“I have given up religion for Lent!”

While Val and I were travelling recently we met a number of people who had been on a strong learning curve under the tutorage of the Holy Spirit! It highlights the many, many people from all backgrounds who have sensed that there is more to relationship with God than a group of rules or traditions. Knowing him is a deep friendship which is primary to all our life! I have often said, “I have given up religion for Lent!”

A young man in his late 20’s with his wife and young family expressed it this way:

We stopped going to formal structured ‘church’ services about 2 and a half years ago and have had a wonderful time relying wholly on the Lord EVERY day for His sustenance, satisfaction and provision. I have found it absolutely freeing and liberating just to live my life without being seen DOING anything but being able to share the Love of God with those He brings us into contact with.

I grew up going to a congregation (since I was born) that started out with very noble intentions and ideals and had a ‘Vision” for unity in the Body of Christ and that The Church would be just that, no walls, no denominations…just Christians getting together as the Lord lead and was just as effective as the early church. Unfortunately the leaders of that particular group have gotten impatient with the Lord as He has not moved like they would have liked Him to so they have set up their own ‘administration for the fullness of time’ with the Elders as the head of the church and……etc etc etc

They have gone to the extreme of being a cult now and are breaking up families left right and centre and all the typical stuff that happens in those kinds of places. It is hard for me and my family to see it because we have life long friends who still go there and they were forced to cut us off.

Basically what happened to us was that we all, individually met the Lord for the first time in our lives and it was wonderful. But because it didn’t come from the elders, they didn’t like it, and demanded that we renounce it but we just simple couldn’t, it revolutionised our family life and we’ve never been so close. We’re not without our challenges but the Lord is SOOO gracious and faithful. My mum has been a Christian all her life and she is one of 8 children. Her father was an AOG paster and they spent their whole life street witnessing and handing out tracts on street corners etc. So when she met the Lord it was such a radical change in her life, Likewise my father, who got ‘saved’ in his early 20’s.

I too gave my heart to the Lord when I was 4 years old, got baptised at the age of 7 and filled with the Spirit not long after and tried to live the best I could as a Christian through my teens and early 20’s. Unfortunately the congregation that we belonged to was so focused on ministry that you couldn’t not get caught up in the striving to be noticed and continually wanting to be accepted, especially by the elders and I had the perspective that the more full on for Christ you were the more of a leader you were. All my uncles were full time preachers by the time they were in their late teens so I just thought that being full time in the ministry was the ultimate.

When I was 24 yrs old the Lord put me into a situation that absolutely devastated me and I was completely out of control and all I could do was take each day at a time and trust that the Lord was doing something in me.

As time went on the situation in me got worse and I remember one particular week was just completely black. That is the only way I could describe it. By the Wednesday I vaguely remember reading in Isaiah 58 that if you fast….your healing will come speedily. I decided to fast but that seemed to make it worse and by Friday I just couldn’t bear it any more and when I went home from work I just wanted to be with my Dad and Mum (I was living at home at this stage), I didn’t care what we did I just wanted their company. I got home and the house was dark and empty and I didn’t know where they were so I went to my room and fell on the floor and sobbed my heart out.

While I was doing that, I felt something black leave me and sort of sink into the floor, hard to explain but looking back I know exactly what happened at that moment.

The next morning I woke up and something was different…I was still hurting a lot but now there was this sense of hope. Kind of like when you have had a nightmare and you wait for the morning to come and finally after a lifetime of waiting a faint slither of light appears on the horizon and you breathe a great sigh of relief because the night is over.

Well that next week was the most amazing week in my life to that point. I still hurt a lot but the Grace of God was so amazing and real it actually got me through. By Thursday the Lord said very clearly to wait. Wait??? What for?? Just about every ten minutes I would get the very clear word just to wait and keep in waiting. Gave up trying to figure it out after a couple of hours and began to wait…didn’t know what for, but I just waited.

On Friday, another hard day but I had an overwhelming sense to keep waiting so I just plugged on. I jumped into my car and started the trip home and turned a corner and out of the blue I took a huge deep breathe as if I had been under water for too long and came up gasping. I saw myself sit up (inside) and I knew that I was born again. It was the most thrilling drive home I have ever had because I KNEW that Jesus was Lord and the creator of the universe and the saviour of the whole world and I had his life in me – period!!

I remember seeing people who were saved out of horrible situations in their lives and they would be over the moon with joy with the fact that they were save and I would just say in my heart “yeah whatever, I already know…I’ve known all my life”. Now I completely new what they were feeling…I WAS SAVED. Praise God.

I drove down the road punching the air and absolutely praising God. All of a sudden all the scriptures that I had spent my whole life learning made sense and I knew I had just begun my life in Christ. I knew that in John 3:3-5 I had been born to see the kingdom of God to that point in my life but had not entered but now I was born to enter and I had entered and I knew it.

Well that was 9 years ago and my life has been the most amazing journey and soooooo much has happened that is waaaaaaaaaaaay beyond what I had ever planned for my life. The funny thing is I am doing much less in the lime light and just getting on with life and it is so much more satisfying. Please excuse my language but it is the clearest way to explain. What I had planned for my life was a pile of dog shit compared to the feast the Lord has given me now and it is still only just beginning.

Part of the journey has been getting shown the door at the congregation to which we belonged all our lives and that was very painful but we knew that we couldn’t go it alone so we found a local AOG and went there for a couple of years. During that time I met my wife and we got married and now have the 2 kids.

Someone show us Wayne Jacobson’s book ‘So you don’t want to go to church any more’ and it rang true with us. So my wife and I started to wait on the Lord for the right time to stop going. The more we waited the more uncomfortable we got as we watch all the classic controlling mechanisms and fake relating etc going on so finally after 6 months of waiting I went and told them that we wanted to stay in touch but would not be attending their services.

As I said earlier, since then we have enjoyed our lives every day and I especially enjoy Sundays now. It’s a great day to share our lives with our family and friends who don’t know the Lord and we’ve seen my wife’s dad come to know the Lord since.

We are back and we are back!!

It is now just three months since Val and I returned from our journey around the world. We were rather tired when we returned, but truly enjoyed being back in our own bed and in our own home. It took a few weeks to sort through and answer the mountain of mail and even though we had kept fairly up-to-date with e-mail, even they demanded a certain amount of time.

If you looked at this blog you would see that over the last week's we have not been writing anything at all, because there has been nothing happening, but because we just haven't been orientated to keeping in touch. For which we apologise. We aim to keep up the blog and encourage readers to contribute comments.

Just three weeks after we returned from our journey we gathered together with 30 or so others at a home in central Victoria. This rural location was chosen when we met together over Easter. Again we enjoyed just being together and reflecting on the place that God has brought us to. The gathering shared some video clips of folk we had met in different places in the world telling of how God had led them on in relation to himself. It was a rich and happy time.

We have been asked many times what things stand out as we look back on our three months on the road. There are four headings come to mind.

