Today I should have been in Cape Town and last weekend in Amsterdam but last Friday was an unusual day.

Today I should have been in Cape Town and last weekend in Amsterdam but last Friday was an unusual day.

Following routine blood tests at my local surgery I was rushed into the Accident and Emergency Department of the local hospital, greeted by a gloriously friendly doctor who recognised me and told me he was a Newfrontiers man and performed some rather painful work, releasing me from what seems to have been a potentially dangerous condition which could have resulted in very serious damage to my kidneys (I’ll spare you the gory details). It seems my intended four weekends away preaching in Amsterdam, Cape Town and Pretoria could have proved very dangerous indeed.

Although the whole experience has been challenging, disappointing and alarming, I understand it was in reality God’s merciful hand and his immaculate timing.

Now I’m at home convalescing and have had to cancel a number of bookings over the next two to three months because the date of more significant surgery which must soon follow is not yet established. I hate cancelling meetings and letting people down but many excitedly anticipated appointments have had to go, including several church weekends in the UK and visits to France and Portugal.

Recently I’ve been repeatedly urged to write another book, but haven’t yet responded and to be honest don’t currently feel the energy to do anything, but once before, during extended time off, I embraced the discipline of writing. So, who knows?

If you think of praying for me, for which I would be so grateful, would you also pray for my stunning wife, who is not only beautiful, and full of fun, as many of you know, but also proving to be an amazing nurse and carer. She is of course very affected by this enforced time of limitation for me.

I pray it won’t be too prolonged. Please pray that with me.