Life goes on

It's been too long since I wrote something. Not that I don't have anything to say, just got too much going on at the moment. Today for instance I moved with Nkanyiso and Butho (both from Zimbabwe) to a new place in Muizenburg. I took some pictures with my cellphone. Now I have a lot more space and am able to find some peace and quiet after work. There is always a lot going on at Media Village.

I have written before I have a lot to do at the moment and that is good. One goal of Media Village is to give people a chance to do an internship in the graphics department (its only me so far). That would help me a lot. I have come to realize that I don't have enough time to really adjust to my new environment and it doesn't help to tell myself I have already adapted. It's not true. Everything about life is different here. I think its two things I need right now and that is patience and a church to go to. The church I will attend is very close to my new home.

Currently I am working a few projects at the same time. Oe of which is a documentary on three woman infected by HIV/AIDS. All of which come from the same township in Cape Town. They have very poor and broken backgrounds and in the film they tell their stories and talk about what gives them hope. My part is too prepare some photographs for the film and also create the cover design. A great thing to be involved in.

More to come soon.

Her are more pictures of my new place:

My car

Here is the whole story on my car. A few weeks ago I met Mike from OM South Africa and I told him about the fact that I needed a car. He sayd he will try to help me out and organise something for me. So two days later he rang me to say he had already testdriven a Golf and it is a good price (3500 Euros). That's a great help because I don't know much about cars, except that second-hand cars are more expensive here and that it is better to buy a car in Pretoria than in Cape Town, because of the rust. I dont think it could have worked out any better.

So last Saturday Ncanyiso (easier NK) and I flew to Jo'burg where we were picked up and drove to Pretoria. OM South Africa is situated in Pretoria so I know some people there. Sigi celebrated his birthday and many other people I know were there, too. So I met Mike, Esme and Yvonne again. That was great!

Ben and Anne were also there! I had expected them to be in Mocambique on an outreach, but they are only going this week. Just like me, Ben also grew up in St.Matthäus church in Bremen. I think many people get us mixed up (same name and both South African missionaries). Ben and Anne work and live as staff at the training base there. That is where we stayed over night.


At 4am the next morning we hit the road. 1500 kilometers Africa (that is 930 miles). The long roads cut through beautiful dry land, but it doesnt change much over the entire distance. It looks pretty much like you see on the photo. We arrived safely at 8pm. Thank you for all your prayers.

PS: A short clip.

Job and Car

In the past few weeks I was involved in various Media Village film projects creating the DVD-covers. It is really exciting to see how most of the staff are doing an internship. They started doing a course in Adio or Video and now they are learning with real real projects how to produce films. In the courses to come I will be teaching on Photoshop and Typography. Together we are also thinking of how to establish a grahic-design-course here at Media Village.

Answer to prayer. I don't have picture of it, yet, but it's waiting for me at a friends place in Pretoria – a first generation Golf. It's still beeing built in South Africa – mine will be about ten years old. Next week I will go there and hopefully drive back with my new car. Praise the Lord.

Bullauge 10

Hello again. The first Bullauge from my stay in Cape Town is out and I have sent it to all my supporters. If you too want to receive it, please use the form on the right ("Submit to newsletter").

Guguletu

Yesterday I visited David – a friend of mine from my time on the Doulos. I went to the church for which he works amongst homeless people. The name of the oganisation is called U-Turn and is part of the St. Stephens church. They literally get people from the street to give them one of their twenty beds in an old storage hall. Everyone who knows David will say this kind of job is suits him really well! After the church service I met Nathan the guy with the crutches. Nathan is one of those people whom David gave the opportunity for a place to sleep. He is an Indian from Durban and a few years ago he left everything behind to "move" to Cape Town. He needs his crutches since he was shot a few times in his body, because he did ot want ot join a gang. After he woke up out of his koma he gave his life to Jesus. I would have loved to have heard more of his story, but David and I had to leave to go to Guguletu.