1.God is at work in his church and the gates of Hades nor the organisation of men have stood in the way of it.
We met many people who were confident that God was leading them on in their Christian walk in a freedom to live and decide to live in a submitted way, endeavouring to live as faithful followers and friends of the Lord Jesus.

Some were part of institutional churches, others met in what they described as house churches while others still quietly lived in relation to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and in a gentle relation with other believers. But in all the people and groups we met, the evidence was that God had dealt with them individually. He had led them through situations that were as different as the number of people. To the place where they started to ask Father, "What are you saying to us?" To different degrees people followed what they saw he was asking of them. They entered an adventure where they began to know him into deeper way, sometimes where they were by themselves, with little fellowship with other people, even wondering sometimes if they
had "got it all wrong". Interestingly, we met no one in these groups who wanted to go back!

2. God deals with his people as the individuals who matter that he declares that we are.
Time and again we heard the story of how God had moved in the lives of people through things that were very specific to the individuals involved. This was not a man made "movement" of places where God revealed to individuals and small groups his desire for his people. And while people related the story of how God led them on which was unique to them, when we look back at the scores of people to whom we listened, one can see very clear similarities.

They all spoke of
1. Something coming to their attention which they felt was out of order and gave them a sense of dis-ease which resulted in them crying out to God and asking him about what is going on..

2. They had a sense that one way or another God showed them a way ahead which often entailed leaving places where they relied on other people for their fellowship and encouragement in Christian living and learning to find their resource in Jesus alone. Through this time they learned much that they have never known before.

3. They found that every step of the way is part of his teaching. Many told how they had hunted for "good Biblical teaching" and felt the need of regular admonition and direction from people around them. But they saw that as Father led them on the many and varied ways in which they were learning, sometimes through things that they had read other times through a chance encounter with a brother or sister. The scriptures had come alive to them and their walk with God seemed to have a new freshness.

It seems that what God is doing in places all around the world is growing his family as a church and a people who are walking into the future with a different paradigm. What an exciting time to live!

The great joy of being in India again!

For almost 35 years Kevin has visited various parts of India. It is 32 years since I first met the late Pastor K.N. Stephenraj and the brothers and sisters of the Early Apostolic Church. How things have changed in India generally! There are many reasons but most clearly the economy has developed markedly. The reason is partly due to the development of the many telephone call centres offering jobs with significant incomes for many young Indians. Kevin Kamalraj remnded us that while some see the benefit of the rising economy as good, there is a down side in the young being enabled to involve themselves in pursuits that will not help them or their country. Nor does it do anything to close the gap between the rich and the poor!

Our few days here has givn opportunity to enjoy being with some of the brothers and sisters here. We enjoyed a real 'love-feast' where we looked back at where Father has led us and gave thanks an praise for the deep friendship that we know. This is so much a reality that it would not be wrong to mark our reason for the visit on the entry card coming into India as 'visit family and relatives'!

It was also a joy to connect again with the brothers and sisters who meet as a small group of the Church in suburban Chenai. They have moved from a local fellowship where there was strong contol that robbed people of their place of freedom in Jesus. They have been meeting together for quite a few years now and are seasoned believers. They too are a joy to share some time with.

And of course, once again the staff of the Hotel Blue Damond have cared well for us.

Monday evening next we catch a Singapore Airlines 747 for the trip to Sinapore and the a further 8 hour journey to Melbourne and home again!!

The adventure continues...

We were once again, sad when it was time to say 'goodbye' to the Viotti family. Silvio and Dominique drove us to a motel near the Geneva airport . The motel was actually in France yet only a few kilometers from the airport. These dear people are more living evidence that Father is at work in his world transforming and changing his children, enabling us to live in growing intimacy and friendship with him. And that with no training wheels or human support structures to keep us going apart from Jesus himself!

Before they drove away we hugged and felt that we had known each other for many years in stead of six days! Silvio put it this way in an email: “It is true that we didn't know who was coming, but on the other hand, you didn't know where you were going too, what was the expectations of the people you were going to meet. And I'm - we are - so happy to have you in our home. We love you so much, Isn't it great that I feel so much like if you are some remote cousins that all of a sudden came back from Australia to visit us ! You are family ! (Well, I have to say that you are NOT Italian, but you still are a nice bloke, however you spell it) Really we enjoyed your stay...”

We stayed at the motel because our plane left very early n the morning and as with all the security stuff these days we needed to be at the airport about 4.30 am and as the Viotti's live over an hour's drive away it seemed a good idea to us and them!

The motel was a noisy and busy place. There were tradesmen still working upstairs from where we tried to sleep. If that was't enough, the weather had taken a turn upward and the room, built for cold winters was hot, humid and stuffy. That was enough for the night to be a sleepless event. But that's not all! When we have an early call Val wakes every hour or so to check we haven't slept in! We did sleep a little.

Our flight to Frankfurt was quick, comfortable and efficient. The bus transport from the aircraft to the terminal was anything but. We were herded into the coach and then had to wait and wait locked in and with no information about what was happening. We felt a bit like animals but I think we care for animals better than that. In fairness we should say that Frankfurt airport is undergoing massive changes and development and that may explain our two rather negative experiences.

We found our way around this gigantic place to counter number 295 which deals with lost items and a lovely lady came and we retreaved the phone lost on our last adventure in Germany a week before. It was good to see the problem resolved.

The trip to Chennai was uneventful. If you can say that sitting in an old Boeing 747 with more than 300 people, mainly lovely Indians and quite a number with small children and all with lots of carry-on luggage for nearly 9 hour uneventful. But we knew that ahead of us was the moment of truth. Would Val's visa be acceptable in the wrong passport?

With all that build up we made our way through the shining newness of Chennai International airport. We qued at immigaration and made our way wonderingly to the officer. We handed hime the passports and explained the slight problem... he grunted and hit Val's pasport with the stamp of approval and it was over! Val was in! Immigration Officers had changed since Kevin's last visit in November. Gone were the police like uniforms and now in matching civilian attire they did not seem as severe as they had before. Then a brother here told us that he had heard of Australian arriving without a visa being given a 7 day visa at te airport! (Perhaps we should have done that and saved the $140 charged and the two trips to Melbourne... oh well!)

At around 2.00 am we dropped into bed at the dear old Hotel Blue Diamond where we ave often stayed while in Chennai.

Two BIG blessings... in Switzerland

What an extraordinary blessing. The most amazing views and the opportunity to be welcomed into the home of Silvio and Dominique Viotta in beautiful Switzerland. Silvio translated "So you don't want to go to church anymore" into French. They are a wonderful family which we will tell you more of later!

On the way from Finland we changed planes in Frankfurt and in process Kevin dropped a new mobile phone that he had purchased. It's a long story. We had been looking out for a Palm smart phone that would work back in Aus. In the spare moment Kev had been looking around both is shops and on the web. But nothing was found.

