Dinna Worry Aunty Betty ....

Calm doon Aunty Betty ... wir still alive!

My aunty Betty has told my mum and dad over the last few weeks, "Mark & Mary are still in Wick!" She is of course, referring that we haven't updated our blog for, well, a good while! And she's absolutely right! Sorry Aunty Betty, I know you check our blog every night for any news from your handsome nephew in Sefton ... but tonight ... be very shocked and delighted ...we're back!

When we were in UK we were chock a block visiting family, friends, youth groups, kids clubs, churches etc. etc. Before we knew it time was up! And hardly a blog to note. Well, suppose that the only consolation for Aunty Betty, Aunty Helen and all the rest of our devoted readers is that it is far better to see us for real rather than read a blog! That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!

We had a busy but great time in UK. We have a lot of thanks to give to a lot of people for their part in helping us enjoy a good month at home:

Mum & dad ... for putting us up and putting up with us! Thanks for looking after our kids for almost a week and for all your love and care. Was great to see my dad has been converted after many years ... no, don't misunderstand. I mean from a PC to a Mac! Only problem was that our diary was so full that I didn't have enough time to show him the way around his Leopard! Sorry dad!

David & Wilma Flett - for looking after us and letting us rest after a really busy time. For all your lovely hospitality and for driving all the way to Aberdeen to say goodbye. It meant so much to us all.

David & Grace Strachan & family - for all your practical love and support in so many ways. For letting us use your car for a whole month .. even though it meant Grace walking to work and being accosted by a complete stranger!! You guys are the best and your kids are fantastic. Thanks for the mega thick mega delicious hand made steak David .... look out Jamie Oliver! MMmmmm....

My brothers and their families ... so great to see Paul & David going on for God and inspiring their families to live for God. Lydia & Josiah's cousins are brilliant - Nathan, Aaron, Bethany, Daniel and our new wee addition to the Ritchie clan ...David. Wonderful to spend time with you all again and catch up. It was great for me to beat David again at the putting green ... Neil & Gavin were there to witness the great event!

Mary's brother Bruce and his wife Alison - We saw them a number of times and it was so good to see them preparing for being first time parents. We had great times with them. Congratulations are in order ... Alison gave birth to wee Eve last week! Missed her by a few days ... we did try all sorts of ways to speed up the process but to no avail.

Family members - Wow, saw so many in such a short time! Great to see most of my aunties & uncles as well as a lot of my cousins. Had an amazing meal with freshly caught prawns at my cousin Liz's house...thanks John! Especially great to see my cousin Shona and her family. We even saw my cousin George and family. What a guy!

Friends - too many to mention all by name but great to see Kenny & Suzie (I am still the PS2 Tiger Woods champ Kenny!), David & Jenny, Lesley & Stewart, Andrew & Lois, Norman & Gillian, Micheal & Alison (great night guys), Gareth & Shona, of course Vivien (my adopted Scottish daughter), Ben & Val (great time at Findlay's Ben), Derek & Jacinth, Victor & Alison, Steve & Molly, all the Aberdeen Missions team ... and tons and tons of friends from so many churches. We loved seeing you all.

Special thanks to Jennie Milne who often came and whisked Josiah away to her house so her son Seth and Josiah could play together. They are good pals now! I don't know how you do it Jennie ... 9 kids and still room for my two! Supermum of the year I think! You are a blessing .. especially to Mary. Thanks.

Special thanks also to Andy & Rachel David from Torquay who blessed us with a trip down to the west country to be with them for a few days (even though they were going on a 2 week trip to Africa the same day as we left!!) You are mad ... but we love you!

Even though we were not really prepared for sharing in churches, we thank the Lord for opportunities to minister in Torquay, Whitburn, Fraserburgh Elim, Fraserburgh AoG, Kings Church Aberdeen. We loved being with you all and pray that in some way we challenged and encouraged you. We had a great time in various youth & children's clubs - Salvation Army Jam Club in Wick, Powerhouse Kids Club, Calvary Kidz and GLO in Fraserburgh as well as the AoG Youth Cafe night. I also had an amazing time ministering at the Teen Challenge Centre at Sunnybrae ... what a morning! Gordon, Paul, Kenny & team are doing a fantastic work there.

Mmmm ... anyone else I have left out? If I have I apologise.

Well, we are back in sunny and roasting hot Santiago. Since coming home it has been quite difficult in so many ways. The kids took a week to get back to Filipino time ... they were going to sleep around midnight or 1am some nights! They have both been sick with fevers, diarrhea and sickness. Last week we were ultra busy as there was an SBTC Week of Refreshing for all students and ex-students. Last Friday we had a great Graduation Service for the students. Last Saturday we baptised 11 new believers from our Cornerstone Churches. One of them was the dad of Gio, the boy who died. When I asked him, "Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?" He immediately replied with tears in his eyes, "With all my heart." the hand of the Lord is upon Gilbert.

Our Internet was on for one night when we came home and then we had a lightning storm. It completely blew my other computer and destroyed the internet cable. It has taken 10 days to fix! But tonight it returned ...what a relief! Hopfully now I can start to blog and let you catch up with all the Sefton news. So many great things happening here.

