Bird Flu

Treasure

Tell me - what really gets you excited? What moves your heart and makes you get up and do something?

God, Jesus and Christianity are often portrayed as being boring, with "cheesy" posters and life-sapping rituals. I have been creating some literature to give to students and I have realised that I personally dislike those things as well, and I don't want to encourage someone else to get involved in them.

Passion and excitement come from the heart, and the things that I value most are the things that get me most excited. I love travelling and having adventures, and these really get me excited. Freedom is something I value a lot, and so I am always looking for a form of Christianity that has this freedom. True Christianity is something I can get very excited about - Jesus opened a door for us to go through and spend eternity in heaven with him. Jesus said "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven", and "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". That's the kind thing I want others to get involved in.

Pig

Yesterday I ate гравче тавче (Macedonian beans), which also contained bacon; this bacon, I discovered, came from a pig I'd met before once:

Dune

The sun was twinkling off the Adriatic sea. Distant clouds added to the beauty of the scene. The water beckoned invitingly to my English friend, Robert, and I as we walked down the rocky path to the beach. February, and only two days before I'd been in snow, and here I was taking my shoes off and paddling in the sea (swimming would still have been rather foolish!). And the sand dune. Veering off up the rock face at a seemingly impossible angle for several hundred metres. The challenge was laid down. We headed at a leisurely pace towards it, knowing that it would take about an hour. What an opportunity to relax and talk about the things that matter most to us, about our relationships with God and what we are learning.

The dune was even more interesting up close. Grateful that we had carried nothing with us, and leaving our shoes at the bottom, we scrambled up this sandy incline, marvelling at the views. The descent was even faster - I surfed down the sand on my bare feet: I can recommend this form of travel!

We retraced the path along the beach, continuing our conversation, arriving back in time for the beauty of the sun setting.

Snow Way Out

"Why would anyone want to take an 8 hour overnight bus journey to Albania to have a rest?" I thought to myself. Yet that was exactly what was I doing. As the bus wound up over the snow covered road, I let myself relax. I had been feeling tired since before Christmas, and had returned to Macedonia from England still feeling rather jaded. I had thought that getting back into things in Skopje would help me feel revived, but I needed to get away and get some fresh vision. So strong was the feeling that I should go away, I went almost immediately, making space in my commitments (the students were themselves on holiday), throwing some things in a back-pack, and making my way to the bus station, not even knowing if there was a bus to Albania that day.

So here I was, heading through the snowy border at midnight. Even one of the border guards was asleep and couldn't be woken! And at 3am I arrived in Elbasan, with a cold wind whistling down the deserted street, watching the bus bounce off over the bumpy roads. Nick and Sar welcomed me in (they were expecting me), and thus began my battery recharging!