Is God Into Fashion?

Is God into fashion?

A few years ago we were visiting some friends in a small church in the Cheltenham Area of the UK.  On the way home I remarked to my wife, Pauline, that the couple leading the church community appeared to be very hard up financially.

My wife agreed and told me she had left them an envelope on their mantelpiece containing some money, to help them out a little.  My reaction was very godly.  “Where on earth did you get the money to leave them a gift, we are broke too!”  Pauline explained that she had been saving up to purchase a jump-suit she had seen in a local boutique.  She had been squirreling the money away into an envelope at the bottom of her handbag, it had taken her a while, but finally she had saved up enough and was all set to go and purchase it.  This is the money that she had left on the mantelpiece; so no jump-suit for Pauline!

I congratulated her and commiserated, it was rare for her to have any new clothes.  Pauline explained, “It’s not as bad as all that, I saw two jump-suits one was really nice but very expensive, one was okay and cheaper.  I had just saved up enough for the cheaper one, but it was really a compromise, because the expensive one was the one I really wanted, so I haven’t lost that much by leaving them the money.”  This kind of feminine logic does not always make sense to the male species.

We arrived home, unlocked the door, and walked into our London home; to our surprise, hanging over the door to our lounge area was a piece of clothing in a cellophane cover.  My wife hastily pulled off the cellophane and held it against her.  There was a catch in her voice as she explained, “This is the jump-suit I was telling you about, the more expensive one, and it’s the exact colour I wanted, and it’s my size!”

There are always other people living with us, so we rounded them up and asked them why a jump-suit was hanging in our lounge.  They explained that a man had delivered it earlier in the day, he said that Pauline had done him a favour a couple of years ago and he had never said thank you, the jump-suit was his way of showing his appreciation.  He also said that if it was the wrong colour, the wrong size, or the wrong item, that it could be changed.  But it was perfect in every way. 

I know there are those of you who will want to say that this was a strange coincidence, but that is one word I am extremely sceptical about.  Rather I think that Father God does care about and love his children, he cares about every detail of our life, and he loves us passionately and profusely.  But I know some of you will prefer to cling to that doubtful explanation of coincidence.

Adrian Hawkes BlogSpot

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Do Angels smoke pipes – part two

 Do Angels smoke pipes – part two

I thought you would like to know what happened next, the sequel to my story about the pipe smoking angel who gave me £200.  A friend was supposed to meet Pauline and I in Lagos airport but he did not turn up.  We made our way through passport control and customs; then found ourselves stuck in the airport not knowing where to go or what to do next.

While I was sorting the final paperwork, my wife was standing by a barrier just inside the country, feeling traumatised by the few hours that we had just gone through of being marched up and down by a rather, in our opinion, unstable gun-toting boarder guard.  I think Pauline had been crying a little due to the intense pressure and was still feeling stressed and wanting to immediately fly home to the UK.  As she waited for me a young Nigerian man came up to her and said, ‘you seem to be in trouble, can I help?’  Going on her very recent experience she was unwilling to trust any stranger, in what was to her a strange country.  As she was responding, ‘no thank you I do not need help.’  I arrived back at her side with cases and completed paperwork.  The young man said to me, ‘I’m not sure what has happened to you but obviously you have been through some kind of difficult time can I show you where the airport restaurant is, I’m sure you would be glad of a coffee.’  It had taken a great deal of time up to this point, due to the gun happy guard and the stringent passport control so I said, ‘yes okay, it would be a good idea to sit down with coffee to sort out our next move.’ Plus I now had lots of Naira in my pocket and it was a long time since our last meal.  The young man escorted us to the restaurant and the staff seated us.  The young man said ‘let me leave you to it, you have obviously had a hard time I will come back in an hour or so see if you are ok,’ we thanked him, ordered food and coffee, and tried to unwind a little.

We decided to go and find a room for the night; just before the hour was up I signalled to the waiter that we wanted to pay the bill, ‘what bill sir?’ he said.  ‘For the food and drinks,’ I replied. ‘Well sir, the waiter replied, ‘your friend who brought you in has already settled the bill.’  To say I was surprised is an understatement.  This stranger who knew nothing about us had paid for us to have a meal, in a place that was quite expensive for locals.  Just as Pauline and I were discussing this strange turn of events the young stranger appeared again, and asked if we felt better. We thanked him and said that we felt much better and began to talk to him about our story, and the fact that we believed that God had been looking after us and that knowing Jesus and being in touch with the Father was great at times like this.  We then asked him why he had come to help us and why he had paid our bill.

