Monday 28 January 2019
Friday 25 January 2019
Purpose Driven Life
This is the question we will be asking at the Welcome Back (Re-Freshers) Fair on January 30th. Why not visit the Christian Union/Chaplaincy stand and have your say.
Introducing …
‘The Purpose Driven
Life’
Want to discover more about what it means to live life with a
deep sense of purpose. This 8-week collaboration between Medway Campus Christian Union and Lynne Martin, Medway Campus Chaplain will explore this question
from a Christian perspective. This will be a great opportunity to deepen your
faith, or simply discover more about what makes you tick.
Starting Tuesday,
February 5th 7:30-9:30pm
The Faith Space,
Pilkington 039
Feb 12th - What Drives your Life?
Feb 19th - CU social
Feb 26th - The Moment and the Practice of Surrender
Mar 5th - Called to Belong
Mar 12th - Transformed by Truth and Trouble
Mar 19th - Accepting your Assignment
Mar 26th - Eternal Significance
Apr 2nd - Where next?
For more information contact Lynne (Medway Campus Chaplain) or Medway Campus Christian Union.
Thursday 24 January 2019
CCCU MedFest
A HUGE WELL DONE and THANK YOU to Jo Kelly and her amazing team who put together the first ever Christ Church Adult Nursing MedFest yesterday. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be involved.
Throughout the day there were information tables, a selfie stand and drop-in sessions. Plus an amazing choice of workshops on offer ... everything from clinical skills, referencing and understanding assessments, all the way through to mindfulness, singing for health and creative art.
It's always good to have a Chaplaincy presence at these events, as much as I try there are still students and staff out there who don't know about what Chaplaincy can provide.
I'll also never miss out on a dress-up selfie booth ...
One room I particularly enjoyed was the Bucket List room - exploring life, death and dying in an uplifting way. Another peaceful room where people could consider the meaning of life and respond as they felt led.
This barren autumn tree could be adorned with the 'things in life we want to let go of' and 'things in life we want to take up'.
Throughout the day there were information tables, a selfie stand and drop-in sessions. Plus an amazing choice of workshops on offer ... everything from clinical skills, referencing and understanding assessments, all the way through to mindfulness, singing for health and creative art.
It's always good to have a Chaplaincy presence at these events, as much as I try there are still students and staff out there who don't know about what Chaplaincy can provide.
I'll also never miss out on a dress-up selfie booth ...
The creative art room was wonderfully peaceful to visit. Here people worked on self portraits. Some real talent on display!
One room I particularly enjoyed was the Bucket List room - exploring life, death and dying in an uplifting way. Another peaceful room where people could consider the meaning of life and respond as they felt led.
Life is a journey
Life is now
Life is precious
Life is fullness
This barren autumn tree could be adorned with the 'things in life we want to let go of' and 'things in life we want to take up'.
I loved some of the quotes/comments people wrote ...
Monday 21 January 2019
Wednesday 16 January 2019
On a personal note ...
I have just returned from a fabulous two weeks in Sri Lanka visiting Sonali and her family there. Here are some photos to give you a taste of my two weeks in the sun :-)
Here I am arriving in Colombo, Sri Lanka ... my 35th country!!!
Our first few days were taken up with Sonali's friend's wedding at which she was a brides-maid. It was lovely to be pampered and dressed by the beauty salon next to their home ... I loved my hair and sari :-)
Monday, Dec 31st we visited the town of Negombo with Sonali's cousin, Malintha and his daughter. I enjoyed seeing the harbour, the fish market, getting my first paddle in the sea and drink my only latte of the trip :-)
Our first stop was Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.
We drove north-east, through Dambulla and on to Sigiriya Village where we stayed in the Castle Rock Hotel for a night. Two minutes out the car and I'd been feasted on by mosquitoes :-( Next day we woke early to climb Lion Rock.
Even with several breaks on route, we made it up and down in just over two hours. As it was still only 10:30am we decided to drive on to Polonnaruwa, stopping for lunch on route ... yeah, mango lassi and veg curry!!
