Things I've learnt (been reminded of) in the last fourteen days

1. A baby oyster is called a 'spat'.

2. I really love cycling.

3. We've got some crackin' friends.

3. A group of hippopotamuses is called a 'bloat'.

4. I've got a great family.

My Aunt Ann cooks a cracking cooked breakfast (but so does Lisa I add without hesitation to avoid any claims of unfavourable comparison!) while much appreciation heads to my cousins (who we unfortunately only see infrequently) and their spouses/family for the time taken to pop in and to garner some Infacol from 'somewhere' as Daniel threatened to blow!

5. Scotland is one beautiful (if rather wet) country!



It's fair to say that Lisa was hard pushed to tell the difference between summer in Scotland and autumn or winter!





6. Holidaying with two young boys doesn't always feel like a holiday?!

The shepherds cottage in the middle of nowhere would've been cracking if it was just Lisa and I, but when there are four of you in a two roomed 'house', you're all sleeping in one room and one of the four spends a large proportion of his time crying at full throttle (and it wasn't me!) then a time of relaxation is not always readily attainable! That said, it was beautiful and Joshua does look great (courtesy of generous, breakfast cooking Aunt)in his little 'wetsuit'!

More cultural challenges from the sub-continent

While in Trivandrum we had the opportunity to worship at one of the local corps. As ever it was great to worship with other Christians from a totally different context and to be reassured that for all that makes us different there is so much more that unites us.

But I came away challenged by a couple of things.

Firstly was how British, and 1950s British at that(!) the meeting (service) was. Apart from the fact that most of it was translated you could've been forgiven for thinking we'd been transported back to the UK and back a few decades in the process! Where were the sitars?!

Secondly I was challenged as to how and when, as Christians and as a church, we are called to challenge the prevailing culture. This thought was prompted by the fcat that when we worshipped we did so seperately - men on one side and women on the other. On one level this seemed a perfectly indigenous way to approach things. Yet the briefest of experience of Indian culture suggests a male dominance that is not always helpful. Indeed it would seem that as with any 'dominance' it is often built upon, and maintained by, oppression and abuse.

And so I was left wondering whether or not this offered the church and the Salvation Army in particular a counter-cultural opportunity to model the freedom found in Christ. I was left wondering how this prevailing culture would ever be challenged and changed (if indeed it should be) if the church did not step up. Of course given the miniscule number of Christians in India it could easily be argued that they would offer an inadequate challenge, but from where else will the prompt for change come? Experience would seem to suggest that however unlikely, cultural change (Civil Rights movement in the US, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe) is often instigated, amongst others, by Christians.

I also recognise that it would be easy to explain it away as a cultural norm, but I'm not sure how this sits with the fact that as Christians we believe 'there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' (Galatians 3:28)As I say, I'm left considering how and when the Church is called to challenge the world around us? History suggests that where the church fails to assume the mantle of change-agents we can often be guilty of maintaing the status quo and perpetrating societies 'cultural' injustices (I'm thinking of segregated Corps in South Africa when apartheid was alive and abusing!)

Cultural challenges from the sub-continent

As in Tanzania (and I believe other African countries) it's more the 'norm' for men to hold hands in public. Thankfully, having already experienced this cultural difference in East Africa I wasn't as shocked as I perhaps could've been when one of my new Indian friends casually clasped my hand(!) as we headed for a local community the Salvation Army having been working in over the last 10 years. All told, by the end of the day I'd held hands with 4 men! They're very promiscuous hand-holders on the sub-continent!

Indian memories

Be careful who you have lunch with!

'Interupted silence' would probably be a better title for this blog at times! Weeks of 'nothing' punctuated by sporadic bursts of 'activity'. But there has at least been a reason (of sorts).

Last week saw us return from a week away and then Easter has been fairly important(!) and the contrasting 'flavours' of business and stillness have each stymied the intermitent eagerness to 'journal'! Still what use is a memory if we don't use it?! So rather belatedly I'm mentioning the fact that since I last blogged I've been fortunate enough to travel to Trivandrum (which is not, as my brother assumed a village in Wales or Norway!) in Kerala State, south-west India!

Bizarre I know as I hadn't mention the prospect of travelling four and half thousand miles around the world, but there was a reason for that.... I didn't know!

Long story short a lunch with some colleagues from the Salvation Army's International Headquarters and a casual reference to an imminent coneference on 'integrated mission' led to a last-minute invite, a hastily arranged visa and a couple of sore arms! Within 7 days I was in India meeting with folk who work for the Salvation Army in every continent in the world. It perhaps goes without saying, but it was a great experience. All told I was in India for 5 days (yeh, it brings a new meaning to a long-weekend!) so it only really afforded a glimpse of an incredible country and as ever it left me wanting more, but it wasn't without it's challenges.

While not my first visit to a developing country it was my first since becoming a father and I can't say that that helps! Rightly or wrongly every child represented my own and reminded me, painfully, what a mess we've made of the world. But perhaps that's why it was encouraging to be with a group of people who in their own diverse contexts were attempting to provide solutions and to meet the needs around them in very unique and creative ways. It was one of those times when you're proud to be part of The Salvation Army.

