We stayed up fairly late last night chatting and getting to know one another. we all then woke up far too early!

Our first port of call today was the offices of CMN. CMN is an organisation working for and with the people of Nepal addressing the root causes of poverty throughout the country. The organisation has a policy (a good one) of not duplicating work that is already happening – so they do not set up shop in an area where people are already doing the work/ They also work in the poorest areas of Nepal:

Bajhang

Doti

Mugu

Rukum

Rupendehi

Palpa

Dhading

Okhaldhunga

Sunsari

I won’t go into all the details of the work that they do – I would have you here for days! If you go to their website you can browse to your hearts content, let me instead share with you what stuck out for me during our visit.

UMN used to be an organisation focused on implementing the projects, in 2003 they made a strategic decision to become an enabling organisation – instead of doing the work, they work with local agencies and local people and help develop their capacity to implement and support the work. All the work that UMN is involved in has a preventative approach to it. UMN is seeking to work with it’s partner organisations in a capacity building role – both technical and organisational. They work closely with the Nepali government – they are currently coming to the end of a 5 year agreement with the Government about the work they can do and where and are negotiating a new 5 year agreement.

The areas UMN works in are known as clusters, the work in these areas is based on what is best for that locality, this is decided in consultation with local government agencies. UMN aims to be fully accountable to all their partners.

Another really interesting part of the work was the work they do with HIV/Aids. HIV/ Aids is a problem in Nepal – although it is not reaching the same kind of levels that we see in Africa. There are ‘officially’ around 75,000 people diagnosed with HIV/Aids in Nepal, although there will be many more who suffer from the disease but will not/ cannot be tested due to the stigma of HIV/ Aids,  the lack of available testing stations or the fact that the tests are prohibitively expensive, as are the proper after care procedures – follow up checks and good, healthy food.. For some people, it can be a good 3/4 days travel to get to a clinic where they might be tested for HIV/Aids – expensive not only for the test, but for the transport and for the accomodation. Even the places which have the equipment to perform tests may not have the staff trained to use the equipment, or the money available to maintain the equipment in good working order.

There is a presentation which we were shown that I am hoping to get a copy of that you will be able to download and look through at your own pace. we are also trying to get some video clips to show you a bit about the work they do. But that will have to wait until we have more bandwidth to work with!

UMN works from a model of Integral Mission – not just evangelism, not just social action, but both intertwined with each other. As an example they pointed us to John 4: 1 – 26, drawing us to the ‘evangelical’ portion of the passage where Jesus talks about never being thirsty again (vs 13/14) and also to the ’social’ aspect of the story – the fact that Jesus talks to a marginalised woman and works with her to change her life. UMN do not see evangelism as bbeing something that can be done seperatley to social action, neither do they social action as something that can be done seperatley from evangelism.

This afternoon, we made a short visit to the slums along the banks of the Bagmati River. The people who inhabit this area are mostly people who have moved to the area from the rural areas in Nepal and so have no land or means to obtain a home other than to live in this mini shanty town in the middle of the city. It was a bizarre experience. We were there for 20 minutes, if that, and spent most of that inside the primary school. The kids their were delighted to see us – they loved Suzi because she was chatty and friendly, Joanna because she was giving out shortbread, Chuli because she was asking their teacher lots of questions and me because I had a camera and could take and show them pictures of themselves – it was like being surrounded by 20 of my nephew Joshua, desperate for a shot with the camera. When I was taking kids photos and showing them, I was very conscious that I didn’t want to accidentaly miss anyone out – consequently I spent the entire time there taking kids pictures and showing them to everyone.

