Take a look...

March 24th

Everyday I check out a couple of photoblogs. The first is Daily Dose of Imagery; a Toronto based photographer who always has incredible shots and often times they're of Toronto scenes. The other is The Big Picture; it's a compilation of pictures taken from various sources and are always fantastic. Below are some of the most striking pictures I've seen in the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Daily Dose

Florence

The ROM

Toronto Skyline

Deep Freeze at 475

Dog Sledding Husky

Husky Peeking Through

Before the Race

The Big Picture

Lightening Storms over a volcano in Chile

Lights of London

Pyramid at Chen Itza: notice the shadow of

a snake cast of left staircase. 

Impact of the Economic Crisis: unfinished,

abandoned suburbs in the US.

This crisis weighs heavy on many Americans.

China's unemployed queue up at a job fair. 

Spring has arrived in London.

Millions of duraniums in Germany.

Iraqis climb the hills with torches celebrating

 NoRooz and the the beginning of Spring.

Gold Miners form a human chain while working

in the Congo: civil war has ravaged the country

for decades as factions fight for control of the country's 

vast natural resources.

A Kenyan boys screams as a Kenyan Policeman 

approaches his home in the slums.

This displaced Congolese girl mourns at the 

funeral of her grandfather who died from Malaria. 

Men smear coloured powdered on each other

during Holi, the Hindu festival of colour.

Women covering each other in coloured powder.

Students holding various colours during Holi.

A boy with a painted face looks into the camera.

Students smear each other with coloured powder.

Community + Christmas = Secret Santa

December 9...

Now that I am back in Toronto life has resumed its pace which has seemed to ramp-up with the Christmas season. It's been more difficult to find time just to think and reflect as much, but if anything my life in Tanzania taught me how important that is. So, I'll continue to try and find time to think. Even if it's just on the subway.

For the past three years we've done Secret Santa at the house. It's always great fun and we keep the price reasonable so the gifts strike that great balance of being entertaining and fun while also being a little useless. Rest assured, there were no iPods exchanged or Yankee Swap.

I took some candid shots of the guys that you might enjoy seeing.





Of course there were jokes, like wrapping up Chris' mail and giving it to him as a gift. But don't worry, he got a real gift too.



Pat got a great magic book and wand.



Mark got a Jack Bower action-figure. Though the wrapping job was a bit suspect. Maybe it was theme wrapping job.





Paul got some great DVDs.



Craig got a strange but hilarious book.



Jay got his favourite: Starkbucks money.



And then we had a group hug.



I really do love my community here in Toronto; both from Wesley Chapel and my house community. But it's hard work, a lot more than I ever really thought about. Living with people can be great and terrible all in the same day but I find at the end of that day, I'm almost always happy that I live with these people. But it's not perfect. Nothing ever is. A good friend told me a few days ago that good community needs three things: doors. locks. and hinges. I thought it was a very apt illustration. I'm glad I live in community and I'm also glad that I have a door. Together those things make life pretty good.

New Time Zones and Old Favourites

November 24...

I'm back! Back home in good old, freezing cold Canada. Man it's cold here. But to be completely honest, I'm kind of enjoying the temperature. It's really very refreshing...for about 10 minutes. And before I got to Toronto, I had the pleasure of landing in Amsterdam and spending a few hours in that beautiful city with my friend Lieneke, who I met in Tanzania and who lives in that coastal country. And while it wasn't quite as cold as Toronto, the brisk air and snow on the ground was good preparation for the real thing: the Canadian winter. My travel was as comfortable as I could have asked for and I arrived safely in Toronto a few days ago.





I've been asked a few times since I arrived the obvious questions about how my trip was and of course most people realize it is impossible to sum up such an experience in a few sentences. I can honestly say that is was an amazing, life-changing adventure where I learned more about myself and the world in which I live and have come to know and trust in God much more.

