Gifts in the storm

February 23

So with being in the Gold Coast it turns out there is a church planting conference nearby lead by Acts 29—a worldwide church planting movement. I knew this event was happening but wasn’t sure if I would be able to attend, but with the cyclone hitting we shacked up at the YWAM base which turns out was only 5 minutes away from the event. Best thing was that one of my favourite speakers was there, Matt Chandler from the US. Chandler is a pastor, author and leader of Acts 29 and perhaps one of the most gifted speakers I have heard. What a treat to sit under his teaching the last 2 nights. He spoke on the eminence  and transcendence of God (I’ll let you look those up)-we need both otherwise we drift into either fearing God and not trusting him or liking him but unsure of his power…both are pretty brutal. And then he tackled the warm fuzzy verses of Romans 8:28, 31 and didn’t skip the controversial texts in between (again, I’ll let you look those up). The cool thing was that the kids came along for the second evening (not a lot of childcare out here!), and they were captivated…I don’t think I could keep 3 elementary kids spellbound while talking about justification, predestination, and how all things work for the good of those who love God. Some guys have the gift. But it is a reminder to me that God’s word, rightly taught, does revive the soul better than anything.

Perhaps a fresh moment for me in his teaching was his comment about effectual calling, that God does not force anyone to love him but rather when we meet him we are instantly drawn to love him (or for others to reject him outright). Our family is reading through the Narnia series while we travel along and I couldn’t help link this with how C.S. Lewis refers to the Pevensie kids when they hear about Aslan (the Christ character) for the first time—their hearts are warmed and cheered…they want to celebrate and feel like its a fresh spring morning full of life and hope. Its that way with Jesus, when he shows himself to us, no one is forced to love him, but rather we instantly are warmed to cherish him and can identity with the apostle Paul when he says in Philippians that compared to Christ everything else is rubbish. 

The other surprise in this storm is where we are right now. A friend of mine from YWAM days has generously opened his home till the storm passes, and so here we are up a small mountain overlooking the coast and enjoying warm hospitality from distant friends. The kids have other kids to play with, a pleasant home to rest in. It feels a little like a Rivendell experience after the tumult of the past couple days. Very thankful today for where we are and the comforts of the mainland. 

Let Oma rage on, God is working all things for some good here! 

Chased by Oma

February 22

The other day I woke early and went for a walk on the beach, its about a 1/2 km from our cabin, there was just me the beach and billions of litres of ocean crashing on the shore. Its hard to describe how infinitely small I felt…just one rogue wave and I’m gone to Venezuela. That didn’t happen but little did I know that a cyclone was building about 900kms off shore; but still naive to this we decided to go for a swim in the ocean (its a hot sunny day so why not), after getting pounded by the waves for about 15 minutes we realized the current was exceptionally strong and the waves seemed strangely big and erratic...and then Anthony says 'hey, what's this?' pointing to dozens of smallish blue blobs on the beach. Turns out we were swimming at king tide (the highest tide of the year), on a full moon (so its even higher) with a cyclone stirring the waters like a slurpee machine thus delivering millions of blue bottle jellyfish (look them up)...and Lord only knows what else (!) into the shore. Dumb landlocked Canadians. 

By the sheer grace of God we didn't get sucked out to see or get stung by the jellyfish. But we knew something wasn't right. Heading back to the cabin, some of the locals seemed surprised that we didn't know what was going on. A cyclone named Oma was bearing down on the coast and thus the beaches were treacherous and everyone was tying things down and taking shelter for what was about to come. All the major beaches across the coast were closed and people were bracing for the worst.  

I wouldn’t say we panicked when we heard the word ‘cyclone’, but when you live near the ocean in a remote cabin with the only help nearby being a 3 foot lizard one gets a little nervous. With a few more talks with the locals Shonet and I decided to pack a few things, bundle the kids up and catch the ferry across before the storm would have a chance to strand us. 

