mark twain's thoughts on australia

geoff and i are both enjoying reading the travels of m. twain, "the wayward tourist."  it offers an historical perspective of the country (1890s), an american view on things, and some humor that is typical of twain.  i thought i'd share a few bits.  this first quote begins to capture what i cannot describe about this place - 

"To my mind the exterior aspects and character of Australia are fascinating things to look at and think about, they are so strange, so weird, so new, so uncommonplace, such a startling and interesting contrast to the other sections of the planet, the sections that are known to us all, familiar to us all."

more specifically about melbourne, twain writes -

"Melbourne spreads around over an immense area of ground.  It is a stately city architecturally as well as in magnitude.  It has an elaborate system of cable-car service; it has museums, and colleges, and schools, and public gardens, and electricity, and gas, and libraries, and theaters, and mining centers, and wool centers, and centers of the arts and sciences, and boards of trade, and ships, and railroads, and a harbor, and social clubs, and journalistic clubs, and racing clubs, and a squatter club sumptuously housed and appointed, and as many churches and banks as can make a living.  In a word, it is equipped with everything that goes to make the modern great city.  It is the largest of Australasia, and fills the post with honor and credit."

dangerous stories 2 - pictures

i finally uploaded some pics from the australian emerging-missional church summit. 

here are some highlights and pictures to match...

highlight #1  spending time with Mary Fisher...here we are getting things ready on the friday.  Mary stayed with us at John and Glena Smith's place...the Smith's were away over the weekend but graciously allowed us to stay in their home as it was close to the conference.

highlight #2  seeing old friends/mentors...a very formative person in my life has been this man, Dave Fuller.  Other important hero's for the journey who were there included Shirl Osborne, Steve Barrington, and Dave Andrews.

highlight #3  hanging out with and learning from the Forge team...in the foreground ( left to right) are Kim, Phil, and Al, all remarkable servants and missionaries.

highlight #4  spending a some time with wolfgang simson (author of 'houses that changed the world').  i picked him up from the airport at 1.30am friday night...he's a real character.

highlight #5  the in-between-bits...as usual, the best bits of a large gathering like this are the wonderful conversations that happen between the official parts.  here are a couple of panoramas that show the 600+ people just before they stood up, walked around, and talked to one another. 

keeping in touch

here are sherry and isaac talking to sherry's mom and dad (mimi and papa).  we have enjoyed keeping in touch with one another via skype and webcams.

last day of forge I

we are heading out this morning for the final day of a two-part event - dangerous stories conference and the first of the forge intensives.  we arrived home last night after four days in the eastern suburbs, staying at the smith's with mary.  we were so happy to see isaac paul and kev and kath. 

they had a delightful holiday weekend down the coast as isaac played on the beach and was surrounded with love from k & k and  cousins, jo and alistair.  when we got home, isaac was doning buzzlight year pajamas and thomas the tank engine shoes with his superman cape as mixed-in accessory.  jo had given him these beloved items and he hadn't taken them off for days - kath said he wore it to the beach and the pub for dinner.

today is the second day of the intensive (smaller group, classroom interaction) and we are looking forward to ramping down from five full days of interesting discussions, challenging speakers, and lots and lots of people.  our time with mary fisher can only be described as a cherished gift from god and we'll be unpacking our 47 hours of conversation for weeks.  thanks for your prayers, by the way, our small ( eight of us) workshop on sustainability and faith went quite well and we finished the time alloted to us full of practical application and hope for change that can still come.

(sherry)

dangerous stories II

we're off this weekend to attend and help with forge's major, national conference. they expect up to 600 people and will feature speakers such as brian mclaren, wolfgang simson, deb and alan hirsch, michael frost and dave andrews (author of the book i'm studying at the moment). the list of workshops alone is phenomenal. at the last minute, we were asked to lead a two-part workshop on the environment, sustainability and faith (one hour saturday, one hour sunday - we'd appreciate prayers at this late date).

but the exciting news of the weekend is that we get to spend it with mary fisher. she is a friend and a much-respected professor of old-testament theology. she was significant to many of us during her time at asbury seminary, before she returned to australia. she contacted us from sydney about coming and she'll arrive tomorrow (friday). she'll stay with us at john and glena smith's.

kev and kath are taking isaac down the coast tomorrow to a lovely place called lorne, a part of the "great ocean road." it is a holiday weekend here (monday is labour day), so they will relax with some extended family and enjoy isaac to the fullest without us around. we are deeply grateful for this providential timing as it allows us to be on the other side of the city until tuesday.

when the conference ends sunday we will participate in the first of three intensives for forge on monday and tuesday. we will meet students for the first time and begin our journey with them and the team into a new academic year. again, we are amazed by the grace and the gift of this learning experience and the chance to work together.

