Moving Moments Chapter 14 - Time Out, Much Appreciated

Moving Moments

Chapter 14

Time Out – Much Appreciated

On looking back, our adventure to All Nations Christian College (ANCC) for two years was one of the highpoints of our lives. The whole structure and ethos of the college was to equip families to do ministry together. It was more focused on practical and coping skills than on acquiring head knowledge, although there was no shortage of that. The focus was on mature students, who had already been active in ministry all over the world and there were a significant number of couples with young kids. Family suitable accommodation and excellent nursery facilities were provided so that Cher and I were both free to participate in classes. The staff were extremely competent, most coming from a hands on missionary environment themselves. The bottom line was that we found ourselves entering a highly stimulating environment where we were to become members of a large family of staff and students whose underlying motivation was to all play our part in taking the Good News of Jesus to the uttermost corners of the earth.

ANCC - was based in a beautiful old Victorian Home

 The ANCC campus was in the country in a huge old Victorian home on a large estate which had been donated for the purpose of spreading the gospel. We were accommodated off campus about three miles from college in a small town called Hoddesdon, about 25 miles directly north of London up the A1.

3 Southfield Road, Hoddesdon,
Our home for two years

We had a small three bedroom “up and down” terrace house at 3 Southfield Road, which was more than sufficient for our needs. The third bedroom was what’s called a box room and from what we could tell was more intended as a store room rather than for living in. We were informed that, because of our limited income, we should apply for a rent rebate from the local town council. Lo and behold we were granted a large discount on our rent every month. Elaine and Julia, being under five also qualified for free milk, which was delivered to our front door in bottles every morning. We had expected none of these perks, so were just getting going in our practical “God Provides in every Situation 101” course. We discovered that if we didn’t bring the milk from our doorstep early, the sparrows would peck their way through the lids to claim their share of God’s provision.  

ANCC - Picture perfect when it snowed

Being off campus we needed a vehicle to get to and from college each day. There was a plethora of cheap, battered old beaters for us to choose from. We bought a Ford Escort station wagon which stood us in good stead for the whole two years we were there. With that little vehicle we explored the UK flat over the two years, with hardly a hint of trouble. We used to fold the back seat down and make a bed for the girls. They would while away the hours while we drove here and there, playing and generally entertaining themselves. We would also all sing Salty songs together with great gusto which we all enjoyed. Driving in UK was a much more stressful exercise than South Africa. The roads were often narrow and windy. The primary means of traffic control was via the roundabout or traffic circle. One absolutely had to have a navigator to advise as to which of the four or five exits to take as each roundabout approached, often quite close together. UK is awash with history, ancient buildings and tradition. I love history and would like to have spent hours on end exploring these aspects as we went. Unfortunately we had to consider the girls whose level of interest in mediaeval history was not as high as mine, so we tended to visit playgrounds en route to wherever we went. By the end of two years I could have written a visitor’s guide to the playgrounds of UK but was too preoccupied to seize the day on that opportunity. Occasionally we would be driving in the country on a Sunday and would pop into a gorgeous one thousand year old country church only to find barely a handful of people attending the service. This was a sad reflection of the state of the church in UK.

Cher's Mom was one of our
touring passengers

A trip to Wales with Auntie May

Southend claims the longest pier in the world. 

The girls feeding pigeons in
Trafalgar Square, London

We had arrived at college a couple of weeks early to get oriented and settle in. Culture shock was something we hadn’t expected to suffer from, but it was inescapable. People looked like us and spoke English, but they weren’t necessarily operating on the same parameters as we were. Firstly they spoke funny, used different vocabulary and did so with an amazing variety of local accents. It was quite stressful trying to figure out where to buy the simplest of things – things that were obvious to the locals. One time I was catching a bus with the girls. I got on board and asked the driver for a ticket for one adult and two children. The bus driver said “Wothca on about mate?” I repeated myself to which he repeated his question. The other passengers were finding our exchange highly amusing. I rephrased my question and finally he replied in a scornful voice “Don’tcha know that kids travel free on the bus?” I was grateful for the discount, but was left with a deep feeling of unease. If I couldn’t even catch a bus without difficulty how was I going to manage some of the more tricky challenges? These small discomforts, misunderstandings and insignificant practical difficulties all accumulated over a few weeks to the point where one just wants to go home, where life makes sense. Fortunately Cher and I never succumbed to that temptation. 

Our ANCC Small Group - for fellowship and support

Guitar lessons - I learned to play
but only just. 

