Can I, a mere mortal creation of God, improve the Truth??? The splendour of Truth, handed down since the time of Jesus and the Apostles??????
Original sin is to want to play God...
Excuse me Sir! or Mam, I want to be God! Get out of my way please!
You see the point is that these rules were made 2000 years ago and are not up to date..
The world wasn't overcrowded so of course artificial birth control, abortion, Euthanasia and Divorce are all a part of My right to choose.
What God said is out of date...
I know better because I have studied and I am a PHD in History etc etc etc....
ALSO a very very very important point..... I have the Bible in my language and can read it and interpret it any way I like...I am smart and why should I believe what has been handed down by fuddy duddy old men and women from yesteryear????
If you implicitly believe the Bible then let me ask you a few questions about your obedience to it and especially to those red letter high lighted words of Jesus Christ Himself.
Mark Ch 16 verse 15 say very plainly.... “ Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to very creature!”
Did you do that and are you doing that??????
Jesus said to forsake all and give up everything and follow Him... Did you and are you doing that???
“Go sell everything you have and give to the poor and come and follow me!” This is not a suggestion but a command.
There are scores of other points but let these suffice for now.
In Jesus' Church every Priest, every Friar, every Nun, has to forsake all and do as they are told by the chain of command.
I as a lay person am not expected to do this although I have opted for this all my Christian life.
I did not know about the Division of full time and part time followers set up by Jesus and the Apostles. So I opted for the full time...
Now hopefully you are beginning to see just how foolish and dangerous it is to act independently and not come under the Umbrella of Christ's ordained Church.
This recent event in Baghdad brings this out very clearly..
These people did not die a clean death as in a beheading or guillotining where death is instantaneous, but slow and painful from mortal wounds which left them bleeding and dying in terrible pain.
We are playing a very dangerous game...
That is why Jesus prayed for us all to be one..
What a stupid and silly prayer for Jesus to pray unless it was a distinct possibility..
Yes for this prayer of Christ's to be answered there has to be obedience on the part of the believers.
No hot shot individual... My way is right!!!
If you watch the You Tube Movie on the life of Saint Padre Pio of Petrocina, you will see how important obedience and submission is especially when it seems so unfair.
I re watched this free movie during the Halloween celebrations and am always moved by it and encouraged too.
Mjk
Being a Roman Catholic...
Of course there are many aspects of being a Roman Catholic...BUT...
This came to me very strongly today on All Saints Day and also my Names Day.. Michael...But no Angel... Yet....Ha!!!
There is only one real Reason to be a Roman Catholic...
It's all about Jesus and has nothing REPEAT NOTHING to do with the Priests good or bad... People that you may or may not meet after Holy Mass, good or bad..Fellowship good or bad...
It's all about Jesus in the Eucharist and also about His Holy Virgin Mother and my Mother too...
People including yourself and myself will let you badly down from time to time and if your faith is in them, then you will go into a tail spin and crash...That's a promise!!!
If you are a Catholic because you want to have good experiences with People, then become a Protestant. But beware because they do not last... Why???? Because they are Human and crash and split ad nausea.
I want Jesus and more and more of Him and His Holy Mother....
This has nothing to do with good or bad examples of other Christians..
It is all about having a very deepening ever deepening, no standing still.. kind of I've arrived... But ever ever deepening relationship with HIM . Hour by hour and day by day....
If you want really good and reliable friends then choose all or any of the Saints... They like Jesus and His Mother will never let you down.
If you have a good priest or a good friends and good fellowship, then that is a bonus....
Do not ever ever ever put your trust in them though because that is all human stuff and can go terribly wrong...
One more thing
Being a Catholic is being part of a Theocracy.. God is absolute Boss and works down through the chain of Command..
Pope, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, deacons and last laity
Absolutely no Democracy..
God set it up and He knows exactly what He is doing.
We little gods trying to be better than God will always want to say we know better..
Rubbish!!! He knows better and What He set up cannot and never will be changed to suit some democratic opinion.
Be very very very thankful to have found a Rock so much higher than you or me.. Thank God for that Rock.. He changes not...
Peace and God bless you... Try very hard not to be your own god!!!
That is what original sin is all about... The Devil offered Adam and Eve a kind of an equal or higher position than the Almighty God.. “Ye shall be as Gods...!!”
mjk
Where does one begin???
They say rather obviously that the very best place to begin is at the beginning.
I am writing this with two very precious young ladies in mind.
One was the subject of great cruelty at my hands when I dealt harshly with her and her Mum some 18 years ago.
At the time I thought that I had done the right thing but the consequences that followed my action produced great and unnecessary pain especially for the young girl of 11.
Now this extremely precious and unique young lady in her thirties, hates religion and wants no part in it.
Mercifully they have both forgiven me but want no part of my beliefs..
Under the circumstances that is totally understandable and so I am having a shot at trying to reverse the hatred for religion and especially the Roman Catholic Church.
The sect that I used to belong to believed that the name Religion was closely associated with the contempt that the Communists had for Religion, calling it the Opium of the People.
I like the Communists held strongly to that view too.
I have often repeated the words of my Guru, Father Robert Barron of Word on Fire..see
www.wordonfire.org
WE ARE ALL WIRED FOR GOD.. There is just no getting away with it..
It matters not whether you live in a tribe in the depths of the Amazon Jungle or as a seemingly insignificant part of crawling humanity in some concrete jungle of apartment blocks in the cities of this world.
WE ARE WIRED FOR GOD and we will never find true happiness until we make a living and vital continuous contact with our Creator.
I think like many others that a good place to start is at the BIG BANG...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
Which occurred some 13.7 billion years ago.
Georges Lemaître proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe
George was a Roman Catholic Priest which really makes me happy Ha!
Good for George!!!!!
O.K. So we can begin with this Big Bang...
Now it is important to realise that everything created can be measured and observed.. There is no Mystical Religious side to Science.
Distances fro me to you or from the Earth to Mars or anything, can be measured...
What did the Big Bang bring about??
Time!....Space!.....and Substance!....
So we can assume that before the Big Bang there was neither Time, Space or Substance.
Whatever there was had a completely different dimension..
O.K. Now the Big Question????
What or Who made the Big Bang????
Big Bangs do not just happen by accident out of nowhere.
If there is an explosion in the City Centre killing scores of people, It must have been caused by someone or something.
Maybe Terrorists or an Underground Gas pipe bursting???
Even Karl Marx admitted to a design..I am not an Academic and am just a simple JO!
But with only a limited education in Algebra, to have a Design, not just a simple random design but the most intricate and totally intelligent design of the Human Brain for example or the Galaxies or the structure of a Plant or Animal... The mind boggles at it all???? there must be a designer.
So can we say now that there is a Designer?
Will you agree to that?
OK that's the end of Lesson one...
Lesson 2 will follow shortly...
God Bless you!
Or should I say for your benefit, The Designing Force Bless you!!
Bye for now!
Mjk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dOq3EzkASA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vyinZ-iAys&NR=1
Contunuing... Where do we go from here ???series?????
So far we have seen good reasons to
Believe in a Higher Power... see the comments on the Big Bang..
And see the evidence about those crazy fishermen and their crucified leader telling them to conquer the whole world through preaching and demonstrating, mainly through Martyrdom, Forgiveness.
By any normal reasoning that is quite ridiculous.
Napoleon, the British, Caesars and Karl Marx and Hitler Mao, Polpot and the Muslims have tried to spread their Campaigns by force and bloodshed...
OK that is feasible but
by FORGIVENESS????? That sounds absolutely NUTS unless God might happen to be in it, for with Him, the Bible tells us, Nothing is impossible!
Now which kind of Christianity???
Which of the 38,000 different Denominations should I choose from???
Many tell me that 38,000 is a falsified number to show just how ridiculous Protestantism is...
OK so lets knock a Zero of it and make it only 3800.
If that is still too much... knock another Zero and make it a simple 380...
Personally, if I want to be a Christian, I would like to be a part of the original model set up by God Himself and not some Human improved variety...
This is the problem as Father Robert Barron of Word on fire is continually trying to tell us over and over again..www.wordonfire.org
There is a big problem with the Human race... Yes!! That includes you and me... We all want to be God!!!
Satan's great temptation was...”You too can be like God!” “You do not have to be pushed around by Him any more!”
Women Priests ?? Of course... Times have changed... God's original plan is out of date...
Abortion?? Of course...We cant afford to have any more than 1.3kids.. One point three kids..
Birth control?? Condoms is a great idea!! Why not??? God is out of date... I am God, for God's sake!!
Divorce??? Of course... Why not??? We don't Looooooove each other any more....
Well there is a Church which keeps going no matter what..
No matter whether the people, the priests, the bishops, or even the Pope himself is good or bad... It just keeps rolling on and on and on.... Just like the river Nile or Thames or Mississippi..
Do you happen to know the name of this Church???
That's right!!!!
The Roman Catholic Church with it's Bells and Smells and men dressed up as Women, called Priests.
Many times sad to say, not very nice people... There are plenty of exceptions thank the Lord!!!!
OK so that's all I have to say about the Vietnam War.. Quote from Forest Gump..
Please check out the LINKS at the top and see 2 parts of an awesome movie on the life Of Saint Padre PIO.
Please try and understand!!!
After the horrific events in Baghdad where scores of Catholic Worshippers were slain, it appears that this was a revenge for a really stupid and I would say wicked gesture by one of those Pastors of one those thousands of Protestant sects that had decided to burn The Koran in front of his little church.
An organisation calling itself The Christian Voice, acclaimed this Pastor as Heroic!???????
This is why I keep posting Pro Catholic blogs to show just how dangerous it is to play God, interpreting the Roman Catholic Scriptures handed down to you on a plate, the way that suits you. You have no authority no structure and are out of control. I hope that you are all preparing yourself for Martyrdom, because this is where this blatant stupidity is taking us.
Sadly those Muslim fanatics think that all Christians are one... We are not one and never will be until you all learn to stop playing God and get under the Umbrella of the Church that Jesus himself initiated in Matthew Chapter 16 verse 18..
Yes I am angry!!! It is time to wake up!!! Otherwise there will be more horrors like this one all because of a total lack of Wisdom by the 38,000 sects playing God..
mjk....
.A self inflicted bad day!!
I wonder if you ever have days like I had yesterday?
I woke up worrying!!!
Whenever I worry it is always about Cash..
Even though I can look back on 45 years as a Christian living entirely by faith without ever experiencing the failure of God, somehow this fact does not register on a self inflicted bad day!
We are not going to make it.
We are going to go bust and then Irmgard will have to get a crabby job in a factory which will take her away from the home for 12 hours a day.
God is going to fail us.. He cannot and will not keep up this miracle life of ours for ever.
Well let me tell you one thing very plainly.. God has never let me and my family down.
Irmgard was trying her best to explain this to me, but I couldn't find the brake.
I was going down hill backwards and gathering speed.
We took our Rosaries and arm bands and literature onto the walking street, and all morning I was proved right. We did not make enough cash to pay the Diesel, let alone the food bills.
Having Mikey and Dave to stay has added a great deal to our expenses.
It is such a privilege to have them but with two extra and sometimes three extra hungry mouths to feed has doubled our expenses.
Electricity is more than doubled.
Water consumption and waste water is also 2 to 3 times more.
By midday we were really not cutting the mustard so after prayer we decided to go to a small town called MUCH.
To our joy we found a Shell garage which was selling Diesel at a very very reasonable price and so we took the opportunity to fill the tank.
Yes this made me pleased a bit.
Over Halloween we had spent over a 100 Euro on fun and food and treats.
Now in Much we needed to make at least 50 E to make up.
For some reason the Children Money office each October decides not to give us more Kindergeld..
Crazy and so we have to fight for it..
Last week we did our fighting and they said they would send it, but it did not arrive.
I tried to put a brave face on all these factors and spent 2 hours in Much getting no where and instead of thinking about all the souls I should be winning onto the right path as I usually do I just got more discouraged.
Irmgard cheerful and unworried as usual was working in a car park independently from me.
When I got back to her and it was time to head for home, I found that she had had a wonderful time and many Rosaries and Literature out and many people helped in their faith.. I was a real shamer and to top it all she had 45 Euro which with my measly 5 made the 50 we had prayed for. The Children money also arrived..
God had blessed her and not me for obvious reasons.
When will I ever learn???
Hopefully soon...
God bless you and KGFG
Where does one go from here?
Sequel to where does one begin?
I have to assume that you are agreeing with me that there must be some Great and intelligent force that was working in a totally different Dimension..
If we agree thus far then maybe the next move is really a very simple one.
Will you acknowledge that 100 years ago, you and me, we were not here.??
Will you also acknowledge that in a 100 years time we will not be here either?
Have you ever thought about yourself as to how utterly unique you are?
There are no carbon copies on earth at present and in fact there never were and there never will be..
Even if you have an identical twin, you will still have different personalities.
This is a very good thought to always keep in the background as if you do not you may well get eaten up in the ant number syndrome..
i.e. You are just a number like an insignificant ant.
The next step is to examine Jesus Christ and the extraordinary spread of Christianity all over the World in the first 5 centuries after His death and resurrection.
Jesus' message unlike all other religious messages, was about forgiveness.
NO VIOLENCE....NO PUSHING ONES PROGRAMME...Just Forgiveness..
I like to use the word forgiveness instead of LOVE because Love is easily misunderstood and like the word gay has been hi jacked by evil.
This what someone called Boussuet said... I am paraphrasing his words to make it more easily understandable....
“Imagine how absolutely ridiculous and yet how heavenly the inspiration which possessed a bunch of Galilean simple fishermen??
Think about their enterprise and what they set out to accomplish...
No Prince or Military or Political Leader ever conceived such a Lofty plan. Without any human help, these fishermen partitioned off the world..
For conquest not with weapons great or small but with a plan of Love and Forgiveness, ordained by a crucified man in Jerusalem
So that's enough for now....more to follow soon....
Thursday 4 November 2010
Saturday 16 October 2010
need to make a decision about these Catholics... one way or another...
Peter Kreeft.???? What did you make of his arguments????
Dear
I am wondering why I got so few replies to this Master Piece of Apologetics???
What is mjk trying to do?
Why doesn't he just leave us alone?
We want our peace?
Why doesn't he just shut up?
I can just hear many of you saying remarks like that out aloud or in your thoughts!
Why do I bother to continue to send you such well thought out arguments and defences for the Roman Catholic Church??
Good question!!!!!
Why??
Because of the following.......
1st if the Catholic Church is not the TRUTH then it is the biggest lie ever..
It is a lie that has lasted from the time of the Apostles until now.
It's a lie that just wont go away.
All the so called reformers split and many have almost totally faded away.
None of them are really doing any good and having a real influence in this world. Read On..Read on!!!
The doctrine of this Church has never changed even though their have been many bad people including wicked Popes etc
It is very similar to the idea that Jesus was just a good man and a moral teacher.
He taught love and was a great Guru and nothing more.
The fact is He was either God or a very very bad man.
Why???
Because He claimed to be God!
Therefore He was either God or a very bad wicked megalomaniac.
You cannot just brush him off with the good person nonsense.
The same applies to the Roman Catholic Church.
You will have to make a decision.
Either this Church is the Truth or it is totally deluded.
No middle ground..
No comfortable... they are not bad chaps...
We live in extraordinary times.
Materialism is now the number one religion in the West.
For most part Christians are now in a very sad state.
Like never before we need UNITY and to all be singing from the same Hymn Sheet.
This was Jesus' wish in John Ch 17...Someone is being very disobedient
We Catholics already have a very tough and long lasting structure in place.
You Protesters do not.
We Catholics are hated by the Media for our stand against abortion, homosexual marriage, artificial birth control, euthanasia, divorce and many other important topics such as forbidding the Bible and religious instruction in School etc etc..
The fact that the Media hate us is a very strong indication that we are the TRUTH as otherwise the Media would love us and leave us alone.
The Media for the most part leaves you alone....
I wonder why???
Maybe because you are not there in significant numbers to pose a threat to the Media????
Maybe they can't find you???
Maybe you do not speak up and even if you do, do you really pose a threat?
What do you think???
Why do they leave you alone???
This is proof in itself that we are effective whereas you are not and how can you be without a
I believe the Luxury of your caffeteria protesting must come to an end
Where is your real lasting alternative to the Roman Catholic Church????.
Unless we unite we will remain divided by Satanic forces and defeated.
Well that is not quite true because Jesus will intervene but there will be lots and lots of Martyrdom!!
I am not doing this exercise just to annoy you and show off my so called superiority. Today, the 16th of October when I went to confession, and FOR YOU Sola ScrituraITES. the Bible reference would be John Ch 20 verses 22 and 23 and Matthew Ch 18 verses 18 and 19, I was so encouraged to hear the following from The Priest ???? who when I had told him how easily I get discouraged, told me that as long as we remain very small in front of God He will take all our failures from trying to achieve holiness, all the broken pieces, and make them into a crown and place it on our heads.
PRETTY ENCOURAGING!!!
I AM QUITE SURE THAT IF YOU WILL TAKE THE TIME TO CAREFULLY LISTEN TO PETER KREEFTS ARGUMENTS, THEN YOU WILL SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY.
There is one more short talk by Ray Guarendi called “Why be Catholic??” It is also very good but does not deal with the question as thoroughly as Peter Kreeft.
I do like Ray Guarendi's style though.... Funny and true!!!!
Here is the link... url....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjDfJaWRxn8
Please check it out....
Please do me the favour of answering this but not before you have Prayed and thought about it carefully and also listen to all the links that I have sent you.
God Bless you and Peace!!!!!!!
Dear
I am wondering why I got so few replies to this Master Piece of Apologetics???
What is mjk trying to do?
Why doesn't he just leave us alone?
We want our peace?
Why doesn't he just shut up?
I can just hear many of you saying remarks like that out aloud or in your thoughts!
Why do I bother to continue to send you such well thought out arguments and defences for the Roman Catholic Church??
Good question!!!!!
Why??
Because of the following.......
1st if the Catholic Church is not the TRUTH then it is the biggest lie ever..
It is a lie that has lasted from the time of the Apostles until now.
It's a lie that just wont go away.
All the so called reformers split and many have almost totally faded away.
None of them are really doing any good and having a real influence in this world. Read On..Read on!!!
The doctrine of this Church has never changed even though their have been many bad people including wicked Popes etc
It is very similar to the idea that Jesus was just a good man and a moral teacher.
He taught love and was a great Guru and nothing more.
The fact is He was either God or a very very bad man.
Why???
Because He claimed to be God!
Therefore He was either God or a very bad wicked megalomaniac.
You cannot just brush him off with the good person nonsense.
The same applies to the Roman Catholic Church.
You will have to make a decision.
Either this Church is the Truth or it is totally deluded.
No middle ground..
No comfortable... they are not bad chaps...
We live in extraordinary times.
Materialism is now the number one religion in the West.
For most part Christians are now in a very sad state.
Like never before we need UNITY and to all be singing from the same Hymn Sheet.
This was Jesus' wish in John Ch 17...Someone is being very disobedient
We Catholics already have a very tough and long lasting structure in place.
You Protesters do not.
We Catholics are hated by the Media for our stand against abortion, homosexual marriage, artificial birth control, euthanasia, divorce and many other important topics such as forbidding the Bible and religious instruction in School etc etc..
The fact that the Media hate us is a very strong indication that we are the TRUTH as otherwise the Media would love us and leave us alone.
The Media for the most part leaves you alone....
I wonder why???
Maybe because you are not there in significant numbers to pose a threat to the Media????
Maybe they can't find you???
Maybe you do not speak up and even if you do, do you really pose a threat?
What do you think???
Why do they leave you alone???
This is proof in itself that we are effective whereas you are not and how can you be without a
I believe the Luxury of your caffeteria protesting must come to an end
Where is your real lasting alternative to the Roman Catholic Church????.
Unless we unite we will remain divided by Satanic forces and defeated.
Well that is not quite true because Jesus will intervene but there will be lots and lots of Martyrdom!!
I am not doing this exercise just to annoy you and show off my so called superiority. Today, the 16th of October when I went to confession, and FOR YOU Sola ScrituraITES. the Bible reference would be John Ch 20 verses 22 and 23 and Matthew Ch 18 verses 18 and 19, I was so encouraged to hear the following from The Priest ???? who when I had told him how easily I get discouraged, told me that as long as we remain very small in front of God He will take all our failures from trying to achieve holiness, all the broken pieces, and make them into a crown and place it on our heads.
PRETTY ENCOURAGING!!!
I AM QUITE SURE THAT IF YOU WILL TAKE THE TIME TO CAREFULLY LISTEN TO PETER KREEFTS ARGUMENTS, THEN YOU WILL SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY.
There is one more short talk by Ray Guarendi called “Why be Catholic??” It is also very good but does not deal with the question as thoroughly as Peter Kreeft.
I do like Ray Guarendi's style though.... Funny and true!!!!
Here is the link... url....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjDfJaWRxn8
Please check it out....
Please do me the favour of answering this but not before you have Prayed and thought about it carefully and also listen to all the links that I have sent you.
God Bless you and Peace!!!!!!!
Thursday 14 October 2010
Father Robert Barron of Word on Fire ministry
Thanks for the Wake Up Call!!
Everything and I mean everything you write is done in such a way that it is all a wake up call. It is easy to understand and sometimes you use vocabulary which makes us look up the word, so you are also a teacher that stretches us in our command of the English language..
Thank you Jesus for Father B.
Please keep this servant of God in your prayers.
He is absolutely unique...
All his reflections AND comments illuminate the Eternal Word and goads us into action.
www.wordonfire.org
Everything and I mean everything you write is done in such a way that it is all a wake up call. It is easy to understand and sometimes you use vocabulary which makes us look up the word, so you are also a teacher that stretches us in our command of the English language..
Thank you Jesus for Father B.
Please keep this servant of God in your prayers.
He is absolutely unique...
All his reflections AND comments illuminate the Eternal Word and goads us into action.
www.wordonfire.org
Monday 11 October 2010
the church in desperate need
THE CHURCH IN DESPERATE NEED!!!
IF EVER OUR CHURCH WAS IN NEED, IT IS NOW... JUST WATCH THIS
YOU TUBE VIDEO AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF WHAT I MEAN.
THE DRASTICALLY CHANGING WORLD!!!
A WAKE UP CALL FOR ALL OF US!!!
we need a miracle!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcma8HsQa2k
WE NEED A MIRACLE THROUGH MARY, WHO IS COMMON GROUND BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND ROMAN CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS.
In this case, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (YESTERDAY)commemorates the victory of Christian naval forces at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. At a time when Christian Europe was being torn apart by internal strife and the Reformation, (Sounds just like today!!!!!!!!!38,000 DIFFERENT SECTS ALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS!! HELP!!!)Don John of Austria destroyed the Turkish fleet in the Gulf of Lepanto. His victory was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom rosaries were offered (We need a Rosary Crusades like never before and we need Our Lady of the Rosary to intervene)and processions were made in Rome on the day of the battle.
The Rosary Crusades of the late Rosary Priest Father Patric Peyton were most likely responsible for preventing WORLD WAR 3 IN 1961 .. THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS...Kruschev versus J.F.K...
I have just watched this horrifying but true video...
If you read no further just watch this if you dare!!
I post the url for a second time below..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcma8HsQa2k
Take just 7 minutes to watch this...... and there is absolutely no reason to believe this is not true...
This will not affect me but it will affect my children and you if you are under 60.
As many of you know, I have been on a deadly serious crusade to awaken all my Protestant and Catholic Brothers to the fact that their little sects numbering about 38,000, and in the case of Catholics their sleepiness), are going no where to solve this huge DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEM.. Your little denominations have no structure no unity and are not able to unitedly do anything about it. It is all just ineffective individualism.
In other words... Do your own thing in your very ineffective little sect... I should know I was one of you for nearly 40 years...However there is a solution and this time a military solution will not be necessary as Our Lady of the Rosary, says the late Archbishop Fulton J Sheen, will do it for us..please check the links which come up when you Google Bishop Fulton Sheen, Mary and the Muslims..
We just have to do our part and promote the Holy Rosary Prayer..There is no stronger prayer after that of the HOLY MASS which of course is number one..
In every 5 decades we say six Our Fathers... The Lord's very own Prayer! The All Powerful Name of Jesus is mentioned at least 66 times at any one rendering of the full 5 decade Rosary Prayer..
ITS TIME FOR ACTION..
THE LUXURY OF JUST SITTING AROUND AND HOPING FOR THER BEST IS OVER.
Our Lady of the Rosary
Thursday October 7, 2010
Pope Leo XIII designated it so is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which falls on October 7. Like many Marian feasts, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary celebrates the protection of Christians through the intercession of the Mother of God; and, like many feasts toward the end of the liturgical year, it commemorates a struggle with the forces of Islam.
In this case, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary commemorates the victory of Christian naval forces at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. At a time when Christian Europe was being torn apart by internal strife and the Reformation, Don John of Austria destroyed the Turkish fleet in the Gulf of Lepanto. His victory was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom rosaries were offered and processions were made in Rome on the day of the battle.
The feast was instituted by Pope St. Pius V shortly after the victory, and Pope Clement XI extended it to the entire Church in celebration of another victory over the Turkish Muslims in 1716.
Please get back to me with your comments!!!
Father B this is definitely one for YOU!!
Church in Need organisers, This is definitely one for you too just as it is for me and all serious Christians around the world.....
Legionnaires of Mary,....... a call to spiritual arms!!!
Pray the Holy Rosary at least once a day.
To those of you who have more than one rosary, give it away and help someone else to catch fire too.
IF EVER OUR CHURCH WAS IN NEED, IT IS NOW... JUST WATCH THIS
YOU TUBE VIDEO AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF WHAT I MEAN.
THE DRASTICALLY CHANGING WORLD!!!
A WAKE UP CALL FOR ALL OF US!!!
we need a miracle!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcma8HsQa2k
WE NEED A MIRACLE THROUGH MARY, WHO IS COMMON GROUND BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND ROMAN CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS.
In this case, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (YESTERDAY)commemorates the victory of Christian naval forces at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. At a time when Christian Europe was being torn apart by internal strife and the Reformation, (Sounds just like today!!!!!!!!!38,000 DIFFERENT SECTS ALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS!! HELP!!!)Don John of Austria destroyed the Turkish fleet in the Gulf of Lepanto. His victory was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom rosaries were offered (We need a Rosary Crusades like never before and we need Our Lady of the Rosary to intervene)and processions were made in Rome on the day of the battle.
The Rosary Crusades of the late Rosary Priest Father Patric Peyton were most likely responsible for preventing WORLD WAR 3 IN 1961 .. THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS...Kruschev versus J.F.K...
I have just watched this horrifying but true video...
If you read no further just watch this if you dare!!
I post the url for a second time below..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcma8HsQa2k
Take just 7 minutes to watch this...... and there is absolutely no reason to believe this is not true...
This will not affect me but it will affect my children and you if you are under 60.
As many of you know, I have been on a deadly serious crusade to awaken all my Protestant and Catholic Brothers to the fact that their little sects numbering about 38,000, and in the case of Catholics their sleepiness), are going no where to solve this huge DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEM.. Your little denominations have no structure no unity and are not able to unitedly do anything about it. It is all just ineffective individualism.
In other words... Do your own thing in your very ineffective little sect... I should know I was one of you for nearly 40 years...However there is a solution and this time a military solution will not be necessary as Our Lady of the Rosary, says the late Archbishop Fulton J Sheen, will do it for us..please check the links which come up when you Google Bishop Fulton Sheen, Mary and the Muslims..
We just have to do our part and promote the Holy Rosary Prayer..There is no stronger prayer after that of the HOLY MASS which of course is number one..
In every 5 decades we say six Our Fathers... The Lord's very own Prayer! The All Powerful Name of Jesus is mentioned at least 66 times at any one rendering of the full 5 decade Rosary Prayer..
ITS TIME FOR ACTION..
THE LUXURY OF JUST SITTING AROUND AND HOPING FOR THER BEST IS OVER.
Our Lady of the Rosary
Thursday October 7, 2010
Pope Leo XIII designated it so is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which falls on October 7. Like many Marian feasts, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary celebrates the protection of Christians through the intercession of the Mother of God; and, like many feasts toward the end of the liturgical year, it commemorates a struggle with the forces of Islam.
In this case, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary commemorates the victory of Christian naval forces at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. At a time when Christian Europe was being torn apart by internal strife and the Reformation, Don John of Austria destroyed the Turkish fleet in the Gulf of Lepanto. His victory was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom rosaries were offered and processions were made in Rome on the day of the battle.
The feast was instituted by Pope St. Pius V shortly after the victory, and Pope Clement XI extended it to the entire Church in celebration of another victory over the Turkish Muslims in 1716.
Please get back to me with your comments!!!
Father B this is definitely one for YOU!!
Church in Need organisers, This is definitely one for you too just as it is for me and all serious Christians around the world.....
Legionnaires of Mary,....... a call to spiritual arms!!!
Pray the Holy Rosary at least once a day.
To those of you who have more than one rosary, give it away and help someone else to catch fire too.
the devil part 2 this time in easy to read and comment on sections
Hopefully you can recognise this letter which I am now sending you for the third time. You could say that I am a glutton for punishment or you could say too that I am delivering my soul.????
Take your pick...
We are all old..
We can all die tomorrow or tonight??
Then there is no turning back.. Like the story of Dives and Lazarus...
This life is almost over and this could be my last chance to get through to you about very very important matters...
Hope you take the time and comment on the different sections all easily numbered for your and my reference..
God love you!!!
Peace!!!
michael jaffray king.
SECTION A...
1A)...So far I have not had one reply to this letter and especially from those of you who have been arguing so effectively against the Catholic Church with those bees in your bonnet about Purgatory and Mary etc etc etc ... I am not trying to make you feel bad but only trying to wake you up as to the great seriousness of the situation in our world today.
2A)...Gay marriages... Abortion.... Adoption of children by gay couples...Euthanasia
and many more... all of which the Catholic Church is standing unshakingly against.
3A)...Come on Greg!!!John!!!Jost!!!Michael!!!Nick!!!Bob!!!Immo!!!Bruce!!!Richard!!!
Steve Stephen!!!Stuart!!!HJ!!!!Daniel!!!Arvid!!!Bill
4A)...You are all my very best friends...This is nothing personal but I sincerely want you to try and shoot this down and come up with a working alternative..
5A)...Go through this with a tooth comb.. Correct me on my serious errors in this letter to you!! This is important stuff and is designed to make you think and defend your position.
6A)...I am an amateur very amateur apologist and I believe I have stated my case very well with all the help I could get from Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit and those much better qualified than me.
7A)...So have a go... I dare you.... Just write your comments directly at the place where my errors occur!I suggest in CAPITALS so they will stand out and dwarf my errors!!!!Yes it will take you a little time of your very valuable time but you will be able to save me from my errors just as I am trying to save you from yours... OK?
SECTION B....
1B)...Please take this wickedly truthful letter and tear it apart line by line and show me that you have something better...I dare you to try... I will take all entries very seriously.
2B)...WRITE CAPS ON TOP of WHAT i HAVE WRITTEN!!!!!!... I WILL NOT CONSIDER THAT SHOUTING ALTHOUGH YOU MAY BE
SECTION C....
1C)...The Devil!
The Devil!
This is a huge subject and I may have to write this in parts and I hope you will find this interesting and that most important, it will stir you into action!
2C)...THE DEVIL IS REAL AND HE IS PLAYING FOR KEEPS!!! NEVER EVER FORGET THAT!!!
3C)...This LINK will greatly help, and the talk by Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be a very good start to my comments and reflections on what I have learned so far.
4C)...Just go to You Tube and type in Archbishop Fulton J Sheen....The Devil
5C)...THERE ARE SOME VERY GOOD JOKES AT THE BEGINNING TO WHET YOUR APPETITE and get you into a good mood.....
6C)...After watching the Bishop, and he is very good, and some say he was the greatest communicator of the 20th Century on TV, and Radio.
7C)...He had a huge audience and many if not most were not Roman Catholic,,,,,,,
Then...........
SECTION D...
1D)...Please read the following passage very carefully.
Luke Chapter 8...
26 And they sailed to the country of the Gerasens, which is over against Galilee.
27 And when he had come forth to the land, there met him a certain man who had a devil now a very long time. And he wore no clothes: neither did he abide in a house, but in the sepulchres.
28 And when he saw Jesus, he fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said:
What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I beseech you, do not torment me.
29 For he commanded the unclean spirit to go out of the man. For many times it seized him: and he was bound with chains and kept in fetters: and breaking the bonds, he was driven by the devil into the deserts.
30 And Jesus asked him, saying: What is your name? But he said: Legion.
2D)...Legion, I always thought meant a 1000 but it actually means 6000!!!!
3D)...He was literally being lead around by 6000 different opinions with absolutely no unity, except to taunt him and lead him astray and eventually destroy him
4D)...This is a very important observation as you will see later...
5D)...I hope you listened to Bishop Sheen and he listed 3 characteristics of Satanic possession.
Nudity
Violence
Split personality
if I remember correctly.
We will have to deal with these characteristics later
6D)...The Bishop gave a definition for the word Devil. Do you remember what it was?
Diaballein.. which can mean to Tear apart and to rip in pieces....and ultimately destroy..
SECTION E...
1E)...Have you ever watched those documentaries where the Lion carefully splits the herd and takes one little Buffalo and then kills it while all the others are running away in a different direction.
2E)...Smart!
3E)...Why?
4E)...Because those Buffalo Parents and Uncles and Aunties could prove a problem for the Lion if they were not separated.
5E)...Just imagine if those Buffaloes had stayed together with a Leader telling them to form a circle around the tender little Buffalo calves, and defend themselves as He the Leader gave instructions to an obedient herd.????
6E)...I think the Lions would get very thin and hungry and maybe start eating grass!
SECTION F...
1F)...John Chapter 10 verse 10 says
The thief comes not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.
SECTION G...
1G)...We all know that Jesus is a GOOD SHEPHERD and does not want His Flock to be divided...
Do you believe that?????
2G)...Jesus prays in John Chapter 17 for all to be one.... Do you remember that???
3G)...Jesus was the smartest of all!
a...He knew men and what was inside them.
b...He knew just how imperfect they were.
c...He knew they would need teachers.
d...He knew they would need schools.
e...He knew they would need a Head Master and other disciplinarians to maintain order.
4G)...Imagine telling all the children in England to go to school and the books would all be there and all they would have to do is to read them themselves and there would from now on be no more teachers.
5G)...The Lord of the Flies is a Movie which I have not seen but it shows what a bunch of kids get up to when there is no leadership and discipline... Horrible!!!
6G)...Well I am just a kid too. A 72 year old kid and I need people of greater and proven experience to keep me in line too.
SECTION H...
1H)...I hope you see what I am driving at.
2H)...I and the Catholic Population are for sure not better than you non Catholics. Some of my very best friends are Non Catholics.
3H)...Actually to tell you the TRUTH, I for sure am not Catholic because we have the most on fire and attractive personnel.
a...We are a weak bunch and many time not even nice.
b...Some of us are Pharisees of the worst kind. Me too at times!
c...Some of us are so weak in our faith that we may and probably will give up in the future.
4H)...BUT we have a STRUCTURE
We have Leadership
And we have stood the test of time.
SECTION I...
1I)...One of the best examples I know and one which continually sticks in my mind and is a tremendous encouragement is a true story about Padre Pio
2I)...You can watch the movie on you tube! and this characteristic of his is the reason why God was so with this guy and why he became a Saint so soon after his death.
3I)...I think it was for 10 years that he was prevented from taking Holy Mass and hearing confessions. Not 10 days or ten weeks but 10 years. ALL BECAUSE OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS...
4I)...He had a really good friend who was not a Priest and everyone knew that the Local Bishop was a womaniser on the side.
5I)...This friend trying to encourage Father Pio made a negative allusion to this Bishop and got an immediate slap on the face from the Father . He angrily corrected him for his insubordination and lack of respect toward a higher authority.
SECTION J....