(sherry)

first sewing project

well, after overcoming my own cluelessness and clumsiness in front of a sewing machine, and rising above cultural gaps and language differences in class (something like "just pop that in, sew at 5 millimeters with a twin needle double stitch), i've made a shirt.  i can't believe i've managed to make something i can actually wear - it only took three classes.  until i got home and showed kath and geoff, i was convinced it would need to be tossed out.  but they reassured me that it's quite nice and worth wearing.  now i'm on to my first pair of pants.

UNOH discipleship camp

the weekend with folks from UNOH was fantastic.  we showed up weary from a busy day with meetings and travel across the city in several directions by train, but we were welcomed so warmly.  the evening was underway when we arrived and we sat to the side (there were maybe 60 people) and enjoyed the music.  the stunning woman who performed is named Shobie Owen and her music was powerfully prophetic and pierced with lyrics of biblical justice.  she lives in community and works with asylum seekers in melbourne.  we bought her cd, which was launched that night, and all the proceeds go to assist burmese refugees and indigenous australians.  we plan to send her music home.

next, the guest speaker for the weekend - mick duncan, a kiwi - shared from the story of rahab, "two hebrew boys in a brothel."  it was a good missionary message about the people across the water.  he and his family worked with the organization "servants in asia" (viv grigg connection) in the slums of the phillipines.  the crowd listening was a mix of UNOH community members working in melbourne, thailand, and indonesia and people from local churches and organizations (most things seem to be ecumenical here) .  what permeated the room was a rugged passion for mission to the poorest of the poor in whatever context.  (maybe comparable to the "word made flesh" organization out of asbury college in wilmore).  we stayed up late meeting people and talking of shared interests in mission work in the west and issues of sustainability.

saturday we woke to the amplified sounds of the bush - a loud kookabura, cockatoos, parrots and magpies.  we were at the top of a mountain in the middle of groves and groves of eucalyptus.  it was a mesmerizing sound to these foreign ears.  we had breakfast with a lovely couple training to be missionaries in indonesia.  we listen to mick duncan share again, this time on sexual sin among missionaries.  it was direct and full of wisdom.  late morning, kath arrived with isaac and he cut loose for the rest of the day with a boy that could have been his twin.

in the afternoon, we lead a workshop on mission in the u.s. and our life with communality.  to my surprise, people were very interested in the state of the church in the states and the new monastic movement - it seems like everyone is reading shane's book.  as we shared about communality and the formation of a missional church, people asked thoughtful, practical questions about the "how to's" of life together.  we loved being able to brag about our communality family.

finally, we sat on panel with mick duncan, ash barker (the director/founder of UNOH), and two women in ministry in melbourne.  we were asked to share about "the cost of following jesus" and what were non-negotiables in our life in mission.  the crowd asked some insightful questions and we learned a lot from the answers from other panel members.  the entire time we felt honored as special guests and friends, as people genuinely wanted to hear what we had to say and understand our perspective.

we're looking forward to more time with the UNOH mob during our stay, especially at their major conference, Surrender 07 (in July)...see this link for info.

a picnic party...plus a pony

yesterday (sunday) we attended a 4th birthday party.  it was a special day of a new friend of isaac's, and the party was held at a park beside st kilda beach.  it was gorgeous weather and the highlight for isaac was his first ride on a horse...well, pony.  plodding along at a pedestrian pace on a stump-legged stead didn't quell isaac's adventurous spirit (and imagination).  there were cries of "giddyup, yooo-hoooo, i'm a cowboy!", and "ride'm cowboy, come on nugget!"  isaac also managed to make several new friendships with complete strangers at the park.  in public places he tends to operate with the assumption that every single person is a potential new friend.  "outgoing" doesn't begin to describe it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

here's isaac, sherry and the wild-at-heart pony called 'nugget'.  in the background you can see the parched grass (still a severe drought here), palm trees, and the beach.  and here he is enjoying some birthday cake...minus utensils.

weekend away with UNOH

we are heading out to a forge meeting this afternoon (friday), then we'll catch the train to the mountain suburbs in the east to meet up with the UNOH folks.  they kindly invited us to lead a workshop (0ne of many during the weekend) on mission in the u.s. - the occasion is thier annual discipleship camp.  we are thinking of everyone at home and missing you all.  we appreciate your prayers.

k2

we made a mistake when we left kentucky.  we failed to pack one of isaac's favorite toys - his precious k2 (short for koala 2).

thankfully laura cared for k2 and then posted him over this week.  yesterday we rode our bikes down to the post office to collect him and what a happy reunion it was.  here they are, the reunited couple brought together across ocean and land.