Pak Loki and Joko smiled as I emerged into the arrivals hall at Jakarta airport in Indonesia. I was just off a night flight from Amsterdam and would be speaking in the morning service at their church a few hours later. “How about some breakfast?” Joko asked, once we had finished the customary greetings and … Continue reading The Gospel According to Zeffirelli
There's a first time for everything, they say. This weekend saw one of those for me. We were celebrating the church's 125th anniversary and had an afternoon of activities for families organized for Saturday. Shame about the weather, but that's another story. Anyway, one young couple came along with two kids of their own, along … Continue reading Fun on Sunday
Christian mission work can get bad press. It's not just the antagonists who oppose missions – the Christian church finds itself under attack from all sides, both within and without. And the missionary arm, that which extends understanding of God's work in Jesus to others, is often the first stop for criticism. So it should … Continue reading Do missionaries destroy cultures?
More acronyms. BFF or FBF? Best Friend Forever or Facebook Friend? Which does your social sphere most resemble? (I realise that there are more social networking sites than Facebook, some more popular depending on location; I use Facebook as a discussion starter simply because it is the largest and most influential global site, not out … Continue reading BFF of sinners
Words do not carry immutable meaning as defined by an entry in a dictionary. Certainly, they bring core meaning with them, but words are moulded both by the words that accompany them and the stage on which they are placed. The whole is irremediably more than the sum of its parts. This is true of … Continue reading Beat until stiff and stand in the fridge
Last week I was back in Llanelli, South Wales, but this time only via a webcam from home in Spain, teaching a short course on "Tools for Anthropological Research" to the fantastic trainees on the World Horizons Equipping for Service programme. Another reason for a gap in blogs... (What a bunch of willing guinea pigs... … Continue reading “You can observe a lot by just watching” (Yogi Berra)
I spent this last weekend in Granada, a city steeped in history. Not that visiting with two fifteen year olds is particularly conducive to the appreciation of history... But Granada - it was here that the Nasrid dynasty built the Alhambra palace and survived for over two centuries as the last bastion of Muslim Spain. … Continue reading “El Suspiro del Moro” (The Moor’s Sigh)
eating.with.sinners 