Adelaide Family Visit and Tabor College

At the beginning of this year I was paging through an old copy of Discipleship Journal when I found an advert for a theological college in America which offered a degree in Intercultural Theological Education. I thought 'Ooo! That's a description of what I do.' I have been aware for some time that my degrees are all in the area of biblical studies and that I have a yawning gap in intercultural engagement. As a matter of interest I then googled 'intercultural theological degrees, Australia' and came up with only one hit - Tabor College in Adelaide.

I took a look at the curriculum and the first seminar that would be suitable for me if I embarked on a Doctor of Ministry programme was scheduled for March. It was entitled "Christian Dialogue with Muslims" - a very timely subject in the present climate of fear and misinformation. Professor Dudley Woodberry is a world authority in this area and I felt a true sense of privilege to sit under his teaching.

The programme was intense - 9am - 4.30pm for five days. I am not used to that and was experiencing sleep deprivation and brain overload by the end of the week. I flew home late on Saturday, arriving in Brisbane at midnight. Now I have to 'defrag' the old brain and begin to digest the material more thoroughly! I was able to access the wonderful Tabor library and photocopy material to use for the assignments at home. I have done a philosophy degree and I really wanted something practical. The D.Min. really fits the bill and I found it of great benefit chatting with like-minded people attending the course.

Added to the huge benefit of the seminar was the fact that my little family live in Adelaide and I was able to have one beautiful weekend 'playing' and fellowshipping with them and still see them all every evening when I returned from College. How cute it was to womble into my bedroom and find a note posted under the door from Elijah "I love you Grandy".

Adelaide, Here I Come!

For most parents as they get older, happiness is having grandchildren. I adore mine! And hey, I get to see them tomorrow. Have to get up at 3am, leave home at 4am for a 5.30am flight. Ugh!

But seeing my little family in Adelaide makes it all worth while.

I have been able to combine study with this family trip as I will be attending a seminar at Tabor Adelaide during the week. I've had to read 5 books and write interactive papers on each for pre-seminar preparation! Talk about stress! It's OK if you don't have any other life.

There's lots of news about the Africa trip planned for August in the pipeline, but I'll have to wait till I return from Adelaide to get a Newsletter out with details. Life is full, but very good....

My 'grandies'

Shan and Geoff, 2009

Colour Conference, Sydney 2010

At Colour, Twenty-Ten
108 Ladies came from New Calodonia with matching red and white outfits!

I didn't get to see much of Sydney, even though we were at Darling Harbour. This feature was interesting, though.

Gill and Karen on Darling Harbour. My Teapot present!

For the last year I have attended Hillsong Brisbane (following the change-over from Garden City Christian Church). I had been attending the ladies meetings, known as 'Sisterhood' and heard much about previous 'Colour' Conferences.

I was a bit dubious about going because I had been given the impression by some that it would be 'fluffy' and 'girly', which are not words folk would readily associate with me! However, a great package became available for flight/hotel/conference/transfers, so I climbed on board. Aren't I glad I did! What a blast! In my evaluation, there was a 5% mix of fun-stuff in with the 95% of serious 'God business', a great deal of which had to do with Hillsong Sisterhood's social initiatives - Watoto orpahage and Baby Refuge in Uganda, sponsoring children in the Philippines through Compassion, helping prevent human trafficking and slavery through A21 and writing to imprisoned Christians through Voice of the Martyrs.

A new facet has been the work of Marilyn and Gary Skinner in Uganda in raising funds for the reconstruction of faces for women in Uganda who have been viciously mutilated by child soldiers in the LRA. The story of Nancy was confronting and inspiring. Nancy had her nose, lips and ears cut off with a razor blade. She was left to bleed to death by her enemies. She survived, but was rejected by her society, who didn't want to look at her! Marilyn Skinner has worked at building the infrastructure necessary to have Nancy's face repaired. We saw a picture of her with her new nose. We wept. Unlike us, Nancy was smiling broadly, just glowing! The news has come through "Nancy has got her lips!" 7000 (I'm not sure if that number is accurate, but think so) women laughed and rejoiced for her. Her ears are on the way!

"Rejoice with me, for that which was lost is found!"

Marilyn has told us that she is building a network of willing plastic surgeons who will do the reconstructive surgery, delighted that it goes beyond the confinements of Western women just wanting to be 'more beautiful'. The challenge is to raise the funds for the attendant medical costs as there are countless women and children in Uganda who have fallen victim to the LRA.

