OM Global Conference : Next Steps

On Saturday, we will be leaving here and going up to Germany to do pre-ship training for 2 weeks. I have no idea where we are staying or what facilities are available so if you don't hear from me for a while, this will be the reason. I hope to send my newsletter to everyone on Friday so look out for that.

The teaching here has been so challenging and has really impacted the way I think about what I'm doing ... I will try to convey some of what I have learnt in my newsletter so that you might all be encouraged to consider where you are at in your lives.

GO Conference : The Netherlands

Akuna-Roo took pride of place on the Australia Exhibit and he's been welcomed by people of all nations!

South Koreans!



The Spanish!



George Verwer attended the Conference and had an amazing message - he is the founder and is very empowering and inspiring!



Today was a day of rest for the most part and I took a walk with Kelli and Rachel to the little town further up the road along the country paths ... here are some more photos of the beautiful countryside ...



ps. Whenever you can't see a photo it means that the internet connection here is very slow and downloading photos is difficult ...

GO Conference : The Netherlands

Well after all the fun and games, I thought it would be good to show you a little bit of the beautiful countryside that we are surrounded by ... it's so peaceful and tranquil here ... we are on the edge of a canal way and everything is so lush and green ...




I am sharing a room with 3 other girls - Kelli (USA), Vennis (Hong Kong, China) and Etsuko (Japan). Vennis and I are in the loft room as it is a split-level room and we have our own bathroom ... it is very spacious and comfortable - we are all sleeping really well! I've been very clumsy in the mornings though ... nearly broke my big left toe coming down the stairs one morning when I missed the bottom step ... then had to scream in silence from the pain! Thankfully, it was not broken ... just bruised.

Last night, we had a fanastic ventriliquist who gave a talk on "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and I turned out to have a temperament of "Motivator" ... the whole evening of identifying our temperaments was spot on and provided many laughs for us all!!

Afterwards, we all sat around a camp fire and listened to stories from people who have been working for over 20 years or more ... it was absolutely inspiring and so encouraging to hear how so many different situations and countries are being impacted and individual lives are being changed regardless of being thrown in jail, eating tomato sauce as soup, messages in bottles and so much more ...

Global Orientation Conference : The Netherlands

On Tuesday, 21 August 2007, I arrived in The Netherlands and was transported from the airport via a minibus along with 2 Canadians and a Swedish family to the Conference centre.

So far, I can say that my experience here has been fantastic - it is wonderful to be a part of the global family and to be able to meet so many people from all over the world - 30 different nations are represented and approximately 300 people are here. We are receiving fantastic teaching and training for what is ahead of each of us in all corners of the globe! It is incredible to see how everyone's life is so unique and each person's experience is encouraging and uplifting. We also meet in smaller Groups and Discovery Groups which have been brilliant fun!

On our first full day, we had to participate in 16 games which I have termed "Looney Olympics" - we played "peanut tennis", hung from a tree holding onto a pair of blue denim jeans, carrot producing, nail hammering, dunking our head in a bowl of water fishing for sweets ... then dunking our head in a bowl of flour fishing for sweets - you can imagine the sight of our dough covered faces ... it was hilarious!!

Unfortunately, I have no photos as it was a "get to know you" icebreaker and I left my camera in my room - very unlike me I know! But I have got some photos from other fun events that we have had since then.

Flour Mime



Last night we had more flour and water for a mime competition ... and we played a trivia game.

I am excited about being here ... having a lot of fun and wish you could all be here with me as it is so much fun!!

A Walk down Memory Lane

Today I walked the streets of London soaking in the sights once more and pinching myself every now and then to check that I really am back in good ol' London town!

I started at Piccadilly Circus and strolled to Leicester Square, then down to Trafalgar Square.


Then I walked through Admiralty Arch and up part of the golden mile before turning back and walking down Whitehall past No. 10 Downing Street and Horseguards Parade towards my favourite friend, Big Ben. Then past the Parliament Houses and Westminster Abbey and all the way up Victoria Street. I found myself smiling as little things reminded me of times and people gone by ... things I had forgotten about yet seeing the name or the place again, it all came flooding back!

Whilst walking down Victoria Street, I cut through Strutton Ground which is the little lane way that I used to spend most of my lunch breaks at when I worked for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in Horseferry Road, Victoria. I decided that I would surprise my old boss Lesley with a pop-in visit and we had a lovely catch up over a good cup of tea! I was grateful to rest my weary limbs by this time too! Following that, I walked to Buckingham Palace and across Green Park where I hopped on the tube during peak hour (stupid!) and stopped in Earls Court.

