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.