Marsha's Blog

 Good Morning Friends ….. from one of the remotest places we’ve been for quite awhile. Can’t say much because it’s pretty closed up here, but suffice it to say it continues being an adventure.  (I’ll talk later) We had lunch with some of Tony’s students and my jaw was hanging just hearing some of their amazing histories.   But today I want to tell you a story about a woman that I can talk about from a country nearby. She’s my specialist Dr. back in Australia.  On a recent visit, I noticed a small plaque with a cross in her window and asked point blank (you can do this in Australia),  ”Are you a Christian”? She smiled at me for the first time ever and then went on to tell me her story.  It seems that four generations ago, a missionary wandered into her village in the extreme north of Burma.  After arriving and settling in just a short time, he was able to introduce the village head man to Jesus Christ. Today, there are over 80 descendants, includin...

 Good Morning Friends, Tony said I shouldn’t make this a travel blog so I won’t.  Suffice it to say we’re still traveling, yesterday arriving from Japan to Hong Kong.  If you can imagine Hong Kong being even more crowded (and charming) than ever before, you’ve got it. We’re having a wonderful time, although going from one basically non-Christian country to another, it’s been a real stretch to feel any kind of Christmas spirit. And unfortunately it won’t get any better next week, being in a place where we’re prohibited by law to even speak with anyone about Christ and the real reason for the season. But then, with the Holy Spirit close at hand, I’m praying for some quality time with the Babe in the manger, no matter what the situation may be. Thanks as always for your prayers. Here in Hong Kong, church and old friends are of course always a blessing, even though we saw everybody just a few months ago. We had hoped to slip in unannounced this time before they had a chance t...

 Good Morning all. When Tony slips back into his “country” roots, he likes to sing a song some of you might remember. We first heard it sung by the Cathedrals and the chorus goes like this: Ain’t gonna need this house no longer Ain’t gonna need this house no more Ain’t got time to fix the shingles Ain’t got time to fix the floor Ain’t got time to oil the hinges Nor to mend the window pane Ain’t gonna need this house no longer I’m gettin ready to meet the saints Well, as Tony would say, “That song just preaches itself!” And it’s true, whether you’re talking about an old house or an aging body. This week, we’ve had the wonderful chance to spend a few days in our own “old house” in Japan. It was built with materials shipped from America and put together by an American team of volunteer carpenters, working with a few local Christian Japanese builders. That’s a story in itself that I’ll have to share with you sometime. All this happened about 35 years ago, and as they say, “If only thes...

 Good Morning All, Well, I figure if you've had a good Thanksgiving, half of you are travelling and the other half are still sprawled out in a food coma.  Actually, I always enjoy the leftovers more than the feast itself, as it's far too exciting and busy to take it all in the first time.   You'll recall that we had our 'family' dinner last week to accommodate the kids, so I'm fully recovered now ....... and am in packing mode, as we leave this next Tuesday for our 4-week nostalgia/working and sightseeing trip. But something very comforting caught my eye this last week as I was reading through a VERY long book of the Bible, Ezekiel.  If you haven't read it, strap yourselves in because it's (mostly) definitely not boring. But my ears began to prick up, and a bit of comprehension started to set in when I finally got to Ezekiel 37. Keep in mind that Solomon’s original temple had been destroyed by Babylon so many years earlier. And yet God says to the prophe...

 Good Morning Friends. This coming week, we release the brakes and hurtle into Thanksgiving celebrations. My Southern Hemisphere friends having been asking me to explain all the hype, and I discovered once again the subtle differences between us.  “It’s basically a harvest festival,” I began, then realized that the seasons here are opposite; so Australia today is in more of a planting time than a harvest time. “Well, the first pilgrims to America nearly died from the hard winter ….” No, that doesn’t work either. A “hard winter” on the Gold Coast is when I have to fasten the top button on my shirt. “Football …” nope. “Indians helping the pilgrims …” Well, that had a small chord of recognition, but on the other hand, I’m not sure exactly what part the Aboriginals here played in the lives of the first settlers, who for the most part were convicts. One thing we could agree on, though, was the need for a time to remember family, and get together. Whether we’re enjoying a big turkey...

