The world of Barro

Urgent help for Burma

2008-05-13T10:13:00.004+10:00

Hi friends,
I received this urgent email from my good mate Ash in Bangkok today, I urge you all to read, click on the link, pray, forward on, donate if you can,
ta Barro

Hi stephen,

Could I ask for your urgent prayers and action for Burma today? On Saturday May 10, I met with Burmese friends here in Bangkok to get the latest news on the Cyclone Nargis disaster and to ask how UNOH could best help with the relief effort. Dr San Aung, Maung Maung and Zin Linn are part of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). Led by elected Burmese MPs from the National League for Democracy (NLD), this is the peak body of Burmese leaders working for democracy.

But, what can we do? After listening to these Burmese leaders, I believe we can best support the relief effort by supporting NCGUB.

UNOH is setting up a UNOH Burma Cyclone Appeal so that Australians can donate on-line to help the relief effort through NCGUB/NLD Burmese workers on the ground.

For further details, go here

starting over

2008-04-17T22:02:00.003+10:00

Thought I'd try and blog again, this may only last a little while, have tried the myspace thingy, you can visit me here, I have even tried the facebook thing, but haven't been so successful with that despite many promptings from friends.

I have also tried texting, and emailing and even occassionally do this really new thing called face to face where you go for coffee, sit down opposite soemone you know and talk to them, it's kinda cool but not sure if it will catch on

chow

U2 comes to The Passion of Christ

2007-04-13T17:01:00.000+10:00

On a bit of a roll, i came across this intersting clip of U2 playing Vertigo juxaposed to the Passion of Christ, complete with tests, temptations and triumphs. And oh I've just worked out how to get the screen thingy to work as well.

Easter in Bangkok and Melbourne

2007-04-13T16:15:00.000+10:00

Had a bit of a whirlwind last few days. A fantastic last few days in Bangkok teaching both in the morning and the afternoon, a highlight was playing games with waterballoons on the last day with our kids and seeing heaps of adults gathering around and getting them invloved as well. It was great to see something as simple as that bring a communnity of kids and adults together. We finished up with a great time last Friday morning, Easter Friday sharing in a cafe in Klong Toey with the Oz team of 15, the UNOH team and the Ta Rua church leaders all sharing about what God has been doing in their lives.

Left Bangkok Fri night midnight and back in Melbourne Sat arvo, great seeing the family again before getting up at 5.30am for our Foothills annual Sunrise Easter Sunday service at the Arby here in sunny Ferntree Gully.

Apart from all the usual catch ups this week has been great and full with our FTG Community Meals night on Wednesday night which has grown to 45 in my absence. Nandos even bought down and donated the food for the evening much to everyones delight. Thursday night was back to the Family Birth Centre for another Secret Dads Stuff, another highlight working with dads to be then this morning I spoke up at Soul Survivor doing a workshop entitled "Crossing the Street" was great interacting with heaps of young people and getting more great ideas for UNOH's upcoming SURRENDER 07.

So in a nutshell it's good to ease back into life and be prepared to stay up all night for the cricket World Cup.

Godtube

2007-04-13T15:59:00.000+10:00

The latest in Christian multimedia for your pleasure

Hot in Bangkok

2007-04-03T18:34:00.000+10:00

Hi all, on the home run now, we are teaching twice a day, in the morning again this week at Rong Gow and in the afternoon, 5.00-6.30 I am back at Glua Prick. Was great going there last night and having heaps of the kids and adults come up and say "HI BARRO", it is incredibly hot and with not much rest in the arvo, but is amazing to see the way God teaches you things thru all of this, thanks for all of your prayers, great to be here during Easter Holy week.

7 days in klong Toey

2007-03-31T12:26:00.000+10:00

Well I have been here in Thailand for just on a week now, and it feels that this is the first time I’ve had to catch my breath. I’m here again with UNOH as part of one of their ESL short term trips, coordinating the trip for 15 people from Melbourne, and partnering with the Ta Rua church here in the slum of Klong Toey. One of the biggest things you need here is FLEXABILITY. I thought I was going to be with a group taking 50 kids away to a beach side camp, and was so much looking forward to the beach, but in the end have been leading a team in the slum of Rong Gow. I am the person with the most Thai and experience on our team, having no locals at all, which at the beginning of the week I was feeling not real keen to say the least, but God has other ideas. The week has been fantastic with some great relationships with the kids and with the community. One of the challenges we have had is that there has been some kids card gambling right where we do our lessons, which is on a stage directly under a freeway overpass. This is so sad, as well as highly illegal to see 10 year old kids introduced to this EVIL so early on, not knowing the language has been hard as we can’t speak to anyone about the issue there. But our strategy, as well as praying is to offer a better alternative and each day our group of kids has grown, so now we have about 22, 10-12 year olds who love to come each morning. We will go back next week to teach again and at night time teach also at Glua Prick community, a real challenge as the weather here is very HOT so tiring.

Another highlight has been spending time with Celtic muso Sammy Horner, who was with us for 2 days on route back to Scotland. I had never met him before despite having known of him for 15+ years thru John Smith and Sean Stillman and God’s Squad, and played heaps of his music. So was great to hang with him and we got on like a house on fire and he seemed very moved by his experience here in the community as he met Jesus thru the poor. So now is the halfway mark, its also been great seeing old friends, both UNOH workers here, Ash, Anj, Rod, Jodie and Chris as well as many Thai friends that I have met over the years as well, it is a real blessing and privilege to have sisters and brother from this part of the world. Will be interesting spending Holy Week here in a Buddhist slum, attempting to share the love of Jesus.

Community Meal Night

2007-03-14T22:17:00.000+11:00

Tonight we had our first Ferntree Gully Community Meal Night. After about 6 months of planning and talking and procrastinating we finally got underway tonight at the local Ferntree Gully Guides Hall in Underwood Rd. We had sent out flyers during the past few days, spoken to many people, even the local paper would like to do a photo and story on us in the next couple of days.

But the important thing was we met and apart form the volunteers and kids, we actually had some other people turn up, which was great. It was a very relaxed night with roast chicken, mashed potatoes and pumpkin, served with salad, and finished off with some lovely mixed fruit for desert.

The highlight without a doubt was just sitting down all together and chatting over the meal and hearing similar stories of others saying they would normally be on their own for tea every night, which sucks. There was a great sense of community and a few of us were able to pray with one man who came in. I reckon tonight was one of those nights where we met a few angels. Looking forward to sharing with them and many more over the next few weeks. At this stage we’re aiming for every Wednesday night, 6.30-7.30pm, drop in if you’re in town…

Submerge

2007-03-09T09:46:00.000+11:00

The last few weeks have seen the beginning of UNOH’s Submerge course. In partnership with Tabor college, it is a Cert IV in Christian Ministry majoring in neighbourhood transformation to those neighbourhoods facing issues of poverty. We hold lectures each Tuesday night in Springvale and students are involved in 15 hours ++ practical ministry placement throughout the week, plus supervision and peer reflection groups.
It has been great to be involved in helping set this up over the past few months, and I am currently lecturing on Bible Survey during our Tuesday nights. It is great seeing people “switch on” to the Bible and see God’s plan for redemption throughout it. Also get to show the famous lego Bible stories as well.

War and rural America.

2007-02-21T10:31:00.000+11:00

Read this interesting article this morning,

"Nearly half of the more than 3,000 U.S. military fatalities in Iraq have come from towns like McKeesport, where fewer than 25,000 people live, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. One in five hailed from hometowns of less than 5,000. … Many of the hometowns of the war dead aren't just small, they're poor. The AP analysis found that nearly three-fourths of those killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average."

Nothing like sending in the poor to do your dirty work for you, go Georgie go...

Run feast

2007-02-21T10:27:00.000+11:00

As the cricket season draws to a close, last Sturday was a good one for the Barro boys, well the younger ones anyway. Rory batting for the seniors in the afternoon,made an unbeaten 52, his first 50 and was a great knock with plenty of boundries including a huge 6 and heaps of singles as well. Jack in the morning also made another 20 retired and is heading his teams batting with nearly 200 runs for the season. Roll on finals...

God's valentine

2007-02-14T09:57:00.000+11:00

Just to prove that God cares about us even on Valentines Day

For God so loVed the world,
That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life."
John 3:16

Foothills 5th

2007-02-13T23:37:00.000+11:00

Last Sunday was a real time of celebration for us at Foothills. We had a morning at our local Arboretum park here in windy FTG where we celebrated with some 80 people the 5th anniversary of Foothills Neighborhood Communities. We also had some other special things as well happening, 2 dedications, for both Jamila and Becca as well as commissioning the Dekker family as they began their apprenticeship with UNOH.

Of course we ended with a barbie and a game of cricket in the park, reflecting on the day afterwards I thought this was a great way of celebrating 5 years of involvement in our local Ferntree Gully community, with celebrating new life and sending out of others into other missional contexts. Who knows what the next 5 weeks let alone 5 years will bring. Thanks to all who have been part of the journey at some level with us.

