travel
The news came as a bit of a shock. We had just travelled for 24+ hours—from Thessaloniki, in Greece, to Malang, in Indonesia. After one night’s sleep, we were informed that the trip to Mt Bromo would begin at 12.15am the next morning so that we could catch the sunrise over one of Indonesia’s active…
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I’m never too sure whether being in transit at an airport constitutes a visit to a country? What do you think? I guess Tom Hanks of Terminal (2004) fame might have an opinion on the matter… On one occasion I had a transit that settled a key transition in my life. It was on a…
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Many years ago my mother gave me a picture for my birthday. It is a sketch of that quintessential English scene—a towering medieval cathedral overlooking a tree-ringed cricket field. As she gave it to me, she announced, “Your two loves”. I could tell she was very pleased with herself! Church. Cricket. It’s true. They are…
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In my travels with Langham, it is not that unusual never to leave the venue for the event for which I have come. On this occasion, in Lima, not only did I go nowhere, the venue itself was barely ten minutes from the airport! So, four nights in beautiful Peru and never moving further than…
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Under God’s good hand, I entered my 15th year with Langham Preaching on the 1st April—and now am inching towards ten years as programme director. Across these years the focus has been on establishing a Global Leadership Team (GLT). In the final days of March, we met at Rivendell, on Bowen Island, just outside Vancouver…
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At some point during last year it dawned on me that there was just the one final corner of New Zealand that remained unexplored for Barby and me. The Wairarapa—especially the southern section which is the most southern point of the North Island. As soon as a week of annual leave came into focus, I…
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Maria lived through the Nazi occupation of Holland. At one point, at 11 years of age, she pushed her pram down a road lined with soldiers, transporting a forbidden radio hidden under her dolly. Imagine it. Suddenly, I have this inner stirring to be a movie director. That is not all. Her family hid two…
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When you are on a summer holiday in a small-ish house with a large-ish number of people and a cyclone shows up, it is time to be creative. Barby came to the rescue, with her latest purchase from the ‘adult colouring books’ (ACBs) genre. While they were a craze a decade ago, Barby has been…
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The paper was bright orange. The printing was faded, originating in pre-photocopier, Gestetner days. There were two sheets. I still have them, somewhere in those boxes two metres from me… As a young pastor these sheets of paper captivated me. Developed by what was called the Association of Church Missionary Committees (ACMC), they described a…
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The last time I was in the Blue Mountains, in 2011, a funeral was on my mind. My father had died in Auckland on a Wednesday. The funeral was set for the following Monday. And I faced the dilemma of whether to fulfil a commitment to speak at a mission conference in Katoomba from Friday…
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the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.