Monday, June 30, 2008

Rome, Part 1

There was soooo much to see that was photo-worthy in Rome. I'll post photos in parts. It might take awhile. Posting photos is sometimes an ordeal around here! :-) A reminder -- you can always double click on a photo to enlarge your viewing!



















Sunday, June 22, 2008

Syros and Paros

The first photo, here, is our cruise ship -- taken while in the port of Syros. I'm having a difficult labeling any of these photos, today. Sooooo, very near the bottom, please notice two photos taken from the ship as we were approaching the port of Paros. If you look very closely, you'll see the reflection of my camera in the window of the first of the photos (we had a wonderful front view cabin!) and the second of the photos is taken from the deck.


















Mykonos









Back to Africa

I still have more photos to share from other parts of our trip to Greece and Rome. But I'll take a break for a brief update on life in Nigeria.

There is a saying which I've heard from a variety of Nigerians -- "The only natural disasters that Nigeria ever has to face are caused by our leaders." Indeed, Nigeria seems to be untouched by earthquakes, typhoons, tornadoes, etc. The famines, homelessness, lack of education, lack of electricity, ... all are brought on by corrupt leaders who pocket the nation's wealth and allow the nation to remain in darkness.

And it's not just Nigeria that has this problem. Though Nigerians are looked down upon by all of their neighbors, other countries do have some of the same patterns.

I recently watched an interesting BBC News show "The World Debate" out of Capetown, S. Africa. The topic of this broadcast was the fragility of the African countries that even seem to be progressing. The president of Ghana was one of the brightest participants of the debate. A bitter leader from S. Africa was a participant. A VP of the World Bank articulated some thoughts well. Most striking were the comments from an opposition party member from Zimbabwe.

The entire broadcast was thought provoking. But the statement that had the highest impact of all was something BBC said just after the airing of the debate. They said that shortly after the taping of this show, the Zimbabwean was arrested in Zimbabwe for treason. He remains in jail today.

The "run-off" elections are soon to happen in Zimbabwe. The world is watching. But, as we have seen in the past, even if the elections are run in a fairly democratic way the handling of the results of that election is in the control of a man who is of questionable character. So, the masses may continue to suffer.

When praying for Nigeria and it's neighbors, I find myself most often asking God questions rather than presenting requests.

I don't even know how to pray for Africa but pray for Africa, we must!

Friday, June 20, 2008