Bowled Barro

2007-02-07T21:26:00.000+11:00

For some bizarre reason I was asked to bowl first change at the weekend. Bit of a shock as I‘d never bowled with a ball so shinny and new, so my 2 overs had their fair share of wides. But in amongst that I also got 2 wickets, a bowled and an LBW and they were both the openers, and I finished with 2/19 our best figures of the day, but I don’t really expect to bowl next week, I’m keeping myself for the World Cup.

Birthday boy

2007-02-07T21:07:00.000+11:00

Monday was my birthday, normally a day of denial, but I didn't mind this one. You see I turned 43, but most of last year when someone asked me my age I said 43, it wasn't until late in the year did I realize that I was robbing myself of a year. So now to be really 43 ain't that bad.

Helen had the day off so we went down to Knox for the day, a bit of shopping, lunch and a movie. We saw Blood Diamonds, Some movies entertain. Some challenge the way you think, encouraging you to see the world in a different way. And some try to change the way you live. Blood Diamond does all three. I strongly urge you to see it, for me it was all the more special because of my good friend Billy in Sydney who escaped the horror of Sierra Leone, which is the backdrop for the movie.
Finished the day with family tea together, home made pad thai, massaman curry and apple and raspberry cake, now that's my idea of a birthday.

Then there was one...

2007-02-01T09:21:00.000+11:00

Just arrived back home after dropping Ella off at school, her second day in grade 2 at FTG North PS, Jack went off to Upwey HS today, year 8 after transferring from St Joe's, he was excited up early and up to the train station with his mates, Rory has also gone to school for his first day of year 10, Helen is at work, so normality has returned, I have the house to myself and there is peace... for a moment

The Maddocks

2007-02-01T08:34:00.000+11:00

Caught up on the phone the other day with an old friend Geoff Maddock. Geoff, his American wife Sherry and their 4 year old son Isaac are back in Melbourne for a few months. They live in Lexington, Kentucky where they co founded and are still involved in COMMUNALITY, a local missional community. They are back here to check out the Australian scene and are doing some stuff particularly with FORGE and a bit of stuff with UNOH as well. You can hear them at UNOH’s Discipleship Camp coming up March 2-4 in Mt Evelyn with Ash Barker and Michael Duncan. So if you’re around Melbourne make sure you check them out, if your not read about them.

Blood Brothers

2007-01-30T22:47:00.000+11:00

While away on holiday recently I re-read a book that I had read 20 years ago, Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour. Elias Chacour was born in the Palestinian village of Biram in the upper Galilee in 1939. In 1948 after a United Nations resolution, his country of Palestine became the sovereign state of Israel. Three years later, his own village of Biram would be changed forever. In 1951, Israeli soldiers marched into Biram and told the inhabitants that they would have to leave the village temporarily for security reasons. When the inhabitants of Biram returned, they found their houses, their entire village, bulldozed by the Israelis. They have never to this date been allowed to return.

Elias Chacour became a priest in the Melkite Catholic Church, which dates back to the Byzantine period and Constantine. Father Chacour is a man of faith, and is also a Palestinian who has worked for many years at trying to be an agent for peace, justice and reconciliation.

His book and other writings are well worth the read as it presents another side from what we traditionally get in our media about the problems in the middle east today.

Finally some runs...

2007-01-30T22:35:00.000+11:00

Well after 8 innings, it finally happened... I made double figures. And not just, actually made 31, second top score last Saturday for the mighty FTGCC 6's .And what's better I did it as an opener, my first time for the season and was also involved in a 55 run opening stand. Not bad when I was just sent in beacause I had hurt my back feilding and the captain thought I might seize up, so get him in early and out early, but 20 overs later was still there.
So I can now retire knowing that I have at least 1 decent score for the year... until next week.

Owens to Sydney, so watch out

2007-01-19T23:13:00.000+11:00

The last few weeks has seen some farewells, and none more sadder, yet celebrated, was the departure of the Owens for western Sydney. I have got to know Jon over the past 7 years after we did our Forge internship together back in 2000. Anyone who meets Lisa and Jon can't help but be encouraged and challenged by the call of Jesus and their obedience. Jon and Lisa are memebers of UNOH and are heading up Mt Druit way to establish a UNOH chapter. I for one will miss them, but know that we will bump into them again later in the year at Surrender.

Last few weeks

2007-01-19T23:04:00.000+11:00

The last few weeks have felt like a bit of a whirlwind. Back in early December we got a call from Helen's great old time friend Suzy, from the Gold Coast to say she had secondary cancer in the brain. Suzy had been thru the ringer with breast cancer last year, so this was a bit of a shock to say the least. Helen flew up for a week immediately to spend some time with her and her fantastic family just before her round of radiation started. We then all flew up late December after Christmas for a couple of weeks, just getting back earlier this week. One of Suzy's wishes was that our families could spend sometime together which was brilliant. We were treated like royalty up there and I played kids entertainment supervisor for 2 weeks. Was great to spend sometime with the family, and theirs. The radiation is still doing it's work so next week she'll go in for an MRI to see what has happened. Please join us in praying for Suzy and the family with us, through this all she has an amazing sense of peace and strength.

Shalom

2007-01-17T07:56:00.000+11:00

Read this great quote today, it seems to me that if ever the world needed shalom it was now, but sadly for many millions it must seem like a fantasy.

The word for peace in both Arabic (salam) and Hebrew (shalom) has the same etymological root and the same breadth of meaning: wholeness, health, safety, and security. It refers to a peace experienced and lived out in the everyday historical situation of life. Peace can be a basis or cause that leads to something else. It is either a prerequisite or a by-product.
- Naim Ateek
from "Justice, and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation"

Christmas day lunch

2006-12-31T19:25:00.000+11:00

A white Melbourne Christmas, who would have thought and our 5th annual Ferntree Gully Christmas day lunch. We had over 150 turn up on the day for a great feast and fun. There were many great and sad stories of people who would normally have nowhere to go. We had an amazing team of volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the day, the Christmas angel came and brought great cheer (and presents) to all. Many of our kids took part in our great impromptu Nativty play, as we shared the story of God's gift to us in the form of Jesus. All in all a great time summed up by one woman with tears in her eyes as she left saying, "This has been the best Christmas of my life".

Cricket crazy

2006-12-07T00:07:00.000+11:00

Lest I be accused of gloating, or kicking a poor pom while his down, just wanted to say what a highlight last Saturday’s day of cricket was. Firstly in the morning Jack batted in the under 13’s and made 36 not out, his highest score and almost guided his team to victory. He is having a mighty season with the blade and currently averages 55.5, watch out Punter. Rory’s under 17’s ensured their top position and unbeaten run continued with Rory taking a wicket in his 2 overs spell.

The afternoon was the real highlight, our FTGCC 6’s team finally won a game, my first with them. Rory and I again batted together and put together a nice 30 run partnership late in the innings with Rory smashing his way to 28. He topped it off by claiming 3 for 11 with the ball, It’s only the old man whose letting the family down with the bat, although no ducks yet. But it certainly swells the pride seeing the younger Barro’s loving the game and doing so well

The Hope candle

2006-12-07T00:01:00.000+11:00

Last Sunday morning our Neighbourhood Community gathered to share some munchies and look at the Christmas season, what does it mean to us, kids and adults all drew and shared their thoughts. We lit the Hope candle, being the first Sunday of advent and reflected on what it is to have hope in the midst of pain, suffering, brokenness as well as celebration. The sharing was rich and deep and again caused me, and others, to reflect that God calls us into community to share with one another, otherwise it would all be too much on our own, even though our natural inclination is to hide and be the lone ranger. May we all the know the Hope that surpasses all this season…

Walk the walk

2006-12-01T20:48:00.000+11:00

Went swimming yesterday morning, first time for nearly a month and the body is starting to show for it. Much to my surprise I still managed to get my laps done without stopping (major achievement for me). Everyday I missed made it all the more harder to go again. The excuses start to mount up, then self doubt sneaks in and before you know it a month has flown by.

As I was crawling up and down the pool I got to thinking that it’s a bit like life, faith, love. We can have all the best intentions, I will pray, I will treat my partner and kids better, I will make time for that other person today, but somehow unless we actually step out and DO it, it just remains a good thought. And the longer we leave it the less likely we are to do it.

The old book say’s that faith without actions are dead, so as I dragged myself out the pool I once again resolved to try and practice what I preach and to try and “walk the walk”, not just “talk the talk.”

Love this game, bring home the Ashes...

2006-11-22T23:03:00.000+11:00

The Ashes officially kicks off tomorrow and my bet is that the local boys will really give it to the Poms, in a nice kind of way. For those of you with too much time on your hands and love the game check out these web versions,

Stick Cricket,

ING Cup,

Tonk a Pom,

Australia Strikes back,

Stick it to the Poms and

Boofa’s Trivia Challenge,

What’s your favourite?

Local festivals

2006-11-22T22:51:00.000+11:00

The last couple of weekends have seen some local festivals in the heart of Ferntree Gully. Saturday just gone was our annual Ferntree Gully Village Fair, a great local community event in which I help run. The weather was perfect and it is great to be involved in many ways, we had a Ferntree Gully Chaplaincy stall, and Foothills stuff as well as running the main stage. I got heaps of practice from the weekend before which was our Ferntree Gully North Primary School Fete, where I again ran the stage and was the MC for the day.