A funny story to end with. Lydia was working things out the other night as we prepared them for bed -" Mummy, is Jesus in charge of our family?" Mary replied, "Yes, of course." Lydia continued, "And then, is it Daddy that's the boss?" Mary replied again, "That's right Lydia"

A few seconds later Josiah stands up and said with a stronng teachers voice, "Well, Jesus says that Josiah-has-not-got-to-have-a-bath-tonight! And... he-needs-to-watch-cartoon-network ... OK?"

What could I say after that?

Goodnight Aunty Betty ... sweet dreams i'nicht!

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's just turned 12 midnight here in the Philippines .... it is officially Christmas Day! The whole Philippines have been preparing for this day since way back in September 1 ... ridiculous really!

I was a bit shocked at some of the statistics I read concerning Christmas in the UK. I wasn't totally aware that it is becoming more and more of a social festival rather than a Christian celebration. I know that it has become totally commercialised and a good excuse to lose discipline, get drunk and behave pretty badly. But it seems as if people don't even know about what Christmas is all about any more.

I read a startling report in our Weekly Telegraph this week. They asked a cross section of British people four basic questions about the Christmas story. Here are the questions & results:

1. Where was Jesus born?
Can you believe that 27% of British adults surveyed could not identify Bethlehem! In fact 36% of 18-24 year olds got the wrong answer. Some said Nazareth and some said Jerusalem!

2. Who informed Mary she would have a baby called Jesus?
27% of adults said that it was the shepherds.

3. Where did Joseph, Mary and Jesus go to escape King Herod?
hardly anyone got this question right. Many said that they went to Nazareth and some even said Rome!

4. Who is the cousin of Jesus who was also born at the same time?
Over 50% had no idea.

Only 12% of all adults surveyed answered all questions correctly.


I also read some interesting UK statistics concerning Christmas:

• We consume around 10 million turkeys, 25 million Christmas puddings, 250 million pints of beer and 35 million bottles of wine in the UK at Christmas.
• 7 million children leave mince pies and a drink for Santa on Christmas Eve.
• The UK spends £20bn on Christmas with £1.6bn going on food and drink.

• Each person takes an average of 15 hours to complete his/her Christmas shopping.
• 4 million Brussels sprouts are usually purchased in the week before Christmas.
• £10 billion is the average amount borrowed across Britain at Christmas to foot the bill.
• 41% more alcohol is drunk during the Christmas holidays than the monthly UK average.
• Each person spends an average of £33 on last-minute panic purchases.
• 25% of all Christmas shopping time is spent in queues.

• And a recent survey found that one in 10 adults – around four million people – is still paying off debts run up last Christmas

• Hangovers cost the UK about £2 billion a year in lost earnings through sickness absence.
• At Christmas, higher alcohol consumption leads to a 0.4% increase in fatal poisonings for every 1% increase in sales of spirits

The post-Christmas season is traditionally busy one for Ebay, the world’s largest auction site with 168 million registered users. A survey released by the company in 2005 found that:

• Over 50% of Americans say they ‘re-gift’ presents they do not like, will not use, or do not fit.
• 11% say they have previously sold an unwanted gift online.
• Among 25-34 year olds the percentage of those who had sold unwanted gifts online rose to 22%.

In the UK, a Nielsen/Net Ratings survey found that:

• 15% of UK online shoppers planned to sell unwanted Christmas gifts online.
• A further 35% were considering it, with women more likely to do so than men

• Britons send nearly 1 billion Christmas cards every year.
• 6 million trees were bought in 2004, but only 1 in 6 were recycled, leading to an extra 9,000 tons of rubbish being dumped.
• Each year, Christmas leaves more than £1.2 billion-worth of unwanted presents in its wake.
• Nearly 2 million Britons will go abroad this Christmas, creating millions of tons of CO2 in the process.
• More than 8,000 tons of wrapping paper is used at Christmas, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimates is enough to wrap the whole island of Guernsey.
• We consume far more bottles, cans and paper at Christmas than any other time of year, with more than 3 million extra tons of waste. Our bins overflow with an extra 750 million bottles and 500 million drink cans.
• About 80,000 tons of old clothes also get thrown out every Christmas.

• Calls to suicide and depression helplines increase by 10% during the festive period
• Loneliness, stress, family problems, financial pressure all takes it toll on millions of people who hide behind a smile.

I wonder what the Lord thinks of it all? I believe His heart breaks. It wasn't meant to be this way. We have made something beautiful into a monster that now has no control. What is wrong seems right and what is right seems wrong.

I was in a little church on Sunday (see Sefton Village You Tube channel for video) and we were singing that beautiful song 'When the music fades'. I really felt the spirit if God challenge me to change the words slightly. And I leave these words as a challenge to you this Christmas:

"I'm coming back to the heart of Christmas
And it's all about you
It's all about you Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
For it's all about you
It's all about you, Jesus"

Have a great day and remember to do the most important thing ... seek, find and worship the Lord!

Selah!