After a couple of weeks we started lectures. I had been used to my university lecturers which were impersonal, often very large and the standard of lecturing was often mediocre or dry and dull. At ANCC we were entering a world of highly motivated lecturers, who knew our names and were keen to open our minds to what they knew. In a misguided moment I had signed up for Greek, thinking I might have a use for it. Fortunately I discovered the error of my ways early on and managed to sign up for something more useful. In addition to head knowledge the college was very keen to equip us with life skills for missionaries. There was a strong emphasis on prayer and practical skills as many of the folk would be going off to remote situations and would need to do a lot for themselves. I signed up for a photography course, which I loved. Cher did a haircutting course, which I still benefit from to this day. I did a practical DIY course which had no measurable benefit to me as I lack the basic interest or aptitude. We got to practice injecting oranges, as a substitute for inflicting personal injury on our fellow students. We both declined the do it yourself dentistry option. All in all, we loved the practicality of what we were doing.

Dobb's Weir - our mission field for two years

Graham and Philippa Piper

Rob practising his preaching

One of the things we had to do was sign up for practical church work each week. We were assigned, with Graham and Phillipa Piper to a little outpost called Dobb’s Weir, not too far from where we lived. The building was a rotten, damp and mouldy little old community hall which was smack dab in the middle of a small dilapidated housing estate surrounded mainly by farm fields. The Dobb’s Weir “work” was a project of St. Peter’s Anglican church in Roydon a few miles up the road. We reported to Bernie Royce the minister at St. Peter’s. Our job was to establish a Christian presence in the community and run a Sunday Service. When we arrived on a Sunday morning to prepare for the service we would have to deal with dirty ashtrays, beer spills on the floor and so on from the night before. We felt like real missionaries dealing with the local pagans. This was an adventure. There were a handful of regulars and their kids who turned up on Sunday mornings fairly faithfully. Graham and I got to practice our preaching. No one walked out and the regulars kept coming. We decided to step out and start up a weekly bible study group in one of the couples homes. Our faithful regulars would all turn up and we began to build friendship as we studied the Bible together. Cher and I stayed at this posting for two years. I can’t remember if we added any new members over the two years, but we built some good friendships, some of which continue to this day.

Simon and Emma were assigned to
Dobb's Weir with us in our second year.

The Dobb's Weir Sunday School - our pride and joy

Dobb's Weir Sunday School outing

Dawn and Clair Collins and friend
were enthusiastic participants at Dobb's Weir

Every quarter or so, the students would host an outreach event at the college. This was an opportunity for our very talented and creative students to put on an outstanding program. There was always an altar call, giving people an opportunity to respond to the gospel message. The one time I was invited to lead this part of the program. I sweated a lot of blood in preparing as I was conscious of being surrounded by such a host of highly talented people who could have done a better job. I got through it and there may even have been some response to the altar call, but memory fails me on that. The college principal sidled up to me afterwards and told me I “did well, but here are a few pointers for the future”. I loved this practical hands on training that we were getting and remain a firm believer in it to this day.

Cheryl, on the right, got a chance to practise "Worship Dance"

 Some of the students we were meeting were remarkable people. One couple who stands out were Andrew and Helen Adano.  Andrew was an Anglican pastor from North Eastern Kenya in their mid to late thirties. His Anglican parish was larger than England and Wales put together. His tribe, the Boran, was nomadic and his job had been to herd his father’s camels in the desert. He bathed once a year, when it rained. One day the government representative came knocking on his father’s door insisting that he send some of his children to school. Andrew being the youngest and most dispensable was chosen for schooling. He was sent to the local missionary school where he became a Christian and gained an education, at which he excelled. With an education he could have gone to the big city to make it big. However he was so grateful to God for what He had done for him that he decided to go back and work amongst his people to share the gospel. He positioned himself at a large well where all the people would come through to water their camels. Having an education he became the go to person for helping the local folk deal with the government and any form of paperwork or officialdom. People would bring their sick camels to him for doctoring. He would pray for them and the camels would be healed. One day I was giving Andrew a ride up the hill to college in my car. It had been raining solidly for four days and I was sick of it. I made some comment to this effect. Andrew’s response was typically serious as he replied, “Rob, I’m struggling to understand why God is so good to the British people by giving them so much rain,  when my people have none”. That shut me down from my complaining pretty quickly.

