Arrived in an awesome place

Now we've landed and are settling in, I feel a little bit like I've died and gone to heaven, the Australian version, that is! This is an awesome place. I can't believe I took it all for granted all those years of living here before we moved to Japan.

But backing up a bit, here is how the rest of our journey went.

Last night, night long after my blog posting, we went hunting for food. A bit late (7.30pm), but we weren't hungry before then, having been fed a main meal on the plane from Japan at around 3pm. It isn't easy finding food in a foreign airport with kids and a budget in mind. It took some time to find something that satisfied both criteria, and then we discovered that both restaurants were shut or almost out of food and shutting!

And we nearly missed the plane . . . but not really
So, we headed back in the general direction of our gate and then, by God's providence, David heard our flight called for boarding. Way earlier than we expected! But we were still a bit hungry and knew we wouldn't have an evening meal on the plane for over an hour or more. So, as the rest of us rushed to the plane, David stopped off at a fast food outlet and bought fries.

We just caught the end of the line going through the gate, only to stop just after that as they checked our bags once again before getting on the actual plane. So, at 8pm, we stood in line again and ate fries. A crazy food day!

Overnight flight
After that small fright the rest of the trip went smoothly, figuratively and literally it was a smooth trip. With individual screens which we stared at most of the eight hour flight, we hardly heard a peep from the boys. It was frustrating, though, that the general lights in the plane didn't go out until well after midnight. I think that the two older boys and I probably got less than three hours interrupted sleep. None of us are tall enough to be totally comfortable with our feet flat on the floor, and none of us were small enough to curl up in a single seat either. Grrrr.

And yes, throughout our travel, meals were all over the place, just like any long distance flying days. We had some more dinner at about 10pm and then breakfast at 4am.

Getting up that early had one benefit. We got to see an impressive sunrise through the plane window. Oh my, it was breathtaking.


Brisbane — awesome place
It took almost two hours from when we landed to actually greeting my parents to came to meet us. Everything, but especially retrieving our luggage, took a long time. But that has been today really. On less than three hours sleep you function, but not very efficiently. Especially in an environment where you are a bit rusty. The drive across Brisbane to our lodging (a house sit . . . with so many toilets and bathrooms and toys) was quite an adventure of mis-turns. They've built a few extra roads in our two-year absence!

But oh my, we've landed in a gorgeous place: Brisbane. I don't want to make you jealous, but the space, the grass, the wide lanes on roads, the gum trees, the abundance of green and trees in general, and the blue skies and even a horizon . . . it is magnificent and a balm to Tokyo-sore eyes. And we've only just begun. We have another 5 1/2 weeks of this gorgeousness to endure :-)

Oh and the temperatures. We've left a Tokyo rainy season to a Brisbane winter, and I've got to say the Brisbane winter wins. The temperatures are about the same during the day (Brisbane's cooler at night), but the sky was blue, so blue! I understand they've had a "rotten" week, but we sure landed on a good one, probably a more typical Brisbane winter day, to be honest.

The day didn't cease to be awesome. My parents had prepared a BBQ. It took a while to find a park with a functioning electric BBQ, but once we did. Yum! Under that blue sky and surrounded by grass and gum trees. Who wouldn't be impressed!

Then we cruised home for a rest. I think I was the only one who slept, so everyone will crash tonight. I'm glad I had an alarm on, or otherwise I wouldn't have woken until the sun went down, I was so gone!

Groceries
Then we roused ourselves for one more outing. Groceries. I always look forward to my first grocery trip back in the country with mixed feelings. On the one hand it is so exciting to be in the same store as all those things we have only dreamed about since we left the country. But on the other hand there are so many choices, it can be very overwhelming.

Today's grocery store had 19 aisles! The shop I usually use two or three times weekly has only three aisles, and they are all less than one third the length of those aisles I cruised today.

Probably my salvation was that we had kids with us, so we worked quickly. Not too much time for thinking deeply about choices helped a lot.

