Back to Tas

For a week now I have been in Tasmania - which is not quite as tropical as Rockhampton (there is a hint of sleet here today...) for Fusion's annual International Conference. For the first few days Fusion teams from all over the world presented reports on what they'd been doing in the last year. Inspiring stuff. Then the last half of the week was more about business.
Lot's of intrepid young adults with great stories. At my breakfast table the other day Ashleigh was telling us what it was like to be a young white girl in Trench Town in Jamaica, Kingston's roughest suburb. And then Bec was telling us about being a young white girl based in Beijing. A whole other set of challenges!
There were Ghanaians, Jamaicans, Sri Lankans, Poms, Albanians, Canadians, Germans... all reporting on how this Aussie style of mission was working in their countries. And the work in Australia as well.
During the last intensives, my diploma class got all excited by an idea to set up a global network in the next three years to bring advent pageants to primary school children in every country that Fusion is involved in. We were ambitious and decided that in 8 years time we wanted 75% of the children in all the Fusion countries to have the opportunity to do an advent pageant, and thus learn the Christmas story.
Yep, that's a lot of kids...
It's a daunting project, but the people at this Conference decided to adopt this as the first global project for Fusion International.
Can your local primary school get on board? Let me know, its part of my class's plan to take over the world by 2015. More on this soon...


Oh, and in other news, the family I was living with in Brisbane have bought a unit which they are keen to rent out to Grego and me. It looks really nice, and is only a Kilometre from the office. Really good, and we'll be able to move in in a week or so after we get back to Brissy!

...my hat....

In further news from Queensland, things are happening apace in all departments except the hunt for a permanent place to live. I've been staying these last few weeks with a nice family with interesting children and a nice house that is halfway up a nice, scenic hill. But a nice, cheap flat within walking distance of Woodridge station would be good too.
The weather too is nice, well, except for the record August rainfalls of last week. Very much of it happened for several days, but the water supplies here are still well below where they should be.
This time last week I was at a beach at Bluff Point which is near Yeppoon, which is near Rockhampton, which is on the edge of the tropics. Off the coast, the tourist resort of Great Keppel Island was visible. I was there wearing cardboard armour and having flour fights with a nice bunch of kids as the tide came in. The Daytrips such as this one at Rocky is a chance for kids contacted at schools to have a safe, fun day of adventure and see Christian values role-modelled. The rain that was with us for most of the 650km or so drive up on Friday finally caught up with us as the bus was taking the tired but happy kids home at the end of the day.
This time next Saturday will be the South East Queensland day trip, we are going cable skiing!
About a week after that I'll be back in Tassie, seeing if the southern spring is much different to the one here. As a pointer, the last daytrip in Tassie was a snow trip!

whereever I lay my hat...

Well, I am on the sunny Gold Coast now. Actually it's not so sunny because the sun set a few hours ago... I arrived in Brisbane on Saturday night, and that's where I ate and slept. On Sunday night I was staying on the Gold Coast, just across the water from Sea World. That's the place I first met Murray, all those years ago. I was back in Brisbane on Monday night, and here on the coast (in a different house) for the next two nights. Then its back to Brissy, and at another new house . This sort of thing will continue until Greg and I are able to find somewhere of our own to stay.
If you're the praying kind, I know your prayers will be appreciated.
We need a two bed place in the region of Woodridge, and it must be CHEAP! The Aussie Government is very kindly providing me with funds for study, just not many of them! And poor ol' Greg is not even getting that! On top of that there are plans afoot to go to China next year (and I'd like to go back to Germany too, but we'll see).This is a bit of an experiment in living by faith and seeing how the birds of the air are fed and the lilies of the field are clothed and finding out if that applies to us too!
Still, it's all an adventure, and I know we'll be looked after. Just how will be the interesting part!

"Fish-on-a-Stick"

Deep in the Sea,
Where the Vicious Fishes swim...