It's great to be involved in local events, and there is a great sense of community around here with many people wanting to help out.

Its also coming into the Christmas season now and we are in the swing of hosting our 5th Ferntree Gully Christmas Day Lunch, for those locals with nowhere to go. We expect some 150 people to come along and again it is a great way of serving our local community and especially at Christmas time to remember and honor "the least" among us as we celebrate Jesus birth not in a palace but in a smelly barn.

I still haven't found what I'm looking for

2006-11-22T22:40:00.000+11:00

After many years of waiting, a false start earlier this year and 13 hours of lining up, it finally happened. U2 came to town and I was there. Andy and I lined up and spent the better part of the day having U2 chats with people from all over the world. What a night, they were fantastic, our position was brilliant and I even got a chance to meet Bono before the show. All in all a great effort, and what's more i've even got the T-shirt to prove it.

Only 5 sleeps to go...

2006-11-14T16:37:00.000+11:00

The wait is almost over, after a false start and having to get new tickets it will all be worth it on Sunday night. Finally get to see U2 again, all reports in the press say their tour so far has been great, great that it will also coinside with this weekends G20 events, well timed Bono...

The circle of life...

2006-11-09T22:37:00.000+11:00

The other day I went in for my Secret Dad’s Stuff class at out local Family Birth Centre, as I met with the midwives there I was confronted with a dead baby, born just a few hours earlier. It was a bit of a shock, not something you expect to see everyday. My thoughts raced from how must the parents be dealing with all of this, to the midwife who was dressing the young baby, to the fathers to be I was just about to spend the next few hours with, to my own children.

We don’t deal real well with death in our culture, we tend to hide it, not talk about it or dress it up with nice smells. We live in such a privileged place where very few babies die unnecessarily, yet in many parts of the world huge numbers don’t get to see their 1st birthday. It reminds me again of the words of the U2 song,Crumbs from your table

"Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die"

As I had to confront my own uncomfortableness I again chose to resolve to try and do my bit to work for justice and equality and following Jesus in whatever small ways I could.

Battered and bruised

2006-11-09T22:35:00.000+11:00

This literally was the result of last Saturday’s day of cricket. Old age does funny things to your reflexes, like trying to hit a ball coming at you with a piece of wood instead of your unprotected thigh. All in all great fun though, Rory and I played our first game together and actually batted together for 10 overs putting on 27 runs, the highest partnership of our innings, Rory top scored with 18, while I played out a very patient 9 of 20 overs. A little frustrating, but when you come in at 7/39, the role was just to hang around. A good father and son combo I thought to start with, and I didn’t even run him out.

Home again, home again

2006-11-03T18:08:00.000+11:00

Been home for a few days now, it kind of messes with your head coming back to Oz after spending time in Klong Toey, although I have hit the ground running hard with many things on the go including our local Ferntree Gully Fair, our school Ferntree Gully North Fete, UNOH’s annual benefit dinner, not to mention our Christmas Day Lunch, and there’s a U2 concert thrown in there somewhere as well, luckily no preparation involved from this end.

Finishing teaching English was fantastic, we had a steady group of 25 kids and I taught with josh and Sandra, 2 great guys from Melbourne. Was hard saying goodbye, but a little easier for me knowing that I will see some of them again in 6 months time. Some of their living situations are tragic, yet it was great seeing the joy on their faces each day during our time with them. It kinda reminds me again that we consume far too much, and in our culture it doesn’t even make you happy.

On the last Saturday, I had my first serious motorbike ride in Bangkok, I borrowed Rods bike, some little 250cc thing and with 4 others headed down south, 1 hour out of Bangkok. Riding through the city was an experience, no room to hesitate, was a real blast, even got to relax a bit. We went to an ancient city, and rode around for the day, on borrowed push bikes, was great to have a day with Rod and his mates, a real boys day out.

Thanks to all who followed the journey with me and the others, the Foothills crew went well and were challenged to the core, was great also to see Rory in action in Klong Toey, more to share soon…

Getting to know you...

2006-10-25T20:07:00.000+10:00

The value of relationships has really come home to me over the past couple of days. Having been here a few times now there are many people who know me, and it helps the relationship develop a little deeper each time we meet. I have seen this at the ta Rua church, having preached there again the other day, within the local community, even last night booking a tour for some of our group for Saturday down at Khao San Road last night, made all the easier as I am recognized, known, and hopefully trusted.

This has really hit home teaching at Glua Prik each day, we had 28 kids in our class this morning, all between the ages of 5-9 years. Most of them I taught earlier in the year, so there is a lot of trust and fun had. I am reminded that Jesus spent time building relationships, he just didn’t do the “preaching tour” thingy, but invested his life into some. The relationships here continue to blossom, so too does Jesus continue to reveal himself to me through the people I meet, especially the poor of the slum…

Klong Toey update

2006-10-23T20:09:00.000+10:00

The past couple of days have been a great blur, arriving in to Bangkok from Chiang Mai late Saturday morning, meeting many others over from Oz as well as catching up with Thai friends. I preached Sunday morning again at the Ta Rua church, a real privilege, with great interpreting from Rod, I really value Foothills partnership with the local church here in the slum. Then on the run for the day, orientation for English teaching, playing (or attempting to) soccer in the late arvo and finishing with a Manchester United v Liverpool Thai footy experience in the evening.

This morning started our English teaching and I have gone back to Glua Prik, the community that I was at earlier this year in April. Was a great morning, especially with many of the kids yelling at the tops of their voices Sawadee Barro. Looking forward to the rest of the week. Another highlight though is seeing many of the Aussies here get their eyes opened up to what God is doing here, and having their worlds turned upside down. More to come soon, off to a Thai festival tonight…

Jungle trekking

2006-10-22T22:18:00.000+10:00

Back from 3 days of trekking through the mountains of northern Thailand. What an amazing experience. Great views, fantastic people, hard walk. Spent 2 nights sleeping in 2 different villages, walked up some full on mountains, but am proud to say that I was the oldest on the trek, everyone else besides Rory were in their 20’s, and also was one of the fittest. All of that swimming, paper delivery with the boys and cricket training has paid off. Would loved to have spent much more time up in this part of the world, beautiful and away from the pollution of Bangkok, also got to see some Muay Thai, another cultural experience not to be missed

Sitting at Bangkok airport

2006-10-17T12:07:00.000+10:00

Rory and I flew out from Melbourne last night and arrived in Bangkok this morning. We are now about to board a domestic flight to head up to Chang Mai until Saturday morning where we will join the rest of the 20 crew who have come over for the next ESL UNOH camp,teaching Engligh in the slums of Klong Toey, which I am coordinating. We are a little weary but excited about the next few days, nothing is booked, so it is all one big adventure lying ahead. Gotta go, flight is calling, unsecured wireless is a beautiful thing.

The day after...

2006-10-16T00:11:00.000+10:00

First BIG day of cricket for the season, 7.15am dropped Rory at his game to WATCH, due to injury and went with Jack to under 13's. Jack came into bat at 2 wickets down for 3 and 10 overs later departed 23 retired, a great effort considering he made the grand total of 9 for all of last season. Ended up with the man of the match and a great boost to the confidence, and a win to boot.

My seniors game started at 12.30, we bowled and 40 overs is a long time, took a catch, grassed another one, bowled 3 overs (no wides or no balls, major achievement) and took 1 for 9. We were chasing 150 and were never in the hunt, I batted at 6, came in at 4 for 30 after 30 overs on a hat trick. Saw off that, hit some nice shots, got to 5 and with the adrenahlin pumping full on ran myself out in a very embarrassing way, stranded halfway down the pitch, ah la Simon Katich style...

Still a very succesful re entry to the cricket field, and what's better, didn't feel too bad today at all... just a little tired. Now a 2 week break before the next onslaught, I'm sure the Australian selectors were out in the paddock somewhere watching...

Make way for the ashes

2006-10-13T09:56:00.000+10:00

In my spare time over the past 6 weeks I have been off to cricket training with our local club Ferntree Gully Cricket Club. I have been co coaching Jack's team, the under 13's but also training with the seniors, and tommorrow make my long awaited return to cricket after 23 years in the wilderness. It was with great excitement last night when the teams were read out that there was my name, in the 6ths. Unfortunately the main motivation for all of this was to play with Rory, who plays under 17's in the morning and seniors in the afternoons, but he tore some ankle ligaments earlier this week skateboarding so will have to sit the day out. Jack also returns after just getting his plaster caste off last week, with still limited movement and strength in his right arm. The last few weeks have been a bit of a battle with the back and general soreness for me, using muscles that i forgot I had, but that will all be worth it tomorrow when I step out onto the field. Just tell Freddie he better be afraid...

