing badly!)
• being licked by a fully grown cheetah (with a video to prove it!)
• the beauty of the country
• a visit to the Huguenot museum near Stellenbosch and seeing a copy of Calvin's 1536 Institutes

And in case you're wondering, I spoke on the following themes at three different conferences (mainly to ministers):

• The Relevance of Gresham Machen in a postmodern age
• Spiritual Desertion: the masks of melancholy in Bible portraits
• Romans 6 as a biblical-theological motif in the understanding of the Christian life