There followed three wonderful nights at the Trinco Blu Hotel ... relaxing, reading, swimming, eating ... I was born for moments like these :-)
On Saturday, Jan 5th we headed back to Ragama. Then the following day enjoyed a drive along the coast southward to Ambalangoda to visit one of the turtle hatcheries. Here they rescue and care for sick and deformed turtles. Plus having a breeding programme for those turtles on the endangered list.
On a hot day, there's nothing more refreshing that a cold Elephant Ginger Beer, which became my drink of the day.
This is my new elephant, Trinco
It really doesn't take a lot to keep me happy. My longest ever train journey was in India ... 36 hours! In Sri Lanka, I possibly took my shortest ever train journey ... about 7 minutes :-) But, hey, it only cost 4p!!
Here I am arriving in Colombo, Sri Lanka ... my 35th country!!!
Our first few days were taken up with Sonali's friend's wedding at which she was a brides-maid. It was lovely to be pampered and dressed by the beauty salon next to their home ... I loved my hair and sari :-)
Monday, Dec 31st we visited the town of Negombo with Sonali's cousin, Malintha and his daughter. I enjoyed seeing the harbour, the fish market, getting my first paddle in the sea and drink my only latte of the trip :-)
On January 1st we left for our little five day adventure. It was great to have Sonali's uncle, Kalinga, as our driver for the trip. He was really accommodating and I felt very safe in some of the madness on the roads.
Our first stop was Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.
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| What a great place to sit on a hot day :-) |
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| Yes, believe it or not, they make natural paper out of elephant poo!! We watch how they make it, all very fascinating. What I'm wondering though is who ever came up with the idea in the first place?! |
We drove north-east, through Dambulla and on to Sigiriya Village where we stayed in the Castle Rock Hotel for a night. Two minutes out the car and I'd been feasted on by mosquitoes :-( Next day we woke early to climb Lion Rock.
Sigiriya (Lion Rock) is an ancient rock fortress located near the town of Dambulla, Sri Lanka. The name refers to a site of historical and archaeological significance that is dominated by a massive column of rock nearly 200 metres (660 ft) high. According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Culavamsa, this site was selected by King Kasyapa (477 – 495 CE) for his new capital. He built his palace on the top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure — Sīnhāgiri, the Lion Rock. The capital and the royal palace was abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.
Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. It is one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning.
I was grateful for my knee brace and walking pole which made the whole thing much easier. The only negative was the rather aggressive monkeys.
Even with several breaks on route, we made it up and down in just over two hours. As it was still only 10:30am we decided to drive on to Polonnaruwa, stopping for lunch on route ... yeah, mango lassi and veg curry!!
POLONNARUWA ... The second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms, Polonnaruwa was first declared the capital city by King Vijayabahu I, who defeated Chola invaders in 1070 to reunite the country once more under a local leader. The Ancient City of Polonnaruwa has been declared a World Heritage Site.
After Polonnaruwa, we carried on north-east to the coastal town of Trincomalee, on route seeing elephants, monitor lizards, porcupines and monkeys galore.
There followed three wonderful nights at the Trinco Blu Hotel ... relaxing, reading, swimming, eating ... I was born for moments like these :-)
We spent one morning exploring the fish market and veg market and harbour ...
On Saturday, Jan 5th we headed back to Ragama. Then the following day enjoyed a drive along the coast southward to Ambalangoda to visit one of the turtle hatcheries. Here they rescue and care for sick and deformed turtles. Plus having a breeding programme for those turtles on the endangered list.
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| This one was super heavy. |
After this we had the remainder of the day with a mammoth visitation exercise. I have now met most of Sonali's mum's relatives and in the evening we had dinner with a lot of her dad's relatives :-)
On a hot day, there's nothing more refreshing that a cold Elephant Ginger Beer, which became my drink of the day.
This is my new elephant, TrincoIt really doesn't take a lot to keep me happy. My longest ever train journey was in India ... 36 hours! In Sri Lanka, I possibly took my shortest ever train journey ... about 7 minutes :-) But, hey, it only cost 4p!!
They say, all good things come to an end. I really can't thank Sonali's family enough for welcoming me in to their lovely home, for feeding me scrumptious curries, fresh fruit and let's not forget the ice-cream. You made my time in Sri Lanka so very memorable and THANK YOU just isn't enough.
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