1J)...Saint Pio knew the paramount importance of the need for this 2000 year old structure, even if people in the structure were bad sinners and very bad role models.
a...I am not a Catholic because of good or bad priests.
b...I am not a Catholic because other members of the congregation of my church love me or hate me or even worse are indifferent towards me
2J)...but because of Matthew Ch 16 verse 18...
Jesus Christ is building, maintaining and carrying on my Church with or without me or you or good people or bad people but just because He promised to do so ….....
3J)...And He has put a structure in place which totally confounded those False Prophets prior to the Pope's visit to my country who believed and spread lies that B16 would return to Rome with his tail between his legs having been snubbed and humiliated by the British Public.
4J)...The rest of you who are not in this structure but going to an unstructured school with just books to read and no teachers are easy meat for the Diaballein who is eating you and your denominations for breakfast.
5J)...Splitting and splitting and then more splitting and eventual destruction or even worse ineffectiveness!!!!!!!!
6J)...It is like going to war without a General or Army Commander... Just take your gun and some ammo and some difficult to understand instructions and win the war all by yourself... Crazy isn't it????
Take your pick...
We are all old..
We can all die tomorrow or tonight??
Then there is no turning back.. Like the story of Dives and Lazarus...
This life is almost over and this could be my last chance to get through to you about very very important matters...
Hope you take the time and comment on the different sections all easily numbered for your and my reference..
God love you!!!
Peace!!!
michael jaffray king.
SECTION A...
1A)...So far I have not had one reply to this letter and especially from those of you who have been arguing so effectively against the Catholic Church with those bees in your bonnet about Purgatory and Mary etc etc etc ... I am not trying to make you feel bad but only trying to wake you up as to the great seriousness of the situation in our world today.
2A)...Gay marriages... Abortion.... Adoption of children by gay couples...Euthanasia
and many more... all of which the Catholic Church is standing unshakingly against.
3A)...Come on Greg!!!John!!!Jost!!!Michael!!!Nick!!!Bob!!!Immo!!!Bruce!!!Richard!!!
Steve Stephen!!!Stuart!!!HJ!!!!Daniel!!!Arvid!!!Bill
4A)...You are all my very best friends...This is nothing personal but I sincerely want you to try and shoot this down and come up with a working alternative..
5A)...Go through this with a tooth comb.. Correct me on my serious errors in this letter to you!! This is important stuff and is designed to make you think and defend your position.
6A)...I am an amateur very amateur apologist and I believe I have stated my case very well with all the help I could get from Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit and those much better qualified than me.
7A)...So have a go... I dare you.... Just write your comments directly at the place where my errors occur!I suggest in CAPITALS so they will stand out and dwarf my errors!!!!Yes it will take you a little time of your very valuable time but you will be able to save me from my errors just as I am trying to save you from yours... OK?
SECTION B....
1B)...Please take this wickedly truthful letter and tear it apart line by line and show me that you have something better...I dare you to try... I will take all entries very seriously.
2B)...WRITE CAPS ON TOP of WHAT i HAVE WRITTEN!!!!!!... I WILL NOT CONSIDER THAT SHOUTING ALTHOUGH YOU MAY BE
SECTION C....
1C)...The Devil!
The Devil!
This is a huge subject and I may have to write this in parts and I hope you will find this interesting and that most important, it will stir you into action!
2C)...THE DEVIL IS REAL AND HE IS PLAYING FOR KEEPS!!! NEVER EVER FORGET THAT!!!
3C)...This LINK will greatly help, and the talk by Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be a very good start to my comments and reflections on what I have learned so far.
4C)...Just go to You Tube and type in Archbishop Fulton J Sheen....The Devil
5C)...THERE ARE SOME VERY GOOD JOKES AT THE BEGINNING TO WHET YOUR APPETITE and get you into a good mood.....
6C)...After watching the Bishop, and he is very good, and some say he was the greatest communicator of the 20th Century on TV, and Radio.
7C)...He had a huge audience and many if not most were not Roman Catholic,,,,,,,
Then...........
SECTION D...
1D)...Please read the following passage very carefully.
Luke Chapter 8...
26 And they sailed to the country of the Gerasens, which is over against Galilee.
27 And when he had come forth to the land, there met him a certain man who had a devil now a very long time. And he wore no clothes: neither did he abide in a house, but in the sepulchres.
28 And when he saw Jesus, he fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said:
What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I beseech you, do not torment me.
29 For he commanded the unclean spirit to go out of the man. For many times it seized him: and he was bound with chains and kept in fetters: and breaking the bonds, he was driven by the devil into the deserts.
30 And Jesus asked him, saying: What is your name? But he said: Legion.
2D)...Legion, I always thought meant a 1000 but it actually means 6000!!!!
3D)...He was literally being lead around by 6000 different opinions with absolutely no unity, except to taunt him and lead him astray and eventually destroy him
4D)...This is a very important observation as you will see later...
5D)...I hope you listened to Bishop Sheen and he listed 3 characteristics of Satanic possession.
Nudity
Violence
Split personality
if I remember correctly.
We will have to deal with these characteristics later
6D)...The Bishop gave a definition for the word Devil. Do you remember what it was?
Diaballein.. which can mean to Tear apart and to rip in pieces....and ultimately destroy..
SECTION E...
1E)...Have you ever watched those documentaries where the Lion carefully splits the herd and takes one little Buffalo and then kills it while all the others are running away in a different direction.
2E)...Smart!
3E)...Why?
4E)...Because those Buffalo Parents and Uncles and Aunties could prove a problem for the Lion if they were not separated.
5E)...Just imagine if those Buffaloes had stayed together with a Leader telling them to form a circle around the tender little Buffalo calves, and defend themselves as He the Leader gave instructions to an obedient herd.????
6E)...I think the Lions would get very thin and hungry and maybe start eating grass!
SECTION F...
1F)...John Chapter 10 verse 10 says
The thief comes not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.
SECTION G...
1G)...We all know that Jesus is a GOOD SHEPHERD and does not want His Flock to be divided...
Do you believe that?????
2G)...Jesus prays in John Chapter 17 for all to be one.... Do you remember that???
3G)...Jesus was the smartest of all!
a...He knew men and what was inside them.
b...He knew just how imperfect they were.
c...He knew they would need teachers.
d...He knew they would need schools.
e...He knew they would need a Head Master and other disciplinarians to maintain order.
4G)...Imagine telling all the children in England to go to school and the books would all be there and all they would have to do is to read them themselves and there would from now on be no more teachers.
5G)...The Lord of the Flies is a Movie which I have not seen but it shows what a bunch of kids get up to when there is no leadership and discipline... Horrible!!!
6G)...Well I am just a kid too. A 72 year old kid and I need people of greater and proven experience to keep me in line too.
SECTION H...
1H)...I hope you see what I am driving at.
2H)...I and the Catholic Population are for sure not better than you non Catholics. Some of my very best friends are Non Catholics.
3H)...Actually to tell you the TRUTH, I for sure am not Catholic because we have the most on fire and attractive personnel.
a...We are a weak bunch and many time not even nice.
b...Some of us are Pharisees of the worst kind. Me too at times!
c...Some of us are so weak in our faith that we may and probably will give up in the future.
4H)...BUT we have a STRUCTURE
We have Leadership
And we have stood the test of time.
SECTION I...
1I)...One of the best examples I know and one which continually sticks in my mind and is a tremendous encouragement is a true story about Padre Pio
2I)...You can watch the movie on you tube! and this characteristic of his is the reason why God was so with this guy and why he became a Saint so soon after his death.
3I)...I think it was for 10 years that he was prevented from taking Holy Mass and hearing confessions. Not 10 days or ten weeks but 10 years. ALL BECAUSE OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS...
4I)...He had a really good friend who was not a Priest and everyone knew that the Local Bishop was a womaniser on the side.
5I)...This friend trying to encourage Father Pio made a negative allusion to this Bishop and got an immediate slap on the face from the Father . He angrily corrected him for his insubordination and lack of respect toward a higher authority.
SECTION J....
1J)...Saint Pio knew the paramount importance of the need for this 2000 year old structure, even if people in the structure were bad sinners and very bad role models.
a...I am not a Catholic because of good or bad priests.
b...I am not a Catholic because other members of the congregation of my church love me or hate me or even worse are indifferent towards me
2J)...but because of Matthew Ch 16 verse 18...
Jesus Christ is building, maintaining and carrying on my Church with or without me or you or good people or bad people but just because He promised to do so ….....
3J)...And He has put a structure in place which totally confounded those False Prophets prior to the Pope's visit to my country who believed and spread lies that B16 would return to Rome with his tail between his legs having been snubbed and humiliated by the British Public.
4J)...The rest of you who are not in this structure but going to an unstructured school with just books to read and no teachers are easy meat for the Diaballein who is eating you and your denominations for breakfast.
5J)...Splitting and splitting and then more splitting and eventual destruction or even worse ineffectiveness!!!!!!!!
6J)...It is like going to war without a General or Army Commander... Just take your gun and some ammo and some difficult to understand instructions and win the war all by yourself... Crazy isn't it????
The devil and Archbishop Fulton J Sheen
The Devil!
The Devil!
This is a huge subject and I may have to write this in parts and I hope you will find this interesting and that most important, it will stir you into action!
THE DEVIL IS REAL AND HE IS PLAYING FOR KEEPS!!! NEVER EVER FORGET THAT!!!
This LINK will greatly help, and the talk by Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be a very good start to my comments and reflections on what I have learned so far.
http://www.youtube.com/results search_query=archbishop+fulton+sheen+on+the+Devil&aq=3
THERE ARE SOME VERY GOOD JOKES AT THE BEGINNING TO WHET YOUR APPETITE!
After watching the Bishop, and he is very good, and some say he was the greatest communicator of the 20th Century on TV, and Radio.
He had a huge audience and many if not most were not Roman Catholic,,,,,,,
Then...........
Please read the following passage very carefully.
Luke Chapter 8...
26 And they sailed to the country of the Gerasens, which is over against Galilee.
27 And when he had come forth to the land, there met him a certain man who had a devil now a very long time. And he wore no clothes: neither did he abide in a house, but in the sepulchres.
28 And when he saw Jesus, he fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said:
What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I beseech you, do not torment me.
29 For he commanded the unclean spirit to go out of the man. For many times it seized him: and he was bound with chains and kept in fetters: and breaking the bonds, he was driven by the devil into the deserts.
30 And Jesus asked him, saying: What is your name? But he said: Legion.
Legion, I always thought meant a 1000 but it actually means 6000!!!!
He was literally being lead around by 6000 different opinions with absolutely no unity, except to taunt him and lead him astray and eventually destroy him
This is a very important observation as you will see later...
I hope you listened to Bishop Sheen and he listed 3 characteristics of Satanic possession.
Nudity
Violence
Split personality
if I remember correctly.
We will have to deal with these characteristics later
The Bishop gave a definition for the word Devil. Do you remember what it was?
Diaballein.. which can mean to Tear apart and to rip in pieces....and ultimately destroy..
Have you ever watched those documentaries where the Lion carefully splits the herd and takes one little Buffalo and then kills it while all the others are running away in a different direction.
Smart!
Why?
Because those Buffalo Parents and Uncles and Aunties could prove a problem for the Lion if they were not separated.
Just imagine if those Buffaloes had stayed together with a Leader telling them to form a circle around the tender little Buffalo calves, and defend themselves as He the Leader gave instructions to an obedient herd.????
I think the Lions would get very thin and hungry and maybe start eating grass!
John Chapter 10 verse 10 says
The thief comes not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.
We all know that Jesus is a GOOD SHEPHERD and does not want His Flock to be divided...
Do you believe that?????
Jesus prays in John Chapter 17 for all to be one.... Do you remember that???
Jesus was the smartest of all!
He knew men and what was inside them.
He knew just how imperfect they were.
He knew they would need teachers.
He knew they would need schools.
He knew they would need a Head Master and other disciplinarians to maintain order.
Imagine telling all the children in England to go to school and the books would all be there and all they would have to do is to read them themselves and there would from now on be no more teachers.
The Lord of the Flies is a Movie which I have not seen but it shows what a bunch of kids get up to when there is no leadership and discipline... Horrible!!!
Well I am just a kid too. A 72 year old kid and I need people of greater and proven experience to keep me in line too.
I hope you see what I am driving at.
I and the Catholic Population are for sure not better than you non Catholics. Some of my very best friends are Non Catholics.
Actually to tell you the TRUTH, I for sure am not Catholic because we have the most on fire and attractive personnel.
We are a weak bunch and many time not even nice.
Some of us are Pharisees of the worst kind.
Some of us are so weak in our faith that we may and probably will give up in the future.
BUT we have a STRUCTURE
We have Leadership
And we have stood the test of time.
One of the best examples I know and one which continually sticks in my mind and is a tremendous encouragement is a true story about Padre Pio
You can watch the movie on you tube! and this characteristic of his is the reason why God was so with this guy and why he became a Saint so soon after his death.
I think it was for 10 years that he was prevented from taking Holy Mass and hearing confessions. Not 10 days or ten weeks but 10 years. ALL BECAUSE OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS...
He had a really good friend who was not a Priest and everyone knew that the Local Bishop was a womaniser on the side.
This friend trying to encourage Father Pio made a negative allusion to this Bishop and got an immediate slap on the face from the Father . He angrily corrected him for his insubordination and lack of respect toward a higher authority.
Saint Pio knew the paramount importance of the need for this 2000 year old structure, even if people in the structure were bad sinners and very bad role models.
I am not a Catholic because of good or bad priests.
I am not a Catholic because other members of the congregation of my church love me or hate me or even worse are indifferent towards me but because of Matthew Ch 16 verse 18...
Jesus Christ is building, maintaining and carrying on my Church with or without me or you or good people or bad people but just because He promised to do so and He has put a structure in place which totally confounded those False Prophets prior to the Pope's visit to my country who believed and spread lies that B16 would return to Rome with his tail between his legs having been snubbed and humiliated by the British Public.
The rest of you who are not in this structure but going to an unstructured school with just books to read and no teachers are easy meat for the Diaballein who is eating you and your denominations for breakfast.
Splitting and splitting and then more splitting and eventual destruction or even worse ineffectiveness!!!!!!!!
It is like going to war without a General or Army Commander... Just take your gun and some ammo and some difficult to understand instructions and win the war all by yourself... Crazy isn't it????
The Devil!
This is a huge subject and I may have to write this in parts and I hope you will find this interesting and that most important, it will stir you into action!
THE DEVIL IS REAL AND HE IS PLAYING FOR KEEPS!!! NEVER EVER FORGET THAT!!!
This LINK will greatly help, and the talk by Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be a very good start to my comments and reflections on what I have learned so far.
http://www.youtube.com/results search_query=archbishop+fulton+sheen+on+the+Devil&aq=3
THERE ARE SOME VERY GOOD JOKES AT THE BEGINNING TO WHET YOUR APPETITE!
After watching the Bishop, and he is very good, and some say he was the greatest communicator of the 20th Century on TV, and Radio.
He had a huge audience and many if not most were not Roman Catholic,,,,,,,
Then...........
Please read the following passage very carefully.
Luke Chapter 8...
26 And they sailed to the country of the Gerasens, which is over against Galilee.
27 And when he had come forth to the land, there met him a certain man who had a devil now a very long time. And he wore no clothes: neither did he abide in a house, but in the sepulchres.
28 And when he saw Jesus, he fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said:
What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I beseech you, do not torment me.
29 For he commanded the unclean spirit to go out of the man. For many times it seized him: and he was bound with chains and kept in fetters: and breaking the bonds, he was driven by the devil into the deserts.
30 And Jesus asked him, saying: What is your name? But he said: Legion.
Legion, I always thought meant a 1000 but it actually means 6000!!!!
He was literally being lead around by 6000 different opinions with absolutely no unity, except to taunt him and lead him astray and eventually destroy him
This is a very important observation as you will see later...
I hope you listened to Bishop Sheen and he listed 3 characteristics of Satanic possession.
Nudity
Violence
Split personality
if I remember correctly.
We will have to deal with these characteristics later
The Bishop gave a definition for the word Devil. Do you remember what it was?
Diaballein.. which can mean to Tear apart and to rip in pieces....and ultimately destroy..
Have you ever watched those documentaries where the Lion carefully splits the herd and takes one little Buffalo and then kills it while all the others are running away in a different direction.
Smart!
Why?
Because those Buffalo Parents and Uncles and Aunties could prove a problem for the Lion if they were not separated.
Just imagine if those Buffaloes had stayed together with a Leader telling them to form a circle around the tender little Buffalo calves, and defend themselves as He the Leader gave instructions to an obedient herd.????
I think the Lions would get very thin and hungry and maybe start eating grass!
John Chapter 10 verse 10 says
The thief comes not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.
We all know that Jesus is a GOOD SHEPHERD and does not want His Flock to be divided...
Do you believe that?????
Jesus prays in John Chapter 17 for all to be one.... Do you remember that???
Jesus was the smartest of all!
He knew men and what was inside them.
He knew just how imperfect they were.
He knew they would need teachers.
He knew they would need schools.
He knew they would need a Head Master and other disciplinarians to maintain order.
Imagine telling all the children in England to go to school and the books would all be there and all they would have to do is to read them themselves and there would from now on be no more teachers.
The Lord of the Flies is a Movie which I have not seen but it shows what a bunch of kids get up to when there is no leadership and discipline... Horrible!!!
Well I am just a kid too. A 72 year old kid and I need people of greater and proven experience to keep me in line too.
I hope you see what I am driving at.
I and the Catholic Population are for sure not better than you non Catholics. Some of my very best friends are Non Catholics.
Actually to tell you the TRUTH, I for sure am not Catholic because we have the most on fire and attractive personnel.
We are a weak bunch and many time not even nice.
Some of us are Pharisees of the worst kind.
Some of us are so weak in our faith that we may and probably will give up in the future.
BUT we have a STRUCTURE
We have Leadership
And we have stood the test of time.
One of the best examples I know and one which continually sticks in my mind and is a tremendous encouragement is a true story about Padre Pio
You can watch the movie on you tube! and this characteristic of his is the reason why God was so with this guy and why he became a Saint so soon after his death.
I think it was for 10 years that he was prevented from taking Holy Mass and hearing confessions. Not 10 days or ten weeks but 10 years. ALL BECAUSE OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS...
He had a really good friend who was not a Priest and everyone knew that the Local Bishop was a womaniser on the side.
This friend trying to encourage Father Pio made a negative allusion to this Bishop and got an immediate slap on the face from the Father . He angrily corrected him for his insubordination and lack of respect toward a higher authority.
Saint Pio knew the paramount importance of the need for this 2000 year old structure, even if people in the structure were bad sinners and very bad role models.
I am not a Catholic because of good or bad priests.
I am not a Catholic because other members of the congregation of my church love me or hate me or even worse are indifferent towards me but because of Matthew Ch 16 verse 18...
Jesus Christ is building, maintaining and carrying on my Church with or without me or you or good people or bad people but just because He promised to do so and He has put a structure in place which totally confounded those False Prophets prior to the Pope's visit to my country who believed and spread lies that B16 would return to Rome with his tail between his legs having been snubbed and humiliated by the British Public.
The rest of you who are not in this structure but going to an unstructured school with just books to read and no teachers are easy meat for the Diaballein who is eating you and your denominations for breakfast.
Splitting and splitting and then more splitting and eventual destruction or even worse ineffectiveness!!!!!!!!
It is like going to war without a General or Army Commander... Just take your gun and some ammo and some difficult to understand instructions and win the war all by yourself... Crazy isn't it????
Apologetics for the Catholic Church.. SHOW ME SOMETHING BETTER
39 years ago, I joined the Jesus movement.
This was a movement born in California amongst the Hippies and surfers and drop outs of the late 60s and 70s.
I was in this group for a quarter of a century!
5 years earlier I had given my heart to Jesus on a railway train one cold February morning shortly after the death of a great statesman, Sir Winston Churchill.
I was in and out of many different denominations as I looked for something to really give my life too.
IF JESUS WAS WORTH FOLLOWING, HE WAS WORTH FOLLOWING ALL THE WAY.
I COULD NOT SETTLE FOR JUST CHURCH BENCH WARMING AND OCCASIONAL BIBLE STUDY.
First I tried my own branch, the Church of England. Then a revolutionary branch of the Baptists, known as the Navigators.
I owe a great deal to the Navs as they taught me to memorise key verses of The Holy Bible and how to witness effectively. I loved to witness!!!! I still do and do it every day except Sundays and even then I do if I get the chance.
I do not want to arrive in Eternal Life alone. I want to bring many others along with me.
I also tried the Brethren and the Methodists and all kinds and shapes and sizes of the Pentecostal world.
You can read a more detailed account in my Auto Bio which is posted on
www.blogspot.com
When I was absolutely desperate, the Lord sent along the Jesus movement of the Children of God.
The COG was everything that I was looking for and more.
It was a life of total faith and commitment and witnessing every day.
It hit London and England like a storm or rather a powerful breath of the Holy Spirit.
With no visible means of support except blind faith in the promises of Jesus Christ in the Bible we were soon in a very few years expanding all over the world.
Back to the point of this true story.
Our first Community was in a warehouse, a disused Factory belonging to a Mr Frampton in Bromley Kent.
One of his sons joined the group, much to his dismay. Mr F was a kind of solid evangelical.. a branch of the Brethren, I think??
As I was the oldest being 30 or 31, I was often being used to explain the group to Reporters, Police, Parents and many a time to Mr Frampton himself.
He would keep saying to me that he was very suspicious of the COG and why was I not thankful for just being an EVANGELICAL?????
This was before they embraced a sexual revolution for which they eventually became notorious.
I SAID TO HIM AND TO THE MANY VISITORS WHO ASKED ME SIMILAR QUESTIONS.....
Show me something better and I will for sure join it.
Catholicism was out of the question as in England the ANTI CATHOLIC DISINFORMATION
PROGRAMME had been very successful and was branded a false form of Christianity... Bells...Smells...Priests dressed up as women..
Later after watching and amazing Zeffirelli movie, BROTHER SUN and sister moon, on the life of Saint Francis of Assissi, I did begin to see that we in the COG were not unique.
Now my challenge to you, this early morning on October the 5th, my Mothers Birthday and also the Saints day of Faustina who died as I was born 48 days later.....Show me something better than the Roman Catholic Faith....
Show me a faith that has stood its ground for 2000 years.
Show me a faith that has such an enormous impact on this modern world and makes headline news regularly, even if sometimes it is only our sad errors.
Do you mean to tell me that there is no Paedophilia in Protestantism?
Of course there is but nobody cares or just very few.
What group runs more Hospitals, Charities, Hospices, Schools and places of Higher education?
Look at the publicity our Church got as Pope B16 went to the UK and confounded all the angry PROTESTERS!!!
If the leader of a Protestant sect even a so called main line one like Methodists or C of E would commit adultery it would make very little news, but if our Pope gets knocked down by accident by an over enthusiastic lady, it is headlines on CNN and BBC.
God Bless you!!!!!
God love you!!!!!
Peace!!!!!!!
michael jaffray king
This was a movement born in California amongst the Hippies and surfers and drop outs of the late 60s and 70s.
I was in this group for a quarter of a century!
5 years earlier I had given my heart to Jesus on a railway train one cold February morning shortly after the death of a great statesman, Sir Winston Churchill.
I was in and out of many different denominations as I looked for something to really give my life too.
IF JESUS WAS WORTH FOLLOWING, HE WAS WORTH FOLLOWING ALL THE WAY.
I COULD NOT SETTLE FOR JUST CHURCH BENCH WARMING AND OCCASIONAL BIBLE STUDY.
First I tried my own branch, the Church of England. Then a revolutionary branch of the Baptists, known as the Navigators.
I owe a great deal to the Navs as they taught me to memorise key verses of The Holy Bible and how to witness effectively. I loved to witness!!!! I still do and do it every day except Sundays and even then I do if I get the chance.
I do not want to arrive in Eternal Life alone. I want to bring many others along with me.
I also tried the Brethren and the Methodists and all kinds and shapes and sizes of the Pentecostal world.
You can read a more detailed account in my Auto Bio which is posted on
www.blogspot.com
When I was absolutely desperate, the Lord sent along the Jesus movement of the Children of God.
The COG was everything that I was looking for and more.
It was a life of total faith and commitment and witnessing every day.
It hit London and England like a storm or rather a powerful breath of the Holy Spirit.
With no visible means of support except blind faith in the promises of Jesus Christ in the Bible we were soon in a very few years expanding all over the world.
Back to the point of this true story.
Our first Community was in a warehouse, a disused Factory belonging to a Mr Frampton in Bromley Kent.
One of his sons joined the group, much to his dismay. Mr F was a kind of solid evangelical.. a branch of the Brethren, I think??
As I was the oldest being 30 or 31, I was often being used to explain the group to Reporters, Police, Parents and many a time to Mr Frampton himself.
He would keep saying to me that he was very suspicious of the COG and why was I not thankful for just being an EVANGELICAL?????
This was before they embraced a sexual revolution for which they eventually became notorious.
I SAID TO HIM AND TO THE MANY VISITORS WHO ASKED ME SIMILAR QUESTIONS.....
Show me something better and I will for sure join it.
Catholicism was out of the question as in England the ANTI CATHOLIC DISINFORMATION
PROGRAMME had been very successful and was branded a false form of Christianity... Bells...Smells...Priests dressed up as women..
Later after watching and amazing Zeffirelli movie, BROTHER SUN and sister moon, on the life of Saint Francis of Assissi, I did begin to see that we in the COG were not unique.
Now my challenge to you, this early morning on October the 5th, my Mothers Birthday and also the Saints day of Faustina who died as I was born 48 days later.....Show me something better than the Roman Catholic Faith....
Show me a faith that has stood its ground for 2000 years.
Show me a faith that has such an enormous impact on this modern world and makes headline news regularly, even if sometimes it is only our sad errors.
Do you mean to tell me that there is no Paedophilia in Protestantism?
Of course there is but nobody cares or just very few.
What group runs more Hospitals, Charities, Hospices, Schools and places of Higher education?
Look at the publicity our Church got as Pope B16 went to the UK and confounded all the angry PROTESTERS!!!
If the leader of a Protestant sect even a so called main line one like Methodists or C of E would commit adultery it would make very little news, but if our Pope gets knocked down by accident by an over enthusiastic lady, it is headlines on CNN and BBC.
God Bless you!!!!!
God love you!!!!!
Peace!!!!!!!
michael jaffray king
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Some home truths about life
Some home truths about Life!!
Everyone on this earth has to work!! That is a fact!
Mostly we have to work putting our feet under someone else's table. Doctors, Lawyers, Priests, Office workers, Factory workers and everybody except for a few very rich bosses at the top and even they have plenty to worry about like now in an economic depression and recession.
Very few work with nice pleasant people all the time. Maybe a few do but sooner or later we start to see their idiosyncrasies and this is where the German word for like comes into play. Leiden means to suffer and put up with someone. I suffer you means I like you basically.
We all have to learn to suffer other people. This is made easier when we realise how imperfect we are ourselves. Only those with a very high opinion of themselves are unable to put up with others !!
I as a self appointed missionary have it pretty easy as I am self employed. However I have to be very polite and I have to make a good impression with all.... all.. the people I meet. Even those who absolutely hate what I am doing..I cannot afford to be rude. If I am I will be asked by my Church and the leadership and the Police to stop my activities.
We all have to make sacrifices and work with many people that are not to our liking. THAT is a part of life. We get pushed around by our bosses and even if we like them a lot to begin with as time goes on just like in a marriage many points of disagreement come up and then we have to bite our tongues and keep going as otherwise the pay check does not come in and we starve or there is a divorce.
All this is pretty obvious but not to some sad to say.
They all want to be the boss and as soon as another one of them gets the job done without them they would prefer to say goodbye to a million dollars and just hang on to their pride. Life is full of these moments when we get humbled.
I remember when I was at the Royal Naval college and it was time to elect the Captains. It was either going to be me or a far more likely candidate Richard Channon. To my delight and amazement it was me and so I went to see Channon to offer my condolences. He smiled and then told me that he had been made the Captain of the whole College. Pop went my balloon! Ha!
When I was the leader of my kids and we were singing literally hundreds of concerts in just about every kind of place imaginable, I was determined to get them onto the world stage. We had good Christian songs but as the world is only a small percent Christian, the world wasn't interested. We met a man who could have helped us but I was too proud to take his suggestion which was to write songs that the people of the world would appreciate and so we lost an opportunity.
The same thing happened in the USA and again I was too proud to accept the advice of others. I was so certain I was right! If we want lots of cash and become famous, and that seems to be the goal of most, then we have to comply with the wishes of others.
We just have to accept the ups and the downs of which there are plenty and keep going. We have to accept the good and bad bosses.
The wonderful thing is though that Jesus loves us even though we tend to screw up so often and He never lets us down.
Mel Gibson is a good example for me.. Yes I am sad that he is now divorced but he accomplished so much for the Kingdom Of God with his movie The Passion of the Christ.!! Absolutely marvellous and has made a huge impression on so many people.
He did not make his cash with the Passion but as an actor pleasing many many people at the professional way he did his job.
So the moral of this blog is, we must accept the Home Truths about Life and make the best of it!!! Often in unfavourable conditions and with unfavourable people!
We have to swallow our pride and work with people that we do not particularly like but as the world is made up of just such people... Make the best of it!!!! Otherwise you will regret your decision later when you are left behind wasting your talents on something very very second best while others are rolling in cash and luxury.
In this letter if the shoe fits, wear it.. It fits me perfectly and I am still learning to wear it with a smile. This is a sermon against me too. I hope it helps you!!!!.
Everyone on this earth has to work!! That is a fact!
Mostly we have to work putting our feet under someone else's table. Doctors, Lawyers, Priests, Office workers, Factory workers and everybody except for a few very rich bosses at the top and even they have plenty to worry about like now in an economic depression and recession.
Very few work with nice pleasant people all the time. Maybe a few do but sooner or later we start to see their idiosyncrasies and this is where the German word for like comes into play. Leiden means to suffer and put up with someone. I suffer you means I like you basically.
We all have to learn to suffer other people. This is made easier when we realise how imperfect we are ourselves. Only those with a very high opinion of themselves are unable to put up with others !!
I as a self appointed missionary have it pretty easy as I am self employed. However I have to be very polite and I have to make a good impression with all.... all.. the people I meet. Even those who absolutely hate what I am doing..I cannot afford to be rude. If I am I will be asked by my Church and the leadership and the Police to stop my activities.
We all have to make sacrifices and work with many people that are not to our liking. THAT is a part of life. We get pushed around by our bosses and even if we like them a lot to begin with as time goes on just like in a marriage many points of disagreement come up and then we have to bite our tongues and keep going as otherwise the pay check does not come in and we starve or there is a divorce.
All this is pretty obvious but not to some sad to say.
They all want to be the boss and as soon as another one of them gets the job done without them they would prefer to say goodbye to a million dollars and just hang on to their pride. Life is full of these moments when we get humbled.
I remember when I was at the Royal Naval college and it was time to elect the Captains. It was either going to be me or a far more likely candidate Richard Channon. To my delight and amazement it was me and so I went to see Channon to offer my condolences. He smiled and then told me that he had been made the Captain of the whole College. Pop went my balloon! Ha!
When I was the leader of my kids and we were singing literally hundreds of concerts in just about every kind of place imaginable, I was determined to get them onto the world stage. We had good Christian songs but as the world is only a small percent Christian, the world wasn't interested. We met a man who could have helped us but I was too proud to take his suggestion which was to write songs that the people of the world would appreciate and so we lost an opportunity.
The same thing happened in the USA and again I was too proud to accept the advice of others. I was so certain I was right! If we want lots of cash and become famous, and that seems to be the goal of most, then we have to comply with the wishes of others.
We just have to accept the ups and the downs of which there are plenty and keep going. We have to accept the good and bad bosses.
The wonderful thing is though that Jesus loves us even though we tend to screw up so often and He never lets us down.
Mel Gibson is a good example for me.. Yes I am sad that he is now divorced but he accomplished so much for the Kingdom Of God with his movie The Passion of the Christ.!! Absolutely marvellous and has made a huge impression on so many people.
He did not make his cash with the Passion but as an actor pleasing many many people at the professional way he did his job.
So the moral of this blog is, we must accept the Home Truths about Life and make the best of it!!! Often in unfavourable conditions and with unfavourable people!
We have to swallow our pride and work with people that we do not particularly like but as the world is made up of just such people... Make the best of it!!!! Otherwise you will regret your decision later when you are left behind wasting your talents on something very very second best while others are rolling in cash and luxury.
In this letter if the shoe fits, wear it.. It fits me perfectly and I am still learning to wear it with a smile. This is a sermon against me too. I hope it helps you!!!!.
Monday 22 February 2010
Apocolypse... What does it really mean???
Apocalypse!!! What does it really mean?
Sequel to the Ramblings of a Sinner! Vino Veritas!
There is a very good talk by my very own favourite Father!! Father Robert Barron and he says what I am going to share with you much better than I can. I will try once again to find it and send you the URL.
However one of the main reasons that I like to share new thoughts and ideas with you when they are hot off the press so to speak is that they then become ingrained in my own mind. Have you noticed that every time you teach something or share something then it become much more real and applicable to oneself.
If you were to ask people what does the word Apocalypse conjure up in their minds, I think most people would say that it has something to do with the end of the world... The end time.. Actually it means in Greek, The Uncovering..Uncovering and Revealing of secrets..Hence our own word in English... Revelation..
For one to be able to really appreciate Jesus and all He has to offer, one has to uncover the wicked cover ups of Satan.
Satan lulls us all into a false sense of security and this was brought out beautifully in Father B's talk. For example he explains that if we had been born in the 3rd century at the time of Roman dominance of the world and someone had asked us how long did we think that this Roman Empire would last, we would be excused for believing that it would be for ever. The same would apply at the beginning of the 20th century when the British Empire was so strong Ruling Waves and Waiving Rules! Now the the USA holds the world dominance but this time we can be a little smarter than
those who tell that the only thing we learn from History is that we never learn from History, we too can tell that the USA's days are also numbered. Our very lives here on earth are numbered.. Everything is so transitory. Even our Universe will one day start contracting and implode on itself. Even the Universe is temporary. So buildings, people, countries, dynasties, families, properties, firms and businesses, and yes our very own lives on this earth are all very limited.
I remember well when my mother and father explained to me just after I had become a Christian that one day I would come to my senses and then they would be there to welcome me back. They would stand like one of those everlasting bastions landmarks which stand around like the Pyramids or Stone Henge and always be there to welcome their wayward and crazy son back into the fold. Well of course they both died within one month of each other which was the mercy of God as they were so dependent on each other and their house and property today belongs to another.
So what am I really trying to say?? Do not be deceived like most of this sad and hurting world into thinking in terms of your immortality and your being around for ever in this world. Only Jesus is eternal. Only His Kingdom will last for ever. This was promised in Old Testament prophecies. The kingdom of David would go on for ever and it does right now through the Roman Catholic Church and the Gates of the kingdom of Hell will not be able to stand against it.
Having come to ones senses about the transitory nature of things, then it is so wise to put all your eggs into the basket of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord and Creator and finisher of our Faith.
Sequel to the Ramblings of a Sinner! Vino Veritas!
There is a very good talk by my very own favourite Father!! Father Robert Barron and he says what I am going to share with you much better than I can. I will try once again to find it and send you the URL.
However one of the main reasons that I like to share new thoughts and ideas with you when they are hot off the press so to speak is that they then become ingrained in my own mind. Have you noticed that every time you teach something or share something then it become much more real and applicable to oneself.
If you were to ask people what does the word Apocalypse conjure up in their minds, I think most people would say that it has something to do with the end of the world... The end time.. Actually it means in Greek, The Uncovering..Uncovering and Revealing of secrets..Hence our own word in English... Revelation..
For one to be able to really appreciate Jesus and all He has to offer, one has to uncover the wicked cover ups of Satan.
