Australian Pilg Part 10 - Last week at the Ringwood house

This past Sunday we went to Glenroy Gospel Chapel. It was my first time at church since I got hit by Covid two weeks prior. 

The people were really nice and welcoming and John did an excellent job with his presentation. But it was a challenging morning in some ways. My fibromyalgia has been flaring for several days. Seems ironic especially now that I am over Covid to be suddenly hit with so much fibromyalgia pain. But anyway I haven't been sleeping well and that morning I woke up with a lot back pain and then a head ache not long after.  

By the time we got to the church--about 45 minutes away, but it felt a lot longer--I just wanted to lie down somewhere.   

We learned of another challenge when we arrived. The church's projector was broken. John and a few of the other men tried to fix it. But in the end John came up with the idea of setting a small portable computer screen he happened to have with him onto a podium at the front facing toward the congregation.  

The podium with the portable screen is just to the left of the man with the white beard who is introducing John.

John suggested the people in the back move closer so they could see the screen or else they would need binoculars.

But despite all that I enjoyed the time. 

Before service, the ladies had a prayer time in the kitchen (the men prayed in another part of the church). The ladies seemed an enthusiastic and caring group. They covered a lot of ground in a short time: everything from a local outreach, that morning's worship service and various people who needed healing and encouragement. They also prayed for my back when I asked. 

The worship time followed. One man led a few hymns and gave a short teaching from the Bible. Then they had "open worship" which is when it is opened up for any of the other men who wish to give a word or scripture reading or request a hymn. Several men took part and had a lot of good things to say. It was encouraging and uplifting. After about 30 minutes one of them prayed over the Lord's Supper.

After the Lord's Supper time there was morning tea and fellowship for about 15 minutes. Then John spoke. He gave a sermon as well as talking about our work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. He did an excellent job. He always does. But this time seemed even better than usual. 

After his presentation we had a potluck lunch. It was a good time of food and chat. And there was even some food that was gluten and dairy free so I had plenty to eat. It was all delicious and healthful too. 

Monday I finally got a negative Covid test. (I wore a mask on Sunday at church since I was still testing positive. But since I was over 14 days from the onset and I was clear of symptoms we thought it was safe for me to go. And yes we told the people at Glenroy GC and they were fine with that.)

Since I was testing negative at last we were able to get together with our friend Alyson Prescott.

After a quick tour of her garden we followed her to a botanical garden near her grandsons' school where she needed to go to pick them up. After letting them play at the play area for a while we went back to her house for a refreshing cup of tea and more visiting.

This is an enlarged view of the flowers in the next photo. They were so tiny but also so pretty en masse.

John with Alyson's grandsons,
Ben and Daniel. He had on the mask because Alyson was a little nervous about covid due to some health problems. 

Tuesday morning I got to hear our friend and former pastor, Vicki Mustafa, speak  at a gathering of women from KYB (Know Your Bible) groups in the area. Her message was an introductory teaching on the Old Testament book of Ruth which the groups will be studying next. It was a great message. 

Afterwards Vicki came over to our place for lunch.

It is Thursday afternoon now.  We'll be flying to Tasmania in a couple of days. We'll be in Tasmania for two weeks and then another few days back in Melbourne with John's Mum and then back to Dallas.

So much has happened that I haven't managed to blog about yet. I still hope to write a 'catch-up' post but I should be getting dinner started at the moment--not to mention packing and cleaning. So the catch up post will have to wait.