I know the photo looks like a sweating white man with a manic squint has been photoshopped into it but I was really there and I had just finished preaching. (I was especially hot because the electricity went off part way through – no fans – and also because I was wearing a shawl which […]

Pastor Joshua Vijayakumar runs a church planting ministry in India. To be more precise his vision is to plant churches that plant churches. Along with the Evangelical Church Growth Mission he runs the Timothy Training Association which runs groups around Tamil Nadu and across India. Therefore as we drove down to the very tip of […]

Tomorrow I drive back to Madurai to spend some time with Pastor Joshua. Madurai is home of the famous Jallikattu (Tamil: சல்லிகட்டு, challikaṭṭtu / Jallikattu) an event held in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations ( their harvest festival in January). Bulls are bred specifically by people of the village for the event […]

I remember first trying coffee as a boy. It was so bitter that it needed several spoons of sugar. But it was a grown up drink. Adults drank it and it seemed to be the lubricant for social conversation. Plus it was that or tea. And to my mother’s disappointment (who drinks it by the […]

Thanks to Joseph and Sharmilla I am enjoying a few days in Kerala, on the west coast of Southern India. Up in the hills it is much cooler here – well, 28 degrees in the day and 19 at night but that is cool compared to the plains of India. Back in tourist mode I […]

On the drive across into Kerala and up into the Western Ghats (in this case ghats are mountains, but in Varansi they are steps down into the ganges – go figure) we passed through several towns and villages in the far west of Tamil Nadu. In one we met a funeral procession – lots of […]

Waiting for a 2 hour delayed flight in Delhi I worked out how many flights, God willing, I will take before my sabbatical is over. 13. Good job I’m not superstitious. As I sip my flat white from Costas, in several ways the modern airport is an apt image of globalisation. The language of the […]

As for my trip up to Varanasi my connecting flight back to Chennai means a stop over in Mumbai. Thanks to my hosts I got a beautiful, if brief, look at the city – home of Bollywood stars … the playground of India. It was a lovely evening, the temperature was 29 degrees and there […]

On 15th of August 1947 India was granted independence from Great Britain (or is it declared independence from?) And so we gathered in the parade ground in front of the chapel for independence day celebrations. The children danced and sang songs, the local Police Chief unfurled the flag and we joined in joyful Indian nationalism. […]

Varanasi, on the banks of the river Ganges, is seen as the spiritual capital for India. Hindus believe that death in the city will bring salvation, making it a major centre for pilgrimage. The city is known for its many ghats, embankments made in steps of stone slabs along the river bank where pilgrims perform […]