Cluster Map

I am feeling very pleased with myself as I have set up what is known as a 'cluster map' of visitors to this site - and I did it without intervention from Andy!

You should be able to see it on the right. It shows the locations of the people who read this blog - You! Thank you for frequenting my site - I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Snow in Cape Town!

The recent cold front has brought snow onto the Hottentots Holland Mountains, which are on the far side of the plain which makes up the vast residential area of Cape Town.


Today is the first sunny day after the wind and rain of the last few days and I noticed the snow on the tops of the mountains, when I went out for a run. It is the first time I have seen snow at the end of June!

Pear Melon

These are pear melons, which we bought at the fruit and veg market recently. Hopefully the apple shows you the size of them. The flesh is yellow, like a honeydew melon, but firmer, more like a pear. There are lots of tiny seeds in the centre, just like a melon, but we felt they made the taste a little bitter. The motley yellow skin peels easily and we chopped them up to put in a fruit salad. The taste, although similar to a cross between a melon and a pear, is a bit odd.

Longest Day - Shortest Day

I have always been fascinated by the seasons which are a result of the tilt of the Earth and its rotation around the Sun.

Today is the longest 'day' in northern hemisphere and the shortest 'day' in the southern hemisphere. Of course the day is still 24 hours, but there are the greatest and least number of daylight hours respectively on this date. Simultaneously, there are the least and the greatest number of darkness! They are known as the Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice, and are reversed on December 21st each year.


On the Equator there are always 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness and that number begins to increase or decrease the further away from the Equator you go. So, at the imaginary line of latitude called the Arctic Circle (66.5 degrees north of the Equator), tonight there will be 24 hours of daylight, and at the same time there will be 24 hours of darkness at the Antarctic Circle (66.5 degrees south of the Equator). However, the Poles have been either in total light or total darkness for the past six weeks and will not see any darkness/daylight until into August.


In England, the Summer Solstice is always a news feature, due to the fascinating structure known as Stonehenge; a circle of huge stones erected several thousand years ago and believed to be a place of ancient Pagan worship connected with the 'Sun' god. The Sun will rise at just before 5am and set just before 21.30, giving more than 16 hours of daylight. However, summer temperatures are currently quite low, due to recent heavy rainfall.


Here in Cape Town, although today is the Winter Solstice, the temperatures are a balmy 26 degrees with clear blue skies. The sun rose at 7.50 this morning and will set at 17.45, giving just under 10 hours of daylight. The nights, however, are very cold especially with no cloud cover, but it rarely reaches freezing point and only then on high ground. I have been told that on the occasions when there has been snow on Table Mountain, people rush to the top to experience this rare phenomenon.


This sunset photo was taken last month, when my mum came to visit us. I think it was colder that day than it is today.

Radio Christian Voice, new site in Lusaka

Here are some photos of the construction site for the relocation of Radio Christian Voice into Lusaka.


This is the main entrance with the two pillars forming a covered portico for vehicles to enter and exit through.


This is part of the front of the building, with the coloured facing bricks just starting to be laid on the outside.

The ground floor of three two-storey residential blocks for some staff to live on site. These will be two bedroom apartments.
The foundations of the second residential block behind the studios. There will also be three bungalows for senior staff.

Mount Zion and Sanje Hill

One of the highest points on the Christian Vision Farm is Mount Zion. I posted a photo of the steps leading up to the transmission tower on 'May Day in Zambia'. Recently, Andy managed to get hold of the keys to enter, so that I could take in the views from the top.

I don't know why the name 'Mount Zion' was given to this elevated point to the north of the site. Perhaps it resembles the temple mount in Jerusalem, which was known by the same name in the time of King David.

There are hymns about 'going up to Mount Zion', which are usually talking about the New Jerusalem in St John's vision given in Revelation, in the Bible. Perhaps those who laid the hundreds of crazy paving steps to the transmitter, sang songs about climbing up to Mount Zion and so it was named.

Whatever the reason, I think it is quite fitting, and the views right across the farm and out towards Lusaka are wonderful; miles and miles of uncultivated bush, making you feel very small indeed.

I took this photo of Andy standing on Mount Zion that day. It was approaching sunset and the western sky was already changing colour. If you look closely you will see a little blip on the horizon - that is Sanje Hill, a few miles away.

Andy left for UK on Saturday, so on Sunday I invited John and Antonio to climb Sanje Hill with me. Antonio declined, preferring to rest after an extra long week, but John was rather glad of a change of scene and the challenge of a climb.