The area really made me wonder. The pure joy that was obvious in the life of these kids, who really have nothing, compared to some of the kids I meet in Aberdeen and have met elsewhere in Scotland. Would they be so joyous if they had so little material posession? Despite this, the strain of life in the slum was plain to see on the faces of the parents and other adults living there. They were still amazingly friendly, very smily. Yet I’m sure they were wondering what we would/ vould do to help them. I was wondering that. It was amazing to share in the joy of kids who were so happy to have visitors, but what impact can we really have made on their lives in that 20 minute whistle stop tour? I almost judge the 4 of us for making the visit. Sure, it’s opened our eyes, but that is inly going to help them if we do something about it!Their living conditions are horrendous – mud for a floor, whatever materials they can scavenge for walls and a roof, no idea where clothes come from, let alone food (except for the chickens we saw wandering around and the small crop plantation at the back of the area). I know this slum isn’t as ‘bad’ as some of the slums in India, or Africa or South America, but it’s still heart wrenching to see. When I visited the unrecognised village in the Holy Land I was shocked at the conditions – but even they have a life of luxury compared to the folks we met today.

I pray that our visit today will ot just be a footnote on our trip, but that it is something that inspires us to action, whatever that action is, to help make the world, this life, a better experience for those that we can.

Peace Out

Today has been a fascinating day, a fun day, a busy day, a beautiful day!

It has been a touristy day – we went to see some of the major tourist attractions in Nepal – we start meeting some of the local Christians and their projects tomorrow.

We started at Bhaktapur, an ancient city to the east of Kathmandu. the jeep journey there was….interesting? We often complain about potholes in the UK, but we’ve got nothing on the nepalese roads! At one point Joanna actually left the seat because of the force of the bump (back seat passengers do not have the luxury of having a seatbelt!). The city itself is a beautiful place, there a mountains just next to it that tower over it covered in lush green trees, the smell of incense and spices permeates the air. It is a very small, narrow streeted (I know thats not a word!) city, but it doesn’t feel crowded at all! It has a very relaxed atmosphere about the place – when we were having lunch (apparently at an expensive place, but it was only £23 for 5 people to have lunch and drinks!) we all wanted to stay. Try and picture the scene, we on the balcony of the 3rd story of a resturant, there is Hindu music playing from a local shop and the quiet murmur coming from people walking underneath and the occasional truck or bike tooting their horn. To the right of us is a narrow street with some vendors selling their wares in front of a temple, to the left there is a big open square with temples on 2 sides, shops on another and our resturant on another. In front of us their is a street winding its way away from us going deeper into the city. All the building are ‘rustic’ looking – wooden shutters, red tiles, red bricks, and over the top of the far away buildings we can see the foothills of the himalayas. Gorgeous, just gorgeous!

After Bhaktapur, we went to a Hindu crematory on the banks of the Bagmati river. This was an interesting, if slightly strange, visit. Watching families cremate their loved ones as we watch from a distance, ashes being swept into a ‘river’ where little water actually runs – it is blocked by human waste of all kind and mounds of earth that make it more of a stream, and a random cow having a nap under neath the cremation platforms. It was an interesting place though – learning who is allowed to be cremated (pregnant women, children nder 6 months and Holy men are buried rather than cremated). Learning where people come from to be created – bodies are flown in from around the world to be cremated here. It was also interesting to hear their approach to death – they are born naked, so they are cremated naked (wrapped in a cloth) and the see the cremation (or burial) as a giving back of the elements the body is made of to the earth. We met some very friendly Hindu holy men while were there, a very relaxed and reflective group of men!

We also went to the Monkey Temple – we knew it was high up, but didn’t realise that you had to climb 365 steps before you got to the top, not just 365 steps, but 365 very steep steps! The top reminded me of my trip to the Holy Land in November 2008, a religious site covered in Gold plated religious artifacts and the smell of incense being very over-riding. The view from the temple at the top was incredible – a fantastic panoram of the Kathmandu valley and of many high Himalayan foothills – we were scoffed at by Bibin, our guide for the day, for calling them mountains – despite them being 2-3 times the size of the highest mountian in the UK!

We were able to enjoy some Lassi with our dinner, a sweet Banana milk drink – it tastes quite like the yoghurt in this Muller Corner. we also had some Momo, little packets of meat in a lovely pastry case, simply gorgeous!

As those of you who know me would expect, I have been busy documenting our day in photos as well as words. This country is such an incredible place, i haven’t felt this at ease and safe in a city since I was in Jerusalem, it is such a spiritual place – and people are not afraid to talk about spiritual matters! Something we could learn from in Western countries!