  Good Morning,   This week has been a bit crazy but in a happy way.  I hope you’ll forgive me for being rather shallow……..We’re  sitting in a  MacDonalds right now, waiting for our plane.   I mentioned last week we’d be taking our second grandson for his birthday trip (at 13) out to Dubbo, an outback town about 600 miles from home.  We’ve had an absolute ball, going to the very large and famous zoo, as well as the observatory, the interactive station of the Royal Flying Doctors (who take care of the huge outback) and heaps of games and pool fun in between. Our bed will look good tonight.  No regrets, but I haven’t had much time to think lofty thoughts for this blog. But I did pick up one great reminder ….. in a movie of all things ….. “Red One” with Dwayne Johnson of all people about Santa getting kidnapped for Christmas. I am not recommending the movie, but it didn’t make me mad either. Anyway, at one point, The Rock says, “We choose every day w...

 Good Morning,  Last year when we were living in Hawaii, I found myself sitting alone in Taco Bell one day. I had decided to walk myself to a thrift store that I'd spotted earlier and kill some time while Tony was teaching.  I had determined, and still hold this premise, that it isn't worth my time to relearn how to drive in the US. The short times we're there my brain doesn't have time to switch from left side to right side as easily as it used to, so my feet were fine....until they weren't.   Unfortunately, after about a mile, I realised I didn't know where I was going. It was hot, so I stopped into a local Taco Bell to get a drink ...... and an education. No sooner than I had settled down under the air conditioning, a homeless man walked in.  There are a LOT of homeless people in Hawaii, even though Honolulu is second only to New York City in 'most expensive places to live'.  He was wrapped in a big blanket and held a phone to his ear.   "...

 Good Morning Friends, It's said here in Australia (as in most places), "One should never talk politics or religion." And as I expect, the failure to follow that advice has come a long way to getting us where we are today.  Last week we voted on the “Liberal” platform here in Australia, which is almost identical to the Republican party in America. And much to our delight and anticipation, our state of Queensland was wrenched out of many years under the Labour (think “Democrat”) in a huge landslide.  With groceries averaging  $100 a bag, we're all ready to see what the new conservative government can do.  Fun fact: in Australia either you vote or you are given a $150 fine.  It's not only a privilege but a duty backed up by legislation.  You might say that interferes with my freedoms, but it's nice to know I took part in the government I'm living with. But I digress.  For my Bible reading lately, I've been in the book of Jeremiah.  I doubt he h...

 Good Morning.  This morning we’re still in Texas, have had a lovely week juggling relatives and friends, but unfortunately missing quite a few.  I’m glad for the forgiveness of many of you who still care about us even tho we never show up on your doorstep. If I don’t lose my mind before the next visit, those of you who got played over will be on the first of the list!  We’re happy to report that, except for a couple of “Come to Jesus” moments, we mostly drove on the correct side of the road. Tony would like to add that, so far, he has managed to negotiate the Dallas freeway system without breaking anything or losing his mind.  We also were made aware of the importance of one’s political stance, and even tho we never had to deal personally with it, came to understand that some folks are quite sensitive about the pronouns they identify with. Get me home!!!  In amongst all that, we ALMOST managed to vote in the US election – just a few more hoops to jump thro...

Good Morning All, Today some of you will be seeing me in person as we visit Tony’s parents’ Church (and ours too, for that matter), Holly Brook Baptist.This last week, we had a nice catch up with my only sibling Sherry, and her husband Richard.  Family is so nice.  We ate and reminisced, drove the country roads and avoided hittingt he skunk bent on self-destruction (which was very fortuitous), and just had a nice time.  We helped them say “no” to  another puppy, then held their bags as they signed the papers.  I wonder at their wisdom to bring this responsibility into their already heavy load, but we all got sucked in; who can say ‘no’ to such cuteness? I need to mention that although I try to write you a blog every week, you need to understand that this ‘exercise’ is more for MY benefit than anything else.  What I’m doing is making you witnesses to what’s going on in my head. It’s such a privilege to be able to share with you. Thank you so much! And once a...