Satan lulls us all into a false sense of security and this was brought out beautifully in Father B's talk. For example he explains that if we had been born in the 3rd century at the time of Roman dominance of the world and someone had asked us how long did we think that this Roman Empire would last, we would be excused for believing that it would be for ever. The same would apply at the beginning of the 20th century when the British Empire was so strong Ruling Waves and Waiving Rules! Now the the USA holds the world dominance but this time we can be a little smarter than
those who tell that the only thing we learn from History is that we never learn from History, we too can tell that the USA's days are also numbered. Our very lives here on earth are numbered.. Everything is so transitory. Even our Universe will one day start contracting and implode on itself. Even the Universe is temporary. So buildings, people, countries, dynasties, families, properties, firms and businesses, and yes our very own lives on this earth are all very limited.
I remember well when my mother and father explained to me just after I had become a Christian that one day I would come to my senses and then they would be there to welcome me back. They would stand like one of those everlasting bastions landmarks which stand around like the Pyramids or Stone Henge and always be there to welcome their wayward and crazy son back into the fold. Well of course they both died within one month of each other which was the mercy of God as they were so dependent on each other and their house and property today belongs to another.
So what am I really trying to say?? Do not be deceived like most of this sad and hurting world into thinking in terms of your immortality and your being around for ever in this world. Only Jesus is eternal. Only His Kingdom will last for ever. This was promised in Old Testament prophecies. The kingdom of David would go on for ever and it does right now through the Roman Catholic Church and the Gates of the kingdom of Hell will not be able to stand against it.
Having come to ones senses about the transitory nature of things, then it is so wise to put all your eggs into the basket of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord and Creator and finisher of our Faith.
Saturday 20 February 2010
The ramblings o a sinner
The ramblings of a sinner! VINO VERITAS!!
You know something!
Yes I've had a little wine to drink.
I am lying in my bed alone with my thoughts and prayers and with Jesus.
The rest of the family are watching a video. I have my little miniature tape recorder in the form of an MP4 and this is how I really feel.
I want you to know that I am crazy about Jesus!
Jesus is so amazing! He is better than a million dollars, No! A trillion dollars!
He is better than having the whole world. He is just so super and so fantastic!
You know why I love Father Barron so much? Because Father Barron wants to share this truth with the whole world in the Catholicism Project.
He does not want to go barren to Heaven like a barren woman with no child. He does not want to be barren he wants to be a Barron, a Prince, He wants to be a Saint!
I want to be a Saint and I want to take millions with me. I don't want to go to Heaven because I am crazy about Jesus. I don't want that! I don't want to go alone! I want to take millions with me. Trillions with me.
I won't be happy just to be with Jesus alone. Just me and Jesus. The Bible tells us there is a greater Joy.. In the third Epistle of John verse 4 it says that the Greatest Joy is to see ones children walking in the Truth. For me to walk in the truth , yes that is wonderful!Yes that is incredible! But there is a greater joy and that is to take children with you. Take millions with me. Not alone but with trillions of others.
To find the Lord myself is one thing! But to help trillions of others is what I want! Yes that is what I want! That is what I really want. That is what I really want. I want millions to find Jesus with the whole world coming with me.
I want everybody to experience what I am experiencing now! I want everybody to experience the Love the Joy the Peace that I experience right now.
I don't want this just for myself, I want it for everybody. If I just have it myself and you don't get it and you don't get a smashing hit of it, then I have failed. I feel like a failure.
If I have experienced all this joy and wonder and incredibleness and beauty and enormousness and ginormousness of this enormous God that is greater than all the Galaxies put together and all the explosions and big bang that happened billions of years ago, then I have failed.
If I cant bring you to experience this incredible on going and eternal phenomenon, if you do not understand this God's love and if you do not know about His mercy which is within mercy and within even more mercy and inside even more mercy, then I have failed. I will feel a failure, and I haven't helped you then I feel barren. I want to be a Barron not barren. I want to help Father to be a real Barron and not barren. I want you to all be Barrons and not barren. The most tragic thing would be to get to Heaven knowing Jesus and how wonderful He is and amazing he is, and not taken the opportunity to share Him with others. Not being able to explain Him to others and have hidden my light under a bushel. Oh my God!That would be tragic really tragic. That would be a tragedy with a capital T. That is why I love this Catholicism project. It is so cool and so beautiful. Father Barron does not want to be barren but a Barron, a Saint and share this with the whole world.
Lord help me to write about this tomorrow. I really want to put this in simple words so that you can understand and that you can enjoy.
More than dear Bill Gates has ever experienced in all his rich life with his billions of dollars or any other rich man in this world who has the whole world and has lost his soul.
If anybody comes to the stop sign of life at the point of death and they don't have Jesus! Oh my God they are so poor Father!
I don't care how many mansions they own in Beverly Hills, I don't care! I don't care! If they have the whole world and they don't have Jesus and they don't know Jesus, then they have nothing! Absolutely nothing! That is a zero! A real zero!
That is why I do not want to die yet, I want to bring many many millions and trillions to Jesus.
I know what this is worth!! So much more than all the wealth in the world.
I recently prayed for a million dollars for my kids. That is peanuts for Jesus but a lot for my kids. That would show my kids that I love them as they are so short of cash. The cash would help them but then that they would find out that being a Pop star and all that Popularity would be such peanuts compared to knowing Jesus. They have to find out themselves. Just like you all who read this, you too will have to find out that what we think is so important is really rubbish when compared with knowing and loving and being loved by Jesus. Lord help me to write all this down tomorrow when I wake up tomorrow.!!!
I hope this was a help and God bless you!!
You know something!
Yes I've had a little wine to drink.
I am lying in my bed alone with my thoughts and prayers and with Jesus.
The rest of the family are watching a video. I have my little miniature tape recorder in the form of an MP4 and this is how I really feel.
I want you to know that I am crazy about Jesus!
Jesus is so amazing! He is better than a million dollars, No! A trillion dollars!
He is better than having the whole world. He is just so super and so fantastic!
You know why I love Father Barron so much? Because Father Barron wants to share this truth with the whole world in the Catholicism Project.
He does not want to go barren to Heaven like a barren woman with no child. He does not want to be barren he wants to be a Barron, a Prince, He wants to be a Saint!
I want to be a Saint and I want to take millions with me. I don't want to go to Heaven because I am crazy about Jesus. I don't want that! I don't want to go alone! I want to take millions with me. Trillions with me.
I won't be happy just to be with Jesus alone. Just me and Jesus. The Bible tells us there is a greater Joy.. In the third Epistle of John verse 4 it says that the Greatest Joy is to see ones children walking in the Truth. For me to walk in the truth , yes that is wonderful!Yes that is incredible! But there is a greater joy and that is to take children with you. Take millions with me. Not alone but with trillions of others.
To find the Lord myself is one thing! But to help trillions of others is what I want! Yes that is what I want! That is what I really want. That is what I really want. I want millions to find Jesus with the whole world coming with me.
I want everybody to experience what I am experiencing now! I want everybody to experience the Love the Joy the Peace that I experience right now.
I don't want this just for myself, I want it for everybody. If I just have it myself and you don't get it and you don't get a smashing hit of it, then I have failed. I feel like a failure.
If I have experienced all this joy and wonder and incredibleness and beauty and enormousness and ginormousness of this enormous God that is greater than all the Galaxies put together and all the explosions and big bang that happened billions of years ago, then I have failed.
If I cant bring you to experience this incredible on going and eternal phenomenon, if you do not understand this God's love and if you do not know about His mercy which is within mercy and within even more mercy and inside even more mercy, then I have failed. I will feel a failure, and I haven't helped you then I feel barren. I want to be a Barron not barren. I want to help Father to be a real Barron and not barren. I want you to all be Barrons and not barren. The most tragic thing would be to get to Heaven knowing Jesus and how wonderful He is and amazing he is, and not taken the opportunity to share Him with others. Not being able to explain Him to others and have hidden my light under a bushel. Oh my God!That would be tragic really tragic. That would be a tragedy with a capital T. That is why I love this Catholicism project. It is so cool and so beautiful. Father Barron does not want to be barren but a Barron, a Saint and share this with the whole world.
Lord help me to write about this tomorrow. I really want to put this in simple words so that you can understand and that you can enjoy.
More than dear Bill Gates has ever experienced in all his rich life with his billions of dollars or any other rich man in this world who has the whole world and has lost his soul.
If anybody comes to the stop sign of life at the point of death and they don't have Jesus! Oh my God they are so poor Father!
I don't care how many mansions they own in Beverly Hills, I don't care! I don't care! If they have the whole world and they don't have Jesus and they don't know Jesus, then they have nothing! Absolutely nothing! That is a zero! A real zero!
That is why I do not want to die yet, I want to bring many many millions and trillions to Jesus.
I know what this is worth!! So much more than all the wealth in the world.
I recently prayed for a million dollars for my kids. That is peanuts for Jesus but a lot for my kids. That would show my kids that I love them as they are so short of cash. The cash would help them but then that they would find out that being a Pop star and all that Popularity would be such peanuts compared to knowing Jesus. They have to find out themselves. Just like you all who read this, you too will have to find out that what we think is so important is really rubbish when compared with knowing and loving and being loved by Jesus. Lord help me to write all this down tomorrow when I wake up tomorrow.!!!
I hope this was a help and God bless you!!
Do not miss this one. A wonderful conditional promise
Do Not Miss This One!!!!!
Book of Isaiah 58:9-14. from today's liturgical readings in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world....
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; "Repairer of the breach," they shall call you, "Restorer of ruined homesteads."
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD'S holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice-- Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the herit
I first started to read my Bible seriously in 1965 round about March or April. It was just after Winston Churchill died. I filed past his coffin in Westminster and I knew that History had been made by this extraordinary man and I knew that History was important.
History, HIS STORY!! the story of Jesus Christ. I gave my life to Jesus on a railway train at that time and from then on I could not put my Bible down. I read it like a very thrirsty soul!! I had found a reason for it all! I knew that my redeemer lived and He lived within my heart!
Shortly afterwards I read this chapter in Isaiah 58 and was so overwhelmed by this simple promise that I began to weep. I for sure was not able always to keep my side of the bargain, but I can promise you that Jesus did, in spite of my many failings and defeats and shortcomings and mistakes. He is faithful and every word in the above promise has become true for me. It can for you too.
What do you have to do???????
Here is the answer
If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; "Repairer of the breach," they shall call you, "Restorer of ruined homesteads."
For me it simply meant to share my faith with others. If I was to do just this, then I would be helping and really feeding others with food that would last for eternity.
Jesus Christ is the answer to every problem that the human race has to face. Without HIM one has NOTHING and with HIM we all have EVRYTHING.
God Bless you and have a wonderful week end this freezing cold 20th of February 2010 day!
Book of Isaiah 58:9-14. from today's liturgical readings in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world....
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; "Repairer of the breach," they shall call you, "Restorer of ruined homesteads."
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD'S holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice-- Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the herit
I first started to read my Bible seriously in 1965 round about March or April. It was just after Winston Churchill died. I filed past his coffin in Westminster and I knew that History had been made by this extraordinary man and I knew that History was important.
History, HIS STORY!! the story of Jesus Christ. I gave my life to Jesus on a railway train at that time and from then on I could not put my Bible down. I read it like a very thrirsty soul!! I had found a reason for it all! I knew that my redeemer lived and He lived within my heart!
Shortly afterwards I read this chapter in Isaiah 58 and was so overwhelmed by this simple promise that I began to weep. I for sure was not able always to keep my side of the bargain, but I can promise you that Jesus did, in spite of my many failings and defeats and shortcomings and mistakes. He is faithful and every word in the above promise has become true for me. It can for you too.
What do you have to do???????
Here is the answer
If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; "Repairer of the breach," they shall call you, "Restorer of ruined homesteads."
For me it simply meant to share my faith with others. If I was to do just this, then I would be helping and really feeding others with food that would last for eternity.
Jesus Christ is the answer to every problem that the human race has to face. Without HIM one has NOTHING and with HIM we all have EVRYTHING.
God Bless you and have a wonderful week end this freezing cold 20th of February 2010 day!
Two Questions for you and for me?? Have you arrived at (1). some state of sinless perfection?? Or (2). do you want to make real progress in the direct
Two Questions for you and for me?? Have you arrived at (1). some state of sinless perfection?? Or (2). do you want to make real progress in the direction of becoming a Saint???
If your answer is number one then please do not bother to download and read the Philokalia.(The Love of Good) 1246 pages of Bible Based instructions!
On the other hand if you want to make some real progress with your walk with the Lord, then please do read study and digest the Philokalia with the same enthusiasm as the Pilgrim in the 19th century as he trudged his way around Russia on his way to Odessa and then to Jerusalem and then to Eternity
The Way of a Pilgrim which has nothing to do with Pilgrim's progress By John Bunyan, can be purchased at your local book store or from Amazon.com for about 10US$.
For me my first lesson is that these studies and observations have shown me just how little I really know about applying the Word of God to my life.
There is no doubt about it, I am a sinner and a pretty big sinner at that.
This set of Instructions by a group of Dessert Monks of the 4th century will not only point out graphically what your problems and sins are, but will also very helpfully show you how to overcome them.
It is a real lesson on Humility and has come very generously none to soon as I am now moving towards the very end of my life here on earth. I could live another 10 years or 10 months or 10 weeks or 10 days or 10 hours or 10 minutes or 10 seconds.. Only God knows but I do realise time is short for all of us because we do not know when that moment will be when we are confronted with the STOP sign from which there is no going back and only forward in the realm of the Spirit.
Let me give you just one example... Mixed Motives!!!
I have been admitting recently that I am a chief of sinners!
I realise that this a humble thing to say, but am I saying this to show you all how humble I am or do I really mean it?
These teachings from the Dessert Fathers will show you all about yourself (Alarmingly Truthful!) and all about how to get close to Jesus and thus really be able to help others, never looking down on them and never lifting oneself up.
It will make one aware of all the danger signals and how to cope with them.
It is not about retreating into solitary confinement where there is nobody to bother you but all about dealing with the every day occurrences of frustration and difficult situations and battles that occur so regularly in the lives of you and me.
Just Google Philakolia and choose the best on line download of these amazing and remarkable teachings.
If you can't find one let me know and I will try and find out exactly where I got my full unabridged copy.
God bless you!!! Have a wonderful first day of the rest of your life.
If your answer is number one then please do not bother to download and read the Philokalia.(The Love of Good) 1246 pages of Bible Based instructions!
On the other hand if you want to make some real progress with your walk with the Lord, then please do read study and digest the Philokalia with the same enthusiasm as the Pilgrim in the 19th century as he trudged his way around Russia on his way to Odessa and then to Jerusalem and then to Eternity
The Way of a Pilgrim which has nothing to do with Pilgrim's progress By John Bunyan, can be purchased at your local book store or from Amazon.com for about 10US$.
For me my first lesson is that these studies and observations have shown me just how little I really know about applying the Word of God to my life.
There is no doubt about it, I am a sinner and a pretty big sinner at that.
This set of Instructions by a group of Dessert Monks of the 4th century will not only point out graphically what your problems and sins are, but will also very helpfully show you how to overcome them.
It is a real lesson on Humility and has come very generously none to soon as I am now moving towards the very end of my life here on earth. I could live another 10 years or 10 months or 10 weeks or 10 days or 10 hours or 10 minutes or 10 seconds.. Only God knows but I do realise time is short for all of us because we do not know when that moment will be when we are confronted with the STOP sign from which there is no going back and only forward in the realm of the Spirit.
Let me give you just one example... Mixed Motives!!!
I have been admitting recently that I am a chief of sinners!
I realise that this a humble thing to say, but am I saying this to show you all how humble I am or do I really mean it?
These teachings from the Dessert Fathers will show you all about yourself (Alarmingly Truthful!) and all about how to get close to Jesus and thus really be able to help others, never looking down on them and never lifting oneself up.
It will make one aware of all the danger signals and how to cope with them.
It is not about retreating into solitary confinement where there is nobody to bother you but all about dealing with the every day occurrences of frustration and difficult situations and battles that occur so regularly in the lives of you and me.
Just Google Philakolia and choose the best on line download of these amazing and remarkable teachings.
If you can't find one let me know and I will try and find out exactly where I got my full unabridged copy.
God bless you!!! Have a wonderful first day of the rest of your life.
How does one legislate righteousness?
Please watch Michael Moor's new contribution documentary called Sicko! It will show you that there is so much in this world that is totally unfair especially in the USA with their private medical insurance whose job it is to throw out as many cases as possible allowing thousands to die so they can make a profit. This is as bad as abortion in my opinion.
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-7648163380348323280&hl=en&autoplay=1
Legislating Righteousness!!
How does one legislate righteousness??????
That is a very good question???
I have not given this very serious thought up till now. Watching Michael Moore in action with his movie Sicko has got me thinking.
I am against abortion... Why? It is murder. That is why! However how does one legislate it? So you make a very unpopular move, which no Republican has dared to do because he would lose votes, by outlawing it. Does that eradicate it? I will let you answer that one.
I am against condoms and birth control.. How does one legislate it? Have TVs watching everybody in the sexual act? Please answer that one.
I am against the revolting behaviour of the homosexual act. How does one legislate that one? Will the legislation of that work? Why don't you answer that one too?
We have a very charming friend of our children who is a practising Homosexual. Shall we forbid him to come over and sleep at our place? We have told him about what we think about it and we have to leave it at that and do something really powerful!! Do you know what that is???? Pray in the name of Jesus and to His Holy Mother in the Rosary. AND to love him and welcome him. Does our love for him give him the right to make his bad choices? Yes it does. We cannot legislate the choices he makes.
My mother told me when I was a teenager that if I got a girl into trouble, that she would still love me and welcome me home and try to work something out. I never did because my mother's trust on that one was preventative and held me back. Many of my closest friends were told that they would be thrown out if they got pregnant. They were particularly promiscuous.
Do we really believe that killing radical Muslims is going to stamp out terrorism? Now that is a good question? I think the answer is so so so so so obvious. Tell that to Politicians and the Armaments industry. They love war. They love to control the population through fear. God bless Michael Moore. OK he is a millionaire!! Are you jealous? Yes, I am a bit to be honest... Are you honest??? Please answer that question your self!
Now I am really going to shock you....God is pro choice!!! I really believe that!!! He gives us the choice to be good or evil. If we choose evil then we must take the consequences. God does not want Robots!!! He wants Saints who have chosen Him by free choice and not by the LEGISLATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
I wrote something recently about Alcoholism. It is pointless keeping Alcohol away from an Alcoholic. He will find it and drink it when you are not watching. He has to learn to hate it and then when he sees the bottle, he walks away from it in disgust.
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-7648163380348323280&hl=en&autoplay=1
Legislating Righteousness!!
How does one legislate righteousness??????
That is a very good question???
I have not given this very serious thought up till now. Watching Michael Moore in action with his movie Sicko has got me thinking.
I am against abortion... Why? It is murder. That is why! However how does one legislate it? So you make a very unpopular move, which no Republican has dared to do because he would lose votes, by outlawing it. Does that eradicate it? I will let you answer that one.
I am against condoms and birth control.. How does one legislate it? Have TVs watching everybody in the sexual act? Please answer that one.
I am against the revolting behaviour of the homosexual act. How does one legislate that one? Will the legislation of that work? Why don't you answer that one too?
We have a very charming friend of our children who is a practising Homosexual. Shall we forbid him to come over and sleep at our place? We have told him about what we think about it and we have to leave it at that and do something really powerful!! Do you know what that is???? Pray in the name of Jesus and to His Holy Mother in the Rosary. AND to love him and welcome him. Does our love for him give him the right to make his bad choices? Yes it does. We cannot legislate the choices he makes.
My mother told me when I was a teenager that if I got a girl into trouble, that she would still love me and welcome me home and try to work something out. I never did because my mother's trust on that one was preventative and held me back. Many of my closest friends were told that they would be thrown out if they got pregnant. They were particularly promiscuous.
Do we really believe that killing radical Muslims is going to stamp out terrorism? Now that is a good question? I think the answer is so so so so so obvious. Tell that to Politicians and the Armaments industry. They love war. They love to control the population through fear. God bless Michael Moore. OK he is a millionaire!! Are you jealous? Yes, I am a bit to be honest... Are you honest??? Please answer that question your self!
Now I am really going to shock you....God is pro choice!!! I really believe that!!! He gives us the choice to be good or evil. If we choose evil then we must take the consequences. God does not want Robots!!! He wants Saints who have chosen Him by free choice and not by the LEGISLATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
I wrote something recently about Alcoholism. It is pointless keeping Alcohol away from an Alcoholic. He will find it and drink it when you are not watching. He has to learn to hate it and then when he sees the bottle, he walks away from it in disgust.
What is a family really all about?
What is a family really all about?
That is a very good question! Yesterday I got a little glimpse as to the answer.
We hear many times, “Why don't you live in a house? Then we can all have our own rooms? Why don't you have a proper job and and earn some real good money instead of begging on the streets? Then we would all be much much happier!
Well, Yesterday was David's 15th birthday. He is crazy about the X Box we gave him for his last birthday and so yesterday we invested 60 of our very precious and dwindling Euro in the latest and most popular game. He was like a hungry and thirsty cat with an overflowing saucer full of rich cream. We are all living on the camp ground where we are extremely unwelcome having uncovered the plot of the 43 break ins and sadly only the small fry at the bottom of the Pyramid are in prison while those who organised and encouraged the plan are free until they die when they will get quite a surprise!!! But who thinks of dying??? So right now they feel immortal and safe!
We put them, Mikey Jazz, Jemmy , Dave and Shelly on the train to Cologne where they went to see the new Sherlock Holmes Movie being played in English.
We then went to our friend in the local cinema who was very happy and smiling to allow us to watch the same movie in German for free. I didn't really understand it but I enjoyed the amazing graphics and with Irmgard whispering far too loud in my ear, I understood about 50% of it. Luckily the Theatre was pretty empty so there were not too many people to complain about the running English Commentary.
Mikey. Dave. Jazz, Jemmy and Shelly now in Cologne and having watched Sherlock Holmes, then went for a Chinese meal in their favourite and very good and cheap restaurant and mum and I curried and spiced up the leftovers and had our meal and off to sleep. Mum with her Bible and me with my running commentary on the Philokalia.
At 11.30 our kids were not home and then began the worry part. They had a phone so it should have been easy to contact them. No reply. Over and over we phoned them again and again. Eventually we got through to Jazz who was staying with a friend to find out that she by mistake had the phone in her bag and so all communication was lost with the party of 4 with Shelly who can never stay awake beyond about 9. I was out in the snow watching to meet them as they crossed the Arctic Ice fields which surround us in the worst winter since 1978.
At 12 10 they arrived cheerful and happy and we had a reunion of love and thanksgiving in our small kitchen. Dave got his Xbox Game and was overjoyed and Mikey was on Computer getting loans from Sony and Universal which will hopefully come through today and Monday so that they can return to LA to present their songs and small album. One song is most likely going to be adopted by a Reality show called “The Biggest Loser!” (Weight Loser). If this happens their financial problems will be solved for a long time. Please pray for that one! OK?
So what is this all about? I think we all got a glimpse about the real values of this life. Yes we quarrel!!! Yes we have downs! Yes we even seem to have splits but the wonderful thing is that God brings us all back together and Yes blood is thicker than water.
Please pray for us all. We need you and hope you enjoy all the stuff we send you and that you find it interesting and hopefully even soul feeding
That is a very good question! Yesterday I got a little glimpse as to the answer.
We hear many times, “Why don't you live in a house? Then we can all have our own rooms? Why don't you have a proper job and and earn some real good money instead of begging on the streets? Then we would all be much much happier!
Well, Yesterday was David's 15th birthday. He is crazy about the X Box we gave him for his last birthday and so yesterday we invested 60 of our very precious and dwindling Euro in the latest and most popular game. He was like a hungry and thirsty cat with an overflowing saucer full of rich cream. We are all living on the camp ground where we are extremely unwelcome having uncovered the plot of the 43 break ins and sadly only the small fry at the bottom of the Pyramid are in prison while those who organised and encouraged the plan are free until they die when they will get quite a surprise!!! But who thinks of dying??? So right now they feel immortal and safe!
We put them, Mikey Jazz, Jemmy , Dave and Shelly on the train to Cologne where they went to see the new Sherlock Holmes Movie being played in English.
We then went to our friend in the local cinema who was very happy and smiling to allow us to watch the same movie in German for free. I didn't really understand it but I enjoyed the amazing graphics and with Irmgard whispering far too loud in my ear, I understood about 50% of it. Luckily the Theatre was pretty empty so there were not too many people to complain about the running English Commentary.
Mikey. Dave. Jazz, Jemmy and Shelly now in Cologne and having watched Sherlock Holmes, then went for a Chinese meal in their favourite and very good and cheap restaurant and mum and I curried and spiced up the leftovers and had our meal and off to sleep. Mum with her Bible and me with my running commentary on the Philokalia.
At 11.30 our kids were not home and then began the worry part. They had a phone so it should have been easy to contact them. No reply. Over and over we phoned them again and again. Eventually we got through to Jazz who was staying with a friend to find out that she by mistake had the phone in her bag and so all communication was lost with the party of 4 with Shelly who can never stay awake beyond about 9. I was out in the snow watching to meet them as they crossed the Arctic Ice fields which surround us in the worst winter since 1978.
At 12 10 they arrived cheerful and happy and we had a reunion of love and thanksgiving in our small kitchen. Dave got his Xbox Game and was overjoyed and Mikey was on Computer getting loans from Sony and Universal which will hopefully come through today and Monday so that they can return to LA to present their songs and small album. One song is most likely going to be adopted by a Reality show called “The Biggest Loser!” (Weight Loser). If this happens their financial problems will be solved for a long time. Please pray for that one! OK?
So what is this all about? I think we all got a glimpse about the real values of this life. Yes we quarrel!!! Yes we have downs! Yes we even seem to have splits but the wonderful thing is that God brings us all back together and Yes blood is thicker than water.
Please pray for us all. We need you and hope you enjoy all the stuff we send you and that you find it interesting and hopefully even soul feeding
What can I give HIM?
What can I give HIM?
Now this is a very good question??
Sooner or later and actually in a very small portion of time when one considers the very big picture, we will stand in front of Jesus!
What will we tell Him to gain His approval?? What will we say to get His Love?
Jesus I have been a sacrificial Missionary for over ¾ of my life. I have done this in Your Name and I have done that in Your Name etc. etc. etc.
Will He then look at me with great approval on His face and say “Yes son you have done a great job.. Thanks for telling me all about it!”
To gain the unconditional love that Jesus offers us it would be much better for you in my opinion just to offer Him your sin which he took away on that awesome and horrifying tree on Mount Calvary. Offer Him that sin which we never seem to get the total victory about. Failing and getting up again.. failing and getting up again..failing and getting up again...
“Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me!”
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a miserable sinner!”
Now this is a very good question??
Sooner or later and actually in a very small portion of time when one considers the very big picture, we will stand in front of Jesus!
What will we tell Him to gain His approval?? What will we say to get His Love?
Jesus I have been a sacrificial Missionary for over ¾ of my life. I have done this in Your Name and I have done that in Your Name etc. etc. etc.
Will He then look at me with great approval on His face and say “Yes son you have done a great job.. Thanks for telling me all about it!”
To gain the unconditional love that Jesus offers us it would be much better for you in my opinion just to offer Him your sin which he took away on that awesome and horrifying tree on Mount Calvary. Offer Him that sin which we never seem to get the total victory about. Failing and getting up again.. failing and getting up again..failing and getting up again...
“Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me!”
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a miserable sinner!”
Apocalypse!!! What does it really mean? Sequel to the Ramblings of a Sinner! Vino Veritas!
Apocalypse!!! What does it really mean?
Sequel to the Ramblings of a Sinner! Vino Veritas!
There is a very good talk by my very own favourite Father!! Father Robert Barron and he says what I am going to share with you much better than I can. I will try once again to find it and send you the URL.
However one of the main reasons that I like to share new thoughts and ideas with you when they are hot off the press so to speak is that they then become ingrained in my own mind. Have you noticed that every time you teach something or share something then it become much more real and applicable to oneself.
If you were to ask people what does the word Apocalypse conjure up in their minds, I think most people would say that it has something to do with the end of the world... The end time.. Actually it means in Greek, The Uncovering..Uncovering and Revealing of secrets..Hence our own word in English... Revelation..
For one to be able to really appreciate Jesus and all He has to offer, one has to uncover the wicked cover ups of Satan.
Satan lulls us all into a false sense of security and this was brought out beautifully in Father B's talk. For example he explains that if we had been born in the 3rd century at the time of Roman dominance of the world and someone had asked us how long did we think that this Roman Empire would last, we would be excused for believing that it would be for ever. The same would apply at the beginning of the 20th century when the British Empire was so strong Ruling Waves and Waiving Rules! Now the the USA holds the world dominance but this time we can be a little smarter than
those who tell that the only thing we learn from History is that we never learn from History, we too can tell that the USA's days are also numbered. Our very lives here on earth are numbered.. Everything is so transitory. Even our Universe will one day start contracting and implode on itself. Even the Universe is temporary. So buildings, people, countries, dynasties, families, properties, firms and businesses, and yes our very own lives on this earth are all very limited.
I remember well when my mother and father explained to me just after I had become a Christian that one day I would come to my senses and then they would be there to welcome me back. They would stand like one of those everlasting bastions landmarks which stand around like the Pyramids or Stone Henge and always be there to welcome their wayward and crazy son back into the fold. Well of course they both died within one month of each other which was the mercy of God as they were so dependent on each other and their house and property today belongs to another.
So what am I really trying to say?? Do not be deceived like most of this sad and hurting world into thinking in terms of your immortality and your being around for ever in this world. Only Jesus is eternal. Only His Kingdom will last for ever. This was promised in Old Testament prophecies. The kingdom of David would go on for ever and it does right now through the Roman Catholic Church and the Gates of the kingdom of Hell will not be able to stand against it.
Having come to ones senses about the transitory nature of things, then it is so wise to put all your eggs into the basket of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord and Creator and finisher of our Faith.
Sequel to the Ramblings of a Sinner! Vino Veritas!
There is a very good talk by my very own favourite Father!! Father Robert Barron and he says what I am going to share with you much better than I can. I will try once again to find it and send you the URL.
However one of the main reasons that I like to share new thoughts and ideas with you when they are hot off the press so to speak is that they then become ingrained in my own mind. Have you noticed that every time you teach something or share something then it become much more real and applicable to oneself.
If you were to ask people what does the word Apocalypse conjure up in their minds, I think most people would say that it has something to do with the end of the world... The end time.. Actually it means in Greek, The Uncovering..Uncovering and Revealing of secrets..Hence our own word in English... Revelation..
For one to be able to really appreciate Jesus and all He has to offer, one has to uncover the wicked cover ups of Satan.
Satan lulls us all into a false sense of security and this was brought out beautifully in Father B's talk. For example he explains that if we had been born in the 3rd century at the time of Roman dominance of the world and someone had asked us how long did we think that this Roman Empire would last, we would be excused for believing that it would be for ever. The same would apply at the beginning of the 20th century when the British Empire was so strong Ruling Waves and Waiving Rules! Now the the USA holds the world dominance but this time we can be a little smarter than
those who tell that the only thing we learn from History is that we never learn from History, we too can tell that the USA's days are also numbered. Our very lives here on earth are numbered.. Everything is so transitory. Even our Universe will one day start contracting and implode on itself. Even the Universe is temporary. So buildings, people, countries, dynasties, families, properties, firms and businesses, and yes our very own lives on this earth are all very limited.
I remember well when my mother and father explained to me just after I had become a Christian that one day I would come to my senses and then they would be there to welcome me back. They would stand like one of those everlasting bastions landmarks which stand around like the Pyramids or Stone Henge and always be there to welcome their wayward and crazy son back into the fold. Well of course they both died within one month of each other which was the mercy of God as they were so dependent on each other and their house and property today belongs to another.
So what am I really trying to say?? Do not be deceived like most of this sad and hurting world into thinking in terms of your immortality and your being around for ever in this world. Only Jesus is eternal. Only His Kingdom will last for ever. This was promised in Old Testament prophecies. The kingdom of David would go on for ever and it does right now through the Roman Catholic Church and the Gates of the kingdom of Hell will not be able to stand against it.
Having come to ones senses about the transitory nature of things, then it is so wise to put all your eggs into the basket of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord and Creator and finisher of our Faith.
No cosy life for Christians!!!
No cosy life for Christians!!
1st Peter Ch 4 verses 12 to 14.
12 Dearly beloved, think not strange the burning heat which is to try you: as if some new thing happened to you. 13 But if you partake of the sufferings of Christ, rejoice that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
By becoming a Christian in this wicked but hurting world, we are entering into a war of Good against Evil.
It is a deadly serious war where both sides are playing for keeps.
If you say to me that you do not experience this war then you must not be a soldier of Jesus Christ.
Yes! We seem to be a small minority but our Commanding Officer has already won the war when He died for our sins on Mount Calvary.
The Cross of Jesus Christ is our most powerful weapon and one which sends our enemy into a tail spin and crashing down to earth when we stand up to him.
Now to this verse above in 1st Peter....
This is one of those verses which we should tare out of our Bible! Don't you think??
Surely being a real Christian means that you just sail through life with no problems and plenty of money and plenty of health, surrounded always by really nice people who love you????? Do you falsely believe that?
Praying without ceasing and rejoicing always is also just some crazy verses which we definitely have to ignore along with Matthew Chapter 16 verse 18 and a host of others which do not suit us and are so embarrassing and out of date in our modern world.
Wait a minute... The Bible is the Word of God, isn't it? And according to this verse we are to expect lots of problems and battles and trials even welcoming them and expecting them and for sure not thinking that it a strange and unnecessary matter??????...
Why??? Because they are good for us and helps us to take part in the sufferings of Jesus.
But I thought He did all the suffering so that I would not have to suffer???
He did and He didn't. He suffered for our sins but from this verse we can see that is far from a strange thing for us to share in His sufferings so that we can also share in HIS GLORY!!!
We have to share in His sufferings.. He has to allow us to be tried with very difficult and obnoxious people and with sicknesses and sorrow and seeming failures and defeats.
The Joy we get is from the Victories He helps us to win in the daily battles which inevitably come our way.
No Victory without a Battle!
No Triumph without a trial!
No Crown without a Cross!
No Rose without a Thorn!
No Testimony without a Test!
Now here comes the crunch verse that shows us we must never give up, no matter what happens.
The way we end up is so so so so so important.
The thief on the cross must have emptied many a pocket and made many people very sad and miserable with his life of crime and yet he gets salvation in a moment!
Why?
Because hanging stark naked and bleeding on that extremely cruel execution instrument of torture and public shame, he turns to Jesus for help and mercy. You and I need to stay focused through the many of life's trials not excluding our own silly mistakes which we make all too often.
Those mistakes help to keep us humble.....
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
So next time you and I begin to suffer and have pain from people or from circumstances or from inevitable bodily decay as we grow older, just remember that if we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him.
2Ti 2:12a If we suffer, we shall also reign with [him]:
If this message has helped you, please send a little help as we live entirely from donations. Mostly small but very much appreciated. 5 or 10 Euro stuffed into an envelope hidden between a small note of appreciation or whatever and mailed to
Michael Jaffray King
Bech strasse 55
51674 Wiehl Germany
Will be very much appreciated and used entirel to help keep our little show on the road. Thank you and God bless you and KGFG Keep Going For God!
All those who help will receive an acknowledgement of sincere thanks by email.
1st Peter Ch 4 verses 12 to 14.
12 Dearly beloved, think not strange the burning heat which is to try you: as if some new thing happened to you. 13 But if you partake of the sufferings of Christ, rejoice that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
By becoming a Christian in this wicked but hurting world, we are entering into a war of Good against Evil.
It is a deadly serious war where both sides are playing for keeps.
If you say to me that you do not experience this war then you must not be a soldier of Jesus Christ.
Yes! We seem to be a small minority but our Commanding Officer has already won the war when He died for our sins on Mount Calvary.
