Tikhtak

Pakistan - safe arrival

We arrived in Pakistan after a packed but trouble free flight. It was so full that Zara had to sit the whole journey on our knee, but I think she was the only one that slept well. We came through customs and Irfana's Mum came running to us through the gate and threw her arms around us all. Irfana’s Dad then appeared and did likewise and then more and more of the family appeared. A real welcome party.

Lahore is much the same as I remember it except it is hotter than when we came for our wedding and the pollution feels even worse. The roads and traffic are as hectic as ever, cars, buses, pony’s and cyclists all undercutting over cutting and all sorts of cutting one another. And of course baby seats go out the window here with tots held in mother’s arms sat on the back of motorbikes along with 3 or 4 other children to boot. I have to say it’s liberating…

We have spent much of our time catching up with family members, eating lots of good food and being astounded by Zara and how she is taking everything in her stride. The other day three of us and Zara crammed into a rickshaw to travel across town, rattling over every bump and with horns screeching all around. Zara simply took it all in her stride and went tio sleep in Irfana’s arms. It reminded me of the time  Jesus slept in a boat on the sea of Galilee when a storm was almost sinking the ship. She is a cool cookie.

Anyway that is all I will write for now and with a trip planned for the north of Pakistan I should get a lot of good pictures. Have a look on our flikr pics to see some highlights so far.

e-trax - Life's a donkey

I have just posted this months e-trax which looks ahead to April's trax16 podcast and our one year old birthday. We are challenged to live out our lives following Jesus' example of the conquering King, entering Jerusalem on the back of a donkey rather than a red carpet. Check it out on the e-trax blog and if you haven't why not subscribe

Be sure to keep checking the Free For All blog as next week we will be at Peterborough Cathedral and the week after on 9th April we hope to work with Macaulay School, Clapham performing at All Hallows church as part of the Free at Last exhibition where a replica of the Zong slave ship will be docked.

Myself, Irfana and Zara are on a journey of our own to visit family in Pakistan for a  holiday. For this reason I may have a blogging rest for a few weeks and will be back at it in mid April.

Download Yeh but!

We have just put a resource called Yeh but! about Freedom for Church youth groups up on our Free For All website. It is co-written by the CMS Youth team and CPAS. It looks at the story of Moses and explores, spiritual freedom, the slave trade and the abolitionists fight for freedom 200 years ago and modern day fights for Freedom. For a quick taster click on this sample

Zara "who am I?" or "Who is that?"

I have uploaded some recent pictures of Zara onto my flikr. She is growing so quick  that she is beginning to ponder deeper things like "Who am I?"  or "Who is that?" Meanwhile we are busy preparing to go to Pakistan so that Zara can discover a bit more about herself and her family.

Free For All in Oxford

Although we didn't manage to book a Cathedral or Church in the Oxford area, we took Free For All to St Christopher's Primary School just minutes from CMS' new home in Cowley, Oxford. We were also joined by an ITV Thames film crew who will be showing Free For All as part of their evening news programme. Check out what we got up to and see pics from the day on the Free For All blog.

Trax16 March is out

The March edition of Trax16 is now out. We’re off to Nottingham, Chelmsford, Gloucester and York this month on trax16 in search of advice on bullying. In Nottingham, we hear from the LYFT youth group home of the ‘screaming boy’ and ‘Gollum’! Our FREE FOR ALL tour continues in Chelmsford and Gloucester, and then it’s to York for a massive youth event where nearly a whole year ago, trax16 was launched!
FOUR KORNERZ talk to us about modern day slavery, and music comes from Ali Crompton and Stuart Dix.

Manchester Free For All

A great week and performance at Manchester Cathedral, where we worked with nearly 200 young people. The performance commenced at 2pm in the afternoon and we managed to fill the nave with a packed audience. Granada TV filmed the performance to be part of a programme about slavery and interviewed a number of us. Check out the photos on my flikr or  see more on the CMS flikr accounts. Be sure also to check out the Free For All blog where there will be a Manchester Cathedral photo album and write up shortly. Also keep looking at the Free For All website as more assemblies have been added and workshops from the play