Mission – Ministry – Life
Hi everyone Last weekend I went to Iquitos. It’s a bumpy 2 hour journey from Nauta along the only long road here. I’ve been before but it is such a big place for a small bear I normally hide in a rucksack. But Neil was away and Lori and I spent a few days with... Continue Reading →
Recently I had the opportunity to spend a bit of time at an event put on by a team from the US. It was a fascinating experience on lots of levels, the team and I come from very different cultures and styles of church and yet we are all guests in a third culture. The... Continue Reading →
I’ve been on a real jungle adventure. Normally I’ve been living with Lori and Neil in Nauta but recently we went on a long trip up river. Over three days we kept travelling and each day things seemed more different. At the first stop we went to a church anniversary service which included two weddings... Continue Reading →
I read Jane Vella “Learning to listen, learning to teach” (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass 2002) earlier in the summer in which she sets out 12 principles of effective learning. Vella’s book and the principles it sets out (which are part of a trajectory which includes ‘Training for Transformation’ and Paulo Freire) have played a key... Continue Reading →
Over the last week we’ve been reading “The Very Worst Missionary” a memoir by Jamie Wright who was a missionary in Costa Rica for 5 years. It’s a really readable book (warning: it uses some colourful language) and raises many questions about the whole way that global missions are done. There are three things that... Continue Reading →
It’s clear we live in a time of significant change. Changes in the culture of the Western World: politics, migration, secularism and decline of Christian faith. Changes in the global church: as the centre of gravity moves to the global south with overseas mission now a global effort not the preserve of European or North... Continue Reading →
Hello I’m Nugget Lori and Neil allowed me to stow away on this trip to Peru and are letting me write a few of my own blog posts. We are in the Amazon which is a long, long way from home. We went on three airplanes to get here. The longest one took all day,... Continue Reading →
It will soon be a year since we left Poynton. Moving from being a church minister to working with a mission organisation has been a learning curve. Here are some of the things I’ve discovered. It’s a lot less stressful than leading a church. Sure it is hard work with the heat and humidity, struggling... Continue Reading →
Over the last couple of months, whilst back in the UK, I’ve been reading a number of books. Michael Stroope Transcending Mission (IVP academic 2017) is one. It’s a serious, well-argued book that sets out to show why we should abandon the word mission (as well as missions, missional and the rest). Anyone involved in... Continue Reading →
Last week Lori wrote some reflections on her first six months in Peru, now it is Neil’s turn: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Not so much the tale of two cities but of the twin responses to living in Nauta. I’ve often felt both emotions on the same... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 