 We got a thought-provoking newsletter the other day from some dear friends we worked alongside for many years in JAPAN. They are of a more 'reformed, Calvinistic nature' than us crazy "free will" Baptists and we had some interesting and challenging repartee with them over the years. Somehow we've remained good friends, as do some of our children and theirs.   So it was a surprise in this letter, to hear them asking for prayers for all the people they've invested so much time and effort into and who have not turned their hearts towards Christ ...... even so much as to be polite.    While reading it, I began to mourn for our own "lost causes" and believe me, there are many. We invested SO MUCH into them, and especially our own hopes and dreams, but somehow they chose to float away.   And then I thought of how Jesus must have felt.  The Scriptures refer to Him many times as a "Man of Sorrows".  He, being God, probably not only grieved, but re...

  Good Morning Friends, I’m typing this from the airport; our trip to the States has begun.  Hopefully I’ll see a few of you I missed last time.  I’ll have to say it’s been a bit hectic, getting ready for this little and somewhat simple trip, and I’m glad to be started.   I had something ready to send, but this morning I saw a friend’s Facebook post and thought it might be appropriate to share.  I hope they don’t get me for plagiarizing….. but some of my Australian friends, like me, might not have got a real idea of what’s been going on this last week in Appalachia. So with prayers, I’m going to share this: If you haven’t heard about the floods and relief efforts in North Carolina, I thought I’d share some thoughts.   Firstly, I hope you aren’t thinking, ‘They should have been better prepared”.  Nothing like this has EVER happened to these folks in recorded history.  20-30 inches (50-85 cms) of rain falling on 3000 ft mountains (really t...

 Hello Friends I wanted to “spice” things up a bit today, and you may be thinking I’m going to a lot of work to find the spiritual reference, but trust me: it’ll be worth it. You may have to look at today's blog as more of a travel log of our recent trip through Europe.  The subject I'm talking about first came to mind a couple of months ago, while traveling through Amsterdam’s canals. It was pointed out that many of the buildings on either side of these beautiful narrow waterways are very old, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. It seems pretty obvious when you notice that quite a few of them don't stand straight up, due to the constant moving and sinking into the soft soil. In fact, some buildings have begun to depend on the building next door for support, which then requires laws about what a person can and cannot do to his property if it might cause the adjacent building to fall down. Just about every three to four-story building has a familiar prominent hook ou...

I had to chuckle as I was reading in Job this week.  Not that Job is what I'd call a particularly “funny'' book,  but it’s just that God has a way with words that can speak to so many people and situations at the same time.  I was reading Job 38: 39, "Will you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the hunger of the lions, when they crouch in their dens?" I had to laugh, because the verse called up an old memory for me, from back in 1996. It was a younger and more naïve “me” back then, at least in terms of the realities around an Ethiopian refugee camp where we were working. For some reason, another missionary kid and I were hiking, hoping to climb a small mountain behind the camp.  We had the village dog with us.  I can't remember why the rest of the family wasn't along, but I think Tony was teaching the Old Testament and Nathan was teaching every boy in the village how to play basketball.  Who knows what 6-year-old Nicki was doing, but I'm sure it...

 Most of you are familiar, I think, with “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. Tony and I have made it a tradition to include it with breakfast every morning, for the simple fact that it’s so often “spot on” with whatever we happen to be dealing with that day. On August 10th, for example, Oswald wrote, “To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.” I had to chuckle when I thought of things over the years I’d cooked up on my own, ostensibly to ‘please God’ (read in: to suffer for His sake).  I remember a several week ‘fast’ that Tony and I decided to do.  It was involving a church plant, which sounded like the best of reasons; but now when I think back, I believe there may have been a bit of prideful motivation involved. Anyway, we accomplished the challenge, and tha...

Well, we’re starting our third week of being home, and I think I can say by now that we are finally unpacked! That doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is put away, but it does mean that we can stop for that second cup of coffee, catch up on our Bible reading and bills, (hopefully in that order),  and be reminded again why we’re so happy to be home. Sadly, but with some excitement, we’ll be leaving again in just a few weeks, but only for month this time!  Hopefully we’ll see a lot of you. Yesterday we even made the radical decision to go see a movie, something we haven’t done in about, oh, six months. The movie has just hit Australia after making the rounds in America, so you may have seen it. The name of the film is “The Forge”, and it’s a faith-based story with several Christian actors we’ve seen in other classics. If you have any emerging adults in your family, it’s worth seeing. The main character is a teenager by the name of Isaiah (played by Aspen Kennedy), strugglin...