He said, ‘I travelled a long way today, from up country, to meet a friend who was supposed to come in on a flight at the same time as you came through customs, but he did not arrive, I was feeling a little fed up thinking I have come such a long way, for no purpose and I prayed Father God  why have I come all this way for nothing, and I distinctly heard God say to me you are here today to help that couple over there, they have had a hard time.  Many years ago I went to study in the USA, at that time I did not know God, but just like you, when I got off the plane the person who was going to meet me and help me did not arrive. I was standing in the airport totally bemused as to what to do and a man came up to me and said, ‘you are in trouble can I help you?’ To cut a long story short this man really knew God, he ended up taking me to his home where I lived for two years, and he even helped me pay my college fees, I found God in his home and it has changed my life, I want to at least put some of that experience of God’s favour back into someone else’s life.’

The young man settled us into a hotel; he looked after us for three days until we finally made contact with our friend who was supposed to meet us, who somehow had the dates mixed up.

And no I did not lose his address, so perhaps he was not an angel, I rather think he was a young man listening to God and being a great help to us in our need.

I don’t know still what to think about my pipe smoking angel, but I am convinced that in times of need God is with us and cares for us.  Sometimes I don’t understand his answers, sometimes I am puzzled by events.  But  I am confident that God cares, loves and is listening to those who know Him as Father God, and yes from time to time he sends his messengers both angelic and human to assist in time of need.  What do you think?

For Adrian Hawkes Blogspot.com

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8^th July 2012

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Do Angels Smoke Pipes?

 Do Angels Smoke Pipes?

Some years ago Pauline and I were on a visit to Nigeria.  I have a rule: don’t carry too much cash.  We had £30.00 between us.  We had flown into Lagos from Accra, Ghana.  We presented ourselves at passport control and one of the officers said, “I need to see the £200.00 that you will change into Naira as you enter the country.”  I explained that between us we only had £30.00, but I had a credit card.

This made no difference whatsoever, he insisted that I was lying and demanded to see the £200.00 or, he said, “We will return you to where you came from.”  What could I do?  The answer to this question was made for me by the officer; he lifted his rifle, stuck it in my ribs, and marched me and Pauline down the long corridor back to the aeroplane on which we had arrived.  It had taken a long time to queue to get to passport control and our incoming plane had already departed.  The soldier then decided that I would have to go to prison and, he said, “Your wife will go to the women’s prison.”  Neither Pauline or I were impressed with this idea so I said, “can I try something?”  He looked at me suspiciously, pushed the gun a little harder into my ribs, and growled “what are you going to try?”  “Well,” I said, “I thought I might ask someone to give me some money.”  He pulled the gun out of my ribs and slung it up onto his shoulder, looked at me steely eyed and said, “are you mad?”

“Not really,” I replied, “but anything is better than going to prison, so will you let me try?”  “Who will you ask?” he said.  I looked around for a friendly face in the myriads of people waiting to fly out, which is what Pauline wanted to do right there and then.  I spotted a man leaning against a wall smoking a pipe, I said to my gun totting guard, “him over there.”  He shrugged and said, “this should be fun, I am coming with you.”  Our party of three made their way over to the pipe smoker.  I opened the conversation, “excuse me do you speak English?”  The man replied, “Just a little.”  I explained that the gun wielding soldier was inclined to put me in prison as I did not have the required £200.00 to change into Naira, could he help.  Much to my guard’s amazement the man said, “of course, I will go to the bank outside and get it for you.”  A few moments later he was back with £200.00 Stirling.  “There you are,” he said.  I thanked him profusely and said, “I need to pay you back, when I get back to the UK where should I send it?”  He laughed and at my insistence wrote something on a piece of paper which I carefully stowed in my wallet.  We said our farewells and my now, somewhat quieter, guard escorted us back to passport control.

At the counter he announced, “They have the £200.00!”  “Oh they’ve found it have they!” The man in the booth responded.  “No,” the guard said, “I have just seen the most amazing thing; a man gave them the money”.  I chipped in, “Well I did pray to God before I spoke to him.”  A hush descended, they stamped our passports, and we were waved through.

There is more to this story which maybe I will save to my next blog, however, while in Nigeria, I took many the names, addresses and business cards of many people, all of which I tucked into the same place that I had put pipe-smoking-man’s piece of paper.  My intention was to write to everyone on my return to the UK including writing to and repaying Mr Pipe-smoker.  On my return to the UK every piece of paper was still safely stowed, and I started and succeeded in writing to every person, all except Mr Pipe-smoker.  His piece of paper was missing, and even though I turned out my wallet and luggage, it was nowhere to be found.  All the other address details were there. 

I wanted to pay back my friend, but as his details had disappeared I was not able to do this.  Who was he, where is he, why he gave me the money I have no idea.  Perhaps if he reads this, he will let me know.  My thoughts about it, perhaps, maybe, it was no ordinary man.  How extraordinary that he gave me £200.00 very quickly, very easily, without any argument, debate, and with very little forethought.  At the time, because I was so stressed, I did not think these elements through.  If angels smoke pipes I want to say thank you to God for sending that particular pipe-smoker at the perfect moment.

Adrian Hawkes

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A yellow duck dancing – Again.

