As of November 14th I will no longer be the Forge WA director and my role will be taken over by the very capable and brilliant Scott Vawser. Ironically I will be down south all that following weekend on Forge business because we couldn’t arrange an earlier time – so I will ‘finish work’ and then ‘go to work’…
I have been sensing that change is in the wind and with our impending travel it seemed like a good time to hand the reins to someone else. Its been 6 years of establishing Forge here in WA, often against some pretty virulent opposition, but I think we can look now and say that it is up and running and has been a valuable part of many people’s journeys.
Having said that, we are also in the process of review and asking how do we continue to shape western missionaries and how do we keep helping churches on the missional incarantional journey but perhaps in some different ways.
Recently, I heard it said that ‘Hamo is coming to back to the fold’ in his stepping down from Forge. I can only guess what that means…
While I am no longer the WA director I am still the National Director and still absolutely passionately convinced that we need to be continually training missionaries and continuing to provoke churches to orient themselves around their mission and their local context – to get their attention off the ‘whizz bang’ and onto the acts of service and goodness and relationships that will bless the local community.
At this stage I am taking a year’s leave without pay so that I have the option of coming back to the role, but my gut feel is that its time for me to move on. Danelle and I will still be on the Forge WA team and we will still be deeply involved in all that goes on, but someone else will pull it all together and keep us focused.
So while we are stepping down, we are by no means stepping out.
Nor do we have any desire to step out.
There have been few groups I could connect with that would align more perfectly with my own sense of vocation so my hope and expectation is that come next year after our trip we will be well and truly ready to put our hand to the plough in whatever way we can again.
Oddly, I have not met you face to face, I’ve sensed a change was coming around for you and have been praying for you. I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers!
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Yeah well you and your mob – cetainly have changed my way of thinking – you bastards!!!!
Nah, 3 days in Subi changed me more than 4 years of Theological College at Carlingford – and I give thaks to God for that weekend.