...there once was a fish.
On a stick...

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, a little project to make use of the technologies at work - Computer-aided design and Laser cutting capabilities.

But when he was done, what did I have? Well, yes, Fish. On a stick. With a mouse-trap powered jaw and a fully articulated body that flapped around in fishy sort of way.

But of what use is that? Once, I took him to church along with a Gold Fish (called Rod Davies) in a plastic bag. I showed the kids. " Here is a fish I made. And here is a fish made by God..." We are all created in the image of God, so I think that makes us like little creators too! Just not quite as good at it...

Now it looks like Fish-on-a-stick has found a purpose in life! He is in training to go to the Olympics in Beijing! How cool would that be for a little Aussie fish?

Watch this space!

PS. Rod Davies is actually a very talented singer-songwriter. He seems to be a closely guarded secret, well, from radio airplay at least. Captain Midnight will be playing him soon, I hope. The sister of the guy I borrowed the gold fish off had a bit of a thing for Rod back in the day!

overdue...

yes, for all you readers just hanging out to see if I got those assignments done, well, I won't keep you in suspense any more.
yes. All done. I now have a Certificate iv in Youth and Community Work (Christian).
After graduation, I had about three hours off before getting involved in the Poatina Artists retreat. I spent a couple of days helping to make large puppets for use in festivals, with an eye at the Beijing Olympics. Before that had even finished I begun learning the stuff I needed to go on for the Diploma. This was more days in class, and any spare time making puppets, including a larger version of my 'fish-on-a-stick'.
Then came the week-long Foundations Course - How to Live With God, With Others and With Yourself. Very good course, well worth doing, its twice a year in Poatina and people come from right across Australia, and also the world (though not so many of them...). An extra 200+ people in the village and then we finished it with an open day. That was a festival where another 429 people (I know, I counted them) came to our remote
little village and appeared to have a really nice day in the winter sun.
No rest, because straight after Foundations week, we started Diploma 'intensives' - classes from 9am til 9pm for two weeks.
This is why I haven't done much blogging in the last 6 weeks.
Now I am in Melbourne, having some holiday time, before I move up to Brisbane to do my placement in the Fusion centre there.

Poatina Sunrise

Probably should be doing assignments, but I thought I'd better update the blog. Yeah, yeah, procrastination... and actually, the fleetingness of time was apparent too me when I took this photo, the Earth rapidly revolving beneath my feet. I got up the other morning and saw this fantastic pre-dawn red sky out my window. by the time I had grabbed my camera, the sun had already popped up onto the Horizon. By the time I got my shoes on and got to the back fence, it had already cleared the said horizon. By the time the sun does this another 22 times, I need to have all my assignments done. Can I do it?

Life, it's a race against the sun. 'The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older...' That's what Pink Floyd would say. The Psalmist. however is a tad more positive. 'But I trust in you, O Lord... My times are in your hands.' Psalm 31:14,15

Mercy, justice, compassion

Lately we have been studying books like 'Small is Beautiful' and 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' and looking at how God sees injustice in the world as he spoke through the Old Testament prophets. Jesus himself announced his ministry on Earth by quoting Isaiah 4:18,19;

God's Spirit is on me;

he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to

the poor,

Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and

recovery of sight to the blind,

To set the burdened and battered free,

to announce, "This is God's year to act!"

There has also been the anniversary of the illegalization of the slave trade in England; we've studied some of the great reformers, Lord Shaftsbury, Wilberforce, Wesley, Luther, Booth; yet still the world is full of injustice, the rich nations oppress the poor, powerless people are still trafficked in their thousands in the modern day slave trade, third world workers are exploited, young girls forced into prostitution, major corporations more often than not are concerned with the profit margin over and above the welfare of their workers. To be truly Christian, we must align ourselves with the poor and carry on Christ's mission to the oppressed. But what can one person one do?