The Cross of Jesus Christ is our most powerful weapon and one which sends our enemy into a tail spin and crashing down to earth when we stand up to him.
Now to this verse above in 1st Peter....
This is one of those verses which we should tare out of our Bible! Don't you think??
Surely being a real Christian means that you just sail through life with no problems and plenty of money and plenty of health, surrounded always by really nice people who love you????? Do you falsely believe that?
Praying without ceasing and rejoicing always is also just some crazy verses which we definitely have to ignore along with Matthew Chapter 16 verse 18 and a host of others which do not suit us and are so embarrassing and out of date in our modern world.
Wait a minute... The Bible is the Word of God, isn't it? And according to this verse we are to expect lots of problems and battles and trials even welcoming them and expecting them and for sure not thinking that it a strange and unnecessary matter??????...
Why??? Because they are good for us and helps us to take part in the sufferings of Jesus.
But I thought He did all the suffering so that I would not have to suffer???
He did and He didn't. He suffered for our sins but from this verse we can see that is far from a strange thing for us to share in His sufferings so that we can also share in HIS GLORY!!!
We have to share in His sufferings.. He has to allow us to be tried with very difficult and obnoxious people and with sicknesses and sorrow and seeming failures and defeats.
The Joy we get is from the Victories He helps us to win in the daily battles which inevitably come our way.
No Victory without a Battle!
No Triumph without a trial!
No Crown without a Cross!
No Rose without a Thorn!
No Testimony without a Test!
Now here comes the crunch verse that shows us we must never give up, no matter what happens.
The way we end up is so so so so so important.
The thief on the cross must have emptied many a pocket and made many people very sad and miserable with his life of crime and yet he gets salvation in a moment!
Why?
Because hanging stark naked and bleeding on that extremely cruel execution instrument of torture and public shame, he turns to Jesus for help and mercy. You and I need to stay focused through the many of life's trials not excluding our own silly mistakes which we make all too often.
Those mistakes help to keep us humble.....
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
So next time you and I begin to suffer and have pain from people or from circumstances or from inevitable bodily decay as we grow older, just remember that if we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him.
2Ti 2:12a If we suffer, we shall also reign with [him]:
If this message has helped you, please send a little help as we live entirely from donations. Mostly small but very much appreciated. 5 or 10 Euro stuffed into an envelope hidden between a small note of appreciation or whatever and mailed to
Michael Jaffray King
Bech strasse 55
51674 Wiehl Germany
Will be very much appreciated and used entirel to help keep our little show on the road. Thank you and God bless you and KGFG Keep Going For God!
All those who help will receive an acknowledgement of sincere thanks by email.
The Incerdible journey of Hitch hiking miracles
Well this is my contribution to helping you see from a true story of crazy faith that there is a God and He is the God of the Bible and that he loves you in particular!!!
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
OUR LONGEST HITCH HIKING ADVENTURE.
This is a true story of how my wife Irmgard and I went from Brazil to Singapore, 21,000 kilometres purely by faith with practically no cash. About 100 US$.
When we arrived in India three months later and after about 300 hitch hikes by car, by lorry, by ship and by aeroplane, we were able to donate almost 3000US$ from small donations received to our missionary organisation
I hope it will encourage you to know how incredibly real the Spiritual world of God and His followers is.
Although I have failed Him so many times my testimony is that He has never failed me.
I hope you will find this interesting and look forward to hearing your comments. It took place 25years ago and so I may get some of the chronology wrong but not the facts. God bless you and have fun reading my first of 21 instalments.
The Purpose of it all!
This is a personal note to you all to try and explain, THE PURPOSE OF IT ALL.
By writing the Incredible Journey in about 15 to 20 instalments there is a purpose.
Most of us believe in God and the Spiritual World at least to some extent.
Maybe our faith is mainly Hope rather than Faith.
We are all getting older and that inevitable day of our departure from this material life will come upon us sooner or later.
On this three month trip, some 24 years ago, God was put to the test hundreds of times.
Miracles needed to happen by the hour rather than by the month or year.
Once we set out we never knew where we were going to spend the night. We never knew where our next meal would be coming from. We never knew whether we would fall sick or have a disastrous accident. We had no insurance for any such unforeseen eventuality. We were out on a limb for the duration of those three months. We were walking on the edge of a very dangerous precipice for the entire time in parts of the world that were dangerous at the best of times.
Perhaps I can hear God saying that we too were put to the test hundreds of times.
I believe for those of you who read this story, the Incredible journey and believe that I have not exaggerated or stretched the truth, will see quite plainly that coincidences do occur in life but not on the scale that we experienced them during the Incredible Journey.
There can be really only one way that this adventure could have been completed successfully and that is with the help of a very powerful, spiritual DIVINE HAND.
If this story will help you to find and hold on tight to this most powerful DIVINE HAND for the rest of your life and then on into eternity then this objective will have been reached.
Thanks for reading and listening. I would really like to hear your reaction and look forward to what you may have to say.
Half way around the world on a spiritual journey.
The Incredible journey Stage 1.
Our Life in Brazil.
My wife and I were Christian Missionaries in Brazil. The year was 1984. We were both living on a farm which had been lent to about 20 of us Missionaries and their children, by a Christian supporter and was a school for the kids and a base for the grown ups to operate from.
It was in a small village called Guararema, close to Mogi das Cruzes about 50 kilometers from Sao Paulo, the commercial Capital.
We were members of a Protestant group of the famous Jesus revolution from California, made up of ex Hippies of the flower power the late 60s and early 70s.
We lived for telling people about Jesus. We not only told them but most of the time we were able to lead them into a prayer to accept the Spirit of Jesus Christ into their hearts.
Of course we knew enough Portuguese to be able to speak quite fluently and daily prayed with scores of people.
Some who were really interested gave us their addresses and so we were able to follow them up with more advanced literature than just a simple salvation tract. We would ask them if they would like to contribute a small donation which many of them did, and from this we all lived. Some did not help because they had no cash or because they preferred not to. Some also gave items that we needed such as furniture, food, clothing, and even electronic equipment. When they gave materials instead of cash we called this provisioning. Whatever happened, we were just happy that they had listened to us and accepted the simple literature. This they could read later and we believe that many did and were convicted and took their first steps towards following Jesus.
We had no visible means of support from a regular income, but were sure that if we faithfully proclaimed the Gospel which simply means the Good News then somehow our Spiritual Leader Jesus would take care of us through thick and thin. A good definition of Good News is News that is too good not to share.
Let me tell you He definitely did take care of us and still does to this day.
The call to India.
One day we received a letter from some of the missionaries in India telling us of the great need there.
Brazil was, and I'm sure still is, a very awesome place to be and it was going to be very tough for us to leave.
However being a missionary and following our spiritual leader Jesus Christ's command to go in to all the world meant a lot of moving and at my last count I can tuck over 40 countries under my belt. Moving is our business.
Another factor that played a very significant part was that I was born in India and spent the first 7 years of my life from 1938 to 1945 there. I could still remember it and felt very convicted that I should go back there one day. Now seemed the perfect opportunity.
Pandita Ramabai Gospel Tract.
We had a very special tract called Pandita Ramabai. It is a beautiful true and touching story about a lady with the same name who was diagnosed with a disease which left her only one year to live. She decided to spend her last moments taking Bibles over the mountains to an area near Nepal where the Gospel had never really been presented. Her doctor strapped the back pack of bibles in the local language onto her back and off she went. She was never really heard of much again but the whole area soon had a thriving Christian spiritual community.
This tract was translated into Portuguese and then later back into English and was used to great effect.
We prayed with many 100s maybe 1000s to ask Jesus into their hearts.
The prayer went something like this. “Repeat after me. Please Jesus come into my heart,” then a pause for time to repeat. “Please give me the free gift of Eternal life. Forgive my sins. Fill me with your Love. Thank you. In Jesus Name.”
From time to time there were some very amusing responses especially from people who thought they knew English very well but understood very little. The funny part was usually repeating the words “Please give me everlasting life.” One person very seriously repeated, “Please give me everything I like!” Sounds a bit similar but not exactly the same meaning. Ha! Also we would always be talking about India and then instead of repeating that they wanted Eternal Life, one person with absolute seriousness asked for “Indian Life.”
A crazy promise from the Bible.
My wife and I prayed desperately and were reading the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, Chapter 55 verse 1 All you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no money make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine and milk without money, and without any price.
This was a promise from our Spiritual Leader The Word of God. It was either true to be appropriated or false to be discarded.
Of course we had no money, only enough for the day and a little for breakfast the next morning. This was and is usual.
The spiritual promise right here in this first verse was really interesting. If we had interpreted this correctly here was the invisible Holy Spirit, Lord of the Universe promising food including wine and milk without having to pay for it.
Irmgard and I stared at this verse for a few moments and then realized that this would continue to be the key for our journey across first the South Atlantic and then the North Atlantic to Europe and beyond.
We already were very experienced hitch hikers. Every day we were dropped in Sao Paulo to witness and would come home the 50 kilometres at night simply by asking for lifts along the way. In one year we averaged three lifts a day so we travelled more than 1000 times by hitch hiking.
I remember one person in particular who told us that he never stopped for anyone. Brazil is quite dangerous and there are many criminal gangs operating. As we stood in the road with our thumbs up smiling at the approaching driver he said that he had seen an aura of spiritual light around us which transmitted peace to him and so he stopped. He later became a faithful supporter. This kind of occurrence was quite normal for us.
50 $ was our start out cash!
We collected a small donation which had been sent to Irmgard by her Aunt amounting to 100 DM or 50 Euro.
So we could boast 50 Euros or 65$ for a trip that would have to take us across three oceans, including the Mediterranean, the Suez canal, the Red sea and beyond.
One early morning we set out from the farm and as we passed through the gate we told the Holy Spirit, “This is our first step to India.”
Incredible journey Stage 2.
The longest journey begins with one step.
That first step was easy. However the longest journey begins with one step. We just had a further 9000 kilometres to go to reach our halfway point in Europe. If you were to stop and think about it it was quite ridiculous. It was best not to think about it and instead to think about all the spiritual help that was as yet untapped for this incredible journey. That would be a good name for this true story, The incredible Journey.
The next step was to make our way to Santos. This is the Port city for Sao Paulo and was a couple of hours away towards the South Atlantic coast.
That morning we managed to provision a nice free breakfast and had time to pray and ask The Father Son and Holy Spirit, what to do? The Holy Spirit was already leading us to people who would be a help in the future. After prayer which simply means having a chat with God we believed it would be better to stay for a week or so in the rich city of Sao Paulo and try and raise some permanent support for living in a poor country like India.
Having left our community we had nowhere to stay for the night. We were travelling very light with just two shoulder bags but we did have about three heavy trunks of personal possessions which was also going to be rather a problem, hitch hiking with three trunks was adding cold water to the sacrifice.
Travelling with lots of luggage.
This reminds me of a time when we were donated a desperately needed double bed for our community. Of course we accepted and told the person that we would be round the next day to pick it up. The place was a good 20kilometers out of town and we had no available transport to collect it with. It was left to me to get it and then take it home.
Now remember in the spiritual world nothing is impossible. Only in the physical are their limitations. I hitched a few rides to the apartment block and took the lift up to the fourth floor. As I got out, there was the double bed all dissembled for transport. I thanked the lady profusely and she asked me how I was going to get it to our house. I told her not to worry as there was transport outside waiting to take it. Not exactly true but in a way yes, as it turned out. I took the the bits all neatly roped together out of the lift and leaned them against a wall in the yard below. Thankfully the lady was not looking out of her window. I shot up an arrow prayer of desperation into the spiritual realm and then opened my eyes. Parked across the road was a van inside a warehouse entrance. Soon I was talking to the owner and he was agreeing to deliver the bed free of charge to our home. Later that afternoon he did.
Well a friend of ours agreed to store the heavy baggage and then we went off to down town Sao Paulo to look for a friendly Hotel owner. We did have some friends amongst the Hotel people as they would give us discarded linen and even quite decent furniture and carpets often still in very good condition. We also received Lost and Found articles so as you can see we were and still are expert scavengers.
However the usual friends were not able to help us with bed and breakfast for two weeks which is what we needed before moving to Santos.
The Sao Paulo Suite service gives us 10 days free of charge with breakfast.
We were walking down one of the main streets trying not to feel discouraged but keeping up our spiritual conversation with our Spiritual Boss and friend and saviour Jesus Christ and then I saw this huge complex of suites and rooms lumped together in the Sao Paulo Suite service.
Before long we were sitting sipping coffee in front of the manager and we told him how we were on our way to India as Missionaries and needed a place to stay with breakfast.
We gave him a Pandita Ramabai tract. We were both praying hard at the same time as speaking to this man who we had never met before. To our amazed relief he began smiling and gave us the most beautiful suite close to the swimming pool and sauna all for free with a huge breakfast for 10 days.
We printed out a small pledge form asking people to agree to give a certain amount of cash to us monthly and started distributing it to everyone we met together with the Pandita Ramabai tract.
Sao Paulo is full of delicious restaurants and getting our free meals for the rest of the day was comparatively easy.
Matthew Ch 6 verse 33. “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”
We began every day with what we call devotions. This was our spiritual beginning with contact to the Higher powers of the Christian God. We read passages from the Bible and then laid our day before the Lord asking for guidance and protection and a supply of all our needs.
The Bible contains many promises for example Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians chapter 4 verse 19 And may my God supply all your needs, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
This was one we used a great deal. Of course these promises are no good if you do not really believe them but through experience we did, and they worked and still work superbly. I can thoroughly recommend the promises in the Bible for all the world to use.
Also very important was listening to God for the answers. This we did by allowing the Holy Spirit to gently nudge our consciences.
One of the most important ingredients in all of this was simply to take the time. Consciously stop everything and take time with the spiritual world.
Nothing except disaster is accomplished by rushing through life without stopping, looking and above all listening.
We were off to a very good start. 10 days in a luxurious hotel was quite a beginning. Breakfast swimming and sauna. I had hardly ever used a sauna so that was a novelty. The staff were very nice to us.
We were very busy every day getting up early as this was no holiday. The objective of India was ever before us, coupled together with a rather blurred image of the Soviet Union, that vast continent we just called Russia. Daily we asked God to lead us step by step. We needed or so we thought, support for once we arrived in India. We needed good health which we amazingly seemed to always enjoy and we needed to try and supplement our cash of 100 DM about 40 US$.
Incredible Journey Stage 3.
Narrow escapes from criminals.
Soon our time in this five star complex was coming to an end. We decided to leave our 3 trunks in the Sao Paulo free storage.
So far everything seemed to be working to plan. We did have some narrow escapes from criminals. In the crowded places there were many bag snatchers and we always had to hang on to our shoulder bags. One person was robbed in front of our eyes and the thief ran off with the person screaming. He was soon lost in the crowds of people. One evening when returning to our free hotel we watched a burglary in a deserted street. As we approached a sentry gave the alarm and those responsible just melted away. Once we boarded a bus and three stops before, the whole group of passengers had been robbed of all their cash and jewellery. One guy in the front had had his finger cut off so at to get his gold ring. The police investigation had already taken place and so we joined a group of very sad and bewildered passengers hoping that there would not be second strike.
Recreation and fun for free too.
We did have fun too. We made friends with a Cinema owner some months before and he allowed us to watch movies for free. One evening there did not seem to any good films except a Russian Classic called Dersu Uzala. It was really an awesome movie about the real agape love of a Siberian wild hunter who saves a platoon of lost Russian Cartographers, map makers from freezing to death through the night. It gave us a real love for Russia as well as for India and this was realized some 7 years later on. Coincidentally that same day we were offered free Stroganofs to eat
Hitch Hiking is such an amazing way to travel. It is very spiritual as it requires faith against all odds. This will come out later as we progress in our incredible journey. Spiritual people are not the only ones who hitch hike but it sure helps to be in close touch with the spiritual world through prayer.
It was our last morning and we finished our breakfast and profusely thanked the manager and the waitresses who had become our friends and set off with our two shoulder bags each. Stupidly I did not have a camera and frankly we could not afford one and so this whole trip is without photos. I however managed to keep a log of the business cards we received from the 4 to 500 people we were going to meet on the way. Collecting pledges had not really worked out and I was a bit disappointed.
Two significant dreams
I had a dream that I think was very significant. It was in two parts. The first one, I was riding in a Steeple chase against many other competitors. A Steeple chase is an English word for a horse race with jumps and although the race was long and gruelling it was just a matter of hanging on. By the time I reached the finish, all the other horses had fallen. On closer look at the Horse its head resembled Irmgard my wife. No offence to my wife who is actually very pretty and does not resemble a horse. Only in this rather significant spiritual dream.
The second dream we were walking on the water together. As long as we kept moving we walked quite quickly on top of the water but if we stopped we began to sink and had to swim. This slowed us down and was costly financially. It was like we needed to keep moving. Launching out into new places and changing our location daily was going to be the key or one of the keys to making this journey a success relying 100% on spiritual help all the way.
First stop the Port City of Santos.
We got a lift to the exit road from Sao Paulo to Santos and then there we stood on our first leg of our trip. We had no prearranged place to stay and just left by faith. This is something we have done countless times. Launching out into the unknown trusting in the help from the Great Spiritual force of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has never failed us.
A man stopped and was obviously going to Santos which was at the end of the highway. He was extremely nice and a Christian. He did not need for us to pray with him to receive Jesus. He was a quite famous Lawyer who worked closely in helping those convicted of drug crimes. He had been a drug addict and experienced a marvellous conversion. After receiving the Lord into his heart he said he had been weeping at the name of Jesus for a week after. Jesus was so real to him and he gave us a very generous donation and later the Lord would use him to be one of our only real supporters.
He dropped us on the sea front of Santos and this was one of our first views of the South Atlantic Ocean for a very long time. We shot up some arrow prayers and there in front of us was a three star Hotel. I have forgotten the name but it was something like the Palace.
The Owner Fernando was a very helpful man and after sharing our crazy ideas of hitch hiking a ship to India he agreed to put us up bed and breakfast for an indefinite time. He became our friend and confidant and was always very interested in the progress we would make day by day.
Incredible Journey Stage 4
Visiting the shipping companies
Now that we were in Santos, it was time to start visiting the shipping companies. Most of these were situated in the Port and Dock area which was surrounded by a high wall and there were about three or four entrances which were guarded and one needed a pass to get in. On our first morning after early morning prayer and reading from our super spiritual book the Bible and then breakfast and a chat with Fernando the Owner, we set off for the Port. It was in walking distance as our Hotel which I can now remember is named the Avenida Palace and was very conveniently in the centre of the sea front road. By looking as if we owned the place we smilingly walked past the guard into the busy port and no one stopped us.
Hitch hiking on cargo ships.
3 years earlier I had managed to provision free passages on cargo vessels from Hamburg to Santos for Missionaries from our organization. It happened something like this. I had a reputation for having a special spiritual gift from God of Faith and so I was asked by our leadership to try and get free passages for about 4 to 6 single missionaries to leave from Lisbon where I was staying, to Brazil. The year was 1991 and at that time our group was making a push towards Brazil. The company, Alianca, with offices in Hamburg, sailed to Brazil calling in at Porto and then Lisbon and so without anything prearranged I jumped on a night train from Lisbon to Hamburg. The train arrived at 8.30a.m. and without an appointment but after desperate prayer for Spiritual help, I was sitting in front of an amused Managing Director at 10 a.m. I explained our needs and he agreed to allow 2 passengers at a time to travel free as long as they did some work like painting and scrubbing. Of course I was delighted and was back in Lisbon with the good news the next morning. At least 4 to 6 missionaries used this facility to make it across the Atlantic without cost.
Now there was also a Passenger Liner which called frequently in at Lisbon on its way to Rio de Janeiro. This luxury Liner belonged to the well known Italian firm, Linea C, Costa Armatori with headquarters in Genoa and having succeeded so well with the German firm, I was then dispatched to work the same miracle for more missionaries including myself. Even though I had prayed and stormed heaven for a second similar miracle this time would be a different story. When I arrived in Genoa, I had no trouble getting to see the senior manager a Mr B who had only one arm. He was an extremely nice person and I spent a long time with him talking about spiritual matters which seemed to interest him a great deal. He poured out his heart but was unable to allow us to travel for free but he did make a big discount of 50% which was a help and he gave me his business card which I managed to hang on to for many years. This will become significant as our adventure unfurls.
Bluffing our way into the dock area.
Once inside the docks we were soon visiting every shipping company and shipping agent. The first three or four days we found nothing. It was a story of total disappointment.
The Doubtlets!
Giving up was out of the question but we continued to pray and hope and believe. In the evenings we found a Seaman's club called “Missions to Seamen”, organized by the Anglican Church. An old couple, I think he was a retired Anglican priest ran the place and were kind to us and gave us free beer and lots of complete and total discouragement. Hardly any one frequented this rather uninteresting place but it was fine for us to relax. They thought we were very presumptuous to expect a free trip East. They explained how there were many people all trying to go for free to Europe who had a much higher priority than us poor rather stupid looking missionaries. We learned to accept their free beer but not to listen to their doubts. We nicknamed them Mr and Mrs Doubtlet. It was rather tough having to tell Dear old Fernando about our failures but he put a brave face on it and continued to allow us to stay. I guess the Lord helped him to have faith in us.
Bingo! We got our ride! Or so we thought.
On about the fourth or fifth day we were stopped going through our normal entrance and so we walked further down the road and went in another entrance successfully. In front of us was brand new firm that we had not seen before. This time everything seemed to go according to plan. They promised 2 free berths in a cabin in a ship that would arrive in three weeks. The destination was Northern Europe but in hitch hiking one has to be prepared to take any ride that is going somewhat in the right direction. We were overjoyed and triumphantly reported to Fernando and to the Doubtlets who put a brave face to cover up their previous remarks and they just said, “Well you guys are just lucky, plain lucky”. They were not really spiritual people but were friendly with billiards and beer for lonely sailors and I think they had rooms which were rather expensive for short stay overs.
Now we had to wait for three weeks and after the dream about moving we decided to go on a hitch hiking trip around Brazil getting more addresses and trying to supplement our donations which were still very low. We have a little spiritual saying, “If you witness about Jesus and the spiritual world, you will always win.”
Incredible Journey Stage 5.
Visas for India.
Brazil is a huge country. I think it is the 5th biggest country in the world. Russia then Canada then China then USA and then Brazil. Something like that. Because I was born in India, I did not need a visa and neither did my wife even though she was German. However by an amazing stroke of good fortune which was to save us lots of future trouble we found out that the Indians had changed their rules and now everyone entering India would need a visa, even British Nationals. We returned to Sao Paulo and stayed with some friends of our mission for a couple of days. I desperately needed a good guitar and there is a well known company called Di Georgio and we were able to visit the factory and tell the boss about our planned trip to India. He was really moved and presented me with one of their beautifully hand made acoustic guitars.
Two hitch hikes by plane. Wow!
We then realized we would have to go to the Indian embassy in Brasilia. Brasilia is the Capital and is quite some distance inland. It is a fairly new city and literally carved out of the dense jungle. Now we had a friend who worked for the local airways called Manoel. He was quite a big shot and so we approached him to pull some strings for a free internal flight to Brasilia. He looked a bit taken aback but promised to do what he could. The next day he phoned us and told us to hurry over as there were two free seats but we had to hurry. He said he would arrange the return trip once we were there. It was time to remember to thank that huge and wonderful spiritual force Jesus Christ our wonderful Saviour and Lord. He was arranging everything and planning ahead for us. This extra time gave us the opportunity to get our visa sorted out. Something we had not planned on.
The flight to the capital was uneventful and the plane was not all that full. There were quite a few empty seats. Of course once again we had no where to stay. This was normal and we knew we just had to tap in to those super spiritual forces to get us a free hotel. First we went to the embassy and had to spend some of our hard earned cash on the visas. This we could not avoid but while we were there we received good donations from distributing our Pandita Ramabai tracts and of course we came out on top. Remember that quote? “When you witness you always win”. Even the embassy official helped us with some notes.
Run away inflation but God is still on the throne!
The denominations were extremely high as there was rampant inflation running sometimes at 100% a month. The Cruzeiro was worth very little and a note of a million was not unusual to see. Later I think they knocked 4 zeros off and renamed the currency the Cruzado. Living by faith was one way of hardly noticing the enormous daily and weekly rise in prices. As the prices rose so did the donations.
We found a Hotel at the first shot. This is not normal. Sometimes it takes asking quite a few before someone will say yes and help. We phoned Manoel and the next day he arranged a free flight back to Sao Paulo.
Filling in time before getting our ride.
We still had two weeks to go before catching our prearranged ride to Europe in a Cargo vessel. We had never really spent time in Rio de Janeiro and so we checked as best we could with our Spiritual Boss and He seemed to give us the go ahead. We hitched to Rio in two days staying in a motel for free over night. Rio had just finished Carnival so we missed that quite thankfully as everyone goes quite wild. It is quite a flesh trip and not much help to us. We got to swim on the famous Copper cabana beach. It is a little hard to remember but we did not meet any body exceptional and then I had a strong desire to go to Ouro Preto. This translated meant black gold. Well Lord help me but I was interested in getting some more spare cash for this trip. Black Gold sounded a good place to find some good donations so off we set hitching and not spending money and slowly our finances were creeping up. I think we had about 500 US$ by now which I wore in my belt.
Our Naivety and simple faith keep the criminals away.
We were not really a target for thieves as we witnessed our faith literally to everyone. It did not matter if it was a possible Mafia boss or a policeman, we told them all about our wonderful Lord. I think doing this got us out of a lot of trouble as we were so naive and even the worst kind of people respected us with our crazy faith. We were not specially well dressed but just kind of normal wearing nothing fancy. That was not a choice it just represented what we had been given. Nearly all our clothing was provisioned from clothing shops or Hotel Lost and found items. Sadly I did not have a camera. At the time I did not really realize that we were doing something that unusual. Faith was and is a normal part of our daily life. We know that in the end Jesus will come through. He has never failed us even if sometimes the immediate circumstances seemed to indicate that He had and sometimes it really looked like it. As we progress on this trip together there will be plenty of times when this will become very evident.
It takes the impossible situations for God to do a miracle
It is usually in the really impossible situations that He comes through with something so much better than what we had hoped for. Just like the promise in St Paul's letter to the Ephesians Ch 3 verse 20. And now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think.
These Bible promises as I have already stated are absolutely awesome but they have to be appropriated and believed in otherwise they are just beautiful meaningless words.
Ouro Preto the city of Black Gold, did not live up to its name but it helped to keep us busy witnessing and travelling and increasing the number of addresses of people who could become supporters.
The sure thing did not come through.
Now the time came for us to make our way back to Sao Paulo and then Santos to board our ship. We arrived in Sao Paulo and a good friend drove us together with our three heavy trunks of baggage to the Avenida Palace Hotel in Santos. We still had a day or two so we decided to check and see if our ship was running on schedule. We arrived smiling in the office only to be told that the ship would be leaving with two VIPs taking our berths instead of us. Ow!!!!! Help!!!!!
Incredible journey Stage 6.
Defeat turned into another Victory.
He never fails!
Now you can imagine what a disappointment that was. We had put our faith in this trip and here we were turned down at the last moment. Maybe the Lord had really failed us this time? This idea in putting so much faith in the spiritual world to help was a bit far fetched? Up till now never! But this looked like it could be the first time. It was very tempting to think like that. Now do you remember the Linear C line from Genoa with the one armed Mr B? Well we had already been to see their offices three weeks before. The large passenger Liner only called in at Rio de Janeiro but smaller freight ships stopped at Santos. They did not hold out much hope but we had shown them Mr Bs card and that had obviously impressed them. So we rather reluctantly walked across the docks to their offices on the very slim chance that they might be able to help. I wish I could tell you how full of hope and faith I was but that would be a lie. It was a last resort. Kind of lets go and find out that they too like so many others had politely turned us down. We walked into their office and to our amazement the staff were all smiling and giggling. That same morning they had received a telex authorizing Mr and Mrs King to travel on the container ship The Trans Oceanica Silvia which would be docking the next day. Two berths had been specially reserved for us in the ship's hospital. The ship would take 21 days and would berth in Genoa taking us on a much more direct route half way across the Mediterranean Sea well on our way to our final destination India. I still have the free ticket badly preserved in a file for all to see.
Doubtlets are pleasantly shocked and Fernado too!
Hitch hiking with all our gear to the ship.
We literally ran back to our Hotel and told Fernando and then the amazed Doubtlets not only gave us beer but sandwiches. Back at the Hotel we started packing everything up into as neat way as we could. The shoulder bags contained two sets of everything. At night we would wash out our socks and underwear and hang them up on the radiators and put them on the next morning. The ship was sailing sharp at 2 p.m. and we had to be on board by 12. The only way we could carry our heavy baggage was in stages. First take one trunk 10 yards and dump it. Then the next and dump it in the same place. Then the third and then start all over again. It was like taking six times longer than just walking once. Now I can say, that we did have lots and lots of faith. This last miracle was a real faith booster. At about 9 we had our breakfast and then I carried out all our stuff and dumped it in the middle of the busy sea road on a traffic Island. Just imagine how ridiculous this looked. A small traffic island piled high with trunks and shoulder baggage. Last of all we too stood in the middle of the road facing the oncoming traffic which was moving in the direction of the port which was a good mile away. I do not think we had to wait more than five minutes and we were able to stop a very amused pick-up truck driver who allowed us to pile everything into the back including me while Irmgard sat in the front. 10 minutes later we were at the bottom of the gangway of the Trans Oceanica Silvia. We unloaded the stuff and some sailors helped us carry our heavy baggage on board.
Luxurious Hospital to live in.
The Hospital was very spacious and we just prayed that no one would get sick as then we would have to share this place. I do not think it worried us unduly. You know I too am a bit of a doubter and I wasn't really convinced that we had made it until the ship had passed through the outer harbour break waters and the Pilot had disembarked and we were well and truly heading out to sea. Then I really started to cheer the amazing Spiritual World of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, inside my soul.
Two other Passengers. The Italian Consul and his Brazilian wife.
That evening as we sat at the Captain's table with other members of the Officer crew and yes there were two other real passengers. The Italian consul and his very chirpy and entertaining and much younger than him, Brazilian wife. They had a proper cabin and had obviously paid for their trip. However apart from their rather snazzy cabin they had no more privileges than us poor missionaries. Another nice touch from the Lord was that at every meal except breakfast there was always wine. Do you remember the promise in Hosea Ch 55 v 1? Come and buy wine and honey and milk without money.
Good food fun and lots of Ping Pong and
A real Holiday!
There was always lots to eat and three to four course delicious Italian meals. I was able to play endless games of ping pong with the Marconi a nick name for the communications officer. I have to admit that I am pretty good at this rather ridiculous game but so was Marconi and we battled it out across the South Atlantic and then the North Atlantic. From time to time Irmgard and I would perch up in the bows of the ship watching the endless flying fish dashing across the front of our vessel. They would jump and fly for twenty to thirty yards to keep clear of the monster ship which they obviously thought was some kind of a mammoth whale that was ready to gobble them up. The weather was really calm and many times too the flying fish were joined by dancing dolphins that weaved their way in front riding the pressure wave set up by the ship ploughing its way across the deep blue ocean.
This was a holiday! One of the first for a very long time. We often went on the bridge and as I had been an officer in the Royal Navy I knew quite a bit about all the activities that took place up there. My favourite watch was with the ship's mate the first officer a good humoured Italian and we talked endlessly about our faith in the spiritual world. He was not convinced but remained a very good friend and wrote a very nice letter of recommendation for us to carry in the event that we would ever travel again hitch hiking on ships
Incredible journey Stage 7.
Time for reflection!
While on this long trip with nothing much to do except reflect on the vast ocean which stretched much further than the eye could see was an awesome time to meditate on this very unusual watery world. It has been said that all sailors are believers in the Spiritual. There is so much evidence of eternity. There is also so much time to think. Just to reflect and wonder about God and His creation. At night sometimes the sky is so clear of clouds and there is no smog from polluting factories and traffic to blur the atmosphere, that the stars and galaxies are visible with sparkling clarity from horizon to horizon. There is nothing man made to distract one apart from the throbbing sound of the engines and the floating home that is protecting and transporting us from continent to continent.
Ships that lass in the night.
From time to time one would pass vessels going in the opposite direction using the same shipping lanes as ourselves. In the dark we would amuse ourselves flashing a signal in Morse code to all those phantom passers by. What ship? Where bound? All sailors are meant to know and practice the code and we would show off our ability to send and read the replies that came flashing back in longs and shorts. “Julia Bay bound for Santos.”
A fascinating answer to prayer!
One day I was on watch and Irmgard and I prayed for something unusual to happen in the vast surrounding ocean. We told the 1st Officer that we had prayed and then it happened. A solitary whale was swimming in the opposite direction giving way its whereabouts with the tell tale water spout spurting up in the air as it cleared its nostrils. The Captain was summoned training his binoculars and exclaiming that this was very rare at this time of the year. He knew as he had made this trip so many times in all kinds of weather. Normally the whales would be travelling in schools like herds of elephants in a totally different part of the Ocean. Maybe this one had got lost? It made a welcome change and distraction. When we crossed the equator, a sailor dressed up as Neptune and we all drank a brandy to commemorate the occasion.
As the days passed we all began to get to know each other and I have to admit there was a very good spirit on the ship and I think this was largely due to the Captain as he was a good person handler and put everyone at their ease, and yet kept his dignity and authority. There were no fights or arguments among the crew and the morale remained high at all times. The cabin steward Paulo took very good care of us and we were careful to clean our own area and keep it spick and span. He would reward us with an extra Cappuccino for our efforts. During all 22 days the weather remained amazingly calm which was a real boon as having experienced rough weather in a small ship when I was in the Royal Navy was no joke.
Movie Night
On Friday evenings we would gather for a film. The one I remember well was the Poseidon Adventure the story of a ship that capsized at the mercy of a giant tsunami wave. It was quite a spiritual movie and showed the wisdom a of a small child who against all odds lead his little team of followers in the opposite direction to the well trained ship's officers and even the priest. A little child will lead them would be an appropriate Bible quote.
Our ship was laden with Containers which were packed tightly below decks down to the hold and towered up nearly to height of the bridge giving the ship an unusual cuboid look.
Some amusing anecdotes from our time in Brazil...
When we would ask people we met to repeat the simple prayer to ask the spirit of Jesus to come into their hearts, we would say something like the following. We knew the prayer well in Portuguese but many would ask to say the prayer in English so as to practice some English with us. On one occasion a man was proudly repeating the words “And give me eternal life” but his rendering was “Give me everything I like!” As we often talked to people about India, one other person for the same prayer said “Give me Indian life!” It was very hard not to crack up and laugh. Yes we were going to miss Brazil very much and we had a very wonderful time with these exceptionally nice people coming from all over the world. There were communities from Germany and Japan rather like the USA and the Brazilian Portuguese had a flair of its own rather like the USA English to England's English.
Planning the next move.
Now what on earth were we going to do when we arrived in Genoa? One question was what to do with these three cumbersome trunks of baggage? After all our destination was India not Italy. Leaving the baggage in a port left luggage department would be exorbitantly expensive.
Incredible Journey Stage 8
Hello! Mediterranean!!
Straits of Gibralta.
Going through the straits of Gibraltar was our good bye to the peaceful North Atlantic. I had often been to Gibraltar when I was in the Royal Navy and this rock of ancient British supremacy stands guarding the entrance to the Middle Sea so famous in Bible times. The book of the Acts of the Apostles gives a very vivid account of Saint Paul's voyage to Rome as a prisoner and his shipwreck in what is now Saint Paul's bay on the Island of Malta. Nowadays British sea power has been beaten into last place with the advent of aircraft, rockets and electronic warfare gadgets. Another reminder of the first becoming the last and the last becoming the first. The bigger and higher they come, the harder they eventually tumble and collapse.
