The Philanthropists Graveyard

Some of us have a simple home!

Some of us have a simple home!

I‘ve observed many well-meaning people try to help Samoa and almost just as many fall by the wayside, often getting hurt in the process. In some ways you could call Samoa a philanthropists graveyard.

In this Sermon from Samoa I draw attention to the challenges of giving meaningfully, and encourage us to question the real purpose behind our giving. I also caution against lop-sided patronising giving and explain how most giving is actually non-scriptural. [Read more...]

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Helping the helpers is hard work

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Septic Tank Construction

Learning experiences all round - Septic Tank Construction in Samoa

Working in the Voluntourism Industry isn’t easy. It sounds “sexy” but it is hard work, and dealing many people who may want to help but have agendas and issues of their own.

There’s a limit to what you can do for people when helping them adjust to a new environment. You can teach and preach, yet ultimately “everyone is their own man” and you can only hope and pray that when they eventually fall, while they may crash, they do not burn!

Among the many projects and relationships we are establishing here, one of my core missions is to help people coming to Samoa to “help” – helping the helpers, but it is not easy.

[Read more...]

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Making & keeping real friends

Twin Towers
Twin Towers

One card from a series of playing cards by Illuminati gamer S Jackson, dated 1995, six years before the 9-11 event.*

“I think I will de-friend any 911 truthers…idiots!” . . . said one blogger. Another was more direct, invited his Facebook friends to “confess” and then threatened to defriend anyone if they dared to suggest that the 9-11 fiasco was a false-flag event.

Goodness me what a temptation . . . so I stepped right up to the mark and “confessed” my crimes. I did it, he did (CYA!) and thus marked another example of opinionated bigotry.

Bugger off I’ll defriend you if you don’t agree with me”, is the guts of it, sounding a lot like the days of Hitler when what you thought or valued had to align with others.

Sunday’s Sermon from Samoa is (for those who like to gossip) nothing to do with Samoa, but more to do with being blinded by blinkers and keeping friendships. It’s easy to put our head in the sand, and hard to keep friends. [Read more...]

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Missing the point

It’s Sunday again so the God talk begins. In another Sermon from Samoa I share the age-old message that the world is missing the point. We all get distracted by people and things, and living a remarkably shallow existence but we often forget to get a “life”. Unfortunately the reality is that many people don’t want to dig deeper and so miss the point. [Read more...]

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John Campbell vs PM Tuila’epa

I’m intrigued by the current spat between John Campbell and Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuila’epa. From what I’ve seen so far, my money’s firmly on the PM. I’ll eat humble pie and apologise to JC if I’m wrong! [Read more...]

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Dealing with trouble

In another Sunday Sermon from Samoa I share the words of other Palagi who see things wrong in Samoa and explain how speaking the truth in love creates a solution for a troublesome situation. Doing this helps others to grow and mature (and in a Christian context, in their faith). Simple. Effective. Powerful. [Read more...]

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