Arrived and Well!

We have arrived! After a trip that seemed to take much longer than it should have, the team has been united at The Salvation Army's Training College in Colombo.

Gay Roberts arrived without too many hitches: she got caught in a checkpoint for "a while" on her way in from the airport - one wonders if they knew who was in the vehicle. She had a great time in Hong Kong, even if she got a little lost a one stage - thanks to a map she received before her departure. The rest of us arrived this morning after a night in Singapore - and we were not stopped once by security.

So after a light lunch we ventured out to the shop (Arpico Supercentre) to buy a few supplies, and are now having a break before heading out for some dinner.

It was 26degrees (C) and about 80% humidity when we arrived at 8:00am this morning, so the Kiwis are noticing it at the moment.

I hope to get some photos up soon, so keep watching and thanks for your interest. If there is anything you want to ask any member of the team please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get them to respond to you - as long as we have a connection.

We're Off

Saturday morning, 9:30am we'll be at Auckland airport and hopefully there will be no hicthes as we board our Singapore Airlines flight. We'll be travelling through Singapore, and after an overnight stop, courtesy of the Airline, we'll head out of Singapore and arrive in Colombo about 8:15am local time. (For those following us from New Zealand, Sri Lanka is 6.5 hours behind you.)

Our first scehduled event is on Monday morning when we'll meet The Salvation Army's leadership and have lunch together.

Hopefully soon after that we'll begin letting you know what we've done, and how the team are reacting to all the new sights, smells and sounds - watch this space!

The Schedule

The Team's schedule can be found by following this link. (Click on the Map of Sri Lanka)

We'll keep you up to date as best we can via this site. We leave Saturday morning from Auckland...

Mission Priorities

An email this morning caused me to again question what the priority of my life and ministry is! I am, and have been a minister of religion for over 20 years and I love what I do, (most of the time).

But sometimes, (only sometimes), I think that my ministry priorities and those of my church are diametrically opposed. 20+ years ago I made a covenenant with God "to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life". You see my priority, and my passion, is the total transformation of lives - not the perpetuation of a membership group.

For me that means running 'the amazing race' of their lives with individuals. It means coming alongside a person at the place they call 'home' and, with their invitation, becoming a partner in their race - eating, arguing, crying, laughing and playing with them. As we race together I hope that they see in me a Source of energy that is exciting, risky and empowering - and as a result I am able to introduce them to the Source of life and their Creator.

I want to introduce people to Jesus and walk them through the citizenship process of the Kingdom: if in that process they choose to become members of my church - that's fantastic, I will encourage and celebrate it - but that's not my ministry priority!

The "first purpose of my life" is inviting people to be members of God's family!

New Team Members

Thanks to the generosity of a private donation we are able to afford to take four new team members with us to Sri Lanka. These individuals are experts in singing and dancing, and are especially effective with children's ministry - they will be an invaluable addition to the program.

Best of all they have requested that they be counted as 'real missionaries' and so they have committed the 'rest of their lives' to Sri Lanka. They will be initially assigned to the Training College in Colombo where they will work with Cadet Officers, but they have said that they will be available to 'special' on request.

At the first team building meeting last weekend their was mixed reactions. One team member (Gay) was extremely exuberant and offered to pay for her new partner to have a change of wardrobe - whilst other team members were a little more reserved, the indications of strong bonding in the team are good.

We wish them well as they, and the rest of the team work together on their song, drama and dance routines.

How Can I Help?

When disasters strike, and images of suffering appear on our screens, people often ask, "How Can I Help?" A helpful guide and outline of the process has been prepared by the New Zealand Council for International Development.

Sri Lanka Team

We had the privilege of hosting General Eva Burrows for Easter this year. During her time with us she was the guest at a fund raising dinner (Sri Lankan Banquet) for 70 people. A total of $900 was raised and will be used to purchase materials and resources to use, and leave, in Sri Lanka.

Photo: (Left to right) Major Gay Roberts, General Eva Burrows (Rtd) Ian Scoltock, Gael Laughland, Gill Scoltock, Major Daryl Crowden.

Meeting us, and facilitating our visit in Sri Lanka are Majors Nihal & Rohini Hettiararchchi who have been friends for a long time. I grew up with these officers and have come to repect their leadership and friendship. We are in safe and competent hands.

The schedule is almost confirmed and will be posted on this site soon (for those who have asked). We will value your support and prayers as we travel and learn from our engagement with the people of Sri Lanka.