There was so much shipping just everywhere we looked going in and out of this very busy main Motorway for ships. There was a buzz of excitement as Genoa was now only a couple of days away. Sailors who were almost all Italian were looking forward to their well earned leave with their families, before rejoining this ship again on the outward voyage West.
Genoa.
I had written a form letter to all our over 100 names and addresses from Brazil and the idea was to send it out from Italy as then the first real jump would have been completed. I had often thought that if one can hitch hike 20 miles from A to B, the only difference from A to B at 21,000, kilometres is that the distance and the time taken is longer. The spiritual principle remains the same.
The next thing I remember was that we were stopped outside the harbour entrance to Genoa. The Pilot came on board and there were two busy little tugboats buzzing around. The Captain had allowed us to be on the Bridge as long as we kept well out of the way as the officers would dash from one side to the other gently nurturing this 12000 ton container vessel into its prepared berth. Actually the Captain has to allow the Harbour Pilot to take control and give the orders.
Russia, USSR an alternative to India?
Now there was a very interesting little spiritual coincidence. Irmgard and I had been toying with the idea of Russia or the Huge Soviet Union as it was then as an alternative to India. We were not so serious about the idea but it was there in the back of both our minds. Seeing that Movie Dersu Usala had really made an impression. So here we were on the bridge and then the spiritual world clicked in and the Pilot kept saying the words India over and over again on the wireless intercom system to the tug boats. There was a stiff breeze blowing so the two little tugs had to either push or pull as tugboats do and believe it or not one of the boats was called India. God is so good and here He was shouting his guiding words into our ears and minds.
Goodbye Transoceanica Sylvia,
We started to say our good byes and thank you to the Captain and the crew and specially to the cabin steward Paulo who had taken such good care of us.
We walked down the gang way with our two prepared shoulder bags and then a small crane unloaded our three trunks in giant a net bag. We put them together in a sheltered spot and went off into the port area to find the Port Director.
It was actually quite easy and we were escorted into his office as he sat behind an impressive desk. He spoke some English and we asked him if he would give permission for us to leave our three trunks in the left luggage area but for free. He obligingly agreed to giving us two free weeks which would have cost us a couple of hundred dollars. We found a large luggage cart and proudly proceeded to the left luggage presenting our very unusual permission slip to the man in charge. We had nothing valuable except the guitar which we would leave there too. We had to trust the Lord for that one and any way everything was under lock and key.
Trip to Nuremberg.
We had a lot to do before making our way hitch hiking to Nuremberg Germany to meet Irmgard's parents for the first time together.
First we went to the Linea C head offices which I had previously visited 3 years before to say thank you to Mr B. He was not there any more and had been transferred to the Linea C offices in the Bahamas. We found a director who seemed to know all about us and delivered our thanks. Then we asked if they would like to do one more favour and Xerox 100 copies of our circular news letter. This they readily did for us. We had already carefully written out all the addresses on the envelopes and so we stuffed them and went to the large office next door to ask their boss if he would like to put these letters in their daily post. Of course we told him all about Jesus and our crazy faith and he not only agreed to take the letters but gave us a small donation in Italian Lira for the Pandita Ramabai tract.
Promising Russian Company for next leg.
Now it was important to look for possibilities for our next leg which would be anywhere in an easterly direction. We found a Russian company that had 2 freighters that would be calling in in about 2 weeks and they promised to let us travel on them. They were bound for Bombay which was the city of our destination and would cost 200 US$ each. Rather expensive but considering the circumstances suited just fine. This was almost too good to be true.
By now it was evening and so we set off to the entrance of the Motor way out of Genoa in the direction of Germany and stood there trying to thumb our first lift in Europe. Hitching in Brazil had been easy. What would it be like in Europe? Would the Lord do the same kind of miracles for us here in this new continent?
Incredible Journey Stage 9.
Amazing Hitch hikes.
What I am about to tell you is going to be very hard to believe. Our first lift was an Italian business man who not only took us about 50 kilometres but gave a very good donation in Lira and dropped us at a Motorway Gas station. This is a very good place to get our next lift from and we would very politely go up to the single business men sipping their coffee or having a light meal and ask them if they would take us in the direction of Southern Germany. The route we would take and of course we had an autobahn map would take us through Milan, Bergamo, Trento to Innsbruck. By midnight we were in Austria making very good time.
The ride of our lives!
Then came the ride of our lives. We found a German business man, he was a famous lawyer and had a personal chauffeur driver. They were sipping coffee together and smiled as we approached them and before long we were all aboard. He sat in front while Irmgard and I hung on for grim death in the spacious back seat of a custom built Mercedes. From time to time I would peer over the front seat to read the speedometer and it seemed fixed on 220 Kilometres an hour. Every slight curve in the Motorway felt like a hairpin bend and we were flung from side to side. What really freaked us both out was the fact that there was no room for error. At that continual speed any slight adjustment to miss another fool or a deer would mean certain death. We were really praying!!!!!!However he assured us that he often made this trip from Austria to Hamburg and by early morning he dropped us off close to Nuremberg.
My wife's farm and family.
We were tired not having slept a wink but were now within about 10 kilometres of my wife's farm in a little village called Lind close to Zirndorf close to Fuerth close to Nuremburg. It took about three more lifts and we were standing outside Irmgard's old farm house. We were expected but not so soon. We had covered the distance in about 13 hours door to door so to speak.
The Father and the Mother were both very nice but were continually working on their farm which boasted 6000 chickens and acres of wheat land which were already sown and waving green in the wind.
Irmgard has a wonderful aunt, the brother of her Father and she had taken care of Irmgard and her elder brother Werner pronounced Vanner, when they were young.
They all spoke a weird dialect of German called Frenkish and unless you know it it is pretty hard to understand. The country side was quite beautiful and we borrowed old bikes and made many trips into the woods and surrounding little villages.
Donations in cash.
An amazing miracle!!
Our donations were not all that hot. We had saved about 6 to 700 US$ equivalent in various currencies of Dollars Liras and Marks.
On one of the days we hitched into Nuremberg and wandered through the old city offering our English language Pandita Ramabais to the German folk. Being in English we were not so successful but received a few donations of Marks. We ended up at the train station to try and provision a free meal.
There was an Imbiss at the east entrance run by a very sweet old lady called Edeltraud Waltzell. We did not know but she had a reputation of being called the angel of the Bahnhof. She gave us a delicious meal and then asked us if we needed anything else. First she offered take away food but we explained that Irmgard's mother and aunt were in competition to feed us but if she would like to make a small contribution for our trip to India, that would be amazing. She scuttled off and I thought to my self, if she gave 50 or 20 DM that would be awesome rounding of a really good day. When she came back she pressed a note into my hand and as I opened it I realised that it was 1000 DM the biggest donation we had ever received in cash. I started to weep with joy and amazement and thanked her so profusely that she ran off a second time and pressed a second 1000 DM note into my top shirt pocket.
When we got back again hitching all the way, Irmgard's aunt was visibly shocked by our success. “Nothing like that has ever happened to me!” she exclaimed.
Thankfulness! An all important virtue!
Back to Genoa.
Disappointment once again!
One thing I forgot to mention was that at the end of any lift or benefit we not only thanked the driver or helper but also made a point of thanking our Spiritual leader and guide, Jesus Christ. I think that Thankfulness is a real virtue and helps God see that we take nothing for granted.
Now it was time to make our way back to Genoa to catch our Russian Cargo vessel travelling in convoy with an identical sister ship to Bombay. Irmgard's dad generously drove us about 50 kilometres down the motorway and dropped us in a gas station. He seemed sad to see us leave and we would not see him again for many years. The trip back was quite different and we spent our first night in a hotel up in the Austrian Alps called Mozart. The lady owner a devout Catholic gave us a beautiful room with a delicious breakfast the next day. It was still quite early so we ventured off to the small village and met a famous Austrian Ski Champion who owned a pub and Hotel and he took us in his Jeep for a trip up one of the highest mountains in the area. He dropped us off and then we made our way down sliding on the lush grass slopes back to his Pub where he gave us a beautiful dinner with wine.
The next evening we arrived in Genoa in time to catch the Russian shipping office before it closed. Bad news. The twin vessels had left Greece and made their way straight to Suez without coming up the west coast of Italy to Genoa.
The Incredible Journey Part 10.
Our baggage gets a free ride to India nut not us.
Our immediate problem was to find a Hotel. Once again we succeeded in our first try. Like I have pointed out this is not always the case and sometimes we have to wander around for quite some time before we find a place to stay. I guess the Lord allows this to happen to show us not to take things for granted, and to be thankful. It is so easy for us mere mortals to fall into complacency and expect it as our right that God will always be at our beck and call like some kind of Genie from Aladdin's lamp.
Sure enough this time too, it was a middle aged Italian Woman who met us as we walked into her little office. She spoke a little English and along with our little Portuguese adapted into Italian we were able to persuade her to allow us to stay for a few days while we tried to sort out the next stage of our incredible journey.
The next morning we went back to the docks and I got the idea to find a shipping company going to Bombay that would not mind taking our baggage, even if they would not take passengers, for free.
Most Cargo ships do not take passengers as they are not insured for the eventuality of an accident or some need for an emergency doctor etc. We always asked them to allow us to sign a letter of indemnity absolving them of any blame in case of a misadventure befalling us on the voyage. This helped sometimes but on the Linea C Transoceanica Silvia they had insurance for us. If we could find such a company that would be a load off. We tried a few until we found one that was plying between Italy and India and they very kindly agreed to take care of our three trunks and put them on the next vessel going to Bombay. They were not ready to take us but they would take our baggage. We delivered our three trunks and guitar to their warehouse and spent the rest of the day looking for a shipping company to take us East.
Try as we would nothing turned up and so we returned to our hotel after obtaining all our meals at restaurants and Snack places all for free as promised in Isaiah Chapter 55 verse 1.
That night as I slept, I had a dream that we were in Sudan of all places. Now there were some Sudanese living in the Hotel with their extraordinary colourful Arabic like costumes and Turbans, so maybe the Lord used that to set this dream off.
A radical change in strategy.
After breakfast we spent some time in prayer and Bible reading and I received or let me say I thought I received the directions to go overland to Greece and then try from there. We had done a ship trip and maybe now was the time for a land trip? Maybe all the way to Sudan???? The more we thought about this the more we liked the idea and so we thanked our Lady host and set off for the Motorway travelling the first leg just as we had recently done but instead of turning North to Austria and then Germany we would continue East into Yugoslavia. We would soon find out that the great President Marshall Tito had died but there was evidence of him everywhere. His picture hung in every restaurant and public place. He seemed not to be really dead and was still a public hero.
Yugoslavia.
That evening we were still in Italy and arrived in Trieste. As this is a part of the world that I have never been to before my memory is a bit shaky but it was here that we met a very charming Italian priest who put us up in a guest room at the Parish house. He was very impressed with our story and gave us a very generous donation.
The next day we hitched across the border into Yugoslavia passing through or around Rijeka with many small lifts down the Adriatic coast road with a view of thousands of very inviting small islands. We were tempted to stop and swim but continued to the border of Albania which was in those day very difficult to enter and a sort of no go area, so we looked for a place to stay the night in Dubrovnik. This is a small sea port and everywhere we tried we failed to find anyone who wanted to help us. All the Hotels turned us down and even though we were praying desperately for help, none seemed to come.
A sleepless night with cockroaches!
It was now getting dark and then I had the inspiration to ask a young man on the street if he spoke English. He did and we told him our predicament. He smiled and told us that he had an old aunt who lived close by and that he would persuade her to help us. So far so good!!! The old lady cheerfully lead us to the spare bed room and as we were dead tired we tumbled into bed immediately. Then to my horror of horrors I felt something crawling over my face. I jumped up and switched on the light and the whole room was crawling with large cockroaches. Once the light was switched on they all scuttled off and disappeared below the bed. Irmgard gave out a slight scream and then the old lady came in and explained in her foreign tongue of which we understood nothing something to the effect that they would not harm us and to just be thankful and go to sleep. As soon as she was out of the room we left the light on which prevented all except the very brave ones from emerging. We got very little sleep and after a very long night, we thanked her and left very early in the morning. We managed to find a small bakery that gave us free buns and black coffee which we really needed to keep us awake.
Greece.
That next day after many small lifts we passed around Beograd, Belgrade the capital of Serbia, and were tickled to see the signs changing from the Latin alphabet to Acrylic on the sign posts to Macedonia. We crossed the Greek border late at night in a Truck that took us for a very long distance allowing us to get sitting up sleep. His destination was Thessalonica and this is where we got off at midnight in the town centre.
Midnight miracle in Thessalonica!
Usually we like to stop at about 6 in the evening giving us plenty of time to find a place to stay but midnight seemed pretty grim. The centre was pretty dark. There were very few friendly looking lit up lamp posts to greet us and light our way. The street and centre was totally deserted. So some quick arrow prayers which just means a snap chat with our Lord of the Spiritual world and then there right across the square was one solitary café or bar that was open and lit up with a friendly glow. When we arrived the owner was about to close down but he turned out to be Mr Sweetheart himself who spoke pretty good English. We witnessed to him about Jesus and the trip we were making to India and of course that sounded really bizarre. He believed us and then rustled up a delicious free meal and suggested without us asking, that we stay the night upstairs where his brother ran a Pension, a small hotel for bed and breakfast. This time no cockroaches and a really good nights rest with a super breakfast with Mr S the next morning. He gave us our first donation in Greek Drachmas on top of all the help he had already given.
From all this we learned that you cannot put God in a box and that the more extraordinary the circumstances, the more the Lord had the opportunity to do the most extraordinary miracles.
The Incredible journey Stage 11.
Piraeus.
Our next real hope was the port of Piraeus, next to Athens for a trip across the rest of the Mediterranean. That was our dream and goal.
Every day we distributed scores of Pandita Ramabai tracts and collected pockets full of business cards. Xeroxing forty to fifty copies of P.R. Tracts was always very simple. We would go to an office and talk to a boss and then it was very rare that they turned us down. We always asked everyone we met who took a tract if they would like to make a contribution. Sometimes it was a few coins and sometimes it was generous notes and sometimes nothing. We were always thankful and tried to get as many people to repeat what we call the sinners prayer. This went something like this. “Dear Lord Jesus please come into my heart. Forgive me for my sins and mistakes. Fill me with your Holy Spirit of Love and give me the free gift of Eternal Life.” We must have prayed this prayer with about 10 to 20 people every day. This is something we still do today. It is amazing how people who pray this prayer even flippantly will remember the occasion. In Brazil we hitched a lift with a man towards the end of our stay and when we asked him to pray the prayer with us he said that he already prayed this prayer with us three years before. On another occasion we prayed with three out of four young men who had stopped in their car. The fourth refused to pray and as they drove off we told the three that we would see them again in Heaven. A few minutes later the car reversed down the road and stopped beside us and the fourth guy said to please pray that prayer with him too. How many people do you meet in your life who ask you to pray a prayer like that?
Cash donations mounting!
Our cash credit was mounting and we had the equivalent of about 2000 US$. We would change all our foreign currency to Dollars as that was the preferred world currency at that time. This could be done in little booths in the towns we passed through.
The exciting thing about living and travelling this way was that we experienced the hand of God many times a day. We had to, as our situation was putting God on the spot moment by moment to take care of us. The number of lifts was mounting and we were trying to keep count of them but would forget in the excitement to keep exact records counting them and then forgetting the exact number.
Of course after 25 years it is pretty difficult to remember all the little details but the main interesting ones still stick out and also I have a previously rather badly written old manuscript to compare and draw on.
We were making awesome progress and Jesus our Spiritual Leader and guide was taking very good care of us. The cockroach episode was not dangerous and I think that maybe the Lord just wanted to show us a rougher side of life so that we would appreciate the good more and also to prepare us for the rough times ahead.
Bad spirits but a free stay.
I have missed out one Hotel where we stayed somewhere in Yugoslavia. I think it was after we left Dubrovnik as we did not make it to Thessaloníci in one day. We stopped in some city on the way and I remember that there was a very noticeable spirit among the young people. They seemed pretty unhappy and very sour. They did not smile and it was very hard to talk to anyone about anything remotely spiritual. It was very hard to provision free meals and we had to make do with donated buns from a bakery as we were determined on the whole never to spend money. We were very thankful to eventually get out of this unusual country that was finding it very hard to adjust after the death of the famous Marshall Tito their very long standing President whose picture small and giant size hung in every place imaginable. In this small city whose name I have forgotten, we eventually found a free hotel from a very reluctant manager who was an avowed atheist. However God eventually touched his heart and he even gave us breakfast after saying that we would get none.
We arrived in Piraeus and found a very 1 or 2 star hotel close to the Port. The people here were much more friendly and after our usual devotional time with Jesus our spirits were up. We were able to get quite easily into the port area and we were ready for anything going West.
Ship hike to Rhodes.
We found a small freighter probably not more than 2000 tons that was going to Rhodes. Not very far but in the right direction. The Captain was happy to take us and we jumped on board early the next day as the ship had finished loading the night before and the sailors were allowed one more night ashore before sailing off the next day.
We spent one more night in our dockside hotel. Now it is important to remember that I was not expecting to write this story down and as I said we did not even have a camera. At that time we did not even own a camera but we did carry a small cassette recorder which used mini tapes and on these we recorded the words of the Bible to listen to as we went to sleep. I would always carry a luxurious short wave Sony radio as at that time we were very news oriented as our Missionary group were expecting the end of the world to happen at any moment. We were very busy trying to discern the signs of the times in relation to the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. The best that can be said for this was that we were all pretty up to date with current affairs. The BBC was our main source of information.
A promised ride to Egypt.
Then disappointment.
We arrived in Rhodes the next day in the early afternoon and berthed next to a ship that was very conveniently bound for Alexandria. We talked to the Captain about a lift and amazingly he said that it was no problem but to be on board before 6 pm that evening.
We walked around the centre of Rhodes and then made our way back to our new ship. There was no sign of the nice captain that we had met previously but only a new guy who emphatically exclaimed that he had no intention of taking us. I think by now we were easily resigned to such happenings and just crazily believed that the Lord had a better plan.
We did look like a pretty forlorn couple as we stood on the road leading out of the Port trying to thumb a lift back into the city.
Then the Miracle happened.
7 days on holiday island.
A man stopped and we told him our sad story. He was very receptive and was amazed that we had gotten this far. The next ferry to leave Rhodes bound for Cyprus would be in one week. He drove us to the top of the city and we stopped outside a Pension that must have belonged to his friend. We waited in the car and then he came back smiling and we had a wonderful bedroom with a super view all for free with breakfast until the large passenger ferry would arrive in 6 days. Whether he paid for it or whether the owner gave us this for free we could not tell and never found out.
The Lord was now donating a weeks holiday for us on this beautiful and very interesting Holiday Island surviving entirely on Tourism. We hitch hiked around the Island exploring and witnessed the Son et Lumière show of the exploits of the famous Knights of the Crusades. This was a story of unrealized hopes. First the Knights were driven out of Jerusalem and then...(need to research this later)........ and then Rhodes. They were thrown out of Rhodes and ended up in far away Malta. Hardly a success story. It dawned on me that God was not on their side using violence to try and keep the Holy land.
We had a few needs like for example a Bra for Irmgard and we would just go into a shop for Lingerie and ask the boss lady having explained our trip and got everything we wanted
The Incredible Journey Stage 12.
God supplies all through generous people,
We really had a very good week and we literally spent no money. Our small needs like shampoo and razor blades for shaving or tooth paste was all there for the asking. We just had to witness to people about our spiritual journey through life with Jesus Christ and how He was and is the answer to everything and just like that promise in the Bible in St Paul's letter to the Philippians chapter 4 verse 19, My God shall supply all your needs through His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I am not a wino but I really enjoy a glass of wine in the evening or even at lunch and we always had wine offered to us with meals which of course were all provided free of charge. Many people are prepared to help on a one time basis and sometimes regularly like once a month. We did not have to make such arrangements as we were always in a new place every day almost. Do you remember the dream about keeping moving would be our key to getting our needs met for free?
Passenger ferry to Cyprus and another amazing miracle.
Beat this!
Sadly our departure date approached and on the morning that the large passenger ferry docked we were there to meet it very early in the morning long before any other passengers. As soon as the Gangway was lowered we were climbing up it and asking to speak to the Captain. He was once again a very nice person and listened with great interest to our story. He even offered us a whiskey which we declined as it was rather early to drink and then we dropped the bomb question. Would he take us to Cyprus for free? He shook his head and said “Definitely not.” He was not a believer in God but rather the opposite and I think he got some pleasure at being responsible for not helping us. There was a rather triumphant glee on his face as he shook his head as if to say “Your Lord has failed you and I am responsible for that.” It would have cost him nothing to give us a free passage.
Well we had enough cash and so we decided that on this occasion we would use our hard earned donations to pay for the passage. I was bitterly disappointed because it kind of meant that the free part had not really worked out this time. So reluctantly we joined the growing queue of passengers waiting to pay at the ticket booth and then climb on board.
So let me ask you. “Are you expecting a miracle from our miracle working God or are you like we were resigned to being just normal people just throwing in our lot like everyone else?”
Then Joanna looked across the queue at a young lady of about 25 to 30 years old and recognized someone that had been in our missionary movement and had then left some year or so before. They both immediately greeted each other. Irmgard told S about our trip and about our near miss with the Captain and she said for us not to worry as her husband was a very wealthy Arab sheik from Saudi and of course he would buy us both our tickets. I began to break out in a triumphant smile and shot an arrow prayer of gratitude in an upward direction. Just try and imagine what an incredible coincidence this was! What would be the chances of such an occurrence happening at such an opportune and important moment? We never met anyone else on this trip that we had seen before except for Irmgard's parents and Aunt and Brother.
One in the eye for the atheistic Captain.
The Captain was standing at the top of the gangway welcoming the passengers on board and then he poignantly asked us if we had bought our tickets? Of course he was expecting us to say yes but when we told him in a few short sentences what had happened, he was visibly taken aback. To give him his due, he then offered us a free cabin so that we would not have to sleep on deck. Thank You Jesus!!! Another example of the Lord doing something totally unusual and all at the last moment showing us that He was still very much involved and mercifully travelling with us. It was also a great witness to the Captain.
The Arab Sheik was a super rich businessman and when we arrived at Nicosia took us to stay overnight with him in his personal apartment. I remember he gave us very nice watches and after dining us to a very expensive dinner we went to bed in anticipation of what the Lord was going to do for us the next morning.
The Incredible Journey Stage 13.
Cyprus.
Communicating by prayer.
The Port city for Cyprus was Limasol and so the next morning we set off West in that direction. Now from time to time I make mistakes or as my wife would say, I blow it. What I am about to tell you is I think a real blow it stage of the Incredible journey. Everything depended on being in tune with the Spiritual world. In other words we had to be in good contact with our Lord and Saviour. This sounds difficult but is actually quite easy and I have explained this before but it is worth saying again.
Step 1... is to pray. Praying sounds religious but all it is is having a chat with our Highest Power, our God. This can be when done wrong, a rather one way communication.
Step 2 is listening to the replies, and is equally important but is the more difficult part. Presenting ones problems and requests is easy but listening to the replies takes faith and takes Stopping, Looking and Listening. It is easy to jump to wrong conclusions which is what I often do. When one is worried or in a hurry or thinks that hurry is necessary then mistakes and wrong turns can easily be made. Have you noticed when using modern navigation systems that if you take a wrong turn the gadget starts telling you to make a U turn as soon as you can. If you persist in going down the wrong road then a new and fresh computation is made and the U turn voice gives up and instead you start with another chance on a new course. Thank God! He too is like this. He takes into account our being late or taking wrong turns and forgives us if we ask for it and off we go again. This is the story of life with our awesome God.
We picked an amazing lift with a an unusually receptive and needy person. He wanted to help us but he also wanted help in sorting out his personal problems. He asked us to go to his villa and stay the night. I think if we had agreed he would have bought our ticket on the ferry across the Western Mediterranean and the journey would have been without cost. I prayed and jumped to my own conclusion and declined his offer and asked to be dropped off at the port. I wanted to continue and make progress and so I just ignored the stop look and listen process and instead, leaned to my own understanding.
We progress but with complications.
At the port we found a passenger ferry to Israel but try as hard as I could talking to officials and everybody I could, there was no free ticket for us. Not even a reduction. So we just piled on board like all the other passengers, paying 50$ each and spent the night in two deck chairs as a cabin was very expensive.
The next morning the ship made its way into Haifa one of Israel's Merchant and Military ports. I had been to Israel in 1960 as a young Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Navy some 24 years before. Catching this ship and passing through Israel was going to cause many problems in the next few days. Our passports were stamped by the Israeli authorities. If we had stayed with our needy friend maybe there would have been some ship straight to Alexandria Egypt and a lot of the following complications could have been avoided.
Israel rather hostile and unfriendly
Hitch Hiking through Israel to the Sinai border was not very pleasant. The only really helpful people we met were Arab Christians which crossed our paths. One owned a restaurant and gave us a very good lunch. We arrived at the southern border in the evening and shared a very cheap taxi with some Egyptians across Sinai. What took the children of Israel 40 years we completed in reverse in about 4 hours.
Getting out of Israel, which seemed to us to have a very dark spirit rather like Yugoslavia, was a great relief. I have since learned to love the Jews much more and to respect their plight. Their problem is really the hot spot of the world and I believe only the return of the Messiah in person will sort out these seeming insoluble problems between Jews and Palestinians.
I cant remember exactly where we stayed that night but I think it was in some kind of cheap hotel the other side of the Suez canal. What I remember very well is arriving in Cairo and finding a monastery in Garden city run by Nuns who gave us a free room with a stove to cook on and our own private bathroom and toilet. We used this generous facility for about three weeks. It became our Egyptian base.
Alexandria Port Said and Suez.
There are three main Ports in Egypt, Port Said, Alexandria and Suez. It was going to be our job to find a ship leaving from one of these Ports in a Red Sea direction, or so we thought.
We Hitched to Alexandria and got a lift from a Protestant Open Bretheren Church Pastor or Elder and he invited us to attend an evening meeting. They took a collection for us after we had shared our exciting testimony of our trip of 200 US$, which was extremely generous of them. He put us up for the night too and fed us. He also worked in the Port and took us there the next morning.
Most of our lifts were obviously with Muslims and actually it was quite easy to witness to them about our faith in Jesus and many of them prayed to ask Jesus. Isa into their hearts. That of course did not mean that they were converted but it meant that the Holy Spirit could start working from the inside.
We even learned some Arabic. We are coming from Brazil sounded phonetically like Anna Gay Menal Brazil and we are going to India sounded something like Ana zer hib el al hinde. We are Christian missionaries sounded like we are Mubash Shereen. We wrote this info in ball point pen on the back of our hands until it was memorized. Shukran meant thank you and we greeted every one with the usual Salaam Ale cum and then the reply Ale cum us salaam. We learned some other phrases too which I now can't remember.
Mohammed and Islam
Our new Christian Pastor friend too explained why Mohammed had rejected Christianity. During his life time Mecca was a rather corrupt and backslidden Christian city and he was shocked by this. Also the only Gospel available was St Matthew and then only up to Chapter 25, leaving out the crucifixion. This seemed to explain why the Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified.
We failed to find anything at Alexandria so we hitched back to our Garden City base to keep trying. In the evening we would go and talk to people in a five star hotel which I think was the Marriott. Very fancy and we would sit in the Lobby and try to talk to people. One helpful business man asked to look at our passports and spotted the Israeli stamps. With those stamps we might as well go back to Europe. There was no way out of Egypt to another Muslim Nation with such a stamp. Israel was so hated that they would not entertain having anything to do with us. How will this situation get resolved???? Don't forget to read the next instalment.
Incredible Journey Stage 14.
Trapped by our Israeli passport stamps.
Our first problem was to sort out the impossible situation that had arisen because of these unwanted Israeli stamps in our passports. We went to some very chaotic Egyptian authorities where we were shuttled from office to office. We tried to get some kind of an Egyptian document to get us over the border and out of Egypt without any hassle. We tried this for about two days and then came the brilliant idea out of the spiritual blue to get new passports. Eventually we found the German embassy and they did a rush job and Irmgard had a new passport within 2 days and at the same time we found the British Embassy and they were very sympathetic who also did a rush job on a new one for me too.
At last no record of those unwanted stamps!!! So we were off the hook but a little poorer as we had to spend a lot of cash to get those documents. Remember if I had followed God's leading on the road to Limasol in Cyprus I believe the story would have been different. God forgives us but there are consequences for our failures as well as rewards when we get it right.
Hopes fade for finding a ship.
We still had great hopes for finding a ship to take us East away from Egypt. We circled round from Alexandria then to Port Said and then Suez quite some times. Maybe we visited those places twice trying to find ships. We talked to Captains and shipping agents but no one wanted to help. It was a closed door. The harder we tried the more impossible it seemed. We even had the idea of trying to board a ship when it stopped to embark a canal pilot. We would be hitch hiking down a road and not realizing where we were exactly and then in the field next door we would see this enormous vessel towering above us, seemingly travelling on dry land. Only when one came closer did we see the water of this most strategic and famous of all the world's Canals.
We became very good at hitch-hiking in this extraordinary country of contrasts. It was good preparation for India. Many times we were gazed at by crowds of children who had never seen two westerners at the side of the road holding out their thumbs or waving down vehicles. They lived in very primitive conditions in small villages. Sometimes they got really close with a kind of very simple familiar spirit. When it got unbearable I would just shout out BOO! And raise my arms like a bear, and they would turn tail and run. Sometimes they would come back and it would turn into a game. Kind of cute but sometimes rather inconvenient.
We got lifts with rich Arabs driving large American Limos and we would sit in the back seat with wife number 2 or 3. Wife number 1 who was usually young and pretty would sit in the front. The music was something else. A melody and then BUM BUM BUM at the end of each line with loud drums. A totally different culture but very interesting. The prayers that were shouted from the tops of the minarets made sure that we never slept in. I got quite used to it in the month that we stayed at the Monastery. Our little flat was such a great help. We became friendly with the Nuns who many times offered us free meals and were fascinated by our faith. In those day we were definitely not Roman Catholics but they were such a blessing for us.
Egyptian Drivers!!!
Driving in down town Cairo was bedlam. Horns sounding all the time. Short sharp continuous bursts to warn the many pedestrians who walked in the middle of the street and then scuttle away at the last moment. Once we had passed they would resume their positions treating the main road like a European walking street where all vehicles are forbidden.
The contrast from the business area and five star Hotels to the simple and very primitive conditions out in the country was most noticeable.
I know this sounds ridiculous but we never visited the Pyramids. I was so intent on completing this journey that I believed that any deviation from the objective would have been a side track. I regret it now. Many people asked us about this and this was the answer we had to give them.
Sudanese dream comes true.
Now we had two possibilities. Go back and give up or hitch to Aswan and take the ferry to Wadi Halfa and then a train to Port Sudan. Then we would have to pray that the Lord would part the Red Sea for us. We pondered over this idea laying it before the Lord and this is what He seemed to want. We made the decision to hitch due south to Aswan after thanking those Nuns and their Mother Superior.
The Incredible Journey Stage 15.
The resident rat's visit.
The weather was always fine and I do not remember one day of rain. We became experts at washing our clothes each evening and by the morning they were dry.
Jesus and His Mother and Step Father lived here.
So off we went and got about half way. I remember one lift took us to Asyut which is the town where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled to and lived for two years until Herod who had tried to murder the baby king died himself eaten of worms. We had to stay the night in a very run down Hotel in a pretty run down village not far from Asyut, but amazingly the owner gave us a free room. It was rather primitive but the sheets were clean and then we had a visitor. We had just turned out the light and we heard someone trying to turn the door handle. We had not locked the room as there was no lock. This person was trying time and time again, but for some reason was not successful. I got up to check the situation only to watch a huge black rat scurry away into the darkness down the corridor. This resident rat knew how to jump up and put its weight on the handle and then open the door. It was pretty scary so we wedged a chair against the door and that put an end to his nocturnal activities. Travellers usually carry food in cloth bags so the rats know all about this and like to get their share.
The next day we set off for Aswan. I think we made it in one lift as I cannot remember another night stop. The roads were not so bad and the lifts we got covered the 3 to 400 kilometers in about 8 hours including stops.
The Egyptian drivers that we met were all without exception very nice people and enjoyed helping this Anglo German Combination. We never had a bad experience. Aswan was placed on the edge of the River Nile at the down stream North end of lake Nasser. The Russians had built a considerable Hydro Electric Plant using the flowing Nile to turn massive turbines making electricity on a very large scale.
Asswan.
So here we are in Aswan at the end of stay in Egypt, but not quite yet. We found a reasonable kind of 1 star Hotel I think it was called the Luxor. I did some research but since 1984 a great deal has changed. The young Egyptian owner was rather amazed at us as we asked him to put us up until the next ferry arrived in a few days. However he gave us a room and spoke reasonable English. There were very few tourists and the next notable event was meeting a middle aged couple who were Mormans. They were working for the UN on some project that was out in the desert somewhere. They became very good friends and having lived there for some time knew all the ropes. They gave us a donation to cover the cost of the new German built Ferry that went to Wadi Halfa at the other end of Lake Nasser in the Sudan section of the lake.
The ferry had been recently replaced as the previous one had burnt out almost exactly one year before with considerable loss of life. About half of the crowded passengers escaped but the other half drowned or were food for crocodiles which abounded in the lake. We found out about this and this all added to the spice of our adventure.
A friend at the Oberoi.
Ask and you will receive!
We became friendly with a manager of the 5 star Oberoi Hotel which was situated on an Island. Many times in the next few day we would get a free ride in a Nile sailing vessel and receive a free meal at the Hotel.
As missionaries we received a great deal of help from the mangers and food and beverage chiefs of the various five star hotels around the world. They were a source of great help and also just shelter from the enormous heat in these areas. Arriving in the air conditioned lobby after struggling in the heat was always a very pleasant relief.
As we are very outgoing missionaries we were experts at making contacts with people. A verse of scripture which screams out of our spiritual book the Bible says in The Holy Gospel of Saint Matthew Chapter 7 verse 7 Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. This verse was and is an essential key to our success then and now. We just ask and it is very wonderfully surprising how many people will respond and help. Of course there are many that say no no no! I am sure that you have noticed that too on our spiritual journey so far but we only need one to say yes to make progress. We believe that all those who help get very spiritually blessed. They come out on top as it is more blessed to give than to receive. The words of Jesus Himself. When we ask for things we always give some kind of incalculably valuable spiritual reminder in return, whether a tract, like the Pandita Ramabai one or a pocket Gospel or New Testament. I have explained to so many including you dear reader now, something I very strongly believe and that is that a simple child like faith in the Creator is worth much much more than trillions of dollars and will accrue to our credit in the bank of Heaven laid up for our future.
Well now we have to make progress so on to the next step.
The Incredible Journey Stage 16.
Mormons and their advice a great help.
We were able to talk to the Ferry owners but they would not agree to giving us a free passage but the donation from our Mormon Friends more than covered the cost. The Mormons also gave us very good advice as to how to travel. A long Arab scarf made from cotton to wrap around ones mouth and nose was essential to keep the dust out. Every time the train would proceed over sand covered tracks a ton of sand would make its way into the carriage through the ever open barred wooden windows and smother the passengers. These scarves would act like very effective gas masks in the event of the many dust storms. God bless this very sweet Mormon couple. Also a large supply of drinking water was an absolute must. I think the most useful and bizarre of all their suggestions was to carry a large bottle of cheap cologne and later I will explain how we used that to great effect.
Trip up the Nile.
The day arrived to embark on board the Ferry which had arrived on the return journey the night before. I think it was a Friday but I am not sure. The trip would take the full day and then a night and we would arrive at Wadi Halfa the next morning. To our surprise the vessel was quite modern and of course there was a stampede to board to get the best deck seats and cabins which were at extra cost. We had been told to talk to the captain and maybe he would give us a cabin for free?
The old colonial days were well in the past but I did notice that because we were westerners we were treated with respect and that was very pleasant.
