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Jehovahs Witness friendships

2 March, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The Watchtower magazine - another source of noise, some good topics, a major JW bias of course
The Watchtower magazine - another source of noise, some good topics, a major JW bias of course

The Watchtower magazine – another source of noise, some good topics, with a major JW bias of course

I love the JWs. Their relationships don’t last long with me but they are so very friendly to start with.

I was visited by a lovely JW gentleman and his son recently. I am delighted to have yet another Samoan friend. Jehovah’s Witnesses are known the world over for their zeal and often hated. I’ve found them to be so very kind and friendly that it is a delight to have them visit (no I am not kidding).

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Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: ,
This post has 1,948 words.

The Philanthropists Graveyard

1 October, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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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Filed Under: Articles, Samoa Files
This post has 2,715 words.

Helping the helpers is hard work

17 September, 2011 By 2 Comments
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.

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Filed Under: Articles, Samoa Files
This post has 1,590 words.

Making & keeping real friends

11 September, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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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Filed Under: Articles
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Missing the point

21 December, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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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Filed Under: Samoa Files
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John Campbell vs PM Tuila’epa

3 November, 2010 By 1 Comment

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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Filed Under: Samoa Files Tagged With: john campbell,
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Dealing with trouble

26 September, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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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Filed Under: Samoa Files Tagged With: ,
This post has 2,788 words.