We took a taxi* to Guguletu the place in which David grew up and where his parents live. Guguletu is an expreience! When we arrived at 12:30 their church service was still going. Also Guguletu is one of Cape Town porest areas. Most of the living places are kind of shanty houses, but Davids parents live very comfortably and I had a nap for half an hour.

In the evening then we headed back to St.Stephens Church. They have a youth service there every sundaya evening. since I am here in Cape Town I have visited five churches, but I am still not sure were to stay.

*Travelling in a taxi is not the same as in Europe where you pay through the nose and its nice an comfortable. It's more like an overcrowded minibus – one of South Africas "must" experiences".

Kalkies

I went for fish and chips at "Kalkies" with Simtong from Nigeria tonight and we met a coloured man, called David. He works at the Kalk Bay harbour since he was fourteen, so for forty years now. He cleans the fish that the little fishing boats bring in during the day. He lives a bit further outside of Kalk Bay and can't afford to get back after work. So like many other he stays over night and sleeps on a bench or under a truck. Many times things would get stolen. If it rains the owner of Kalkies lets these men sleep inside. David also intruduced us to Nome.

Just as many South African black people Nome speaks Xhosa (the language with the many click-sounds). This guy even had been in the newspaper a few years ago. During a catch on the open sea Nome's fellow crew members gradually left him in by setting back home on a trawler boat. All alone he waited for three weeks for people to pick him up and take him back home, but noone came. He had kept himself and the motor running, but soon the food was empty and there was no other way to set back home all by himself, but he never learnt to steer or to navigate a ship, but he got home safely eventually.

Both David and Nome always mentioned that the Lord has helped them in their lives. Even though Simtong and I never said clearly that we were Christians David asked me in the end if I can give him a bible the next time I see him. "Preferably Afrikaans", he said.

Deep down South

Just as you have to see the "Roland" in Bremen or the "Muttental" in Witten, you can't live in Cape Town without having seen "Cape Point"

I am doing well and I am glad I am settling into the community here, eventhough some things take their time. I can say I have been accepted very well ,by my new collegues and that means a lot to me. Still I am waiting for my new computer so I have to work at my laptop for the time being, but that's ok.

In the meantime I can see in more detail what my tasks will be here at MediaVillage and I am looking foreward to tell you more about it.

Today the wife of the leader of MediaVillage (Diane) came back from Uganda. Together with a videoteam she visited various organisations and also she met up the First Lady of Uganda (Mama Jane). They also interviewed the president himself. Mama Jane is a born again Christian and is able to explain the condition of her country from a biblical perspective. The developement of Uganda is a good example for the fact that our faith can change large communities for the good. The AIDS-politics for example and the nationwide campaign "Love Waits" resulted in decreasing numbers of infected people by HIV. In all other African countries these numbers are rising.

At this time MediaVillage has 28 similar projects running. My task will be to design the covers for the DVDs.

Last Saturday I went to a local radio-station. I got to know some people who work there and they invited me just to sit in and watch. When they started the show the speaker started to interview me ... I am trying to get hold of the recorded tape so I can show it to you here on the web.

I am there!

So. My parents and my brother, Sam, took me down to Düsseldorf through the night so I could check in at 7am. Before I went on board the plane the Meier family and Johnnes came to say good bye, too. They waved on the visitors platform and I could see them when the plane drove by just before take off. I doubt they could see my though. I really know lovely people!

Except for a few lovely views over the Alps, the long roads of the Sahara desert and sormy clouds over Namibia (awsome) I found the flight to be rather boring. I sat alone so I had time to reflect on home and say goodbye inwardly. On arrival in Cape Town it took a while to find Butho (the dirver) and Swat (his girlfriend), the people to collect me, but eventually I found them.

Today it was good to take part in a staff meeting so I could get to know my new collegues. The house is full due to a descipleship training course running at the moment. For that reason I will have to share my room soon with someone esle. For now that's fine.

Picture: Landing in Cape Town

I am leaving

Friends, it is happening. On Sunday I will be on my way to Cape Town. For me this means new friends, new church and new experiences. I am stepping on unknown grounds. It also means to leave trusted friends and to trust God once again. I can learn a lot and need your prayers.

