Out and about with Bob and Tracie

The chairman of Christian Vision is Bob Edmiston. He and his wife, Tracie arrived for the weekend to attend the Carrie and Deric's wedding, so we were able to take them around some of the beautiful coastline surrounding Cape Town.

Noordhoek Beach, is a vast expanse of protected beach on the Atlantic side of the peninsula. It has few buildings along its edge, except for some immaculate thatched homes. The beach was the location of the filming of Ryan's Daughter and is the perfect location for horse riding.

Overlooking Noordhoek Beach is the start of Chapman's Peak Drive, which was carved out of the cliff by convicts in 1915. (Interestingly it is also known as the M6!) It was closed for remedial work in 2000, reopening in 2004 as a toll road, to recoup some of the expense involved.

The road twists and turns along the coast and at one spot the cliff overhangs the road forming a canopy. You can just make it out in this photo (the dark horizontal shadow just before a piece of light cliff face).There are viewing places at regular intervals, allowing cars to pull off the road.

The road eventually drops down into Hout Bay, a sheltered fishing village, where you can take boat trips to see the seal colony living nearby. But there is a rather strange sight perched on an upright boulder, facing the seals; it is a bronze leopard, placed their as a memorial to the leopards who once roamed the area.

In hout Bay we then saw another curious sight - a very rusty boat's cabin for sale!

Finally, as we drove back near Cape Town harbour we noticed an enormous oil rig platform, which must have been brought in for repairs.

The guide book doesn't mention any of these structures!

South African Wedding

Carrie and Deric were married on Saturday at a pretty Anglican thatched roof church in Durbanville.

The building was almost burnt to the ground a few years ago, but it has now been fully restored in the same style, with modern lighting. A music trio of two violins and a 'cello, played before the service and for the hymn, 'How great thou art'. Carrie and Deric then exited the church to the modern song, 'Signed, sealed, delivered...' - very appropriate!

Their wedding cake was layers of very rich chocolate sponge, some with nuts, covered with white chocolate, but we were too full from the meal to really enjoy it.

The reception was held at Meerendal Wine Estate, a fabulous setting, if a bit chilly for the ladies! This is Carrie and Deric with Oliver and Brigitte, her parents and our colleagues at Christian Vision Africa.

Three beautiful sisters; Melanie, Carrie and Donna...

...with equally stunning voices. Donna (on the right) introduced us to 'the law of the first born', in a very witty speech and surprised Carrie by asking her to join them in singing 'Goin to the chapel...' with harmonies.

They are a very talented musical family. Oliver first came from South Africa to UK, as part of singing group at various Christian events. After meeting and marrying Brigitte they sang together, then the girls joined their parents as they sang as a family in UK and abroad.

At the wedding, various family members sang, solos, duets and group items, giving a personal touch to the evening's entertainment.

World Youth Choir

On Thursday evening we travelled into the city to see the World Youth Choir, singing at St George's Cathedral.

This choir of 80 young singers (ages 17-26) from 33 countries join together for one month every year to prepare for their tour. This year it is South Africa's turn to host them and Cape Town was the first of 10 concerts over 10 days in the country.

The two photos show the contrast between the two parts of the programme. The first part being classical music, which was technically superb, but rather serious. The second part was a wide range of traditional African songs, in five tribal languages, plus Afrikaans. It was full of life and energy, with much dancing and smiling, and I think they really enjoyed it. You can guess which half we enjoyed the most too.

I videoed several of the songs and was hoping to import a small clip into the blog, but it doesn't look as though I will be able to do that, so I hope the still photo conveys something of the vitality of the second half of the programme.

Kids Praise

This is me on the right with 'Kid's Praise', an inspiring group of mostly teenagers from Mitchell's Plain, in Cape Town. The dance troupe was formed when many of them were a lot younger. They visit churches, schools and participate in community events, giving glory to God and raising awareness for HIV/AIDS through the vehicle of dance.

The conference was a watershed for them, as they announced the breaking up of the group to be able to take their message further afield. In this way the founders, Jacquie and Abigail are passing on their knowledge to the next generation of leaders.

Tutu - the dog, not the Archbishop!

The is Tutu, an Airedale Terrier, with a very docile disposition. After the conference, 17 of us stayed in his home! The large house was being 'house-sat' by one of the organisers, while the family were away. They had very kindly agreed to us invading their spaceous residence overnight.

Another 'tutu' story from the conference was told by Karen Kerr, National Co-ordinator. She introduced her husband Ian, who along with other spouses, worked tirelessly before, during and after the conference, very often unnoticed by many of us. Karen said that Ian wears a 'fourfour', as she feeds him too well!

