My kayak has arrived!!!!

After six months in the land down under, my kayak has finally joined me. On Monday morning I took her for a maiden Oz voyage around the Busselton Jetty and down the coast a couple of K's. It is so good to have the decent fibreglass hull of a Kaskazi Skua under me again after the tupperware stuff I have been paddling in the interim. I am so over the moon!

Ten Weeks in Oz !

I want to try and give some news from our first ten weeks in Australia (it will be ten weeks on Tuesday, 26th May), but where do I even begin? In many ways it has been like a whirlwind, in the sense that it feels like things have been happening very fast, as well as a very real sense that much of it has been beyond our control. That is, having chosen to come over, and having crossed the Rubicon (read Indian Ocean), a lot of what has happened since has been happening as a direct consequence of that choice, for better or for worse. So far, it’s been, on the whole, for better.
For example, much of our time has been devoted to establishing an “identity” in Australia. We had to get the telephone, electricity and gas accounts for Unit 2 of 1 Swan Street transferred into our name. We have had to apply for bank accounts, for an Australian tax file number, and for driver’s licences. For my work, I have to get an Australian Police Clearance as well as what they call a “Working with Children” card (nobody can work with children in any way without that card). I also need to apply to become a Marriage Officer and write the test that goes with that.
The problem with many of these things is that when you apply they ask you for at least two and often three forms of identification. They always require a primary form if identification with a photo. Our passports qualify for that. After that, they may require an Australian Driver’s Licence and something with your signature (a bank card will suffice for the latter), and in most cases they will ask for some proof of residence such as a utility bill. Our problem when we first arrived was that we had nothing but our passports. We had to wait for our first utility bills to arrive, and we had to wait for our bank cards to arrive. After four weeks, we finally had enough to apply for driver’s licences, which I have done (Ann has not yet had a chance). As South African licences are not recognised, I had to write the learner’s test and then actually undergo a practical driver’s test, after all these years! At least I passed, so now I am an official ozzy driver :)
Once I had a driver’s licence, I had enough forms of ID to apply for Police Clearance , Working With Children, and Marriage Officer status, all little pieces of paper that are important aspects of being a minister in Oz.
In the mean time, I have done a good deal of travelling since arriving, preaching in Capel twice a month (about 25Km away), and Nannup once a month(60 Km away), and having started a new fellowship group in Dunnsborough (23 Km away) where the Uniting Church presence had basically died out – there is no actual Uniting Church building in that town, so we meet in a home there.
I made the trip to Perth and back four times in the first eight weeks in Oz. The first trip was to finalise a whole lot of paperwork at the Uniting Church Synod office, and meet briefly with the rest of the First Third team (more about them later). Ann and I drove up for that one. The second trip was when Wes Hartley took me up to watch an Australian Rules Football match (fondly known as “footy” and bearing no resemblance to rugby or to soccer or anything else know to civilised man for that matter. It is unique (apparently based on Celtic football), and the Aussies love it. Most people in Western Australia have hardly even heard of rugby, and when they do have rugby on TV, it is Rugby League not Rugby Union, and is just barely recognisable as a form of rugby. There are no rucks, no mauls, and all scrums are uncontested!) My next trip to Perth, I caught a bus up, then jumped on the Perth underground as far as the synod offices. From there I got a lift with Rick Morrell (First Third Co-ordinator) to Greenside United to attend the induction of Jeff and Denise Savage, the other two First Third Team members. Denise, Jeff and I are all designated as “First Third Specialists”. Sounds larny, doesn’t it?  I promised to tell you more about that: First Third is a project of the Uniting Church of Western Australia, focusing on ministry to people aged 0-30. We are called to be resource people, equippers, consultants who will seek out ways of establishing, facilitating and resourcing new forms of ministry that will be relevant and effective for people in their “first third” of life. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? It’s all very experimental at this stage, and we are working out the details as we go along in terms of what that all actually means and entails, but it is tremendously exciting for me that the church has had the insight to approve this project. Of course, to be introduced as the “First Third specialist specially brought in from South Africa” doesn’t do my ego any harm!!
My last trip to Perth was for Presbytery meetings over a weekend, and Ann took the girls shopping at Harbour Market (a mall apparently full of factory outlet shops) while I sat in the usual boring meetings that the institutional church structures are so good at.
All four of us have done a little bit of fishing off the beach, and Carla and I have been out on a kayak a few times. Kristin has started going to a social dancing group, where kids aged 11-14 learn ballroom and other dances together. She seems to be having a “ball” .
Ann has recently started working part time doing home care for an elderly couple, which is right up her street. She has also started to form what I can only call pastoral relationships with some of the elderly and particularly the lonelier ones. She visits them for tea, generally just chats, listens and encourages them. They love her to bits!
Well, that’s the greatest part of our news for now. It’s been an adventure, and promises to continue to be so!

