Australia's Aboriginality

As we round the final turn and begin our run toward the finish, our Australia team has been blessed and sometimes overwhelmed with all God has shown us here in Queensland. A good portion of our last two days has been spent with the indigenous (aboriginal) community- observing, interacting with and learning from them as they live out lives straining toward a greater recognition and equality in this setting.

"Deadly" is a good term here!

  We spent the better part of Friday at NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) which celebrates the indigenous cultures of the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  It is a festive, carnival-like atmosphere with much joy and thankfulness for the heritages presented.  We watched dances, heard singers and speakers, and interacted with organizations and vendors providing social services information for those in attendance.  


This afternoon we learned to throw boomerangs (some learned better than others) with Goma Conlon, an indigenous pastor and good friend.  He also demonstrated the playing of the didgeridoo (way cool) and talked about what it mans to be a follower of Christ in the aboriginal setting.  Following this, we hopped over to the church at which he and another indigenous pastor are working an shared evening service with them.  It was a great blessing to gather and worship with them.  Josh drummed for their worship team, Don and Alexis shared testimonies and Alexis sang.  What a rich history of stories and struggle were present  among those members!


I thought you might like to share one more collection of photos of this great team:

NAIDOC festivities in downtown Brisbane

Josh and Luke made a new friend

Papa Fresh in da house!

Time for chocolate fondue at Max Brenners

Don sharing testimony at Saturday night service

Remember these guys?! They were the bomb!

Josh and Alexis with Saturday night worship team

Please pray for our last hours here.  I'll preach Sunday morning at Ann Street, and Josh will speak for their Youth Church in the evening.  We want more chances to share the hope that's within us before we leave these shores.  Will you ask God to provide them, and for us to boldly speak of what He's done with our lives and what He wants to do for all who come to Him?  Thanks!  


We'll see youse soon- good on ya!

Eidsvold Doesn't Sound Australian

Our 2011 Australia GO! Team has had an incredible experience so far!  We just returned from 4 days in Eidsvold, a small community about six hours from Brisbane.  Our goal was to serve the Christian Center there, along with its new pastor, Mark, and his wife, Alex.  We had such a great time with kids and adults alike, playing sports, working through Bible lessons and crafts, singing, eating and running around together.  We also got better acquainted with different adults in town, learning much about the issues and circumstances surrounding this small community of both white and aboriginal residents.

It's tough to quantify our take-aways from this experience, or the impact we were able to have.  One local businessman did tell me that he appreciated our group being there, even for a few days each year, because he saw positive influence in kids' lives from our interaction with them.  He told me that our presence is a reminder of normality (imagine someone referring to us as normal!), that the world is bigger and more functional than what is seen only through the local lens of the town.  He thanked us for coming again, and offered his encouragement for our return next year.

The following are some more snaps of our last couple of days.  I'll write more about Eidsvold and other good stuff a bit later:

Pastor Mark and his wife, Alex

Prayer circle before leaving Eidsvold

Captain Luke, superhero of the crafts debris!

Lianna mixing it with kids during crafts

Craft Woman Leslee and her monkey

Beautiful Eidsvold kids

Josh and Clinton

Which way back to Brisbane?!

Alexis singing to an appreciative audience

Don (aka Papa Fresh) and the girls, Leslee and Daun

Please keep us in prayers as we head into our final weekend here.  Pray that we'll finish well and will take every opportunity to share the most important message on our hearts.  Pray that we will remain focused on the task at hand and not too distracted by thoughts of getting back to our "regular" way of life.  And pray that God will speak to us, even as He speaks through us, concerning lessons He's been showing us while serving here.  We just can't afford to be the same people when we return as we were before we left.


And those around us can't afford that either.

GO! Australia in Fine Fashion

Wow! it's been a whirlwind first week here in Brisbane for our team. We've tried to update our activities via Facebook, but our long days/evening schedule has hindered blogging up to this point.

Ann Street Church

We made it here with no worries, surprising our missionary (Daun) with her father (Don)!  It was great to see her stunned expression at the airport as he came out the ramp! More than anything throughout this week, we've been impressed with the need and opportunity for relationships.  The young people of the Ann Street Church are so open for friendships, and those connections matter to them.  People with whom we've come into contact are also open to finding more about us and connecting with us on some level.  These opportunities are abundant and fairly easy to negotiate- something all of us are able to do!