And now . . . 
So tonight, after an Australian morning tea (raisin bread, lamingtons, bacon and cheese bread) and an Australian lunch (BBQ with snags and beetroot), we follow-up with an Australian dinner — meat pies! Awesome.

Then, bed. Zzzzzzzzzz.

In transit

So, we're on the "road". We've been moving since 9 this morning and we've only gotten as far as Seoul so far (it's 6.30 Japan time, 7.30 Queensland time). In a couple of hours we'll board our overnight flight back to Brisbane.

But I'm already tired, it'll be pretty bad by tomorrow morning when we land. I've no idea how people fly halfway around the world, that sounds extremely exhausting. Thankfully we found some free lounges and are lounging.

There really isn't much to do for older boys.
Shopping? No.
Little kids playgrounds? No.
Sipping coffee in a cafe? No.
Walking in crowds with wheels luggage holders? Yes, but dangerous.
Other moving transports like moving walkways? Yes, but it gets boring and dangerous.

So, we're holed up "resting" with the boys trying to concentrate on whatever they brought in their backpacks. But they really are restless, tired but lacking in concentration.

There is nothing else much notable about today really. It has been a very smooth journey. I'm so glad to have slightly older kids. The last time we travelled overseas a family was two years ago. Two years makes a difference.

Hopefully our family and friends won't be too shocked by the changes. Oh and my hair. Everyone I know in Japan has gotten used to my short hair, but now I have to do the Australian rounds.

So, next stop: Australia!

Excitement building

Today we're finalising things. Tidying up the house more than usual due to having house-sitters coming on Sunday. It is actually a blessing because we've cleaned up many of those little piles that just sit around waiting for someone to make a decision about. We've dusted (or will dust) in places that usually get ignored, and done a general house clean.

My suitcase is partway packed. I believe the boys are pretty packed. (David supervised them, yah for a great packer for a husband!) Our turtle-sitter just came to pick up Tiny for his summer "vacation". After lunch vacuumed the dining-kitchen-entrance area and mopped. Next I'll clean both toilets. Just bits and pieces.

The excitement is building, no one, not even our teenager, slept in this morning (I did a little, but that was because I couldn't switch off mentally last night and it got late). We had to take the boys for a ride this morning, because they were getting too loud with pent-up energy.

Last night around the dinner table the energy was getting too much, so I pulled out a book to fill in some time while everyone finished their meal. I happened upon a book I pulled out of a free-box from the school library. Rhyming Dictionary. Now you wouldn't expect that to be a very interesting read, would you? But the guys took turns in asking me to look up words and we had some unexpected results. The most memorable is the list that reads:

beanie
genie
meany
teeny
wienie (which is a homonym to weeny, as in tiny)
bikini
Houdini (who couldn't get out of the teeny, wienie bikini!)

Oh boy, we had trouble regaining control after that lot.

But we were in for some surprises. Some lists reminded us that this was an American dictionary (though with all the different accents in America, I'm sure that all Americans wouldn't agree on all the lists either). For example, these words purportedly rhyme:

Aussie
bossy
glossy
mossy
posse
saucy

For all those out there who don't understand the problem. Aussie is pronounced correctly as Ozzie. Rhyming with mozzie (except you probably don't know our abbreviation for mosquito).

And these:

con
dawn
don
drawn
fawn
gone
John
on
pawn
baton
coupon
python
pecan
Yvonne
Genghis Khan

According to this dictionary, "reservoir" rhymes with salad bar as well as dinosaur. So I guess that is a sign that there are different pronounciations within the states. We have ourselves a son who's studied French for two years and tells us that the way (most) Australians say it is the French way, as in, rhymes with star.

Oh well, away from linguistics and back to packing and cleaning. I'm hoping to be done by 8.30 so that David and I can watch the next episode of Grey's Anatomy (we have the second series on DVD). We watched the first of a two part-er last night, finishing with the main character having her hand on a live bomb which was inside the body cavity of a patient! No, don't tell me what happens!