We were equipped with the latest in hi tech bikes.
I would ride my mini bike to college some days

Elaine learning to
ride - a first

Julia and Elaine - had an insatiable appetite for playgrounds

Tobogganing -
another first

Another fellow from our college was Arthur. He was a real rough diamond. He had done missionary work in Afghanistan but was home for further training. Arthur had a way of rubbing people up the wrong way and inevitably people around him had their feathers ruffled or feelings bruised. People tended to avoid him. One day Arthur took himself off to a three or four day conference in London. He came back bubbling with stories to tell. A day or two later at college, our lecturer was late in arriving. Arthur took his opportunity. He stood up in front of the class and apologized for the people he had hurt and offended. He said he had just attended a John Wimber “Signs and Wonders” conference and his life had been changed by the Holy Spirit. Spontaneously lead by the Holy Spirit the class responded by going into a time of song and praise which continued for the full lecture period as the lecturer never turned up. This was one of the most special times of my life. I had never experienced such spontaneity and freedom of worship. This was the first time I heard of John Wimber, but it would not be the last, as I was later to be impacted significantly by his teachings. Thank you Lord for these times of special closeness to you. You take us broken people and you never give up on growing us into the people you long for us to be.

Dave Brown and Janet, leading the Birmingham park Mission

We also helped at a Holiday Club
for "posh" kids at a very nice
private school

Another part of our practical training was to get involved in some of the summer outreach activities that took place all over the UK each year. In our first summer we joined Dave Brown and Janet, who later married. on a park mission in Birmingham being run by a local church. Dave’s parents lived not too far from the park we were to be working in, so we stayed there. The outreach was mainly to kids who played regularly in the park. Even at that time, there was a large Asian population in that part of the city, so this was good cross cultural experience for us. We had done lots of work with kids via our Sunday School and Scripture Union camps so we just kind of clicked into our kids ministry gear and had a good week.

Laurie and Pat Gill - hosted me and we became good friends

SU Head Office in London

The following year we had to sign up for a practical placement for a few weeks. Despite my best efforts to find something different, I ended up working with Scripture Union for five weeks. I spent a bit of time in the head office in London seeing how the whole Bible reading and devotional guide side of the ministry worked. I then went up to Glossop a small town not far from Manchester where a week long SU mission to the town was being run. My hosts were Pat and Laurie Gill who attended the local Anglican Church which was involved in the mission. Their sixteen year old daughter Cathryn was living with them too. In the week I spent with them we all became fast friends and they were later to become involved in our work in South Africa. The mission to Glossop was diverse in its approach. There were meals arranged for local town leaders. The team would split up each day and go into all of the local schools where we would go into each classroom and run a Christian program. In the evenings we would run a program aimed at families. Even at that time, I was surprised by how much freedom SU had to work in the schools.

Rob sharing the platform with a SU worker

Boisterous Boys - the same
the world over

School Missions - a wonderful way to connect
with every child in the school with the gospel

Arts and Crafts - a key way
to build friendship 

Some of Cher's family in UK. There are many more!

One of the advantages of being in UK was that it gave us a chance to connect with family members who we had never had a chance to get to know properly. My own family connections were limited, but Cheryl had numerous cousins, aunts and uncles. On Cher’s Dad’s side the family was mainly Jewish. We had opportunity to join them as we all enjoyed multiple celebrations which included Passover, Easter and Christmas. It was great to have these built in family connections and occasions, as we were finding that we missed our families at home in South Africa very keenly. We made a big effort to keep in touch with our South African family. In those days making a cassette tape was state of the art technology. We would regularly send a tape home and would wait eagerly for responses in return. One of the things I had done, to keep our girls remembering their South African cousins was to tell them Country Cousins stories. All of these stories took place on Uncle Nev’s farm, where we had enjoyed our grand family get together before leaving for UK. The characters in the stories were all of the girls’ cousins, along with Auntie Rose and Uncle Roy, and the big black bull from the farm who was the buffoon.  A troupe of baboons from the kloof on the farm, typically played the role of being the “bad guys”. These stories were extremely far-fetched, but elicited great delight from the girls who really entered into the spirit of them, often offering their own contributions in their very English accents which they were developing. We began to record the stories and have shared them with the wider family by tape. To this day, our grandchildren enjoy listening to their Mom’s exploits of the day as Country Cousins.

Visiting the Bashams in Epsom

Simon Tuley and Viv Hamilton
 - soon to be married

My side of the family, the Bashams and Bandarets were based in the Epsom area, not too far from London. We would connect with them occasionally too. During her high school days in Zambia, Cheryl had lived with Bill and Joyce Hamiltons in Lusaka. Viv Hamilton, their daughter was the same age as Cheryl and had become Cher’s best friend and was now living in London. Viv was dating Simon Tuley and we were delighted to be in the area when they got married and were able to join in the festivities. We also got to know George and Lindy Smith, from South Africa. George was studying for the ministry at London Bible College. They had decided to bring all of their furniture with them from South Africa, including their king size double bed. When the furniture arrived they found that they couldn’t get the bed up the narrow stairway in their small terrace house they were renting. George had to cut the bed in half and then reconnect it once upstairs. Lindy was the daughter of Trevor Goddard, a famous cricketer from South Africa, who I was later to have a lot of contact with. So all in all, we found that we had a large number of friends, family and student colleagues to enjoy life with in UK. We never suffered from loneliness that’s for sure. 

