We are currently staying with Pastor Sylvester in Bogowantalawa which is high in the mountains of Sri Lanka.

This morning, Grant and I addressed a meeting of pastors from the Smyrna Churches Network. We talked about relational christianity and the ministry of apostles. Grant was very nervous but spoke well.

The Smyrna churches were started by 4 Swedish missionaries in the 1940's. These missionaries had gone to China but were expelled after the Communist take-over and came to Sri Lanka instead. The network has since expanded well past the original vision of the missionaries with branch churches being planted all over the country,

Here are some photos from the last couple of days.

This is Pastor Kane (right in the centre) with his wife and family. The fellow in the blue shirt is Pastor Sylvester who is Kane's brother.Grant at the back towers over the rest!

Traffic in Sri Lanka, like in India, is chaotic. Apparently there are road rules but they are rarely observed. In fact the general rule is "might is right" or give way to bigger vehicles only.

These auto-rickshaws are very popular. Originally they were just used as taxis but there seem to be many in general private usage. They are like covered three-wheel motorbikes and go well on the flat, but not so well up hill.

The trip to Bogowantalawa is very slow. We stopped for a break at this tea garden. It is good to see that Australia does not have a monopoly on Big Things!

Although he was very nervous, Grant spoke well at the pastors' meeting this morning.

Here is the mountain scenery around us. It is quite cloudy with occasional showers and the clouds hang low over the mountains.

This afternoon we went for a walk in the village. The people are very friendly, many saying "Good Evening" to us as we passed. The actual shopping area felt uncomfortable because we were aware that we stood out in a very busy crowd and also that we had incredible amounts of cash by local standards.

I found some evidence of Australian influence in the village. One establishment calls itself the "Bogo Hotel"- the only instance I've seen of Aussie-style shortening of names.

Tomorrow I think we will be visiting the churches in some neighbouring villages.