One thing that made me laugh today – on the back of many trucks driving on the crazy roads, they have painted the words ‘Good Luck’ on their rear bumper – very fitting I thought……

Hi, Joanna here.  Just a quick message because I’m shattered after such a busy day.  Spoons may have to wait, alas.

As Chris said, today was Bhaktapur, Pashupatinath, and the monkey temple.  Bhaktapur was odd – it was such a quick visit that I didn’t really have time to process what I was seeing.  It is definitely a place that would require a longer trip to fully appreciate.  We went up the first level of what Lonely Planet describes as the highest temple in Nepal.  Sadly we did not have time to visit the naughty elephants temple.

Pashupatinath was frankly weird.  The smell was more smoke than BBQ, but the arm with its fingers burnt off dangling off the pyre was rather offputting.  The Sadhus (holy men) really just sat there and had their pictures taken.  I assume they do holy stuff when the visitors aren’t around!  It was, however, a fascinating glimpse of a side of Hinduism that can’t really be experienced in the UK.

The stairs to Monkey Temple were challenging at time of the afternoon and in that heat, but the view was worth it, even with the dust/smog haze prevening us seeing the Himalayas.  It was definitely interesting to see the Buddhist imagery and architecture.  The monkeys were very used to visitors, so Chris got some lovely photos.

On the way from the restaurant were we had tea back to the hotel, we passed an enormous cart which Bibin said would be dragged through the streets.  Slightly Wickerman-esque to look at, but a pillar rather than a body.  We may go out tomorrow night to see if it and the associated ceremonies/celebrations are still there.

For those of you who are interested in such things, you may be pleased to know that none of us have upset stomachs yet!

Hello! So today was our first day and very busy. The weather was mega hot – which was lovely apart from when your climbing a lot of steps to get to a temple!! Which had monkeys – oh yeah they were so cute!! The old city of Bhaktapur was lovely – why would anyone want to ruin this?? It had a few temples – which seem to be everywhere here in Nepal – but are great to see them!!

At the monkey temple there was a great prayer thing – this rolers were built around the ‘monkey temple’ and people could walk past and role them – apparently whilst saying a prayer and ringing the bell at the end!! Was great – the rolers had lots of patterns and pictures which when rolled looked brill! Also another prayer thing that we have seen is the prayer banners – they have mainly sqaure shaped clothes with prayers on them and they hang them all around – in all temple places and even just hung up in houses – brilliant ideas and look great so maybe be taking them ideas home with me!!

So i will go – you heard most of our days events from Chris and Joanna – but i didn’t really like the crematory – just can’t get me head around the idea!! Anyways thanks for all the prayers! Hugs xx

hey, hey, I am blogging for the first time on Chris blog and I am not sure who in the world is going to read this, but I am on top of world both literally and symbolically.  Chris has given you the highs and the lows of today, but I am still stuck in the crematorium near Kathmandu  by the Bhagmati River.  Seeing all those dead bodies lying in state (according the caste system) got me thinking about how life and death is openly visible here in Asia, whereas we do not talk about death in the UK.  One sad part was that women were not there to mourn the death of their loved one.  Anyway, much more at some point tomorrow – watch out for news about Yeti Airlines!!!

I had a great time meeting Paul Beautyman for a coffee in the rainy hall, Paul is one of the people who first encouraged me in my faith. I met him within about 20 minutes of becoming a Christian. He invited me to a week of using sports to share the gospel with young people. Sounded like a great week, so I signed up! I’ve never looked back! That week I fell in love with Youth Ministry. Paul has always encouraged me, always tried his best to help me however he could. He’s counseled me through many things, tried to help me turn my passion into action.
Anyway, we had a really good chat, I was telling him about my new job and he was telling me about his! He’s going to be the new Youth Advisor for Argyll and Bute. Can’t think of a better man for the job! You can follow his exploits at his newly set up blog.

