Good Morning to all,

It is another blustery day on the English Channel here in Deal (name of the city), Kent (name of the county), United Kingdom. Since Sharon last posted I have upgraded my accommodations from this very interesting bed and breakfast to the Royal Hotel. I am staying in Admiral Lord Nelson's room with a private balcony and an amazing view of the English Channel. The sea is about 20 feet from my room and the waves are continually breaking. It is incredible to be here. Winston Churchill’s room is down the hall, along with Lord Wellington and someone named Hamilton. For more on the hotel, check out their website at http://www.theroyalhotel.com/.

I have finally gotten back my cell phone or as they say here “my mobile” from Peter Holmes’ car. I left it in his car on Sunday morning and he left early from the service for London to take Archbishop Kolini to the airport. He then had business in another place, so he mailed my phone back to me. My other piece of checked luggage with all of my clothes for England is supposed to arrive today. And I now have a working power convertor to run all of my electrical devices.

I have had quite a full “programme” here meeting many of the members of Christ Church Deal. On this past Saturday (3/15), Christopher Holmes, Peter and Mary Holmes’ son fetched me from Heathrow Airport in London and drove me the two hours down to Deal in County Kent. Christopher is a 28 year old single man how has the very best qualities of my good friends, Danny and Joshua K. If you know these two friends of mine, needless to say, Christopher is amazing. He is an integral part of Christ Church Deal, a committed man of God and a brilliant philosopher and teacher. We got along quite well as he drove me about over the weekend to various appointments. I have extended to him an invitation to come to Mobile and teach us. He is a gifted teacher. I had to use all of my brain power to track with him, however. As we discussed, Christ Church and Christopher shared the story of his journey, he told me that his definition of a Christian is someone who has not only made a profession of faith, but who is also able to “give life” to others. The opening line of Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life is, “It’s not about you.” I pray that God will give us more of a capacity to contain this truth in our hearts.

On Saturday evening, as Sharon mentioned to you, I attended a solid concert by a rather large brass band in the town of Dover at a St Edmond Catholic School. Much to my pleasure, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini was in attendance and received over $1200 for the orphans in Rwanda as the result of a charity concert earlier this year by this band. Susan Williams, Peter’s colleague, plays the clarinet in the band. It was quite a nice evening and I hardly noticed my sleep deprivation as the numbers that the band played were stellar.

The next morning Peter and Susan retrieved me from the Bed and Breakfast for a early morning meeting before the worship service on Palm Sunday at Christ Church Deal. To know the British is to know the meaning of the word intensity. And in my opinion, Peter and Susan are more intense than the norm. My time with them was rich. We discussed my research in Rwanda, some of programs of Christ Church Deal, and my desire to start a church in the next year at home in Mobile. Both Peter and Susan were very supportive of my vision to begin a church back home which would be a safe place for the hurting and broken. As God leads, you will hear more about St. Bartholomew’s Church in Mobile. Both Peter and Susan each shared with me an exhortation. Peter said, “Finish your PhD this year and do not allow yourself to become distracted with this effort.” Susan went on to say, “You may have to lock yourself away for six months to get it done. Tell your family and everyone else that you are not available for anything until it is done.”

From this meeting, Peter and Mary took me on to the Palm Sunday Service. Christ Church Deal meets in a lovely old church which has been converted into a community center. The meeting begins with a fairly long “coffee and tea time.” Here they say, “Do you want a coffee or tea?” The entire meeting is quite casual. There are some announcements, a time to recognize birthdays, a short sermon, and a time for praise and worship. The worship team is in the back of the church and the focus of the church is on a large wooden cross in the front. The people are extraordinarily friendly and thoroughly committed to the journey of becoming more like Christ. There was time for praying for each other. On this Sunday, a family was prayed for that is going to an eastern European country as missionaries. At the end of the meeting, the parish was invited to go forward to pray in response to the message given by Peter. The sermon was on the text which discussed the death of Jesus and that he was placed in a new tomb. Peter discussed the universal truth of death and resurrection in the Christian walk with an emphasis on death—and how terrible painful death is.

Following the service, Mary Holmes drove me over to a lovely German couple’s home for lunch. Ralf, Sabine, Anne-Lena, and Laura shared with me a delicious lunch of meats, cheeses, and bread. The climax was an incredible crème brule over strawberries. This couple moved to Deal from Bavaria, Germany just to be a part of Christ Church Deal. My time with them was blessed and I strongly sensed the presence of the LORD in their home. It was over way too quick. My good friend, Christopher, then fetched me from Ralf and Sabine’s and helped me to move from the B and B to the Royal Hotel. The Royal is a very traditional English hotel. The staff is stellar and the food quite good. In an English hotel, breakfast is typically included in the price of the room. Each morning, I am greeted with a breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit, fried bread, toast, baked beans, yogurt, tea, various juices, and “black pudding.” Black pudding is made from pig’s blood and other things. I have passed on this latter item.

