SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the blog of Nigel James.

BACK FROM LIBERIA.

A video summary from myself, Gary and Emmanuel after our conference in Liberia.

Ignite Liberia conference a success.

Sitting in the cafe of the Royal Hotel Monrovia with Gary Smith from Ignite in Cardiff and Emmanuel Jonah the national director of Ignite Liberia. We are reflecting on a job well done as the first ever Ignite conference came to completion over the last three days. Nearly one hundred people attended-pastors, youth leaders, young people, as well as county co- ordinators and centre managers from seven counties across Liberia. I use the word 'historic' advisedly but I do believe this has been a very significant conference. I'll explain why in a longer blog when I get home.

IGNITE LIBERIA.

I'm in Monrovia, the capital city of  LIberia, with Gary Smith, for the first ever Ignite Liberia conference. We are speaking to delegates from 7 of Liberia's 15 counties, and to representatives from Ignite Sierra Leone too.

Emmanuel Jonah, our man in Liberia, has developed a remarkably deep understanding of the Ignite vision in just a couple of years, and it has been very humbling to see how Ignite is helping to bring life, hope and purpose to young people and churches across Liberia as this country seeks to rebuild after many years of civil war. I look forward to posting a gallery and a fuller report when I return to the UK next week.

FULFILLMENT.

I've had a real struggle in the last two weeks to get visas to visit LIberia and Nigeria for the Ignite conference that Gary and I are soon to lead. Yesterday I heard that the Nigerian High Commission wouldn't place their transit visa in my passport because I hadn't got a clear page. I'll end up with a Liberia visa in an old passport and a Nigerian transit visa in a new passport. All very frustrating, but I'm sure the conference will be worth it.

However, yesterday was actually very fulfilling-not just because after a 15 year wait I eventually saw OASIS in concert at the Millennium Stadium, but more because I got news from Pastor Prasad that the Gateway School had welcomed its first pupils! After a journey of nearly 4 years a dream has been fulfilled- Prasad,  his wife Sunee, and my wife Gill are all thrilled!  Here's head teacher Sunee, registering some of the first pupils:

I've put some more photos of the first day in a photo album on this site.

Third Day at Fuel Festival, Ballymena N.I.

A cold night in a marquee but with great production and an enthusiastic crowd.

Third Day Concert with Ignite in London.

Good London show! We raised enough money from donations to build at least one and probably two new Ignite India churches. The downside was that we could have done with more people in the crowd, and Lott our tour manager had his laptop stolen!

Time off in London.

Scotty,Mac,Lott and I enjoyed pies and puddings in a traditional English restaurant near Covent Garden. Spotted Dick was a highlight.

Third Day in Denmark

Hectic travel from Slovakia to Denmark saw the band play to 3,000 loud Danish fans in a festival out in the countryside.