I then went into the assembly for the Lochcarron and Skye overture. That was a heavy debate. Out of respect for the decisions made and for the General Assembly I won’t go into it unitl I’ve spoken to the Principal Clerk about exactly who and what time of communication is covered by the ‘no public debate’ instruction. Personally, I thought that, given the events of the week and the media circus leading upto the week, the General Assembly made a good call.

I’m gutted that this is my 3rd last day at GA. It’s been a really good week ,but I’m sad its coming to a close! There are two ‘pieces’ of worship I want to share with you from the Youth Reps worship time, the first is a poem shared by Iain Majcher, the Youth Rep from the presbytery of Europe.The second is a video of the worship tonight, a few months ago, my Uncle died suddenly in his sleep. He was quite musical, and had some guitars lying around. As the only other vaguely musical person in the family, my Grandparents asked me if I took take them and find good homes for them. One of the guitars I found a good home for was a Banjo. My friend, Mark Cameron, is a fantastically gifted worship leader and guitarist, this is a video of him leading worship on that very Banjo, apologies for me singing whilst holding the camera close to me! I don’t have them on the computer I’m blogging from, but as soon as I can I’ll post them up here.

If you read this before Tuesday afternoon, I recommend tuning into the CofS webstream to watch both or one of the Mission and Discipleship council and that of the Youth Assembly.

There were a few debates in the morning, the one I was most looking forward to was the World Mission debate. This was because I was planning on speaking during this debate about Israel/ Palestine. I wanted to speak about one of the things I experienced on the pilgrimage last year. One of the places we visited was a a community know as one of the ‘unrecognised villages’. This is one of the things I have still to blog about from that trip, but I will soon. For no, let me just type here the speech I was going to give the GA before the moderator asked me if I would mind speaking quickly!

Moderator, I would like to insert a new section 7 to the deliverance, reading as follows: ‘Instruct the council to research and bring information on the issue of unrecognised villages in Israel, in order that the Church of Scotland may be made aware of their plight and for this information to be brought to the General Assembly of 2010’.

Moderator, I am delighted by the content of the report on Israel & Palestine and by section 6 of the deliverance, as I was by the relevant sections in the Church and Society report and deliverance yesterday. It is important for the Church to be involved, in word and action, in this part of the world.

Last November, I had the privilege of being a part of the COSY pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The trip was, for me, life-changing. I find it impossible to imagine witnessing what I did out there and not be affected by it. The part of the trip that moved me the most was our visit to an unrecognised village. Before I went last year, I had never heard of an unrecognised village. For those in the hall who are in a similar position allow me to share a bit about the situation.

Unrecgonised villages are communities of Arabs who live on land that has been owned by Arab families for centuries. This land is wanted by the state in order to build settlements for immigrating Jewish families. The villages do not officially exist, they will not be found on a map. They have no water or electricity and have to fend for themselves in terms of healthcare and education. The families who live there live under daily threat of their houses being destroyed.

When we visited the village, we were welcomed like we were family. They couldn’t have made us feel more welcome! We were invited into the home of one family and offered snacks and beverages. My overriding memory of the home visit is of a young child being very excited to show our group their workbook!

I was quite shocked when walking round the village at the conditions these families live in. Every single home was pieced together or repaired with whatever materials could be found, many of the homes wouldn’t be out of place in a shanty town.

I didn’t know what to do or to say, as a group we asked what we could do to help them. Their answer was twofold; “pray for us and tell others their story, give them a voice”. I resolved that I would do both, and I come to the assembly asking them to help me fulfil this commitment. Moderator, you spoke this morning about the importance of young people dreaming dreams. I am a young man with a dream. A dream that these people can be heard, that their story can be told. I would dearly love this dream to become a reality and believe this assembly is the place where that can happen. I so move the Addendum.

I’m pleased to say that the addendum was passed. I’m glad that I’ve been able to take this issue forward to this level. I look forward to next year, to see where the World Mission council take this.