Community BBQ

We've been to an island off Brisbane's shore with the church, visited a zoo, cleaned and begun repainting Ann Street's Fellowship Hall, eaten kangaroo, served a Community BBQ (like our Community Supper), dined at the Pancake House in the city at midnite, attended a farewell service for Ron Tatum (visiting for a month from Southside Christian Church in Inglewood), and prayer walked in the city...just to mention a few things. Tomorrow (Sunday), Mike will preach a combined service (Ann St. regulars and their Korean church), then we'll pack up and head to Eidsvold, a small, predominantly aboriginal community 6 hours from here.  Chances are there'll be no way to blog there, so we'll catch you up on our return next Thursday.  Meanwhile, thank you for your prayers and love (keep 'em coming!), and enjoy a few recent snaps:

Daddy Don

Luke the artist

Josh and St. John

Alexis and the Ann St. mob

Work crew gettin' it done

In 'N' Out training pays off 

Beach bunnies!

Mike keeping an eye out

We've experienced a lot in a short time, and there's more to come!  Pray for opportunity and boldness as we represent our God here.  We love you all!

Canada, Eh! Some Final Thoughts

I've spent the better part of this seek reflecting on out team's recent time in Toronto.  We had opportunity to see and do much, meet many, and learn so many things.  Friends here at home have asked us about the trip and those experiences that stood out to us. I want to take a moment to list a few of those highlights (although my list may differ slightly from what my teammates might say!):

• The ethnic and cultural diversity was overwhelming.  We learned that 55% of Canadians are now born outside of Canada.  In a gathering of some local Christian church pastors, five of the eight were non-Canadian born!  The Churchill Meadows Christian Church, a congregation of more than 600 with whom we partner, has more than 46 ethnic or people groups represented!

• This diversity provides great opportunity for the gospel.  We met with a young Polish church and its leadership, and spent a day in Little Portugal, distributing information for a new Brazilian church plant.  

• We visited Hindu and Buddhist temples, and a mosque.  The time at the mosque was especially engaging, as we spent time with a young imam named Munir.  He explained tenets of Islam with us and was extremely open and gracious as we discussed differences between our faiths.  There were times he admitted he had no answer to some of our questions, and we parted ways agreeing to continue seeking truth, wherever it might be found.  Please pray for him, that he will truly find the truth about God and the need for a relationship with Jesus.

• People throughout Toronto (properly called "Torontonians," we discovered!) were extremely nice to us, in every situation.  They received us politely as we distributed information about the church house-to-house, they helped us whenever we approached them with a need, and they were patient with us at every turn.  I asked the Canadian sitting next to me on the flight back to LA if every one in Toronto was so nice, and he replied, "Oh, there are many cities in the country where people are far nicer than those in Toronto!"  If that's true, I want to visit those cities!

• Canada has great spiritual need.  The culture has become increasingly secular in the last years, with little tolerance for Christianity.  The increasing immigration means a huge influx in other faiths, and a great deal of favor and latitude have been afforded them.  But standing for Christ has become more unpopular and difficult for individuals and groups.  There's more need for new churches now than ever!  We know that church planting is the most effective evangelism that can be done, and now is the time for contextually-relevant expressions of the church, meeting the needs of and hopes of this generation.

• We can make a difference in Canada!  Churches and individuals like us can impact and influence the spiritual landscape of those to the north of us.  Our partnership encourages and strengthens our brothers and sisters there.  Our involvement can help open new works and extend the influence of God's kingdom beyond our front doors.

Jim Tune, senior pastor of CMCC and president of Impact Canada, told us that it's understandable that we funnel resources and attention to the farthest points of the world.  And it's easy to overlook those who may be closest to us, assuming that they have all they need to understand the truth about God.  But with declining spirituality and burgeoning immigration, Canada, though a first-world nation economically, is a third-world nation spiritually (Jim's words).  And that a Canadian soul  dying without Jesus faces the same eternal consequences as a person in India, China, Japan or anywhere else who dies without knowing Him.


Thanks to those of you who prayed for us while we were away- but please don't stop your prayers!  Keep praying for your brothers and sisters at Churchill Meadows, for the churches in Toronto and beyond, for Impact Canada as it continues to plant churches throughout the country, and for God to be glorified among the Canadian people.  And in case you're interested, we're already talking about returning next year.  Pray about it...and the possibility of your place on the team with us.

Take a Look- GO! Team Canada

We made it safely back to Los Angeles late Sunday evening, after a tremendous worship experience with Churchill Meadows Christian Church. I'll write more on that in the next post.  But for now, a few pics of some of our great experiences...

Shop in Little Portugal (urban Toronto)

Jerry (church member) and Jose (Brazilian church planter)

GO! Canada Team ready for action

Jose and Mike with Brazilian flag

Mary in her groove with Caribbean singers at cultural festival

Pastor Gregory of Polish church plant

Cory and Floyd, Prez and VP of Voice of the Martyrs, Canada (Floyd is a CMCC elder!)

CN Tower, tallest North American building, and we were up there!

Ann, Liz and Mary taking a breather

Liz enjoying the TImbits (Canadian donut holes from Tim Horton's)

CMCC worship team led by Tim Kolb (center)

Taking Toronto- KACC GO! Team

The trip is just past the halfway mark, and we are brimming with information, insight, challenge and blessing here in Toronto.