While in Ireland, Kev was showing another person the way that ebay operated when he stumbled on a brand new Palm Treo 750, just what was needed for Australia. He was the only person who placed a bid and purchased it for a very low price. When we picked up the phone in the UK we found that it was a brand new unit and had a GPS (navigation aid) with it.

Some where between standing up to leave the plane and halfway along the 3 km walk to the next boarding lounge Kev discovered that the phone was missing! He hurried back but to no avail.

We contacted the lost and found people and they assured us they wold look but as the address and phone number for our hosts was in the phone we could not give a contact number and would have to ring and inquire about their success in finding the phone.

Imagine our delight when we did ring the lost and found office in Frankfurt the next day and discover that the phone had been found and that we could collect it on way back through Frankfurt en route India.

It was just another one of the wonderful things we have seen as we have traveled over these days. All praise to the Lord!

Just a small picture of people and places

John Kennedy - a unique fisherman. He castes his line into the water in his 'back-yard river' and catches a trout for dinner!
The colors of the day in the later evening in York
With Guy and Celia Kennedy outside their home in Martin, near York. (Below) One of the exquisite views across one of the thousands of lakes in Finland. It is the view we enjoyed daily through the time of our stay there.

From Manchester and on to Finland…….

Val sits in the summer cottage in Finland and knits!!

The flight to Finland was very early in the morning, so the night before we stayed one km from the airport. We didn't think when booking, about planes departing and arriving every 20 seconds just above our bed, so that took a little getting used to!!

Arrived in Helsinki safely and were re-united and welcomed warmly by Gunner and his wife, Liisa.. Kev first met Gunner many years ago at a Prayer Counseling Board meeting in the USA. We were driven 200 km to their Summer Cottage near Mikkeli north of Helsinki. A "breath taking" forest setting not unlike our Benloch setting only on the edge of a beautiful lake and of course no gum trees, but silver birch, spruce and pine trees to name a few that we knew.

We discovered that Finland is 80% Forrest and 20% Lakes and once again the first couple of days it rained and stormed – all very unusual for the locals – apparently they hadn't had such weather in more than 20 years! We are getting used to folks saying this – everywhere we have been it seems that the 'weather' hasn't ever been like this, or not for 20 years at least!!

It was again great to have time with these lovely folk. We talked much and shared some of the things that Father had been teaching us. These dear folks were so hospitable – and they looked after us and we had such a lovely time together – they drove us around and showed us lots of their beloved Finland including a spot right on the Russian border.

After a few days there and a delightful 'catch-up' and rest, we then drove back towards Helsinki to stay in their home before we headed off for Switzerland.

Just the day before we left we had lunch with two young ladies in downtown Helsinki, who were part of a group who had moved out of the institutional church and were learning to walk with Father in the fellowship of just a few others. Once again we saw how good it is to see just a little of the things that Father is doing as he takes his church back from the controls of well meaning people.

We are on the road again!

Today we drove our little car from Usk in Wales to Manchester the home of a football team whose name I cannot remember! We drove through Glouster and saw flood waters all around us. Boy has it rained! Can you imagine after 10 years of drought in Australia we have had rain continually. Val remands me that it has rained daily for all but two of the last 30 days where we have been! There's no need to have short showers here right now.

Tomorrow we make our way to a place just north of York where we will visit with the family if Naomi, a lovely lass who dropped into Aus earlier this year and stayed with us for s day or two.

On Monday we are scheduled to fly from Manchester to Helsinki in Finland. Our plans and flights have changed a bit. While we have been on the track we had contact with a brother we have known for more than 20 years who is a Lutheran Pastor in Finland. We had a strong sense it was important to go and have some time with this friend. We then fly to Geneva and a week with a brother there who translated "So you don't want to go Church anymore" into French. From there we will fly home via Chennai. I was talking to Kevin Kamalraj In India today and they are looking forward to welcoming us. There are only two problems.

First, When Val lost her passport we thoguht we'd need to get a new visa for her. When the old passport was returned with the new one it seemed that her old passport would be able to be used for her visa into India. We have emailed the Indian Consulate in London on two occasions and we have no response. We are not sure at all what will happen here.

Second, we changed our airline ticket and United Airlines assured us that the situation was in hand and all we have to do is get Scandanavian Airlines to rewrite the ticket. We thought it important enough to stay here in Manchester overnightand try to get the thing sorted (as the English seem to say). We went to the airport and found the SAS office but they did not have the data from UA. Afetr a phone call the data was delivered to them but there was no evidence that we had paid for the changes (we believe it was billed against our credit card). We'll know in a day or so if the thing is fixed and we can fly!

And on to Wales....

Early Saturday morning 21st July, we loaded up the little black machine fired up the GPS (now we were using our own unit that fitted on our hand computer and set off for Usk in Wales. It wasn't a very long journey and we wound through the well signed motorways and found our way to the home of Paul and Ruth Bullivant. Their home is a beautiful little house that once served as the coach house of a fine home but has been transformed into the sort of house one sees in 'Country Living' magazines. Their daughter and so-in-law and family haibitate the large dwelling and together they enjoy their delightful homes overlookng the the English (or should I say Welsh) country garden where birds of every desription hold conventions and where even on the wettest day the beauty of the area gives joy to ones soul.

Paul and Ruth exercise leadership in a local fellowship in a chapel in a village nearby. We had the joy of meeting with the folks there on sunday morning. It was the holiday season but there will still a good number, young and old, got together. It reminded us of some time we remember warmly in the life of the church at Hawthorn. We sang some songs that we knew and heard some we didn't. Val found the music and words for a song she had been searching for for ages. Kevin spoke at the service. The fellowship was sweet.

In the evening about 30 of the leaders gathered for reflection time together. Once again it brought back memories. Kevin shared a picture that Father had given about the way Father is taking His church back again. It was a good time! We felt real joy being able to visit with Capel Ed, a most unlikely Presbyterian Church! But then it is really God's Church isn't it!

Last night we feasted together with a meal fit for a king with our hosts and the elders and wives of the Capel Ed. We laughed and talked and shared and prayed it was indeed a great night.

Our days with the Bullivants have been restful and recreative. We haven't done lots of activities but we have enjoyed these two old saints heaps!! Of couse we have know these guys for a good few years now and have visited them before on a number of occasions and they have visited them on occasions also. In fact we hope to see them early next year all over again.

On to Bristol...

We said our goodbyes to our hosts, the Gregories, and again with the help of the GPS found our way from St Albans to Bristol and the home of Darryl and Joy Greig and their two delightful daughters, Tali and Karis . They live in a terraced house in streets that seem to go forever with line after line of grey double storied terraces.

The area has it's share of excitement with police chases and infamous visitors. One group of visitors broke the front door of the Greig home and visited even when the family were not home! The area has a heavy feel and Darryl and Joy feel sure that it is the place that Father wanted them to live.