Argue as I could with the Captain, it was all to no avail. He was quite austere and refused us any concessions. However some other business men agreed to give Irmgard and myself part of their spacious cabin and so the night part was not so bad.
Wadi Halfa.
The next morning we awoke and the ship was anchored a few hundred yards away from a small group of Nissan huts with corrugated iron roofs. This seemed to be all that was left of Wadi Halfa after the Russian dam built down river at the other end of the lake at Aswan had flooded the surrounding area, covering the small town.
Extraordinary train ride.
A very old fashioned train was also standing with its end close to the buffers at the end of its road so to speak. Every where else was the usual endless miles of sand and desert.
By the time we had bought our tickets to Port Sudan, our destination, the train was jammed and packed out. Every compartment we went into was teeming with people. Men in their tribal colourful robes and women with their babies. No room for us. We found a railway official and he ushered us back on to the train and then opened the door of a completely full and crowded compartment. He uttered something in Arabic and very reluctantly the already jammed together occupants made a small space for Irmgard and myself. After he left they all glowered at us. We were not welcome and terribly outnumbered. Then I remembered the cologne. I got up and went around to each person gesturing to them to cup their hands and I poured in a generous amount of good smelling liquid. Slowly smiles began to break out and we were transformed from being their avowed enemies into their very best and long lost friends. God bless the Mormons and the amazing miracle working effects of cheap cologne.
Yes we did have our cannister of drinking water. There was water on the train. It was a very brown variety and only the Lord knows how many microbes and bacteria was in there.
We had to wait an indeterminably long time before the train took off. It was incredibly hot and sweat was teeming down our faces and our light clothes were already drenched. Thank God for our drinking water obtained from the Oberoi five star Hotel the evening before. We had to drink so much that the five liters would soon be used up.
At last the train slowly and very deliberately began to move only to stop abruptly for another five minutes. We found out that someone had fallen of the roof. He or she had to be helped back up again and then we really started to move. I thankfully had a window seat sitting opposite to Irmgard who also could look out..
Sure enough the train from time to time would pass over sand covered lines and buckets of sand would come rushing into the compartment through the open iron barred windows like a dark cloud until it all settled again. Our cotton scarves did the trick and filtered out all the minute particles of dust. The Mormons had shown us exactly how to wear them on such an occasion.
Photo album wins the day.
We all sat watching each other and then I got out my pocket photo album and passed it around.
It was full of shots from Brazil and we used it for provisioning material for the school in Guararema from where we had started out 2 months before. This was passed around and became heavily thumbed by all. One picture is worth a 1000 words and that too came in very useful.
Looking out on to the endless desert was also very interesting. There were many small pyramids dotted around and so many dust devils. These are miniature tornadoes and dance around always missing our quite fast moving train. I say fast, maybe about 30 to 50 miles an hour?
We lost so much body water and then our drinking water ran out. We had about two hours before the train arrived in Atbara. Here we had to change trains. Our train went on to Khartoum where as we needed a train to Port Sudan. We had 3 hours to wait at Atbara so the Lord gave me the idea to go to the local hospital. The signs were still in English and Arabic a reminder of the old colonial days under British domination. We were dehydrated to say the least but dare not drink the water from the toilet tap.
The Incredible Journey Stage 17.
Bath with all our clothes on!
We went in the front entrance of a large building and asked at the reception if there was an English speaking doctor. Actually all the educated class spoke English and the less educated a good smattering.
We were ushered into an office and there was God's man for us. He was very charming and listened intently to our crazy story. Our first need was drink. He immediately ordered the local equivalent of a sort of Lemon Fanta. About 12 small bottles arrived and we literally drank them down in front of him. He asked us lots of questions and we told him we were on the way to India.
“What else do you want?” He exclaimed. I replied, “A bath would be awesome”. He lead us down some stairs into the basement where there were lots of old fashioned baths with cubicles around them. We thanked him profusely and proceeded to fill two baths to the brim with cold water. It wasn't really cold but it came out of the cold tap.
Soap was provided, that kind of brown block stuff and we jumped in with all our clothes on. Now remember it was blistering hot. We found out later that there had been no rain for about three years. We soaped ourselves and the clothes and socks down, only our sneakers escaped and then jumped into another full bath to rinse off. I think we scrubbed our sneakers too.
We certainly did not have to dry ourselves as in 10 minutes of walking outside we were all as dry as a biscuit.
Overnight train to Port Sudan.
We waited for our train and this time it was not packed out to the brim and so we spent a comfortable night sitting up straight in our compartment. The next morning we pulled into Port Sudan.
This city is placed almost exactly half way down the Red Sea and pretty much directly opposite to Saudi Arabia's famous city of Mecca.
We soon realized that Port Sudan was the end and there was no way to go except two options. God would have to part the Red Sea so to speak as he had done for Moses 3000 years ago or we would have to head back to Cairo with our tails between our legs and to try again.
We walked through the city full of Arabs and Sudanese in their robes and turbans. Many stalls rather than shops and then we found a Church. It must have been Eastern Orthodox as the priest had a beard and usual high black top hat. He spoke English and French so I was able to tell him everything. He was sympathetic and I think quite lonely. It must have been tough as he was surrounded by Muslims who definitely had the upper hand. He and we had to tread carefully.
Bedroom without a ceiling with many many rats travelling around on top of the wall at night.
He gave us a room without a ceiling that joined on to the church and his residence. The beds were comfortable and so we slept without mosquito netting as I do not remember mosquitoes. There were no puddles for them to breed only salt water. No river or ponds. However as soon as the surrounding lights went out many, and I mean many rats would use the top of this wall as a highway. One could watch them and there was no way down unless they fell which thankfully they didn't. Their continual little chattering squeaks were quite loud. I did not wake Irmgard as she would have freaked out but that little detail remains very clear after 24 years.
The Priest also gave us an adjoining room with a huge electric fan hanging from the ceiling. This was a great place to hide out between 11 o'clock to 3 o'clock avoiding the midday heat and raging sun which made any kind of work almost impossible during those hours. Early mornings say from 7.30 to 11 and then 4 to 10 were are imposed working hours.
Port Sudan is a busy Port.
We found out that there were many ships using this port and they would come in and unload their cargo and then leave. I boarded many ships that were heading East but without any luck. One day I had run out of ships to visit and there was a shipping agent for the Pacific International Lines. PIL. They were a Chinese owned company based in Singapore. The shipping clerk was a Protestant Christian and that should have been a help. He was rather like the Doubtlets of Santos Brazil. He spoke so much doubt to us telling us what was probably quite true. He said that in his memory no one had caught a hitch hike on a vessel. It was just unheard of. Eventually I asked if I could word the telex myself and so he allowed me to write out my own petition to these Chinese directors in Singapore, pleading for their help. I wrote it with lots of prayer of course!
Irmgard not feeling well. Something is wrong!
Now we had a new problem. Irmgard was telling me that she had a stomach problem and that it had started way back in Yugoslavia but was getting worse. That evening we found some very nice Muslim doctors and they agreed to take Irmgard to their clinic the next day for a check up. Naturally I and she were both pretty worried and were continually committing this problem to the Lord in Prayer.
We arrived next morning early and they took us both off in a Jeep to where the clinic was. What we saw really broke our hearts.
Water in terribly short supply.
Water was in such short supply that people would queue up for hours in line waiting for it to be turned on and then fill up everything that they could find and take it home. People were there with their camels waiting patiently. Remember I told you no rain for three years so the water table was at an all time low.
Irmgard disappeared and then came back smiling. Her sickness was that she was one or two months pregnant with our oldest and first of seven children Mikey.
The Incredible Journey Stage 18.
That was such a relief and very good news. Not only were we on the way to India but on the way to being a Father and a Mother. Remember she had been barren all her adult life.
Every day I would go out and meet new ships and their astonished Captains and every day I would be back with no really good news.
We found the old English club which was now mainly frequented by Russians left over from the Hydro electric project. We went there a couple of times. There was a very inviting swimming pool and the idea was to cool off in this atrociously hot weather. We only tried it once. The water was hot from the beating sun and the water was salty. It was a no go club but we did meet a very amusing English guy who had married a Sudanese Christian lady. He told amazing jokes. We needed to hear them as now the future was not looking so brilliant. It was very tempting to give up especially over the next event that I am now going to describe.
Intentions of the Orthodox priest in doubt.
I noticed that the Orthodox Priest was seemingly taking more than a friendly interest in my wife. Being pregnant, I was leaving her behind as the heat was really unbearable. Irmgard was not worried and felt well able to cope. However this time as I left, the Priest bolted the big entrance door behind me. I do not remember him doing that before. I got a very big check about this and after a few moments I returned and started banging very loudly on the door. Nothing happened so I started to make a noise that drew a crowd and they all started shouting with me. Eventually he opened the door and Irmgard had a look of great relief on her face. I need to add that there was an old lady housekeeper there and so it was probably imagination on our parts too.
The last straw.
However this was the last straw and we retired to the room with the fan and we both began to weep and cry out to the Lord. This was now probably the lowest moment of our trip. The Red Sea was not parting. Try as we may to wave our magic wand like Moses waved his stick over the waters to part them, they refused to part. Even though we had made it so far, a miss is as good as a mile. In this intense heat and now the news of parenthood we or rather I was beginning to waver. My spiritual strength was running out. Not for a lack of supply as that is always there but more from being not able to appropriate it and put this amazing powerful energy to good use. Saint Paul's letter to the Hebrews in Chapter 11 verse 6 states very clearly that without faith it is impossible to please God. However this story is not just about our crazy faith but also about something even more wonderful and that is the Grace and Mercy of our God. When we or rather I failed He would mercifully step in.
The Red Sea Pars at last!
I do not suppose we had been in our darkened room with the fan full on and from time to time spraying water over ourselves, which in the strong under draft, felt so nice and cool as it evaporated quickly from our bodies and clothes when suddenly there was a faint and rather timid knock on the door. I thought “Please Lord not the Priest again!”
Now try and get a hold of what is about to happen. Days of disappointments, bordering on despair!. Getting no where! An evil voice always there in the background telling us how stupid we were and how it was time to pack it in and be just normal like everyone else. We had the money to extricate ourselves and go back to Cairo and even then fly to our destination. Of course that seemed the sensible way out and I was definitely toying with the idea.
I opened the door and there standing in front of me was the office boy from the Pacific International Lines and he was beaming with smiles. He beckoned for me to follow him back to the office. Even though it was unbearably hot I ran and did not even worry about the Priest this time and there in front of me as we entered the PIL offices was my unbelieving Christian Clerk also smiling and waiving a telex from PIL Headquarters. They agreed to take us to Singapore, slightly over shooting our objective of India in one of their cargo vessels that was already docked in the port for 60 US$ each. It was really a token payment as we would be 10 days in luxury living and moving, travelling at 5$ a day board and lodging. We would have a special cabin designed for passengers with our own bathroom and toilet etc. It was too good to be true.
Dancing with the Priest!
We hurried on back and danced with the Priest who was also happy and I think he gave us a really good meal cooked by his old housekeeper.
The next morning we boarded the Kota something. Sorry but I have forgotten the name. The officers were mainly Pakistanis but the 1st mate was a Hindu Brahmin from India. The Brahmins are a priestly cast and usually rich and well educated. Vinod was no exception.....
The Incredible Journey. Stage 19. Almost the end
Too Good to be True.
You know, I wasn't absolutely sure that everything was going to work out. I was half expecting a last minute hitch. They had happened frequently enough. The authorities in the Port thought that we were really mad and I was half expecting them to triumphantly produce some Trump Card of Objection to stop us. As far as I know no one and I mean no one had ever hitched a lift from Port Sudan anywhere ever at any time. So this was a first!! And quite probably the last!!
The ship headed out of the Port into the Red Sea and the Pilot disembarked. Then and only then were we able to pinch ourselves and realize that our dream had become true. There was a little disturbing news that some floating mines had been spotted in the sea. They were some relic from a previous conflict in this disturbed part of the world so extra lookouts were posted. I think that the Spiritual forces who were guiding us still wanted us to trust them. Life at its best is always uncertain and extraordinary things do happen in quite ordinary moments so we had to keep on our spiritual toes so to speak.
Keeping our guard up with daily devotions.
We did not relax but kept up our daily devotions and engaged in friendly chats with the mainly Muslim Crew about our and their faith. They had to admit that if our story was true and they had no reason to believe that we were making it up, there was some pretty strong evidence of our very powerful DIVINE HAND helping us in an amazing way.
Sumptuous Indian food.
I do not know about you, but Indian cooking is my favourite and the curries and chicken Tikkas and Marsalas and Chapatis and Nan breads were sumptuous and in the evenings after dinner we played games like chess and some fun parlour games that I had learned in the Navy. Table tennis was also a favourite and Pakistanis generally have a great eye for a ball, boasting very famous World Class Squash Players and Cricketers. All the Officers became our friends but particularly Vinod who had a favourite Aunt and Uncle in down town Bombay. He was very open to our Christian Faith and was always asking questions and we would give him answers from our pocket New Testaments which we carried at all times together with a handful of Pandita Ramabai tracts.
Well we thankfully missed all the floating mines and sailed into the Gulf of Aden heading South East into the Indian Ocean.
Fresh fish off the south tip of Sri Lanka.
We then bent left around the Southern tip of Sri Lanka and headed up toward Indonesia and Malaysia. We would only make one stop and that was off the coast of Sri Lanka when we purchased very fresh fish from a small Senegalese fishing boat. It would have been nice if we could jump off and then make our way to India but we had to be content to keep going overshooting to Singapore.
Singapore soon a reality.
Soon we would be showing our Passports to the Singapore authorities and would have to explain to them what we were doing and where we were going. We were such unusual tourists that the Captain was wondering whether they would receive us into their well policed and guarded and run city and country of Singapore. We had no return tickets which would be normal for tourists. We did have nearly 3000 US$ as security but he was worried.
Pass close to Indonesia and could view the Sumatran coastline.
We got our first view of the Island of Sumatra as we entered the Singapore Straits. This was the furthest East that I had ever been. I was born in India in the state of Utra Pradesh in a city called Secunderabad to British parents. My father was an Indian army Major at the time and the year was 1938. Dad had to go off and fight while my My mother and I had stayed in India until after the war and so I was returning to a country that I had left at the age of 6/7 and now trying to return there 40 years later.
The morning came when we moored outside in the anchorage. The Customs and Immigration officers came on board to inspect the ship's documents and of course our passports issued in Cairo a month before. They were very amused and helpful and not a bit suspicious after we told them our story. We were able to show them 3000 or so US$ which was what we had accrued in nearly three months of travel. Not bad when one thinks we started out with about 200 DM or 100$. We had travelled 13000 miles or 21000 kilometres, slightly more than half way around the world
Then a very loving and welcome touch from Vinod. He pressed an envelope into my hand returning the 120US$ of our fare. That brought tears to my eyes and he also gave us the address of his uncle and aunt in Bombay and said they would put us up for a few days and he would warn and write to them. God bless him he was very special for us. The launch taking us ashore arrived and we waived good bye to all the officers and some of the crew that had become our friends on a voyage that we or they would never forget.
Where to spend the night?
Once on shore our immediate need was to find a Hotel for the night. We hitched quite easily into the centre of this extraordinarily modern city. There were sounds of patriotic songs and very modern shops and traffic control. It was like a super city and very striking after Cairo and Asswan and Wadi Halfa and Port Sudan that were all quite primitive by comparison.
Our lift dropped us outside one of the most famous Singapore 5 star Hotels called the Mandarin. I think everybody who has ever been to Singapore will have heard of this very impressive hotel. Well we marched in with our 2 faithful old travel bags, swinging from our shoulders and asked the duty manager if we could speak to the Boss. He was amused and asked us why and that any way the Managing Director was very rarely available. It was the evening about 5 to 6 pm. Well we played all our cards before this young guy and were amazed to see that he did not even flinch but winked instead and gave us our key to a double room with strict instructions not to drink the Alcohol that was stacked in the fridge. He asked us to be out by 10 the next morning as otherwise he might get into trouble and we could help ourselves to the Buffet breakfast at any time after 6 am.
The Lord did it again!
That was luxury if there ever was. Rags to riches. As a missionary we have experienced this so often and the key seems to be thankfulness, no matter what.
Now quite ridiculously I was beginning to worry about our heavy luggage that should be waiting for us in Bombay in some warehouse. Now Irmgard and I had survived very comfortably on 2 bags of clothing and personal possessions each for three months. We had lacked nothing and yet I was concerned about these heavy baggage which for the life of me I could not even remember what they contained. Religious books and????Oh yes! The donated Di Georgio Guitar. For ridiculous reasons this seemed to loom large in my eyes and the urge to go quickly to pick them up was becoming paramount.
Incredible Journey completed Stage 20.
We found out that there was a passenger ferry liner that plied between Singapore and Calcutta called the Chitundrum. It was very cheap and maybe we would get it for free but we would have to wait 3 weeks for it. This vessel had also caught fire and had been refitted. The passengers who mainly slept on deck in terrible conditions would dangerously cook their meals on little stoves on the wooden deck often with disastrous results like the ferry on lake Nasser and now this one.
The second night we did not push our luck by trying the Mandarin again but settled for the 4 star Phoenix which was also donated to us and we were very thankful.
We continued to look for faster opportunities of crossing the Indian Ocean in reverse so to speak but were not successful.
Spiritual tiredness.
I have to admit that for me the adventure was pretty much over and I wanted to reach India as soon as possible. Maybe I was going to make a big mistake. That last afternoon I dropped into a travel agency that were offering very cheap flights to Colombo and then change flight to Trivanderum in Southern India
For about 50 $ each we purchased our air tickets to India. As I look back I feel sure that we could have continued and done quite well in Singapore but it was not the objective. India was, on the other hand and lets remember there was those millions of dollars worth of personal possessions rotting away on the quayside at Bombay waiting to be stolen. As you can tell as I try to recapture the moment of 24 years ago, my faith was running out. I was drying up. Irmgard my faithful wife and always willing follower like Sancho Panza too was getting tired. The tension of this actually really good fun and exciting life was beginning to pale. We missed our family of missionaries with whom we had had no contact for three months and so we boarded our plane to Colombo after getting one more free night's stay in the YMCA. So from 5 star, 4 star and then the YMCA was hardly a spiritual progression but more like a retreat.
A final touch from a merciful Lord
There is one last little touch of a reward from the spiritual world that I would like mention as a way of finishing up this story.
We arrived in Trivanderum airport terminal in Southern India after spending a night in Colombo with someone we met witnessing and I was feeling a bit lost and looked around shooting up our usual arrow chat prayers to Jesus and spotted someone who turned out to be a Catholic Christian. He took us home and put us up for the night before catching our train to Bombay. He gave us a really nice meal and like I explained we always had wine for meals. That had been the promise in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 1. Do you remember?
Well now that we were in India I was prepared to let the Lord off the hook and I would quite understand if there was no more wine after meals.
We finished our meal and our host suddenly asked if we would like to try out some of his home made wine?
Yes we did stay a few days with Vinod's Uncle and Aunt and guess what? That extremely valuable and important heavy luggage did not arrive for another four weeks. We were also able to hand in nearly 3000 US$ to our very grateful Missionary organisation.
I would like to thank you for coming with me on this Incredible Journey but let us all remember we are all on an incredible journey. Whether you choose to travel with or without that powerful DIVINE HAND, that proved Himself time and time again, or not, depends entirely on your own personal choice...the journey will end for all of us sooner or later......think about it!!!!!! It is a most important consideration.
THE END or to be continued?
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
OUR LONGEST HITCH HIKING ADVENTURE.
This is a true story of how my wife Irmgard and I went from Brazil to Singapore, 21,000 kilometres purely by faith with practically no cash. About 100 US$.
When we arrived in India three months later and after about 300 hitch hikes by car, by lorry, by ship and by aeroplane, we were able to donate almost 3000US$ from small donations received to our missionary organisation
I hope it will encourage you to know how incredibly real the Spiritual world of God and His followers is.
Although I have failed Him so many times my testimony is that He has never failed me.
I hope you will find this interesting and look forward to hearing your comments. It took place 25years ago and so I may get some of the chronology wrong but not the facts. God bless you and have fun reading my first of 21 instalments.
The Purpose of it all!
This is a personal note to you all to try and explain, THE PURPOSE OF IT ALL.
By writing the Incredible Journey in about 15 to 20 instalments there is a purpose.
Most of us believe in God and the Spiritual World at least to some extent.
Maybe our faith is mainly Hope rather than Faith.
We are all getting older and that inevitable day of our departure from this material life will come upon us sooner or later.
On this three month trip, some 24 years ago, God was put to the test hundreds of times.
Miracles needed to happen by the hour rather than by the month or year.
Once we set out we never knew where we were going to spend the night. We never knew where our next meal would be coming from. We never knew whether we would fall sick or have a disastrous accident. We had no insurance for any such unforeseen eventuality. We were out on a limb for the duration of those three months. We were walking on the edge of a very dangerous precipice for the entire time in parts of the world that were dangerous at the best of times.
Perhaps I can hear God saying that we too were put to the test hundreds of times.
I believe for those of you who read this story, the Incredible journey and believe that I have not exaggerated or stretched the truth, will see quite plainly that coincidences do occur in life but not on the scale that we experienced them during the Incredible Journey.
There can be really only one way that this adventure could have been completed successfully and that is with the help of a very powerful, spiritual DIVINE HAND.
If this story will help you to find and hold on tight to this most powerful DIVINE HAND for the rest of your life and then on into eternity then this objective will have been reached.
Thanks for reading and listening. I would really like to hear your reaction and look forward to what you may have to say.
Half way around the world on a spiritual journey.
The Incredible journey Stage 1.
Our Life in Brazil.
My wife and I were Christian Missionaries in Brazil. The year was 1984. We were both living on a farm which had been lent to about 20 of us Missionaries and their children, by a Christian supporter and was a school for the kids and a base for the grown ups to operate from.
It was in a small village called Guararema, close to Mogi das Cruzes about 50 kilometers from Sao Paulo, the commercial Capital.
We were members of a Protestant group of the famous Jesus revolution from California, made up of ex Hippies of the flower power the late 60s and early 70s.
We lived for telling people about Jesus. We not only told them but most of the time we were able to lead them into a prayer to accept the Spirit of Jesus Christ into their hearts.
Of course we knew enough Portuguese to be able to speak quite fluently and daily prayed with scores of people.
Some who were really interested gave us their addresses and so we were able to follow them up with more advanced literature than just a simple salvation tract. We would ask them if they would like to contribute a small donation which many of them did, and from this we all lived. Some did not help because they had no cash or because they preferred not to. Some also gave items that we needed such as furniture, food, clothing, and even electronic equipment. When they gave materials instead of cash we called this provisioning. Whatever happened, we were just happy that they had listened to us and accepted the simple literature. This they could read later and we believe that many did and were convicted and took their first steps towards following Jesus.
We had no visible means of support from a regular income, but were sure that if we faithfully proclaimed the Gospel which simply means the Good News then somehow our Spiritual Leader Jesus would take care of us through thick and thin. A good definition of Good News is News that is too good not to share.
Let me tell you He definitely did take care of us and still does to this day.
The call to India.
One day we received a letter from some of the missionaries in India telling us of the great need there.
Brazil was, and I'm sure still is, a very awesome place to be and it was going to be very tough for us to leave.
However being a missionary and following our spiritual leader Jesus Christ's command to go in to all the world meant a lot of moving and at my last count I can tuck over 40 countries under my belt. Moving is our business.
Another factor that played a very significant part was that I was born in India and spent the first 7 years of my life from 1938 to 1945 there. I could still remember it and felt very convicted that I should go back there one day. Now seemed the perfect opportunity.
Pandita Ramabai Gospel Tract.
We had a very special tract called Pandita Ramabai. It is a beautiful true and touching story about a lady with the same name who was diagnosed with a disease which left her only one year to live. She decided to spend her last moments taking Bibles over the mountains to an area near Nepal where the Gospel had never really been presented. Her doctor strapped the back pack of bibles in the local language onto her back and off she went. She was never really heard of much again but the whole area soon had a thriving Christian spiritual community.
This tract was translated into Portuguese and then later back into English and was used to great effect.
We prayed with many 100s maybe 1000s to ask Jesus into their hearts.
The prayer went something like this. “Repeat after me. Please Jesus come into my heart,” then a pause for time to repeat. “Please give me the free gift of Eternal life. Forgive my sins. Fill me with your Love. Thank you. In Jesus Name.”
From time to time there were some very amusing responses especially from people who thought they knew English very well but understood very little. The funny part was usually repeating the words “Please give me everlasting life.” One person very seriously repeated, “Please give me everything I like!” Sounds a bit similar but not exactly the same meaning. Ha! Also we would always be talking about India and then instead of repeating that they wanted Eternal Life, one person with absolute seriousness asked for “Indian Life.”
A crazy promise from the Bible.
My wife and I prayed desperately and were reading the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, Chapter 55 verse 1 All you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no money make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine and milk without money, and without any price.
This was a promise from our Spiritual Leader The Word of God. It was either true to be appropriated or false to be discarded.
Of course we had no money, only enough for the day and a little for breakfast the next morning. This was and is usual.
The spiritual promise right here in this first verse was really interesting. If we had interpreted this correctly here was the invisible Holy Spirit, Lord of the Universe promising food including wine and milk without having to pay for it.
Irmgard and I stared at this verse for a few moments and then realized that this would continue to be the key for our journey across first the South Atlantic and then the North Atlantic to Europe and beyond.
We already were very experienced hitch hikers. Every day we were dropped in Sao Paulo to witness and would come home the 50 kilometres at night simply by asking for lifts along the way. In one year we averaged three lifts a day so we travelled more than 1000 times by hitch hiking.
I remember one person in particular who told us that he never stopped for anyone. Brazil is quite dangerous and there are many criminal gangs operating. As we stood in the road with our thumbs up smiling at the approaching driver he said that he had seen an aura of spiritual light around us which transmitted peace to him and so he stopped. He later became a faithful supporter. This kind of occurrence was quite normal for us.
50 $ was our start out cash!
We collected a small donation which had been sent to Irmgard by her Aunt amounting to 100 DM or 50 Euro.
So we could boast 50 Euros or 65$ for a trip that would have to take us across three oceans, including the Mediterranean, the Suez canal, the Red sea and beyond.
One early morning we set out from the farm and as we passed through the gate we told the Holy Spirit, “This is our first step to India.”
Incredible journey Stage 2.
The longest journey begins with one step.
That first step was easy. However the longest journey begins with one step. We just had a further 9000 kilometres to go to reach our halfway point in Europe. If you were to stop and think about it it was quite ridiculous. It was best not to think about it and instead to think about all the spiritual help that was as yet untapped for this incredible journey. That would be a good name for this true story, The incredible Journey.
The next step was to make our way to Santos. This is the Port city for Sao Paulo and was a couple of hours away towards the South Atlantic coast.
That morning we managed to provision a nice free breakfast and had time to pray and ask The Father Son and Holy Spirit, what to do? The Holy Spirit was already leading us to people who would be a help in the future. After prayer which simply means having a chat with God we believed it would be better to stay for a week or so in the rich city of Sao Paulo and try and raise some permanent support for living in a poor country like India.
Having left our community we had nowhere to stay for the night. We were travelling very light with just two shoulder bags but we did have about three heavy trunks of personal possessions which was also going to be rather a problem, hitch hiking with three trunks was adding cold water to the sacrifice.
Travelling with lots of luggage.
This reminds me of a time when we were donated a desperately needed double bed for our community. Of course we accepted and told the person that we would be round the next day to pick it up. The place was a good 20kilometers out of town and we had no available transport to collect it with. It was left to me to get it and then take it home.
Now remember in the spiritual world nothing is impossible. Only in the physical are their limitations. I hitched a few rides to the apartment block and took the lift up to the fourth floor. As I got out, there was the double bed all dissembled for transport. I thanked the lady profusely and she asked me how I was going to get it to our house. I told her not to worry as there was transport outside waiting to take it. Not exactly true but in a way yes, as it turned out. I took the the bits all neatly roped together out of the lift and leaned them against a wall in the yard below. Thankfully the lady was not looking out of her window. I shot up an arrow prayer of desperation into the spiritual realm and then opened my eyes. Parked across the road was a van inside a warehouse entrance. Soon I was talking to the owner and he was agreeing to deliver the bed free of charge to our home. Later that afternoon he did.
Well a friend of ours agreed to store the heavy baggage and then we went off to down town Sao Paulo to look for a friendly Hotel owner. We did have some friends amongst the Hotel people as they would give us discarded linen and even quite decent furniture and carpets often still in very good condition. We also received Lost and Found articles so as you can see we were and still are expert scavengers.
However the usual friends were not able to help us with bed and breakfast for two weeks which is what we needed before moving to Santos.
The Sao Paulo Suite service gives us 10 days free of charge with breakfast.
We were walking down one of the main streets trying not to feel discouraged but keeping up our spiritual conversation with our Spiritual Boss and friend and saviour Jesus Christ and then I saw this huge complex of suites and rooms lumped together in the Sao Paulo Suite service.
Before long we were sitting sipping coffee in front of the manager and we told him how we were on our way to India as Missionaries and needed a place to stay with breakfast.
We gave him a Pandita Ramabai tract. We were both praying hard at the same time as speaking to this man who we had never met before. To our amazed relief he began smiling and gave us the most beautiful suite close to the swimming pool and sauna all for free with a huge breakfast for 10 days.
We printed out a small pledge form asking people to agree to give a certain amount of cash to us monthly and started distributing it to everyone we met together with the Pandita Ramabai tract.
Sao Paulo is full of delicious restaurants and getting our free meals for the rest of the day was comparatively easy.
Matthew Ch 6 verse 33. “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”
We began every day with what we call devotions. This was our spiritual beginning with contact to the Higher powers of the Christian God. We read passages from the Bible and then laid our day before the Lord asking for guidance and protection and a supply of all our needs.
The Bible contains many promises for example Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians chapter 4 verse 19 And may my God supply all your needs, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
This was one we used a great deal. Of course these promises are no good if you do not really believe them but through experience we did, and they worked and still work superbly. I can thoroughly recommend the promises in the Bible for all the world to use.
Also very important was listening to God for the answers. This we did by allowing the Holy Spirit to gently nudge our consciences.
One of the most important ingredients in all of this was simply to take the time. Consciously stop everything and take time with the spiritual world.
Nothing except disaster is accomplished by rushing through life without stopping, looking and above all listening.
We were off to a very good start. 10 days in a luxurious hotel was quite a beginning. Breakfast swimming and sauna. I had hardly ever used a sauna so that was a novelty. The staff were very nice to us.
We were very busy every day getting up early as this was no holiday. The objective of India was ever before us, coupled together with a rather blurred image of the Soviet Union, that vast continent we just called Russia. Daily we asked God to lead us step by step. We needed or so we thought, support for once we arrived in India. We needed good health which we amazingly seemed to always enjoy and we needed to try and supplement our cash of 100 DM about 40 US$.
Incredible Journey Stage 3.
Narrow escapes from criminals.
Soon our time in this five star complex was coming to an end. We decided to leave our 3 trunks in the Sao Paulo free storage.
So far everything seemed to be working to plan. We did have some narrow escapes from criminals. In the crowded places there were many bag snatchers and we always had to hang on to our shoulder bags. One person was robbed in front of our eyes and the thief ran off with the person screaming. He was soon lost in the crowds of people. One evening when returning to our free hotel we watched a burglary in a deserted street. As we approached a sentry gave the alarm and those responsible just melted away. Once we boarded a bus and three stops before, the whole group of passengers had been robbed of all their cash and jewellery. One guy in the front had had his finger cut off so at to get his gold ring. The police investigation had already taken place and so we joined a group of very sad and bewildered passengers hoping that there would not be second strike.
Recreation and fun for free too.
We did have fun too. We made friends with a Cinema owner some months before and he allowed us to watch movies for free. One evening there did not seem to any good films except a Russian Classic called Dersu Uzala. It was really an awesome movie about the real agape love of a Siberian wild hunter who saves a platoon of lost Russian Cartographers, map makers from freezing to death through the night. It gave us a real love for Russia as well as for India and this was realized some 7 years later on. Coincidentally that same day we were offered free Stroganofs to eat
Hitch Hiking is such an amazing way to travel. It is very spiritual as it requires faith against all odds. This will come out later as we progress in our incredible journey. Spiritual people are not the only ones who hitch hike but it sure helps to be in close touch with the spiritual world through prayer.
It was our last morning and we finished our breakfast and profusely thanked the manager and the waitresses who had become our friends and set off with our two shoulder bags each. Stupidly I did not have a camera and frankly we could not afford one and so this whole trip is without photos. I however managed to keep a log of the business cards we received from the 4 to 500 people we were going to meet on the way. Collecting pledges had not really worked out and I was a bit disappointed.
Two significant dreams
I had a dream that I think was very significant. It was in two parts. The first one, I was riding in a Steeple chase against many other competitors. A Steeple chase is an English word for a horse race with jumps and although the race was long and gruelling it was just a matter of hanging on. By the time I reached the finish, all the other horses had fallen. On closer look at the Horse its head resembled Irmgard my wife. No offence to my wife who is actually very pretty and does not resemble a horse. Only in this rather significant spiritual dream.
The second dream we were walking on the water together. As long as we kept moving we walked quite quickly on top of the water but if we stopped we began to sink and had to swim. This slowed us down and was costly financially. It was like we needed to keep moving. Launching out into new places and changing our location daily was going to be the key or one of the keys to making this journey a success relying 100% on spiritual help all the way.
First stop the Port City of Santos.
We got a lift to the exit road from Sao Paulo to Santos and then there we stood on our first leg of our trip. We had no prearranged place to stay and just left by faith. This is something we have done countless times. Launching out into the unknown trusting in the help from the Great Spiritual force of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has never failed us.
A man stopped and was obviously going to Santos which was at the end of the highway. He was extremely nice and a Christian. He did not need for us to pray with him to receive Jesus. He was a quite famous Lawyer who worked closely in helping those convicted of drug crimes. He had been a drug addict and experienced a marvellous conversion. After receiving the Lord into his heart he said he had been weeping at the name of Jesus for a week after. Jesus was so real to him and he gave us a very generous donation and later the Lord would use him to be one of our only real supporters.
He dropped us on the sea front of Santos and this was one of our first views of the South Atlantic Ocean for a very long time. We shot up some arrow prayers and there in front of us was a three star Hotel. I have forgotten the name but it was something like the Palace.
The Owner Fernando was a very helpful man and after sharing our crazy ideas of hitch hiking a ship to India he agreed to put us up bed and breakfast for an indefinite time. He became our friend and confidant and was always very interested in the progress we would make day by day.
Incredible Journey Stage 4
Visiting the shipping companies
Now that we were in Santos, it was time to start visiting the shipping companies. Most of these were situated in the Port and Dock area which was surrounded by a high wall and there were about three or four entrances which were guarded and one needed a pass to get in. On our first morning after early morning prayer and reading from our super spiritual book the Bible and then breakfast and a chat with Fernando the Owner, we set off for the Port. It was in walking distance as our Hotel which I can now remember is named the Avenida Palace and was very conveniently in the centre of the sea front road. By looking as if we owned the place we smilingly walked past the guard into the busy port and no one stopped us.
Hitch hiking on cargo ships.
3 years earlier I had managed to provision free passages on cargo vessels from Hamburg to Santos for Missionaries from our organization. It happened something like this. I had a reputation for having a special spiritual gift from God of Faith and so I was asked by our leadership to try and get free passages for about 4 to 6 single missionaries to leave from Lisbon where I was staying, to Brazil. The year was 1991 and at that time our group was making a push towards Brazil. The company, Alianca, with offices in Hamburg, sailed to Brazil calling in at Porto and then Lisbon and so without anything prearranged I jumped on a night train from Lisbon to Hamburg. The train arrived at 8.30a.m. and without an appointment but after desperate prayer for Spiritual help, I was sitting in front of an amused Managing Director at 10 a.m. I explained our needs and he agreed to allow 2 passengers at a time to travel free as long as they did some work like painting and scrubbing. Of course I was delighted and was back in Lisbon with the good news the next morning. At least 4 to 6 missionaries used this facility to make it across the Atlantic without cost.
