From Sefton to the World!

In December 2008 I challenged all our churches and Department Leaders to catch up with the rest of the world and start blogging! No excuse now ... we have quite a number of desktops and laptops around Sefton Village!


Well, most of them have accepted the challenge and have taken the first step - getting a blogsite! Most of them have followed (copied!) me and used Blogger.com ... mainly because it is so easy to use ... even for the most computer-challenged pastor!

So, here are their blogsites. I know that some have not even got their first blog in, but I have challenged them to get one in by the end of this week! Why don't you look them up, bookmark them and write a wee comment to encourage them. News from Sefton is coming faster and thicker than ever!

Check these out:

Winston (Youth Director)
Marilyn (Children's Home)
James Bastian (Ramon, St Mateo etc.)
Henry (Feeding Programme)
Danny (Nagassican)
Jun (Powerhouse Kids Club)
Daben (Youth Pastor @ Santiago)
Marlou (Pastor of Santiago)
Matthew Kerr
Joboy (Keyboard player @ Santiago)

There are a few more blogs coming, which I will give you next week.Here is the latest blog from Winston Bao-in - just to give you a flavour! Remember, when you read these folk's blogs, English is their second language - so be kind!

Hello everyone!

I want to share about a friend named George....


George came from a remote village in northern part of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Hes family is poor so they decided to search for greener pasture, and in the process he and his family are scattered. Due to poverty, they had never been to school, so George can't read of write.

He got married and had 3 kids... In the course of time, his wife died while their kids are still small. A relative offered to help him raised the kids, and ask him to send one of his daughter to them in manila. His daughter is 9 years old that time. He send his child in a bus to Manila, and in the process, the daughter was lost. They searched for her, but no where to be found. In just two weeks, he lost his wife and a daughter.......

He got married again for the second time, and God blessed them with 5 children. They are now living in Nagassican, Santiago City, and a faithful member in Cornerstone Church Nagassican. 3 years ago, he was diagnosed with kidney failure, and it is really acute. The doctor sent him home to die, and said hes got only a month to live.

He and his family believed that God will heal him. He only take a medicine when someone give him, for they can't afford to buy.

George is still alive, but he can't work, for he is not yet well. When he gets worse, he said hes medication is prayer. At the moment, he is sick again and he's here in Sefton Village for prayer.

He said hes ready to be with the Lord. Hes prayer request is that the Lord take him very soon to end his suffering, but if God wants to use him for His glory. That he will receive his healing very soon, for him not to be a burden to his family.

Please pray with us, and my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to pray for him and his family.

Where Have the Days Gone?

My goodness. Here we are again. Same old same old! Things have been ultra busy in the last few weeks with the visit of my family and now we have our World Ministries Director Dave Russon here with his wife Madeleine. We are having a great time with them ... and Lydia has really taken a shine to them - continually knocking on their door to see if they want to do something! Sweet.

Anyway, here are a few pictures and then a funny story. Hopefully, we will be having a 'normal' week next week ... although I have long since given up hope of even a normal day coming our way! In fact, an incident happened last week that really rocked us and was a horrible situation to go through. The timing of us going to Manila and then the Russons coming has been perfect. His grace IS sufficient....

Here is why our internet is a bit impossible ...

...makes BT and Scottish Power look good!

Last Sunday, we went to Victory Christian Centre in Manila and on the way out of the service I could not believe my eyes. This Filipino guy was walking out of Church with a Glasgow Celtic top on! I couldn't believe it ...

I stopped him in his tracks and asked him if he was a Celtic supporter. "Of course", was his answer. He had spent some time in Japan and was a big fan of a player called Nakamura - who plays for Celtic. Crazy world eh?

Mind you, best one ever was when I met a guy in Ghana with a Partick Thistle top (now that's something because I cannot recollect me even seeing anyone in Scotland wearing a Partick Thistle top!) Beat that!

Last up, a true story. Last week, when we were in a restaurant in Manila, wee Josiah started acting like a helicopter. His feet and hands were flapping around. After a few minutes he shouted, "I really need the toilet!". He was in his pram so I started off on our journey through the packed mall. When Josiah says that he needs the toilet, lets just say that he is at the point of no return.

So I walked fastly (or ran slowly!) all the way to the toilets. I rushed in, praying for a free cubicle. Wow, the last one was free! "Scuse me, scuse me, emergency!" I shouted as I traversed the packed toilets. I grabbed Josiah, threw him on the toilet and ... well, we JUST made it!

I was so hot as it had been a manic few minutes in the heat. Well, as I stood there like a proud father who had saved the day, Josiah singing songs as nature worked away, I heard a knock on the cubical door. And then again. Strange. Never had this before. I heard a little voice speaking, "Sir, you are in the ladies toilets!"

Aaaaggghh! I'm in the wrong toilets! I was so busy trying to get my boy to the bowl in time that I never took time to check out of I was in the right place! I got Josiah organised (took around 15 minutes!) and then I plucked up courage. "Coming out now", I shouted. Josiah was singing away as Daddy crept through the gathered throng of ladies at the mirror. I half closed my eyes and kept walking!

But I laughed all the way back to the restaurant.

What have I learned from this embarrassing experience? Well, at the end of the day, its better to be in the wrong place at the right time doing the right thing rather than being at the right place at the wrong time cleaning up an smelly mess!

Selah ...
Goodnight. Good to be back after another internet wilderness experience. Pray for our wire to be strong!

The Farmer Who Sowed Sorrow...

There was a man - probably a farmer - who decided one day to prune his coconut tree. He took out his very sharp sabre and began to cut the leaves of his tree. He wasn't an evil man and indeed, he had no intentions of causing great sorrow and heartache to an un-named Scottish missionary. But then he made a mistake. Misjudging his aim in a moment of folly - hey, maybe the sun was in his eyes? - he took a swipe at his branch but instead cut a wire that was hanging close by. He thought nothing of it.

But my friends ... that wire was an important wire. It was the wire that connected this poor missionary to the rest of the world. It was the wire that brought me my beloved broadband and my life outside Sefton Village. To this farmer, it was only a wire, but to me it was a lifeline! And that was 13 days ago! The phone company said that my line was a 'very very long line' and that they would have to order new wire from Manila. So here I am, phone-less, wire-less and internet-less. Woe is me! He He.

But, then I had an idea. I have a new mobile phone on my contract and it is a beauty! A Nokia N95. Amazing. When I loaded the software there was an icon that said 'use my phone as a modem'. Mmm ... can this wee phone really link me to the world again? It did! It is not so fast as broadband, and it is more expensive, but it works! And the very fact you are reading this proves it.

These last two weeks have been very busy but so amazing. We had a team from Cornerstone here for a week and we had an excellent week. On the day they dropped them off we picked up the Scottish Team from Manila and they are here now. they are doing great and we are enjoying their company. So much to share - the funny, the challenging, the good, the bad, the ugly ... but I will wait and see if we can get our broadband back in the next day or two!

If you ever come to Santiago and you see a farmer-looking guy who has an embarrassed look on his face ... he's the one!

Blog soon .... promise!

p.s. - thanks to all who have written in our guestbook. If you have not ... please please do. We would love to know who you are and where you come from!