Darryl still works 4 days a week for Hewlett Packard and serves as a Pastor of a small church fellowship that exists in the area. They still have their eyes set on going back to Mozambique in Africa at some time in the future.

Kevin enjoyed meeting with some of the folk at a 'home group' and we both enjoyed a trip to Bath to se the Roman Baths that have been renovated and unearthed. The Roman's certainly did things well!

We enjoyed having some time to yarn and listen to Darryl and Joy and to reflect on the things that have happened in our lives since we last met. We also enjoyed the opportunity to pray with Darry and Joy the night before we left. It was good to be with them for the few days.

About a brother called Beresford....

Our last full day in the london area allowed us to visit a brother we first met 8 years ago in North Carolina at the Southern House Church Conference. Beresford was a speaker and presented material that explored how the traditions of men had distorted the things of God, for the Jew first and for the Christian.

Beresford lives with his wife, Belinda and eight year old daughter Bethany in a small house in Epping. His home is in walking distance of some of the other folk who share their life in Jesus.
Beresford calls a 'spade a spade' and doesn't mind shocking people in his straightforward and sometimes amusing turn of phrase. He is committed to live the truth he knows and teaches.

Beresford Job came to know the Lord in 1971. In 1976 he responded to a call into full time itinerant teaching and pastoral ministry, and has pioneered biblical house church life and experience in England throughout that time. When Beresford bowed his knee to Jesus and as he read the Bible he did not join an organised church but rather met with brothers and sisters who loved Jesus and learnt to be the church! God gave him the ability and gift to read and teach the Bible which he has done ever since. He relies on Father for his resourcing and does not ask people for money or support. The loveliness of Jesus is evident in their family. Beresford has made hundreds of teaching tapes and CD's that have a growing circulation both in the UK and the USA where he visits twice a year.

A friend who operates a Law office has encouraged Beresford to write some of the things he has taught people in a book. Beresford has now completed the book.

The fellowship that he is part of has a web site and can be viewed at www.house-church.org/

Caitlin in London, and a new home....

A highlight of our visit to London was visiting our dear friend and almost extra-daughter Caitlin Homes in her new flat in the southern London suburb of Lewisham. It might be age but we thought back to the time years before when Caitin had walked into the church at West Hawthorn after being found by Jesus and the years tat followed where we had the privelidge to see her grow as a godly and bright person.

Her first floor unit, a section of an old house gives her a wonderful open feel in othewise crowded London with lots of the feeling of space, light and sunshine (when it is there!)

Caitlin now serves as a teacher at a girls school about an hour away from her home. She had just finished marking exam papers which heralded the end of the school year. She was looking forward to turning the flat which she had just aquired into her very own home during her holiday.

The maritime museam was nearby at Greenwich and Caitlin gave us a personal tour of this intrieging place. We stood both sides of the line that signified the point of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and saw the changes to navigation and observing the stars that made overseas visits much safer than they ever were. Of course the exhibition concluded with a display on Global Positioning Satelite (GPS) navigation. The same GPS system we were using in the car helped us find our way to the museam.

We had a lovely day together, in many ways it seemed that we had never been apart but we hadn’t seen Caitlin for 18 months! With the help of a local 'bobby' she guided us to a coin laundry where we attended to our washing. Then the time ended too quickly after a meal together at the best Hamburger Restaurant in the world (I think).

City of the first English martyr....

Leaving cousin Barry and Sue, we made our way around London on the M25 a 200 mile long road that rings London. People here call it the biggest car park in the world but we found it a great and efficient road the three or four times we used it. Someone told us that population equal to that of Australia lives inside the ring created by the M25!

St Alban’s was named after the man who was killed because of his faith in Christ many centuries ago. It is a very old town with history everywhere you turn and at the same time modern culture poking it’s head out of the antiquity. Part of the modern culture are our friends Roy and Christine Gregory. We were introduced the them and the fellowship that they share by the late Tom Marshall who was a visiting teacher at Hawthorn during our time there and in St Albans too. He felt we were sister fellowships. They have visited us on one occasion and folk from Oz have been recipients of their hospitality with at least one person outstaying their welcome!

It was great to hear about what has happened over the years, to hear of their children both now married and to meet again daughter, Rachel and her lovely daughter, Lucy. The fellowship there has changed over the years but is still rich and quite full on. Our short time with the Gregories was stimulating and Christine’s stories exhausted us by our laughing. Their home was a great base from which to visit some folk closer to London.

Closest was Chris and Sarah Hill who just live a few streets from our base. Chris works for British Airways and for years he trained flight crew and from time to time his work took him to Melbourne where it was not unusual for him to drop into a gathering at the Smith home. Chris and Sarah have been on something of an adventure where Father has led them through many adventures convincing them of his goodness and enabling them to move out of the control of the traditions of men and called them to walk quietly with him.

More from the past...

Our second drive took us closer to London. We found our way to the offices of the Cliff Richard Organisation where we met and had a long lunch with our old friend, Bill Latham. Cliff wasn’t in but we did say hi to Gill Snow who is now Bill’s Personal Assistant. We met both Bill and Gill when they worked at Tear Fund in what seems like another life! It must have been 30 years since we had been face to face and we enjoyed the time to reminisce, to recall friends and to reflect on the way Father has led us all over the years.

Bill was the first Tear Fund staff member from the UK who visited the Aussie rebel child. He was a gracious ambassador. Over the years we enjoyed our communication and friendhip lover the miles with him.

A article we read on the intenet told how Bill was the guy who was slipped into the car with Cliff Richard when one of the Shadows pointed Cliff into an interest with Jehovah Wintness teaching. It seems that God used Bill to encourage Cliff to set his eyes on the centrality of Jesus. Bill and Cliff have remained friends and friends of Jesus! Cliff or Sir Cliff has written the preface to David Pawson’s autobiography.

It was great to touch base with Bill again!

A visit with the Pawsons...

Our first adventure saw us finding the hide-a-way house of our dear friends, David and Enid Pawson in a semi-rual location south-west of London. It was a real joy to see them and to hear the freshness of these self-confessed ‘matue-aged’ people. David told us of some of the things he had been doing and introduced us to some of the more than 20? books that had been added to the 1200 audio and video tapes he had made and that now are listened to in every corner of the earth. He told us that because some of his videotaped teaching series were now used on television, he was effectuively preaching/teaching 24 hours a day – even while he is asleep!

That’s not bad for a bloke in his seventies! But then Enid and he had just been on a holiday in the USA and had been on a bus tour that meant every day they were woken at 6 am with a call at 7 am to ensure their bags were packed ready for the bus and then they had till the 8 am call to have breakfast and get on the bus for the days adventure.

David gave us a copy of the book he was never going to write. ‘David Pawson – not as bad as the truth’ and subtitled, ‘Memoirs of an Unorthodox Evangelical’ is a unique honest autobiograhy which traces the life, adventures and struggles of a quiet man, a gentle friend of Jesus who is much like a lion. It is a moving read. Anyone who has listened to David’s tapes or known him just a little will remember some of the events and stories. As ever, he is the master story teller.