Now there was also a Passenger Liner which called frequently in at Lisbon on its way to Rio de Janeiro. This luxury Liner belonged to the well known Italian firm, Linea C, Costa Armatori with headquarters in Genoa and having succeeded so well with the German firm, I was then dispatched to work the same miracle for more missionaries including myself. Even though I had prayed and stormed heaven for a second similar miracle this time would be a different story. When I arrived in Genoa, I had no trouble getting to see the senior manager a Mr B who had only one arm. He was an extremely nice person and I spent a long time with him talking about spiritual matters which seemed to interest him a great deal. He poured out his heart but was unable to allow us to travel for free but he did make a big discount of 50% which was a help and he gave me his business card which I managed to hang on to for many years. This will become significant as our adventure unfurls.
Bluffing our way into the dock area.
Once inside the docks we were soon visiting every shipping company and shipping agent. The first three or four days we found nothing. It was a story of total disappointment.
The Doubtlets!
Giving up was out of the question but we continued to pray and hope and believe. In the evenings we found a Seaman's club called “Missions to Seamen”, organized by the Anglican Church. An old couple, I think he was a retired Anglican priest ran the place and were kind to us and gave us free beer and lots of complete and total discouragement. Hardly any one frequented this rather uninteresting place but it was fine for us to relax. They thought we were very presumptuous to expect a free trip East. They explained how there were many people all trying to go for free to Europe who had a much higher priority than us poor rather stupid looking missionaries. We learned to accept their free beer but not to listen to their doubts. We nicknamed them Mr and Mrs Doubtlet. It was rather tough having to tell Dear old Fernando about our failures but he put a brave face on it and continued to allow us to stay. I guess the Lord helped him to have faith in us.
Bingo! We got our ride! Or so we thought.
On about the fourth or fifth day we were stopped going through our normal entrance and so we walked further down the road and went in another entrance successfully. In front of us was brand new firm that we had not seen before. This time everything seemed to go according to plan. They promised 2 free berths in a cabin in a ship that would arrive in three weeks. The destination was Northern Europe but in hitch hiking one has to be prepared to take any ride that is going somewhat in the right direction. We were overjoyed and triumphantly reported to Fernando and to the Doubtlets who put a brave face to cover up their previous remarks and they just said, “Well you guys are just lucky, plain lucky”. They were not really spiritual people but were friendly with billiards and beer for lonely sailors and I think they had rooms which were rather expensive for short stay overs.
Now we had to wait for three weeks and after the dream about moving we decided to go on a hitch hiking trip around Brazil getting more addresses and trying to supplement our donations which were still very low. We have a little spiritual saying, “If you witness about Jesus and the spiritual world, you will always win.”
Incredible Journey Stage 5.
Visas for India.
Brazil is a huge country. I think it is the 5th biggest country in the world. Russia then Canada then China then USA and then Brazil. Something like that. Because I was born in India, I did not need a visa and neither did my wife even though she was German. However by an amazing stroke of good fortune which was to save us lots of future trouble we found out that the Indians had changed their rules and now everyone entering India would need a visa, even British Nationals. We returned to Sao Paulo and stayed with some friends of our mission for a couple of days. I desperately needed a good guitar and there is a well known company called Di Georgio and we were able to visit the factory and tell the boss about our planned trip to India. He was really moved and presented me with one of their beautifully hand made acoustic guitars.
Two hitch hikes by plane. Wow!
We then realized we would have to go to the Indian embassy in Brasilia. Brasilia is the Capital and is quite some distance inland. It is a fairly new city and literally carved out of the dense jungle. Now we had a friend who worked for the local airways called Manoel. He was quite a big shot and so we approached him to pull some strings for a free internal flight to Brasilia. He looked a bit taken aback but promised to do what he could. The next day he phoned us and told us to hurry over as there were two free seats but we had to hurry. He said he would arrange the return trip once we were there. It was time to remember to thank that huge and wonderful spiritual force Jesus Christ our wonderful Saviour and Lord. He was arranging everything and planning ahead for us. This extra time gave us the opportunity to get our visa sorted out. Something we had not planned on.
The flight to the capital was uneventful and the plane was not all that full. There were quite a few empty seats. Of course once again we had no where to stay. This was normal and we knew we just had to tap in to those super spiritual forces to get us a free hotel. First we went to the embassy and had to spend some of our hard earned cash on the visas. This we could not avoid but while we were there we received good donations from distributing our Pandita Ramabai tracts and of course we came out on top. Remember that quote? “When you witness you always win”. Even the embassy official helped us with some notes.
Run away inflation but God is still on the throne!
The denominations were extremely high as there was rampant inflation running sometimes at 100% a month. The Cruzeiro was worth very little and a note of a million was not unusual to see. Later I think they knocked 4 zeros off and renamed the currency the Cruzado. Living by faith was one way of hardly noticing the enormous daily and weekly rise in prices. As the prices rose so did the donations.
We found a Hotel at the first shot. This is not normal. Sometimes it takes asking quite a few before someone will say yes and help. We phoned Manoel and the next day he arranged a free flight back to Sao Paulo.
Filling in time before getting our ride.
We still had two weeks to go before catching our prearranged ride to Europe in a Cargo vessel. We had never really spent time in Rio de Janeiro and so we checked as best we could with our Spiritual Boss and He seemed to give us the go ahead. We hitched to Rio in two days staying in a motel for free over night. Rio had just finished Carnival so we missed that quite thankfully as everyone goes quite wild. It is quite a flesh trip and not much help to us. We got to swim on the famous Copper cabana beach. It is a little hard to remember but we did not meet any body exceptional and then I had a strong desire to go to Ouro Preto. This translated meant black gold. Well Lord help me but I was interested in getting some more spare cash for this trip. Black Gold sounded a good place to find some good donations so off we set hitching and not spending money and slowly our finances were creeping up. I think we had about 500 US$ by now which I wore in my belt.
Our Naivety and simple faith keep the criminals away.
We were not really a target for thieves as we witnessed our faith literally to everyone. It did not matter if it was a possible Mafia boss or a policeman, we told them all about our wonderful Lord. I think doing this got us out of a lot of trouble as we were so naive and even the worst kind of people respected us with our crazy faith. We were not specially well dressed but just kind of normal wearing nothing fancy. That was not a choice it just represented what we had been given. Nearly all our clothing was provisioned from clothing shops or Hotel Lost and found items. Sadly I did not have a camera. At the time I did not really realize that we were doing something that unusual. Faith was and is a normal part of our daily life. We know that in the end Jesus will come through. He has never failed us even if sometimes the immediate circumstances seemed to indicate that He had and sometimes it really looked like it. As we progress on this trip together there will be plenty of times when this will become very evident.
It takes the impossible situations for God to do a miracle
It is usually in the really impossible situations that He comes through with something so much better than what we had hoped for. Just like the promise in St Paul's letter to the Ephesians Ch 3 verse 20. And now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think.
These Bible promises as I have already stated are absolutely awesome but they have to be appropriated and believed in otherwise they are just beautiful meaningless words.
Ouro Preto the city of Black Gold, did not live up to its name but it helped to keep us busy witnessing and travelling and increasing the number of addresses of people who could become supporters.
The sure thing did not come through.
Now the time came for us to make our way back to Sao Paulo and then Santos to board our ship. We arrived in Sao Paulo and a good friend drove us together with our three heavy trunks of baggage to the Avenida Palace Hotel in Santos. We still had a day or two so we decided to check and see if our ship was running on schedule. We arrived smiling in the office only to be told that the ship would be leaving with two VIPs taking our berths instead of us. Ow!!!!! Help!!!!!
Incredible journey Stage 6.
Defeat turned into another Victory.
He never fails!
Now you can imagine what a disappointment that was. We had put our faith in this trip and here we were turned down at the last moment. Maybe the Lord had really failed us this time? This idea in putting so much faith in the spiritual world to help was a bit far fetched? Up till now never! But this looked like it could be the first time. It was very tempting to think like that. Now do you remember the Linear C line from Genoa with the one armed Mr B? Well we had already been to see their offices three weeks before. The large passenger Liner only called in at Rio de Janeiro but smaller freight ships stopped at Santos. They did not hold out much hope but we had shown them Mr Bs card and that had obviously impressed them. So we rather reluctantly walked across the docks to their offices on the very slim chance that they might be able to help. I wish I could tell you how full of hope and faith I was but that would be a lie. It was a last resort. Kind of lets go and find out that they too like so many others had politely turned us down. We walked into their office and to our amazement the staff were all smiling and giggling. That same morning they had received a telex authorizing Mr and Mrs King to travel on the container ship The Trans Oceanica Silvia which would be docking the next day. Two berths had been specially reserved for us in the ship's hospital. The ship would take 21 days and would berth in Genoa taking us on a much more direct route half way across the Mediterranean Sea well on our way to our final destination India. I still have the free ticket badly preserved in a file for all to see.
Doubtlets are pleasantly shocked and Fernado too!
Hitch hiking with all our gear to the ship.
We literally ran back to our Hotel and told Fernando and then the amazed Doubtlets not only gave us beer but sandwiches. Back at the Hotel we started packing everything up into as neat way as we could. The shoulder bags contained two sets of everything. At night we would wash out our socks and underwear and hang them up on the radiators and put them on the next morning. The ship was sailing sharp at 2 p.m. and we had to be on board by 12. The only way we could carry our heavy baggage was in stages. First take one trunk 10 yards and dump it. Then the next and dump it in the same place. Then the third and then start all over again. It was like taking six times longer than just walking once. Now I can say, that we did have lots and lots of faith. This last miracle was a real faith booster. At about 9 we had our breakfast and then I carried out all our stuff and dumped it in the middle of the busy sea road on a traffic Island. Just imagine how ridiculous this looked. A small traffic island piled high with trunks and shoulder baggage. Last of all we too stood in the middle of the road facing the oncoming traffic which was moving in the direction of the port which was a good mile away. I do not think we had to wait more than five minutes and we were able to stop a very amused pick-up truck driver who allowed us to pile everything into the back including me while Irmgard sat in the front. 10 minutes later we were at the bottom of the gangway of the Trans Oceanica Silvia. We unloaded the stuff and some sailors helped us carry our heavy baggage on board.
Luxurious Hospital to live in.
The Hospital was very spacious and we just prayed that no one would get sick as then we would have to share this place. I do not think it worried us unduly. You know I too am a bit of a doubter and I wasn't really convinced that we had made it until the ship had passed through the outer harbour break waters and the Pilot had disembarked and we were well and truly heading out to sea. Then I really started to cheer the amazing Spiritual World of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, inside my soul.
Two other Passengers. The Italian Consul and his Brazilian wife.
That evening as we sat at the Captain's table with other members of the Officer crew and yes there were two other real passengers. The Italian consul and his very chirpy and entertaining and much younger than him, Brazilian wife. They had a proper cabin and had obviously paid for their trip. However apart from their rather snazzy cabin they had no more privileges than us poor missionaries. Another nice touch from the Lord was that at every meal except breakfast there was always wine. Do you remember the promise in Hosea Ch 55 v 1? Come and buy wine and honey and milk without money.
Good food fun and lots of Ping Pong and
A real Holiday!
There was always lots to eat and three to four course delicious Italian meals. I was able to play endless games of ping pong with the Marconi a nick name for the communications officer. I have to admit that I am pretty good at this rather ridiculous game but so was Marconi and we battled it out across the South Atlantic and then the North Atlantic. From time to time Irmgard and I would perch up in the bows of the ship watching the endless flying fish dashing across the front of our vessel. They would jump and fly for twenty to thirty yards to keep clear of the monster ship which they obviously thought was some kind of a mammoth whale that was ready to gobble them up. The weather was really calm and many times too the flying fish were joined by dancing dolphins that weaved their way in front riding the pressure wave set up by the ship ploughing its way across the deep blue ocean.
This was a holiday! One of the first for a very long time. We often went on the bridge and as I had been an officer in the Royal Navy I knew quite a bit about all the activities that took place up there. My favourite watch was with the ship's mate the first officer a good humoured Italian and we talked endlessly about our faith in the spiritual world. He was not convinced but remained a very good friend and wrote a very nice letter of recommendation for us to carry in the event that we would ever travel again hitch hiking on ships
Incredible journey Stage 7.
Time for reflection!
While on this long trip with nothing much to do except reflect on the vast ocean which stretched much further than the eye could see was an awesome time to meditate on this very unusual watery world. It has been said that all sailors are believers in the Spiritual. There is so much evidence of eternity. There is also so much time to think. Just to reflect and wonder about God and His creation. At night sometimes the sky is so clear of clouds and there is no smog from polluting factories and traffic to blur the atmosphere, that the stars and galaxies are visible with sparkling clarity from horizon to horizon. There is nothing man made to distract one apart from the throbbing sound of the engines and the floating home that is protecting and transporting us from continent to continent.
Ships that lass in the night.
From time to time one would pass vessels going in the opposite direction using the same shipping lanes as ourselves. In the dark we would amuse ourselves flashing a signal in Morse code to all those phantom passers by. What ship? Where bound? All sailors are meant to know and practice the code and we would show off our ability to send and read the replies that came flashing back in longs and shorts. “Julia Bay bound for Santos.”
A fascinating answer to prayer!
One day I was on watch and Irmgard and I prayed for something unusual to happen in the vast surrounding ocean. We told the 1st Officer that we had prayed and then it happened. A solitary whale was swimming in the opposite direction giving way its whereabouts with the tell tale water spout spurting up in the air as it cleared its nostrils. The Captain was summoned training his binoculars and exclaiming that this was very rare at this time of the year. He knew as he had made this trip so many times in all kinds of weather. Normally the whales would be travelling in schools like herds of elephants in a totally different part of the Ocean. Maybe this one had got lost? It made a welcome change and distraction. When we crossed the equator, a sailor dressed up as Neptune and we all drank a brandy to commemorate the occasion.
As the days passed we all began to get to know each other and I have to admit there was a very good spirit on the ship and I think this was largely due to the Captain as he was a good person handler and put everyone at their ease, and yet kept his dignity and authority. There were no fights or arguments among the crew and the morale remained high at all times. The cabin steward Paulo took very good care of us and we were careful to clean our own area and keep it spick and span. He would reward us with an extra Cappuccino for our efforts. During all 22 days the weather remained amazingly calm which was a real boon as having experienced rough weather in a small ship when I was in the Royal Navy was no joke.
Movie Night
On Friday evenings we would gather for a film. The one I remember well was the Poseidon Adventure the story of a ship that capsized at the mercy of a giant tsunami wave. It was quite a spiritual movie and showed the wisdom a of a small child who against all odds lead his little team of followers in the opposite direction to the well trained ship's officers and even the priest. A little child will lead them would be an appropriate Bible quote.
Our ship was laden with Containers which were packed tightly below decks down to the hold and towered up nearly to height of the bridge giving the ship an unusual cuboid look.
Some amusing anecdotes from our time in Brazil...
When we would ask people we met to repeat the simple prayer to ask the spirit of Jesus to come into their hearts, we would say something like the following. We knew the prayer well in Portuguese but many would ask to say the prayer in English so as to practice some English with us. On one occasion a man was proudly repeating the words “And give me eternal life” but his rendering was “Give me everything I like!” As we often talked to people about India, one other person for the same prayer said “Give me Indian life!” It was very hard not to crack up and laugh. Yes we were going to miss Brazil very much and we had a very wonderful time with these exceptionally nice people coming from all over the world. There were communities from Germany and Japan rather like the USA and the Brazilian Portuguese had a flair of its own rather like the USA English to England's English.
Planning the next move.
Now what on earth were we going to do when we arrived in Genoa? One question was what to do with these three cumbersome trunks of baggage? After all our destination was India not Italy. Leaving the baggage in a port left luggage department would be exorbitantly expensive.
Incredible Journey Stage 8
Hello! Mediterranean!!
Straits of Gibralta.
Going through the straits of Gibraltar was our good bye to the peaceful North Atlantic. I had often been to Gibraltar when I was in the Royal Navy and this rock of ancient British supremacy stands guarding the entrance to the Middle Sea so famous in Bible times. The book of the Acts of the Apostles gives a very vivid account of Saint Paul's voyage to Rome as a prisoner and his shipwreck in what is now Saint Paul's bay on the Island of Malta. Nowadays British sea power has been beaten into last place with the advent of aircraft, rockets and electronic warfare gadgets. Another reminder of the first becoming the last and the last becoming the first. The bigger and higher they come, the harder they eventually tumble and collapse.
There was so much shipping just everywhere we looked going in and out of this very busy main Motorway for ships. There was a buzz of excitement as Genoa was now only a couple of days away. Sailors who were almost all Italian were looking forward to their well earned leave with their families, before rejoining this ship again on the outward voyage West.
Genoa.
I had written a form letter to all our over 100 names and addresses from Brazil and the idea was to send it out from Italy as then the first real jump would have been completed. I had often thought that if one can hitch hike 20 miles from A to B, the only difference from A to B at 21,000, kilometres is that the distance and the time taken is longer. The spiritual principle remains the same.
The next thing I remember was that we were stopped outside the harbour entrance to Genoa. The Pilot came on board and there were two busy little tugboats buzzing around. The Captain had allowed us to be on the Bridge as long as we kept well out of the way as the officers would dash from one side to the other gently nurturing this 12000 ton container vessel into its prepared berth. Actually the Captain has to allow the Harbour Pilot to take control and give the orders.
Russia, USSR an alternative to India?
Now there was a very interesting little spiritual coincidence. Irmgard and I had been toying with the idea of Russia or the Huge Soviet Union as it was then as an alternative to India. We were not so serious about the idea but it was there in the back of both our minds. Seeing that Movie Dersu Usala had really made an impression. So here we were on the bridge and then the spiritual world clicked in and the Pilot kept saying the words India over and over again on the wireless intercom system to the tug boats. There was a stiff breeze blowing so the two little tugs had to either push or pull as tugboats do and believe it or not one of the boats was called India. God is so good and here He was shouting his guiding words into our ears and minds.
Goodbye Transoceanica Sylvia,
We started to say our good byes and thank you to the Captain and the crew and specially to the cabin steward Paulo who had taken such good care of us.
We walked down the gang way with our two prepared shoulder bags and then a small crane unloaded our three trunks in giant a net bag. We put them together in a sheltered spot and went off into the port area to find the Port Director.
It was actually quite easy and we were escorted into his office as he sat behind an impressive desk. He spoke some English and we asked him if he would give permission for us to leave our three trunks in the left luggage area but for free. He obligingly agreed to giving us two free weeks which would have cost us a couple of hundred dollars. We found a large luggage cart and proudly proceeded to the left luggage presenting our very unusual permission slip to the man in charge. We had nothing valuable except the guitar which we would leave there too. We had to trust the Lord for that one and any way everything was under lock and key.
Trip to Nuremberg.
We had a lot to do before making our way hitch hiking to Nuremberg Germany to meet Irmgard's parents for the first time together.
First we went to the Linea C head offices which I had previously visited 3 years before to say thank you to Mr B. He was not there any more and had been transferred to the Linea C offices in the Bahamas. We found a director who seemed to know all about us and delivered our thanks. Then we asked if they would like to do one more favour and Xerox 100 copies of our circular news letter. This they readily did for us. We had already carefully written out all the addresses on the envelopes and so we stuffed them and went to the large office next door to ask their boss if he would like to put these letters in their daily post. Of course we told him all about Jesus and our crazy faith and he not only agreed to take the letters but gave us a small donation in Italian Lira for the Pandita Ramabai tract.
Promising Russian Company for next leg.
Now it was important to look for possibilities for our next leg which would be anywhere in an easterly direction. We found a Russian company that had 2 freighters that would be calling in in about 2 weeks and they promised to let us travel on them. They were bound for Bombay which was the city of our destination and would cost 200 US$ each. Rather expensive but considering the circumstances suited just fine. This was almost too good to be true.
By now it was evening and so we set off to the entrance of the Motor way out of Genoa in the direction of Germany and stood there trying to thumb our first lift in Europe. Hitching in Brazil had been easy. What would it be like in Europe? Would the Lord do the same kind of miracles for us here in this new continent?
Incredible Journey Stage 9.
Amazing Hitch hikes.
What I am about to tell you is going to be very hard to believe. Our first lift was an Italian business man who not only took us about 50 kilometres but gave a very good donation in Lira and dropped us at a Motorway Gas station. This is a very good place to get our next lift from and we would very politely go up to the single business men sipping their coffee or having a light meal and ask them if they would take us in the direction of Southern Germany. The route we would take and of course we had an autobahn map would take us through Milan, Bergamo, Trento to Innsbruck. By midnight we were in Austria making very good time.
The ride of our lives!
Then came the ride of our lives. We found a German business man, he was a famous lawyer and had a personal chauffeur driver. They were sipping coffee together and smiled as we approached them and before long we were all aboard. He sat in front while Irmgard and I hung on for grim death in the spacious back seat of a custom built Mercedes. From time to time I would peer over the front seat to read the speedometer and it seemed fixed on 220 Kilometres an hour. Every slight curve in the Motorway felt like a hairpin bend and we were flung from side to side. What really freaked us both out was the fact that there was no room for error. At that continual speed any slight adjustment to miss another fool or a deer would mean certain death. We were really praying!!!!!!However he assured us that he often made this trip from Austria to Hamburg and by early morning he dropped us off close to Nuremberg.
My wife's farm and family.
We were tired not having slept a wink but were now within about 10 kilometres of my wife's farm in a little village called Lind close to Zirndorf close to Fuerth close to Nuremburg. It took about three more lifts and we were standing outside Irmgard's old farm house. We were expected but not so soon. We had covered the distance in about 13 hours door to door so to speak.
The Father and the Mother were both very nice but were continually working on their farm which boasted 6000 chickens and acres of wheat land which were already sown and waving green in the wind.
Irmgard has a wonderful aunt, the brother of her Father and she had taken care of Irmgard and her elder brother Werner pronounced Vanner, when they were young.
They all spoke a weird dialect of German called Frenkish and unless you know it it is pretty hard to understand. The country side was quite beautiful and we borrowed old bikes and made many trips into the woods and surrounding little villages.
Donations in cash.
An amazing miracle!!
Our donations were not all that hot. We had saved about 6 to 700 US$ equivalent in various currencies of Dollars Liras and Marks.
On one of the days we hitched into Nuremberg and wandered through the old city offering our English language Pandita Ramabais to the German folk. Being in English we were not so successful but received a few donations of Marks. We ended up at the train station to try and provision a free meal.
There was an Imbiss at the east entrance run by a very sweet old lady called Edeltraud Waltzell. We did not know but she had a reputation of being called the angel of the Bahnhof. She gave us a delicious meal and then asked us if we needed anything else. First she offered take away food but we explained that Irmgard's mother and aunt were in competition to feed us but if she would like to make a small contribution for our trip to India, that would be amazing. She scuttled off and I thought to my self, if she gave 50 or 20 DM that would be awesome rounding of a really good day. When she came back she pressed a note into my hand and as I opened it I realised that it was 1000 DM the biggest donation we had ever received in cash. I started to weep with joy and amazement and thanked her so profusely that she ran off a second time and pressed a second 1000 DM note into my top shirt pocket.
When we got back again hitching all the way, Irmgard's aunt was visibly shocked by our success. “Nothing like that has ever happened to me!” she exclaimed.
Thankfulness! An all important virtue!
Back to Genoa.
Disappointment once again!
One thing I forgot to mention was that at the end of any lift or benefit we not only thanked the driver or helper but also made a point of thanking our Spiritual leader and guide, Jesus Christ. I think that Thankfulness is a real virtue and helps God see that we take nothing for granted.
Now it was time to make our way back to Genoa to catch our Russian Cargo vessel travelling in convoy with an identical sister ship to Bombay. Irmgard's dad generously drove us about 50 kilometres down the motorway and dropped us in a gas station. He seemed sad to see us leave and we would not see him again for many years. The trip back was quite different and we spent our first night in a hotel up in the Austrian Alps called Mozart. The lady owner a devout Catholic gave us a beautiful room with a delicious breakfast the next day. It was still quite early so we ventured off to the small village and met a famous Austrian Ski Champion who owned a pub and Hotel and he took us in his Jeep for a trip up one of the highest mountains in the area. He dropped us off and then we made our way down sliding on the lush grass slopes back to his Pub where he gave us a beautiful dinner with wine.
The next evening we arrived in Genoa in time to catch the Russian shipping office before it closed. Bad news. The twin vessels had left Greece and made their way straight to Suez without coming up the west coast of Italy to Genoa.
The Incredible Journey Part 10.
Our baggage gets a free ride to India nut not us.
Our immediate problem was to find a Hotel. Once again we succeeded in our first try. Like I have pointed out this is not always the case and sometimes we have to wander around for quite some time before we find a place to stay. I guess the Lord allows this to happen to show us not to take things for granted, and to be thankful. It is so easy for us mere mortals to fall into complacency and expect it as our right that God will always be at our beck and call like some kind of Genie from Aladdin's lamp.
Sure enough this time too, it was a middle aged Italian Woman who met us as we walked into her little office. She spoke a little English and along with our little Portuguese adapted into Italian we were able to persuade her to allow us to stay for a few days while we tried to sort out the next stage of our incredible journey.
The next morning we went back to the docks and I got the idea to find a shipping company going to Bombay that would not mind taking our baggage, even if they would not take passengers, for free.
Most Cargo ships do not take passengers as they are not insured for the eventuality of an accident or some need for an emergency doctor etc. We always asked them to allow us to sign a letter of indemnity absolving them of any blame in case of a misadventure befalling us on the voyage. This helped sometimes but on the Linea C Transoceanica Silvia they had insurance for us. If we could find such a company that would be a load off. We tried a few until we found one that was plying between Italy and India and they very kindly agreed to take care of our three trunks and put them on the next vessel going to Bombay. They were not ready to take us but they would take our baggage. We delivered our three trunks and guitar to their warehouse and spent the rest of the day looking for a shipping company to take us East.
Try as we would nothing turned up and so we returned to our hotel after obtaining all our meals at restaurants and Snack places all for free as promised in Isaiah Chapter 55 verse 1.
That night as I slept, I had a dream that we were in Sudan of all places. Now there were some Sudanese living in the Hotel with their extraordinary colourful Arabic like costumes and Turbans, so maybe the Lord used that to set this dream off.
A radical change in strategy.
After breakfast we spent some time in prayer and Bible reading and I received or let me say I thought I received the directions to go overland to Greece and then try from there. We had done a ship trip and maybe now was the time for a land trip? Maybe all the way to Sudan???? The more we thought about this the more we liked the idea and so we thanked our Lady host and set off for the Motorway travelling the first leg just as we had recently done but instead of turning North to Austria and then Germany we would continue East into Yugoslavia. We would soon find out that the great President Marshall Tito had died but there was evidence of him everywhere. His picture hung in every restaurant and public place. He seemed not to be really dead and was still a public hero.
Yugoslavia.
That evening we were still in Italy and arrived in Trieste. As this is a part of the world that I have never been to before my memory is a bit shaky but it was here that we met a very charming Italian priest who put us up in a guest room at the Parish house. He was very impressed with our story and gave us a very generous donation.
The next day we hitched across the border into Yugoslavia passing through or around Rijeka with many small lifts down the Adriatic coast road with a view of thousands of very inviting small islands. We were tempted to stop and swim but continued to the border of Albania which was in those day very difficult to enter and a sort of no go area, so we looked for a place to stay the night in Dubrovnik. This is a small sea port and everywhere we tried we failed to find anyone who wanted to help us. All the Hotels turned us down and even though we were praying desperately for help, none seemed to come.
A sleepless night with cockroaches!
It was now getting dark and then I had the inspiration to ask a young man on the street if he spoke English. He did and we told him our predicament. He smiled and told us that he had an old aunt who lived close by and that he would persuade her to help us. So far so good!!! The old lady cheerfully lead us to the spare bed room and as we were dead tired we tumbled into bed immediately. Then to my horror of horrors I felt something crawling over my face. I jumped up and switched on the light and the whole room was crawling with large cockroaches. Once the light was switched on they all scuttled off and disappeared below the bed. Irmgard gave out a slight scream and then the old lady came in and explained in her foreign tongue of which we understood nothing something to the effect that they would not harm us and to just be thankful and go to sleep. As soon as she was out of the room we left the light on which prevented all except the very brave ones from emerging. We got very little sleep and after a very long night, we thanked her and left very early in the morning. We managed to find a small bakery that gave us free buns and black coffee which we really needed to keep us awake.
Greece.
That next day after many small lifts we passed around Beograd, Belgrade the capital of Serbia, and were tickled to see the signs changing from the Latin alphabet to Acrylic on the sign posts to Macedonia. We crossed the Greek border late at night in a Truck that took us for a very long distance allowing us to get sitting up sleep. His destination was Thessalonica and this is where we got off at midnight in the town centre.
Midnight miracle in Thessalonica!
Usually we like to stop at about 6 in the evening giving us plenty of time to find a place to stay but midnight seemed pretty grim. The centre was pretty dark. There were very few friendly looking lit up lamp posts to greet us and light our way. The street and centre was totally deserted. So some quick arrow prayers which just means a snap chat with our Lord of the Spiritual world and then there right across the square was one solitary café or bar that was open and lit up with a friendly glow. When we arrived the owner was about to close down but he turned out to be Mr Sweetheart himself who spoke pretty good English. We witnessed to him about Jesus and the trip we were making to India and of course that sounded really bizarre. He believed us and then rustled up a delicious free meal and suggested without us asking, that we stay the night upstairs where his brother ran a Pension, a small hotel for bed and breakfast. This time no cockroaches and a really good nights rest with a super breakfast with Mr S the next morning. He gave us our first donation in Greek Drachmas on top of all the help he had already given.
From all this we learned that you cannot put God in a box and that the more extraordinary the circumstances, the more the Lord had the opportunity to do the most extraordinary miracles.
The Incredible journey Stage 11.
Piraeus.
Our next real hope was the port of Piraeus, next to Athens for a trip across the rest of the Mediterranean. That was our dream and goal.
Every day we distributed scores of Pandita Ramabai tracts and collected pockets full of business cards. Xeroxing forty to fifty copies of P.R. Tracts was always very simple. We would go to an office and talk to a boss and then it was very rare that they turned us down. We always asked everyone we met who took a tract if they would like to make a contribution. Sometimes it was a few coins and sometimes it was generous notes and sometimes nothing. We were always thankful and tried to get as many people to repeat what we call the sinners prayer. This went something like this. “Dear Lord Jesus please come into my heart. Forgive me for my sins and mistakes. Fill me with your Holy Spirit of Love and give me the free gift of Eternal Life.” We must have prayed this prayer with about 10 to 20 people every day. This is something we still do today. It is amazing how people who pray this prayer even flippantly will remember the occasion. In Brazil we hitched a lift with a man towards the end of our stay and when we asked him to pray the prayer with us he said that he already prayed this prayer with us three years before. On another occasion we prayed with three out of four young men who had stopped in their car. The fourth refused to pray and as they drove off we told the three that we would see them again in Heaven. A few minutes later the car reversed down the road and stopped beside us and the fourth guy said to please pray that prayer with him too. How many people do you meet in your life who ask you to pray a prayer like that?
Cash donations mounting!
Our cash credit was mounting and we had the equivalent of about 2000 US$. We would change all our foreign currency to Dollars as that was the preferred world currency at that time. This could be done in little booths in the towns we passed through.
The exciting thing about living and travelling this way was that we experienced the hand of God many times a day. We had to, as our situation was putting God on the spot moment by moment to take care of us. The number of lifts was mounting and we were trying to keep count of them but would forget in the excitement to keep exact records counting them and then forgetting the exact number.
Of course after 25 years it is pretty difficult to remember all the little details but the main interesting ones still stick out and also I have a previously rather badly written old manuscript to compare and draw on.
We were making awesome progress and Jesus our Spiritual Leader and guide was taking very good care of us. The cockroach episode was not dangerous and I think that maybe the Lord just wanted to show us a rougher side of life so that we would appreciate the good more and also to prepare us for the rough times ahead.
Bad spirits but a free stay.
I have missed out one Hotel where we stayed somewhere in Yugoslavia. I think it was after we left Dubrovnik as we did not make it to Thessaloníci in one day. We stopped in some city on the way and I remember that there was a very noticeable spirit among the young people. They seemed pretty unhappy and very sour. They did not smile and it was very hard to talk to anyone about anything remotely spiritual. It was very hard to provision free meals and we had to make do with donated buns from a bakery as we were determined on the whole never to spend money. We were very thankful to eventually get out of this unusual country that was finding it very hard to adjust after the death of the famous Marshall Tito their very long standing President whose picture small and giant size hung in every place imaginable. In this small city whose name I have forgotten, we eventually found a free hotel from a very reluctant manager who was an avowed atheist. However God eventually touched his heart and he even gave us breakfast after saying that we would get none.
We arrived in Piraeus and found a very 1 or 2 star hotel close to the Port. The people here were much more friendly and after our usual devotional time with Jesus our spirits were up. We were able to get quite easily into the port area and we were ready for anything going West.
Ship hike to Rhodes.
We found a small freighter probably not more than 2000 tons that was going to Rhodes. Not very far but in the right direction. The Captain was happy to take us and we jumped on board early the next day as the ship had finished loading the night before and the sailors were allowed one more night ashore before sailing off the next day.
We spent one more night in our dockside hotel. Now it is important to remember that I was not expecting to write this story down and as I said we did not even have a camera. At that time we did not even own a camera but we did carry a small cassette recorder which used mini tapes and on these we recorded the words of the Bible to listen to as we went to sleep. I would always carry a luxurious short wave Sony radio as at that time we were very news oriented as our Missionary group were expecting the end of the world to happen at any moment. We were very busy trying to discern the signs of the times in relation to the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. The best that can be said for this was that we were all pretty up to date with current affairs. The BBC was our main source of information.
A promised ride to Egypt.
Then disappointment.
We arrived in Rhodes the next day in the early afternoon and berthed next to a ship that was very conveniently bound for Alexandria. We talked to the Captain about a lift and amazingly he said that it was no problem but to be on board before 6 pm that evening.
We walked around the centre of Rhodes and then made our way back to our new ship. There was no sign of the nice captain that we had met previously but only a new guy who emphatically exclaimed that he had no intention of taking us. I think by now we were easily resigned to such happenings and just crazily believed that the Lord had a better plan.
We did look like a pretty forlorn couple as we stood on the road leading out of the Port trying to thumb a lift back into the city.
Then the Miracle happened.
7 days on holiday island.
A man stopped and we told him our sad story. He was very receptive and was amazed that we had gotten this far. The next ferry to leave Rhodes bound for Cyprus would be in one week. He drove us to the top of the city and we stopped outside a Pension that must have belonged to his friend. We waited in the car and then he came back smiling and we had a wonderful bedroom with a super view all for free with breakfast until the large passenger ferry would arrive in 6 days. Whether he paid for it or whether the owner gave us this for free we could not tell and never found out.
The Lord was now donating a weeks holiday for us on this beautiful and very interesting Holiday Island surviving entirely on Tourism. We hitch hiked around the Island exploring and witnessed the Son et Lumière show of the exploits of the famous Knights of the Crusades. This was a story of unrealized hopes. First the Knights were driven out of Jerusalem and then...(need to research this later)........ and then Rhodes. They were thrown out of Rhodes and ended up in far away Malta. Hardly a success story. It dawned on me that God was not on their side using violence to try and keep the Holy land.
We had a few needs like for example a Bra for Irmgard and we would just go into a shop for Lingerie and ask the boss lady having explained our trip and got everything we wanted
The Incredible Journey Stage 12.
God supplies all through generous people,
We really had a very good week and we literally spent no money. Our small needs like shampoo and razor blades for shaving or tooth paste was all there for the asking. We just had to witness to people about our spiritual journey through life with Jesus Christ and how He was and is the answer to everything and just like that promise in the Bible in St Paul's letter to the Philippians chapter 4 verse 19, My God shall supply all your needs through His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I am not a wino but I really enjoy a glass of wine in the evening or even at lunch and we always had wine offered to us with meals which of course were all provided free of charge. Many people are prepared to help on a one time basis and sometimes regularly like once a month. We did not have to make such arrangements as we were always in a new place every day almost. Do you remember the dream about keeping moving would be our key to getting our needs met for free?
Passenger ferry to Cyprus and another amazing miracle.
Beat this!
Sadly our departure date approached and on the morning that the large passenger ferry docked we were there to meet it very early in the morning long before any other passengers. As soon as the Gangway was lowered we were climbing up it and asking to speak to the Captain. He was once again a very nice person and listened with great interest to our story. He even offered us a whiskey which we declined as it was rather early to drink and then we dropped the bomb question. Would he take us to Cyprus for free? He shook his head and said “Definitely not.” He was not a believer in God but rather the opposite and I think he got some pleasure at being responsible for not helping us. There was a rather triumphant glee on his face as he shook his head as if to say “Your Lord has failed you and I am responsible for that.” It would have cost him nothing to give us a free passage.
Well we had enough cash and so we decided that on this occasion we would use our hard earned donations to pay for the passage. I was bitterly disappointed because it kind of meant that the free part had not really worked out this time. So reluctantly we joined the growing queue of passengers waiting to pay at the ticket booth and then climb on board.
So let me ask you. “Are you expecting a miracle from our miracle working God or are you like we were resigned to being just normal people just throwing in our lot like everyone else?”
Then Joanna looked across the queue at a young lady of about 25 to 30 years old and recognized someone that had been in our missionary movement and had then left some year or so before. They both immediately greeted each other. Irmgard told S about our trip and about our near miss with the Captain and she said for us not to worry as her husband was a very wealthy Arab sheik from Saudi and of course he would buy us both our tickets. I began to break out in a triumphant smile and shot an arrow prayer of gratitude in an upward direction. Just try and imagine what an incredible coincidence this was! What would be the chances of such an occurrence happening at such an opportune and important moment? We never met anyone else on this trip that we had seen before except for Irmgard's parents and Aunt and Brother.
One in the eye for the atheistic Captain.
The Captain was standing at the top of the gangway welcoming the passengers on board and then he poignantly asked us if we had bought our tickets? Of course he was expecting us to say yes but when we told him in a few short sentences what had happened, he was visibly taken aback. To give him his due, he then offered us a free cabin so that we would not have to sleep on deck. Thank You Jesus!!! Another example of the Lord doing something totally unusual and all at the last moment showing us that He was still very much involved and mercifully travelling with us. It was also a great witness to the Captain.
The Arab Sheik was a super rich businessman and when we arrived at Nicosia took us to stay overnight with him in his personal apartment. I remember he gave us very nice watches and after dining us to a very expensive dinner we went to bed in anticipation of what the Lord was going to do for us the next morning.
The Incredible Journey Stage 13.
Cyprus.
Communicating by prayer.
The Port city for Cyprus was Limasol and so the next morning we set off West in that direction. Now from time to time I make mistakes or as my wife would say, I blow it. What I am about to tell you is I think a real blow it stage of the Incredible journey. Everything depended on being in tune with the Spiritual world. In other words we had to be in good contact with our Lord and Saviour. This sounds difficult but is actually quite easy and I have explained this before but it is worth saying again.
Step 1... is to pray. Praying sounds religious but all it is is having a chat with our Highest Power, our God. This can be when done wrong, a rather one way communication.
Step 2 is listening to the replies, and is equally important but is the more difficult part. Presenting ones problems and requests is easy but listening to the replies takes faith and takes Stopping, Looking and Listening. It is easy to jump to wrong conclusions which is what I often do. When one is worried or in a hurry or thinks that hurry is necessary then mistakes and wrong turns can easily be made. Have you noticed when using modern navigation systems that if you take a wrong turn the gadget starts telling you to make a U turn as soon as you can. If you persist in going down the wrong road then a new and fresh computation is made and the U turn voice gives up and instead you start with another chance on a new course. Thank God! He too is like this. He takes into account our being late or taking wrong turns and forgives us if we ask for it and off we go again. This is the story of life with our awesome God.
We picked an amazing lift with a an unusually receptive and needy person. He wanted to help us but he also wanted help in sorting out his personal problems. He asked us to go to his villa and stay the night. I think if we had agreed he would have bought our ticket on the ferry across the Western Mediterranean and the journey would have been without cost. I prayed and jumped to my own conclusion and declined his offer and asked to be dropped off at the port. I wanted to continue and make progress and so I just ignored the stop look and listen process and instead, leaned to my own understanding.
We progress but with complications.
At the port we found a passenger ferry to Israel but try as hard as I could talking to officials and everybody I could, there was no free ticket for us. Not even a reduction. So we just piled on board like all the other passengers, paying 50$ each and spent the night in two deck chairs as a cabin was very expensive.
The next morning the ship made its way into Haifa one of Israel's Merchant and Military ports. I had been to Israel in 1960 as a young Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Navy some 24 years before. Catching this ship and passing through Israel was going to cause many problems in the next few days. Our passports were stamped by the Israeli authorities. If we had stayed with our needy friend maybe there would have been some ship straight to Alexandria Egypt and a lot of the following complications could have been avoided.
Israel rather hostile and unfriendly
Hitch Hiking through Israel to the Sinai border was not very pleasant. The only really helpful people we met were Arab Christians which crossed our paths. One owned a restaurant and gave us a very good lunch. We arrived at the southern border in the evening and shared a very cheap taxi with some Egyptians across Sinai. What took the children of Israel 40 years we completed in reverse in about 4 hours.
Getting out of Israel, which seemed to us to have a very dark spirit rather like Yugoslavia, was a great relief. I have since learned to love the Jews much more and to respect their plight. Their problem is really the hot spot of the world and I believe only the return of the Messiah in person will sort out these seeming insoluble problems between Jews and Palestinians.
I cant remember exactly where we stayed that night but I think it was in some kind of cheap hotel the other side of the Suez canal. What I remember very well is arriving in Cairo and finding a monastery in Garden city run by Nuns who gave us a free room with a stove to cook on and our own private bathroom and toilet. We used this generous facility for about three weeks. It became our Egyptian base.
Alexandria Port Said and Suez.
There are three main Ports in Egypt, Port Said, Alexandria and Suez. It was going to be our job to find a ship leaving from one of these Ports in a Red Sea direction, or so we thought.
We Hitched to Alexandria and got a lift from a Protestant Open Bretheren Church Pastor or Elder and he invited us to attend an evening meeting. They took a collection for us after we had shared our exciting testimony of our trip of 200 US$, which was extremely generous of them. He put us up for the night too and fed us. He also worked in the Port and took us there the next morning.
Most of our lifts were obviously with Muslims and actually it was quite easy to witness to them about our faith in Jesus and many of them prayed to ask Jesus. Isa into their hearts. That of course did not mean that they were converted but it meant that the Holy Spirit could start working from the inside.
We even learned some Arabic. We are coming from Brazil sounded phonetically like Anna Gay Menal Brazil and we are going to India sounded something like Ana zer hib el al hinde. We are Christian missionaries sounded like we are Mubash Shereen. We wrote this info in ball point pen on the back of our hands until it was memorized. Shukran meant thank you and we greeted every one with the usual Salaam Ale cum and then the reply Ale cum us salaam. We learned some other phrases too which I now can't remember.
Mohammed and Islam
Our new Christian Pastor friend too explained why Mohammed had rejected Christianity. During his life time Mecca was a rather corrupt and backslidden Christian city and he was shocked by this. Also the only Gospel available was St Matthew and then only up to Chapter 25, leaving out the crucifixion. This seemed to explain why the Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified.
We failed to find anything at Alexandria so we hitched back to our Garden City base to keep trying. In the evening we would go and talk to people in a five star hotel which I think was the Marriott. Very fancy and we would sit in the Lobby and try to talk to people. One helpful business man asked to look at our passports and spotted the Israeli stamps. With those stamps we might as well go back to Europe. There was no way out of Egypt to another Muslim Nation with such a stamp. Israel was so hated that they would not entertain having anything to do with us. How will this situation get resolved???? Don't forget to read the next instalment.
Incredible Journey Stage 14.
Trapped by our Israeli passport stamps.
Our first problem was to sort out the impossible situation that had arisen because of these unwanted Israeli stamps in our passports. We went to some very chaotic Egyptian authorities where we were shuttled from office to office. We tried to get some kind of an Egyptian document to get us over the border and out of Egypt without any hassle. We tried this for about two days and then came the brilliant idea out of the spiritual blue to get new passports. Eventually we found the German embassy and they did a rush job and Irmgard had a new passport within 2 days and at the same time we found the British Embassy and they were very sympathetic who also did a rush job on a new one for me too.
At last no record of those unwanted stamps!!! So we were off the hook but a little poorer as we had to spend a lot of cash to get those documents. Remember if I had followed God's leading on the road to Limasol in Cyprus I believe the story would have been different. God forgives us but there are consequences for our failures as well as rewards when we get it right.
Hopes fade for finding a ship.
We still had great hopes for finding a ship to take us East away from Egypt. We circled round from Alexandria then to Port Said and then Suez quite some times. Maybe we visited those places twice trying to find ships. We talked to Captains and shipping agents but no one wanted to help. It was a closed door. The harder we tried the more impossible it seemed. We even had the idea of trying to board a ship when it stopped to embark a canal pilot. We would be hitch hiking down a road and not realizing where we were exactly and then in the field next door we would see this enormous vessel towering above us, seemingly travelling on dry land. Only when one came closer did we see the water of this most strategic and famous of all the world's Canals.
We became very good at hitch-hiking in this extraordinary country of contrasts. It was good preparation for India. Many times we were gazed at by crowds of children who had never seen two westerners at the side of the road holding out their thumbs or waving down vehicles. They lived in very primitive conditions in small villages. Sometimes they got really close with a kind of very simple familiar spirit. When it got unbearable I would just shout out BOO! And raise my arms like a bear, and they would turn tail and run. Sometimes they would come back and it would turn into a game. Kind of cute but sometimes rather inconvenient.
We got lifts with rich Arabs driving large American Limos and we would sit in the back seat with wife number 2 or 3. Wife number 1 who was usually young and pretty would sit in the front. The music was something else. A melody and then BUM BUM BUM at the end of each line with loud drums. A totally different culture but very interesting. The prayers that were shouted from the tops of the minarets made sure that we never slept in. I got quite used to it in the month that we stayed at the Monastery. Our little flat was such a great help. We became friendly with the Nuns who many times offered us free meals and were fascinated by our faith. In those day we were definitely not Roman Catholics but they were such a blessing for us.
Egyptian Drivers!!!
Driving in down town Cairo was bedlam. Horns sounding all the time. Short sharp continuous bursts to warn the many pedestrians who walked in the middle of the street and then scuttle away at the last moment. Once we had passed they would resume their positions treating the main road like a European walking street where all vehicles are forbidden.
The contrast from the business area and five star Hotels to the simple and very primitive conditions out in the country was most noticeable.
I know this sounds ridiculous but we never visited the Pyramids. I was so intent on completing this journey that I believed that any deviation from the objective would have been a side track. I regret it now. Many people asked us about this and this was the answer we had to give them.
Sudanese dream comes true.
Now we had two possibilities. Go back and give up or hitch to Aswan and take the ferry to Wadi Halfa and then a train to Port Sudan. Then we would have to pray that the Lord would part the Red Sea for us. We pondered over this idea laying it before the Lord and this is what He seemed to want. We made the decision to hitch due south to Aswan after thanking those Nuns and their Mother Superior.
The Incredible Journey Stage 15.
The resident rat's visit.
The weather was always fine and I do not remember one day of rain. We became experts at washing our clothes each evening and by the morning they were dry.
Jesus and His Mother and Step Father lived here.
So off we went and got about half way. I remember one lift took us to Asyut which is the town where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled to and lived for two years until Herod who had tried to murder the baby king died himself eaten of worms. We had to stay the night in a very run down Hotel in a pretty run down village not far from Asyut, but amazingly the owner gave us a free room. It was rather primitive but the sheets were clean and then we had a visitor. We had just turned out the light and we heard someone trying to turn the door handle. We had not locked the room as there was no lock. This person was trying time and time again, but for some reason was not successful. I got up to check the situation only to watch a huge black rat scurry away into the darkness down the corridor. This resident rat knew how to jump up and put its weight on the handle and then open the door. It was pretty scary so we wedged a chair against the door and that put an end to his nocturnal activities. Travellers usually carry food in cloth bags so the rats know all about this and like to get their share.
The next day we set off for Aswan. I think we made it in one lift as I cannot remember another night stop. The roads were not so bad and the lifts we got covered the 3 to 400 kilometers in about 8 hours including stops.
The Egyptian drivers that we met were all without exception very nice people and enjoyed helping this Anglo German Combination. We never had a bad experience. Aswan was placed on the edge of the River Nile at the down stream North end of lake Nasser. The Russians had built a considerable Hydro Electric Plant using the flowing Nile to turn massive turbines making electricity on a very large scale.
Asswan.
So here we are in Aswan at the end of stay in Egypt, but not quite yet. We found a reasonable kind of 1 star Hotel I think it was called the Luxor. I did some research but since 1984 a great deal has changed. The young Egyptian owner was rather amazed at us as we asked him to put us up until the next ferry arrived in a few days. However he gave us a room and spoke reasonable English. There were very few tourists and the next notable event was meeting a middle aged couple who were Mormans. They were working for the UN on some project that was out in the desert somewhere. They became very good friends and having lived there for some time knew all the ropes. They gave us a donation to cover the cost of the new German built Ferry that went to Wadi Halfa at the other end of Lake Nasser in the Sudan section of the lake.
The ferry had been recently replaced as the previous one had burnt out almost exactly one year before with considerable loss of life. About half of the crowded passengers escaped but the other half drowned or were food for crocodiles which abounded in the lake. We found out about this and this all added to the spice of our adventure.
A friend at the Oberoi.
Ask and you will receive!
We became friendly with a manager of the 5 star Oberoi Hotel which was situated on an Island. Many times in the next few day we would get a free ride in a Nile sailing vessel and receive a free meal at the Hotel.
As missionaries we received a great deal of help from the mangers and food and beverage chiefs of the various five star hotels around the world. They were a source of great help and also just shelter from the enormous heat in these areas. Arriving in the air conditioned lobby after struggling in the heat was always a very pleasant relief.
As we are very outgoing missionaries we were experts at making contacts with people. A verse of scripture which screams out of our spiritual book the Bible says in The Holy Gospel of Saint Matthew Chapter 7 verse 7 Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. This verse was and is an essential key to our success then and now. We just ask and it is very wonderfully surprising how many people will respond and help. Of course there are many that say no no no! I am sure that you have noticed that too on our spiritual journey so far but we only need one to say yes to make progress. We believe that all those who help get very spiritually blessed. They come out on top as it is more blessed to give than to receive. The words of Jesus Himself. When we ask for things we always give some kind of incalculably valuable spiritual reminder in return, whether a tract, like the Pandita Ramabai one or a pocket Gospel or New Testament. I have explained to so many including you dear reader now, something I very strongly believe and that is that a simple child like faith in the Creator is worth much much more than trillions of dollars and will accrue to our credit in the bank of Heaven laid up for our future.
Well now we have to make progress so on to the next step.
The Incredible Journey Stage 16.
Mormons and their advice a great help.
We were able to talk to the Ferry owners but they would not agree to giving us a free passage but the donation from our Mormon Friends more than covered the cost. The Mormons also gave us very good advice as to how to travel. A long Arab scarf made from cotton to wrap around ones mouth and nose was essential to keep the dust out. Every time the train would proceed over sand covered tracks a ton of sand would make its way into the carriage through the ever open barred wooden windows and smother the passengers. These scarves would act like very effective gas masks in the event of the many dust storms. God bless this very sweet Mormon couple. Also a large supply of drinking water was an absolute must. I think the most useful and bizarre of all their suggestions was to carry a large bottle of cheap cologne and later I will explain how we used that to great effect.
Trip up the Nile.
The day arrived to embark on board the Ferry which had arrived on the return journey the night before. I think it was a Friday but I am not sure. The trip would take the full day and then a night and we would arrive at Wadi Halfa the next morning. To our surprise the vessel was quite modern and of course there was a stampede to board to get the best deck seats and cabins which were at extra cost. We had been told to talk to the captain and maybe he would give us a cabin for free?
The old colonial days were well in the past but I did notice that because we were westerners we were treated with respect and that was very pleasant.
Argue as I could with the Captain, it was all to no avail. He was quite austere and refused us any concessions. However some other business men agreed to give Irmgard and myself part of their spacious cabin and so the night part was not so bad.
Wadi Halfa.
The next morning we awoke and the ship was anchored a few hundred yards away from a small group of Nissan huts with corrugated iron roofs. This seemed to be all that was left of Wadi Halfa after the Russian dam built down river at the other end of the lake at Aswan had flooded the surrounding area, covering the small town.
Extraordinary train ride.
A very old fashioned train was also standing with its end close to the buffers at the end of its road so to speak. Every where else was the usual endless miles of sand and desert.
By the time we had bought our tickets to Port Sudan, our destination, the train was jammed and packed out. Every compartment we went into was teeming with people. Men in their tribal colourful robes and women with their babies. No room for us. We found a railway official and he ushered us back on to the train and then opened the door of a completely full and crowded compartment. He uttered something in Arabic and very reluctantly the already jammed together occupants made a small space for Irmgard and myself. After he left they all glowered at us. We were not welcome and terribly outnumbered. Then I remembered the cologne. I got up and went around to each person gesturing to them to cup their hands and I poured in a generous amount of good smelling liquid. Slowly smiles began to break out and we were transformed from being their avowed enemies into their very best and long lost friends. God bless the Mormons and the amazing miracle working effects of cheap cologne.
Yes we did have our cannister of drinking water. There was water on the train. It was a very brown variety and only the Lord knows how many microbes and bacteria was in there.
We had to wait an indeterminably long time before the train took off. It was incredibly hot and sweat was teeming down our faces and our light clothes were already drenched. Thank God for our drinking water obtained from the Oberoi five star Hotel the evening before. We had to drink so much that the five liters would soon be used up.
At last the train slowly and very deliberately began to move only to stop abruptly for another five minutes. We found out that someone had fallen of the roof. He or she had to be helped back up again and then we really started to move. I thankfully had a window seat sitting opposite to Irmgard who also could look out..
Sure enough the train from time to time would pass over sand covered lines and buckets of sand would come rushing into the compartment through the open iron barred windows like a dark cloud until it all settled again. Our cotton scarves did the trick and filtered out all the minute particles of dust. The Mormons had shown us exactly how to wear them on such an occasion.
Photo album wins the day.
We all sat watching each other and then I got out my pocket photo album and passed it around.
It was full of shots from Brazil and we used it for provisioning material for the school in Guararema from where we had started out 2 months before. This was passed around and became heavily thumbed by all. One picture is worth a 1000 words and that too came in very useful.
Looking out on to the endless desert was also very interesting. There were many small pyramids dotted around and so many dust devils. These are miniature tornadoes and dance around always missing our quite fast moving train. I say fast, maybe about 30 to 50 miles an hour?
We lost so much body water and then our drinking water ran out. We had about two hours before the train arrived in Atbara. Here we had to change trains. Our train went on to Khartoum where as we needed a train to Port Sudan. We had 3 hours to wait at Atbara so the Lord gave me the idea to go to the local hospital. The signs were still in English and Arabic a reminder of the old colonial days under British domination. We were dehydrated to say the least but dare not drink the water from the toilet tap.
The Incredible Journey Stage 17.
Bath with all our clothes on!
We went in the front entrance of a large building and asked at the reception if there was an English speaking doctor. Actually all the educated class spoke English and the less educated a good smattering.
We were ushered into an office and there was God's man for us. He was very charming and listened intently to our crazy story. Our first need was drink. He immediately ordered the local equivalent of a sort of Lemon Fanta. About 12 small bottles arrived and we literally drank them down in front of him. He asked us lots of questions and we told him we were on the way to India.
“What else do you want?” He exclaimed. I replied, “A bath would be awesome”. He lead us down some stairs into the basement where there were lots of old fashioned baths with cubicles around them. We thanked him profusely and proceeded to fill two baths to the brim with cold water. It wasn't really cold but it came out of the cold tap.
Soap was provided, that kind of brown block stuff and we jumped in with all our clothes on. Now remember it was blistering hot. We found out later that there had been no rain for about three years. We soaped ourselves and the clothes and socks down, only our sneakers escaped and then jumped into another full bath to rinse off. I think we scrubbed our sneakers too.
We certainly did not have to dry ourselves as in 10 minutes of walking outside we were all as dry as a biscuit.
Overnight train to Port Sudan.
We waited for our train and this time it was not packed out to the brim and so we spent a comfortable night sitting up straight in our compartment. The next morning we pulled into Port Sudan.
This city is placed almost exactly half way down the Red Sea and pretty much directly opposite to Saudi Arabia's famous city of Mecca.
We soon realized that Port Sudan was the end and there was no way to go except two options. God would have to part the Red Sea so to speak as he had done for Moses 3000 years ago or we would have to head back to Cairo with our tails between our legs and to try again.
We walked through the city full of Arabs and Sudanese in their robes and turbans. Many stalls rather than shops and then we found a Church. It must have been Eastern Orthodox as the priest had a beard and usual high black top hat. He spoke English and French so I was able to tell him everything. He was sympathetic and I think quite lonely. It must have been tough as he was surrounded by Muslims who definitely had the upper hand. He and we had to tread carefully.
Bedroom without a ceiling with many many rats travelling around on top of the wall at night.
He gave us a room without a ceiling that joined on to the church and his residence. The beds were comfortable and so we slept without mosquito netting as I do not remember mosquitoes. There were no puddles for them to breed only salt water. No river or ponds. However as soon as the surrounding lights went out many, and I mean many rats would use the top of this wall as a highway. One could watch them and there was no way down unless they fell which thankfully they didn't. Their continual little chattering squeaks were quite loud. I did not wake Irmgard as she would have freaked out but that little detail remains very clear after 24 years.
The Priest also gave us an adjoining room with a huge electric fan hanging from the ceiling. This was a great place to hide out between 11 o'clock to 3 o'clock avoiding the midday heat and raging sun which made any kind of work almost impossible during those hours. Early mornings say from 7.30 to 11 and then 4 to 10 were are imposed working hours.
Port Sudan is a busy Port.
We found out that there were many ships using this port and they would come in and unload their cargo and then leave. I boarded many ships that were heading East but without any luck. One day I had run out of ships to visit and there was a shipping agent for the Pacific International Lines. PIL. They were a Chinese owned company based in Singapore. The shipping clerk was a Protestant Christian and that should have been a help. He was rather like the Doubtlets of Santos Brazil. He spoke so much doubt to us telling us what was probably quite true. He said that in his memory no one had caught a hitch hike on a vessel. It was just unheard of. Eventually I asked if I could word the telex myself and so he allowed me to write out my own petition to these Chinese directors in Singapore, pleading for their help. I wrote it with lots of prayer of course!
Irmgard not feeling well. Something is wrong!
Now we had a new problem. Irmgard was telling me that she had a stomach problem and that it had started way back in Yugoslavia but was getting worse. That evening we found some very nice Muslim doctors and they agreed to take Irmgard to their clinic the next day for a check up. Naturally I and she were both pretty worried and were continually committing this problem to the Lord in Prayer.
We arrived next morning early and they took us both off in a Jeep to where the clinic was. What we saw really broke our hearts.
Water in terribly short supply.
Water was in such short supply that people would queue up for hours in line waiting for it to be turned on and then fill up everything that they could find and take it home. People were there with their camels waiting patiently. Remember I told you no rain for three years so the water table was at an all time low.
Irmgard disappeared and then came back smiling. Her sickness was that she was one or two months pregnant with our oldest and first of seven children Mikey.
The Incredible Journey Stage 18.
That was such a relief and very good news. Not only were we on the way to India but on the way to being a Father and a Mother. Remember she had been barren all her adult life.
Every day I would go out and meet new ships and their astonished Captains and every day I would be back with no really good news.
We found the old English club which was now mainly frequented by Russians left over from the Hydro electric project. We went there a couple of times. There was a very inviting swimming pool and the idea was to cool off in this atrociously hot weather. We only tried it once. The water was hot from the beating sun and the water was salty. It was a no go club but we did meet a very amusing English guy who had married a Sudanese Christian lady. He told amazing jokes. We needed to hear them as now the future was not looking so brilliant. It was very tempting to give up especially over the next event that I am now going to describe.
Intentions of the Orthodox priest in doubt.
I noticed that the Orthodox Priest was seemingly taking more than a friendly interest in my wife. Being pregnant, I was leaving her behind as the heat was really unbearable. Irmgard was not worried and felt well able to cope. However this time as I left, the Priest bolted the big entrance door behind me. I do not remember him doing that before. I got a very big check about this and after a few moments I returned and started banging very loudly on the door. Nothing happened so I started to make a noise that drew a crowd and they all started shouting with me. Eventually he opened the door and Irmgard had a look of great relief on her face. I need to add that there was an old lady housekeeper there and so it was probably imagination on our parts too.
The last straw.
However this was the last straw and we retired to the room with the fan and we both began to weep and cry out to the Lord. This was now probably the lowest moment of our trip. The Red Sea was not parting. Try as we may to wave our magic wand like Moses waved his stick over the waters to part them, they refused to part. Even though we had made it so far, a miss is as good as a mile. In this intense heat and now the news of parenthood we or rather I was beginning to waver. My spiritual strength was running out. Not for a lack of supply as that is always there but more from being not able to appropriate it and put this amazing powerful energy to good use. Saint Paul's letter to the Hebrews in Chapter 11 verse 6 states very clearly that without faith it is impossible to please God. However this story is not just about our crazy faith but also about something even more wonderful and that is the Grace and Mercy of our God. When we or rather I failed He would mercifully step in.
The Red Sea Pars at last!
I do not suppose we had been in our darkened room with the fan full on and from time to time spraying water over ourselves, which in the strong under draft, felt so nice and cool as it evaporated quickly from our bodies and clothes when suddenly there was a faint and rather timid knock on the door. I thought “Please Lord not the Priest again!”
Now try and get a hold of what is about to happen. Days of disappointments, bordering on despair!. Getting no where! An evil voice always there in the background telling us how stupid we were and how it was time to pack it in and be just normal like everyone else. We had the money to extricate ourselves and go back to Cairo and even then fly to our destination. Of course that seemed the sensible way out and I was definitely toying with the idea.
I opened the door and there standing in front of me was the office boy from the Pacific International Lines and he was beaming with smiles. He beckoned for me to follow him back to the office. Even though it was unbearably hot I ran and did not even worry about the Priest this time and there in front of me as we entered the PIL offices was my unbelieving Christian Clerk also smiling and waiving a telex from PIL Headquarters. They agreed to take us to Singapore, slightly over shooting our objective of India in one of their cargo vessels that was already docked in the port for 60 US$ each. It was really a token payment as we would be 10 days in luxury living and moving, travelling at 5$ a day board and lodging. We would have a special cabin designed for passengers with our own bathroom and toilet etc. It was too good to be true.
Dancing with the Priest!
We hurried on back and danced with the Priest who was also happy and I think he gave us a really good meal cooked by his old housekeeper.
The next morning we boarded the Kota something. Sorry but I have forgotten the name. The officers were mainly Pakistanis but the 1st mate was a Hindu Brahmin from India. The Brahmins are a priestly cast and usually rich and well educated. Vinod was no exception.....
The Incredible Journey. Stage 19. Almost the end
Too Good to be True.
You know, I wasn't absolutely sure that everything was going to work out. I was half expecting a last minute hitch. They had happened frequently enough. The authorities in the Port thought that we were really mad and I was half expecting them to triumphantly produce some Trump Card of Objection to stop us. As far as I know no one and I mean no one had ever hitched a lift from Port Sudan anywhere ever at any time. So this was a first!! And quite probably the last!!
The ship headed out of the Port into the Red Sea and the Pilot disembarked. Then and only then were we able to pinch ourselves and realize that our dream had become true. There was a little disturbing news that some floating mines had been spotted in the sea. They were some relic from a previous conflict in this disturbed part of the world so extra lookouts were posted. I think that the Spiritual forces who were guiding us still wanted us to trust them. Life at its best is always uncertain and extraordinary things do happen in quite ordinary moments so we had to keep on our spiritual toes so to speak.
Keeping our guard up with daily devotions.
We did not relax but kept up our daily devotions and engaged in friendly chats with the mainly Muslim Crew about our and their faith. They had to admit that if our story was true and they had no reason to believe that we were making it up, there was some pretty strong evidence of our very powerful DIVINE HAND helping us in an amazing way.
Sumptuous Indian food.
I do not know about you, but Indian cooking is my favourite and the curries and chicken Tikkas and Marsalas and Chapatis and Nan breads were sumptuous and in the evenings after dinner we played games like chess and some fun parlour games that I had learned in the Navy. Table tennis was also a favourite and Pakistanis generally have a great eye for a ball, boasting very famous World Class Squash Players and Cricketers. All the Officers became our friends but particularly Vinod who had a favourite Aunt and Uncle in down town Bombay. He was very open to our Christian Faith and was always asking questions and we would give him answers from our pocket New Testaments which we carried at all times together with a handful of Pandita Ramabai tracts.
Well we thankfully missed all the floating mines and sailed into the Gulf of Aden heading South East into the Indian Ocean.
Fresh fish off the south tip of Sri Lanka.
We then bent left around the Southern tip of Sri Lanka and headed up toward Indonesia and Malaysia. We would only make one stop and that was off the coast of Sri Lanka when we purchased very fresh fish from a small Senegalese fishing boat. It would have been nice if we could jump off and then make our way to India but we had to be content to keep going overshooting to Singapore.
Singapore soon a reality.
Soon we would be showing our Passports to the Singapore authorities and would have to explain to them what we were doing and where we were going. We were such unusual tourists that the Captain was wondering whether they would receive us into their well policed and guarded and run city and country of Singapore. We had no return tickets which would be normal for tourists. We did have nearly 3000 US$ as security but he was worried.
Pass close to Indonesia and could view the Sumatran coastline.
We got our first view of the Island of Sumatra as we entered the Singapore Straits. This was the furthest East that I had ever been. I was born in India in the state of Utra Pradesh in a city called Secunderabad to British parents. My father was an Indian army Major at the time and the year was 1938. Dad had to go off and fight while my My mother and I had stayed in India until after the war and so I was returning to a country that I had left at the age of 6/7 and now trying to return there 40 years later.
The morning came when we moored outside in the anchorage. The Customs and Immigration officers came on board to inspect the ship's documents and of course our passports issued in Cairo a month before. They were very amused and helpful and not a bit suspicious after we told them our story. We were able to show them 3000 or so US$ which was what we had accrued in nearly three months of travel. Not bad when one thinks we started out with about 200 DM or 100$. We had travelled 13000 miles or 21000 kilometres, slightly more than half way around the world
Then a very loving and welcome touch from Vinod. He pressed an envelope into my hand returning the 120US$ of our fare. That brought tears to my eyes and he also gave us the address of his uncle and aunt in Bombay and said they would put us up for a few days and he would warn and write to them. God bless him he was very special for us. The launch taking us ashore arrived and we waived good bye to all the officers and some of the crew that had become our friends on a voyage that we or they would never forget.
Where to spend the night?
Once on shore our immediate need was to find a Hotel for the night. We hitched quite easily into the centre of this extraordinarily modern city. There were sounds of patriotic songs and very modern shops and traffic control. It was like a super city and very striking after Cairo and Asswan and Wadi Halfa and Port Sudan that were all quite primitive by comparison.
Our lift dropped us outside one of the most famous Singapore 5 star Hotels called the Mandarin. I think everybody who has ever been to Singapore will have heard of this very impressive hotel. Well we marched in with our 2 faithful old travel bags, swinging from our shoulders and asked the duty manager if we could speak to the Boss. He was amused and asked us why and that any way the Managing Director was very rarely available. It was the evening about 5 to 6 pm. Well we played all our cards before this young guy and were amazed to see that he did not even flinch but winked instead and gave us our key to a double room with strict instructions not to drink the Alcohol that was stacked in the fridge. He asked us to be out by 10 the next morning as otherwise he might get into trouble and we could help ourselves to the Buffet breakfast at any time after 6 am.
The Lord did it again!
That was luxury if there ever was. Rags to riches. As a missionary we have experienced this so often and the key seems to be thankfulness, no matter what.
Now quite ridiculously I was beginning to worry about our heavy luggage that should be waiting for us in Bombay in some warehouse. Now Irmgard and I had survived very comfortably on 2 bags of clothing and personal possessions each for three months. We had lacked nothing and yet I was concerned about these heavy baggage which for the life of me I could not even remember what they contained. Religious books and????Oh yes! The donated Di Georgio Guitar. For ridiculous reasons this seemed to loom large in my eyes and the urge to go quickly to pick them up was becoming paramount.
Incredible Journey completed Stage 20.
We found out that there was a passenger ferry liner that plied between Singapore and Calcutta called the Chitundrum. It was very cheap and maybe we would get it for free but we would have to wait 3 weeks for it. This vessel had also caught fire and had been refitted. The passengers who mainly slept on deck in terrible conditions would dangerously cook their meals on little stoves on the wooden deck often with disastrous results like the ferry on lake Nasser and now this one.
The second night we did not push our luck by trying the Mandarin again but settled for the 4 star Phoenix which was also donated to us and we were very thankful.
We continued to look for faster opportunities of crossing the Indian Ocean in reverse so to speak but were not successful.
Spiritual tiredness.
I have to admit that for me the adventure was pretty much over and I wanted to reach India as soon as possible. Maybe I was going to make a big mistake. That last afternoon I dropped into a travel agency that were offering very cheap flights to Colombo and then change flight to Trivanderum in Southern India
For about 50 $ each we purchased our air tickets to India. As I look back I feel sure that we could have continued and done quite well in Singapore but it was not the objective. India was, on the other hand and lets remember there was those millions of dollars worth of personal possessions rotting away on the quayside at Bombay waiting to be stolen. As you can tell as I try to recapture the moment of 24 years ago, my faith was running out. I was drying up. Irmgard my faithful wife and always willing follower like Sancho Panza too was getting tired. The tension of this actually really good fun and exciting life was beginning to pale. We missed our family of missionaries with whom we had had no contact for three months and so we boarded our plane to Colombo after getting one more free night's stay in the YMCA. So from 5 star, 4 star and then the YMCA was hardly a spiritual progression but more like a retreat.
A final touch from a merciful Lord
There is one last little touch of a reward from the spiritual world that I would like mention as a way of finishing up this story.
We arrived in Trivanderum airport terminal in Southern India after spending a night in Colombo with someone we met witnessing and I was feeling a bit lost and looked around shooting up our usual arrow chat prayers to Jesus and spotted someone who turned out to be a Catholic Christian. He took us home and put us up for the night before catching our train to Bombay. He gave us a really nice meal and like I explained we always had wine for meals. That had been the promise in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 1. Do you remember?
Well now that we were in India I was prepared to let the Lord off the hook and I would quite understand if there was no more wine after meals.
We finished our meal and our host suddenly asked if we would like to try out some of his home made wine?
Yes we did stay a few days with Vinod's Uncle and Aunt and guess what? That extremely valuable and important heavy luggage did not arrive for another four weeks. We were also able to hand in nearly 3000 US$ to our very grateful Missionary organisation.
I would like to thank you for coming with me on this Incredible Journey but let us all remember we are all on an incredible journey. Whether you choose to travel with or without that powerful DIVINE HAND, that proved Himself time and time again, or not, depends entirely on your own personal choice...the journey will end for all of us sooner or later......think about it!!!!!! It is a most important consideration.
THE END or to be continued?
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