I’m a little curious as to who else reads this from the Brighton community. I know there are several of you out there apart from Grendel, but maybe you’re shy…
I’d be interested to hear your reflections on some of the observations I have made about life in this little suburb we find ourselves in.
If you feel a bit odd posting online then drop me an email some time 🙂death on the nile free download
Hey Hamo
Johnny Laird from a little town – Oxted – close to London, England.
(you kinda know the story through other bits and pieces of dialog….but for the benefit of everyone else….)
I bounced into Backyard Missionary a little while back, when blogsearching “smallboatbigsea” after having read Mike Frost’s “Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture” book.
Your post (http://www.backyardmissionary.com/2007/11/sydney-photoblog-coffee-mission.html) grabbed me, so I’ve keep returning since.
Peace & blessings
J 🙂
Well Hamo, I’m here in a Silicon Valley suburb, trying to figure out how to do mission among the high-tech. This Saturday I am taking another crack at trying to start a missional group.
I have wondered about the balance between focusing on geographical proximity vs. relational proximity. Part of me says why try to overcome the distance between neighbors, another part of me says that distance is a strategy the devil uses to keep the gospel from spreading. I don’t know. I guess this is just part of the missionary task, to try to determine the parts of society we embrace and the parts we oppose, for the sake of the gospel.
I grew up a missionary kid in Japan, where I saw among the missionaries both extreme conservatives and extreme liberals. One missionary forbade his children from watching the summer fireworks because they were “idolatrous ancestor worship,” which of course made him look like an insensitive jerk. Others like my father embraced universalism when they met non-Christians who were good, kind people, and viewed the missionary endeavor as primarily social and educational work.
I guess I want to navigate a Third Way.
Mission among the high tech – Facebook?
Heh! Say Grendel, I have a question: Besides hanging out with Hamo, do you do any stuff with Upstream? I ask because an atheist friend has agreed to participate in the group I’m starting.
Nice to hear from you Joh/n’s!
Sounds like a great challenge Jon. Glad you enjoy Frosty John. He is a good mate!
Sure – I’ve helped out on some backyard blitzes and even a couple of Hamo’s ‘Lend a hand’ session (that he calls ‘church’). I even blogged on Hamo’s blog for a couple of weeks.
I don’t know how I found you… i think looking for emerging church in Perth.
I am from there originally, though that is a stretch since I grew up in PNG (missio kid).
But am now living in Alaska. Involved in a church plant “emerging church” whatever that means. And discovering I have NO IDEA what we are doing, and if we are on the right track, besides seeking God for direction.
distance… missional… relational. I hear you. The neighbors on either side and across the road (especially 🙂 my great-grandfather-in-law’s ‘home’) are not … the type of people that would want to hang out with us and vice versa, not to mention the age difference. But we have been doing the friendly neighbor thing, and … who knows.
Seems like everything is just slow going. I admit. I want to see my friends and neighbors come to know Jesus, now, and I want it to “sweep” down the street.
note, I am avoiding the revival word. 🙂 I read that post by you or someone you linked to recently, and OUCH, they were right on.
novel over. Hi. I am Renee.
Found you somewhere in someone’s link. Am trying to figure out moving out of traditional institutional church life and what it means to be a disciple and disciple maker in the world.
I went back and read some of your posts and you had me in your honesty with posts like “Once was an Evangelist” and “6 reasons not to quit”
Decided to stay around and read. Thanks!