Kevin certainly laughed at some of the story as he read the book, but he was moved to tears again and again and yet thrilled to read the account of a man who walked creatively and obediently with the Living God.

We thought of the time over twenty years ago when David was staying in our home sitting on the floor swapping riddles with our children and the time when Kevin was driving David to the airport and was so engrossed in conversation that he slowed down and while David didn’t miss his flight to Canberra, when he did address the Parlimentary Christian Fellowship he did so in the clothes he travelled in, as his luggage didn’t catch the flight. We are a few amongst many who have grown to know Father better through the clear uncompromising biblical teachng of this lovely man. It was our great joy to see David and Enid on this journey.

And so to Britain...

An early morning start from the home of David and Nina Rice in Ashford and a whirlwind drive through the suburbs of Dublin revisiting the route that driver, Lionel used in his now pre-retirement days was thrilling. We saw the home that his family surrended to live in the wondeful setting that had been home for the gathering, we used a tolled underground tunnel and made it to the airport in great time, easily able to be two hours early for our flight to the UK.

The departures hall was packed with many aircraft scheduled to leave during the morning hours. Dublin International airport is an extremely busy place! Imaging our surprise when the counter for the small airline, FLYBE Airlines had just two channels and we waited in line for a record short time to book on our flight to Southampton.

Small airport or no, the security was still strong and we stripped off shoes and belts, opened computers and bags of make-up etc. and crawled through the process. In spite of all this in no time at all we found the food hall and enjoyed the breakfast we hadn’t had time have before we had left.

Another uneventful flight on the prop driven plane with all the care in the world from the flight crew saw us landing just an hour or so later at Southhampton. We filled in arrival cards and held them with our passports but in the airport found no one to grant us permission to enter or not to enter. We hoped there were no terrorists on the plane with us! We just walked in.

We gathered our luggage and walked out to meet a cousin of some sort! We weren’t sure if was first second or twentieth cousin and how far removed we had no idea but we were excited to meet Barry Smith.

Barry had spent a few years of his life writing “The Annuls of the Smith Family of Sligo” and in the process of his task we had become connected. We had looked forward to meeting this ‘voice on the telephone’ emailer for months. Barry took us to his beautiful home where we met his wife Sue and some of their four kids. This was to be our base for four days.

We had opportunity to have a look around the living history of Winchester, where Barry and Sue lived. The strong history and innate beauty was wonderful. A highlight of our visit was when the Smith's took the Smith's to Winchester Cathedral for a night of clasical music. kevin found the intensity of music of 'The Planets' a bit too much but we enjoyed more "Belshazzer's Feast".

From this base of the Smith's home we arranged to hire a compact little Black Peugot motor that has transported us across the UK. What is more Barry loaned us his Natsav GPS which made findng our way around the motorways, roads and little lanes much easier and most probably saved Val and I from the pressure of driving and navigating in a foreign land and the possiblity of a marriage crisis! The non-descript male voice commanded, “...in half a mile take the third roundaout exit...” and we found it did get us where we hoped to go.

A break up in the north of the island called Ireland!

Many of the fellowship attendees had departed and life was normalising for our hosts in Dublin. Our plan was to hire a car and take a trip around the rugged north west of Ireland ending up in no grander place than Sligo, home of the Barton Smith clan. We were delighted when our hosts, David and Nina Rice offered to come with us or more truthfully, we were able to go with them!

On Tuesday 3rd July we climbed into David's Volvo 4x4 and headed north in the rain. Our five hour journey brought us to a beautiful, comfortable house on the hillside at Carrick Art in Donegal County (the home of Donegal Tweed) loaned to us by a couple amongst the local believers in Dublin.

Big picture windows overlooked the valley and the craggy coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Over the next three days we watched as the clouds, sun (a few minutes at least) and rain came and transformed the scene into scores of different pictures. The weather cleared enough for us to get out and see the locale with it's unique little white houses dotted over the hills. Carrick Art is a 'holiday' area and as schools were still in session the area had the feeling of a ghost town. The farmer down the way ambled here and there on his tractor and we had to imagine what the picture would be a few weeks on when the place would be buzzing with kids on their term break.

Time and again during those days we were assured by what we began to see was 'Irish optimism' that looked at the dark clouds and said, "I think it is clearing!" But clear or not, we had a great time to yarn with David and Nina, to read and sleep and explore this very beautiful part of God's magnificent creation in that most northern extreme of the island called Ireland.

We enjoyed wonderful food at eateries from the 'posh' pub to the little coffee shop called McNutts Cafe. Perhaps it was the similarity to our own cafe adventure when we operated McGowan's Cafe in Lancefield ,but it was the only cafe we frequented twice. Val said while they were similar, they were different in that the waitresses dropped the cutlery on one visit and cutlerty and a plate on the other! But the place that made us feel almost homesick was a little take-away chippy in a small village. The small shop area was busy before we entered with the half dozen locals waiting their food. The entrance of we four made the place very crowded. Somewhere in the background there was an aussie accent. Val looked around and found a lone TV playing 'Home and Away'.!

The sun brought light from around 4.30 am and it kept about its work all day only dropping out of sight late with daylight continuing through to 10.30 pm or so. The long days enabled us to have an extended time to enjoy more of the fellowship of the previous week.

On the Friday we commenced our return to Dublin with an overnight stopover in Sligo. We crisscrossed the mountains and enjoyed the rugged beauty of the countless lakes and inlets, the rocks and crags, the beautiful tiny villages, the fresh growth and the countless colour greens of the trees and undergrowth. Little wonder they call it the 'Emerald Isle'.

The few hours spent in Sligo with relatives and their town was absolute joy For Val and I this was a refreshing break on our extended journey.

A visit to Sligo, the home of the Barton Smiths

Our visit to Sligo was complete with a meal with cousin Ted Barton Smith and his wife. David and Nina, our hosts from Dublin were our chauffersmand enjoyed meeting some of the Smith rels. David knew many Sligo locals, having taught them at the school in which he teaches science.

The Gathering

In preparation for the gathering David had erected a marquee in the open area next to the house so that Ireland's proverbial rain storms would not dampen the gathered events. The first such event was on the following day, with well over 100 people gathering for a picnic lunch and a time to meet and share. Present were Americans, South Africans, New Zealanders, Zimbabweans, British, Scots, Swedes, Aussies (us) and of course, the Irish! (We were to have an Ethiopian join us also but a visa was not granted to him.)

The biggest group by far were the locals. A bunch of Irish families who live around Dublin and share a common walk with Jesus. Many have known each other for most of their lives having been a structured 'fellowship' where regular meetings had held them together but Father. This led them to move into the freedom of following Jesus' direction and gave them a sense of togetherness that flows out of following him, finding themselves perhaps more together than they had ever been! Being with them is like being part of a big extended family, not problem free but together doing what they understand Father calls them to do.