Ok, so I guess that is pretty good for a sentence. But other questions have been asked like if I notice the difference in life here in Canada. Again, there is an obvious difference, but I think it is the subtle things that are more profound. And I think it will take a long time before I fully appreciate all that I saw and did over there. As life continues to move ahead here in Canada I suspect that the little things like, taking transit, or eating in restaurants and even watching tv will slowly reveal to me the differences in life in Canada and Tanzania.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who read my blog while I was away and for the many encouraging and positive comments I received here. They really were lovely to read and often buoyed my spirit on low days, so I thank all of you for that. I also want to thank all of you who prayed and kept me in your thoughts while I was away. I can't explain fully how it felt to know that I was being held in prayer by family and friends at all times; it was wonderful though. I hope that you will continue to pray for me as I make my way through life and I will try my best to do the same for you, my family and friends.

God used me on this trip for His purposes and I know that. It was a phenomenal experience that came with its share of hard times and disappointments. But through it all God was good as He always is. I am thankful and look forward to the next adventure He sends me on.

Last Days

November 15...

Less than a week left. I can't really believe it to be honest. It's totally cliché and I know it, but time has really just flown by. I can still remember so vividly, getting off the airplane in Dar just over two months ago: being accosted by the heat and humidity, then having my baggage “lost” (or just a few days late) and being completely drained by the time-zone adjustment. That sounds all pretty negative, but there have been so many amazing and good things that have happened since I arrived in Tanzania.

I have learned more about myself than I ever knew before and outside of a lot of “getting to know me” time I have met some truly incredible people. I have learned that we are never really alone and that when we step out in faith into the unknown God provides community for us; either through relationship with Him alone or with the people we meet along the way. Thankfully, I have had an abundant dose of the second and made many great friendships with people here.

I am sure that as time passes I will discover more and more of how this trip will impact my life. In the immediate I know there will be some changes: I know that I will appreciate my family and friends so much more, I know that I will appreciate the opportunities I have both at work and at church to use the gifts I have, and I KNOW I'll use less water when I brush my teeth (and I thought I was conservative before)! Hopefully, I will come to appreciate more the treasures I have been blessed with and be far quicker to give what I can to those around me.

God has truly been good these last few months. I have been challenged, almost daily, to trust Him more completely and I hope that when I return that trust will continue to deepen. I am thankful to God and all those who helped get me here and I am very excited to return home and share all that has happened with my friends and family. And I might be a little too excited as I am finding it hard these days to fall asleep at night because I am thinking about my homecoming!

Soon enough. First I have to finish my work at St. Michael's and then brave a two day, 26 hour trip home. Yikes. But I know it will be worth it.

Iringa From Above

November 14...

Andrew and I climbed Gangilonga Rock today. It's a massive granite rock face that sticks straight out of the hillside behind their house in Iringa. It took about 20 minutes to get up there and it was a little perilous at times, but Andrew took it all in stride. I tried to do the same.

Gangilonga Rock from the Wingfield's house





The steep path up to the rock-top





Once we got up there the view was amazing. You can see pretty well all of Iringa from up there. Apparently it's a popular hang-out for the local teenage population (as are most secluded look-outs) and is covered in graffiti. I couldn't understand it, but I imagine it said something like, “So-and-so was here and had a great time!”




Looking down



The rock itself ejects from the hill and is nearly flat on top, making it an excellent look-out. And it's here that the famous HeHe (pronounced Hay-Hay) Chief Mkwawa held his meetings with other tribal leaders on how to best fight the invading Germans in the 1890's. And I can see why he would meet there: the view is incredible and lets you see all of Iringa providing a serious tactical advantage. It's also on this rock that Chief Mkwawa committed suicide rather than be captured by the Germans when the colonial military finally defeated the Hehe in 1898. The Germans then took Mkwawa's skull back to Germany to display in the museum in Bremen until after WWI the British (who took control of Tanzania, then German East Africa) demanded its return to Tanzania in the treaty of Versailles!

And there's your history lesson. For those of you who know me well, you should be impressed that I've been able to hold back the history lessons this long!

The way down



Paul and I