E-BLAST - 3 MARCH 2013

Mark and Delma in New Zealand departing 4.30pm Thursday 7 and home 4.30pm Tuesday 12 March - 4 days in NZ and 2 days travel.

Friday 8 March mission meetings in Auckland, Saturday 9 March Auckland young writer mini-conference, Sunday 10 March Christchurch young writer mini-conference, Monday 11 March a tourist rail trip as the Footplate Padre. Home next day, 12 March.

Photo  -  Auckland Railway platform - diesel cabin. Being a former train driver, author of 16 books on railways, and now Footplate Padre, Mark enjoys being invited into the diesel cabins!

NZ DEPOT PICTON TO CHRISTCHURCH

New Zealand Rail Depot - Picton to Christchurch - this is one of the great tourist train trips of New Zealand, along the South Island coast line from Picton (where the ferry arrives from Wellington). We enjoyed this trip in 2008.

Footplate Padre's party - day after Christchurch young writers mini-conference (10 March), we're taking the Christchurch to Greymouth tourist rail trip from the east to the west coast. Rail buff John Grocott from our Tweed Heads church is joining us.

E-BLAST - 24 FEBRUARY 2013

Basil Sellers $2000 Midge Point Art Prize - launch - 15 artists attended from Midge Point and Bloomsbury Wed (20 Feb) at The Poinjt Tavern. Neil Brooks (photo) launched the art prise while Sue Spencer (far left) was MC.

Sue introduced Mark by explaining how she and her husband Sean volunteer with Well-Being Australia by looking after the missionaries who visit Laguan Quays Respite.

Kim Hanson from Bloomsbury and editor of The Chronicle (the local monthly news) is designing the Entry Form which shall be launched 22 April at The Point Tavern. The Art Prize opening is 27 July at The Point Tavern and runs for 20 days. 

PAW PAWS GROWTH 4 MONTHS

5 Paw Paw trees have grown in 4 months since our last visit. Watering and good rains, planted them as tiddlers (from Garry and Hilda Poole way back in July), saw phenominal growth by early November.

Passionfruit at Shade house grown with climbers to the share house roof. There are seven separate climbers. Amazing and exciting.

The next missionary visitors are CMS.

5 FOX TAIL PALMS LAGUNA QUAYS RESPITE

One of the five 25' palm trees we planted in October 2011 - look how well it's grown. This photo was taken from below with the zoom trying to capture the Fox Tail Palm's beautiful green and its breadth expansion.

The five plants between these Fox Tail Palms are display plants while the garden adjacent has Delma's mulberry plant, a mongo and five bananas.    

E-BLAST - 17 FEBRUARY 2013

Bloomsbury School is next to the main north Qld railway line. We visited the School Principal in relation to the Basil Sellers Midge Point Art Prize discussing the possibility of an inhouse school art competition with the winning art work being displayed with the 8 finalists at The Point Tavern over the 20 days of exhibition in late July.

The launch of the Basil Sellers Midge Point Art Prize is on this Wednesday 1.30pm at The Point Tavern.

STAMPS

Mark took on his late mum's stamp album and has been stamping himself since the children were little - Boxing Day was the family's traditional stamping day. While at Laguna Quays Respite this past week, Mark updated it with stamps from 2010 - first chance he's had to spend a whole day dedicated to it. He gets less and less stamps now due to Email and Texting.

Mark had his late mum's stamp album of the 1930's valued. The valuer suggested he keep it as a family heirloom. Investor collectors were not short of 1930's Australian stamps as that era saw "every man and dog" a stamp collector.  

E-BLAST - 10 FEBRUARY 2013

2013 PSI young writer program with Christian Today this week initiates International young writers and the following week are first time young writers from Australia and New Zealand. That completes the 1st full cycle of 5 weeks.

Many of the 50 young writers are re-published in both on-line and hard copy magazines.Mark thoroughly enjoys this mentoring ministry. They each write once a month. They enjoy remarkable responses - thankyou to our faith finance network for supporting Mark - to the next gneration of Christian leaders.

Photo  -  Sam Manchester (Sydney) one of the original young writers - spent 2 years in the UK, a Sociology degree (Sydney) and now at Moore Theological College.

E-BLAST - 3 FEBRUARY 2013

40th anniverary Croydon Park - North Campsie Baptist merger (1973). Mark and Delma attended the celebration Sunday 3 February.

This was Mark and Delma's first student pastorate 1979-80 and four sisters and their families took Delma under their wing - Anthea was born at this time. This was a pivitol period for us with key men Henry Robertson, Bill Kerr, Ronald Kerr and Len Morgan carefully guiding Mark's pastoral initiation.

Photo  -  three of the sisters - Faye, Bery, Val with Delma 2013.

6 of 10 MORGAN CHILDREN 2013

Croydon Park - North Campsie Baptist 2013 - Mark with 6 of the 10 Morgan children. This was Mark and Delma's first pastorate and the Morgan family were sister relatives of 4 families with many many teenagers. 1979-80 saw these young people offer their lives to Jesus Christ.

Morling Seminary awarded Mark the prestigious and academic Evangelism Prize - they were two special years as a student pastor.