Awareness of the issues is a start, knowledge is powerful. Frustration is better than apathy…

It's time to go to the archives. Here's a poem I wrote long time ago:

Sole Music

The squeak of his boots as he shoots for his goals,

Brings payment for his fame in the game,

He gained the world when he leased his soles;

Twenty million dollars for his Name.

The tingling ring of the register drawer;

Takes her two hundred dollars from her view,

'...But to wear a pair like Jordan wore'

Said her son 'is the cool thing to do...'

Sewing Machines stutter on the sweat shop floor

Where the boots are produced at a price.

Sixty hours a week at eighty cents an hour

Barely covers the cost of his rice.

The African mourns the death of his daughter

But drought, dust and war leave naught to eat,

No land, no home, no hope, no water,

No boots! He's thankful he has feet.

The squeak of the boots, the register's ring;

The sewing machines click clackity.

The rich man, the poor, who mourn, who sing?

Listen

To the din

Of Inequity...

small coincidence

On the way back from Uluru, we stopped one day for lunch in Port Augusta, in a nice park in the centre of the town. I could see from where we parked the bus the old Salvo hall, just further up the street. I used to live in the house right next door to that! My parents were the Salvo officers in Port Augusta when I was about 4. A fair while back now...
The house is no longer there... But sitting in the park, we found a Warcry, the Salvo magazine. And in it was an article about Christian Radio Broadcasting in Australia! About half a column on that story was about a woman called Sarah McIllwraith, a program director at a Christian radio station in Adelaide, who had trained in radio here in Poatina with Fusion. We wondered if this was a sister of our class-mate Julia, who hadn't come to Uluru with us (but I had borrowed her plastic plates for the trip). It turned out it was! Cool!
A further small coincidence. My friend Fiona, who is currently doing a doctorate in theology (at a much bigger bible school that the one I am at now) and has also worked on radio - some of it was as a producer for ABC radio in Horsham (a much bigger radio station than Heart fm where I work!), also lived in Port Augusta as a pre-schooler, when HER parents were officers in Port Augusta. hmmm

Uluru song

Uluru 2007 Tasmania Song

Sweet Home in the Outback

Bus wheels keep on turning

See red dirt everywhere

We’re far from home Tasmania

To meet some fine folk such as you

Sweet home in the Outback

The Southern Cross is in our sights

We’re a bunch of Tassie Pilgrims

Big Red Rock we’re comin’ to you!

We went to Tandanya

Learnt about the didgeridoo

Aboriginals call it Yiriki

We hope you learnt something new

We stayed in caves in Coober Pedy

Had a look around the town

Sang some songs and we got tired

Way before the sun went down

We have faced some persecution

10 Million flies are in our face

As pilgrims we should love our enemies

We’ll make exceptions in this case

We’ll soon be off home back to Tassie

Goodbye heat wave, hello thermals

With all your faces in our memories

We will bare the winter cold

Sweet home Tasmania

We have gone to the rock

Now we’ve got crusty undies

And a pair of smelly socks

George sings!

For all his faults, George has a nice singing voice. See him here covering a U2 classic!

George George George...

I'd like to quote the President of the United States of America... In a recent speech where he offers condolences to the shooting victims in Virginia he says, ' In times like this, we can find comfort in the grace and guidance of a loving God. As the Scriptures tell us, "Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."'

They are fine words, worthy of a statesman. But didn't they apply back on Sept 11, 2001 also?

Wow, how would the 'War on Terror' have gone if we had applied this to it? If America had bombed Afghanistan with a billion dollars worth of food, or better still, intelligent sensitive aid? And Iraq? It would be hard to drum up support to attack people who are being overwhelmingly nice to you? What family would allow their sons to be suicide bombers to destroy the people who are making your life so much better? Many of those boys come from desperate poverty and do it partly to stop these American devils, but also because their families are taken care of.

