Knowledge with Passion

No longer could I postpone this most eagerly anticipated journey to a scholar's mecca - the British Library. As best reflected by C. S. Lewis, "you can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." I planned a Sabbath afternoon outing but could have lingered for days.

Among the 25 million books and manuscripts (388 miles of books with 3 million books added per year) are items of historic, religious and literary import such as the Magna Carta, the Gutenberg Bible, the journals of Captain Cook. Almost every major author - Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, Keats, and hundreds of others - is represented in the section devoted to English literature located in the most magnificent Humanities Reading Room where, with relative ease and relish, I could have taken up permanent residence.

Particularly enjoyable to me was the section known as 'Turning the Pages'. By use of headsets you are electronically read to from Leonardo da Vinci's notebook, The Canterbury Tales from 1410 and Beowulf (ca 1000). In the Historical Documents section are letters from Henry VIII to Napoleon and from Elizabeth I to Churchill. One can also view the 45,000 books belonging to King George III with some works in the British Library dated as early as 300 BC.

Did I mention that all this is free?!!!

As I thought of the knowledge we, at Newbold College, attempt to impart to young scholars, I prayed that we might also be able to ignite within our students the same passion found in those whose works are now on display at the British Library.

Youth Day of Fellowship

Friends, you should have seen it! You should have been here to experience 835 youth from throughout the United Kingdom (even some coming from Denmark - thanks to the Danish youth leader, Thomas Rasmussen)descending upon the Newbold College campus this past Sabbath!

According to coordinator, Kay Choudary, the day was designed to provide youth with a high spiritual experience similar to that of the New Testament church (ACTS 2:42), a coming together to search the Word, to fellowship, to share a meal, to sing and pray - leaving refreshed, reinvigorated in the Lord.

The day began with back to back preaching by seven dynamic speakers followed by dining delights of Chef Zak Ambrus. There were nineteen afternoon workshops from which to choose: Sex & Spirituality-Do They Mix?, Prayer-How to Get Really Real with God, Cooking from the Garden of Eden, Employed by the World but Working for God, ValueGenesis Report, Using Art Therapy to Sort Out Emotional Baggage, How to Conduct Actual, Practical Outreach, Expressing Your Faith Through Technology, to name just a few of the options.

The Sabbath concluded with the baptism of Tetanda conducted by Sam Neves, pastor of the Wimbledon Church. Following sundown, the place to be was at the Stanborough Press booth where Christian books and CDs moved quickly off the shelves. Debbie McReynolds coordinated the supper food booths(Caribbean foods, jacketed potatoes and salad, vege dogs and hamburgers, desserts, drinks and popcorn). The day concluded with a Sacred Concert organized by Trevor Johnson - the best sounds that the UK has to offer in musical groups.

You musn't miss out.... Mark your calendars for Sabbath, February 26, 2011 for the next ACTS: Newbold Youth Day of Fellowship. We look forward to hosting you.

Newbold College - a gloriously, global community

It is just 40 miles, a short train ride, from the front doorstep of Newbold College to the heart of London, the biggest city in Western Europe. One advantage of having London nearby is its cosmopolitan offerings (international businesses, visits from world leaders, international events such as London Fashion week and the London Film festival) - where 256 languages can be heard on a daily basis. For this reason London is often referred to as the capital of the world.

Impressed? Well, consider Newbold College, a place where students, faculty and staff from 60 nations gather to form a gloriously, global community. The Dean Team has designated the first Monday of each month as cultural night - a time to celebrate our unique cultures. I've just returned from a festival of Korean food and culture (see photos); last month it was Zimbabwean, the month prior French students prepared culinary delights, music and atmosphere and before that, 19 Hungarian students took a turn in the kitchen.

Newbold College - a place where we seek to create an appreciation for and 'the dignity differences' (Jonathan Sack's expression) while taking seriously God's invitation to become one as the Father, Son and Spirit are inseparably one.

The Blessing of the Clowns

Last Sunday some from the Newbold College community visited Holy Trinity Church, London. Our purpose was to participate in the 64th Annual Blessing of the Clowns. This extraordinary church service is held on the first Sunday in February. Clowns from all over the world attended in full make-up and costume. What a remarkably colourful service it was, deepening my awareness that whether we be clown or cabby, parliamentarian or pastor, student or staff, we all earnestly seek God's blessing in order to bless others.

But, what particularly moved me was when those of us gathered were led in a prayer of forgiveness: 'for the times when we have lost our sense of humour and perspective, for the times we have laughed at others instead of with them, for the times we have abused your great gift of laughter with offensive content, and for the times we have erased smiles from another....' May we, like Jesus, be joy-givers.

Launching my blog

This being my first blog I'm uncertain as to how best to address you. Based on my love of travel I think that I will simply refer to you as a fellow traveler in life.


Launching this blog has me recalling the myriad of ways in which humans have communicated with one another over time. The British postal service was first made available to the public by Charles I in 1635 - 375 years ago! Then, email came into being around 1973, offering a method for speedy exchanges of digital messages. Today, we (my 80+ year old mother included) engage in social networks, underscoring the importance of communications amongst a community rather than with just to one individual.


Imagine - this blog allows me to share with you words, favorite photos and video, music and audio sounds. The latest measurement recorded 112,000,000 blogs for 2007. And now, even I have become a blogger.


No matter the mechanism employed - be it smoke signals, tin cans with a piece of string between, pen and paper or electronic means - 'may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, oh, Lord our strength and our Redeemer.' Psalm 19:14