Julia and Elaine - best buddies

Elaine - first day of school
What anticipation and dread!

Julia, Cher, Elaine and Rob - enjoying this time of our lives
when God laid on a two year treat for us in UK. 

The Girls and Rob
enjoying some close time

The girls spent our student days at the college day care where they were looked after by a team of loving ladies who saw to their every need and fancy. These were very happy days for us as we all attended college together as a family. We would all have lunch together in the college dining room and then diverge again to our various practical or sports programs for the afternoon. In the September of our second year, we had to bite the bullet of sending Elaine off for her first day of school. This of course was a very significant day. Our first born baby was about to be graduating away from her care free childhood days and entering the big bad world of school.  Days ahead of the big day, were spent acquiring all of the right items for school including uniform and all of the appropriate school supplies. All of this was done with very heavy hearts. Poor Cher, who was losing her baby, suffered great agonies over this. Eventually the first day of school came. We dressed Elaine up in her uniform, prepared her snacks, took our photos, and walked her down to the school which was close to our home. When we got there, the principal informed us that for first timers they were only to be there for the second day of the school opening. What an anticlimax! We had to take Elaine home with our tails between our legs, feeling very let down. By the second day, we had been there, done that, and were all ready to move on. Elaine’s school, which included a hot meal every day, was very nice and she had a happy start to her formal schooling life. We had loved our years of having her all to ourselves, but we were content to see her beginning to stretch and grow for herself in the wider world outside of our direct control.

We were taking every opportunity to enjoy what UK had to offer in amidst all of our college related activities. One of the things which was very big at the time was an annual Christian event called Spring Harvest which was attended by about 100,000 over three weeks at two locations in UK in what used to be old post war family holiday centers. These holiday sites included simple accommodation and fun fairs along with a mulitiplicity of halls, workshop and meeting and eating places, Each week thousands of Christians would gather for a time of worship, teaching and fun. The program was run by British Youth for Christ. We attended in the spring of 1985. We discovered a side of the church in UK which we had not yet encountered. We had found that much of the traditional church in UK was old, tired and decaying. At Spring Harvest we found there was a new church developing filled with vibrancy and life. There was a great emphasis on the Holy Spirit and His working in “signs and wonders”. We took the girls to the kids program where we later discovered they were teaching the kids how to lay hands on each other and pray for healings and miracles. In the large gatherings there would be exuberant worship. The one time Cher and I arrived a bit late for the meeting and could only find back row seats. During the worship a guy came swooping past us ducking and gliding as he danced “in the Holy Spirit” as he enjoyed the worship in a very tangible way. Never having ever seen anything like this before, we found it amusing, but also exciting at the same time. I had been suffering from a lot of nasal allergies resulting in a perpetually blocked and stuffy nose. Nothing medical had helped. One could make an appointment for healing prayer. I duly signed up and asked for prayer for my nasal concerns. I was ushered into a small consulting room in a mobile trailer whereupon the person praying for me, asked me what my problem was and then prayed for me for healing in a very matter of fact manner. It didn’t take more than fifteen minutes and I left feeling very deflated and disappointed that nothing had happened. A few weeks later I realized to my delight that my nasal problems had cleared up and remained so for a long time thereafter. Thank you Lord that you act on our behalf even when we don’t expect it or believe you will. We left Spring Harvest greatly encouraged feeling for the first time that there was hope for the church in the UK.

Scotland had a reputation of having
generally awful summer weather

Our travels had not yet taken us to Scotland or the Lake District, so in the summer of 1985 we decided to have a camping trip to see what that part of the UK might offer. Somewhere along the line we had acquired a tent. We loaded up all the gear we needed to keep us going for three weeks and off we went. It’s hard to believe that everything we needed, plus four people all fitted into that tiny little car, but hey we were young and enthusiastic and life was there to be enjoyed to the full, so off we went. We had been warned that in the summer in Scotland it rains incessantly. There really is nothing worse when camping than having to set up and take down in the rain, so we departed on our adventure with a fair degree of trepidation. Amazingly I don’t think it rained once in the whole three weeks.