As for now, a coffee, then back to the cleaning.

Pre-holiday finalisation

I've just spent all day finalising things for Japan Harvest, the magazine I edit. It feels like I'm back in my "old" working days as an sole Occupational Therapist, where I had to "finish" things before I left for holidays and would find a mountain of stuff to do when I got back.

Difference here is that I have boys and a husband buzzing around in the background (because my office is our dining room), and that I have team members to whom I can off-load a certain amount of the work in my absence. The other difference is email and the Internet. Most of my work is done on the computer and I'll still be able to do a certain amount when I have Internet access in Australia.

But, the question is, "Will I want to?" Probably not. Especially if it pulls me away from other exciting people-events. Maybe if the people-events are boring . . .

And then there is the 15 days where I'll be driving in the Aussie Outback without much hint of  Internet access. I'm ready for a break. Bring it on!

Back to Japan Harvest, I'm excited about how it's going. I've been with the magazine now almost two years, but we've particularly made a lot of progress in the last six months. The new team that is forming is running well. We've got a Mission Statement and Job Descriptions are being written (the Job Description thing was big, so essential for working in a team and working to not step on other's toes or double up work). Processes that formerly were just in people's heads are getting written down and the editorial process is getting more refined. And so on.

It's been a big challenge, and continues to be a challenge, but one that I've been able to get my teeth into and enjoy. I'm looking forward to seeing our current issue in print. We've made some significant changes in how it looks. Our new production editor/designer has been working hard and it's looking great (at least I think so).

But for now I've spent too long at this here computer. Time to go and make my gluts do more than just sit on this seat. Off to the gym, then to make dinner with almost the last remains in the fridge. I think we'll be eating out tomorrow night, our last night before we fly.

How Churches can Support Their Missionaries

Early in May I asked you to edit me (here).I had such a big response from that endeavour, that I thought that I'd show you what I created after your edits and suggestions. Enjoy, and use the suggestions if you can.

How Churches can Support Their Missionaries

By Wendy Marshall

There are many ways you can support missionaries. Different people feel comfortable with different ways of doing it. Here's a grab bag of ideas you might like to consider.

Let them know they are remembered

Missionaries love to know that they’re remembered. And because they aren’t with you, it is hard for them to know unless they’re told or shown. Emails, letters, postcards, Facebook messages etc., are always welcome. Phone calls or Skype calls are sometimes difficult to fit into busy lives, but they can be especially encouraging. Paul models this in his first letter to the Thessalonians, telling the church, not only that he was praying for them, but what he was praying. Hearing someone pray for you or about their prayers for you is a wonderful blessing — pass it on to your missionaries.

If your missionary is working in a limited access country, it would be wise to check with them or their mission’s home office about what guidelines they have for safe communication. You don’t want to cause them difficulties and different countries have different limitations.

Keep them informed

It is helpful to keep missionaries informed of changes in the church, especially if you are their home or one of their main supporting churches. This includes leadership changes, a change in the church’s name, or mission contact change, as well as more basic contact detail changes. When sending out prayer letters each month, it can be a drag to find that many emails are returned. Including the missionaries in the church directory and ensuring that they get a copy is one way to help keep them informed.

Many missionaries like to know what is happening in their home church; so let them know about significant events like church camps, baptisms, births, deaths and marriages. These things can help a missionary feel included and also make it less of a shock to transition back into the church when they’re home.

Include them

Including your missionary when they are out of the country takes creativity but can range from being included in email conversations, to being asked for input in a Bible study via email. You could also ask your missionaries for photos to show at church during a missionary spot or prayer time.

Visit them

Have you considered whether your missionaries would enjoy a pastoral visit? Think about sending one or more members of your church or leadership team to visit a missionary your church supports, particularly if they are members of your church.