Tasmanian connection

2006-10-13T07:42:00.000+10:00

Recently all the family headed down to Tasmania for a couple of days. It was the first time we had EVER flown together as a family since Ella has been around. The reason was to go and visit Helen's grandy, who is turning 92 and wants to "go home". We spent some good time with him listening to his stories, I especialy loved the cricket and footy ones. he is a man of God who never misses a morning taking his Bible out, reading and praying and committing his life to following Jesus. All in all a great family time, even detoured off the main track to the little town of Barrington, I was keen to explore but the others weren't so keen, maybe it had something to do with the sleet sideways rain. Where's their sense of adventure...

Swans dive at the G

2006-09-30T23:00:00.000+10:00

Spent some time this arvo with my boys and another dozen new and old friends at a barbie and then time in front of the big screen to watch the AFL grand final. Seeing that the mighty pies had opted out a few weeks earlier gave me a chance to dust out my old Sydney Swans cap, from my time in Sydney, and barrack hard. Unfortunately not hard enough, despite a gallant second half the Roo's boys went down by 1 point. A heart breaker, yes, but all in all agood afternooons entertainment, roll on the Ashes.

Meet your hero

2006-09-30T22:51:00.000+10:00

There were many highlights from the recent UNOH Surrender 06: Wild adventures with Jesus conference that I organized . Seeing many young people respond to a gutsy appeal to give your lives over to being a wild follower of Jesus during our youth night, seeing people switched on a challenged with some great teaching and arts, great late night conversations. But without a doubt THE highlight for me was spending time with Tony Campolo. Not only did I get the chance to interview him on stage for 45 minutes (kept having to pinch myself) but also was host to him on the Sunday night for a few hours. It was great spending some good time with someone who has travelled long and hard on the road, and has some battle scars to proof it, topped off a great weekend for me.

The agony and the esctasy

2006-08-21T23:35:00.000+10:00

Grand final day had all the highs and lows you could imagine. Firstly Jacks game started to the roar of the Ferntree Gully Eagles team running through the banner before lining up for the national anthem. 3 minutes into the game with the pace not yet settled Jack smothers a ball off an opposition boot only to cop the full force of the boot on his RIGHT arm and yes resulted in another broken arm. End of game for Jack and a very distraught family and coach. The Eagles evetually went down by 3 goals in a great game, which Jack was sorely missed by the rest of his team. How could it get worse? Grand final 2 saw Rorys Upper Ferntree Gully team take on a tough oppostion determined to rattle them. Upper only had eyes for the ball and ran out comfortable winners 17.11.113 to 6.12.48, with the whole team contributing to the effort. As you could imagine there were many happy people. the only dampner being the opposition coach and runner not bothering to show up for the presentations afterwards.
Wild scenes followed and we spent last night (and the early hours of this morning) between Rory's club celebrations, Jack's teams dinner and finally Helen and Jack off to hospital for the inevitable x rays and plaster.

For Jack this is a real dissapointment given that it is the 2nd time inside 6 months that he has broken that arm, not to mention the broken thumb in between, and to top it all off he got his braces fitted today as well.

Special thanks to the many friends who came along to support the boys yesterday, as well as the emails and phone calls.

Talk about highs and lows and the emotional roller coaster, still not sure if I've come down to earth yet.

The call to follow...

2006-08-13T08:18:00.000+10:00

The other day I spoke at Syndal Baptist as part of UNOH's Wild Ones set. That's about getting around to a few churches in Oz and sharing the radical message of Jesus as well as promoting Surrender 06:Wild adventures with Jesus. Anyway I spoke on the passage from Mark chapter 2, the calling of Levi. This passage always hits me that following Jesus has consequences. Jesus comes and invites Levi to follow him, not when Levi is in a prayer meeting, not when he's singing praise songs, not when he's having his quiet time (there's nothing wrong with any of those things) but rather Jesus comes and invites Levi to follow him when he is doing his everyday stuff. For Levi this is collecting taxes, can't think of anything less "spiritual" can you? But further Levi is collecting taxes as a Jew from the Jews on behalf of the foreign invader, the Romans.

If I was a Jew I don't reckon I would be too pleased with giving my money to a foreign oppressive power, and I definately wouldn't be too pleased with the man who took my money, in this case Levi. But Jesus invites Levi to follow him and be one of his disciples to change the world, not real smart thinking on Jesus part, I reckon. Bit Jesus ways are not my ways, he constantly calls those we least expect to partner with him in order to bring about his purposes.

And Jesus calls him in the middle of the everyday. After I shared this the other night I had several chats with people who were encouraged to think outside the square of how Jesus calls us. See I reckon he invites us to follow him constantly, and most of the time it is in the everyday, when we're with our family, down the street, at the footy club, in the line waiting those extra few minutes at the shops, when we're confronted or go past those around us in need. What does his invitation look like to follow him in those situation?

I reckon we often get caught up in the fact that we have to create a "spiritual" environement to hear from God, but Jesus shows us different, you can be collecting taxes, mending your nets, out fishing or walking in your neighborhood when the invitation to step out and follow comes. What does it look like for you today? Jesus give us your ears and eyes to see and hear you in the midst of life.

Footy and the boys

2006-08-08T00:15:00.000+10:00

2 sons, 2 junior footy semi finals, 2 wins, 2 boys teams go straight to the grand final in 2 weeks time, couldn't have had a better day yesterday. First Jack's under 13's Ferntree Gully Eagles beat their opponents easily, 12.8:80 to 5.4:34, the great thing was this was the only team that had beaten them during the year so was a great result with Jack getting plenty of the ball. Then in the afternoon Rory's under 15's Upper Ferntree Gully got off to a brilliant 8 goal first quarter to set up the match and run out winners 15.12:102 to 10.8:68 in a tough encounter.

So both boys enjoy the fruits of a week off and are getting ready for a day of grandfinals on Sunday August 20 at Scoresby, not sure if the voice box can take it much more though...

A week in politics and the Micah Challenge...

2006-08-05T08:40:00.000+10:00

This week saw me off to see 2 of our local Federal members. Firstly Aston member Chris Pearce, had invited some local church ministers for a morning tea and discussion. We spoke around a whole range of topics, from multiculturalism, to petrol prices to the Millennium Development Goals and Australia's level of aid. I was impressed with Chris, in his real concern for people and particuraly for an increase in aid, and yes I did get a chance to raise the current middle east issue as well.

The following day saw 15 local churches meeting with La Trobe member Jason Wood, under the Micah Challenge banner. This was great as we were there as part of a world wide movement of churches campaigning local politicians about the MDG's. We presented petitions and I was part of a smaller group that then met privately with Jason for a further hour to discuss, again Australia's aid giving and hopefuly see it increase. Again I was impressed at his resolve also to see this happen. What we need though is people all over the country though getting their voice heard to continue to put pressure on our government.

But the highlight for me was having 4 grade 6 students from Ferntree Gully North PS there with their principal presenting hard made cards to Jason asking for an increase in aid. These are the kids I teach CRE to each week and we had been discussing world poverty, justice and God's response over the past few weeks. They were rapt to be there and to have their voices heard as well. I was very proud to see the difference one person can make in the lives of so many, I think Jesus had something to say as well about being childlike...

The darker side of Chocolate...

2006-08-03T10:10:00.000+10:00

"How much does a chocolate cost?"
"A couple of dollars is that all?"
"Maybe a little more overseas."
"Hey Lady how much for the kid?"
"hey enough! I don't feel too comfortable."
"Its ok, have some chocolate its a great comfort!"
"So, How much does your chocolate cost?"

This 25 minute piece will perform Saturday morning at SURRENDER:06

A 'Prayer' to Condoleezza Rice

2006-08-03T09:40:00.000+10:00

This weeks Sojourners had this quote in it, as the bombs and killings continue in the middle east. As of this morning I have had no response back to my letter, but much encouragment from others who went and did likewise.

"Sunday morning, I woke up to the news that an Israeli air strike hit a residential building used as a shelter in the southern Lebanese town of Qana, killing and wounding more than 65 people, including 30 infants and young children. According to tradition, Qana is the village where Jesus Christ performed his first miracle by turning water into wine (John 2).

Now I hear of fellow Christians who enjoy seeing the turning of water into blood in the name of end-time prophecy. Their call should rather be to turn water into wine of gladness, peace, and life. Are we looking for the presence of Christ in Lebanon and Israel or for the presence of U.S. smart bombs?"

- Riad Kassis, executive director and chaplain at the J.L. Schneller School in West Bekaa, Lebanon. Read the full story at Christianity Today.

"Make Poverty Personal" Nominated For Award

2006-07-29T08:57:00.000+10:00

Some very encouraging and personally rewarding news today as the short list for the 2006 Australian Christian Book of the Year was announced by SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge). Among the eight authors short listed was UNOH's director and founder, Ash Barker. Ash's book, Make Poverty Personal: the Bible's Call to End Oppression, was his and UNOH Publications' first nomination for this award, especially exciting given my involvement with UNOH Publications.

Ash in speaking to The Australian Christian said:

"This nomination is a big win for the UNOH Publications team as we seek to inspire, invite and inform more radical responses to Jesus among the poor... I’m especially grateful to neighbours in our slum here in Klong Toey and in poor neighbourhoods in Melbourne where other UNOH workers serve. Much of the biblical material and insights in the book engage with these friends and their situations. I hope that some-how this nomination can help recognise their plight
and mobilse more Christians to serve the urban poor, who will be over a quarter of the world’s population by 2020.”