The one thing that has changed is the number of people in London! There are people everywhere and you have to play a constant game of "dodgem cars" and be quite nimble on your feet to avoid the elbow bashing and shoving that goes on, particularly in high density people congestion spots!! I have to say that it was quite overwhelming at times and I was very happy to know that I don't have to fight through the people traffic every day like I used to do on the tubes and the streets. However, I really think that there are definitely more people living here than there were 14 years ago!




Being in Earls Court was, of course, a real walk down memory lane ... going back to "Kenway Road" and seeing the little street, the Kings Head pub and the shops in the area where we all lived together!! I had to laugh that the front doors to our units were still painted in a black frame with a big yellow door ... some things just never change and our landlady, who owns about 10 of these units side by side, has obviously not changed either?!

After grabbing a bite, I headed back home and felt really good about having covered so much ground in my walk down memory lane ...

Unfortunately, my photos keep crashing so I have not had a chance to upload them yet but watch this space!

Introducing "AkunaRoo"

I would like to introduce you to my new "inflatable, loyal marsupial roo" which is how he was introduced to me!

I would also like to tell you that his name is "AkunaRoo"!!

"Akuna" is an Aboriginal name which means "to trust and to follow". I decided this was the most appropriate name for him since I am trusting in God and he will be following me around the world!!

My beautiful friend Mia and her family have blessed me with this travelling companion of the most fun kind and one that will ensure that I am always in touch with Australia. In addition, I have no doubt that AkunaRoo will bring much delight and entertainment to all who meet him along the way.

His first adventure was to see the world from Maggie & Mark's window as we embarked on our London tour together. The amazing thing about AkunaRoo is that he is very intelligent and has already asked for a spot on the Noosh News monthly update so look out for the "Akuna Roo-View" in time to come!

AkunaRoo's Room with a View



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St Matts Reunion in London

I arrived in London this morning (Monday, 6 Aug) and spent the day getting my bearings - went to Hammersmith for lunch with Maggie and to get some of the bare necessities in terms of toiletries etc. At 6.30pm, we went down to "The Crabtree" pub on the banks of the river to have a St Matts reunion in London! We first met up with Christelle who is on holiday here for 3 months visiting her sister. It was so fantastic to see everyone again ... we were then joined by Eleanor, Fenella, Bev (a friend of Eleanor's) who only stayed a few minutes, Thomo and Mark.



We had a really fun night chatting about St Matts and catching up on Manly news. I can't tell you how good it was to see everyone from home again! We had dinner together and then, Mark D also joined us as we were leaving ...




And just like the good ol' days in Manly, we walked home along the London streets singing "I can't live without you" before going our separate ways again ...

Sunday, 5 August 2007 : Angels & Miracles

On my flight from Joburg to Frankfurt, I was privileged to have only one man in the row with me and since I was on the window, we had a spare seat between us and therefore we only had each other as company.

However, this man was no ordinary man ... his name was Johan, a brother in Christ and an amazing man of God and he was like an Angel to me! His testimony of how God touched his life and is in the process of healing him from cancer was nothing short of miraculous. He told me how a stranger walked up to him one day whilst he was in between doctor's appointments, introduced himself as "Michael" and told him the following:

"Hi, my name is Michael and I want you to know that I have never done this before. I apologise but I overheard some of your conversation and while you were talking, the Lord told me to turn around, go over to that man and tell him that he is cured! God Bless You!"

At the time, Johan had been on the phone to his mum telling her that things were not looking good and that the cancer was deteriorating. What was even more amazing was that when Johan went to find this man named Michael, he was no where to be seen or found. Johan's mum believes he was an Angel and Johan has never seen him since.

What is even more miraculous and amazing is that following that day, Johan's blood count has continued to decrease at every check up and his doctor's believe it is miraculous that he is now in complete remission. His testimony was so uplifting and inspiring and really encouraged me that God is the God of all healing and that he knows our life intimately and meets us at our point of need and that he can use complete strangers or perhaps angels to touch our lives.

I am reminded of Hebrews 13:2 - "Don't forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

Praise God - He is the God of Wonders, Miracles, Healing and Angels sent from Heaven Above!