A great way to start the holiday week

When I was in NYC, I literally walked from one end of Manhattan to the other one day - and so, when making my way into town today I decided to roam the streets from Broadway to Town Hall (instead of like what I normally do which is catch the bus as I rush to and fro). It was so great, do it sometime! When was the last time you wandered through town and just explored it like a tourist? The only down side was the nasty blood blister that's decided to pop up... but still...

A wander was followed by a great lunch in the sun dappled courtyard near St Andrews (lovely day, lovely company - could it get any better you're thinking?) and a quick window shop before heading over to my sisters to hang out with her and my cute as niece. What was supposed to be an afternoon tea ended up in a 5 hour visit which included a walk to the highest point in Sydney where the horizon offers views sweeping from Chatswood to Palm beach (with the city scape in between and it was a great sunset today wasn't it?). Here is my adorable niece planting a big sloppy kiss on me...


Tomorrow morning I get on a plane and head up to the beauty of Ballina and Byron.

Jealous?

Sometimes, there isn't much to say...

...or there is, and you're just not sure how to say it. What I will say is that it has been an up and down couple of weeks and I am very thankful that this time next week I will be hiding away in one of my 'other home' locations!

One project that I have been working on lately is getting this organised:


And YOU'RE invited! Please come, pretty please? It would be great to see as many people there as possible - it is, after all, a fundraiser to keep me doing the work I love.

Something else to add to your list of websites is this one - my new AFES website. I'm still updating it and working out some of the kinks - but eventually the plan is for it t be working as the kind of site that people can go to and get some more detailed information about what is happening on campus.

I promise to be more communicative soon (even if it is just to an audience of Benn's!) but for now, I'm off to bed.

What do early mornings at the gym and having coffee with two muslim girls have in common? Both can leave you exhausted, uncomfortable, sore and feeling a little beaten up.
The girls today were...tough? Is that the right word? I don't quite know how to describe it. I got hi-jacked a little - I was expecting to meet with up with one girl and she brought a friend. A friend who was brought, I suspect, to speak for her. Another word to describe it our time was circles, circles, circles. That is all they wanted to talk in.

But we did come to one point of clarity after almost 2 hours: I asked them if they think I am going to hell: yes. They asked the same question of me: yes.

Thanks for those who have been praying for me and sending messages of support and encouragement over the last couple of weeks with mission things (sorry for my lack of responsiveness sometimes!). It's been greatly appreciated. But here is my prayer to share for right now (at least for the Christians who read this): that we are people who actually know God's word. So many times I would ask them where in the koran they were speaking from and they couldn't tell me. My prayer is that we have the intellectual integrity to actually know what we profess.