Not much to say about the garden party; I managed to get a quick chat with Bill Hewitt, I’d told him last year that if I came back this year it just wouldn’t be the same for me without him in the playpen (he’s been at ever assembly I’ve been at, or at least, he’s one of the people I most remember from previous assemblies). I was also able to chat to Marjory McLean and convey my thanks to her for all the encouragement and advice she has given me over my years at GA.

Saturday evening was interesting. At the start of the evening I wasn’t that as bothered about the outcome as I was about how the debate was conducted. I don’t want to talk here about the outcome, plenty of people are doing that, I want to talk about attitudes (again). I was worried that people would be hostile and disrespectful to one another during the debate. I think the way that the moderator handled the night was fantastic. He made it clear from the start that he would not tolerate ungracious behaviour and that he would not tolerate people cheering or jeering. Overall I thought everyone did a great job of upholding this. I thought that both parties did a great job of keeping focused on the actual issue, and not allowing themselves to be derailed from that. I was so grateful and proud for the respect, grace and dignity that was displayed for all those who were involved and by all those who spoke during the debate. The attitudes displayed gave me hope for the future debates that will be had on this issue.

Today has been quite a full day. The morning started with communion, then we had a number of debates, the largest of which was the Church and Society debate, although the HIV/AIDS project report was today as well.

The communion service was very uplifting. I’ve yet to be to a worship element of GA that isn’t uplifting! I’ve said before that the unaccompanied singing at GA is awesome, it was especially awesome during the singing of ‘Ye gates’ this morning, the sound of that being sung blew me away! I also really enjoyed the moderators address, let me share 4 points I especially liked from the address:
.we are united by our weaknesses
.we are united by the strength we find in God and in each other
.the Church should be a community of ‘changed lives that reflect Gods love corporately’
.it is as a unit we function, not as individuals.

The moderator also prayed for us to be an ‘unbroken fellowship’. I liked that idea too!

There were a couple of comedy moments for me this morning. To me, when the assembly was reciting the Apostles Creed, it sounded quite similar to when the Borg collective speak in Star Trek! There was also a moment when Bill Hewitt (The Moderator) seemed to forget he was Mod and went to sit in the playpen(the square, fenced in area in front of the Mods chair) instead of the Mods chair!

Although there were a few reports today, I want to focus my comments on the Church and Society report. As a whole, I though the report was rather good, there were parts I loved and parts I hated, but I want to focus this blog ‘report’ on some of the points I picked up during the debate.

The vocal report given at the assembly was opened with a strong statement of disappointment that MP’s have put more energy into clearing up the expenses debacle than they do on some of the issues addressed in the Church and Society report. They also stated that they saw the report as being the council getting us to ask questions about ourselves, our Church and our society. At one point, the council was asked if it would produce a statement opposing the BNP. They had no issue with opposing the BNP, they just reckoned that the people of Scotland were too bright to allow the BNP power.

When the report moved on to the section on ‘Growing up in Scotland’ my attention peaked. This is because I, alongside some other people I’ve known for a while were involved in the working party that put together this section of the report. So I was quite interested to see what was presented about it and what responses there were to it.

The section was introduced with the convener saying that the Council wanted to keep pressing the Government on issues surrounding meeting the needs of young people and that they also see a need for more consistency in policy. It was also suggested that the council look into the influence TV has on our society.

As ever, someone managed to bring up the idea of Youth Reps being allowed to vote, in an indicative manner. This usually comes up during the Mission and Discipleship report, not Church and Society! Marjory McLean, the acting principle clerk and also a legend amongst Youth Reps, reminded the assembly that the current status of Youth Reps and voting is that we cannot vote in any way just, but the question of us having some sort of indicative role is being thought about by various people, including the Youth themselves. She suggested that might think of ‘creative ways that old people haven’t thought of’. I’m not quite sure where I am on the idea of Youth Reps voting, I think its much more complicated than just hearing how the youth reps would vote, but I’ll look at that on a different blog post.

There was some discussion about Trident and other nuclear deterrents, the highlight of that section of the debate was when the council recommended against hitting nuclear warheads with hammers!

