Cowra, Cricket and well...not much else

Well, it's taken time to recover from my trip to the US. But I didn't get any time to do that, cos I ended up plunging into the full-on-"ness" that is Cowra Summer Breakout. Most of you probably know about it but in case you don't, it's an event run by the Presbyterian and Baptist churches in Cowra every January to promote the gospel in the town. This year I did Adeos - which is basically 18 to 80 (or 100+ as you'll find out).

A typical morning at Adeos involved washing up the team's breakfast and getting coffee ready for the parents of kids who stuck around to watch their kids learning from the very energetic Concert Time. It involved talking to mums who enjoy the great coffee served up by Morro and hopefully bringing the gospel to them. Obviously, you can't just launch straight into the gospel without having time to understand where they come from.

Talking to different people about their lives is tiring. But it's the first thing we must do if we are to present the gospel. We cannot just go through 2 Ways to Live with them. It's not loving to just ram the gospel down their throats without regard to a person's life situation. We're dealing with people here, some of whom may have had really difficult lives - only after learning about these circumstances do we gain an understanding of what aspect of the gospel is going to be their stumbling block.

The hardest thing for me was giving a talk to the people at the nursing homes, particularly at Weeroona which is a palliative care institution. But, the gospel is no less relevant at these places, if not more so since time is limited. It's hard to know how much will sink in but the Holy Spirit is powerful and only the Lord knows whether these people have accepted him or not. There were people ranging from 60-odd to over 100 (I wanted to see his letter from the Queen!!!) but in general it was a little depressing, the consequences of the Fall are all too obvious.

Will I be back next year? Still deciding and discussing with A. Prayers appreciated.