Mission – Ministry – Life
Over the last few months I’ve begun to understand the scale of the challenge to develop a new training course for pastors and church leaders. Every learner brings things with them. We all have experiences of life & learning; we all have motivations for learning and all of us are affected by the cultures we... Continue Reading →
Concluding the Christmas celebrations and launching into the New Year is a time to look forward. I’m not making resolutions, and with all our life changes I’m not making any predictions either, but here are some hopes for the year ahead: Language: It’s unlikely I’ll become fluent but I hope my recall of grammar and... Continue Reading →
Smiling faces on social media, upbeat prayer news and encouraging reports of God’s provision…..Our first three months in Peru have been a positive experience but have also shown us that ‘missionary’ life is harder than it looks: Things take longer. I read a blog a couple of months ago entitled “today I made a copy... Continue Reading →
Being woken by petrol driven power tools at dawn seems normal after a while. Whether that’s our neighbour cutting wood with a chainsaw or Pedro, the maintenance guy at the centre cutting the grass with a strimmer at 5:30am. Nauta has its own charms and is starting to feel like home. We’ve also started to... Continue Reading →
It’s been a fascinating few days (for Neil). When a pastor seeks accreditation by the Baptist Convention one of the final steps is an interview by the other pastors. So, one afternoon, I found myself on a 40 minute moto (motor bike taxi) from Iquitos to a small community where, along with a number of... Continue Reading →
We are in Arequipa for language school, but part of learning a language is growing to understand the culture. So we have used our free time to do a bit of sightseeing around the city. Arequipa grew into a city soon after the Spanish invaded and is now Peru’s second city. It combines history, culture,... Continue Reading →
Last Sunday was census day in Peru. This involves everyone staying at home, broadly under curfew, until your house has been visited by the census collectors and your details taken. For us Brits it seems an odd way of doing it, an opinion shared by our Peruvian hosts in Arequipa, but everyone just seemed to... Continue Reading →
Experience doesn’t prepare you for the sensory assault that Nauta provides. The noise, heat, rain, sun and chaos of this bustling port on the banks of the soon to be Amazon river. We have been here many times before but somehow this time is different. Maybe it’s that we are not just here for two... Continue Reading →
So, after 11 years I’ve taken my final service as Senior Minister of PBC. It still feels a bit odd to say ‘I was the Senior Minister’ but we had a great send off last weekend. Leaving inevitably makes one nostalgic; and after more than a decade I ponder what impact I’ve had. I hope... Continue Reading →
“Are you excited to be going” is the question we’re asked most often. Four weeks today we will have arrived in Iquitos, to start the next chapter of our lives. Truth is we are excited, but it is well wrapped up in some other things. Packing. We are living in a world of mess, boxes... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 