Has anyone been wondering about seeing The Star with kids? It’s a new animated Nativity story, with lots of Hollywood voice talent, and some funny moments. It’s also stuck in the 1980s when it comes to portrayal of women, casting and content. Sigh. Â I went today with my son and friends, so here are […]
Advent is on its way! In 2017 it begins on Sunday 3 December (though lots of Advent resources will begin on 1 December as they do every year, regardless of the calendar). Most of my Advent resources – pretty much everything you could possibly need! – are in this post full of links and ideas. […]
In November 2015 my family moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to work with the NGO Partners Relief & Development, to help bring free, full lives to children affected by conflict and oppression, particularly people in and from Myanmar/Burma. Two months in, here’s the second of a short series of updates on what life is like here. You can […]
I remember when I first read a report of how women and girls were suffering under the Taliban in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. I think I was about sixteen. Widows were starving – literally dying of hunger – because they weren’t allowed to shop for food without a male guardian. Girls were kicked out of schools and […]
This is excellent, peeps! The wise and hard-working women at New Zealand Baptist Children and Family Ministries have produced a fantastic Advent resource for families to use through December at home. It’s called Christmas @ Home and I warmly recommend it. It isn’t a do-one-every-day kind of Advent journey. Rather, it’s a vibrant collection of ideas to […]
A warm welcome to this year’s Advent in Art series, where we join thousands of others in contemplating artistic works. This week we are in the season of Christmas, and conclude the series. For an introduction to this series, and He Qi, the artist featured in 2014, please see the first post, on the Annunciation. […]
What is a Blue Christmas Service? Guest writer Melanie recently reflected on the process of putting together a Blue Christmas service at Frenchs Forest Baptist Church, where she is a pastor: The concept of a Blue Christmas Service was new for me this year. The idea behind the services is to provide a quiet, contemplative service […]
A warm welcome to guest poster, Melanie Carroll, who is writing today about the Blue Christmas service she ran on the weekend. Melanie is married to Sean and has two young adult children. She trained at Carey Baptist College in Auckland, New Zealand, but is currently living across the ditch in Sydney where she is […]
I know the title is a big call, but I’ll eat a suitcase of carrots if you can beat these 🙂 As I said in a post last Christmas, partly about the differences between Southern and Northern Hemisphere Christmas celebrations: St Paul’s Anglican Church in central Auckland is blessed to have some very artistically and […]
Happy Advent, everyone! A warm welcome to this year’s Advent in Art series, where we join thousands of others in contemplating artistic works while we wait, wait, wait for Christmas. Advent in Art 2014: Featuring artist He Qi He Qi is one of my favourite artists, so I’m particularly excited that this year’s Advent in […]