When disaster hits any community it seems to be compounded when the community is a poor place to begin with. Last week a fire devastated the sector in Belen where the Vine Trust has been working for the past ten years. 150 families have been left homeless. TheTrust has set up an emergency appeal. you can read about it at www.vinetrust.org Belen which means Bethlehem, is a shanty town built on he edge of a sewer. The houses are built on stilts to compensate for the...
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Some of my readers will remember that I introduced Daoud to you in a previous post. I wrote about the man who refuses to make an enemy of those who want to steal his land. I received a Christmas update from him after sending him a link to my Christmas song. Please remember those people on both sides of the divide Israeli’s  and Palestinians who are praying for peace.  The Tent of Nations is seeking to build bridges at a local level to bring about peace. It is my prayer...
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Christmas its a time of the year you either love or you wish would pass very quickly.  Finding a way to get through the Christmas period without facing sad and difficult memories is almost impossible. Why is it that this time of the year evokes so much sentiment? The above song was written by Iain and myself to remind us all that even in our most distressed moments. When we are missing the people who are dearest to us. God promises to draw close to us and bring into...
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I received a marvellous text from a friend yesterday. It simply read, 'Praise God when your waiting in the hallway' It was such an evocative idea. In the places between places we need to learn to praise God. It lifted my spirits and I started to think. We must not look upon our problems a insurmountable We must not look upon our friendships as stepping stones We must nor look upon those who we disagree with as enemies We must not look upon the journey we are...
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Its late Sunday afternoon we've had the family for lunch  and managed to erect the Christmas tree. We still like to have our family round to help decorate the tree. Its a great time of laughter and fun and hilarity. It doesn't matter how old your children are they're all kids at heart. Today the big hunt was on for the angel with the punk rock hairstyle. Yes we normally have an angel on the tree with a punk rock haircut. I don't think I've ever noticed before but...
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It's now Wednesday evening and I'm heading up the road by rail hoping to be in Edinburgh just after 10.30pm. I'm sitting with the schedule outlining the visits we have made over the past 10 days. In my previous posts we managed to cover part of the trip up to last Wednesday. Thursday 29th November saw us arrive at the Chapter House of St Paul's Cathedral where we were met by the Dean Dr David Ison and the Chancellor Canon Mark Oakley. Both men made us most welcome and...
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We have been so busy these last few days that it has been difficult to keep the blog up to date. Anyway I'm back ready to tell you more about our adventures here in London. Last Wednesday we were the guests of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Unfortunately Michael Moore was unable to be with us as he had a speaking engagement in Edinburgh. However we were well looked after by the Rt Hon David Mundell. This was an opportunity to conduct a service in St Mary's Chapel,...
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