 Good morning! As most of you are reading this, it’s Labor Day Weekend.  For me growing up, it meant that come Monday, summer was over, and I’d be off to a new school year.  I never understood what the “labor” bit was about, but nowadays I hear that it was established to recognize and honor America’s workers at the height of the Industrial Revolution.  For most of us, though, it just meant it was time to go back to school, and THAT probably meant a sigh of relief for the nation’s parents. Well, Tony & I have been home a whole week, and while I thought I’d be feeling ‘down’ because the trip of a lifetime was over, actually it’s been unexpectedly refreshing. I’m reminded of a time a couple of years ago when we took our kids and grandkids to a little resort just out of town, deeper back in the mountains from our house.  We’d been snookered into a ‘free’ stay there a year or so earlier after listening to a time share spiel, but it ended up being so nice (no, we ...

Well, I’m happy to say that as of this morning, we are well and truly HOME.  Thankfully, it was a non-eventful (albeit three flights and 20+ hours) home. We decided to go straight to a hotel and sleep for about 24 hours before seeing the kids. That made it easier for our German friends as well, since that gave them one more day to pack before moving out of our house and starting on their own incredible journey back to their homeland. So I want to tell you about a story that is still in the process of unfolding, that I was privileged to hear in Hong Kong. It was a fantastic weekend at the International Baptist Church there, with Tony. Leading a discipleship seminar on Saturday and preaching on Sunday, followed by a visit to a high-end Chinese restaurant and enough yum cha to feed the whole city, compliments of our wonderful friends at IBC. We rejoiced with them that we’ve been in and out of their lives for almost 30 years!  Wow. Besides the familiar faces, one of the first I no...

 Good Morning World! As you’re reading this, it’s Sunday night here in Hong Kong and Tony and I, if we’re even back to our room, will be dragging in the last few steps of our 4 month trip.  Tomorrow, we fly a circuitous trip HOME, transiting thru Singapore and Melbourne, but then we’ll be HOME!!   I want to share something with you we learned on our Tour of the Revelation Churches back in July. Remember the 7 churches?   I think the one that sticks in most of our memories is the church at Laodicia.  And why you ask?  Do you remember? That’s the church that God reprimanded for being “lukewarm”.  He says in Revelation 3:15, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!”  But one thing I never realised here, is that God is not saying, “Be Hot for Me”, or “Be Cold for Me” but He’s saying “Don’t be watered down with other things so that you’re not hot or cold”. Hot is Hot and Cold is Cold....

 Hello Fellow Travellers, First of all, please let me apologize for accidentally (possibly) sending you not one but TWO old blogs yesterday.  I was doing some ‘cleaning up’ on my laptop and must have pushed the wrong button.  It’s probably good that I can remain humble when it comes to technology. Anyway, this last week, we were able to get away from Europe. When we stepped off the plane in Thailand, we certainly breathed a sigh of relief, the humidity, the sounds and smells, all of it suggested “home”.  Europe had worn us out.  The crawl onto the plane thru the crowds in the Amsterdam airport had taken over 4 hours, just to get to the gate!  Needless to say, it was exhausting. Settling into Bangkok, we began to relax.  We saw old friends, Tony visited his favourite hospital for X-rays and consults to find that his knee is ‘on course’, recovering well, even though it’s still sore. I went for a “Thai massage” which to those of you who know, is like a ro...

 So would you believe this blog is now coming to you from our old stomping grounds in Bangkok, Thailand??  For those of you who have commented that we’ve been on the road for entirely too long, you’ll be happy to hear that we’ve come around the back stretch (with a sigh of relief to be out of crazy Europe) and will be back where we belong in Australia in just over three weeks! It has been, I admit,  a rather gruelling time, mixed with wonderful family visits, ministry opportunities and just plain tourist stuff, but each time we set out on something like this, we’re driven by two motivations: first, we want to pack all we can into this time and money investment, and second, each time we say to ourselves, our advancing age is going to put a stop to all this pretty soon. I think maybe that second motivation is rearing its head lately. Maybe it’s just that Tony is recovering from knee surgery, but I suspect that’s more to it this time. Traveling has been HARD; and right now a...

