UNOH's Wild Ones hit Adelaide

From the 9th-11th of March (sitting on the bench from left)Ash Barker (Director UNOH Bangkok), Shobie Owen (UNOH Melbourne), and Dan (FORGE Melbourne), came to Adelaide to unleash a message, the call to radical discipleship with Jesus. Last year the UNOH tour of the churches was called 'Wild Ones'. The quote on our T-shirts (in the pic), from Erwin McManus says, 'There is within each one of us, a raw and untamed faith waiting to be unleashed.' These guys have no problem unleashing theirs in action and word, hence I had no problem hosting them in Adelaide last weekend while they interacted with various communities from the hills to the north of Adelaide.

What a quality weekend, beginning with a small group of gathered people at our place on Friday night for a meal. What a quality group of people it was, here we were, about a dozen key leaders from Churches of Christ in SA passionate about standing in solidarity with the poor and marginalized. Margaret Mead said, 'never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has.' I felt a strong sense of that in the room that night, the possibility that this conversation could be the beginning of an exciting venture.

Saturday began early in the morning with the first public gig for these guys a breakfast at Blackwood Church of Christ. It was a great turn out and the Blackwood church put on an awesome breakfast. Verity Skye (my beautiful wife) shared some of the challenging songs she had written. Shobie played and sang songs from her new CD 'Digging through the roof', accompanied by Dan on percussion. You've gotta hear these songs, each tell a real story from the heart of journeying with the poor, songs that will tug at your heart strings and challenge you to act not just listen. Get a copy of her CD here. Ash spoke to the theme of his book title, 'Make Poverty Personal'. Again another quality must have resource, get Ash's book here.

Our afternoon was spent in and around the far northern suburbs of Adelaide (Elizabeth), enjoying the hospitality of Les and Helen Colston. I've never been out to this area of Adelaide before, it's a different world. It almost looks rural with red sand and wide open spaces. Ash & Shobie mused over the possibilities of a UNOH presence here. Saturday night we were at Hewitt Church of Christ for a Thai dinner. The church's aim was to raise awareness about UNOH and particularly the Bangkok chapter. The drive home late that night was the most entertaining I've ever had. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life with Ash, Shobie and Dan, over tierd travellers, in the car.

Sunday morning didn't start so early. Wild Ones were back at Blackwood Church of Christ where Ash shared a deeply moving message and Shobie, Dan and verity inspired us with their message through music. UNOH received such a warm and encouraging welcome from the Blackwood church.

Later that evening the guys made it to their last gig, Hope Valley Uniting. I was so impressed that after 3 weeks on the road these 3 were still able to stand on 2 feet and deliver their message of God's heart-beat for the poor, with integrity and enthusiasm. Ash had an amazing encounter with the past (I'll talk about that on the next post) and as a result of that Ash and I ended up in the city tucked away in a lettle place in the south west corner near Westcare having a meal with strangers who soon became friends.

What an amazing weekend, i have a feeling we have only seen the beginning of the adventures of Wild Ones here in Adelaide. Already we are planning Jon & Lisa Owen to hit some churches in April, Jon Smith in May and wait for it...Mick Duncan with Vox Congo in June. That's right people we're working on Vox Congo coming to Adelaide with the Wild Ones tour, how exciting.

Watch this blog for more stories and updates of UNOH Wild Ones in Adelaide as well as my occassional lenten reflection.

Shalom

Mark