Welcome to Paradise

Paradise is a garden and we’re in a huge and beautiful one. 18^th March was the first day it hasn’t tipped down with rain continuously so we enjoyed our surroundings more.

Sarah led worship this morning. Before the meeting started we played through some songs. People started coming in and sat down. They looked so weary that we played as sweetly as we could for them. It is such a privilege to be able to come here and bless these wonderful people.

The first part of the meeting was Steve and Rob of Partners talking about their Theology of Mission, which is much less boring than it sounds. Partners is a long way away from any traditional image of a missionary organisation, and in the discussions that morning you could see individual Christians who knew they had been called to this work, but who are being changed by it. Old religious ideas are being stripped away and all that is left is being a follower of Jesus. This is radical stuff.

After lunch we practiced a song with a Karen family. It’s a farewell song so we’ll do it on Sunday right at the end of the retreat. Sarah says the first time she heard it was when she was about to head back to England from her first trip Thailand, and it made her weep because she didn’t want to leave all her friends here. Tomorrow we’ll do Still in English and Karen, and they’re going to sort out a Karen font so the words can be put on the screen.   

We didn’t do anything much for Red Nose day, but Ben submitted to being photographed.

Oh, and here are all our veg sculptures.

From Left to Right: Jay, Ben, Hazel, Jackie, Sarah and Susanna. Ask them about the symbolism when you see them!

Most of us went and sat by the pool or napped in our rooms, but Jay spent the rest of the afternoon strolling round the gardens taking pictures. He saw:

Orchids

Palms

Topiary (lots  of topiary - apart from elephants there were rabbits, dolphins, sea serpents, dinosaurs and even a representation of the solar system)

The evening was a Talent Show, which was much as you’d expect – a mixture of the hopeful, the brilliant, the silly and the awful, and everyone had a good time. Boon Song was compere.

His day job is working on the development projects, and among other things he has worked out a way of rearing pigs so they don’t smell. Now that's got to be a benefit. Jay sang one of his old songs from when he played in a band. It went down well, though he did fluff a chord change. Ben’s contribution was Home Sweet Home Alabama, and as soon as he played the first couple of bars all the Americans in the room whooped and cheered and started clapping along. Good choice Ben!

Please pray for Jay's ankles. They've been heavily targetted by biting insects and are also a bit swollen and stiff, making walking more difficult. You really don't want to see a photograph. More news as we have time to write and a working Interweb connection.