Hello from Gilbulla, Australia!
We are just back from Canberra – the Nation’s capital.
Friday was an all-day seminar for leaders of the city – church and marketplace – and then Saturday was another seminar but open to the general public. The theme for both venues was “Preparing for the Presence of the Lord”. It was an excellent time and we are so grateful for you prayers. Canberra is known as a planned or “design” city, and certainly is one of the most fascinating cities to see in its layout as a city. We had good attendance at the venues and worked with some excellent church and marketplace leaders. (see pictures below!)
Today (as I write this) is Pentecost Sunday. It can correctly be termed as “the birthday of the church”. Although there are many concerning issues occurring globally – there are also many “God stories” and we are undoubtedly living in one of the most profound times in Biblical history. Our challenge to the Canberra gatherings was not to be satisfied with hearing stories about the moves of God in other parts of the world – but to become the story! Pentecost continues!
This week we have a Leadership Seminar on Wednesday and then the Healing The Land Conference the following weekend (May 24th-26th) .
It has been a very busy but satisfying first 3 weeks on this trip. Brisbane was excellent and we spoke in a COC (Christian Outreach Centre) church on the Sunday night (April 28th) which has had millions of Internet hits due to what has been happening there. Very interesting time. Then our Christchurch Seminar in New Zealand took place followed by our Seminar in Nelson, NZ. We spent a good part of the day with the Nelson Cathedral folk – the Dean – Bishop’s Chaplain and several other leaders. Very exciting to see how an Anglican Cathedral has been involved in praying through parts of a city and its regional area – key changes upon the land.
However Christchurch as a city is something I will not soon forget. In total, 27 churches (including the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals) were ruined or severely damaged due to the earthquake. The inner city is not the way I remember it years ago. We were asked several probing questions and indeed we have much to consider from our time there. More on that visit later once we are home.
We are so grateful for your prayers. Especially we value prayers for our travelling safety after the Memphis incident in February. Marie and I are feeling well, except our eyes have not yet returned to normal – we are told that is a time issue and eventually all the odd things we keep “seeing” will disappear!
We now have copies of the new book (God’s Design For Challenging Times) – and are grateful to the Publisher for the excellent job he has done in all the preparation. They were available for our Canberra events, and we will have a supply waiting for us once we are back in Canada at the end of the month. None of our other resources reached the shores of NZ in time for our venues there – nor have they arrived (yet) in Australia. At least we have the new book!
With our love and blessings,
Alistair and Marie (and our Board members the Millers)