Enjoying Edinburgh with Phil,
Fiona and Katie Hodgson

We started off our counter clockwise tour in Edinburgh, visiting my best friend from my Zambian days, Phil Hodgson and his wife Fiona,  who were living there at the time. Edinburgh was enjoying the military tattoo at the time and also the Edinburgh festival which included shows and buskers at many places around the city. We then headed off on our camping trip proper. Despite it being the middle of summer it really wasn’t that warm, especially in the evenings. I remember watching a bunch of crazy Scots men walking around in shorts only, while I was huddled up around a fire in my layers of clothing. We found a wonderful beach on the west coast of Scotland which would have competed with some of our best South African beaches. We set up camp close to the beach and enjoyed the amazingly long summer evenings. The one time we were on the beach and a man began to yell at his kids in French. Julia listened to this for a while and then rather matter of factly remarked “that man just talks a load of rubbish”. Needless to say her French wasn’t that good in those days.

Elaine and Julia enjoying their Scottish roots

We moved further south down the west coast and visited the Island of Iona. This was the site at which Christianity had first reached the British mainland from Ireland. To get there we had to catch a ferry to the Island of Mull, then a bus across Mull and then another short ferry to Iona. It was wonderful to walk around Iona and think back to the days when the first missionary monks arrived with the momentous task of bringing the Good News of Jesus to the people of Britain. So much had been achieved from that inauspicious beginning. Thank you Lord that you choose to use our small foundational steps and build your kingdom on them. Thank you for those courageous monks who braved it all. From their tiny first steps on the Isle of Iona, the gospel went out to more than 25% of the world’s population via the British Empire.

Picnics - way to go on limited budget

We finished our grand tour of the north at a campsite in the Lake District. This fabled area was one we had looked forward to. Whilst the area was beautiful our campsite was not. Scotland had been wide open and spacious. At our campsite in the Lake District, we were so cramped that the guy ropes of our tent crossed with those of the tent next to us. We took a quick look around the area and headed for home having had a wonderful break from all the busyness and clutter of the south.

We visited Cornwall with family friends

UK - so much to see,
so little time

In our final year at All Nations (ANCC), the college let it be known that they were looking for an extra staff person from the third world to add to their staff complement. Our very good friends Bill and Joan Houston had been very influential in us being at ANCC. Along with being a leader with the Student Christian Association in South Africa, Bill was very academically inclined. We decided to put their names forward. They in turn decided to apply. Lo and behold their application was accepted. They had sent us to ANCC and we were returning the favour. As we were leaving they were arriving. They ended up spending a very fruitful and productive few years lecturing at ANCC where Bill and Joan’s contributions were greatly appreciated.

Bill and Joan - they were
coming as we were going

Our time at All Nations Christian College was drawing to a close. We had been praying earnestly for what our next steps would be after completing our studies. In my heart I had fully expected that we would be called to some far distant land, in a remote area, where we would spend our lives bringing hope and knowledge of Jesus to folks who had no knowledge of Him. We had knocked on a few doors in this direction, but they had gone nowhere and we seemed have hit a brick wall in our guidance as the time grew closer for us to complete our studies. Whilst at ANCC a big chunk of our practical work experiences had been with families and kids and a significant portion of that had been with Scripture Union. A few months before our course completed, out of the blue we were contacted by Scripture Union in South Africa, inviting us to join the staff to be located in the city of East London on the south east coast of South Africa. This idea at first seemed to be not a very good fit. We had been there done that with SU in South Africa as volunteers over the years and at first the idea did not appeal to me. It lacked the romantic appeal of going somewhere exotic, like a dark and dingy jungle location infested by spiders, snakes and other such undesirable creatures. As we prayed and considered it though the SU option began to make a lot more sense. We had missed our family in South Africa a lot and were reluctant to leave them ongoingly. When we had first been praying for guidance, about going into full time Christian work Cher had been lead to scripture which indicated we would be going but not leaving. From my very first prayer at Bulwer Road Baptist in Durban, at which I had prayed for God to give me “something to do for Him”, God had lead me to working in the Sunday School with kids. So much of our background to date had been with kids and young people via subsequent Sunday School and Scripture Union involvement. Even a big chunk of our work experience in UK had been with SU. 

We had the time of our lives at ANCC. Now it was time to move forward.
We didn't know what the future held but we did know the One who holds the future. 

When we put all of this together the penny finally dropped. Working with SU in South Africa really was what God was leading us to. We accepted the invitation to work with SU in East London and began the process of packing up our lives in UK. Our time at ANCC had been rich and rewarding. We had been treated to a very special experience, compliments of our loving Father in heaven. To this day, we remember our time as a family together in UK with great fondness. Now we were heading back to South Africa for the next stage of our adventure. What awaited us was unknown, but we were trusting in the One who knew and cared for us so well. We were moving forward with trepidation but also with confidence and excitement.