Slums and Violence by dark forces

2006-07-28T20:28:00.000+10:00

"There are dark forces at work in slum neighbourhoods. If I needed any reminder of this it was coming back from the hospital where our neighbour Pi Arn is a mess".

This is the latest in an article by my good mate UNOH's Ash Barker; written about events he, his family and neighbours faced earlier this week in the slums of Klong Toey in Thailand. Read more here from UNOH's Wild Ones blog and in a world gone crazy pray for peace.

Secret Dad's Stuff

2006-07-28T16:22:00.000+10:00

Got in last night from another "Secret Dad's Stuff". For the past 9 months I have been running a night for expectant fathers at our local Family Birth Centre here in Ferntree Gully, I run them every 3 weeks. It is part of the antenatal nights that couples attend, and I get all the men on the 2nd of 4 nights of the classes. We look at all kinds of issues around fathering. I can't tell you exactly what we discuss because it is Secret Dad's stuff. But I will say that we might talk about life changes in being a dad, how to look after your partner, what to expect and your role in labour as well as what to do 24 hours after birth when you walk out of hospital with a brand new baby.

It's always alot of fun and I come out pumped seeing men come alive with expectations and sheer fear at the thought of being a dad soon. I love these nights and last night was no exception, I always get amazing questions. If it wasn't Secret Dad's stuff I might even be able to share them.

Trouble in the Middle East

2006-07-26T16:46:00.000+10:00

I like many others have been, and continue to be horrfied by events in the middle east over the past 2 weeks. The needless murder and destruction of human life and property has ripped me apart, and along with it the feeling of helplessness. Well yesterday I had a call from a mate who was equally outraged and he suggested we go and visit our local federal member to vent our voices. Australia has not yet condemned the Israei's for their totally out of porportion retalation to what has been going on, even though many others have including senior officials from the UN.

So we wrote our letters and took them down to our federal member from La Trobe. He was not there but his office took our letters and promised us a response. The voice of 1 can be silent in the storm, but the voice of many can be heard. It again encouraged me to use my democratic voice and be heard. You too can do the same, find out you local federal MP here, read some more about the latest from Amnesty International here.

And here is a copy of my letter, I await my reply:

Jason Wood MP
Federal Member for Latrobe,

July 25, 2006

Dear Jason,

I write to you as a local concerned citizen and minister of a local church who is, as many are around the world at this current time, feeling shocked and appalled at the recent events in Lebanon.

I realize there are complex issues behind the recent bombing of Lebanon, I also recognize that Hezbollah are no angels, but I am seriously concerned at the willful lack of regard for human life in the latest bombings.

There have been over 400 civilians needlessly murdered by the Israeli government in the past 2 weeks. In any language this is a massacre and must be condemned and we must do all within our power to encourage an immediate ceasefire.

It has been a great shame that US President George Bush has failed to condemn this waste of life, and it seems our own Prime Minister John Howard is again following in his footsteps and refusing to condemn this horrendous waste of human life.

I call upon you Jason as our locally elected representative to urge your government and in particular the prime minister to call for an immediate cease fire and to condemn the murder of innocent lives on both sides, from Israel as well as from Lebanon.

We cannot waste another moment as this is literally a life and death issue for many innocent people. Not to mention the shocking humanitarian crisis that will follow as thousands of people are displaced.

Human life should be valued, no matter what color or race they represent.

Yours truly,

Citizenship Suppers

2006-07-13T23:14:00.000+10:00

Just got back from being with a bunch of Foothillians tonight. We were out, as we do every 6-8 weeks at our local council, Knox City Council preparing a supper for those who have just been through their Citizenship Ceremoney. A small team of us work for a couple of hours preparing the food, just to see it disappear in minutes. Its a fun thing we have been doing the past 3 years or so, and gives us a very practical way to serve those who are new to our community. Some of the stories are quite horrific, listening to tradgedy and loss, for others stories are full of hope and new starts. But for the 250 people we fed tonight it all comes down to sharing food and drink together, the essence of shared life, and what better way to do it than with a party pie and sauce.

I was reflecting the other day that so much of what we do revolves around food and was reminded of the words I was given many years ago, 'who we eat with tells us alot about our discipleship'. Jesus often got into trouble for eating and drinking with the "wrong" people, when was the last time you were looked down on for eating with the wrong crowd?

Jesus is for Losers...

2006-07-12T22:15:00.000+10:00

Just finished reading a great book by Shane Claiborne called The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an ordinary radical. I met Shane at Greenbelt, England 2 years ago, and was very impressed by his story and passion for following Jesus in difficult places. He is a co founder of The Simple Way community in America and is mentored by Jim Wallis and studied under Tony Campolo. Here is one of my favorite quotes,

"...we read together the passage where Jesus tells the Pharisees (the ones who "had things together"), "It's not the healthy. who need a doctor, but the sick. 1 have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matt. 9:12 - 13). The gospel is good news for sick people and is disturbing for those who think they've got it all together.
Some of us have been told our whole lives that we are wretched, but the gospel reminds us that we are beautiful. Others of us have been told our whole lives that we are beautiful, but the gospel reminds us that we are also wretched. The church is a place where we can stand up and say we are wretched, and everyone will nod and agree and remind us that we are also beautiful." pg 245

Stick figures

2006-07-10T22:13:00.000+10:00

Surrender 06 early bird deadline soon

2006-07-10T21:57:00.000+10:00

One of the things that I have been involved with this year is helping to organize UNOH's Surrender 06; Wild adventures with Jesus conference.It should be a great time, here is an excert from a flyer we are sending around at the moment. This is a reminder that early bird registrations for our Surrender 06: Wild adventures with Jesus conference close in the next few days.

July 15 is the date you need to have your registrations in to take advantage of this great opportunity.

As well as featuring well known speakers such as Tony Campolo, Michael Duncan, Deb Hirsch, Ash Barker, Ray Minniecon and Darryl Gardiner, great music from bands such as Antiskeptic and Vox Congo, we are also proud to announce that we have many of the best practioners around for our electives.

Some of our elective speakers confirmed so far include: Marcus Curnow, Lindy Croucher, Alan Hirsch, John Jenson, Lisa Owen, Jim Reiher, Rowland Croucher, Dave Fuller, Bekki Scott, Arthur Bolkas, Kevin Maddock and David Wilson, with many others yet to confirm.

Friday August 25 - Sunday August 27 at Belgrave Heights Convention Centre should be an exciting time as we seek to invite, encourage and challenge many to follow Jesus as we are lead through wild adventures.

Ash Barker, UNOH director says,

"Wilder more adventurous and meaningful lives are not only possible, but exactly what Jesus intends for us. Jesus was the original Wild One... and he calls us to follow him."
For more information and on line booking go to www.unoh.org today.

Hillary Clinton speaks out

2006-07-10T21:43:00.000+10:00

Just listened to a great speach by US Senator Hillary Clinton speaking recently at the Pentecost 2006 conference hosted by Sojourners in Washington DC earlier this month. She speaks with a real passion about what should and could be done to help make poverty history. It goes for about 15 minutes but well worth the listen.

My favorite quote from Hillary,

"I did go to Sunday school, but I must have missed the lesson about how we help the poor by giving tax cuts to the rich, I missed that lesson."

Quote of the day

2006-06-02T08:16:00.000+10:00

On my Bushisms desk calander todays quote is a ripper, if not a little tragic,

"Let me put it to you this way, I'm not a revengeful person."

Thanks George, I'm sure the homeless families in Iraq agree with you there.

Life in the Ukraine

2006-06-02T07:41:00.000+10:00

Just read a little of my good mate Sean's experiences recently in the Ukraine, where we have some associates of God's Squad. It sounds like life on another planet. Here's a sample:

I'm in the Ukraine, somewhere. Apart from being a couple of hours from Kiev. I have absolutely no idea where I am. Having done battle as a passenger in rush hour traffic, travelled the wrong way down a motorway to negotiate the aftermath of a six truck pile up I am now quite glad to be eight floors up in a very modest apartment - all be it over looking a slowly sinking Lada in boggy wasteground. The next few days would see a further six road accidents within earshot, narrowly miss being wiped out by a drunk driver who did clatter head on into my friend on his bike seriously injuring him.

God's Squad New Zealand 10th...

2006-06-02T07:21:00.000+10:00

Congratulations to all my sisters and brothers asociated with the New Zealand chapter of God's Squad CMC on your 10th anniversary this weekend. It has been a real privilege to ride and journey with you all, from humble beginings, to near death experiences and threats. You guys have helped me develop my faith alot. My thoughts and prayers are with you all, ride safe.

The Emerged Sunday...

2006-05-30T16:59:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday our Neighborhood Community at Foothills shared the morning at one of our local elderly peoples homes, come boarding house. We have been doing this once a month this year connecting with some of the people who have been coming along to our Christmas Day lunch. Considering our oldest Foothillian person is 42, it is a real change for us to go along and hang out with others twice our age, its also great for our kids. We run a "church service type of thingy" with some kids songs, alt worship eldely style and a brief devotion. It kind of reminds me of the Bible studies I used to run in prison years ago, you never knew what to expect, someone would always yell out half way through something totally irrevelant to what was going on, but most of all I am constantly meeting Jesus in the lives of those considered to be of no significance. Don't worry about the emerging church, this lot have well and truly emerged...