In 1970 I was leading a church in the North of England, one Sunday, as I was speaking, I noticed that people were getting very distracted and giggling at inappropriate points in my talk, I also observed that they got especially boisterous when singing, even in the slow songs. I later discovered that one of the young people had rigged up a line on which a large yellow plastic duck danced aloft behind me, becoming especially mobile when people sang. See my story on my Blog 26^th May 2010. In November 2011 I published my sixth book, my first fiction book, and as part of the publicity I sent out a picture of the book via email. Imagine my surprise when the book cover came back somewhat adjusted.  I just thought you would all like to see it.

Here is the link to the original story...

http://www.adrianhawkes.blogspot.co.uk/2010_05_01_archive.html

Original cover

Cover with added duck

The cover of my new book got a makeover....
www.adrianhawkes.blogspot.com

Running an Independent Sector School

Running an Independent sector school

I have been running independent sector schools for over 30 years.  We are still small; if I had more money I would have bigger buildings and more students.  Why do I do it?  I believe in it, it works, it’s value for money, and most important of all it gives young people a head start in their lifelong educational journey.

Over the many years that I have been managing Christian schools I have received plenty of flack, partly because of the system that we use; Accelerated Christian Education (ACE).  I am well aware that this system is not perfect.  Has the perfect education system yet been devised?  To quote the inventors of the system, “ACE is a system of education, it’s a tool, and you have to make it work.”  Which we do, we adapt and tailor the system to meet the requirements of our students; a system of education which in my opinion is better than most.

I have keenly watched the success of our students as they go into their chosen life pathways, I know, and they know that some of the success they enjoy is down to the hard work of our school staff as they have guided the students through their early educational journey.

Over the 2011 Christmas period I had the pleasure of meeting some of the older students who have since progressed to college and university.  It was good to chat with them and to ask some pertinent questions.  I think it would be useful to share this anecdotal information with a wider audience.

I asked one student how his first year at Canterbury University had gone. 

He responded, “I missed my London friend but the studies were fine.” 

I asked him for his opinion of our school system; here are some of his comments. 

“One of my uni modules is accounting, I had already done that subject that for my Intermediate exam with International Certificate of Christian Education (ICCE), so of course I had that down as one of my options from the advanced level course.  However when I saw the stuff at University I had to laugh and I said I wish my school studies had been this easy!”

I asked him if there was anything else he had noticed about his uni studies.

He said, “The Algebra, as with accounts, I wish that the school stuff had been as easy as the university material.”

His final comment was, “When you have been to a school using the ACE system a fundamental element that you learn is how to manage your study time and how to complete work within a given period. I am finding that my stuff gets  done whereas lots of other students seem to have problems completing work and bringing it in on time.  We all have the same amount of time, and I think some of them are possibly brighter than me, but what they lack is the discipline that has been put into me over the years to complete the work on time.”

I also got the chance to talk with one of the lads who had completed his General Certificate at ICCE level, and asked him how his college studies were progressing.

“Great!” he said, “but what is funny is how the other students don’t seem to be able to complete work on time, I have just handed in one of my first essays, the  lecturer said 1,000 words, I was about 400 over so I went to him and asked how critical is the word count?”

“Oh” he replied, “I only ask for 1,000 as most of the students cannot get anywhere near that number, I am happy with anything up to 2000 words, but I would be surprised if many can even achieve 800.”

I asked him if he had made any other observations since he had left school.

He said, “A friend asked me if I could help her with her GCSE material as she had to take an exam in Maths, so I said I would come around and try. I was very surprised at the level, and helped her to complete the work and showed her how to work out the material.  I then asked if I could take a copy of the paper with me.  She agreed and explained that it was an old exam paper used for practice.  I took it home to my younger sister, she is just 13 years old, and said can you do this maths? She said, ‘ Oh crumbs, yes of course, I am doing that stuff now.’”

 For those who know anything about the system this girl is on PACE 1083 which according to ICCE is two units below where we would say a student is who has begun General certificate work.

There was another young lady at the New Years Eve party who had been to a school using the ACE system, but not at one of the schools that I run; she is currently reading English at Liverpool Hope University.  I asked how she had found it, and if anything she had learnt from the system was useful in ongoing university studies. 

Her reply was amusing, “Well,” she said, “I am the only student in my group who knows how to  break down an English language sentence into its component parts, the whole class were saying, ‘we don’t even understand what we are being asked to do.’  So I ran my own tutorial group for my friends.  They asked how I knew how to do this, and I told them that I did it all when I was quite young in my Christian school, that it was standard practice.  I am just surprised that such basic things are part of this English course at university.”

Flack or no flack, the results speak for themselves.  You might say to me, are you trying to sell your system to us?  The answer to that is; you bet I am!

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Adrian Hawkes for adrianhawkes.blogspot.com

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Christian schools can get a lot of flack, but is it justified? www.adrianhawkes.blogspot.com