There was considerable debate over the issues in Israel/ Palestine.One issue that was toiled over was whether or not the GA should support the Two state solution in Israel/ Palestine. One commissioner was against the idea on the principle of not supporting the creation of mono-ethnic countries. Another commissioner worried that a two-state solution would lead to the creation of a Palestinian Ghetto, which I disagree with. I would argue, after being in Israel/ Palestine last year, that if things stay the same way they are now, then a Palestinian Ghetto will become. From what I saw last year, it’s heading in that direction, but I’ll cover that more fully in another blog post.

There was a cracking quote from one of the overseas delegates: “There is no peace without justice and no justice without human rights” (Rev Dr Tharwut Kades, evangelical presbyterian Church of Egypt.

After the world Church and society debate, a few of us decided we were done for the day and headed to the starbucks on the royal mile. One thing you should note at this point, is that the Heineken Cup Final was being played in Edinburgh yesterday, Leinster vs Leicester. Bearing that in mind, when we got to the starbucks on the royal mile the royal mile was packed with rugby fans. They all seemed to be having a great time, and an even greater time was had when somebody produced a rugby ball and started kicking it! It kept getting kicked up and down the royal mile, they even started aiming for open windows! That was fun to watch for a while! That day was rounded of nicely with a lovely dinner with my gorgeous wife Linda!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm0Rd90Bdt0&feature=channel_page]

I’ve spoken to quite a few people over the last few weeks who’ve been talking about what they’re giving up for lent. It was very easy to talk to people about what they’re giving up, but conversations seemed to flounder when we started talking about why?. So what does lent mean to you, why do you do, or not do, anything during lent?

What is lent traditionally? It seems to be an ever changing concept, originally it merely was used as a word for the spring season. Over the centuries it has morphed into the concept of a time of preperation – through prayer, penitance, self-denial and self-sacrifice – leading up to Easter and the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Sounds very noble and worthy, what does it involve really though? What does it mean to me personally? To you?

For me, its about renewal, a time to set aside everything I’ve failed at over the last year and focus on bringing myself back to God and my relationship with him. And its not just about my failings, its about looking at all the things that have been good and bad over the last year. Making an attempt to see God in everything thats happened. Sometimes its easy. Its easy to see where God was in things like Youth Assembly, its very easy to see where God was in the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Its hard to see where God was/is in some of the struggles at Portlethen Church. Its incredibly hard to see where God was/is throughout Iona’s suffering and death and the continued suffering thats come out of that.

Reflection, thats a key word for me at this time of year. Reflecting over the last year and how I’ve got through it. Another key word is Renewal. My relationship with God as really floundered over the last few years. I hate that. I find prayer, both speaking to god and listening to him, nigh on impossible most days. I struggle to have any regular, quality time exploring Gods word. I want to use this period, where the whole Church is focusing on preperation, on spending time reflecting and renwing myself; spiritually, emotionally and physically.

So what am I doing for lent? I’m concentrating on developing faithful practice in my life. Faithful practice in my prayer life, my Bible study habits and my attitudes towards things in life. I’m also follwing to other lenten practices suggested by two of my friends: Journey to Jerusalem is a program of reflection developed by Christian Aid, to help us reflect throughout our Lenten journey, but trying to avoid the often selfish habits of self-reflection. By doing this, I hope to be able to connect more with the challenges our world faces and how we should be responding as Christians. By following this, I hope to keep myself real and not retreat back into myself as I reflect, I have a bad habit of retreating into myself during hard times, I want to move away from that. Thanks to Stewart Culter for pointing me towards this! The other Lenten practice I was pointed towards is the Blood:Water mission. A challenge to only drink water during Lent, and use what you saved on not buying other drinks to help projects in Africa. Seems a great idea to me! Thanks to Laura for pointing me towards it.

Please share any Lenten journeys you are undergoing yourself, shared stories during a period like this can only serve to encourage and inspire us all on our own journeys. After all, faith is both individual and corporate. To grow, we must share our individual experiences with each other.

Bethlehem 'security' wall collage

this next one is of a bench that was outside a museum on the shores of Galilee that had the remains of a 1st century fishing boat on display….