Serre 2007

Back in January me, some mates and my brother were lovingly sent (by our wonderful wives!) to the South of France in search of the ever elusive white stuff (and we're not talking about milk!).

Thankfully for us God blessed us with enough snow for a great week. The company was crackin' and the food phenomenal! If you're looking for a skiing resort with plenty of runs, atmosphere, but without coach loads of Brits - you'd do a lot worse than Serre Chevalier. I can't wait to take Lisa, Joshua and his brother!

Beware the moose!

While in Canada I had to keep training for my impending marathon. Given the hilly nature of where we were this was not something I particularly relished especially as I was unsure as to whether or not I'd be likely to run into any Grizzlies! Yapping dogs were the least of my worries, but it seems my fears were misplaced, it was not the bears I had to look out for, it was the mighty moose!

According to one report I read...

'...on average there are 651 accidents every year involving a moose resulting in 133 injuries and 5 deaths!'
While I can't confirm that any of these incidents involved joggers I wasn't taking any chances - I took heed of my mates advice - 'BEWARE THE MOOSE!'

Oh my word!!

Mouth wide open, jaws firmly on the floor we watched, transfixed and waited for the punchline. The confirmation that what we were watching was in fact a joke, a parody, a stereotypical caricature, but the punchline never came, it remained undelivered and our dislbelief was total.

The cause of our angst? ‘Christian' TV. Canada had a number of channels devoted to ‘raising the spiritual temperature’ and 'changing the spiritual climate of the nation’ – the only temperature being raised was ours as we witnessed the relentless and unapologetic prosperity-driven drivel masquerading as ‘the gospel’!

We were constantly invited, urged even, by the Reverend Peter Popoff and his friends to accept two stunning offers. If we would only call TOLL-FREE we would receive ‘an anointed green prosperity handkerchief’ or a bottle of ‘miracle water’. It couldn't be easier, a 'divine transfer' awaited us, and there was no shortage of amazing testimony’s to the life-changing power of both…

‘My boss wanted to fire me, but when I received my Miracle Water I was promoted and given an $8,000 raise!’

‘I won $6 million dollars shortly after receiving my prosperity hanky!’

‘I prayed that my husband would be saved… and for $20,000 – I got both!. Hallelujah!’

Ding, dong it must be true – let me just get that number down and I'll claim my 'divine transfer'!

As Bishop Nigel MacCulloch once wrote ‘the issue that the churches must face up to is not so much that people do not believe in God, but that they do not find the churches credible.’ Credible or not I find it hard to accept that the Rev. Popoff and I believe in the same God. He should join his sister and stick with Mr Claypole, McWitch, Dobbin and the rest of the Rentaghost gang?!

While I haven’t as yet checked our bank balance I don’t mind admitting to a lack of faith that any such ‘miracle’ is about to happen soon, but then why would it I haven’t phoned TOLL-FREE to order my ‘Anointed Green Prosperity Hanky’ or my ‘Miracle Water’!

Can't imagine why some people struggle to connect with 'the gospel'.

They came from the east and they came from the west...

It's fair to say that I've never been at a wedding quite like it. Just about everyone had to travel miles to be there! I mean the two ring-bearers travelled from Bermuda and Dallas, Texas and they weren't alone.

But something that blew me away was the fact that Nick's family who had travelled from Vancouver (Canada) to Newfoundland (also Canada) had travelled further to get there than anyone else - including those of us who'd travelled from the UK?! That's a big country!

If you're like me and you like to check these things out you'll find that there are 3135 miles (5046 km) (2725 nautical miles - what's going on with 'nautical' miles?!) between Vancouver and St. Johns and 2345 miles (3774 km) (2038 bizarre nautical miles) between London and St.Johns so it isn't even a close run thing?!


Canada is a beast of a place! A beautiful beast, but a beast nonetheless!

Job done... I think?!

Like first time pilots and first time dentists you could be forgiven for not wanting to be around when a vicar/officer type-person is conducting their first wedding/funeral. The funeral will have to wait, but I've got my first wedding under my belt and I'm led to believe it went OK - job done! At least if it's legal?! Because these things are rarely straight forward and this was no different - the wedding involved two people living in Texas and the wedding itself was in St. Johns, Newfoundland - Canada. So as long as I've done all I needed to do to be properly licensed(!) it's job done, otherwise its an expensive cock-up! If nothing else they look married!
















Remember, if you want to get married in Canada - I'm your man, at least for the next 30 days?!

Dangerous reading...

I've just started reading Ewan McGregor's account of his 20,000 mile motorcycled journey around the world 'Long Way Round'. It's dangerous because Lisa is convinced that it is not the kind of book I should be reading. Apparently I don't need any encouragement to 'fly-off and travel the world'!

Admittedly I have already chatted with friends about similar 'epic' journeys that could be journeyed, while my brother and I have started talking about a US road trip. But then, what's so good about the prospect of the open-road, unknown adventures and the realisation of dreams?!

I guess it depeneds how you're wired.