When I was a wee boy I lived in Glasgow. one day a man from the Leprosy Mission came to our church. He showed us slides of people who suffered from leprosy and asked for our help. We were all invited to take a box and fill it with coins.  our family took one because we were all moved by the plight of the leperosy sufferers.

I remember the box was L shaped made of wood  and coloured red.  We used to go collecting for the Mission on the streets. We didn’t have a permit but no one ever questioned us in those days. I never thought that many years later i would be standing with my arms around a person who has had to suffer the curse of this dreadful disease.  It also makes me feel so angry that people with this illness have to steal themselves away and live in seclution from the rest of society. Many of the people who live at the Chengalpattu Settlement are unable to support theselves so they have to take to begging. We were told that a good number of them go begging in the street Monday to Friday and return home at the weekend to Chengalpattu.

It was quite an emotional sight seeing memberrs of St Andrew’s moving among these broken people praying with them and asking God’s blessing upon them. Later on this evening members of the team shared their own stories of enrichment relating to this visit today. One of the projects of Mount Zion Church in Chennai is to visit this community which is about 60 miles away  twice a month with food and a time of prayer  and fellowship many of the group have been responding to the gospel.

 

 We were able to spend just a limited time with these unfortunate people before heading out on the mini bus for another hour to reach Padappai. this is where Paul and Grace Moses have set up an extra- ordinary Orphanage called the Sangita Charitable Trust in memory of their infant daughter  Sangita. If you would like to read more about this work and it is well worth the effort click over to our India  Blog.

Well its time for me to sign off. I know a number of people are reading my blog but it would be great to hear from some of you.

 Sorry I’ve not been posting on Italker for a few days. I’ve been caught up with the blog we are keeping for the church. Today I decided that someone else should do some of the posting. So Jackie and Beatty are as I speak making up today’s post for WWWTraveller.

So I’ll tell you italker readers what I’ve been up to here in India.Well  when we finally arrived in India, what a welcome we received. Captain Thacker, and a number of the Pastors whose churches we’ll be visiting arrived to greet us at the airport. Garlands made of sandlewood beads were hung around our necks. We felt like royalty, real celebrities.  the it was getting re-accustomed to the busy noisy streets of Chennai

Our arrival here in India was 24 hours late, but tiredness someone disappears amidst the ecitement of the adventure we were about to embark upon.

We are staying at Stumpers Inn and interesting guest house that is run by Mr Sririam. there are also four house boys who work as waiters and general helpers around the home. Breakfast was scrambled egg and toast. Everyone was tired but no one wanted to go for a rest so we found ourselves visiting the sights of Chennai.

One prominant Scot in the 19th Century, John Andreson has a church named after him. Here is the plaque up on the wall of the church.  To read more of the past few days adventures go to www.standonline.org.uk and click on the India blog.

This morning we spent sometime in what Pastor Raj calls the slums. They truly are slums, probabally not all that different from what was in Scotland three hundred years ago. Indeed at the turn of the 20th Century, many of our cities in the UK were challenging places to live.

We visited a small sewing class taking place in what we might call a slum tennament. Pastor Raj and his church rent out these two rooms who teach the women who live in this area to sew. At the same time they believe that they are sowing into their lives the possibility of becoming self suffient people.

The last twenty four hours has been quite a disappointment for us all. We started out for our mission trip to Chennai on Saturday morning at 6.30am, it is now 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon and we’re waiting at the airport. the announcement has just come over the tannoy that the crew hasn’t arrived so we will be delayed yet again. Hopefully we will soon be on our way when the crew arrives.

