Faith on the ice of Lake Femund with Rolf Eriksen. We felt a bit insecure - the ice may be 1 metre thick, but the water below is 184 metres deep.	The winter wonderland in the village of Elgå, Norway, where we were based.	With friends in the dining room at Femund Fjellstue. On the left is Paul Sunde, my interpreter, opposite his wife, Cecilie.	Reindeer skins being sold by Lapps at the annual winter market in the town of Røros, Norway.
Yes, that's me about to head for the Swedish mountains, but not in my usual Skoda Octavia.	The view from our bedroom window at Femund Fjellstue - a constantly-changing and fascinating vista.	Taking dominion over a local troll in Røros, a historic town in Norway.	Preparing for the meeting in the Missionskirkan in Idre, Sweden.

At the end of this page there are a couple of my own attempts to capture the Norwegian landscape.

Ruby Wedding

On 8 December 2002 Faith and I clocked up 40 years of marriage. This is us on the big day.

We had a marvellous celebration weekend with all the kids in Cardiff, with a special meal, speeches, champagne, prezzies, a serenade and lots of laughter. In the evening we went off to see the latest Harry Potter film (sorry if some of you are shocked; I don't share the misgivings of some Christians about HP).

God has been amazingly good to us. At the age of 22 and 20, Faith and I came to marriage with nil pre-marriage counselling and a fair degree of naivety, but we took our vows seriously and with the Lord's blessing have enjoyed an ever-deepening relationship as the years have rolled by.

If you're thinking of divorcing, don't do it! Long-term, the negatives almost invariably outweigh the imagined positives. Look to God for the grace to stay married and to move your relationship from enduring to enjoying.

Corfu and Albania

Faith and I revisited Corfu in 2002 - a special holiday to mark two big events: Faith was 60 in January, and we notched up 40 years of marriage in December.

We stayed at Aghios Gordios on the West coast and enjoyed a super break, with glorious scenery, sunshine, a beach just a few steps away, and good food - plus some marvellous sunsets from our balcony (pic). I managed to read the first four of Jean Auel's hefty Earth's Children novels and finished the fifth after our return.

Corfu, being Greek, is dominated by the Greek Orthodox Church. There are churches everywhere, but everyday life is governed as much by superstition and fear of 'the evil eye' as by real spirituality. I visited a few Orthodox churches, which are highly ornate, with icons and silver plate everywhere (pic). The curator at one village church informed us with pride that he had to light 71 candles in readiness for each service!

The patron saint of Corfu is Saint Spiridon, whose mummified corpse is paraded through the streets of Corfu Town in a glass-topped coffin several times a year. Yecch! Wayside shrines, many dedicated to him (pic), are to be found near hairpin bends everywhere.

We took a day trip to nearby Albania, the poorest country in Europe, which is only a mile and a half from Corfu at the nearest point (pic shows national flag). It once boasted of being the world's first atheistic state, with all religious practice forbidden. Since communism collapsed and Albania opened its borders in 1991 the country has been struggling to throw off its past and its poverty. It will be a long job.

If you go there, don't miss Butrint, a spectacular archaeological site whose earliest parts go back 3000 years. The splendid baptistry (pic), dating from the 5th century AD, attests to the centrality of the Christian faith there in earlier times. A modern Orthodox church in the port of Saranda reflects the re-establishment of Christianity in this once-atheist country.

Wider ministry

My main ministry is at my home church, Five Towns Christian Fellowship, based in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. But I also get around to teach elsewhere, mostly in the UK but sometimes overseas.

Of the 2001 overseas trips, Zambia was a particular delight after a 10-year absence, renewing fellowship with lots of old friends from my many previous visits. The highlight was a bush conference attended by 2500 people in the middle of nowhere at Kachikula, about 40 miles south of Mwinilunga, NW Province.

Some had walked nearly 100 miles to get there, carrying their pots and pans and with children in tow. The people (of whom just a small section are in this photo) sat on the earth under the shady trees, hungry for the word of the Lord. As for the singing and worship, they were wonderful—that inimitable African style always makes me want to cry.

A local chief, HRH Chief Kakoma, attended the conference. A professing Christian for some time, he recommitted his life to the Lord. The picture shows me standing with him and, in the background, some of the grass shelters in which the people lived for the week.

One evening we showed the Jesus video in the local Lunda language. A Honda generator was pop-popping behind a tree to power the VCR and back-projector. The people were amazed that Jesus and his disciples could speak Lunda! There was loud wailing from the women at the crucifixion scene, and spontaneous clapping and cheering when Jesus appeared in the upper room after his resurrection! Hearing that a film was on, some non-Christians had come in from the surrounding villages, so an appeal at the end saw 130 wanting to become Christians.

Famous forbears?

Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, houses the tomb of a medieval aristocrat with the same name as me. Not surprising, perhaps, since the Matthew family name is apparently of Welsh origin.

The picture shows me alongside the tomb, holding the descriptive legend which says: Sir David Mathew, standard bearer to King Edward IV at the Battle of Towton, 1461.

Towton, oddly enough, is only a few miles from where I currently live in West Yorkshire, England.

A good car

Looking for a good car? Then go for one like mine. It's a Skoda Octavia and I'm delighted with it. My previous cars have been several VW Passats and a Nissan Primera, and this is as good as any of them, but came at a far better price.

Skoda is part of the VW/Audi Group and the car is effectively a VW under a different badge. The 1.6 litre petrol engine is economical and responsive. It has a superb ride and comes with all mod cons like ABS brakes, traction control, air conditioning, trip computer, airbags —and a ginormous boot ('trunk' if you're American). Good looking, too.

I got it new in June 1999 and it proved to be an absolute gem. Highly recommended. I traded it in for the current equivalent in December 2005—a red one this time. The old one had done 96,476 miles. Apart from regular servicing and new tyres, the only thing that went wrong in all that time was the heater fan. Good, or what?

Grandchildren...

...are very special. All the rumours you've heard to that effect are true! We now have three, and we're very proud of them all.

The two: eldest are Jonny's son Gryff (full name Gruffydd James), and Peter's daughter Ellie Grace. Here they are together in July 2002, just before the water-splashing started!

Number Three arrived in March 2003, a second daughter for Peter and Joanne, named Kate—a little gem!

Dabbling with art

I'm no natural artist but from time to time enjoy having a dabble with various mediums (not the spiritual variety).

Ben Blakemore, a retired headmaster and accomplished artist in our church, runs an Art Group which I attend as my schedule permits. He's a great encourager, and recently (January 2003) introduced me to pastel pencils.

I stared for a long time at the onions and garlic before me (symbolic, I realise, of the lure of Egypt to the Israelites en route to Canaan, but not in my case a sign of apostasy), then cautiously started putting colour on the grey paper. With a lot of encouragement from Ben, plus a judicious piece of guidance about the use of colours opposite to each other on the 'colour wheel' to get shadow effects, I produced this picture.

The Norway trip in February 2003 gave opportunity for a bit more dabbling, both in pastels and fine-tip black pen.
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Goldfinches

After a couple of years' absence, goldfinches have returned to our back garden!

These delightful birds, with red caps and a bright yellow flash in their wings, seem happy to hang on the peanut-filled feeders close to the house for minutes on end. Welcome back!
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Two of us!

It was through this website that I was contacted by an American guy called David Matthew—yes, exactly the same spelling! He turned out to be a Christian, and to be dabbling like me in his family history (as things turned out, our two families don't have any near connection).