For myself, I was blessed to be able to camp in a room with two terrific young ladies - Karen and Gillian. They certainly made me laugh. I have known them both since before they were married in church circles, but didn't have a clue until I booked into the hotel who I was to room with. Thank you Lord - it was an inspired choice!

I learned lots of stuff, mind you, including the joys of eating DESERT PIZZA in the room at 10.30pm!! Yes, I heard that - you asked "What's dessert pizza?" Picture it! Pizza base drooled in chocolate, sprinkled thickly with sliced strawberries and banana and topped with ICE CREAM! I promise! However, because the girls had brought mine to the room, they thought it prudent to dispense with the ice cream, so I just had the melty remains. I watched hair straightening sessions, clothes layering sessions, and learned tips such as Cover your hair roots with mascara or black marker pen!! They are innovative young ladies.

There were four speakers: Holly Wagner, Priscilla Shirer, Christine Cain and Dr Robbie Sonderegger - all exceptional speakers, but their messages were also profound and intended to fire up, not just inspire or amuse. The Sisterhood mantra is "BE THE CHANGE!" None of the speakers pulled their punches. It was not about those present feeling good, or joining Hillsong, but the message that there is a new spiritual season abroad and we need to be 'of it' and 'in it.'

Many people from other denominations and countries were present. I chatted with a young lady who had flown in from Chennai for this. She is R. Catholic. I spoke with Presbyterians, Baptists, Anglicans and there was 108 ladies from New Calodonia who wowed us with their red dresses and white accessories.

All of us received teapots as presents lending an amusing aspect to 200 of us returning home to Brisbane and going through the scanner at the airport. "What! Another teapot!" the man at the screen exclaimed! These are the words printed on the lid of the boxes:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

Cleft Friends - Supporting Parents of Babies Born with Cleft Palates

My lovely niece Helena lives in South Africa, one of the places I expect to be visiting in August this year. This is her story and the reason I have included her web address for anyone interested. I'll let Helena take over from here...

HELENA'S STORY

As you know, our precious baby Joel was a miracle baby! In July 2008 I nearly lost my only ovary and my Doctor rushed me into surgery and saved it in the nick of time. At the age of 18 I lost my left overy when my fallopian tube twisted, cutting off the blood flow. It is so bizarre that nearly eight years later the same thing should happen to my right ovary. I feared that I would never be able to have my own children. Why is it that what we fear most always seems to come about?! God showed me that the weapon against fear is love: "perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18). Through everything I have been through I have learned to hold my Heavenly Daddy's hand and trust Him.

My baby was born with a cleft in the soft palate. The emotional journey has been hectic, but we are doing so much better now. As a parent, you have so many questions and in the beginning, I battled with blaming myself. We did not know anything about cleft lip/palate's as it does not run in either of our families. When we were searching online, all the info that we could find was from overseas. One day I walked into an Art Gallery and mentioned my story to the owner (an absolute stranger). I learned that her friend's baby was also born with a cleft in the soft palate. After meeting with this fellow-parent of a cleft baby, I felt so relieved! I knew that God had set up my walking into that Art Gallery and the fact that I shared my story.

We decided to travel to Cape Town to Dr Dirk Lazarus, a renowned Plastic Surgeon, who runs the Cleft Lip/Palate Clinic at the Red Cross Children's Hospital. This was a traumatic time in our lives. Preparing for my six-month-old baby to go into theatre, then watching him wake up from the anaesthetic and monitoring his pain was not easy to cope with. We discovered that having a cleft baby is a journey, not an once off operation to fix it all. In addition to having the primary repair operation, we had to learn how to use a special-needs bottle, find a responsible care-giver for the days when I had to go back to work. Depending on the severity of the child's cleft, there remains the possibility of needing multiple operations.

After repairing the soft palate, it is tricky to feed your baby, so used a syringe. It hurts them when they swallow. Shame! Then when they are older, they could need speech therapy and orthodontic work. Unfortunately, with a cleft in the soft palate, it is not possible for the baby to breast feed as they are not able to create the vacuum to suck as hard as is needed. We have found out so much and go out of our way to make Joel suckle from his bottle to develop his facial muscles as this will help with his speech when he is older.

Joel is almost ten months old now. He is drinking from a normal Avent 4flow bottle. He is a real 'monkey nut' and loves his Mommy and Daddy! He goes to a normal creche. He loves life! In November 2010 we will travel to Cape Town for his check up and are trusting God that all will be fine and no further surgeries will be necessary.