For the next 7 days we continued to get together in different groupings, usually around a meal, and enjoying our commonality - Jesus as centre and supreme. This was no conference where people were streamed to meetings but a place where we could walk and play together under the headship of Father. Although there was a 'ladies meeting' on the Tuesday where Val reluctantly attended her third ladies meeting ever and turned into the 'guest speaker'! (not really v's comment). Some of the men played golf that afternoon while others started to play snooker then dissolved into a deep sharing discussion at another brother's home. A highlight of the gathering was a Bus trip that gave a wonderful historic overview of the County in which we were meeting. Add to that the many small clusters who met and shared the good things that Father was doing where we come from.

David Rice wrote sharing the vision that had grown:

Most of you will have received an email from us in January outlining
our hopes and desires for the 10 days or so we hope to spend together at the end
of June next. At that time we told you of folks from various parts of the
world who hope to join us. They were the Dennison family from
Jo'burg, The Lentons From Zimbabwe, Kevin and Val Smith
from Melbourne, Australia, Wayne Jacobsen from California, the
Langfords from England.

Since then there are quite a few more who have joined the list. They are Mike and Lynette Woods and family from Washington (formerly from NZ); Colin and Jeanette Thompson from Gateshead, England; Stan and Mavis Firth from London, England; Mike and Jill Conraith from London; and Stephan Vosloo from Ladysmith, South Africa.

We feel this is a wonderful opportunity to be together
with these folks and each other for a fellowship festival.... a time to
fellowship together and share what we are hearing from heaven, to be open
to hear new things for the way forward and face up to the challenges of the
future. We do not have in mind a meeting-centered time, (though we
may all come together once or twice), but rather a time of being together
from house to house, garden to garden, barbecue to barbecue, hike to
hike. In other words time for relaxed sharing that is really centered around the
Lord Jesus.

The gathering concluded on Saturday with a barbecue lunch which the weather demanded was back at the Marquee. The whole time saw Father speaking through the gathered bunch. There was great unity, joy and no sense of cross purpose seen at all. Reflecting on the time together the words of Psalm 133 were in many minds,

“Behold how pleasant and good it is when brother dwell together in unity,

for there the Lord bestows a blessing life forever more..!”

Kevin kept walking around and singing (under his breath), the Charles Wesley Hymn,

“...and if this fellowship below with Jesus be so sweet,
What heights of rapture shall we know when 'round his throne we meet...”

Wayne Jacobsen's blog records his reflections on the time together you can read it by clicking on Waynes Jacobsen's Blog.

If you would lie to see some more pictures from the gathering CLICK HERE for a wonderful slide show by Bill Lolar a brother who lives in Wales (athough he is a American!)

One family responded after the gathering:

Though it is a few weeks now since our weekend with you all we
wanted to say how much the time spent together was such a joy and blessing to
each of us in this family. The gathering in the tent on the Sunday was special
as we met people of whom we had heard; people we had not seen for 18 years; and
others whom we have seen more recently in the times when we have come to Ireland in the last few years. As that gathering drew to a close we were aware of the
outpouring of Father's love upon his children that afternoon and how precious it
is to be in his family. A special thank you is due to all you dear folk in
Ireland who so generously opened your homes and lives to all we visitors from
across the seas and as a result provided Father with the opportunity to draw us
so wonderfully together around his throne of grace, love and fun.

Jesus certainly inhabited the fun on Monday's bus trip! Colin (and Joyce), you did so
well that day. The whole atmosphere of laughter, song and conversation that
pervaded the day left a deep and lasting memory in us that has prompted many
conversations within our family concerning the people and their faith, their joy
and their hopes that have inspired us all in different ways.

To David and Nina, thank you for your willingness to respond
to the Spirit and allowing him to facilitate such a gathering of the body of our
Christ. Thank you to each and every one who came; we so enjoyed your company and your fellowship and the taste of the banquet that is spread before us as we
gather at the table of the Lord.

And so we arrive in Dublin.

We winged our way from Toronto on an Air Canada 767 aircraft. The Flight Services Manager informed us that we were travelling on the oldest aircraft in their fleet. The flight was memorable as all exit rows were unavailable and we were seated in the central area of the economy cabin jammed up against the toilet wall in seats that didn't recline! The leg room was smaller than all other seats. Kevin had to put his long legs in the aisle where during the rest time with the lights out a crew member carried something along the aisle hitting his right arthritic knee waking him from sleep, the first of three such episodes on the 6 hour flight. We were not really impressed by our first flight with this airline.

As a result of the bad weather and missing our connecting plane we arrived in Dublin on Saturday morning. It was a day later than we had planned. We were held up again as there were VIP passengers, Irish president Mary McAleese and her entourage alighted while we waited for a time that seemed forever! We walked off the plane to be met by our good friend David Rice.

David drove us the one hour journey through the very light traffic to his home. Some of the participants for the gathering from across the world had already arrived and the others arrived later that day. This gathering was the main focus of our journey.

David and Nina Rice live in a rural area out from Dublin. Their home has two living units where the Rices and a sister and brother-i-law live, and the upstairs area allows rooms for guests. Val and Kevin enjoyed a very comfortable upstairs attic style room. Wayne Jacobsen was ensconsed on the same level just down the hallway.

Broken seats on Air Canada 767.

Six days in the Cape Cod sun!

Our dear friends ClaraJean and Ken Machonis with whom we have been staying over the past couple of weeks in Massechusetts, with many of their siblings and their families along with a few extra families go to Cape Cod every year for their summer break. The plan this year was for us to join them there for a week.
Some of you know that Cape Cod is a favourite place for Kevin and me – we only discovered this common delight the last time we were in the US together. Years ago we had both read the book written by Catherine Marshall about the life and ministry of her husband, Peter.
The book entitled “A Man Called Peter” was made into a movie of the same name after his death. This book had quite an impact on us when we were teenagers and it was in that book that we first heard of Cape Cod and it was the place the Marshall's spent their vacation. To me Cape Cod always sounded a very beautiful place and it still is. To have had the privilege of staying there, now on two occasions, is pretty special.

This past week we have all stayed in very nicely appointed units set in a lush garden setting right on the edge of the waters of the Atlantic ocean. Couldn't be better! The pace of life is leisurely, and many of the adults just gathered together to wile the hours away yarning and discussing and sharing life, in chairs under the trees, drinking coffee, as we surveyed the scenery of the garden, the kids playing on the beach, and then gazing out to the horizon – all very relaxing and it has certainly blown the cobwebs away. These units were supposedly built by German Prisoners of war back in the 1940's and were places for the rich and famous to stay. There are still the rich and famous in the neighbourhood – namely the Kennedy's.

There was a really 'laid-back' feel amongst the 50 plus people who holidayed together. The kids played on the sand and in the water, adults sat and talked looking out across the water refleeting on their life experience and God's goodness. They peppered Kevin with questions which he enjoyed!

