R1202

November 2, 2012 Leave a comment

In his important book “The Tangible Kingdom” Hugh Halter writes “if you go to Africa and hang out in a village of starving children you’ll get a heart for starving children.  If you hang out with the mentally ill, you’ll get a heart for the emotionally imbalanced.  If you want an authentic heart for people outside the church … you’ve got to be with them.  As they grab your heart, your posture will change, your angle of approach will change, and the Kingdom of God will be a little more tangible”.

About eighteen months ago we launched an overarching theme for our QCCC sites.  Known as R1202 (Romans 12:2) it’s a bright, colourful hand that is now a visual presence at each site.  The attributes in R1202 are drawn directly from the Beatitudes and it has multi-layering so that the interplay of colour, fingers (and thumbs) and words create up to sixty memorable object lessons that we can refer to, depending on the age and demographic of groups we’re working with

At QCCC we get to hang out with more than 50,000 people each year, with huge variation in age, needs and desires.  It means we have a heart for people coming away from their everyday hum drum, it gives us a heart of service to make sure they have a wonderful time away, and a heart to see their time with us spent well.  Often we don’t have a lot of time with people, but we’re just a small link in the chain of the Holy Spirit’s work and prompting in their life which started long before they come to us and will go on long past.

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Of salt and yeast

January 13, 2012 Leave a comment

In a past life I was a franchise of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Australia.  In fact I’m proud to admit one of the stores I was responsible for set an Australian record for opening week sales.  I even have the T-shirt to prove it!  All that to say, I’ve dabbled in enough pizza to know a bit about their bases and the secrets of great dough.

Some of this came back to me recently as I sat in on some sessions on Jesus’ parables by a mate of mine, Rhys McFaddden.  Talk turned to Jesus admonition to avoid the yeast of the pharisees and his urging followers to be salt.  For me it wound me back to memories of flopped deep pan bases, none more so than when we were trying to make them in drought-ravaged Broken Hill when it’s water supply (Menindee Lakes) was down to 3%.  The town water became so saline that it was undrinkable – petrol stations stopped honouring discount vouchers and instead gave out casks of spring water with purchases. 

In the shop we had to start using cask water in the pizza bases too, because the saline content in the tap water was killing off the yeast in the dough mix and we couldn’t get any bases to rise. 

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Reserve Graders

May 21, 2011 2 Comments

On the fringes

Recently I heard a talk by someone celebrating the faithfulness of an orphan mission in Central Africa, totally reliant on donations and therefore operating “on faith”. The talk was of the numerous close calls, near misses, miraculous intervention and “God always coming through and rewarding the faith of the place”.

And it’s a fantastic story. I am in awe of people living on the edge like that, their bravery, their faithfulness and their ability to live completely reliant on God. But I did wonder that for every stunning story like that, how many other similar outfits out there that embark on a similar path and struggle for years or fall over? What thought do we give to the hundreds of faithful people who enter ministry with a full heart, wonderful intention, but end up burned out, broke or worse? Was it their faith that was lacking? I doubt we can judge but I suspect not.

On a few occasions I have been in the presence of earned celebrity. And when that has happened I have often been struck by the star-power, or the extremity of talent that these people ooze. I’m talking of entertainment celebrities and the wattage of their star-power, a celebrity that drips with extreme charisma.

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The Home Front – Selous Scout Mission

February 22, 2011 4 Comments

 

Japanese war dead on Suri Ridge, Okinawa.

One of the major trepidations I have about writing on the Selous Scouts, and drawing analogies with Christian mission, is a deep sense of unworthiness.  Regardless of the books read, and even a sense of proximity of having lived through the Rhodesian bush war, how could I ever truly know what these men went through?  I was just a kid who went to bed each night in the far-flung outer suburbs of southern Bulawayo with a sense of security, while Selous Scouts and the rest of the Rhodesian Army made huge sacrifices and lived with constant deprivation attempting to protect our lifestyle.

I have often wondered what it must have been like for those guys, particularly Scouts, to return to “civilisation” for their R & R.  How was it to be air-lifted from deep within the tribal trust lands, dressed in the ragged, faded denim of the enemy, brandishing an AK-47 to find oneself hours later in one of the wild-west saloons of downtown Salisbury or Bulawayo?  With all they saw in the field, and were called on to do, was it possible to cast it aside as they returned to the “normality” of civilian life for a time or, more importantly, at the end of the war?
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R1202

February 16, 2011 1 Comment

 

Like a visual vision statement

At QCCC we’re piloting a new concept we hope will become the backbone theme of our programs, across our three camp sites at Mapleton, Tamborine and Brookfield (Brisbane). The working title for the concept is “R1202“, a reference to the biblical Romans 12:02:

 

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within.”

Also known as “The Hand” we believe the R1202 theme will enable us to partner with visiting groups to reflect on the key attributes and values required for a successful life.

As it is developed we will make it a flexible tool that can fit the objectives and outcomes of each group who visits us. We will also develop resources so that the lessons learned from R1202 on camp can last long after it concludes.

R1202 will become the major tool used by QCCC in our teaching and service to clients.  Our staff have identified approximately 70 object lessons that can be drawn from R1202 using colours, fingers and other concepts.

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