Team Meetings

As part of getting ready for the trip and because there are 10 of us and we'll have to live together in fairly close proximity for 4 weeks while we are away we're getting together regularly to work thru a short term "multicultural" workbook and just generally get to know each other

Our next meeting is on October 2nd

We also have high hopes of visiting a mosque here in Auckland towards the end of October to get a feel for one of the most important aspects of life in Bangladesh before we get there for real. More on that later....

Great news and sad news and good news

Well it's been an interesting fortnight. About a fortnight ago my church, Graceway, agreed to part sponsor the trip. They've provided 1/3rd of the money which is awesome and totally unexpected. (Well I wrote a letter asking if they'd consider a donation but it's a very small church so I was not sure what to expect...)

But this week the sad news - Graceway has decided to close. It has been on the cards for a while because it is so small and now my excitement of being able to be a missionary on behalf of my church has now been tempered with this news. By the time I leave for Bangladesh Graceway will no longer exist as a church.

But I know the Graceway people are going to stay in touch and I hope they are reading this and even tho the official group may be coming to a close I'm still going to be taking a little piece of them with me... and I'm really proud to do that

It's kind of a cool legacy that the Spirit of Graceway is going to live on in this most needy part of the world after the doors close...

Some random thoughts

I spent two days in Melbourne last week for work. Up until now it hadn't really occurred to me how much I would miss K while I was away at the end of the year. But it really came home to me as I was sitting at the airport on Thursday morning waiting to leave - I really didn't want to go.

It's going to be harder than I thought to be away for so long. Hmmm. Not a whole lot I can do about that I guess but it was interesting to realise it now rather than late November.

I'm very fortunate that I actually love to go home to my wife (and family) at the end of the day. 4 weeks without being able to do that and to share what my day was like when it is almost certain to be quite radical and surreal every day is certainly going to take it's toll.

What's the buzz...

Ok. So a number of people have asked me to keep them informed of what is going on so they can pray for us and be involved. I figured this blog might be a good idea cause you can email it from anywhere and people can ask questions and have them answered as a group. So here is a quick synopsis.

In late November (at this point I won't say the exact date until I am sure it is safe to do so) a team of 10 people - myself included will travel to Dhakar, Bangladesh for two weeks and then on to Kolkotta, India for two weeks to look at the humanitarian work that is going on in those two cities.

It's an oppotunity for people like me (and K) who are interested in doing this type of work to see what it is like and to actively participate with a view to maybe returning to do this type of work for a longer duration.

The work is varied and if you'd like to know more about it you can contact me directly via email (just post if you don't know my current email address and I'll send you a note) .

K will be some 28 weeks pregnant at the time so it will be just me going - so I guess that's our first biggie. Our dear friend Deb is going to stay with her while I am gone so that is very cool (thanks Deb!)

To further complicate the issue I have offered my services as a would-be film-maker to shoot the entire experience and compile it into a documentary - a travelogue/posterity piece about what we go thru and how it changes us. So I have been filming dutifully at all our meetings and generally making a nuisance of myself with camera in hand. But I think it will come out OK in the end.

You might notice I'm not saying any names in this blog - I am not yet sure how much we can safely publicise since no doubt some people working in this area need to not draw attention to themselves and these internets have ears...

That's probably enough of a first post for now - so please check back often and I'll let you know what's going on with me and the team. Thanks for being interested in what we're doing

Welcome to our blog

Hi All

I have created this blog as a means of people keeping up to date with what is happening with the team heading to Dhakar and Kolkotta in late November
Here you'll find information and our latest requests and you'll have a chance to ask questions and send encouraging notes to the people you know on the team

Thanks for visiting