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I grew up with My Fair Lady—and for you younger ones, that is not a reference to my mother or one of my sisters. It is a movie, and like a number of movies from my childhood—Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines also comes to mind—they can be rather jarring to ear and eye…
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Football helps me train preachers. See, when you speak to me about football—or, ‘footie’—I need to know where your feet are before I can understand what you mean. Are your feet in Ireland, or Brazil, or the USA, or NZ—or in crazy Australia? It must be the most fanatical sporting nation in the world. Within…
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The little chapel at Cadeca Casa del Catequista, a retreat centre on the fringes of Cochabamba (Bolivia), caught my eye on an earlier visit in 2017. Lots of photos… I was thrilled to learn that there would be a return visit, this time with Barby—and with lots of video. Enjoy. A 360 view Some Old…
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It is hard to miss him. The airport in Budapest, the gateway to the country, carries his name. Numerous buildings around the city are also named after him—opera houses, museums and music academies… So who could it be? I’ve heard about a few Hungarians in my time—as have you, I’m sure. Houdini (as in Harry),…
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Barby and I took a quick trip back to India last week. We watched the new Bollywood movie, Laapataa Ladies—which translates as Lost Ladies. It is as authentic and immersive an experience of India, in just two hours, that you could wish to have. Well, make that four hours because we watched it twice, with…
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This was my third visit to Cochabamba, in Bolivia. On this occasion we gathered for the annual meeting of our Global Leadership Team (GLT). We like to rotate around the ‘home-places’ of our team members, giving each one the opportunity to offer hospitality. We had planned to go in March 2020, but first visa troubles…
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As you can see, I am blogging again, after a four month break—but now using a new platform, with a fresh address/URL. This platform has new features, including the facility to sign-up to receive posts directly into your in-box, as well as the opportunity to feature three posts on the home page. My first set…
READ MOREIn my recent post about Mekdes Haddis’ book, A Just Mission: Laying Down Power and Embracing Mutuality, I promised to add a further post with her wisdom regarding short-term mission. She offers five questions and seven practices… Five Questions On her website she expands on these questions a little bit more. Seven Practices nice chatting…
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I am at Sydney airport, having just completed nine consecutive days of annual meetings with Langham Partnership. Yikes! However, for the first time in 15 years, I had only to cross a small ocean—NZers and Aussies call it ‘the ditch’—to be at the meetings. I am grateful. And to be in a hotel right on…
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It is that time of the year when we in NZ are reminded of the scars of war. On Saturday we stopped in Tirau, on our way home from meeting our new grand-daughter, Eden. We were waiting for dumplings and bubble tea from a roadside food truck. Barby had popped into a craft fair in…
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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.