Noel Piper » Travel

Romanian Worship (video)

Noel Piper — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:18:34 +0000

As I worshiped this weekend at Bethlehem, I remembered being with brothers and sisters in Romania just a few weeks ago.

I thought perhaps you’d enjoy a few moments with the worship team from Holy Trinity Baptist Church in Bucharest.

And don’t miss the video and story about music that I posted at Tell Me When to Pack.

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Please visit my travel blog — Tell Me When to Pack.

Serendipity & mystery gifts

Noel Piper — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:01:21 +0000

In the fine tradition of Serendipity, I don’t know what I’m looking for. In fact, I expect to find something I didn’t know I was looking for–several things even. When I see each I will know, “Aha! That’s it! That’s what I didn’t know I wanted!”

And since I don’t know what it will be, neither do you, and that’s why each item is called a mystery gift.

Check out the info on mystery gifts from our destinations in Europe–Bucharest, Geneva, and Hamburg–which we’ll be visiting this month. Johnny will be speaking (and me too, once) at conferences in each city.

Anyway, so far there’s a Bucharest giveaway and a Geneva giveaway. While you’re over there, subscribe to Tell Me When to Pack so you’ll know right away when more giveaways are announced.

The Secret Piano

Noel Piper — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:45:37 +0000

My mother’s a pianist, and right now my mind’s still in China, so this book caught my eye: The Secret Piano: From Mao’s Labor Camps to Bach’s Goldberg Variations, by Zhu Xiao-Mei.

I’ve ordered the The Secret Piano to read on my Kindle. It’s just $.99. I can’t tell if that’s the regular price or a special for today.

Zhu Xiao-Mei was just ten years old when she began a rigorous course of study at the Beijing Conservatory, laying the groundwork for what was sure to be an extraordinary career. But in 1966, when Xiao-Mei was seventeen, the Cultural Revolution began. . . . One by one, her family members were scattered, sentenced to prison or labor camps. By 1969, the art schools had closed, and Xiao-Mei was on her way to a work camp in Mongolia, where she would spend the next five years. Life in the camp was nearly unbearable, thanks to horrific living conditions and intensive brainwashing campaigns. Yet through it all Xiao-Mei clung to her passion for music and her sense of humor. And when the Revolution ended, it was the piano that helped her to heal. (from Amazon product review)

She lives in Paris now and has recorded The Goldberg Variations and much more.

How long is Easter?

Noel Piper — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:36:42 +0000

I watched midnight quietly welcome Easter to Minneapolis.

At the same moment:

It was 8 am in Uganda. Nephew Luke might have been grabbing a bite before gathering with other believers.

It was 6 am in Cameroon. I’m guessing that Steve and Julie, my brother-in-law and sister, would soon be waking and preparing to celebrate.

It was already 1 pm in China. The church bell in Ya’an would have been heard 4 hours earlier. An hour after that, believers in Yibin would have been summoned by their church’s bell.

When my church service begins at 11 am, others–like my cousin Rachel and her family in Hawaii–will just be waking to Easter’s light.

How many hours does Easter last on our globe? My math fails me. And that’s just as well, because the reality of Easter is not a one-day thing–not a 24-hour event.

Easter is our reawakening to the ever-living Jesus. The celebration is our springtime springboard into the whole year of THE LORD IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED.

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Please visit my travel blog — Tell Me When to Pack.