To show how responsive and on time the folk at Cape Cod were. It was arranged to take a group photo at 10.00am. through till 10.17am!

The delight of seeing Father's family and HIS loveliness

We have been talking with folk in many places around the USA and enjoying greatly the wonderful creative Father who has begun everythng that exists and who has acted so decisively in redeeeming his creation who had made the choice to rebel against him. His redemptive action results in people of all ages and sizes from every nation and peope in the world being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. It seems that we have met so many people who evidence God's tranforming action and who are watching every day and often being surprised at the changes that are happening in their lives. This is no movement that's led by a person or an organisation but a groundswell of the life of God breaking in on a broken and self-centred world.

We have seen so many examples of Father leading his children into lovely acts of grace and mercy. We have heard story after story of the way Father has brought individuals to see Jesus in the unique way that enables a 21st cetury educacted and experienced person to rely and trust in a man who walked this earth over 2000 years ago.

This was catalysed for me today in the person of a man called Samuel. After missing a connection for a flight to Ireland due to bad weather and a night in a Comfort Inn near Toronto airport, the man who drove the shuttle bus that took us back to the airport was Samuel, a Pakistani. From the first moment we met him we saw someting of the character of Jesus. He greeted the Hotel desk clerk with respect and honour and said somthing that made her smile. Meeting us, he looked at Val's red beads matching her red bag and commented warmly. He was interested and cared for people. He enthusiastically lugged our bulging cases into the back of his van and had a small footstool that allowed Val (and I) to find our seat in the shuttle. He drove with care, but with all the agression needed to get through the rush hour traffic. He spoke of the things we can be thankful for and was sad that people were so self centred.

Kevin suggested that while it was sad that so many people seemed to care for no one but themselves, today is one of the most exciting days in human history, not the least because Jesus' return is obviously closer than ever before! Samuel went on to tell us that he was a pastor who met with a church in Toronto but also was keenly inolved with a fellowship in Pakistan (which he visits each year.)

When he pulled into the arrivals area at Pearson International Airport and there wasn't the usual but was clear of cars and buses, Samuel suggested we take a little time to pray. Val and I knew that it was one of those lovely 'God' moments which encouraged both us and him. He exclaimed ,”You've made my day for sure!” to which we had to respond, “We felt it was more like you have made ours!”

I thought back to meeting a man called Ray who lives near Washington and now as a mature man has begun at the call of Father to cook and sell succulent cooked chicken to the people of the town in which he lives. This has given him real joy in serving and rumor has it that it is not just yummy chooks but the locals are soaking up the loveliness of Jesus that they find in store.

There have been numbers of places where incidental stories highlight that Father is leading people to take on small 'business ventures' that allow his life to be shared.

New England and a new Passport!

To be amongst the saints who live around the Auburn area of Massachusetts has always been a delight for us. This time is no exception. We were welcomed with the same joy that always marks a visit here. We are staying in the five bedroom spacious portable home in a trailer park which is the home of Ken and ClaraJean Machonis and two of their adult daughters. It s the hub for lots of full on living and where Jesus is loved and central to the life.

After a couple of days of yarning and catching up Sunday was a kind of open house where people came and went and we talked about issues that folk were facing and answered questions for almost all of the day.

Another good thing was that there was a parcel for Val to open when she arrived. The packet was from the Australian Embassy. When she opened it out fell her brand new passport and also the old one!! (and the bag that it was lost in). The enclosed note told that it had been found at the restaurant that we had eaten at on the day we had reached Los Angeles. This was good news because it meant that no one had taken Val's identity and we would get the $50.00 fine for loss of passport refunded. But more, it will make leaving the USA less difficult as the small card given to us on arrival could be returned as we leave, as it was intended to be.

A couple of people we expected to spend some time with were unable to do so. One had appointments that made it impossible. The other had a change of phone number and was unable to be contacted. This was disappointing.

This is the fifth bunch of God's people in the USA that we have had the privilege to share some life with over the last three weeks. Val says that she has felt that although many of these people we have never met before, there is a definite sense of 'family-ness' which defies understanding. It has been great to see the down-to-earth reality of people walking with Jesus in a refreshing dynamic relationship and enjoying the adventure of being His in practice. This reflects almost no easy trek, but rather the challenges constantly of living in a way that is continually new (new every morning!) and sometimes a little frightening. All we have met however, indicate the adventure is rich and worthwhile.

Val feels like a criminal!

Our departure from Washington to Massachusetts was interesting - quite different from anywhere else - because I (Val) didn't have my passport I was traveling on my Driver's License as ID. The Security lady in Building number 1 (there are several gi-nourmous buildings in the airport that you have to go through before you actually get out to the departure lounge) let Kevin go through but didn't like the look of me and wrote a secret sign on my boarding pass which I soon discovered meant "suspicious".

I had to line up with a few others to be searched thoroughly and have my hand luggage totally unpacked and checked. I noticed that the rest of the people being searched were all from the Middle East and Africa - but you know, all the time I was thinking I'm glad they are checking us - just a bit surprised that I was in this particular line.

Finally, I was free to I go - then I had to enter another huge building and into a "moving room" which took us to another building, we were then getting closer to the plane. We were in the Departure lounge when they told us that the plane was delayed an hour. Finally we were on the plane - there we sat for another hour because "the hold was not loaded according to procedure and had to be re-loaded". Well, by now, we were just about cooking as it was 35 outside and on the tarmac was probably a bit hotter - and there were 50 of us sitting like sardines - not pleasant. They finally kindly brought us all a glass of warm water to ease our stress!! So the end of the saga - we arrived nearly three hours late.

It was so nice to arrive into cooler weather - it is very pleasant here and it has rained a couple of days - I had forgotten how bright green everything is - such different greens to home.

This was only meant to be a one hour flight but it took up most of the day. Imagine how thrilled we were to see our dear friend, Ken Machonis waiting anxiously for our belated arrival!

Last week in Washington DC

We arrived at Sacramento Airport at 6.00 am for our flight to Washington. Our seats 22A and 22B were good and Kevin had enough leg-room. The surprise this time was that we needed to buy some breakfast food for then early 4 hour journey on the airplane, By the time the food trolley was near us they had run out of the healthy options and in stead we had to survive on a box of ‘survival rations’. The flight was wonderfully uneventful and we arrived at Dulles Airport to be met by Mike Woods.

Mike with wife, Lynnette with their great kids, Kathy and Steve live in a home in a leafy housing cluster. It is not far from the New Zealand Embassy where Mike works. It was quite an experience to drive in a car with ‘Diplomatic’ registration plates. As we drove out of the car park and showed a pass we did not have to pay. The car was technically not local territory but under the authority of another country’s rule. A thought came to us that it was much like the way we live as God’s people, in the world but not belonging to it!