 Dear Friends, Well, what a week it’s been!  Looking at my calendar, I see that last week we were trying to get out of Turkey.  This week, between that “Crowdstrike” thing along with a lousy airline, we were stranded over night in the terminal, spent an exorbitant amount of money on the last room in the only hotel within driving distance, then while waiting for a new flight, spent that much money again on hot drinks in order to keep a seat in a coffee shop rather than face the chaos out on the terminal floor. But we did finally manage to get to Paris. We had wanted to celebrate our 55th anniversary in Paris, but my sweet daughter pointed out that August 1st would be smack in the middle of the Olympics, so we tried for the week before. We did find the nostalgic hotel we’d stayed in 35 years ago, and had a lovely time walking around all the ‘happy places’ that we love, even though most of them were cordoned off due to Olympic stuff going on.  We saw enough, and then cu...

 Dear Faithful Followers, Well, we finished the “Revelation Tour of the 7 churches” It was definitely a highlight of our life, but not for the timid or unsteady (as we were frequently).  Every day was over 100 degrees and ruins have a funny habit of being dry, dusty and out under the open blazing sky. We had such a fun (and young) group and we all came away with a deep appreciation of each other’s life journeys as well as of Paul and all those other church fathers, who didn’t have big air conditioned buses!  So if you’re reading this, we have made it safely out of Turkey even though all thru the week they were experiencing a lot of forest fires, with the smoke closing the airport, and making all kinds of inconveniences! But as we continue………. So another unbelievable affirmation I had from God was in the form of making a comment about someone’s jacket We were still in Cardiff, at the church we mentioned before.  Like I said, we were in a funk emotionally (homesick) an...

 Good Morning Fellow Travellers, As you’re reading this, we should be in Turkey, getting ready for a “Tour of the 7 churches of Revelation”. We’re excited about this, especially since Tony just loves reading, teaching and preaching from this book. We’ve been trying to fit this tour in for years, and the opportunity came recently to not only join a tour, but also to accept a discount and help lead it. I’ve been making a little list of things that have greatly encouraged us in our faith lately, and I’ll be sharing a couple of stand outs over the next several weeks.  Things where God has really spoke to my heart. First was in Wales recently.  We stayed with a couple that we have met (him) in Australia a few months ago.  He said we should come and visit him and his church, so we did.   We spent a lovely evening with them, he even presented us with a beautiful and authentic curry. The next morning we got up and were just chatting with the guy as he cooked breakf...

 Well, we’ve had a better week. My sis is home on oxygen, slowly recovering from double pneumonia.  Fortunately, she has a helping husband and lots of friends.  In the middle of all that, our friend in Japan I mentioned last week is starting chemotherapy soon, and Tony and I are looking into the possibility of diverting our trip and popping over to see him. Son Nathan is recovering as well.   So this last week found us in some interesting countries, including Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden. We were especially cheered up by visiting Nathan’s high school roommate from Japan who lives and works in Estonia.  He gave us a lovely tour of the town of Tallin, a beautiful place.   Each of the other cities offered their own different charm and interesting history. But the one we found most ‘inspiring’ has prompted me to share this story with you from Sweden. So, there was this guy in 1496. He was born a Viking, and he was a really tough guy.  I...

  Good Morning Fellow Travellers, I’d be fooling myself if I said it’s been a stellar week. My sister’s in the hospital, (although I think she’ll be released today or tomorrow),  our best friend in Japan has a grave illness.  To add to that, an old saintly missionary friend just went to glory. Face it, we’re a little homesick.  I often think of the words of my favourite poet, Robert Frost, who said in one of his famous poems, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep …... and miles to go before I sleep.” As much ‘fun’ as it is to travel, sometimes the thought of our own bed and loved ones around me has certainly been a draw. Someone commented this last week, “I love to hear you complain so creatively.” I thought it fit the ticket pretty well. But we don’t need to complain.  We’re on this journey just like any of the rest of you. Yes, you say, we’re on a cruise, but it’s still lonely and far from home.  I am thankful that I don’t have...