Our time with the Churchill Meadow Church has been remarkable. This is a congregation begun 10 years ago in the home of Jim and Claudia Tune. They had been meeting in schools as they purchased property toward an edge of the city of Mississauga. In fact, in 2006, Shane Womack (KACC senior pastor) and I stood in that empty field with Jim and Claudia and prayed for God to demonstrate his power and direction for this group as they desired to build a facility that would move God's kingdom work forward. Two months ago the church moved into its new campus on this site, and they are going full throttle, trying to "lay down track in front of a moving train," as Jim put it. I'm blessed that KACC has partnered with this work and is able to contribute in multiple ways to its development and success.

We've been on the move the last few days as well. We're working daily to place door hangers announcing upcoming events in adjacent communities to the church.

The last two days we've hung more than 1,000 flyers, and been able to speak with people along the way. We met with a group of Christian Church pastors yesterday, and were challenged in hearing their stories of struggle and success in their communities. Of the eight men present, five were NOT Canadian-born! So much diversity and opportunity here.

Today we visited a local mosque, where Edmund (CMCC's admin pastor) has a good relationship with a young imam, Munir. He was extremely gracious as he shared the tenets of Islam with us, fed us and tried to make us feel a bit more comfortable than we may have appeared at first. As our conversation progressed, we were able to ask more pointed questions, clarify differences (as well as similarities), and share the Gospel with him. He seemed surprised at some of the things we did and didn't believe, and was vulnerable enough to tell us when he didn't have answers to certain questions. We ended on a positive note, as we encouraged him to seek truth (and he us). And I got his email address, so I can keep in touch...which I will!

There's a spiritual battle taking place in this great nation, something greater than we realize. Our brothers and sisters need our prayers, our partnership and our willingness to step out and become part of the battle in some measurable way. Peoples' lives hang in the balance and we have opportunity to come alongside those committed here and stand with them in the fight. Will you pray for Impact Canada (www.impactcanada.org), for the Churchill Meadows church, for the Tunes and other workers here? Will you consider coming on a short-term trip to serve and encouage those who live out this challenge each day? And will you commit to becoming more of a world Christian, looking beyond your own yard to the harvest field before you?

"Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest!'" -Jesus

GO, Canada!

Well, it wasn't easy at times, but our Toronto GO! TEAM made it out of Orange County and into Canada! We took off Friday morning from LAX with no problem, making a connection in Chicago. That ongoing flight was delayed an hour (no big deal)and we made it into Toronto by 10:00 pm. Edmundo Lucido, the admin pastor of Churchill Meadows Christian Church (our host) met us there and took us to pick up the car we rented. Once onto the freeway, we got ready for the 20+ minute trip to nearby Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto with a population of more than 700,000. However, even through it was a late Friday night, freeway construction squeezed everything down to a choke point (one lane), and our short jaunt took nearly two hours! Weary but undeterred, we made it to our accommodations, met our hosts and settled in for a short time of rest.

Saturday began with a great breakfast time with Jim Tune, senior pastor of CMCC and president of Impact Canada (the church planting organization with whom we partner). He clued us into the spiritual situation in Canada, the heart of Impact Canada and the beginnings of CMCC. We even got to sample REAL Canadian bacon, called peameal bacon. Wow! What a difference from our faux product in the US!

We took off from there for our one free day outing- a drive to Niagara Falls, about a 60-mile drive through beautiful countryside.

The Falls was an unbelievable display of God's handiwork and we were blessed to take it in. But the evening was even better. We got back to the church about 5:30 and bumped into the Polish church plant pastor, who meets with his small group on campus. Gregory invited us to meet with his group that evening, as they were gathering to watch a Joni Ericson DVD in Polish. We were so blessed by our time with these believers! So much sharing of life and encouragement between us all, even with language limitations. The four of us agreed that this was even greater than what we had experienced earlier in the day.

Sunday's two services at CMCC were outstanding. This congregation, newly moved into its current outrageously outstanding facility, numbers about 600- that's mega-church size in Canada. And the ethnic/cultural diversity is overwhelming. At least 46 nations or people groups are represented in the church, all moving and working together as one, and all for God's glory. It's like looking at a small piece of heaven when they gather to worship!

Jim and his wife, Claudia, took us to an Indian dinner where they shared their story, and we were able to see their heart for God and His Kingdom. It was challenging to hear them and know that the burden they have, not just for their city, but for their country and world, is one that needs to be shared by each of us if we're going to complete the task of proclaiming the good news message to all peoples in all places.

Our opening weekend was a great one. And the week promises to be even greater. We'll fill you in on it as it happens- will you remember to lift us in prayer? Specifically ask the Father that we would have opportunity and courage to share with those who need to know the Lord's love. Thanks! More soon...