In this episode of Rethink John Melville Baker, a former British banker, takes us on a journey that begins with a child passionately reading The Children’s Book of the World and carries us from London to South Africa, Austria, and India. As a travel enthusiast, John shows us where a cheerful and spontaneous sense of adventure can lead, guided by an open heart and a deep curiosity for people, places, and cultures. Along the way, we discover how and where John came to know God, and how he recognised Jesus Christ as the great planner behind his journeys. Through John’s voice, we feel a deep passion for exploring and experiencing the richness of the world and those who inhabit it, from the diversity of animal and plant life to cultural landscapes and human creativity. From the grand halls of banking, found all over the world, to a wide range of artistic processes, we see just how diverse our ways of perceiving can be, and how many different perspectives we are capable of experiencing.
We also witness what can emerge when people meet, and when there is a deep, genuine desire to support one another (the beauty of human interaction, the beauty of encounter). Whether in the world of art, where different artists come together, or in philanthropic work that supports regions by, for example, creating better educational opportunities for children. We sense here, too, how God makes such encounters possible, and how He works through people in countless places across our shared globe. John’s voice enables us to perceive aspects of God’s ideas for us as humans. Ideas which are not about destruction or isolation but about coming together as His creation and encourage one another to flourish.
Therefore, “fear not”, for there is a lot to explore, or to quote Bilbo Baggins: “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Feel free to listen to John’s story on your favourite podcast platform. (Podcast RETHINK from the Quo Vadis Institute, www.qvi.eu).
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