But do consult first with the missionaries. Different people have different coping thresholds when it comes to houseguests. It can be easy to become overwhelmed with visitors, and some missionaries seem to get more than others. Be aware that they have busy ministries to attend to, as well as potential limitations in providing you with accommodation. Ask them when a good time would be for you to visit, and be sensitive about the length of your visit. Be considerate about their finances too. You don’t want to cause the missionary distress by cleaning out their pantry without helping out with the expense. You also might consider taking a suitcase full of goodies from home; it could be a huge blessing for them.

Care for them with gifts

Different people feel loved in different ways (as in The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman). Love can come in care packages too, especially ones that have been thoughtfully put together. A surprise is good, but a care package is even better if it contains items that your missionary especially wants, so it is good to ask them what they’d like.

Show loving concern for their family

Caring for missionaries’ families at home can be a way that churches can show their love and support. We have a colleague whose father became a Christian after their home church showed care for him, drawing him to church, and eventually he commited his life to the Lord.

When they are in your country

Missionaries appreciate practical care when they’re transitioning in and out of the country. A full pantry speaks volumes when you’ve just landed back in your home country and cannot face grocery shopping yet. Finding accommodation and transport, setting up telecommunications, and finding local services are ways that you can help your missionary when they’re coming back from overseas.

Coming back to a church you’ve been absent from for a long time can be scary. It is nice if missionaries are welcomed back as if they are locals who’ve been away for a while.

Missionaries love it when they’re given a reasonable amount of time to talk about what they’ve been doing in front of the whole church. It is fine to give a firm limit on how long they can talk, but consider how difficult it is to summarise years of ministry in only a couple of minutes.

Most missionaries love to have one-on-one conversations with you. This can be difficult to achieve on a Sunday morning, so think of creative ways that you can get to know your missionaries better when they are home.

Missionaries especially enjoy it when you ask thoughtful questions and stick around for the answer, even if it is a bit lengthy. They love it when they find out people actually read and remember their prayer letters. There’s a joke in missionary circles about the people who enquire about the wrong country; for example China, when we’re actually serving in Japan. Missionaries joke about it, but it really isn’t funny. Missionaries love it when you remember to enquire about the smaller details they’ve mentioned in their recent prayer letters, for example, “How’s Mr. Suzuki going?” if Mr. Suzuki is someone they’ve been meeting for Bible Study.

It's up to you

How you manage all this as a church is up to you. You can have a missionary committee; you can have one person dedicated to missionary care. You can have a mission-minded pastor who promotes mission as a matter of course. You can have, as we do, a small group dedicated especially to help, advocate, and pray for each missionary family. You can have regular missionary “Spots”, a mission’s night, weekend, or month. You can have mission displays around the church. You can distribute literature or summaries of prayer letters, and hold regular missions prayer meetings.

There are many ways to go about it and different people are comfortable with supporting missionaries in different ways. However, we've found that it really needs to come from the top. Unless the leadership of a church is mission-minded, it is difficult for a church to be mission-minded. We ourselves have lots of individual supporters, but not so many mission-minded churches.

But you needn’t be discouraged if your church isn’t mission-focussed. There's nothing to stop you from taking a step and doing just one thing from this list. You may never know until heaven the difference it might make to someone having a tough time.

It is easy for missionaries to feel that we're out of sight, out of mind. But missionaries are still a part of the body of Christ — we're the hands that are overseas. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:25 "There should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other" (NIV)

Rubber starts to hit the road for our departure

We've been planning details for ages for our trip to Australia this year. We'd planned to do this since we left two years ago, and the first set detail was booking a motorhome just before the end of 2011. And ever since then we've been planning various details, including

• our schedule
• where we would be staying
• cars
• what churches we'll be visiting and when
• house sitter details and instructions 
• communicating with family and close friends about meeting up 
• organising open days etc.

