Banner of Truth Conference Day Three Evening

 

At 5 pm this evening we had a session chaired by David Campbell on various mission matters - from Africa, India, Switzerland, Slovenia, Canada, Banner worldwide and the Open Air Mission. Then after dinner we had the final session with Christopher Ash, looking at Lamentations 4 and 5.

Banner of Truth Conference 2026 Day Two Morning

A good morning here in Yarnfield Park. We began with a short prayer meeting and then heard two papers on past revivals and theirblessons. First, American missionary to France, David Vaughn, spoke on the East African Revival and then, secondly, Brian Edwards spoke on Primitive Methodists. Both very interesting and rather forgotten. Between those we heard from, John Rawlinson gave a farewell speech, reminiscing and urging us not to build a legacy but to be faithful to the Lord. I was interested to hear that he was at a Banner Youth Conference in 1980 in Clovelly Hall, a conference which I believe I was also at.

An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi

When I was in Kenya I noticed that this volume had come out and so back here in the UK I got hold of a copy and have now read it. It is not an academic book but it is a thorough trawl through what is known of African history. The material is presented in an interesting and appealing way and what appears to be quite a balanced approach. A great deal of it was new to me and I would recommend it to any African, European or whatever wanting to expand their understanding of the various issues.

Birthday Books

One of the joys of a birthday is that kind people buy you books. Above is my haul for this year. Mostly history as you see. I tipped off my wife about the first one and the second is from my first son who has cornered the market in Nazi themes (one of my favourite subjects). I first saw the book on Africa in Kenya and have bought with money kindly given by family.

Still in Kenya

Preaching in Nakuru

At Nakuru with two delegates

Eating at a Java House in Nakuru with Eric 

Preaching Baricho with Alex

Another week in Kenya has passed by pretty much. We are now in Nairobi and I will fly home on Monday. On the previous Monday we left Eldoret after preaching there and headed for Nakuru. One bit of excitement on the way was that we corssed the equator, not something I've ever done by road. We were put up in a nice hotel in the town of Nakuru, which seemed a little cooler than Kisumu. On the Tuesday and Wednesday we held another APC on Romans in Crosspoint Bible Church, a small building with Bible texts everywhere. The pastor was away in Uganda and the assistant was dealing with a pastoral issue but were well looked after by Eric, a deacon, with aspirations to ministry. Numbers were lower than previously, down to around 30, but there was a good spirit and it was good to meet various people, including Erick, converted out of a hopeless life of drink and drugs.

On the Thursday, we drove to Baricho, the little town where our last conference took place. This time we crossed the equator twice and it had soon become old hat. We had some difficulty finding a hotel but managed to locate one in nearby Kerugoya. Not up to the last one, it was fine, however. The two days of meeting were held in The People's Church, Baricho, very efficiently organised by Mercy and Moses Chege. This time it was necessary to translate into Swahili and a young church planter called Alex did very well. The translation element truncated the length of our messages but hopefully we were able to get across some important truths. Numbers were lower again, down to about 25. We followed the usual format of five sessions on day one, four on day two and then a photograph, a Q&A and certifiate giving to close.

We then headed to Nairobi and within two hours were at a large shopping mall where we enjoyed icecream. Cetric is home and Joshua and I are sharing the church flate here in the church grouinds. I enjoyed the road trip, especially the latter part where we were in the Aberdare National Park area, but its good to be almost home.

In Kenya

Preaching in Kisumu

Lake Victoria

Last Monday (April 15) my wife kindly took me first thing to Heathrow where I caught a KLM 'plane to Amsterdam. From there I flew KLM to Nairobi. That took about eight and a half hours/ I was soon through customs and baggage and out into the Nairobi darkness. This is my seventh time on African soil and second time in Nairobi so the sights and sounds and smells were pretty familiar. I was met by Murungi Igweta, pastor at Trinity BC, with his son Asa. I was taken to the church, where I slept in one of the rooms they have on the compound.