I will keep you informed.

Visa and more again

Many things have happened recently. On Friday I recieved my Passport with the visa for South Africa! Praise the Lord. On Sunday I was prayed for in the church service in Witten. I was in Witten for a few days to say goodbye to all my friends there. That was very good. I can see Gods timing to be prefect in many ways. Now I am checking flights and packing my stuff to leave soon.

This is also very important news: A week ago Johannes called me to invite me to a football match with Wynton Rufer (ex-soccer-professional at Werder Bremen). You can see how I tackled him easily.

Simon and I took Johnny and his fiancée back to Marburg. They go to bibleschool there: Marburger Bibelseminar. Also we met up with Mirko. He is doing an internship at Christus-Treff just as I did twelve years ago.

Not to forget. I took my sister back to Hamburg where I hepled her put up some shelves. Check that: Billy-Regal

Picture: Johnny in Marburg

Christmas

Christmas holidays are over and I am in front of my computer again. The correction phase of the German version of the book "The power of a praying Teen" is lying before me. Christmas was great. Five of my siblings came over to my parents place and stayed over night. Anna and Johnny are still here for a few more days.

On 22 December I finally got all my documents out to the South African embassy to apply for my visa. Let's hope and pray that I can leave to Cape Town by the end of January.

Family photograph – automatic release!

Weekend in Witten

It is always good to go to the place where I lived before I went to the ship to meet a lot of my friends. I stayed with Johannes.Traveling by train I arrived on Friday evening and we were on the go to visit people on Saturday and Sunday.

One of our "games" is to meet new people. On my way to Witten, in Dortmund, there was a lady on the platform. She was obviously struggling with her luggage and she had just missed a train, so I asked her if she needed my cellphone. I found out she had studied in Witten years ago where she met her husband. Now she lives with her family in the south of Germany, but travelled up to meet up with old friends. She was hoping they were still awake and had something to eat left over, because she had been on the go for nine hours. She was very interested in my time on the Doulos and also about my plans to go to South Africa. She asked what motivated me to go to foreign countries to share my faith. I said, because I believe that Jesus truely sets us free. I hope she will remember that.

After chruch on Sunday Johannes and I set off to go to a city nearby (Wuppertal) to meet more friends. In order to do that we had to change trains a few times and train-stations were the best place for our "game". Besides meeting Lena and the odd man with the dog we also met Murat. Murat comes from Tunesia, but he lives in Germany since twelve years. The evening we met he had just escaped a psychiatric hospital. He suffers from panic attaks and feels deserted by his family. They wont let him back home until he finishes his therapy. Now he was on his way to a friend of which he wasn't sure if he was home or not. I asked him what it is that keeps him going. "My friends and a cup of tea", he said. Then came his train.

Picture: Me close to the train-station in Wuppertal-Oberbarmen

Olli Online 3

Olli's new newsletter is out and also he has a Blog now, too. Check it out. Olli finished his theology studies and is now doing an internship in America after which he will come back to Germany to do churchplanting.

My Visa: I still need two documents in order to hand in my visa application to the South African embassy. I hope once I have handed all the papers in that it will go fast and I can book a flight soon. Bless You.

Drydock

I received a mail from Phillip today. The Doulos is just out of drydock in Singapore. For the men this means two hard weeks of 12-hour-days lay behind them. Most women go on socalled landteams. Phillips job is to put those kind of teams together so before drydock he was asked if he rather wanted to join a team. His answer: "A man has to do what a man has to do!” And this is the picture that goes with it (from left to right: Glen, Sam, Phillip). I miss you guys, but not the work ;)

About Blog: I reordered the sidebar a little. To find all the links from before click on (guess) "Links"

Visa and more

I've got almost everything together to apply for my South African visa. The only thing that is still standing out is the invitation from Media Village. I hope to get the visa soon so I can book a flight for January.

"The Power of a praying Teen" was translated into German and I am doing the typesetting of it. I am also working on some other things and hopefully will end everything in the coming month.

What do you think of my new glasses?