But now the rubber is starting to hit the road. This morning I rang my Australian doctor to make an appointment for next week. That freaked me out a bit. I used Skype, but it was just weird ringing and talking to them as if I were in the next suburb. Then I rang our optometrist to make an appointment there too. There I discovered that our Medicare cards have expired. And I don't know where our new ones are, or if we have new ones.

This kind of thing makes me feel nervous. Shuttling in and out of countries has this hidden stress factor. We have two sets of "identity documents". Two sets of medical cards, two sets of licenses, two sets of bank cards etc. Plus other things that responsible citizens have to pay attention too, like taxes, membership cards to various organisations, etc. And then other cards that aren't so relevant to a short-term visit, like library cards, private health insurance cards (that we cannot activate, being so short a visit), etc.

When we arrive in Australia we'll have to at least call Centrelink (for non-Aussies: the social security institution) to inform them that we're in-country again. We also REALLY need to go to our bank and sort out our credit cards. I have been unable to use my for the last 20 months because of a mix up in details that I haven't been able sort out via phone (they are very suspicious), and they keep telling me to visit the local branch.

My grocery shopping habits have also temporarily changed. I'm not buying more than what we can eat in the next three days. My chest freezer is empty. Because we're only going away for 5 1/2 weeks, I don't need to empty the pantry, but we have been working on the things that have lurked there and are close to or past use-by dates.

I guess the next thing (aside from doing a "spring clean") will be pulling out our suitcases and packing them. For some reason that doesn't freak me out as much as the bureaucratic details above. We don't actually need too much, just clothes.

And in fact, the less we take, the more Weetbix (for non-Aussies: breakfast cereal the boys love), we can fit into our luggage on the way home. I also have a long shopping list for other things to buy while we're there, ranging from mixed fruit for our Christmas cake to new lunch boxes and camping cutlery. Various pharmacy and feminine hygiene items also feature highly on my list. As do some new tracksuit pants for the boys and some other clothing items (like underwear for me).

I'd better go and shake the fridge and see what I get squeeze out of it tonight so that it looks even more empty.

A time to say hello, a time to say goodbye

It is that season again. In our lives around the middle of every year we say goodbyes and hellos. A few of the goodbyes are usually "we don't know if we'll see you this side of heaven" type goodbyes. Even if we ourselves aren't going anywhere, there are always others who are, in this international community. I wrote a bit about it here last year. 


A friend who is relatively new to this type of international living said to me the other day, "You'll surely miss K...!" (A missionary going on home assignment for 12 months.) I think I surprised her by not producing the appropriate emotion. 


I've not grown cold to my friends who say goodbye for a time, but I do put those friendships aside for a while. Or as one person observed about the CAJ student body, we keep a special place for that person, ready for them if or when they return. 


Not holding onto my friendships too tightly allows me to make it through these goodbyes without being too emotionally traumatised each time, but it also leaves room for new friendships. For there will always be new people who come along needing a friend. The new friends don't replace the old, but rather each friendship weaves their own special pattern into my life's story. My life would be poorer without them. 


And yes, I know that the time will come to say goodbye to these new friends too, but I'd become a very lonely person if I let that stop me making new friends. It probably makes me (and many others who live a similar lifestyle) more intense and intentional in our friendships. I know that I can't waste much time. Waiting around with months of shallow conversation won't do the trick (I wrote a bit about this back here).


So back to today. 


At church this morning we sat behind a young friend from India who we've only known since late last year. We've had, as she puts it, "random conversations after church," including, of course, cricket! She told me today two specific things that meeting us has meant to her: that there ARE Australian missionaries (not just sports fans in Australia, as is the image in India) and that as she sat behind us on many Sundays she saw "a beautiful aspect of Christian life — the love of a family." Who could have thought that such things would be an encouragement?


Also at church this morning is a family I said goodbye to 12 months ago. The mum (who has three boys) is particularly dear to me as we studied the Bible together in a small group for several months over the months surrounding the tsunami disaster last year. So good to see them back in Japan after their home assignment in Canada. A spot has been reserved in my heart and my story for her.