So, here we are on the main land staying at the YWAM base (feeling like refugees) in the Gold Coast hunkering down while the winds are building to 50km/hr. The storm has been downgraded today but the potential for torrential rain and flooding still remains. We’re used to snow storms not cyclones. Glad to be on the mainland. Kids had fun talking about how Oma is chasing us off the island, they love their Oma back home but this Oma doesn't bake cookies. 

Churches

For our time away we have truly missed being in church and part of a church. The faith community is something that is more special than we know...those who play with the idea of leaving church I don't think really know what they are playing with. Here we are in a lovely place, secluded and beautiful, we have everything we need but a church and the fellowship with other believers is missed.
That being said there are some great churches here down under that we have visited...if you have time check these out:

Enogerra Baptist church: https://www.enoggerabaptist.org/home

Liberti Church on the Gold Coast: http://liberti.church/coomera/


Back home before we left we visited

Nassau Street Church (my home church)
Grant Memorial Church
The Meeting Place

South Stradbroke Island

February 16

So after a whirlwind day of travel we finally arrived at our eco-cabin in the middle of South Stradbroke Island, about a 1km off the Gold Coast. We intentionally wanted a place that was quiet and restful for much of our time in Australia and I think we found it. Thanks to a sweet airb&b deal we are looking at staying here for much of our time and why not—a pool for the kids, crashing surf nearby, and a break from the busy city life. We’re surrounded by wallabies, 3 foot iguanas, thousands of parakeets (I only wish their song was as beautiful as their colours), and sharks (in the ocean). There are no cars on the island just bikes, so we are living a rather simple life now, no a/c and limited wifi. The kids are back in a school routine now and I have begun to read and write again after a lengthy mental break from thinking all things church. Its good to be back in routine. 

Bumpy roads…calm waters…generous hospitality

February 9

Still jet lagged we got up today at 4am and drove to the north of the city to meet some good friends from way back…John and Tracy Harmer. You know how you can have a friendship with someone and due to circumstances (or geography) you lose touch…but when you see each other it feels like everything is back the way it was? That’s how it was seeing John again, he’s a big hearted and a barrel chested man able to put anyone at ease, with a classic Aussie accent and a ‘have a go’ attitude John contagiously spreads joy and optimism wherever he goes. Tracey is his match with gentleness, and grace and she quickly became Olivia's favourite for the day that was full of new sights and unnerving experiences. And so it was John's idea to jump into a 4x4 and drive 3 hours up the coast (2 of those hours were on the beach) to a secluded and calm beach where we could frolic in the waters without care of rip tides, sharks or jelly fish. I think we drove up there for the sheer adventure of it all, we had to go early so as to drive on the beach at low tide...get stranded on a beach during high tide and then race back in the evening at low tide. These are things that a Winnipeger does not know much about. 
A note about beaches in Australia…its not like home where you can see the end; on the east coast of Australia  much of it is blanketed with glorious unending beach with the surf crashing upon it. Its a common hobby for Aussie’s to go to the beach with their 4x4 and drive off to adventure and their own secluded beach. Lots of the trucks are set up with bbq's, tents and all the luxuries of camping on a beach. So with a few friends from his church and a few other trucks we headed up the coast past a place called Noosa Beach heading to Rainbow beach. A rugged adventure with some rugged Aussies. If you can't tell by the faces...no one is complaining about getting out of the polar vortex. 

Brisbane!

February 7

Ahhhh…sunshine, humidity and no bugs (at least no mosquitoes). Brisbane. Such a special city for me, a place of adventure and good friends, a place where God really sharpened my faith…hard to believe we’re actually here! Jet lagged and tired but full of joy and anticipation, staying at a lovely airb&b in the city itself. 

Flying

February 6-?

To quote Adrian Plass about the flight to Australia: “All there ever has been and ever will be is this plane”. 15 hours on a plane in the middle of the night is quite something. We flew directly from Vancouver to Brisbane and attempted to sleep on a bumpy dark plane. The kids did great (they could watch whatever kids movie they wanted). A God moment happened in the Winnipeg airport, we were able to say hello and good bye to Colin Rivard who was on his way to a job up north, but even better than seeing Colin (as great as that is) was connecting with a young girl who was also travelling to Brisbane. Our kids, full of excitement couldn’t help but tell everyone around us that we were going to Australia, and this immediately caught this gal’s attention. Turns out she was on her way to YWAM near Brisbane--here we were about to head in the same direction to visit some of the people who would be leading her. I couldn’t help remembering how I felt 24 years ago when I first travelled to Australia to study with YWAM, scared, hungry, lonely and excited...it was a delight to travel with her all the way to Brisbane. 