Bullauge 09

My new newsletter is there. Just before Christmas so it doesn't get lost in peoples Christmas post. Unfortunately this newsletter is in German and I will not write an Enlish version so soon, but if you want to download it anyway just click the picture above or use the "More Downloads" link on the side. To keep updated with the newest information on what is happening just keep visiting this website.

Preaching material

Johannes Came to me on Wednesday two weeks ago. In our conversation we started talking about his recources on preaching material that he has gathered over the past. He wanted to put it on CD for other youthpastors to use freely. I told him I would do the design of the CD covers and so we got going.
The production was needed for a seminar at our church the next Wednesday and also for the WillowCreekCongress that followed here in Bremen. So I also created a pamphlet explaining all the material.

I had a free ticket for the congress but I couldn't take part in all the sessions. I was very much inspired by an interview by Bill Hybles with Bono.

I have finished the intro of the TeensMag-Bible. Also the set of "40 Days of Love". Now I will start the production of a book called "The Power of a Praying Teen" published in Brockhaus-Verlag.

This week I have to finish my newsletter so it can be in the post before all the Christmas things arrive. Otherwise it will not be read. I will write about my departure to South Africa so stay tuned ... oh I always forget my newsletter is in German ... but I will translate the main points in English and put it here.


Our stand at the WillowCreekCongress.

Update

The day before yesterday I received an email from Media Village. The application is through and they have accepted me as one of their staff!!! Actually this was just an other formality, but with this information I can move on with my visa and other practical things. Good News!

Media Village had planned to move into an other building at the beginning of the coming year. There I would have had an accomodation available, but now I heared that the move has been posponed for the beginning of 2008. Therefor I will need a place to stay. Of course the people at Media Village will help me in this, but still it's a reason to pray.

I have a lot to do at the moment, which is good! The company I worked for before I went on Doulos (click on Bundes-Verlag) has asked me to design the first 35 pages of their "Bible for Teens". Today is a public holiday in that region and nobody is working on the correction at present, so I will work on a DVD-cover for a friend (click on Johannes Müller).

Please also pray for more financial support. At the moment there is still not enough for me to go abroad (click on Support :-)

English Version

Many people have asked recently if could put my thoughts out here in English, too. So here is my English blog. You might ask yourself some questions about some things here so before you get all confused, let me explain.

1. What are you doing and what are your plans?
I left the ship in March not really knowing where to start to sort things out to go to Media Village, South Africa. The two main questions were: 1. Would I find a suitalble Organisation to take over the part of work the OM-Germany did for me while on the ship? 2. Would my church send me out on this next step? Both of the major questions were answered with YES. I finally got these answers in July. So since then I am on the go raising support and informing people. Next to this I am also working for various friends designing flyers and broshures and stuff.

Right now I am waitging for Media Village to respond to an application I sent in a few days ago. Also I still need financial support. Other than that I have just finished the layout of a book (more requests are coming in) and doing some design work for a befriended company.

Please feel free to email me and to download the presentation.

2. What does Bullauge mean?
The name of my newsletter is "Ben's Bullauge". It means Ben's porthole. But Bullauge is also the same word used for bullseye. Everyone who received the newsletter got very much used to the name. So people commented: "When is the next 'Bullauge' going to come?" or "I read your 'Bullauge'." So I – and the person who does the design work for me – decided to keep the name and also to give my blog the same title. The German blog is now found at www.ben.nimmo.de but it is listed as www.bullauge.blogspot.com The English blog is therfore called ebullauge – just to add to the confusion ;)

3. Why is your profile in German?
Because I have not found out how to change it, yet. I dont know much about webdesign.

Does that help? So much for now. Ben

PS: Have a look at the two posts below. I posted them also today!

Greeting Cards

As I also did on the ship I recently needed some greeting cards. So I used pictures that I did during my time on the Doulos and printed them out to be folded (like the thank you cards for lineup). Then I had the idea of putting some of them online so others can download them, too.

Click on "Greeting Cards" to have a look at them. If you decide to download and print the cards, just follow the instructions.