God bless,

Brenton

The other side...

We are here! We have been in Oz just over a week now. The girls started school on Monday and while it is a huge adjustment they are coping well. I do not yet have my own internet access which is why I have not posted on this blog much, but more news will follow. Thanks for all the prayers!

It's starting to rain...

Yes, the flood is coming for Noah! Abraham is all packed up and ready to leave Ur... Joshua is standing on the banks of the Jordan, contemplating the flood waters, gaze firmly fixed on the new land beyond...
In plain English: THE PRIGGE FAMILY HAVE VISAS!!!
More than that- we have tickets to fly. It's not quite Noah's ark, but Qantas will do just fine, thanks(actually it's SAA flying under the Qantas banner).
We picked up our passports from the Australian High Commission in Pretoria this morning at 08h30. The moment we had them in our hands, and having checked them twice and thrice over, we gave Wes a call, and within the hour he had booked our flights.
We leave on Monday 17h50 (SA time) and land in Perth Tuesday 10h25 (WA time), which makes the flight 9 hours and 35 minutes long. Not bad for an 8,320 Km trip...
Four more sleeps :)

No Key

I don’t own any keys!!

The realisation hit me a couple of days ago. I have no keys. No house key, no car key, no office key, no boat-shed key – no keys at all.
For the first time since I left home to go to university at the age of 18, I do not have a single key to my name.
“So what?” you may well ask. What does the lack of keys signify? Well, I’ll tell you, because I’ve been giving this some thought. A key signifies independence. It is profoundly significant – just look at the western cultural ritual of “handing over the key” at a 21st birthday, the very birthday such cultures refer to as “coming of age”. From that moment on the individual is considered to be an adult who is deemed responsible for themselves. Parents and guardians are no longer responsible for them. They are independent members of society, with all the responsibilities that go with that. They may come and go as they please, hence the key.
My lack of keys right now is therefore profoundly indicative of a period in my life where I have, in effect, surrendered my independence (and that of my family) on all manner of levels. With no home of our own, we are highly blessed by the hospitality of Rob (my father) and Val, but at the same time that makes us dependant on them. Their daily routine, their life style, their furniture, everything about this house that they have made into a “home” for them – by the very act of making it their home, it follows that it is not ours. Our lack of a car makes us even more dependent on them.

So the lack of keys just reminded me once again that God has led us into a position where we are utterly dependant – to some degree that dependence lies in the care and hospitality of loved ones right now, but ultimately we are entirely dependant on God. We are trusting Him for so much. We are trusting that it indeed God who has led us here, and that if He has led us here, He will lead us beyond this place. Therefore we are trusting Him for this visa that we are waiting for. We are trusting Him to take us on to our next home and all those other “daily bread” needs – all those very things that will result in new keys jangling in our pockets.

