It's Sunday in Samoa, so God gets a good look-in today. The SWAP Foundation is founded upon the biblical value system. Christianity is not required of our …
Archives for January 2011
Everyone loves a winner
I know that it's a rhetorical question but don't you just love a winner? Be honest now, we all do! Getting behind a top performer is motivating and …
9. Everyone loves a winner
Don't you just love a winner? Be honest now, we all do! Getting behind a top performer is motivating and invigorating. Even leaders love engaging with and …
Water water water
Can you believe it? A post without preaching! Just a few photos from the rainy season. No big deal over here. Just a bit of water . . . everywhere! …
8. Financial Equivalence
A question now . . . who is worth more? An unemployed rural Samoan who works for a day on his plantation and feeds his family (maybe only just) OR someone like …
7. Cross Cultural Partnership
The seventh principle we use over here is a concept that sounds easy but is a real challenge - we require a cross-cultural partnership. So what's the catch? …
Lies, Greed & Shame
I want you to read this - LIES, GREED & SHAME: The vicar said "It was easier for the farm to write out one cheque & for the church to distribute money …
I say, "Right let's settle on ONE piece of land please, SIGN it & get going!" I've got things happening all around me & offers of land & leases …
6. Giver’s Gain
The Good Book says that "It is more blessed to give than to receive". This biblical principle is the sixth in a series explaining the values that we are using …
5. Take Nothing Home
The fifth principle will have alternative thinkers, greenies and liberals delighted. Just like the rules when visiting a natural tourist destination we require …
TV3 plagiarism
A continued pattern lacking of integrity and professionalism from mainstream journalism in this case TV3. Granted, it COULD be a co-incidence. Sad though as …
I'm pinching myself. Extraordinary! I've just been given a volcano, yes, given. Comes complete with 400 acres of beautiful bush & views to die for & a …
WikiLeaks question
Q: Where's the combined international law enforcement's race to uncover the source of WikiLeak's "damning documents". Not so bothered about where the docs came …
Flower vase
Everyone recognizes design in a glass vase, but many refuse to believe that the flowers in the vase must also have been designed. …
4. Use only the Best
The fourth principle we apply in Samoa is that we only want to work with the best. This runs counter to the typical cultural response to getting things done …
3. Use what you have
The third underlying principle that we've been working with in Samoa is to start with what we do have, then move outwards, to that which we don't have but that …
2. Vision > relationships > money
In this Sermon from Samoa I share another principle that we have been applying to the SWAP Foundation's work. Coming from a Christian perspective, I challenge …
1. What’s yours is mine
In the first of a series of posts focusing on the principles that we are using to weave our magic here, I share how I see biblical principles blended creatively …
There has to be a God
I think the doors are opening for us in Samoa again. There has to be such a thing as providence, kharma, a God or similar - there just has to be. …
Smoke, smudge & smear experts
In this Sermon from Samoa I share my experiences with "Smoke, smudge & smear experts" and show how the beauty of truth gets lost so often. Magicians use …
All about money, again
The lure of money is subtle, and multifaceted. In another Sermon from Samoa, I share my concerns about how focussing on monetary matters trips even the best of …
Soooo clever
Some people are just Sooooo clever! …
Samoan Fireworks
Here I provide proof of Samoan Christmas fireworks: a .22 bullet found on the road. I push the boundaries of racial tolerance again (but am off the hook …
Christmas Musings
Oscar Wilde gives some good advice to people like me who tell it like it is. "If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill …