We've been back from Australia 2 weeks tomorrow. I'm afraid we had to put away our summer clothes when we returned - it's been snowing this week! I will try to include a photo of the snow with this posting.
Our trip was great - both to Australia and China. Thanks again to all those who made it so enjoyable. Unfortunatly I still haven't made much progress with video editing so I will stick with the still photos for the time being.



I will try to pick out an image from those which we took in Shanghai which illustrates the contrast which we observed between rich and poor and between traditional and modern.


This one shows hundreds of bikes and scooters parked in the street with a large plasma advertising screen (which are everywhere) in the background.

If you want more China photos next time just let me know.





Last photo is of a family grouping taken on the night before we left. Unfortunatly not everyone could be there - but it's a good representative sample!

My parting shot on this posting -

One day while visiting St Marks I picked up a book called "Make Poverty Personal" by Ash Barker. We use the word challenging very lightly sometimes but this book was definitly CHALLENGING!
It made a very strong case for christians being much more radical in how they live their lives - especially in relation to living in comfort when so many of our brothers and sisters across the world are living with poverty and oppression.
The author showed very clearly how close this issue has always been, and continues to be, to God's heart and how He watches to see what our response will be to those around us who are in need.
I guess it's easy to be moved by a book such as this but the real test will be - to what extent will it move me to action! The jury is out!
If anyone else would like a copy it can be obtained through the Urban Neighbours of Hope web site - I reccomend that you have a look at it whether you want the book or not. I think it's www.unoh.org.au
God bless.