This is Ian and Tim, preparing for yet another airport trip.

Flags and Banners

I was introduced to flags in Christian worship many years ago, attending workshops to learn how to use them, what their colours represented and the Biblical foundation for using them.

For the non-dancer they are a great way to get moving in worship; the material takes the attention off the user and helps to keep the focus on the One we worship, rather than ourselves. I made some flags experimenting with different sizes and weights of material, and in my church encouraged people to use them as an expression of their worship. Sometimes I helped to choreograph simple pieces for presentation at services and Alpha courses, and was part of joint churches events through the streets and in public venues.

When we lived in Brazil I planned to take a flag to a conference in Australia, so bought material and tried to locate a wooden dowelling stick, to no avail. However, I found that a bamboo cane, from the garden centre served the purpose, and so worked on my piece in preparation. Unfortunately, the stick was too long to go into my suitcase, even by reducing its length, so I carried the rolled up flag as an extra to my hand luggage.

The journey to Brisbaine, entailed catching four planes and took over 24hrs, so there were times when I regretting making the flag and constantly worried about leaving it in an airport lounge, or having someone trip over it, breaking the precious stick. But those concerns were nothing compared to the anxious moments waiting to declare my 'wood product' at the customs in Australia, imagining that all the previous effort was about to be wasted as my bamboo stick was confiscated.

Unfurling the flag hesitantly, the customs official asked me where I bought it and then examined it, finally giving her permission for me to keep it. What a relief!

When we left the conference we were travelling to two other places in Australia before making the long journey back to Rio de Janeiro, so Andy insisted that I donate the bamboo stick to the gardens; after all I could always buy another stick back in Rio.

The flags we used at the CDFSA conference were huge, with extending plastic poles - rather like a fishing rod. The material is silk and moves beautifully. Each one had a unique design, representing one of the names of God. This one is the Lion of Judah Resting - YHWH self-existent, eternal. The background is actually purple, not royal blue, as in this photo. It portrays majesty, strength and courage at rest.

David Stanfield the inventor and visionary teacher of banners internationally is standing on the left (yes, he has half a beard - another story!). David is a flamboyant character, which you see by his colourful shirts, but he had great sensitivity and awareness in worship. You can find out more at http://www.worshipbanners.org/ . Georgie Brodie, a tiny lady with a big intercessor's heart is next to him. She personified 'My Utmost for His Highest' (Oswald Chambers), lead a workshop on spiritual warfare and also taught in the main sessions.

Banners were also used at the AGM for CDFSA, which was held one evening. This is prayer for the national committee after they were elected to serve for the next two years.

The word 'banner', is used in scripture, rather than flag. A banner is anything which is lifted up to declare the word of the Lord. It is a physical act of a spiritual truth; the material itself does not hold any significance, and infact almost anything can be used as a banner.

One time, I helped to organise a special children's event at Walsall Football Club, as part of the year 2000 celebrations. More than 100 children ran onto the pitch carrying a large piece of packing card above their heads, which had been painted red on both sides. We did a simple routine using the song by Doug Horley 'We want to see Jesus lifted high, a banner that flies across the land...', Then the pieces of card were placed on the ground to spell out the name JESUS in bold red letters across the pitch. It was a way of declaring the truth in our town and the banner had great spiritual significance.

Having recently not been involved much with banners, I found the banner workshops reinforced and extended my understanding of their use and renewed a desire to use them more in worship. David's emphasis was on using them corporately, so that together they bring unity and order. These were aspects that I had thought little about until now. He also used them prophetically, demonstrating how diffferent designs can be used in prayer. I found this very powerful and experienced such a release in my own life through one particular example. Again, there is no power in the banner itself, but combined with the prayer, the act of raising it up and using it as a declaration of the presence of God, it releases spiritual power into the situation.

Christian Dance Conference

Last week I attended the Christian Dance Fellowship of South Africa's National Conference, held in Kloof, Durban. It was my first time to the East Coast of South Africa, which is much warmer than Cape Town in winter.

Here are some of the colourful and exotic wall hangings which were decorating the main hall of the boarding school, where the conference was held.

The conference theme was "...a Garden Enclosed", taking verses from Song of Songs "...Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat its choicest fruits..." In our joint sessions we were encouraged to both individually and together prepare our hearts and lives to become the 'Bride of Christ'.

The imagery of the garden ran throughout the week with "Oh, I pray let the north and south wind blow upon my garden, that it's spices may flow out..." with many sensory illustrations through movement, inspiring us to allow the perfume of Jesus to both penetrate and be evident in our lives.

It was very creative, with challenges to think and move outside our comfort zone, but done in a non-threatening and safe environment of learning and growing.