Newsletter December 2003

This newsletter is based upon our staff report for the period Apr-Sep 03 with additions to bring it up to date.

Executive Summary: Ministry trip to Spain. Brief stops in Tokyo and in some Australian cities. Organising and participating in Gen and Mrs Lee's visit to Australia. Hosting Norwegian officer for a few days. Australian FCMM. Helen prayer secretary of MCF Australia. Hosting at ADC.

Ministry Trip to Spain.

Cities visited were
a. Zaragoza, where we visited each of the MCF families as a separate unit rather than trying to get everyone together at the same time, which would have proved impossible because of holidays and a parent's sickness.
b. Near Cadiz we stayed with one family needing encouragement, and managed to have quality time with Alfonso, the Secretary of the MCF, one other family, and the pastor of the church where the bulk of the Christian servicemen attend.
c. Madrid. We talked over issues relating to delegation and the future of the MCF with Salvador, the National Coordinator, and had a very good meeting with a navy underofficer in the Naval HQ building. Our time in Madrid ended with a fellowship meeting or three couples at which Russell spoke about attitudes to allow us to exercise servant leadership.

Spain continues to be a difficult field for any Protestant workers, due to the very strong influence of the pastors of local churches, many of whom have very dogmatic attitudes. Often individual Christians seem to believe that they are the only ones with the truth.

Brief Stop in Tokyo

Our itinerary allowed us a two day stop in Japan with the Australian Defence Attache and his wife who hosted a dinner for us to which they invited two couples from the board of ACCTS with whom we talked about some of the issues we face in ministry.

Brief Stops in Australia

We had about an hour with a small group at HMAS Cairns encouraging them and exchanging some contact details for others.
At an unexpected meeting at Mackay airport Helen was able to distribute some MCF deployment packs to soldiers waiting for their plane to be refueled.
In Brisbane we had useful discussions with Chaplain Gary Stone and his wife Lynne, and with the staff and some families of Everyman's Welfare Service, then on our last night (22 May) welcomed Chaplain Allen Neil and his wife Lynette who had just arrived from New Zealand to take up a post in Australia. We prayed with them and discussed General and Mrs Lee's visit.

Visit by General and Mrs Lee

After visiting Allen and Lynette Neil, General and Mrs Lee flew to Canberra on 3 July. During the week prior to that, Russell had been heavily involved with the Korean Defence Attache organising invitations to a dinner that was to take place on the evening of 3 July. The Defence Attache accompanied our party from the airport to the Australian Defence Force Academy where we met the Commandant, and General Lee had a good opportunity to talk to several cadets, a chaplain and two Christian workers, Michael Hanlon of Fighting Words Ministries and Dan Burns of the Navigators, especially about the World Conference '04 and the Korean's outreach through their armed forces.
The dinner hosted by the Korean Ambassador and his wife was attended by the High Commissioners (Ambassadors) for Fiji and the Solomon Islands, the New Zealand Defence Attache, some other Koreans, wives, and General and Mrs Lee and ourselves. It was a valuable opportunity to build relationships with senior people who could assist in identifying possible attendees at the World Conference in Seoul.
On the Friday, General Lee spoke at an MCF luncheon at the Defence HQ Officers' Mess, and again at a dinner at our home that night. Members of the MCF Council have taken seriously his encouragement to sponsor participants to the World Conference from one or more Pacific nations.
On the Saturday we drove the Lees to Sydney where they were put to work by the Korean community, especially the members of the Korean Veterans' Officers' Christian Union who also were very generous to us. We also coordinated with the former AMCF Vice President and his wife who met us for this day.
You can see photographs of General and Mrs Lee's visit by going to this page on the MCF of Australia's website, though at last viewing it did have a couple of errors in descriptions.

Hosting Norwegian Officer

A second lieutenant who attended RMH/Interaction in 2002 stayed with us for a few days, and we were able to have him meet our Army Rep on the MCF Council who is a very keen young officer. While giving his testimony, Ole said that he is still seeking the truth about God, and indicated that he believes he is getting closer to a commitment to Christ. We went to a museum together and another day Helen went with him to the zoo. He enjoyed us kissing Hello and Goodbye. One can not know what is a witness.

Australian FCMM

The Forum of Christian Military Ministries was held 13 and 14 Nov in Canberra. The topics addressed were a review of commitments made last year, ministry in a post-modern world, and ministry to other ranks (enlisted personnel). In addition to organizations represented in 2002, this year "Centurions" Association of Lay Ministries was also represented.

Helen as Prayer Secretary of MCF

Helen continues to promote prayer for members of the MCF, especially for our troops deployed in 10 nations. She also writes to as many as she can.

Hosting at the Australian Defence College

In 2003 we hosted a student from Laos, and in 2004 have been allocated a lieutenant colonel and his family from Singapore.

Preparing for World Conference 2004

We work with other ACCTS staff raise funds and to encourage the MCFs of Australia and New Zealand to sponsor attendees at WC'04 from Pacific nations including their own. We are working towards making visits to a couple of nations before the conference. The ACCTS website will lead you to more information about this conference which is to take place 14-18 September in Seoul, Korea.