Next morning I was driven to Kisumu in the truck by Cetric and two other young Kenyan men. We had to make an early stop for a tyre change and I enjoyed an Americano at a Java Cafe. Not a drop of coffee since then. I'm appreciating black tea anew. By pressing on without stopping we made Kisumu by nightfall. All three drove in turn. The Kenyan countryside is pretty much new to me and so it was fascinating at first to see kids herding small flocks of sheep and goats or cows. We spotted zebra in the distance at one point. Hawkers were selling a large variety of items at different points and several lorries laden with sugar cane were aso spotted. People everywhere walking or on bikes or in mutatas and carrying varied items. In the end it became a little tedious, however and then night fell.

In Kisumu, we called first at the house of the Baptist pastor Tonny Karwa and his wife, Olivia. They have a fascinating story. I stayed at the beautiful house of Ken Otiwa, his fellow elder, and his wife Elizabeth. Very nice. Ken kindly showed us Lake Victoria. We had two days of conference in the Kisumu church. I guess about sixty came each day. We looked at Romans over nine sessions with a Q&A to close. .There were about sixty there. I was joined for this by Joshua Bolaji, a Nigerian born Londoner who has ministered in South Africa for many ears and is very involved in the African Pastors Conferences (more here). Joshua joined us at the last moment having flown from the UK to RSA to Kisumu via Nairobi in less than 72 hours. It was great to meet him and we have been getting on well.

We next travelled to Eldoret from where I write. Jpshua drove this time. The other two young men returned to Nairiobu. This city is somewhat cooler and there has been a lot of rain. It was a great joy to meet Naphtally Ogallo once again and his wife Helida. Naphtally worked with Keith Underhill in the planting of Trinity, Nairobi, a work I have known of since I as a student. It was the church in Aberystwyth where my son now pastors that sent Keith out. Joshua, Cetric and myself are sharing a three bedroom suite in the church grounds. We are being well fed on the local fare, though we sent out for pizza tonight.

The Eldoret conference is much bigger, the biggest APC I have done, with over 120 present. It is not easy to take in what I have to say, however, with my foreign accent and tendency to speak more rapidly as I warm to the subject. In both places we have left notes.

Tomorrow we will share the speaking at the three services. Looking forward.

Eldoret Ad

Speaking Eldoret

The 10 countries of Southern Africa

1. Angola
2. Botswana
3. Lesotho
4. Malawi
5. Mozambique
6. Namibia
7. South Africa
8. Swaziland
9. Zambia
10. Zimbabwe

Hairstyles 14 Nubian Twists

Silly puns on nations 01

1. I've often be'n in Benin

2. You can go to the Congo

3. I want to go to Togo

4. I live here in Libya

5. There are more issues to be dealt with in Mauritius

6. I've gone to Uganda - you gone der too?

7. You sing in Tunisia, getting the tune is ya thing

8. He was in Somalia somewhere living under some alias or other

9. I collected sea shells in the Seychelles

10. May 'ot weather be your experience in Mayotte

(I did this a while ago but forgot about it until the Olympics brought it all back)

Chad and Mali

Good News from Chad

Praise God that the translation of the Chad Arabic New Testament is complete. Pray that the printing will go smoothly and also for the distribution process. Surprisingly, a key element of distribution is making the scriptures accessible on mobile phones - they are very common in much of Africa. An audio version of the New Testament is also being made, for which voices are needed. Pray that the right people will come forward to be involved. (WEC International)

Bad News from Mali

These are critical times for Mali. The crisis began long before the military coup that grabbed the headlines recently. Mali is still suffering from the devastating Sahel food crisis following last year’s failed harvests and lack of rains. Extreme food shortages have led to a rise in food prices which, in turn, have led to 3 million people going hungry. Now facing a bitter ethnic and religious conflict, food prices are escalating and more than 200,000 people have fled their homes. Pray for the millions of people facing food insecurity in the Sahel, and for  leaders of the groups in Mali that they might

turn to peace rather than violence. (Tearfund)

Some Prayer Requests

Malinke Tribes (W Africa). Did you read your Bible this morning? Most Malinke people didn’t. Those who did probably read it in a trade language like Bambara or French. Most of the Malinke subgroups we are praying for this month need their own Bible translation. Once that is accomplished, someone can produce other Christian materials in their languages as well.
As you read this, there is a team working on a Bible translation for one of the Malinke peoples. A good part of their time is spent taking care of daily business of cooking, cleaning, educating the children, and building relationships with Malinkes. Unlike you and me, they face the daily challenges of living in an African town where electricity is not available, so they have to rely on solar power.
To do what they are doing requires a tremendous amount of perseverance. It will take many years to complete this Bible translation, and even when the work is done, there is no guarantee that people will accept it or read it.
In addition, the Bible translation team has faced significant spiritual opposition over the years, causing the work to be slow and threatening its continued progress.