God has spoken to me through so many people in so many ways during this time of waiting. Yesterday the local minister here in Krugersdorp spoke of the desert temptation of Jesus. He asked the question: Why would the God who had just expressed his love for Jesus in such a powerful way at his baptism follow this up by leading him into the desert for 40 days? There are many ways of answering that of course, but the point he made that had impact for me was the point that when Jesus quoted scriptures in response to temptations, the power of those scriptures were not aimed at the tempter as some sort of magic weapon, like shooting silver bullets at a werewolf or splashing holy water on a vampire - no, the power of those scriptures lay in their value for Jesus himself. He was not quoting them at the tempter; he was quoting them at himself. They were affirmations of his own trust in the One who loved him so utterly, completely and unconditionally, and affirmations of his complete and uncompromising reliance on that Love - nothing else on offer could compete.

So here I am - with my whole family - in the desert, without keys. We are convinced that God has led us here, but believe me, it is not a pleasant place to be! So why would the God who loves us so much place us in this position? Again, there are so many different answers one could give to that question, but in the midst of everything there is definitely a question being asked of us right now: You say you trust me, well that’s easy to say when you have all you need and from the comfort and security that you enjoy in such times. What about when those things are no longer there – when there’s no longer a safety net? Do you still trust? Do you still believe that I love you - unconditionally? Is that love enough for you when you are stripped of all else?

Pray for us, that no matter how hard it seems, no matter how weak we sometimes get as the waiting and the doubts threaten to wear down our reserves, that the answer will always remain: "Yes, Lord. We trust. Thank you for your love that never fails."

Back to school

Carla and Kristin have never left South African soil. They have never set foot in Australia, and have never been anywhere near Busselton. They have certainly never even laid eyes on Georgiana Molloy Anglican School, which is the school they are due to attend in Oz.
Nevertheless, this week saw the girls "back to school". Not quite "back to reality" - in truth it all seems quite surreal - but this week the girls received by email some of the work that their future class-mates are contending with right now in Busselton, and every day for the last five days Carla and Kristin spent a good few hours slogging away at it. It's hard to say whether or not they are enirely thrilled about this development, but I must say they have both impressed me with the dilligence they have shown towards it. Truth be told, I think they have both found it a welcome relief from the boredom of waiting, waiting, waiting...
And yes, we are still waiting. It is proving to be an education for all of us!
As an aside, I must say that it was wonderful to get a phone call from Len Faulkner this week - Len is a parishioner from Busselton - who simply called to say that he was thinking of us during our time of waiting. Once again - to all who continue to support us in prayer and encouragement - it is deeply, profoundly appreciated.

Call me Noah

Another week down, and before you ask: No, no visa yet.
I am reminded of Noah. It was a big enough step of faith to even build the ark in the first place. Another step to gather all the animals on board. One more step to round up his family, leave the house, and take up residence in the ark itself. But the biggest test of his faith, and that of the aforesaid family? Waiting... waiting for the rain. Have we done the right thing? Did we hear God right? Lord, we’re looking a bit foolish here in the dry heat, er…. about that flood.
Yes, waiting can be the hardest part. We've done all we can do. We continue to trust that we have heard God correctly in all of this. So we wait.

To take our minds off the waiting a little bit, we decided to go looking for the animals. That is, we decided to take one last trip into the South African bushveldt, and headed off to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve on Monday. We could not get accommodation in the actual reserve so ended up staying just outside the reserve, at the Sun City time share complex known as the Vacation Club. It was not quite the bushveldt experience we love so much and had hoped for, but it served well enough as a staging post for expeditions into the reserve. On the Tuesday (17th), Kristin officially became a teenager. Speaking as Dad, I cannot believe my littlest girl is 13, but facts are facts.

All said and done, it was a wonderful break. Thanks, Dad and Val, for the loan of the Prado (travelling in style!) and to Pat and Richard for letting us use the time share points.

Thanks also to Wes for his continued liaison with the powers that be in Australia, who continue to assure us (through Wes) that the visa process is still underway and that it really is just a matter of patience as we allow the process to continue its course.

One last piece of trivia for your entertainment: I have not shaved since we left for the Pilanesberg on Monday, and have since decided not to shave again until we have a definite reply on our visa application. If this serves no other purpose I am encouraged by the fact that it has considerably boosted the passion with which Ann and the girls are praying for this visa to come – and soon!