Going tomorrow to Kazakhstan. Many emotions. Just get me on a plane hey.

update thought (11:16) I just looked at my flight times and all that, and I get more time in Kaz than I thought. I get pretty much a whole week coz I get there Sat morning and leave the next saturday. Well done me for getting such quick moving flights.

Ok so now I’m not sure how I’m gonna get out of Beijing! It’s always been the tricky leg of the trip, changing planes, short transfer window and all that. But I stumbled on a new problem today- no ticket.

How did that happen, you say? Well, mostly my fault I think, but they don’t do e-tickets for this leg of the trip, and I thought they did, and they want me to pick it up in Beijing, which is just stoopid, so I am hoping there is an option “c”.

I am jumping on a jet plane in 5 days to go to Kazakhstan. A few years ago when we did this people asked us where it was and why we were going. This time people are saying “mmmyesss, its niyce” and then asking why I’m going.

We have beautiful friends who are over there running humanitarian aid, and I felt God tell me to go and just love and pray for them. So I’m going with the ministry of cups of tea and hugs. I was reminded that most of Paul’s journeys were the same, missions of encouragement. That made me feel good.

The only bum is that Sare and Xavie are not coming with me. I will miss them desperately. But I really can’t give that too much head space at the moment coz it’s sad, and it doesn’t help. I’m only going for 10 days, unless I get stuck in Beijing (pray for me about that one pls), so it’s not a long trip.

But I can’t wait to get there and taste the wonderful central Asian bread and food again, and to catch up with amazing friends over Kazakh tea or Starry coffee. I don’t know if this is work or holidays, it’s kinda both and neither, but I’m going, so thanks work for letting me go without really going into all the details (I have the best bosses in the world).

Dasvidanya (Russian for goodbye, one of the few words I know)

Those of you who can read between the lines may have noticed a reference to Tara last week. I make a point of telling people important things in real life before I tell them on the internet. This was one of those.

My friend Tara died last week in a car crash at North Rocks. I have known her and the family for about 16 years, most of her life. And I loved her like a little sister, I am very protective of her and looking out for her. So my heart broke last week trying to come to terms with it. it doesn’t help that I’m still trying to process my dad’s death in January, you can’t help but join the dots and feel sorry for yourself, even though they are not dots that join.

I had the heavy honour of speaking at her funeral on Friday, and I said some things which I think were important for her friends and family to know. The main is that for the child of God death does not get the final say (thank you David Reay for speaking this into my life). For the child of God Jesus gets the final say, because he beat death when he rose again. That’s why 1 Corinthians says

54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[j] this Scripture will be fulfilled:

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, as I said then, I’m not saying goodbye Tara, I’m saying goodnight, coz I’ll see you in the morning.

That doesn’t mean that I am not sad, it just means I can grieve with hope. My sister is safe, she is well, and when “today” ends we will be united again. I still cry, I still miss her, I am so sad for her family, and I don’t want to start a new season of life that is without her. But God is so good. He asked me a few years ago to be an older brother to her, to look out for her, and I have done my best to be that. Last week, I got a taste of those words which I know so many of us long to hear in the father’s presence one day

“well done, good and faithful servant”

I heard God saying that to me about my role in Tara’s life. And I am so blessed to hear those words this side of heaven. I count it a joy and priviledge to have had this role in someone’s life.

(insert awesome camp logo here)

I have had this dream and hope for a while to take a group of year 9/10 guys and girls away for a week to explore life, who they want to be, and how God fits into all this. It is a stage of life where it doesn’t seem to cut it anymore that you have grown up with Jesus. It has to become your own.

So my dream was to go away to a farm/bush camp and do some work around there. There’s just something good about fixing a fence or chopping good. Alongside that I want to spend time hearing people’s stories, exploring how Jesus can be the foundation of our understanding of ourselves and our world.

And it’s happening- July 14-18 is our first TreeChange Camp. The name tree change I think is a real estate term for when people move out of the city and go to live in the bush. We’re only doing that for a week, but it’s all about change so it fitted quite well. So if you are in year 9/10, come. If you know someone who is in that age and stage of life (no pre-Jesus experience necessary), tell them to find me, or tell me to find them.

I am keen as, it’s gonna be a winner…. course I’ve gotta fit in a Kazakhstan trip before then (it’s next Friday- I can’t believe it)…and a tidy little housesit in June… and my boy’s first birthday. it’s gonna be a big few months.

So probably you have heard about Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana from the Disney show of the same name) and a recent photo shoot for Vanity Fair. Being in a shoot for that mag is a step up enough for a 15 year old, but it was not the step she was really wanting. Here is a brief summary from one of my fave youth websites, thesource4ym.com

Miley Cyrus is taking issue with a photo of herself that’s going around, and it’s not another amateur, truth-or-dare Internet snapshot - it’s the handiwork of Annie Leibovitz.

“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed,” Cyrus said Sunday in a statement through her publicist. “I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”

Unless you go trawling (which I don’t think you should) they are not pornographic images, but they are suggestive. Miley admits that she made a mistake, was taken in by the photographer, and regrets her choice.

Now I haven’t followed that closely the HM phenom heaps closely, but I have tried to keep up. And so far Miley has kept herself pretty clean, I have been nicely surprised. Coz she is only 15. But in the world she is in, people get exploited in a way that reminds me of the circus sometimes. People become commodities, bits of meat which offer entertainment. I don’t know what her faith journey is- I find it hard to tell anything like that with Americans coz their culture is so steeped in religious language- but I did think she so far has been a welcome break from Brittany or Rihanna.

But has she taken her first steps into their world? Is it impossible for someone to survive the Hollywood lifestyle with their integrity in tact? These are questions, not answers. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, and everyone makes mistakes. I gotta admit I used to want to be famous, but then I wondered how you would tell who your real friends were and who just wanted to be seen with you. And then I thought about mistakes and how when you’re a nobody, it doesn’t really affect the world if you stuff up. But with famous people mistakes can be blown right out of proportion. So I gave up the dream.

Do you guys have any thoughts about Miley?

Isn’t it amazing how the things which offend you most can become the things which capture you most sometimes?

I used to laugh and mock those who wore blue tooth ear pieces, but I am loving it a bit too much myself at the moment.

Maybe I should wear it with the outfit of that facebook photo which is Matrix-like?