There was the Egypt collection…

The fantastic Greek exhibit…

The Mesopotamian exhibit - I think this was my personal favorite.

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, showing a Biblical scene - King Jehu bringing tribute.

The Cyrus Cylinder.

A fragment of the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh.

And then we flew home…

What do the Romans, the first King of all England, Jane Austen, and Queen Victoria have in common?

Well, they’re all good reasons to visit the beautiful town of Bath. Which we did.

Bath Abbey, where Edgar, the “first King of all the English,” was crowned in 973.

Bath Abbey towering above the ancient Roman baths.

The Roman baths.

Pulteney Bridge over the River Avon.

For me, the trip to England would have been incomplete without seeing Stonehenge, a site that I have admired pictures of for as long as I can remember. So on our jaunt outside the city, we went.

When we left London, it was grey, overcast, and tough for pictures. While we were at Windsor, the clouds began to break, and by the time we got to Stonehenge, there was a blue sky with fantastic fluffy clouds. Could not have been much nicer for pictures!

I wish I could show you pictures of St. George’s Chapel, the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter. And I wish I could show you interior shots of Windsor’s grandiose beauty (not to mention treasures, like Rembrandt originals, for instance, that were inside). But alas, photography was strictly forbidden on those photo-rich environments. So we’ll have to make do with the exterior shots.

…because, as every good tourist knows, Big Ben is the bell inside the Great Clock Tower.

(I’m a good tourist in the sense that I know that, and knew it prior to this trip. I’m a bad tourist in the sense that I always think of Big Ben, in my head, as the tower. And every time I do, I tell myself, “You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is ‘never pinch the bearskin of a Coldstream Guard’ - but only slightly less well known is this: ‘Never say you saw Big Ben to an Englishman, because your ignorance would be hilarious.’ Ha ha ha…” and so forth.)

And this I must say: In spite of all the pictures I have seen in my life of Westminster Palace and the Great Clock Tower, it was far more beautiful than I imagined. It was stunning. I wish that my pictures could do it justice - but since I’ve never seen a shot that did, I have no pretensions that these will!

So, here are my pictures not of Big Ben.

London was not unlike the rest of the Reformation Tour in the sense that we visited churches. Tons of them, each beautiful in its own way. In London, though, not all of the churches were necessarily grand cathedrals.

Here, for instance, is the Wesley chapel, which we accompanied with a visit to John Wesley’s home.

One of the rooms in which John and Charles Wesley would converse on Charles’s frequent visits.

Some of the churches we visited WERE grand cathedrals, though - like Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, St. Paul’s.

And other potentially memorable churches - like Westminster Abbey.

While at St. Paul’s, of course, it is a necessity to climb up through the Whispering Gallery (where I held a whispered conversation with a fellow tourist who was standing on the other side of the dome), through the Stone Gallery, and up to the Golden Gallery, or what we liked to refer to as the “tippy-top.” Over 500 steps later, it was absolutely worth the view. (The intro picture in this post is from the tippy-top, as well.)

Our first stop, other than dropping off our bags at the hotel, was to head to the Tower of London for the Ceremony of the Keys, the locking of the Tower. We went back again to see the Tower itself the next morning, and spent a few hours - but I’m pretty sure I could have spent days in the Tower alone, exploring a richness of history that has few rivals.

The Tower from the Thames.

And then, of course, there is the most famous bridge-in-London-that-is-not-the-London-Bridge - the Tower Bridge. Also the most iconic and beautiful bridge spanning the Thames.

Beautiful night or day.

The White Tower

On our way through England down to London, we stopped at Blenheim Palace for a detailed look at a grand English country estate - this one doubly special, because aside from the intrinsic charm of the architecture and gardens, it is also the ancestral home of the Churchills. (Yes, that Churchill!)

I

St. Andrews was not a scheduled stop on our trip, but when we went to church in Dundee and had a longish lunch break, a few of us (the “Crazy Six”) hailed a cab and took off north.

St. Andrews is the birthplace of golf, but more importantly for our purposes, it is the site of the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral, which John Knox, as a slave on a French galley, saw from his ship and prophesied that he would return to Scotland and preach there. And he did.

The cathedral is now in ruins…but what a ruins.

We arrived at the Royal Mile, a busy stretch of street from Mary’s Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle. And in the middle, what was to me the most beautiful of all the great cathedrals we visited on this trip: St. Giles, John Knox’s church and still considered the mother church of Presbyterianism.

John Knox is far from the only noteworthy individual in Edinburgh’s illustrious history. Here’s another.

Holyrood Palace, home of Mary, Queen of Scots and birthplace of King James.

The ruins of Holyrood Abbey, founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland, and now a gorgeous ruins.

I don’t remember the first time that I read the book The Hiding Place, but it was absolutely one of the most memorable and impacting books of my growing-up years. Being in the house was nothing short of surreal. I’m pretty sure I missed most of what the guide said as we sat in the living room, as the stories flooded back into my mind, all the more real for being there.