Andy and I had climbed Sanje Hill in 1994 but I couldn't remember exactly how to approach it, so we drove towards the mound, parking the car nearby. There wasn't a direct path, but the bush was scorched, as though there had been a recent fire. We thought that perhaps local people set fire to the scrub to make charcoal for their fires at home. The undergrowth was not dense and quite easy to walk through. We both carried a stick to help us with the climb, and to move infront of us - just in case there was anything on the path.

As we started to climb we suddenly came across a man lying under a rocky area. He was a bit startled, but we introduced ourselves and said why we were there, asking if he knew the best way to the top. His name was Patrick and he proceeded to show us the path and then took us right to the top. It wasn't far, and although a bit steep in places, only took us about 30 minutes to reach the summit. I'm sure it would have taken us much longer if we hadn't had Patrick to help us.

Sanje Hill is an outcrop of a mineral containing significant iron ore. It is very heavy and I recently found out that it may soon be mined. A factory is being built for the processing of the iron ore and discussions have already taken place to discuss the effects on the environment and to those living nearby. It will mean blasting with its resultant dust, together with frequent heavy vehicles using the local roads.




The view from the top was wonderful, as I remembered, and we picked out the various sites around the farm. The road out to the Sable Sugar Plantation and factory towards the Kafuwe river was very clear and the thin blue line of river in the distance was just visible to us, but is difficult to pick out in a photograph.

Patrick is Nyanja, but spoke quite good English, and had been living on the hill for about a month, consulting with spirits. We asked him lots of questions trying to understand why he was on the hill and came to conclusion that he was training to be a witch doctor.

We asked him whether he had heard of Jesus Christ and what his understanding of God was. He was open to listening to us, but we are not sure he understood our explanations. He asked if we had brought him food from the farm. Unfortunately we didn't have any food with us, except a sweet, but shared our water with him, wondering where he could possibly get water from on this barren hill. When asked about food he said that local people brought him food and he traded with them. We asked what he traded and he said he cast out demons!

We told him about Christian Vision, that people who could speak Nyanja would be able to communicate with him better than us and would help him. He allowed me to take photos of him and wasn't afraid of the camera. He came from a village to the west, where Nyanja-speaking people lived but he didn't have a family. I would have liked to have talked for much longer and learnt more about him, but I was conscious of the time, now 3pm and thought we should be heading back.

Patrick took us down Sanje Hill, via an easier route and pointed out another road we could have taken. He was very open to us going back to see him, but I would like to take a Nyanja-speaking Zambian and some food to give him. I felt this was a real opportunity and made us realize how much work is still to be done to connect meaningfully with the local people near the farm.

Church on the farm

Ever since Christian Vision started working in the farm in 1994, there has been a church on the site. In the early days farm workers, their families and CV staff gathered in one of the barns to worship and pray together regularly. A church; a community of believers, who were reaching out to their neighbours with the love of Christ, was born.

Over the years some staff have chosen to travel into town and join established churches there, but there has always been a core group meeting on the farm to meet with local people. The venue has changed many times and since the development of the bible college, which is called Christian Vocation Training College, or CVTC for short, a purpose-built chapel is well used right throughout the week.

When we are in Zambia, we usually meet with this church on Sundays. Now it is run by the college students, which gives them a training opportunity to experience some the demands of running a church. The college staff do not get involved, except to visit occasionally.

Many local people are part of the church and this is the 'Praise Team' who help to lead the worship. Most of them are teenagers and they share the singing and playing of instruments (out of photo).

Usually the songs are in the Bemba language and sung with great enthusiasm and dancing. There are no hymn books or words reproduced on an overhead projector. As a visitor, I just clap and move along to the rythym. There is plenty of scope to praise God in your own language, as the volume is quite loud.

The service starts with an interactive Bible Study before the worship time, then the children go to their own groups, whilst the adults listen to a sermon, by one of the students. This is always translated into English or Bemba, depending on those present.

Here the children are being prayed for before leaving for their groups. It always makes me smile when they pray against 'a spirit of naughtiness', so that they behave in their classes!

I took this just as they turned to leave, so you could see their beautiful faces and 'Sunday best' outfits. When you meet them playing in the road such clothes are never seen, in fact they look like urchins, with dirty torn T-shirts and often not wearing shoes. The brown sandy soil quickly ruins clothes, so children wear their oldest, scruffiest garments to play in and do their chores. They also have a school uniform, which is also quickly removed upon reaching home. It is easy to form an uncomplete picture of life for these families, which although tough, is not without the basics. They don't have much but they are happy and largely stress-free.