Galilean Identity Bench

The bench reads: “My identification with the Galilee and with my home in the Galilee came to me naturally. My home is here in the rocky land of the Galilee.” Yigal Allon

After the village, we were taken to visit an Episcopal Church in the outskirts of Nazareth. We didn’t really ask the minister there much, I think we were all still processing our thoughts and feelings from the village. After spending some time ther, we returned to the hotel, where we enjoyed (many of us feeling guilty all the while) quite a lavish dinner of soup, seafood, veal and fresh fish.

It was a hard day, but a good day in that it opened the eyes of many of us to realities we’ve never comprehended, or, in my case certainly, not allowed ourselves to look at; out of fear, selfishness, cowardice, many reasons, none that hold any weight when listening to Jesus words and commands on our lives though……….

I often sign out of my posts ‘peace out’

just doesn’t seem right…….

After visiting the Mount of the Precipice, we visited a replica, working, first century farm in the middle of Nazareth. It was quite interesting, as we were being taken round by the guide he would explain how parts of the farm worked into the parables that Jesus taught. it really brought a whole new angle to the parables when we saw what the kind of farm Jesus referred to would have looked like. Below is a picture of the threshing floor at the farm, for some reason I’d always pictured it looking similar to the malting floor in a traditional Whisky Distillery.

After being served lunch at the farm, we visited some Churches in Nazareth: The Basilica of the Annunciation, St Josephs and the Greek Orthodox church of the Annunciation. all 3 Churches were awesome to visit. I have long come to the conclusion that i don’t really care how historically accurate the locations of all the Churches connected to Biblical characters/events are. To get anal about that would serve only to take away from the experience of God that so many people have in them. but lets not get into that quite yet….
Basilica of the Annunciation. This was visible quite clearly from the precipice. It’s a huge Church, quite impressive to look at. As its name suggests, It is named for the event of the Angels announcing to Mary that she was to give birth to Jesus. In the courtyard, there are many pictures of the Madonna and Child, each individualised to a different country, below is a picture of my favourite one, from Croatia. Inside the Church, there is another Church! This second Church, known as the grotto, is believed by many to be the original childhood home of Mary, mother of Jesus…..The Basilica is the site where Roman Catholics believe the annunciation took place, we also visited the Greek Orthdox Church where they claim the same event took place. Excavations on the grotto are still taking place, it was quite cool to watch archaeologists at work for a short period…



After the Basilica, it was on to St Josephs Church, which, as you may have guessed, was built for Joseph, “Father” of Jesus. Again, this was an incredible place to visit, complete with a green lit cavern that is reputed to be Joesphs workshop. What was interesting to find out was that, although we typically describe and think of Joseph as a carpenter, it is thought to be more likely that he was the 1st century equivalent of a construction worker/handyman. Able to turn his hand to most things involving stone or wood work. Which comes back to us in many of Jesus comments about wood/stone in his teachings.
After St Josephs, we went to to the other Church of the Annunciation, the Greek Orthodox site. This wasn’t as huge a Church, but still impressive nonetheless. As a Greek Orthodox Church, it had an impressive Iconostasis at the front (picture below) and also had a small chapel built over a spring that iscalled “Mary’s Well”. Guess why? Miss Whyte was given a row by one of the caretakers of the Church when she crossed her legs, we were then informed this is an insult in Arab cultures!

Once we returned to the hotel, we enjoyed an amzing dinner and then headed to the bar to chill and chat about the day. In the bar over the next few days, a small group of us, Jonnie, myself, Nicola, Rachel and Suzi became quite freindly with some of the bar staff. One in particular stands out: Lavi, a fantastic guy, always up for banter and introduced me to Arak, a fine liquer that is quite tasty!


So thats a “brief” account of the first day in Israel. An easy day to write about, in that all we did was visit sights, it was a Biblical history day, whereas some other days had a much more humanitarian/political aspect to them…….
Hope you enjyed reading this and that you’re up for some more over the next few days, I’ve a lot to write about about the trip!!!