The compartment in the stairs where the ration cards were hidden from the Nazis.

The hiding place.

The closet entry to the hiding place.

Casper ten Boom’s Bible.

And while in Haarlem, we managed to fit in a stop at a fantastic cheese shop for some Dutch Gouda.

Schloss Hämelschenburg

This little building, on the grounds of Castle Hämelschenburg, is our Reformation highlight. It is, to best of our knowledge, the oldest church built as a Protestant church.

And of course, no trip to Hamlin would be complete without a walk along the Pied Piper’s route! We passed the street where, to this day, music is outlawed, and thanks to such regulation, our lives were preserved from his pipes.

And at that time, there is really no doubt as to the spark that lit the fire - Luther’s 95 Theses, which he nailed to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg.

The site of the nailing (these bronze doors replaced the original wooden ones).

The home given to the Luthers by Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.

An original indulgence collection box - the very issue that prompted Luther’s writings.

Luther’s preaching pulpit.

The wooden table where Luther discussed theology with his students, leading to his famous “Table Talks.”

After Rothenburg, our next stop was the Wartburg Castle. I knew Wartburg as the place where Luther was taken after being kidnapped by his friends for his own protection. Little did I know the grandeur and deeper history of this amazing castle!

Built on the side of a cliff for defensive reasons, the castle overlooks the city of Eisenach. Building was begun in 1068, and in the 13th century was home to St. Elisabeth of Hungary.

The inside is no less grand then the exterior.

One nice thing about these castles is that they are never over-decorated, say, by taking millions of little glass pieces and making the whole room a mosaic…

But even that cannot compare to the Grand Hall.

In this castle was set the story of the Battle of the Minstrels, later memorialized by Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser (R. Wagner just keeps popping up!).

But in spite of the grandeur of the castle, its crowning jewel was this tiny room, the Lutherstübe, wherein Luther spent months translating the New Testament into the common German. Standing in this tiny room was nothing short of surreal.

We fell in love with the beautiful medieval walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Hopefully these show you a little of the “why.”

Next stop, Zurich and Ulrich Zwingli’s Grossmünster.

Zurich from the tower.

Richard Wagner apparently once remarked that Grossmünster looked like salt and pepper shakers. That’s OK, though - if these look like salt and pepper shakers, we won’t say what Brumhilde sounds like.

Then, a visit to Constance, Germany, where this understated rock marks the place where John Huss was martyred.

And the whirlwind continues!

Tech problems notwithstanding, we have had an incredible time thus far - I’m way behind on posting, but that’s probably OK as I’m well behind on editing, too. These shots are from two days ago, when we were thoroughly enjoying the absolute beauty of Lucerne, Mt. Pilatus, and Switzerland in general. Enjoy.

Lucerne

Museggmauer, a 14th century fortification for Lucerne

Geneva is a stunning mix of the old and new. Here, St. Pierre’s towers above the modern shopping district.

The famous Jet D’eau by day.

St. Pierre’s Cathedral - the church John Calvin preached at for decades.

Calvin’s pulpit.

A little cafe we passed on the tour…and later returned to for some fantastic fondue.

The centerpiece of the Reformation Wall (my apologies to William Farel for the shadow obscuring his face).

Roger Williams at the Reformation Wall.

An unexpected highlight - getting to read an original 1602 Geneva Bible.

Tomorrow on the bus I hope to edit and prepare some shots from our fantastic day in and around the place for which Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata got its nickname…

We’re here, having a blast, enjoying the beauty! Here is Geneva’s famed Jet D’eau by night.

Don’t miss the Facebook exlusives, including fighting salamanders, rambutan, durian, men in skirts, and so much more…click here for the whole thing.

After our few days in Thailand, we flew to Rangoon (or Yangon, as it is actually pronounced).  Our work in Burma was the highlight of the trip, as I’ve already mentioned, and it was with great anticipation that I looked out of the airplane window and caught my first glimpse of one of Burma’s many rivers.

While in Burma, we discovered a country of great contrasts - incredible glitz contrasted with great poverty, for instance, and, with the people we worked with, incredible joy in the face of great suffering.

While in Burma, we had the chance to see some incredible sights.

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda dominates the Rangoon skyline.

The Eastern Entrance at dusk.

Not all was gold and glitz, however - in fact, very little was.

No place like the side of the road for a little truck repair.

As you fly into the Phuket airport, you can look out of the plane windows and see some remarkable geographic phenomena.  All along the coast, limestone islands jut out of the ocean at vertical angles, providing an incredible beauty.  I was delighted that we had the chance to explore some of these beautiful islands a bit more closely before leaving southern Thailand…

The limestone caves formed on these rocky outcroppings were beautiful.

An ancient painting made, our guide informed us, by the “sea gypsies.”

