Dear Friends

I write from a cattle/sheep station 30km outside Blackall. The vast plains are covered with dry golden grass. Sunset is only an hour away and I look forward to pulling out the camera.

Our time in Cunnamulla and Yowah was spent ministering to Christians and pre-Christians, Indigenous and imports, the broken and the healing. I am in wonder of the opportunities God has opened and have delighted in how He steadies our feet for the journey. The songs, stories and visuals have connected and encouraged many. One woman exclaimed after church, "It was like you've been reading my diary".

In Cunnamulla 2 Murray (indigenous) women shouted out "Praise Jesus" everytime I exhorted the group not to avoid God's desire to ‘rain on them’. It felt like I was preaching in an American Southern Baptist church!! In that particular meeting I was lead to say constantly, “Don’t put up the umbrella when God comes to pour out on you, to shape your character!" As I spoke I felt ministered to by the Holy Spirit. He reminded me that the Father desires to lovingly shape and remake us in the image of His Son. Problem is we sometimes see it coming and run for cover instead of embracing it. Don't run from - Run to!!

I was at a hardware store in Charleville yesterday. The stench of stale alcohol filled the air, emanating from every inch of the man beside me. He announced through slurred speech, “I nearly drank too much last night”. His state of hopelessness was loud and clear. I looked at the counter to see his purchase – a bottle of methylated spirits. I thought to myself how prevalent hopelessness seems in the country. Only because I’d talked to many people with stories ( their own or others) of struggle, depression, alcohol abuse, violence and abandonment. Walking back down the street the Lord whispered to me “It’s not more prevalent in the country. The broken are in the cities too (everywhere), it’s just that they have more places and ways to hide”. In small communities, lives are more exposed.

In the city two things happen. Firstly the outcast can hide or be lost in the urban jungle and secondly people like me can ‘stick to the main roads’ and allow preoccupation to divert my eyes away from the hurting, lonely, needy and lost. This challenged me. Am I prepared to enter the world of the outcast in order to bring thema candle of hope? Is my compassion sabotaged by my preoccupations? I believe the Lord will use this trip to increase and refine compassion in Rob & I. What can He use in your life?

Albums & Books

My 5 track EP is almost back from the factory. It includes a version of "It Is Well With My Soul" that will blow your socks off. We are filming and editing for their visual presentations now. I look forward to sharing them with you.

"Signs of Grace" (CD) & "Grace Reflections" (BOOK) feature in this edition of "The Word for Today". This is a marvelous daily devotional book released every 3 months by UCB/Vision FM. Twenty-one thousand (21,000) copies of "The Word for Today" were distributed at this years Hillsong Conference alone.

We will be distributing TWFT as we travel through the outback, as well as using it personally to remain fed by God's Word.