Zimbabwe. Around the world there are 16 million children under the age of 18 who have lost one or both parents Zimbabwe alone has an astonishing 1 million children orphaned by AIDS. Please pray for children who have been affected by HIV/AIDS, whether they are living with the disease or have lost parents from it. Of these children, barely one quarter attend school. Pray that their communities would be able to care for them and give them access to basic needs such as food, education and health care.

Korea. In August 2011 a South Korean pastor died in a suspected poison needle attack after smuggling runaways from North Korea to safety. Christians in North Korea are thought to number at least 400,000, but they are cruelly persecuted: they live in constant danger of imprisonment and torture in the regime’s notoriously brutal labour camps, and even of execution. Those who try to help them escape across the border do so at the risk of their lives. Pray for deliverance for our brothers and sisters in their distress, and that the Lord will protect those Christians in neighbouring countries who reach out to help them.

African films

It so happens that I have been watching two feature films about Africa  recently. The first was the new film Africa United which I got to see for review purposes but held back on a sit the themes are not quite what was expected, in fact throughout the film there is a slightly unpleasant but perhasp essential theme (hence the 12A certificate) which will put some people off what is in many respects a fine pro-Africa film. It is the story of five pretty different African kids making their way from East Africa to South Africa to see the world cup. The format enables one to see a very positive picture of Africa though in now way glossing over the immense problems the continent faces. A series of animated sequences pepper the film. You may well want to check it out in the cinema or, better, later on DVD.

Then the week after that my wife got hold of the 2009 biopic Invictus on DVD, as it had been spoken of highly by South African friends. Again it is a well constructed film built around a world cup (this time the 1995 rugby world cup). It allows you to get a flavour of the rule of Nelson Mandela. Clearly Mandela was a very astute politician and a man who who has suffered greatly for his convictions. Very moving (though the way they drew out the cup final against New Zealand nearly turned me right against it).

Both have decent though not outstanding soundtracks which may appeal.

Both are very much humanist films and so have to taken in with a large pinch of salt. The poem Vicorian poem Invictus that gives the mandela film its name is the one that ends with what to Christian ears are quite alarming words "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul". If Africa tries to go forward with that philosophy thing can only get worse.

Good hair

Rhodri and I went to see the film Good hair the other day. This fascinating film is a documentary feature film starring the (usually foul mouthed - but not here) African American comedian Chris Rock. It all started when his daughter said she wished she had good hair.

The film is an exploration of the African American hair industry (20% of the population 80% of the money spent on hair products) with a hairdressers competition in Atlanta, Georgia as the central theme. From relaxing hair with dangerous chemicals through to the use of expensive weaves made from hair sacrificed to Hindu gods, the whole story is a weird and wonderful one. If you see this film you will never look at a black woman's hair in the same way!

A 12A, there has to be a brief warning but for the most part this film managed to be decent, very entertaining, quite funny and very much out of left field. Rock is desperate not to be judgmental but it is difficult.

Fascinating.

PS Before anyone else comments, yes the irony of being there as a white male who is bald was not lost on me.

Official trailer here.

Lion King

All 8 of us (Sibyl's very much part of the crew these days) headed into town yesterday to see Lion King. I am not a great fan of the musical genre but this was pretty impressive stuff with brilliant sets, good singing, decent tunes, some great lines, a fine story and wonderful percussion. Other arts such as puppetry and ballet were drawn on to present a stunning show, quite African in many ways.

Lion King has been part of our lives since the cartoon came out when Rhodri was eight. He knows the dialogue almost by heart (this one differed a little from the cartoon with scripted ad libs, etc). Apart from the underlying humanist outlook and one or two jarring misjudgements with the dialogue, it was great to be in a packed theatre with an enthusiastic audience to see a top rated West End show - a rare and expensive treat.

See here.

Dung Beetles

I was talking to a South African friend of mine about dung beetles the other day. Here is a National Geographic mini-documentary on them. How ever long they have been around they are a remarkable part of God's creation.