Australia Day 1 - 10,000 Miles

It’s our first day in Australia -- the land that gave us Mel Gibson, AC/DC, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Olivia Newton-John, and, of course, The Wiggles. We were scheduled to arrive in Sydney at 8:00 am local time but, due to heavy air traffic, we had to circle above the airport and we touched down at 8:30 am to sunny skies and 80 degree weather. After we went through customs and exchanged our currency at the airport, James and Jon added minutes to their world phone so they could keep in touch with their families. We were greeted by Stan and Pam Wright, Phil Barker and his sons, Isaac and Jacob, and Pete, the worship leader...all members of the church. They explained that Phil Eagling could not pick us up because just the night before, he had to take his wife, Sharon, to the hospital. She had damaged her shoulder when opening a door at their house. Just one of those freak household accidents. She spent most of the night at the emergency room, but they didn’t keep her overnight. She has some muscular damage in her shoulder and her right arm is in a sling.

We began the two hour drive north and arrived in New Castle around 12:00 noon. Our first stop was Phil and Sharon’s home, where we all gathered and began our visit with a time of prayer. We had traveled over 10,000 miles in 20 hours. Even though some of us were sleepy, they recommended that we not sleep until that evening. So…James and Jon took a two hour nap! I have experienced very little jet lag. Maybe I’m just energized by finally being here. Phil says it may catch up with me on the return trip home. Phil and Sharon were grateful for the supplies we brought…especially the Tylenol PM. The Australian government won’t allow anything with a sleep aid in it to be sold here. Yet, you can pack it in a bag and declare it at customs. Go figure. They have socialized medicine here and sometimes, it can take months for them to have what would be an ordinary and common procedure in the United States. They like to have Tylenol PM on hand for those occasions when they need help managing pain until the doctor can perform the needed procedure.

The photo to the right is Phil and Sharon's house.

The people of the church are unbelievably kind and very gracious hosts.
• Lara and I are staying with Phil and Sharon
• James and Jon are staying with Stan Wright (an elder) and his wife, Pam. Stan was born in England and he used to serve in the Australian army.
• Ward and Tonja are staying with Kathy and John (next door to us)
• Donna is staying with Janet and her daughters, Karen and Rebecca
• Chipper is staying with Eddie (another elder) and his wife, Moya. Eddie has been in this area since the mid-70’s and he's been an elder here for a long time. He’s a great wood worker and he's done a lot of work on the church.He built the stage, their sound room and a storage room.

We’ve already met several members of the church and the worship team, including:
• Pete – the volunteer worship leader. A great guy in his mid-20's. Pete has done this for over three years.
• Mitchell – Bass player
• Mitch – drummer
• Phil Barker and his sons, Isaac and Jacob. Phil drove us from the airport. He wrote and produced the original play the church is doing.
• Graham and his three children, James, Tiffany and Tameira. They actually lived in Franklin for part of last year and attended FCC while they were there.

They had an authentic Australian dinner tonight to welcome us. Meat pie (with tomato sauce), sausage rolls, salad, vanilla slice, slice, lamington and custard tart. Water and various soft drinks. After dinner, Phil asked us to do a couple of songs. None of us had brought our instruments with us to the church (because it wasn’t part of the original plan), so we went to our host homes to get them. Once back at the church, we then had to tune them from the ground up (still completely de-tuned from the flight). We shared 2 songs: “Lord, I Lift Your Name On High” and “Here I Am to Worship”.

Everyone on the team is extremely tired. Right now, it’s 4:00 am our time back at home as I write this. The church is decorated for the play. They have so little, yet they have done so much.

This has been a tough year for Phil on a personal level. He may not want us to come back. j/k. Every time we schedule something, someone in his family gets hurt. Back in July, he was in an accident that required we reschedule our trip. And now...just the night before we arrive, Sharon sustained the injury to her right shoulder. Overall, Phil said they have enjoyed more blessing that heartache. What an amazing outlook!

Savannah is learning to play the guitar. Her guitar instructor comes to their house once a week for lessons. Like most American children her age, she enjoys watching Disney Channel – especially Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zach and Cody and Kim Possible.

I'm a goober. I put together an entire file for Tim Park that I was supposed to leave on my desk for him. It contained all of our emergency contact information. Like a doofus, I ended up bringing it with me. Thankfully, I had a copy of it on my computer so I emailed the info to him tonight.