Miscellaneous movement...

January 16-February 5

After a very full start to our sabbatical we had about 3 weeks to take care of important family matters, in particular helping Shonet’s mother move into full-time assisted living. Shonet’s mother (age 62) was diagnosed with an aggressive form of dementia about 2 years ago, as we have found out—the younger you are the more intense and fast moving it is. Around the time her mother was diagnosed, Shonet felt a strong sense to start backing out of many responsibilities—from serving all over the place at church (she’s a pastor’s wife!), to resigning her role on the board at ICYA (which she really enjoyed)…to make room for what? Little did we know that much of that time would be absorbed in taking her mother to the many doctors, arranging home care, addressing the many financial and legal issues involved, moving her (3 times-thanks Warren and Amy and other family!) and keeping family and friends updated on her mothers' changing situation.  I always knew my wife had immense capacity to handle diverse responsibilities but this really challenged her in so many ways. But she has handled these tricky waters with grace, discernment and patience--signs of the fruit of the Spirit. I'm very proud of her and am often in awe of her sharp reasoning and joyful disposition during intense seasons. But it has not been easy becoming your mother's caregiver; in a season when we see others having parents able to care for needs we find ourselves in the opposite situation--having to care for a parent along with 3 children. I was grateful I was on sabbatical so I could help carry the load with the kids and other daily routines. Much of my time in these weeks was cooking, cleaning and helping out at home (and sometimes getting in the way…). There was some home renovations and small projects I tried to tackle while but the polar vortex we experienced at the end of January kept some of that in check. 

Even in the cold we were able to squeeze some of the fun out of a Winnipeg winter at the Forks. 

With Shonet’s mom finally moved into her suite we could begin to pack and get excited for Australia…REALLY hard to believe we were about to head overseas but the visa bill confirmed that we were going to spend the next 2 1/2 months in the land down under. After raking my roof and getting my drain pipes ready for spring, a few final good byes with family and we were off.

Kerith Retreats

January 8-15

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

What a special week Shonet and I had at Kerith Pines Retreat, a ministry of Focus on the Family. For seven days we were lead through teaching and private counselling sessions focused on couples in full time ministry. Some of the topics discussed were personality types (Myers Briggs stuff), depression and discouragement in ministry, marriage in ministry and boundaries. Outside of being hosted and pampered in a beautiful location we were given plenty of free time to rest, read and be refreshed. This verse, Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”, sums up much of the focus of the week and we are very grateful for the time and the opportunity to unhook from pastoral work and have others feed into our hearts. During the week I was also very encouraged through listening to the 2018 Basics Conference (online) being fed by speakers such as Christopher Ash, Tim Savage and Alistair Begg—talking about issues such as burnout, marriage in ministry and perseverance. Needless to say it was quite a special week, it was the longest we have been away from our kids (thanks Rob, Marni, Megan and Anika for watching our crew). I think the camaraderie experienced with the other couples at the retreat was a real highlight, some were pastoring while others were in para-church ministries but all of us were at a similar stage of life facing similar challenges. The medicine of laughter and shared struggles with these fine folks was a surprising delight for us. 

HUGE thanks to EMBC for making this week happen, such a blessing to be part of this church. 

Redirected post...

So for some bizarre reason my 'Curry to Candy Canes' blog has been scuttled so I am reverting back to an old blog Shonet and I started about 8 years ago. Could be our overseas situation or more likely its due to PEBCAC (problem exists between chair and computer). There's some old posts/pics you're free to check out but nothing current. I'll use this site now for the rest of our sabbatical, if you know of others who have been looking for updates on the 'Curry' site please send them here. Many thanks--Ken