I've heeded the requests...

It's nice to know people read my blogs? You know how I know? They ask you to update it!

Bear with me, as I'm going to cover a few issues and events that have occurred since my last post.

Melbourne

Two days after my last post, we went to Melbourne for 4 days. Bliss! Melbourne is my FAVOURITE city in Australia, and I get dreadfully upset when we leave. Weird considering I've only visited 4 times in my life - but it just feels like 'home'.

So we ate a LOT of good food, drank some REALLY good wine (prizes to whoever can find Forrest Hill Estate's Pinot Gris in Brisbane!), and I reignited my love of foreign cheeses at Richmond Hill's Cafe & Larder.

And the highlight of the trip was Phantom of the Opera. It was the reason we went, and it didn't fail to disappoint. Anthony Warlow is THE master of voice - noone (bar Crawford) could ever compare.

So now I'm at home, and longing to return. Watch this space - we're looking at dates in January (after Rwanda), or March.



Rwanda

We had our first meeting for Rwanda on the weekend - and I'm very excited. Just really looking forward to going back to Africa, and serving in the place I've always longed to. The team are fantastic, and we're full of ideas on how best to serve Rwandans.

I'm in the process of learning Kinyanrwandan (the local language), and this has been very exciting. I've always had a bit of aptitude for languages, so it's nice to be spending time on it.

A bonus for me has been our flight plan. I was very worried about the 16 hour flight to Johannesburg (and then the flight to Kigali), but they've changed things entirely. Now we fly to Bangkok, and then on to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), before Rwanda. So my longest flight will be 10 hours - much better!

Stopping in Addis Ababa will be interesting. Brad and I have a serious interest in adopting an Ethiopian child, so if time permits I would be very interested in exploring the city, and getting a 'feel' for the landscape, seeing we may very well go back in a few years time for our 'forever child'.



Church

Ahh, Church. I'm really battling at the moment. Next week it will be four weeks since we went (working and Unlimited conference hindered this), and to be honest - I feel more spiritually refreshed OUT of Church, than in. I'm feeling guilt over this, as it's not 'traditional' to feel this way. But something about personal worship and having to create 'God time' for myself (rather than have the time 'set' for me) has allowed me to flourish more than normal.

And it's not just my Church. I love my Church. It's just - why the construct that every Church (from Hillsong to your strictest Catholic/Liturgical service) uses? Why? I'm going to have to do a bit more reading on the historical development of Church, and what it was that inspired the majority of Christian Churches utilise the form they do.

Mind you - it's a bit scary doing this. Last time I shared this with someone, they were more inclined to believe I was being rebellious or having issues with authority, than an actual 'revelation' of Church evolution, from Acts to today.

*****

So that's my life lately. Sorry it took me a bit to sit down and write!