Home Again!

It is great to be back again on familiar soil, with our family in God and doing the work God has for us. I am so grateful to John Wyndham and Alan McMahon for doing such a wonderful job in looking after the Parish while I was away. I am especially grateful to all our own folk who have pulled together so wonderfuly during that time. In particular, I want to express my gratitude to Grant Sheldon, who has chaired the Management Committee of the Kindergarten through a particularly stressful and demanding period.

Our time away was SO full of experiences and blessings that it will take a long time to unpack. Thank you to all those who were praying for us during that time, we were very conscious of God's hand being upon us.

Before we left there were numerous obstacles in our way. First there was the threat of terrorism, and then the looming war. On top of that there was the danger of SARS, especially in Toronto and Bangkok, which were both on our itinerary. Then, as we left Sydney, we discovered that several of the airlines we were flying with were going bankrupt. Finally , when we were in Bangkok, the Australian Embassy nearby was under increased guard because of a threat of imminent terrorist attack.

Nevertheless, like Pilgrim in Pilgrim's Progress, as we approached situations of potential danger, we found that they were "chained", and we passed through safely. Our worst moments were probably the several occasions when we got lost in Germany, and found it almost impossible to communicate with the locals. They did not understand English and we did not understand their German.

The first highlight of our trip was the Prophetic Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a great delight to discover that, as well as Rick Joyner, Bob J ones and Jack Deere were also on the program. We had met them both personally before, and greatly valued their ministry . The teaching at the Conference was excellent, but the personal ministry we received was mind-blowing. We are greatly encouraged for the time that we have left there, and for whatever lies beyond. The concluding blessing was being able to get word back to our friends in Sydney to arrange a Sydney conference after Rick and Jack 's visit to Melbourne.

The second highlight was the time we were able to spend catching up with old friends in Toronto and England. In most cases it is unlikely that we shall meet again this side of heaven, so it was good to meet up with them and talk of the goodness of God. In some cases it was almost miraculous that we were able to meet, especially with one old lady who had a wonderful story to tell of her ministry to the Queen.

A third highlight was the time we were able to spend with our two sons and their families. Peter, especially, is absolutely loving his time in England, and we spent almost every weekend dashing off to look at Heritage sites, Roman ruins, and gardens. This was our first visit to England in Spring time, and the beauty of the gardens was overwhelming. A special treat was being able to visit the Chelsea Flower Show. At the end of our trip we were able to visit Paul in Adelaide and meet our new grandson.

A fourth highlight was our visit to Stephen and Marion Gabbott in Bangkok. Stephen is the Vicar of Christ Church, the only Anglican Church in Bangkok. His ministry is primarily to the expatriates, who comprise a wide variety of nationalities and include ambassadors, business people and back packers.

Stephen has had a difficult time, in a church that is not used to a ministry that takes the Bible seriously. Nevertheless, fromwhat we could see, the Lord has greatly blessed his ministry. A number of people have come into a living faith, and we talked to several folk who spoke of how highly he and Marion are regarded amongst the Embassy fraternity . Marion is very busy caring for people and takes a group out to the orphanage every Tuesday. Her great passion is for the work amongst the Karen and she is praying for someone to be raised up to lead that work. Their Prayer Points this week mention the special difficulty of the next few weeks when many of their congregation are away on Summer holidays.

We have seen God at work in so many ways in our time away. But now we are home, and I look forward to doing everything I can in the remaining months to equip this church for an exciting and prosperous future. I believe that God wants us to make the most of every opportunity that remains to us. I invite you to join me.

John Davies

22 June 2003