Tony Abbott, Australia's new Prime Minister.

Check this out:

This info-graphic was taken from
 http://blog.mccrindle.com.au/

Faithful Giving & Generosity

A number of months ago our friend, Aaron Odle preached a sermon on giving and generosity, specifically when it comes to our finances.  It was a memorable sermon and at the time I believed it to be one of the better sermons I've heard on how believers should approach giving.

More recently, I was talking with another friend of mine about this same subject and found myself referencing this sermon as we discussed how the Gospel affects our finances.

After that conversation I listened to Aaron's sermon again and was blown away by the depth of his care, candor, and boldness in preaching on what can be quite a difficult topic for many of us and the realization that this was Aaron's first sermon!  I now feel that it is one of the best sermons I've heard preached regarding how the gospel affects our giving and generosity.

I want to share this because while Missy and I are on the side of the coin (no pun intended) where we are asking people to support our endeavors in Perth, Australia; it has also caused us to step back and evaluate our own giving and rejoice in the Lord as we ask others to give to the work God has called us to down under.

Faithful Giving & Generosity
1 Corinthians 16:1-4

What is ANZAC Day?

I will never forget my first (and so far only) ANZAC Day.   I was taking part in a 6 month YWAM discipleship training school (DTS) in Brisbane, Australia, it was extremely hot, the television kept showing a memorial with a lot of names, oh and according to an Aussie friend of mine- "it was a great day to watch the footy, drink beer, and find some BBQ.

While I can assure you we did NOT drink any beer (it was prohibited by YWAM while taking part in our DTS), we did find good BBQ and we most certainly watched the footy (Aussie Rules Football-more on that soon).  At the end of the day I surmised that ANZAC Day, whatever it was celebrating and however it was spelled felt a lot like the Fourth of July in the United States- it turns out I was pretty close.   But as I drifted off to sleep that night that was the last time I thought about ANZAC Day until a few years ago.

In 2010 when Missy and I were approved by MTW to begin this journey of support raising in order to go join a church planting team in Perth, Australia, I began research the history of Australia and better understand more about this strange place where we hope to soon live and serve.  At some point I stumbled across a national holiday list.  And there it was- ANZAC Day:

What is ANZAC Day?

ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

What does ANZAC stand for?

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they took in that name endures to this day.

Why is this day special to Australians?

When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 13 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.

The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated, after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers had been killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli had made a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the “ANZAC legend” became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

For more info on ANZAC Day click HERE.

So I was pretty close.  It is a lot like the 4th of July in the United States in that, the idea of the ANZAC legend helped shape part of the identity of both Australia and New Zealand.  And while it is meant to be a day of national pride and reflection on the many different meanings of war, in my experience- there is plenty of BBQ, beer (or so I've heard) and footy to go around...  Much like the 4th of July only in the US it'd be baseball over the footy. 

Happy ANZAC Day!

Art is a Portal to Relationship

Andy and I spent last weekend in Indianapolis with most of our Perth team. It was an AMAZING weekend, and one that I hope to blog about soon. In the meantime, check out this video of Berenice talking about her work.

Making Amends Down Under

It's been awhile. Forgive me? Please?

I came across this article yesterday and haven't been able to get it off my mind. From the 1950's to the 1980's, thousands of single Australian women were forced to put their babies up for adoption. Married couples received thousands of babies who were basically kidnapped.

Am I in favor of children growing up in the homes of happily married parents? Of course. Do I believe that adoption is an amazing gift from God? Uh...duh. YES.

But this? This is crazy.

(I post this with full understanding that the US has a ton of skeletons in its closet. This isn't about judgement or comparison, but more about raising awareness about things going on Down Under. Since the apology happened yesterday, this is more of a current events thing.)

The Road To Australia - Part I

Brisbane, Australia 2002. My first (and only) time kissing a kangaroo. 

I'm not sure if the same can be said for the 'roo...he was way too willing!

I (Missy) have wanted to go to Australia since I was a child. As a young adult I grew serious about my faith and wondered if perhaps God was calling me there to do some sort of mission work. I didn’t necessarily know what that entailed (don’t missionaries live in grass huts? Do they even have grass huts in Australia?), but I knew Australia was near and dear to my heart and felt like it was worth investigating. 

During my junior year at Murray State University, I took a semester off to do a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Brisbane, Australia. (In case you’re wondering, I get a commission for every acronym I use). My DTS was one of the most amazing times of my entire life. My faith was stretched in ways I never dreamt possible, and I developed deep, authentic friendships with people from all over the world. Perhaps most important was the confirmation of what I had always suspected: I love Australia for a specific, God-ordained purpose. I knew I was meant to come back to Australia, but had no idea when or how. It made sense that I would return to what I knew, so my intention was to finish my degree at Murray State and then return to YWAM. 

While I was in Australia hearing God confirm my call, God began giving Andy similar instructions. To be clear, Andy and I were not dating at the time. We had dated prior to my departure, but we had broken up and didn’t really communicate much for the first several months of my trip. However, when I returned we got back together and prayed that God would show us the next step. 

As Andy’s college graduation grew closer, he realized that he too needed to spend some time in the land down under. After he graduated, he did a DTS at YWAM Brisbane. Toward the end of his program, I flew to Brisbane for a month. While there we were able to get a better idea of what it would be like to join YWAM as a couple, working with the programs they were already running. After much prayer and counsel, we knew two things: God wasn’t finished with us in Australia, but YWAM was not the best fit. 

Side note: YWAM Brisbane is a great organization that does good work. We have a ton of love and respect for YWAMers, but we just couldn’t see ourselves thriving there. Kind of like how I have a ton of respect for elementary school teachers, but could never, ever do their job. YWAMers are the elementary school teachers of my world. Except YWAMers probably don’t wipe as much snot. Anyway, I digress. 

As you may have inferred, Andy and I came back from Australia and got married. We lived in Kentucky for a couple years before moving to St. Louis in 2007 to help start The Chapel, a concert venue/performing arts space/art gallery operated by Memorial Presbyterian Church. As a musician, Andy is always looking for ways to combine his faith and his art (in ways other than playing in the worship band). When we heard that Memorial wanted to construct a space where artists and musicians could feel served by the church, we were floored. We prayed about the decision to move, but it was mostly a no-brainer. What we didn’t know was how instrumental the city of St. Louis would be to developing our views on what ministry could look like in a western nation. 

Stay tuned for part two, in which we explain the vision for The Chapel, our experience in St. Louis, and how we got connected with MTW. If you’re lucky, we might even tell you about the time Steve and B tried to feed us chicken feet! 

Some of my fellow YWAMers and me at an outreach carnival we threw at the botanical gardens on Easter Sunday. 

You can tell we take ourselves very, very seriously.