South Africa Travels

The CS Africa Annual Gathering was awesome in March with over 100 attending, including reps from Namibia and North Africa for the first time. I loved the passionate worship at "Potters Place" a secular venue in J-Bay where we hosted the meetings.

It was a privilege to share the speaking platform with Floyd McClung, who is a passionate church planter and who urged us to make disciples of all nations, starting one at a time, even before they are Christians.

We had vital meetings with the governing body of CS South Africa and lots of conversations with good friend and African RC Roy Harley who hosted us in his J-Bay home. There were hardly any waves, but the mystique of J-Bay never leaves.

It is always a challenge seeing the poverty living side-by-side with affluence and this is slowly changing. For the first time I saw white people acting as car guards and washing windows at traffic lights.

Living the Dream Sequel

So I last left you when I was sitting for 10 hours in the transit area...

Finally got my ticket at 11pm and so glad to board the plane, had not eaten for 24 hours, figured I would get some food on the flight...

Taxied out, and waited 40 min...

Announcement came, air-con problem, have to go back to gate...

Waited till 2am before they said the flight was cancelled...

Bus to hotel after the airlines had to pay our USD$117 visa to get out of the airport, arrived at hotel 4am...

Waited till 5:30am while checking in and they announced to me, "We have run out of rooms, you have to go to another hotel..."

6am was checked into an executive suite at the Sheraton! "Breakfast starts in 30mins..."

Slept 4 hours and up for breakky. Collected by a CS friend and out for lunch...

Rebooked on 7pm flight to Sydney and got on...

Arrived at Auckland Airport at 11pm and told I was not in the system and would have to wait till 5am before someone could find me...

Slept on a bench 4 hours...

Had to purchase another Auckland Sydney ticket and got on 7am flight...

Arrived home three days after I had left to arrive home two days earlier!? Three nights in three different airports...

I had been away 9 days, 4 of them spent around airports...

Felt amazingly good, contentment tested and I passed the test. God is good even when our circumstances may not be...

Living the dream!

Living the Dream

Living the dream of the CSI international director... Writing to you from the airport in Santiago, Chile after my first trip of the year to South America.

Yes I did hang out with friendly Latin Americans. Yes I did eat ceviche and other exotic food. Yes I did get a surf at Punta Rocas. Yes I did have many meetings encouraging CS leaders. You can see it all on Instagram and Facebook.

But..........

I arrived to Lima airport to go to our Brazil meeting and realised I had forgotten to arrange a visa.

I was rejected at the Brazilian embassy for an emergency visa.

I was told I could not adjust my ticket nor get a refund.

I spent a day beating myself up for being so stupid.

I decided to go home a day early only to discover that all three midnight flights were jammed due to a cancelled flight and no standby tickets.

I discovered there is no seating at the airport in Lima, Peru.

I spent a night sitting in a cafe chair under fluoro lights trying to sleep.

I was told next morning my first flight out was oversold.

I got a ticket for the next flight, then they told me the seat was broken and I could not have it, which made me late to Santiago.

I missed my direct flight to Sydney which was the whole reason for shifting to this time.

I have now been sitting for 10 hours in the transit area awaiting a ticket home, it's been 24 hours since I left the place I was staying in Lima. I cannot go back, I cannot get out. There is no food, water, WiFi, shops, friends, distractions - feels like a scene from the movie "The Terminal" without the people, dry wall opportunity...... and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

I do have Juanita the cleaner, whom I watch doing her rounds cleaning the toilets.

And I am reading Philippians 4:11-13 where Paul writes to his support team in Philippi and says, "Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether is is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength."

How many times is that verse 13, "I can do all everything through Christ who gives me strength," misquoted (by myself as well) as if the strength Christ gives is to pass over all obstacles, problems, barriers, weaknesses, opposition when in fact he is really saying the Christ-given strength is the strength to know contentment whilst I am going through them. So rather than thinking the battle is to see Christ change my circumstances to make me content, it's the battle to change me in the midst of circumstances to know contentment.

God is bigger than my mistakes, my circumstances and my feelings. My contentment needs to be bigger than all of these otherwise I am no different.

So I am learning a lesson in contentment. Focusing on thanking God, praying, reading, thinking, catching up on writing and smiling at Juanita as she passes by.

But for sure can't wait to get out of here either!

Another day living the dream as the International Director...

Oh, there's more, finally got on the plane after a half-hour delay, we taxied and waited half hour - then returned to gate, broken air-con. Now 1:30am, been travelling 28 hours and I'm still in South America. Being contentment tested. Stay tuned!

Europe Visitation 2013

Finally home after my longest trip of the year to Europe over November. Great time with our northern Spain CS contacts in Gijon, visiting Shane and Ruth Sparks and Hiucif and family, and some sweet waves! I then passed through Barcelona and got to catch up with CS Spain director Marc for the first time there. What a challenge for him stepping out full time. Then onto the CS Holland national conference with Kock and the team where I was joined by CS Europe RC Phil Williams. It was my first time in Holland and great to see and share with some 40 key contacts and appreciate the dedication of Dutch surfers in howling onshore, cold, dribbly beachbreaks. Their enthusiasm was unfazed. Flying then to Casablanca, Morocco I had my first experience in this Islamic nation and the 5:30am call to prayer outside my bedroom window. Our contact there has great connections in surfing and wants a stronger affiliation with CS that I was able to help negotiate. Flying back to the UK it was onto a CSI fundraiser in Wales with Johnny Hillman and some quality time with Phil Williams, our UK director and European RC. I was glad to be home after a 16 day tour and will not travel again till 2014. God is on the move in Europe with new models of mission as they are well into their post-Christian era.

Pacific Leaders Forum

After a quick 3-day turnaround from Japan, I was suddenly in Fiji for the first time for our Pacific Leadership Forum. Gordy Webb, our Pacific Regional Coordinator, had organised for each national leader plus their key potential successor to be at the meeting. We had wonderful people from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, NZ and Fiji present. A great time was spent meeting one another and sharing story, doing a solid day on the CS Foundations Training and surfing at Cloudbreak and Hideaway. Special thanks to Kris Stice who hosted us; his godly example and generosity was amazing.

I personally preached at Kris' church, led some Foundations Training, shared the big picture of CSI and fulfilled a surfer's dream of surfing Cloudbreak (even if it was only 1-3'). I was struck with how different surfing is in these far flung Pacific Islands. This is certainly our most remote surfing region and whilst there are plenty of waves, the cost of a surfboard and accessing the surf is the challenge. Surf coaching and sharing in the development of the sport is a real priority. Christian Surfers can be in early on the ground floor of development and shape the culture before foreign tourists do!

Kris is a great example of this in serving the Fiji Surfing Association where CS Fiji have been able to partner in various events and meetings, even acting as team manager at a recent contest. 

Thanks to those CSI partners who made this meeting possible.