It was way back in May 2003 that I began this blog… seems a lifetime ago now…
It was started around the time I had finished up as leader of Lesmurdie Baptist church in the hills of Perth and was moving to the northern suburbs to lead an experimental missional community. I had hoped the blog would help our friends in the hills keep in touch with what we were doing in our new adventure, but funnily enough I don’t think anyone ever read it…
Oddly enough others did and along the way I found myself really enjoying the whole experience of writing and connecting with others on a similar journey. Over the last 20 years the blog has gone thru several incarnations and at one point I shut it down thinking it was time to give it all away.
The title of this blog is quite deliberate although it happened by accident. I needed a blog title and the idea of being ‘missionaries in our own backyard’ described precisely what I feel we are on about – helping Australian people get a better picture of a God who loves them. Of course anything that is ‘backyard’ is rough and ready, made up on the go and more concerned with practicality than with theory – which pretty much describes how we do things
These days I don’t write as much as I used to, partly because I’ve thought thru many of the questions that were once so critical, but also because I just don’t have the same time to sit and pontificate like I used to. (I think that’s a good thing) However I do still like to have a place to dump my reflections, think out loud and sometimes just have some laughs.
The missional community (Upstream) that catalysed this whole blogging journey came to an end in 2008. From there we moved to leading the Quinns Community Baptist Church, and subsequently planting the Yanchep Community Church. Then in 2021 we handed both of these churches on to two gifted and inspiring younger leaders who were ready to run the next leg.
After long service leave in 2021, Covid forced lap of Australia in our caravan, we came home to think thru what the next stage of life holds for us.
At this time I run my own business in mobile vehicle weighing. and Danelle and I help various country churches out from time to time teaching and leadership development. In 2022 I wrote and published 2 books. The Future is Bivocational is my argument for the future of Christian leadership in our western world to be increasingly ‘bivocational‘ and for the place of full time ministry to be a much narrower band than before. If you’re interested in why then please read the book 🙂 The other is entitled On Earth As In Heaven – a collection of photos and stories from our local community (Yanchep) that reflect the beauty of both of our created environment and the relationships we share there. It is self published and available either from me direct, or from our local Yanchep cafe – ‘Orion’.
In 2024 our lives shattered when our 21 year old son Sam died in a free-diving accident. What looked like being an exciting and productive phase of life has now stalled in a haze of grief recovery. As of July 2025 I am still running a couple of small businesses in the caravan industry, weighing and installing diesel heaters. Danelle is making sure our home is intact and our oldies are cared for.
What does the future hold?
Probably much that I am not aware of. It isn’t until someone dies prematurely that you realise just how many assumptions you have made about the shape your life will take. I hope my 60’s and 70’s will be some of the most productive and valuable years
At the time of writing this I am a few months into my 61st year now sharing an empty nest with my wife Danelle and our puppy Tahnee, a border collie, golden retriever cross who is now 1 yr old and a beautiful dog.
I’m hoping I will be able to keep surfing and keep writing, the two spaces where I find the most joy.
So welcome to my world and my thought processes. Feel free to leave a comment, start an argument or just say ‘g’day’.
Andrew (Hamo) Hamilton
July 2025