FAITH IN THE FESTIVAL Streets are busy shoes on ground sandals on feet running late feeling well grounded. Hoping to meet the unexpected in a new idea in a different mood in a familiar place while reading an unfamiliar face  Hands hold drinks glasses clink sun glasses reflect the sky food is cooked stories are told songs are sung dancers turn and spin pictures are painted art displayed stretches the truth Everyone is telling a story in different ways. Its festival...
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It seems a long time since Jubilee Hope left the Clyde on the 22nd January 2014  to set sail on the first leg of her journey to Mombasa in Kenya.  A lot of hard work and preparation has gone into making the ship ready for its long voyage of over 8,500 miles.  I remember going to look at the ship  before we bought it when it was the Dunster I think it was at Goole in 2010. I was commissioned to take pictures. I remember rowing around the ship in a rubber dingy taking...
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Today  was a glorious day. A small number of us from various churches in the town walked around Bo'ness with  a large cross. It was quite a special experience. The sun was shining the sky was blue and the conversations we were having were interesting and at times challenging.  We had a number of opportunities to stop and speak with people on the road. We even prayed with a man who shared with us that he had an alcohol problem and was looking for help. We were able to...
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  In my last post I was talking about a number of 'firsts' that I’ve been involved with recently. Well, the next 'first' I want to talk about is the launch of the 'Sanctuary First App'. I'm delighted that the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland launched the App from St Andrew's Church in Bo'ness last Sunday evening. I believe we may well be the first church or certainly among the first in Scotland to launch an App. Sanctuary First is designed...
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It's now my fifth day in Africa. Yesterday we travelled by air to Livingstone then we had another two hour pot hole ride to Mwandi. This is a Mission Station built on the bank of the Zambezi River originally supported by the Paris Mission and the Freed Church, eventually bringing in the support of the Church of Scotland along with others in the 1930s. It's early Wednesday morning the fridge in the Mission Guest House continues to make that noise that only fridges...
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