After dinner that evening Mike took us for a walk along the magnificent Potomac River not far from his house. As dusk fell we watched birds reflected in the silver waters and looked out for deer and moose that frequent the area. Kevin was wearing a pair of new sneakers that rubbed his heel so much that he hobbled along the track more than he normally does! Stupidly he kept going and resulted in a pretty impressive blister the size of his thumbnail!
It was great to have time to catch up with the Woods. We talked till after midnight!

The following day we ventured out into the streets of Washington with the Woods family, viewing the monuments and museums and caught a little picture of this busy city which is often the scene for world changing events. We took some time to visit the Aerospace Museum and saw the collection that included the Wright Brothers famous plane, ‘Sputnik’ the very small satellite that we remember peering into the sky to see when we were kids and many other craft including the space capsule that landed on the moon and a facsimile of the motorized craft that explored Mars.

In the evening Mike had invited over lots of people who again, shared some of their journey and fired many questions at us - it was such an interesting night - to meet total strangers and feel as though you have known them for a long time. They came from a radius of 30 miles and were of many ages and backgrounds. All had sensed God had led them on to walk without the structures of the past.

Sacramento, the capital city of California!

Our flight to Sacramento was wonderfully uneventful apart from the fact that we were flying on a 50 seat aircraft and Val's seat was almost out the back door! She says that the bump as the plane hit the ground (sometimes called a landing) was so severe that she thought her neck would break. They did stop the plane before the end of the runway and we had arrived in the capital city of California. We were met by David Fredrickson who some will remember accompanied Wayne when he last visited Australia.

David was Pastor of a fellowship in this city until Father seemed to call them to close down the structures of the church and dispose of the building in which they met. David tells of the adventure in his book, "When the Church leaves the building". David puts it this way:

On a Sunday morning in the fall of 1989 about 35 people gathered in a barely functional facility for the first meeting of a new “church plant.” Everyone there was tired of “church as usual.” We hoped that God would respond to our passion for Him with an outpouring of His Spirit. Eleven years later we and a bunch of others were still burned out on “church as usual. We cancelled the programs and sought God for His heart. That’s when we began a journey away from organized religion toward a more relational expression of Father’s life within and among us.

We’re not a house church or a cyber church, nor are we a part of any “movement.” We’re simply followers of Christ who are discovering a greater dimension of His love and freedom than we have ever known before. Although we have few answers, we have a passion to see others come into the freedom we are learning about.

You can find out more about the creative crew who work together here in Sacramento on their website: www.familyroommedia.com.

David with his wife Rachel welcomed us warmly. We were delighted to meet Rachel's parents who were also staying in their home. Jim and Wanda Wilson live in Oklahoma and are a wonderful couple who allowed us to celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary with them. Jim is an octogenarian and Wanda is not far behind. They have an infectious love for God and life that stands out.

The evening after we arrived we met a bunch of people in the home of one of the creative bunch. The discussion was wide ranging and real and in a short time Val and I felt that we had known these folk for much longer than a few hours!

Then the weekend was really full - Saturday a "day retreat" held in a lovely home on a 5 acre property in a place called El dorado - in the foot hills around Sacramento. In fact it's location reminded us of Benloch as it is amongst lots of trees and even a couple of kangaroos on the next door property (the neighbours have a lot of unique working animals used in places like Disneyland). It is very dry there right now and in the paper today there were warnings to the folks there to be alert for any signs of "wildfire".

The folk who gathered were from quite long distances around the state and had in common that Father had led them to live in relation to him and others outside the institutional frame of the Church. They came form many backgrounds and reflected many age groups and shared their story together. We were made very welcome and one brother, a used car dealer, asked all over 60 to stand. there were 6 or 8 of us (I had to poke Val to get her on her feet!.....she was mumbling that she had never had to declare her age at a meeting before!!) The guy then suggested that the 60+ should be honoured and prayed for us. It was a significant action.

On Sunday after a quick shopping expedition and the indulgence of a free sample of wonderful strawberries covered in chocolate from 'Shari's Berries' They were wonderful and very American. Yum! (you can share too - order them from www.berries.com!!) We spent the afternoon and evening in a home around a pool (on a wonderful summer's day) with a barbque meal. We talked for hours about God's kingly rule. It was quite a day.

Two brothers from New York state flew across the country to share the time with us all. Ravi, a Singaporean Indian was a pastor until Father enabled him to see something more of where Father was moving his church. His traveling companion, Marty has recently retired from being a prison officer. They are mischievous blokes whose love for Jesus stood out to anyone who met them. They told too of folk feeling led to know Father more intimately.

On Friday we recorded another podcast with the local creative crew. And what a creative crew! If you have looked at their web page and seen the video clips and the productions they have made you will know what I mean. Their podcast can be connected through the web site. We then viewed the penultimate version of two half-hour teaching DVD's which they had made. They cover both the history of the church in overview and the implications of the decisions made. I am hoping they will be finished in time to bring a copy home with us.

To back up a bit...

We seem to have got ahead of ourselves in the story. Our brief mention of arriving at the home of Sara and Wayne Jacobsen in Moorpark, a large town about an hour north of Los Angeles highlights our delight to have time with these dear friends. It was a long weekend in California and many people who we might have met with were absent, but we had a wonderful time seeing the growing Jacobsen clan and beginning to understand why Wayne (and Sara in a quieter way) is so excited with their delightful toddler granddaughter, Amy.

It was also good to meet Brad Cummings and his family. Brad we had met through listening to 'The God Journey' the podcast that is presented by Wayne and he each week on the web. The 'God Journey' has listeners around the world. Brad is a vibrant bloke and reminded us of Ian Graham in Lancefield (for those who know him!) Brad with his wife Kelly. have two sons and a daughter. Val and I had our first real experience of American Baseball when we spent an afternoon watching their twelve year old son playing in (and winning) a Baseball championship.

The excitement, vibrancy and life that is often experienced when listening to the podcasts is evident when Wayne and Brad get together. They are 'mad' enough to make us feel at home! You can check out "the God Journey" at www.thegodjourney.com . While we were there Kevin joined in a podcast session. One of the two sessions has been released and the feedback is immediate. Wayne emailed us some encouraging comments. Here's just a couple:

• Oh this is a wonderful topic, and listening to Wayne's longtime friend Kevin Smith's journey is such a delight, and such an encouragement. It has all of the characteristics of God's love, care and adventure.

• Kevin lives about an hour away from me, and I've been trying to get up there and meet him and Val for the last few years but it keeps falling through for some reason - hopefully soon I'll be able to hook up with them and have a chat.

Wayne has spent lots of time over the last months (and years perhaps) helping publish a new book written by William Young, a man who grew up in West New Guinea. Entitled 'The Shack', the book is fiction and traces the encounter of a man with his God. It is not the usual 'Christian Fiction' but seen by many as a literary delight and a compelling story expressing the love of God. Perhaps the endorsement on the cover of the book by Eugene Peterson (of 'The Message' fame.) echoes this when it says:

• "This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!"

We have sent home a box of "The Shack" so they will be available in Aus soon!