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	<title>Helen Mottee.com</title>
	<link>http://www.helenmottee.com</link>
	<description>Just another WordPress weblog</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:07:30 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>&#8220;I gave it away&#8221;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Almost daily,  I have been reminded lately &#8211; and challenged- about the concept of giving. Not that I haven&#8217;t reflected and chewed on this before &#8211; many, many times. But several weeks ago, I was privileged to spend a couple of one &#8211; on &#8211; one hours with a friend who was a full time volunteer at Crossroads for 4 years, and was visiting from the UK&#8230;and, yet again, the conversation has, metaphorically speaking, thrown me another gauntlet, and I&#8217;d like to share it with you.
Nearly three years ago, my friend&#8217;s mother died &#8211; with no warning, no tell &#8211;...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2010/03/03/i-gave-it-away/</link>
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		<title>The Power of One</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve often reflected on the fact that the number one, for me personally, is very significant.
One phone call in 1999 began a journey with one song, called  &#8216;They Told Me This Is Africa&#8217;, which continues to shape my music &#8211; and the journey of life itself.
Another phone call in 2002 was the first seed sown, in a tilling and ploughing of &#8216;heart ground&#8217;, which brought myself, Jim, and our two children to Hong Kong to serve as volunteers with Crossroads International.
And yet another call, made in 2006 in the upper room of a printing press in Chiang Mai, Thailand, led...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2010/02/18/the-power-of-one/</link>
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		<title>Oh Dear – a new song inspired by Hotel Rwanda, the ongoing Burma crisis and various conversations.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[ 
Oh dear, what’s the hoo-ha
there&#8217;s  another genocide somewhere in Africa
We’ll all talk about it for at least 10 minutes
Then get on with eating dinner
And thank God that we’re not in it
 
Blacks are killing blacks
The world is nonchalant
There’s something in the paper
In small neat font
People being chopped
But I’m blasé
After all, this is what happens in Africa today.
 
Oh dear, let&#8217;s  get our head out of the sand
Now the whites are at risk in that godless land
 send in the convoys and the military clout
Gotta act fast, get our nationals out!
 
Cause blacks are killing blacks
The world is looking on
Now...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2010/02/18/oh-dear-%e2%80%93-a-new-song-inspired-by-hotel-rwanda-and-various-conversations/</link>
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		<title>Left not the same.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This past month has introduced another  amazing individual into our lives. For me, this is the &#8216;heart equivalent&#8217; of winning a huge jackpot &#8211; except  in this case the dividends  will be ever enlarging ones, and in no way dependent on the whims of economic climate.
Steve is a dentist from the USA and we met by &#8216;chance&#8217; in a bookshop in Kowloon. Our conversation began with him asking me a question, and several hours later, after having migrated to the nearest Starbucks, we continued to be engaged in what has been another life altering meeting.
A  shared meal 2 days later&#8230;and...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2010/02/17/left-not-the-same/</link>
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		<title>Perspective</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently I was privileged to attend a wedding here in Hong Kong, where the two people marrying are from diverse cultures and ethnicities. Raphael is from DR Congo and Fe from the Philippines.  The bishop who conducted the ceremony is from Zambia and he delivered, with much humour, a message for the bride and groom which applies to all of us &#8211; a successful relationship, of any  kind, requires adjustment.
Adjustment! All of us who were guests at this wedding will, I&#8217;m guessing, never forget what the bishop spoke on, as this word was mentioned in every second phrase, yes literally!
In...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2010/02/11/perspective/</link>
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		<title>Am I In Default?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This idea has been a recurring and deepening focus of thought and meditation lately. It has been fueled by readings, conversations and, I believe most of all, by heavenly prompting.
When reflecting recently on the privilege of choice, and all the limitless opportunities that brings to me personally, I began to hear in my mind, like an echo, this little phrase – ‘to whom much is given’ – and the echo continues to build in crescendo and intensity, accompanied by the equally arresting PS – ‘much shall be required.’
‘Whom’ is such a profoundly simple word that encompasses everyone.
Every human being alive...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2009/12/08/am-i-in-default/</link>
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		<title>In memory&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[ &#8216;A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer&#8217;
These are the words to a song I wrote some time ago, called Frightened -
I&#8217;m just like you
I play with my friends, I go to school
I cry when I graze my knee
I like ice cream
Are you like me?
I&#8217;m just like you
I &#8216;ll gasp at a rainbow and scuff my shoe
I still wish we&#8217;d have chocolate for tea
don&#8217;t like homework
are you like me?
I have lots of questions
no one can answer
sometimes I have nightmares
do you have them too?
the grownups are crying
airwaves are dancing
another suicide bomber
I&#8217;m frightened
I&#8217;m just like you
just watch what...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2009/09/10/in-memory/</link>
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		<title>The Privilege of Choice.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[




Today, for me, is like every other day here in Hong Kong.


After choosing to stay up late again, checking emails and doing some searching over the web, I struggled out of bed this morning, knowing that once again the making of, and drinking, a fresh, strong mug of coffee would pull me through!


 


During the day I will choose, again, whether to venture out into the Hong Kong heat and walk down the hill for lunch  or stay in the air conditioning and not bother about eating.


 


Tonight I will look in the cupboard and scan the refrigerator and decide...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2009/09/09/the-privilege-of-choice/</link>
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		<title>Return to Zimbabwe</title>
		<description><![CDATA[



16 years is a long time in our speed oriented world when so much happens in our lives in just a week! Going back to this other home, which I have missed deeply since I lived there for a year in 1991, has proven to be another hugely significant experience. Many of you would know about the email we received from Jenny N. telling us that her husband John, and 2 neighbours, had been arrested and faced the penalty of death by hanging. This email set a chain of amazing events into being, which resulted in me flying to Harare...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2009/08/13/return-to-zimbabwe/</link>
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		<title>Was it just a year ago?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Over 100,000 people killed. Thousands missing. Tens of thousands displaced. Mass devastation of farmland and destruction of livestock. Villages gone.
Myanmar. Already suffering and isolated, within hours became even more so. The world&#8217;s cameras took us all there in those initial horrific days, and for a very few symbolic moments, we mourned and our senses were appropriately shocked.
We watched and listened and waited for the expected reports of aid getting in, and when we were told there were delays and  humanitarian efforts were being hindered, we were outraged. But a week or so later other news items hustled their way...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.helenmottee.com/2009/05/12/was-it-just-a-year-ago/</link>
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