The Adventure Continues

It's been a great month so far. First Sri Lanka which was truly an amazing experience that I'm still fully absorbing. The team were fantastic, the people were as welcoming as any I've ever met and the church service was humbling because of the passion of the people in spite of circumstances. The Barnet Press ran an article last week which is not entirely factually accurate (but this is the media) and I'm not greatly into the slant they put on it, however the quotes are pretty much what I said and express something of the experience. Check it out here. Got back and had a really positive meeting with the Bishop to discuss my proposal for setting up some sort of new missional community. Half way through the meeting he said "Simon you don't need to persuade me, I'm very enthusiastic". The next step is that he's coming to meet the team in July...all good so far.
Then I went down to Cornwall to marry my cousin - if you know what I mean. It was a really great occassion and while I was more nervous than usual as most of my living relatives were there to witness my attempts at officiating, it went really well and we had a really good family weekend in Cornwall, which Post Sri Lanka was what we needed.
Next weekend I'm off to attempt the 15 peaks challenge you can find out more about it here and sponsor me here if you're feeling generous. Hopefully I'll make it back with a few good photos and no blisters.

Smiles among the destruction

Smiles among the destruction
Originally uploaded by Kirbs.

Well I'm back after what were a couple of the most amazing weeks of my life. I didn't manage to blog while away as internet access was extremely limited, however there would have been so much to say. From day one the experiences were challenging to the core, meeting these kids who wanted to teach us how to count in Tamil, smiling for the camera as they jumped up and down on the remains of their homes. Returning with Ramanan (the manager of Samaritan's purse livelihood projects in that area) to his house for the first time since the Tsunami; speaking in a church that had been burnt down a couple of years ago by the hindu youth movement; praying for the sick and seeing healing; building a playground and watching the kids smile as they played; restoring a school from being a refugee camp; helping local fishermen land their catch of Manta Ray; swimming in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean; hearing the stories of lost loved ones; experiencing the grace of God through and with a fantastic team among wonderful people. It's going to be hard going back to normal because normal is never going to be the same again.