Winners are grinners...

2006-05-30T16:45:00.000+10:00

Only 1 basketball game and 1 footy game to get to for this weeekend gone, plus of course seeing a replay of the always mighty pies on Friday night. Jack played in his under 14 basketball grandfinal on Saturday and after a tight 25 minutes where the scores where locked at 12 all finally blew their opponets away in the last 10 minutes to win 19-13, with wild celebrations following. Jack unfortunately crashed out afterwards and has spent the better part of the past 2 1/2 days on the coach with gastro, very pale in the face, so with Helen away I have been playing nurse. Rory won his footy match on Sunday by some 7 goals and he had a great game kicking 2 goals 3, with some great strong leading marks at full forward. I even had the joy of doing canteen duty in the 2nd half. What better way to spend a weekend, watching kids playing sport and supporting their interests, the joys of being a dad...

Wild Ones launch

2006-05-26T00:31:00.000+10:00

Part of my role with UNOH is helping out with UNOH Publications, our humble attempt to get books that encourage radical discipleship and responses to the poor out to the general public. Our newest book is by one of my favorite Kiwis Mick Duncan, Wild Ones according to Mick is summarised in the fact that "God chooses wild ones and not just nice ones to be his global workers." I've had the privilege of reading/proofreading some early drafts and I must say that this book is a ripper, designed to challenge, inspire, make you laugh, cry and feel a little uncomfortable along the way.

We are having a launch on Wednesday June 7 at UNOH HQ, 66 Regent St Springvale, come and meet Mick, party with some other wild ones and be inspired to go wild as we follow the ultimate wild one, Jesus. Mike at Wild Ones Blog has more details on the night.

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

2006-05-26T00:03:00.000+10:00

Today is National Sorry Day (Fri May 26) and the begining of National Reconciliation Week. My theory is that this day and in fact this week comes and goes each year with little or no acknowledgment by the general public. Not because they are not interested but because they are totally unaware, there is very little in the mainstream media about this. This has been again my experience this week talking to locals and friends, that they were simply unaware it was happening.

Earlier this month a motion calling on the Senate to recognise National Sorry Day was defeated by the Government in the Senate. Senator Siewert responded by stating

"I am extremely disappointed that the Government has refused to acknowledge the importance of National Sorry Day to Aboriginal Australians, and refused to support even the smallest symbolic gesture to recognise the grief caused by the removal of children and the pressing need for reconcilliation."

Our local council at Knox City are holding their second flag raising ceremony at 11.00 which I will be attending alongside many others to mark Sorry Day. Click here to check out other activites around the state.

There are many things that we can be passionate about, I believe that we need to reverse the lead of our PM, and not only say sorry but stop playing the blame game as well.

Back to school...

2006-05-16T22:37:00.000+10:00

Today I went and spoke at Berwick Secondary College to a group of year 11 students. This was arranged through a mate Pete who is chaplain at the school. Pete is loving his work there and is in the right place. This was a special health day with many types of electives, mine was just one among many but I had a full class of 28 students for the topic "Spirituality", I was quite impressed with the number especially when I found out I was competing against "Safe sex". It was a great session with the time literally flying and just when we'd got into some good indepth q and a's, in walked the local ambulance officer ready to start the next sesion. It was the first time I had spoken in a secondary school setting for a while, after doing it day in and day our for many years. And the feedback was very positive.

So reflecting on the day I learned that I am now much older that I think I am and secondly it is much harder to impress young people these days so why try...

This sporting weekend

2006-05-16T22:25:00.000+10:00

First full weekend in Melbourne after spending the past 3 in Bangkok, and it was business as usual, running around with kids to lots of sporting events. Some good and not so good results, Rory's basketball team lost by 3 points in a tight elimination final on Friday night so he has a few weeks off. Jacks under 14's team won by an even tighter 2 points to earn the weeks break and advance straight to the grand final Saturday week. It was Jacks first real game for nearly 3 months since he broke first his arm, then badly strained his thumb just when his arm came good. Also thrown in there was a special Saturday morning training fun day for Ella, which wouldn't have been complete without the ever so healthy BBQ sausage in bread afterwards.

Sunday was off to the footy, Jack resting his arm for one more week before plunging right in, his team now has won 4 from 4 and again won easily. Rory's team managed to play some good contested footy and won their second game of the year, and Rory picking up an award for a gutsy display in the forward line. Another weekend, another lot of running around...

One too many double cheezeburgers with fries

2006-05-11T17:51:00.000+10:00

In Thailand as in Oz one cannot escape the jolly Mc Clown who stands for all things good. So I'd thought I'd share this little pic that I got sent the other day.

Bushisms

2006-05-09T00:25:00.000+10:00

For Christmas last year my good mate Marc, got me a desk calander with 365 classic quotes of wisdom from the great George W. I thought I'd share a few of them here:

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country"

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure"

"The future will be better tomorrow"

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls"

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it"

God help America

Miner funeral tommorrow

2006-05-08T23:53:00.000+10:00

One of the things that I have come back to is the drama surrounding the 2 miners being dug out of the shaft in Tasmania. I had only caught a few snippets of news while away so had assumed they had been "rescued" after a couple of days. Like many around this country my thoughts and prayers are with the familes of these 2 guys and from the news tonight it seems only a matter of hours away before they are able to come up.
Tomorrow is the funeral though of Larry Knight who was killed on April 25 by the rock fall that trapped the other two men. His body was recovered two days later. His funeral is being conducted by 2 brothers from the Launceston chapter of God's Squad CMC, Chris and Grubby. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys tommorrow as well.

Final stuff

2006-05-08T23:40:00.000+10:00

Well home a little after 24 hours things click back into gear pretty quickly. The last few days have been a bit of a blur. We finished our last class on Friday, was great with many parents and community leaders coming to see the "graduation" of their children from English classes. For these kids who have very little this was an incredibly proud moment for them, and there were a few tears shed.

I picked up a heavy cold in my last couple of days, too much time going from very hot conditions totally covered in sweat then into air conditioned environments. That meant that travelling on a plane with a cold is not the best thing to do. Suffice to say that my ears have not unblocked themselves yet and are very sore. Spending 90 minutes with 4 customs at Melbourne airport Sunday morning with a waiting family wondering what was happening outside DID NOT help things at all either.

Finally got to see Helen and Ella who had braved the trip out, great to see them and I appreciate immensely the opportunity they gave and continue to give me to do these sort of things. Sunday arvo I was watching Rory's footy game when the skies opened and the hail came down on the coldest Melbourne day for 8 months. Welcome back...

A bit close to home

2006-05-06T22:17:00.000+10:00

Yesterday while we were having our final lunch together the reality of where we were struck close as news came that there was a "crazed madman" running around with a knife stabbing people. As we learnt later the man, who had just got out of prison days before, and high as a kite from paint fumes had indeed stabbed and killed his mother, before going on to kill 2 other people, including a policeman, and wound 5 others before he was subdued and taken away. This was less than 100 meters from where we were and just a small block from the Barkers house. The story was front page of todays Bangkok Post. It was a stark reminder that when there is no hope people often turn to desperate messures to get through life. The night before I was with Anj and Ash at their home when at 10.30pm in came 4 scared kids who we had taken swimmimg earlier that afternoon. There was a fight going on at their home, with someone attacking someone else with a piece of wood.
Without a clear sense of call and hope for the future no wonder the "workers are so few, but the harvest is plentiful" Yet here God is present in amazing ways and his invitation to join him in the slums amongst the pain and hopelessness of peoples lives to some may sound like madness but to the God who constantly surprises us all, a real opportunity to follow.

Almost there

2006-05-03T21:52:00.000+10:00

Finished our third last day of lessons this morning. This week we have had 3 groups of teachers and kids, so I have been teaming up with Naomi from Foothills and we have been leading the 9-10 year olds, and usually have about 15 per day, so it feels much more saner than last weeks 35 kids. Only issue is that from tomorrow we can’t use the kinder building that we have been using but move into a little office somewhere else, so we’ll see how we go. It has been amazing meeting kids each day that just seem so hungry to learn but have such limited opportunities. In some ways it seems like what we are doing is just a drop in a bucket for the kids yet it is so encouraging seeing the look of hope in their eyes. It seems that most of the children from this community have come at some part of our teaching, and many of the community leaders rally appreciate our being there.

Sunday at Ta Rua

2006-05-01T18:02:00.000+10:00

I had the privilege this morning of again preaching at the Ta Rua church here in Klong Toey. Having preached there last October I told them how brave they were having me back again. It seemed to go very well, looking at the passage of the calling of Levi in Mark 2. It’s a real challenge preaching a phrase at a time as the translation occurs, it means I have to work hard on really simplifying the message and making it clear. I received a fair bit of encouragement afterwards and a few people came forward for prayer. Rod said he felt the message was the right encouragement to the locals as I spoke on the fact of God’s grace of coming to those who were considered outsiders in the society of the day, like tax collectors and other sinners and that he still does that today. In a place where they are shunned as being ”slum people” to experience the grace of God because they are known and loved by the God of the universe I guess must make a significant difference.
poatscript: Rodger, another member of our team speaks of his experiences and the message.

