Our First Day in India

posted: 22 Feb 2007 comments: 0category:

busy-chennai-street.jpg When westerners arrive as guests in the East they need to be prepared for a number of differences in the culture. One important difference is the whole area of hygiene. One should always remember that the left hand is seen as the toilet hand this means that you should never shake hands or eat with this hand. Talking about toilets, you will notice that beside each toilet is often a little water spray. This is used instead of toilet paper. Once you get used to it, it...
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Travels in India - First Impressions

posted: 21 Feb 2007 comments: 0category:

kamarakoom.jpg In a few months time a group of us from St Andrew's Bo'ness will be heading out on a fact finding trip to India. It is all part of or World without Walls project. It is our aim to strengthen the ties between our community here in Bo'ness and the work that is being carried out with our partners in India. Have a look at the WwW web page under partnerships and you'll get a hint of the kind of things we're looking to support. i hope to post two or three pieces about my last...
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Thinking about Sunday on Tuesday

posted: 20 Feb 2007 comments: 0category:

three-ice-creams.jpg One of the greatest challenges as a minister of the Gospel in today's culture is to make worship relevant for all those who attend on a Sunday.Doing it without being gimmicky or trendy is essential because very quickly people see through shallow presentation and begin to search for substance. Equally people need to be stimulated by the whole experience of going to church. What they see with their eyes, what they hear with their ears, and what they encounter from the...
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Travels in Peru

posted: 7 Feb 2007 comments: 1category:

dsc00359.jpg I was in the Peruvian capital of Lima last week. Did you know the city celebrated its 472nd anniversary a couple of weeks ago. There was still a bit of a celebration going on in down town Miraflores, as i walked across Park Kennedy, looking at the art and searching for my favourite Peruvian artist Nestor Lopez. Nestor wasn't in sight and i guess Martha was glad because I think another Peruvian classic painting hanging in the lounge would just about "do her heed in"...
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