48266 is the number once used by local operators to dial my father’s home in Shelby, Ohio. Dad shared that detail with me recently while on safari. We were standing next to each other one afternoon as our safari jeep rumbled along, with our heads poking through its roof windows. We...

It was thrilling to find this twilight scene in Zanzibar. Scores of young men were lined up along Stonetown’s water front … waiting for their turn to launch themselves in to the Indian Ocean. Some did flips. Others soared. A few belly flopped. One young man barely cleared the...

Some friends passed along this poem from Sir Francis Drake for our journey: Disturb us Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we dreamed too little, Because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when With the abundance of things...

(NOTE: That’s not an inappropriate finger thing going on. It’s the FOURTH finger, the ring finger, celebrating Eugene and Elaine’s engagement. They’re the fourth and fifth folks from the right.) Earlier this week, I was listening to a long-term missionary who’s...

As I write, some close friends are working with a team somewhere in America — in the dark — to bring light and help to people who need it. Also as I write, our small Zanzibar guest house is without power – in the dark. Minutes ago, I was expressing my disappointment to the front...

We visited a cave today in Zanzibar once used by Arab slave traders. Years ago, as British troops and ships started to enforce the end of legal slavery in east Africa, traders tried to conceal their slaves in secret places until high tides and darkness made their export business easier. So,...