Many different ways to go

2006-05-01T18:00:00.000+10:00

One of the great things over our time here is the opportunity to get around the city of Bangkok a bit during some of the afternoons and evenings. We get to sample many different modes of transport, and it’s a lot of fun going on the public system without knowing exactly where we are going. So over the past few days I have been on buses, sky trains, the underground trains, tut tuts, taxi, motorcycle taxi, and klong boat, it’s all a bit of an adrenalin buzz especially heading off on the back of a bike across the other side of town.

One week down

2006-05-01T17:53:00.000+10:00

We finished our first week of teaching last Friday, all feeling a little tired but also very excited. Our small group of 4 teachers at Glua Prik ended the week with over 80 kids registered and most days averaging over 65, spilt into 2 groups. I was with the younger kids, usually over 30, 6-9 year olds in an area no bigger than 6 x 4 meters. It was great improvising and teaching a whole variety of topics like what is your name, family, body parts, clothes and numbers. Roll on week 2 with some extra teachers from some of the other communities.

Teaching English…

2006-04-25T20:47:00.000+10:00

I have been teaching over the past couple of days at a community slum called Glua Prik, which is about 10 minute drive from the main Klong Toey Centre. There are 4 of us and we have had a little over 50 kids each day. My group is made up of about 22, 6-9 year olds, and we have been having a lot of fun. Unfortunately we don’t have anyone with us who speaks both Thai and English so our teaching is very limited, but we have fun with EDUCATIONAL crafts, games, songs and activities. I am teaching with a Mel, a young woman from Perth who has great ideas, so we seem to work together well. The kids are great and seem to look forward to seeing us. The local community leaders also seem very pleased and they look in each day just to check things are ok. Its amazing how good a singer you are thousands of k’s from home.

Kickboxing friends

2006-04-25T20:45:00.000+10:00

Went to the Klong Toey community centre Monday afternoon with Ash to “help out” with the soccer program. I caught up with some young kids I met last year who I had taught English to and also helped out with some Thai kick boxing training. They were keen for me to see their kick boxing and for me to “train” them, read put the mittens on and let them punch and kick me. Was great fun and got me working up a real sweat and great for them to remember me and some things we taught them. This was also a good warm up for the soccer games we played later on as we put together a 5 a side Aussie team against many of the Thais, we did ok and even won a couple of games much to Ash’s surprise. Very sweaty stuff this though playing in 35c plus temperatures on the concrete, must be crazy eh…

Anzac day…

2006-04-25T20:44:00.000+10:00

I led communion this morning for our team, and spoke on Simpson and his donkey, the fact that the died so that others may live in the true Anzac spirit. In the same vein Jesus also did and as in the passage from Mark when James and John ask him if they can sit at his right and left hand, just a small favor. Jesus replies by telling them all again that if we want to be great we must serve. Challenging words here when it is easy to think good of yourself just by the fact that we are here, yet Jesus constantly calls us to serve and reverses the order that society dictates it should be. Thee other good thing about this anzac day… Collingwood won.

A little break…

2006-04-25T20:40:00.000+10:00

Arrived in Bangkok around 9.00 last Thursday night, with nothing booked but abit of an idea where to go. Got a bus into Khao san road, the hippee, backpacker side of Bangkok and found a room in a little guest house down near the river for $7- a night. Had a quiet drink with a Pom and a South African before heading off to book a tour for the next day. Back for another drink at a Thai blues bar and off to bed a little more than 24 hours after when I had woken up in Melbourne Thursday morning. Up again at 6.00 to walk down and meet my tour group, drive for nearly 2 hours up to a floating market, riding a boat through narrow canals. Then off to a elephant and crocodile show, back in Bangkok by 5.00, some tea on the street and a well needed Thai massage, before chatting to many people back in the streets, in bed by midnight. Saturday morning went across town to Klong Toey to meet the Barkers, this was meant to be some time out, and was a great time but for now I feel a little tired.

Thailand bound...

2006-04-19T12:22:00.000+10:00

In the midst of everything that happens I am currently trying to get through as much work as I can, and maybe even start to pack because tomorrow morning I head off to Thailand for 18 days. I am faciliating a short term trip for people to teach English to young children in the slums of Klong Toey in Bangkok through UNOH and the local Ta Rua church community. For the next 2 weeks we will be spending our time supporting the amazing work of the Barkers and Rod who live in Klong Toey. I am looking forward to it, and it will be my 3rd trip in the past 2 years and a great time to connect with our sister church community with the Ta Rua church. I'll attempt to write often of our journies. Last year 3 of us from Foothills went and we kept a blog going. This year the Dekkers from Foothills are also going and attempting to write also. Would appreciate your thoughts, prayers and words through this time.

Makes you think...

2006-04-19T12:11:00.000+10:00

Yesterday i attended the funeral service of a dear friend of my mothers. Tom Malone died Thursday morning at a hospice after a very short battle with cancer. He passes away just a few moments after my mum had got there to visit him, which she had been doing daily over the past 2 months. The funeral was at Reservoir Baptist where I grew up and mum still goes. It evoked many feelings for me yesterday. It was a great celebration of the life of one who had given himself to serve others and was not afraid to go home just 2 days shy of his 73 birthday. I also caught up with some people I hadn't seen for many years including an old primary school friend, that was pretty freaky. But the big thing for me was that I can tend to take people for granted, cause you never know when you spend time with someone if you will ever see them again in this life time. So the challenge for me??? To enjoy other peoples company as if it is the last day I will ever spend with them, to fully give them my time and patience, now there's a great challenge...

Sonrise

2006-04-19T11:41:00.000+10:00

Easter Sunday morning a crowd of 25 people gathered and huddled from the cold,meeting at 6.00am for our sunrise service. It was a great time of celebration as we remembered Jesus who rose from the grave. Was great to share the morning with some of our friends from Knoxfield Chrches of Christ. These mornings have became special for me as we reflect on our faith. Also are a great way of sharing life with some of our local friends. We all eventually warmed up back at our place with brekkie and hot drinks all around for 18 people.

Passover and Tennebrae

2006-04-14T08:54:00.000+10:00

Last night we hosted a Passover meal at our house. We had nearly 30 adults and kids gathered around our table(s) and scattered throughout the house. At Foothills we have had these meals for a few years now and last night 2 of our Neighborhood Communities celebrated life this way. Many at our home were our local neighbors aren't the 'normal' churchy type. We had a great feast and spent a few hours going through a very rough paraphrase of a messianic passover, including the 4 cups of wine which always make the night rather jolly.

We finished the night with an 11.00pm tennebrae time, which included readings and singing in the dark by candlelight. It all finished at midnight as people left in silence, as we contemplated Jesus being put to death on the cross. We pick this up again with a sunrise gathering on Sunday mornng 6.00am at the Arboretum in Ferntree Gully, anyone want to join us.

The Brick Easter

2006-04-14T08:33:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday at Foothills we had our monthly celebration gathering at Ferntree Gully North Primary School. Being Palm sunday and having loads of kids we went through the wek of Easter in the life of Jesus, commencing on Palm Sunday and going through to Easter Sunday. It is great to be reminded again of what happened in that week. It starts with Jesus being cheered like a home coming champion as he enteres Jeruslaem and ends with much of the same crowd wanting his blood less than 5 days later.

Also yesterday I went through the stories again with my 3 RE classes at FTG North PS with the grade 5's and 6's. I love to use the Brick Testament stuff, which seems to make it come alive. Loads of questions always follow, why would Jesus do that? Whay doesn't he save himself? Did he do that for me? Why would they kill a good man? Is he really the son of God?

A night with Jim Wallis

2006-04-14T08:20:00.000+10:00

Had a great night the other night with Jim Wallis of Sojourners fame. This was a smaller intimate crowd of some real heros of the faith here in Melbourne and was hosted by Tim Costello. Two great quotes from the night:

Jim talked about elderly Mary Glover who at their prayer meetings before their food distribution mornings opened would pray, "Lord we know you'll be coming through the door today, so help us to treat you well."

And talking about someone who was checking out faith and justice issues and the Bible, "I love the red words in the Bible, they seem to make lots of sense." It is hard to be a better contributor to humanity than to follow Jesus.

Detour??

2006-04-11T07:37:00.000+10:00

Came accross this pic today, kind of speaks for itself.

Jim Wallis in Oz

2006-04-10T11:00:00.000+10:00

I am off to hear Jim Wallis tonight. Jim of Sojourners fame has been a hero of mine for many years now, and his books have been influential in my formation. So tonight is a small gathering to pick his brains abit. He is in town to promote the Australian release of his book "God's Politics: Why the American Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."

Bono has this to say about the book, "The Left mocks the Right. The Right knows it's right. Two ugly traits. How far should we go to try to understand each other's point of view? Maybe the distance grace covered on the cross is a clue."