The floating fishing village of Koh Panyi, where we had lunch.

This shot was the most dangerous of all those I took on the trip.  While I was innocently taking pictures of cute monkeys, I heard someone calling my name.  I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it got more and more insistent - and before I could figure out what was going on, I was jumped by a monkey.

The temple is known to tourists, quite appropriately, as Monkey Cave Temple.  By locals it is called Wat Tam - Cave Temple.

We closed our touring with a visit to the fish spa, where hundreds of these little fishes help you exfoliate by eating the dead skin off of your feet.  I was skeptical, but after trying, I found my feet felt strangely…refreshed.  Also quite tickled.

Katie was not skeptical at all.

The primary purpose of this year’s Thailand and Burma trip was to conduct a series of clinics.  The doctors and dentists provided medical services for the children in Remember’s two orphanages, and while “in the area,” provided similar services to children involved with the CDC near Phuket, Thailand, and in Burma.

Remember’s orphanages provide for approximately 85 beautiful children from around Burma.  This was my first chance to see the work firsthand, and let me tell you, these kids are impressive.  In spite of the suffering they have experienced, they exude a joy that can’t be missed, and they shared that joy with the entire team.  I’m not sure if playing games with them was more fun for us, or for them!  After four days in Burma, I don’t think any of us were ready to leave.

Over the course of three days of clinics in three different locations in two different countries, our doctors and dentists saw well more than 500 people.  The conditions they saw varied from the mundane (at least by our well-medicated standards) to the startling.  The most startling was at one of the community clinics, where parents brought a 10-month old child with a massive case of untreated hydroencephalitis.  At one month, the mother told the doctor, the child was normal - and at ten months, the child had a head larger than the rest of its body, filled with fluid building up around the brain and keeping the skull from coming together.  The pediatrician told me that he had never seen anything like it, because such a condition never goes untreated in the U.S.  The treatment is a rather simple procedure, for a hospital, but these young parents could not afford it.  Now, thanks to our doctors and some generous donors, the child will be taken care of.  Whether there will be permanent brain damage cannot be said before the treatment - you can pray for total healing.

And please continue to pray for the ongoing effect of these trips.  Because of the trip Remember took last year, doors are opening up in amazing ways.  Pray that this trip will continue to open doors, and these children and the communities will never forget the love of Christ that we went to show in every way we could.

Katie’s assigned job was playing with the kids, and boy did she make lots of friends.

Apparently, dentists are allowed to have fun.  Who knew?

Prayer time on the school bus!

It has been far too long in between missions trips for me, and it is great to be back on the ground in Thailand. Katie and I had a day in Bangkok, met up with the rest of the team, and are now down in southern Thailand for clinics and community development projects.

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Introducing Katie to Pad Thai

The Chao Phraya River at sunset

Time for a river cruise

Wat Arun

And off to work - while Katie helped the dentists, I went on a team to help upkeep the memorial for the victims of the tsunami. This is the entrance before…

…And after.

The Ban Naam Ken Tsunami Memorial

More to come! Thanks for the prayers…they are being felt in many ways as we work here and prepare to go into Burma.

The country of Burma holds the very dubious distinction of being the home of the longest running civil war in the world. The many ethnic minorities scattered throughout the country have faced the brunt of the violence from the ruling junta.

One of those ethnic minorities is the Karen, a largely Christian ethnic group which has been specially targeted because of their Christian faith. Every year, the ruling junta sends out a marauding army to the jungles of the Karen state, during a time which the Karen people simply call the “killing season.” These attacks have left behind a wake of widows and orphans with nowhere to turn but the Body of Christ.

In just a couple of weeks, Remember will be sending a team to minister to the children of martyrs in the in Burma and in neighboring Thailand, where many Karen are forced to flee. Remember has three orphanages in the region, where these children receive food, lodging, care, and instruction. A part of the care is regular trips which Remember takes to provide the children with medical care and supplies, provide building teams, and to give encouragement to the children, their caretakers, and the people traveling.

I have been to minister in this region of the world twice before, and can speak very personally about both the need of these Christians and the powerful ministry of these trips. Katie and I are delighted that we are going to get to be on this trip. My primary task will be assisting the dentists, and Katie will be working with the kids. Others will be providing medical attention, construction assistance, and more.

You can help

The very best thing you can do to help us out is to pray.  Pray that each member of the team would be prepared in heart and body to minister with great energy and wisdom on the trip.  Pray that travel details would all fall together.  Pray that God’s blessings would flow through us to these members of the Body of Christ.

And such trips are far from cheap.  In addition to praying, you could certainly help us out by donating towards our expenses!  If you are so led, you can donate via PayPal to gabe AT gabewaddell DOT com, or you can make a tax deductible donation (to our expenses, or Remember’s ongoing work) via Remember’s donation page. If you would like the donation to go to our expenses, please put “Waddell Trip” in the comments box. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Stay tuned for updates.