Yesterday I paid a visit to the CLAN Gathering in St Andrew’s Fife. Kenny Borthwick the Minister of the Church of Scotland in Wester Hailes Edinburgh was one of the founding members of this Christian Event. In 1999 it started with 400 people today around 8000 people from all over the UK attend. I was there because I was invited to the Church Leaders Lunch, I also got the opportunity to share for a short time something of the vision of the CWW Gathering 2008.In the evening I listened to a an inspiring talk by Mark Stibbes the Vicar of St Andrew’s Chorleywood. It was an address that I could say Amen to, mainly because he was talking about the importance of revival being understood in terms of process rather than always being instant. I could identify with the emphasis of his address. He used the text from Ezekiel, where the Son of man is invited to step into the water. He talked about a different kind of missional church one that had mercy and compassion at the very heart of its mission. He called people forward to receive mercy and to pray for compassion. Later on in the evening I was speaking to Maggie Lane. Someone had asked her why so many people had gone forward. She said to them it is because the church is full of people seeking compassion mercy and understanding and too often it is seldom experienced in our churches.I think this an important challenge to all of us within the church, to live in such a way that we go to lift up the fallen and the hurt and the down trodden. I felt it was a really encouraging message for us as we prepare to go to India in the next few days.

This evening there was a glow in the sky all over Bo’ness. There is something about this little town that gets to you, especially on an
evening like this, it’s almost magical. Certainly Eva Cassidy singing Click here.“Somewhere Over The Rainbow” is to my mind the definitive version and it too is quite magical. So when they come together like this on the blog I really hope you can just grab a wee bit magic
for yourself. You look out across the Forth from our garden and you see some amazing views.The picture below was taken about two hours ago, Now you know why people come to live in this town. The views are quite spectacular even dare I say it for the third time magical.

I’m praying that God will bring a spiritual glow all around our town. And I’m hoping that the rainbow is a sign of God’s blessing resting on our town. Tomorrow I’m going to the CLAN Gathering in St Andrew’s to catch up with some of the congregation but also to promote the CWW National gathering which is going to be held at Ingleston from the 3/5 May 2008. Some of our planning team are meeting up with the CLAN organisers to get advice. Anyway I’m looking forward to it and I hope to get some good pictures.

While I’ve had a few days off, things have been hectic at the church. We have had a wonderful bunch of young people from Old Machar Church in Bridge of Don. They have been leading a mission among many of the young people we have been working with during Valley FM. It has been an outstanding week. the evangelist this week wasn’t your traditional minister type. The evangelist was a nineteen year old singer from Bridge of Don, who goes under the name Dawn Richie. She was accompanied by an outstanding group of young people who make up the “One Band” and a football coaching team. The combination of music and sport proved to be a fantastic means to share the gospel.
For me as a minister of the gospel I’m so delighted that so many young people have shown an interest in the things of God. Tonight was a culmination of all that has been going on among the youth in the church. It was so encouraging to see so many people going forward for ministry. Some were asking for prayer as they start out on the christian life, others were asking for prayer to sustain them on their journey of faith. Finally all of us who are off to India shortly were blessed with a sending prayer.

I’m looking forward to being part of a much bigger work that God is already doing in Scotland. I’m just overwhelmed that we in St Andrew’s Bo’ness can be used by God to contribute in a small way towards this great calling. So a special thank you to you Jim Up in Bridge of Don, I can’t wait to get a chance to come up with a group of our people and repay the compliment.

I’ve had a few days off getting involved with domestic things that required my attention. However I’ve also been keeping my ear to the ground, as Chairman of the Vine Trust . It looks as though everything is on course for the big broadcast on STV. Yes Amazon Heartbeat is going to be a huge success. All over Scotland during the month of August thousands of people are going to be tuning in to watch the 8 episodes that will tell of the partnership of the Vine Trust and Scripture Union Peru. It is really quite a unique partnership that has been growing and developing over the years. So go ahead and enjoy a sneak preview.

