| WHY they were invited to the north of England in January, the spokesman from the diocese of Durham could not tell me, but this lively bunch of young people from Lesotho — used to cold nights in their native mountains — survived it well.
They came on a mission from Durham’s link diocese, but nearly did not get here. Landing at Dubai airport with all the correct documentation, they were suspected of being illegal immigrants heading for the UK with forged papers, and were sent back to South Africa. It took a lot of hard work by many people, including several MPs, to persuade the Dubai authorities that they were legitimate guests of Britain. The Emirates airline was eventually persuaded to fly the young Basotho and their two leaders to Newcastle airport just over a week late.
They missed the World Praise event in Durham Cathedral, but their remaining two weeks were a packed programme of school and church visits, talks with ordinands, singing, and sharing their Christian faith in church and secular settings. They had one day off beside the sea (above), which most of them had never seen before, and fortunately we were having a mild January.
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