The Age here in Melbourne ran this interesting article on him and his book over the weekend.

Jack's back

2006-04-10T10:45:00.000+10:00

Another great weekend of running kids around and watching sport, Sunday footy with the boys, Jack watching his team and Rory playing their last practise match before the season proper. Then basketball Friday night with Rory, a good win, Saturday morning with Ella they tried hard (read between the lines here) and afternoon with Jack. Jack had his first set of court time since his arm break back in early February, went on for 2 lots of 90 second bursts late in the game. He got plenty of the ball but did pull up a bit sore, but is rarin to go, so hopefully after Easter will get into it more as his team the mighty Ferntree Gully Falcons marches towards the finals sitting on top of the ladder.

Free coffee I hear

2006-04-10T10:30:00.000+10:00

Heard a great story the other day. I attended Neil Coles Melbourne Summitt on Organic Leadership hosted by my good friends at Forge. There were many good thoughts which I'll attempt to digest over the next while, but one classic which I liked was the way many people "do" evangelism. He told the story in America about a friend who went into a cafe with a heart to share his faith story. He sat in the corner and put up a sign that read, "I'll buy you a free cup of coffee if you listen to me TELL you about my Jesus". After a day of no takers but plenty of abuse he rethought his tactic. He came back sometime later with another sign which read, "I'll buy you a free cup of coffee if I can LISTEN to your thoughts on God" Neil says that the guy was flooded all day from people wanting to talk to him, some went and bought other friends, and told others to come and see this guy. At the end of the day he never paid for one coffee, everyone bought him one.

The morale of the story for me, faith and life is not so much about telling people who don't want to be told but rather listening and sharing life with people, and like with Jesus the journey is often more important than the destination.

Back blogging

2006-04-01T13:48:00.000+11:00

Not sure about you but when I miss a few days, instead of just getting back into it I come up with all kinds of excuses; theres better things to do, I'll wait till tonight, no one reads it anyway, my back hurts, I'll go play with the kids, its too hard to start again. For me and blogging all of these have been true, but today I draw a line in the sand, or accross the screen and attempt to start again. So as they say in the classics, here we go again...

Make Poverty History Party news

2005-12-12T09:22:00.000+11:00

Yesterday was our great Make Poverty History Party at the Arby in very sunny Ferntree Gully, in fact it got to 30 c during the arvo, which had many people scurrying for the shade. Was a great day, with a great turnout of people, over 600 I reckon, great trade stalls, great entertainment and some great messages. We were very privilidged to have Auntie Dot, indigenous elder of the Wurundjeri tribe come and kick us off with a welcome to country, we felt this was a real appropriate way to start. Stephen Said from Tear Australia, spoke and put in plain language what the MPH day and MDG's were all about. John Smith from God's Squad gave a very short and passionate appeal to us all to look beyond oursleves at this time of year if we are to make a difference. The music was great, Justin Grounds, Verity Reisson, Vox Congo with their African music and dancing and Rivertribe kept the crowd entertained and dancing for hours. There were balloons, banners, people hanging out, playing cricket, eating our organic sausages, checking out the great market stalls, stilt walking, summo wrestling, playing giant snakes and ladders, all in all it was a fantatic day of awareness raising within our community. The vibe was brilliant, a real market day, a touch of alternative in the foothills. Thank to all who came along and supported, helped out and made the day a great success. Lets all continue with our action by doing our little bit to help make poverty history.

Hillsong in the news

2005-12-12T09:16:00.000+11:00

Hillsong church are in the news again this morning with yet another allegation of misappropriation of funds and handling of people. Maybe the media love to jump on to the tall poppy syndrome, maybe where there's smoke there's fire, or maybe something else is going on. What do you reckon?

Weekend sport

2005-12-12T08:55:00.000+11:00

Just come in from hanging out the washing, largely basketball and cricket uniforms from a full weekend of kids sport. Started on Friday night with Rory's under 16 basketball for the Knox Cougars, they had a good win, 27-14 and Rory had a night out scoring 14 points himself. Saturday morning, all out the door by 7.30, dropped Jack and Rory off at different cricket grounds, then Ella to her Under 8's basketball with the Ferntree Gully Falcons, their team is made up entirely of prep girls and this week they came second, 12-0, but the great news was for the first time in a season and half of basketball she actually touched the ball during the cause of play, in fact 3 times. So she was the winner. Back to the cricket games, Jacks under 13's team bowled the other team out for 75 and Ferntree Gully are 2 for 25 at stumps with Jack on 1 not out, after coming in at 2 for 11, he also took a catch so is pretty happy with himself. Back to Rory's game, under 15's, a one dayer, Ferntree Gully made 2 for 130 in 25 overs with Rory coming in with 2 overs to go and smashing a quick fire 20 not out, then they bowled the opposition out for 72. So they sit undefeated at the top of the ladder. He then went on to play seniors for the FTG 6's in the arvo, was ran out for 4 and took a wicket with his first ball in the bowling department. Meanwhile Jack played his under 14's basketball in the arvo for FTG Falcons and they also won 24-13, and so are well placed coming close to the Chrissie break. No wonder I'm exhausted...

Special release screening of Narnia Chronicles

2005-12-10T00:25:00.000+11:00

Managed to pull together a bit of a coup today. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, isn't due for release until Boxing Day, December 26 but I was able to do a deal with our local Metro Cinema in Boronia to get a special pre release for Friday night December 23, for 2 sessions, 6.30pm and 9.00pm. Tickets are available now and will go fast. All funds raised will go towards supporting our Ferntree Gully Chaplaincy fund in our local primary schools.

Make Poverty History this Sunday

2005-12-10T00:04:00.000+11:00

Our Make Poverty History party is fast approaching. If your in the neighborhood feel free to drop in this Sunday, December 11 at the Arboretum on Dorset Rd Ferntree Gully. Commencing at 12.00 noon, there will be music from Vox Congo, Rivertribe, Koori artist Illana Atkinson and others. We also have a range of Fair trade stalls, including clothing, handcrafts and drinks. Wurundjeri tribal elder Auntie Dot Peters will give a welcome to country, John Smith, Stephen Said and others will speak on the MDG's. The weather looks being a beauty as well. This morning Mike and I managed to entertain local onlookers as we put up our banner for the weekend.

And the winner is...

2005-12-07T23:39:00.000+11:00

Here on the World Of Barro, we are proud and excited to announce the winner of our Name the Caption competition. So without any further suspence the winner is, wait for it, Ash Barker. I mean how can you have a competition, guess what Ash is thinking and not give it to Ash. So Ash wins for his trouble a nice romantic lunch for two this coming Christmas day at the infamous Ferntree Gully Community Chrismtas Day Lunch. Congratulations Ash and may this be an encouragement to ya.

And again what was Ash thinking? Well according to Ash,

"What the hell is going on?"

Reflections on the Long Walk

2005-12-06T21:39:00.000+11:00

Last Sunday morning, I with my good mates Marc and Andy, along with about 10,000 other people went for a leisurely 3km walk in Carlton. We were part of The Long Walk, and it was an amazing time. Apart from the fact of the huge numbers that turned out, I felt humbled and privileged to be there is such amazing company with so many people all saying, we are one nation, we need to work together and therefore we need to address some pertinent issues facing our indigenous sisters and brothers. Hopefully this is the kick start needed to again put these issues back onto the public agenda. It is very sad that over the past few years issues, reconciliation have been given such a low priority by our political leaders and society in general.
Michael Long's speech was truly inspirational. I am trying to get the transcript of it and will post it when I can, it had a sense of “Martin Luther King, I had a dream”, about it. Please read what the media had to say including The Age, Herald Sun and ABC Online.

The eagle has landed

2005-12-06T18:08:00.000+11:00

Got em, but a sad day for those trying to make a buck on the side.

Weddings, parties, anything

2005-12-06T17:49:00.000+11:00

A full on weekend of celebrations. Started Friday with what was meant to be a nice sunny Melbourne day, ended up being a rainy cold event, so Ella's 6th birthday party with her 15, 6 year old friends ended up being inside. Girls are different to boys, I don't remember the boys having dancing parties. Still a great night had by all.

Then Saturday arvo I drove the 90 minute down to Phillip Island for a wedding I was doing. Was a bit of a family affair, as it was the sister of my sister in law on Helen's side. Had had a great time with Sam and Kate leading up to the wedding, and the day was a special one. It went off well with loads of positive comments, especially from the father of the bride, I have now married 2 of his 3 daughters and he was wondering when the next one would be... a prophet I am not. Still was a great time to catch up with Helens brother Nigel and family, the photo is with me and my 2 16 year old neices. I also enjoyed the drive down and back on my own, just listening to the cricket and the Aussies thrash, again, the Kiwis. It doesn't get much better than this.

Jack on camp

2005-11-30T23:51:00.000+11:00

Jack went off to grade 6 camp on Monday, its now Wednesday night and we haven't heard a thing from him, which must mean no news is good news I guess. Here is a pix. of Jack and some other rather excited 12 year old boys just before boarding a bus for the mighty Rubicon river. See ya Friday Jack...