All the work in Peru is about an amazing amount of ordinary people who have contributed in quite extra-ordinary ways. everyone knows of Willie Mcpherson’s contribution and it is one that continies to inspire us all. However take Pam and Alan Cairns for instance they too have been tireless workers for the cause. For well over a two year period both of them practically worked ate and slept Vine Trust . I hope part of the reward of their hard work is that they will be reminded by this programme of what they have helped to establish. I mention Alan and Pam, because they decided to step back from the project at the beginning of the year. I’m sure when they see this documentary they can rightly feel proud of their contribution. Then there are the hundreds of people who have contributed in all kinds of ways to make the Vine the Trust it is today. To such people I also hope this film will be an encouragement.
We are especially indebted to Donald MacDonald and his Hotel chain in sponsoring the programmes. Finally, I hope when it goes out that the heart of Scotland will beat a bit faster and be inspired to to head the call of Christ, when he said, “as much as you do it unto the least of these you do it unto me”

Here is the video of the Royal visit to Iquitos. I believe it was a great success. Amazon Hope 1 was hardly in the water again, after being extended by 10 metres, before the Royal visit took place. Princess Anne who has been an interested supporter in the project and has visited Amazon Hope 2 when it was in Plymouth in 2005 was delighted to make the journey to Peru to see for herself, at first hand, the work of the Vine Trust in partnership with Scripture Union. The Princess was full of admiration for the work that the Trust seeks to partner. Many thanks to Martin Bone for his video documenting the visit. Martin is married to Vanessa who is the Director of the medical programme in Iquitos.

This particular visit was an important link in helping to secure the support of the Peruvian government for our work. It was also an opportunity to engage with a number of influencial people in the business community. As a Trust we believe it is not only important to secure funding and moral support from our partners in the UK and the USA. We believe it is crucial for the ongoing sustainability
of our partnership that Peruvians also take ownership of this work. We are convinced that we are modelling alternative solutions to enable sustainable growth in these projects. It is our hope that one day the Peruvian experience will be transplanted to other countries.

I’ve just hung up the telephone. It was Willie McPherson, he was calling me from a shipyard in the jungle city of Iquitos. This is last truly minute dot com up the Amazon. Tomorrow the ship is going to be relaunched. Amazon Hope 1 has been cut in two and an additional 10 metres has been added to the vessel. This we hope will make it even more versatile as we take health care to the remotest parts of the Amazon Rain Forest.

I’m a wee bit disappointed because I should have been with Willie on this trip, but there’s a lot going on at present and I couldn’t find the time. Tomorrow the project will be visited by HRH Princess Anne, hence Willie’s call. He tells me the shipyard is buzzing with workers trying to get the project finished before the Royal visit at 12 noon tomorrow. There are dozens of men painting and welding and in the midst of it all there is a film crew filming pictures for the STV. Amazon Heartbeat is an 8 part documentary that goes out next month all about the work of the Vine Trust in Peru. Its going to be really quite exciting. I’m told that STV have also started filming a four part follow up to the series to be broadcast next January. Its really quite literally amazing that our wee project that started out of St Andrew’s 21 years ago is now such a high profile Charity.

So what has the bike and the guitar got in common ? Well you could argue my study? You could say that they both belong to me! Yet maybe the most profound thing is that both have the ability to move you on, from where you are to where you should be. Take a song for instance, often the lyrics help us face the past in such a way, to allow us to change the future. And wheels? Well they move us further than we could ever expect. I’ve covered thousands of miles on those tyres.

I never cease to be amazed to discover, again and again, that the gospel has something to say to all ages. I prayed today with someone who opened their life to Christ. It was a wonderful experience. It was an opportunity to allow someone to take the next step, to move on in their life. A few weeks ago I prayed with a small child who also wanted to know more of God’s presence working in their life. even the child had to move on. Last week I was given a poem a young teenager wrote about his experience of being in church and moving on. He asked if someone would put a tune to it. One of our songwriters in the church took the words and made a wee tune for them. What you are going to hear now is not a polished version of the song. It is simply a very rough mix - an idea of the song. However it is an expression of a teenager’s reflections on discovering the words of Jesus for the first time to have relevance for his situation. the truth moved him on, set him free.Click here.

Next week we will be hosting a team from Old Machar’s Church of Scotland in Aberdeen. They are coming to lead a mission in our town. It is my prayer that many more will follow the examples I’ve spoken of to you in the blog and begin to move on.