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!