We had a great time in Germany.  In the small town where we stayed along the French border.  Our host showed us how the city restored a castle built about 600 years ago and turned it into the city hall.  It is a landmark with a moat and bridge.  It is a local destination for weddings and a source of local price.

There arer so many castled built in the area the government will sell you one for a dollar if you can show the funds and plan to restore and live in it.

More thoughts to come.  We leave for Africa shortly.

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I was reading a Telegraph.CO.UK article this morning and thought of our upcoming election for Governor of Minnesota.  With the field wide open I thought I would give just a bit of campaign advice to the candidates of both parties.  

Please cross this off your list as one possible campaign strategy here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Leaving absolutely nothing to chance, though, supporters sacrificed two sheep outside the hall's entrance, creating pools of blood to be stepped over as huge crowds arrived from all over the Iranian capital and beyond. With the summer temperature outside already a sunny 30C, the sweat was dripping off the walls within minutes. As it turned out, however, neither the Almighty nor the president made a show.  First, a voice over the tannoy announced that Mr Ahmadinejad's motorcade was having trouble getting in through the crowd outside. Then, as the message was repeated half an hour later, more seasoned members of the Iranian media began rolling their eyes: Mr Ahmadinejad probably wasn't planning on turning up at all. Rather like the punk rock group the Sex Pistols, or the singer Pete Doherty, it is not unusual, apparently, for the president to plan a gig but then fail to show. It all adds to the mystique of the man, and in general his supporters don't mind as long as they get a chance for a good knees-up.

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Yes!!! I have been tardy in getting new content published on my website.  I apologize for the lack of new material, but I thought I should bring everyone up to speed on my plans for June and why I've been so quiet. Imagine that a politician with an excuse.

For those of you who do not know I work for an organization called FARMS International.  

We are a small Christian micro-development organization that works with churches in over a dozen countries around the world.  We have a program located in a small country (Rwanda) in East Africa that started five year ago.

Needless to say the program is long overdue for a visit.  Hence, my 10 year old son, Nolan, and the youth pastor from our church / Red Letter Band member, Josh Anderson, will be traveling on what should be an amazing trip.

I hope to post some material during our trip on here and on the FARMS International Blog. 

In addition, I hope to visit with small city leaders in Africa and get their perspective on life in another part of the world.  I hope to post video and pictures so stay tuned.  A lot will depend on the internet resources where we are staying which are limited.  

There is not a lot of detailed information on the areas we will travel too, so this should be a great opportunity to share with everyone one unique content relating too culture, religion, and small city life.

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