Upon settling in to the Royal, I departed for a short ride down the same street to Simon and Jenelle’s. They live in an amazing cottage that was built a couple of hundred years ago at least. Simon is completing his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. He is an amazing young man who moved here from Bromley (south London) to be a part of Christ Church Deal. He has a powerful story of healing and redemption in his life. He is married to a beautiful American from Portland, Oregon. Jenelle is a young woman wise beyond years. I am trying to convince them to move to Mobile so that Simon can go into practice with me at Castlebrook. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

On Monday morning, (3/17), I walked down to the shops in the village. This part of Deal is a bit like downtown Fairhope, Alabama, except that any number of the houses was built in the 1600’s. It has a bit of the feel of EPCOT in Walt Disney World. I was able to buy some very necessary toiletries and some clothes as I waited on my luggage to arrive. Fortunately I will be able to turn in my receipts for these items to the airline and get reimbursed. I then visited with Mary Holmes. Interestingly, she told me that she never requests to get on a visitor’s programme. According to Mary, I am the first person she has asked to meet with. We had quite a good time. Mary is an American from the Midwest. She is able to bring a unique perspective to the happenings here. She is very astute and has a passion for Jesus and wholeness.

From my time with Mary, I went on to an afternoon meeting with Ruth, lovely pharmacist who is also completing a PhD. She is conducting research on the process of change occurring in the lives of the people of Christ Church Deal. She is a gifted, bright, and passionate wife and mother of two. Her husband is Robert and I enjoyed the opportunity of meeting with him late Tuesday night. Robert is the appointed leader of Christ Church Deal, somewhat like a Chairman of Deacons or a Senior Warden. Christ Church Deal’s leadership team is co-ed and includes Ruth and Robert and four others. Robert is an outstanding man with a heart for Jesus and hurting people. As an aside, Peter announced on Palm Sunday that he and Mary purchased a home on Tiki Island near Galveston, Texas. Mary will spend considerable time there, while Peter will split his time between Tiki Island, Deal and Texas. As you may imagine this announcement was difficult for the congregation here. It appears that a number here are being asked to step into new roles. It is clearly an Elijah-Elisha thing in my opinion.

Between my visits with Ruth and Robert, I stepped into a pocket of heaven as I visited with Richard and Ann. This couple live in a beautiful home which faces the sea. Both Ann and Ruth were in Rwanda this past year. Robert and Ann ooze the presence of Jesus. Over the last several years, they have opened their home to over 40 people (not at the same time thankfully) to live with them. These individuals were from all over the world from places such as New Zealand and Egypt. Ann served a beautiful meal which was brought to a conclusion with a dessert served at Eaton (the school attended by the Royals here in England). It was meringue, whipped cream and strawberries mixed together. It was surely “a food of the gods.” My visit with Richard and Ann was all too short. This lovely couple also moved here to be a part of Christ Church Deal. They used to live about one hour from Deal in a house built in 1699. They attended a church where Erasmus preached.

Upon returning to the Royal on Monday evening, I learned that my red duffel bag had made it to Deal. I was able to charge the digital camera, but then the power convertor stopped working. Tuesday morning was then a time to secure someone to repair the power convertor. A very nice and very single man came to my rescue. His name is Carl and he is member of the church here. I invited him to come over to Alabama and introduce him to some of our Southern ladies. He seemed quite interested in the offer. Carl, with the help of an electrician in the town of Sandwich, determined that the power adaptor was fine to use in England without the use of the power convertor. I am hoping that Mark will bring over a new power convertor when he crosses the pond tomorrow.
I also met with James, a local fisherman in the congregation, and Sara and her mother, Jenni. Sara wants to go to Rwanda for a season and work with the young girls there. On Tuesday evening, I shared a meal with Ray and Fiona. They have a beautiful 18 month old daughter named Lily as well as an 18 year old son named Daniel. Fiona is from extreme northeast Scotland and is one of the individuals featured in Peter’s book, Changed Lives.

After leaving Ray and Fiona’s home, I caught up with Simon and Jenelle again and invited them to join us in Alabama next year when Simon completes his PhD. My prayer is that he would come and join with me at Castlebrook and help with starting St. Bart’s in Mobile.

I will share more with you later about my new friend, James, as well as Sara and Jenni. Please pray that I recover the other piece of luggage. It was to have come today, but as of 11:30 PM, it has not arrived. I am to leave at 8:00 AM in the morning for London and then fly over to Brussels for the trip to Kigali on Friday.