I don't know. I'm rambling a bit here... Probably George W is correct in all he does. But am I alone in thinking that there is a sort of disconnect between this quote and events in the Middle East? No easy answers, but who ever said 'Love your Enemies' was the easy path to take?

How would the world be if we took that seriously?

Easter Conspiracy

Around two thousand years ago there lived a man.

He lived in an obscure backwater of the Roman Empire,

and never ventured out of that region.

For three years he walked from town to town with a small group of friends,

an itinerant story teller.

He held no formal position of civic, religious or military authority,

or even owned property beyond the clothing he wore.

He was executed with common criminals, and laid to rest in a borrowed tomb.

And yet, the implications of this life and death are still felt today.

When Jesus was buried, his followers were a dispirited lot. One of them had even hung himself when he realized that betraying him into the hands of the authorities would not result in glorious revolution against the Romans, but a cruel, shameful death. Their world had caved in. The One they thought would bring about God’s Kingdom on Earth was dead.

Could it be then that this small group of ordinary people could pull off the greatest hoax in history by stealing the body of Jesus from the tomb, and proclaiming him alive?

Firstly the disciples would have to come up with the story – Myth making of epic proportions – that Jesus had risen from the dead, and the redemptive outcomes of that in God’s great scheme of things. They had virtually one day of mourning to come up with a huge, subtle and sophisticated theology – and this from the minds of a bunch of rough, thick-headed fishermen and other un-learned working men!

Next they needed to steal the body. If Jesus’ body was not hidden away, the authorities only had to produce it to prove that the disciples were lying. To steal the body, this group of ordinary guys, who two days earlier were too afraid to even witness the crucifixion, would need to take on a contingent of heavily armed Roman troops who were guarding the tomb. And if that occurred, all Jerusalem would have heard of it. As it was, the guards maintained that the Disciples stole the body as they slept. They must’ve been heavy sleepers not to hear the huge stone dragged away from the entrance of the tomb! But sleeping on duty was punishable by death for Roman Soldiers. It was generally accepted that the Jewish religious leaders bribed them to tell that story after promising to fix things up with their superiors.

And then, they would need to stick to this story, no matter what. How could they get away with this, telling this story in the very time and place that it happened unless it was true? There would’ve been plenty of witnesses to confirm or deny what had happened, a fraud would’ve quickly been exposed. Apart from a certain amount of fame, there would be no gain for them in proclaiming a risen Jesus. What selfish advantage could be gained from such a story? Virtually all of the disciples would die martyrs deaths maintaining the truth of the resurrection right to the end. Who knowingly would die for a lie?

But perhaps Jesus didn’t die on the cross. Maybe he was unconscious and revived in the cool of the tomb?

There are a few problems with this theory. When Roman Soldiers execute people, they are extremely efficient, nobody survives a crucifixion. There were strict procedures in place; in fact bungled crucifixions resulted in the would-be executors being executed themselves. Jesus’ legs were not broken to hasten his death because he was already dead on the cross. John, an eyewitness, wrote in his Gospel that when the soldier put his spear through Jesus’ side, blood and water flowed out. Forensic experts would attest that this is a sure sign of death, total lung collapse, asphyxiation, the blood breaking down into its constituent parts.

If by some miracle Jesus had survived and was laid unconscious in the tomb, and revived, this badly beaten, seriously injured man had to singled-handedly move the huge stone in front of the tomb entrance and overpower a contingent of Roman Guards, who would be in deadly trouble for letting a dead man escape.

And when Jesus did re-unite with his followers, they were convinced that he was gloriously resurrected and not someone in need of intensive care. He was able to convince ‘Doubting’ Thomas (my Lord and my God) and his own disbelieving brother James that something miraculous had happened.

Jesus’ life and death are the most recorded events of the Ancient era; there is no doubt that they actually happened. And the circumstances surrounding his resurrection make it’s happening far more likely than it not happening. The evidence adds plausibility to his claims of being the son of God. It’s worth thinking about.