I work with a lady who was born with a unilateral cleft lip and cleft of the soft palate. Madge is now 38 years old and successful. We both have a passion to help parents and people affected by cleft lips and palates, as we have walked the same road. Madge has had a profound refelation about being "fearfully and wonderfully made (see Psalm 139: 13-18). She used to believe that God made a mistake, but through her walk with the Lord, she has been made whole and knows that though she was born with a cleft lip/palate, it was not God's mistake.

So... together, we have started a South African website and are in the process of creating awareness about cleft lip/palates in our community.

WHAT IS CLEFT FRIENDS.........

Cleft Friends was born in 2009 out of a need to support parents in South Africa with babies born with cleft lips and palates. We are based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape and are a non-profit support group organisation. Our aim is to be a friend to parents and children affected by cleft lip/palates by meeting them as soon as possible after the birth of the affected child, supporting them emotionally through the various operations and connecting them with healthcare professionals in their area. Our vision is to create awareness about cleft lips/palates in our community and provide special-needs bottles for babies born in underprivileged areas. To our knowledge, there is no similar support group in South Africa, so this fills an enormous need. Because of this lack of other help, we have even had medical personnel contact us and ask us to visit people desperately in need of the encouragement we can offer. We already have two Moms in Humansdorp, one in Uitenhage, and two in Kwazakhele Township in PE. As we are not medical professionals and don't pretend to be, we can only share from our experiences and refer parents to the appropriate professionals in their areas. So many people in this position have to rely on anecdotes on how to cope and make the best they can of it.

It doesn't cost to be a friend. As Born Again Christians, we believe that we are filling a gap in our community and sharing God's love with practical advice where it is needed most. In the rural areas of South Africa, cleft palate babies are shunned from their communities in the belief that they are cursed. Our goal is to bring awareness and hope to parents and people affected by clefts. Cleft Friends is not our full time jobs - but it is who we are!

Ideally, we would like to travel to the Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) in London to do their parent training programme so that we can be in a position to train parents in South Africa in other districts to establish similar support groups. We are in the process of raising funds for this venture.


For more info, please check out our website http://www.cleftfriends.co.za/
We also have a facebook group which we invite you to join or visit for regular updates on what we are up to. http://www.facebook.com/1/5b24e

Helena & Matthew Cullis
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
10 March 2010

Operation Uganda link

www.operationuganda.com

Trips Galore planned for 2010!

Wow! this year is shaping up to be EXTREMELY full and EXCITING for LIZZIEGEE! I began 2010 with a vague hope that I would be able to work in Uganda this year, but all I really had in my hand were invitations to speak at some Conferences (mainly for Women), one in India and two in Pakistan. Over the last three month's I have laboured to work out likely dates and costs. Very slowly, things have been falling into place.

The "Africa" trip is projected for August/September. I expect to fly from Australia to South Africa and have some time with my family. Mum is 86 now and known to most as Granny Betty. I even call her that myself sometimes! She retired from her teaching job at the end of 2008 and sold her car in May 2009. She's a legend! She is especially famous for the Chicken Pie she makes each Christmas. Mmmm! My own version is 'paltry' by comparison (no pun intended)!

The plan was to fly to Uganda and minister in and around Kampala for Operation Uganda for two weeks then return to RSA for a few days before returning to Oz. The Uganda leg has not altered, but there has been an interesting new development. I received a totally unsolicited invitation to teach in Kenya. Since I will be so close, it seems reasonable to add another leg to that part of the trip. I promised to pray about it and investigate costs and flight connections. It has every appearance of happening at this stage, but I'm taking it slowly. The location sounds tremendous. The town is close to the Masai Mara Game Reserve and also Lake Victoria. Sounds super!

I would only be back in Australia for six weeks or so before taking off to Pakistan. I decided it would be more sensible to schedule the conference in India for January 2011, rather than back-on-back with Pakistan as I normally do. In Pakistan I will teach at the Bible College for a couple of weeks as usual, but the two conferences are something new and I am really looking forward to them. Only the dates are in place at the moment - not much else.

Right at the moment, my mind is preoccupied with study (I have begun studying again, this time for a D. Min in Intercultural Theological Education) and also with a mini-trip looming at the end of the week. Guess what?! I am actually going to the Colour Conference in Sydney! A first for me. I have been told bits about it, but I am looking forward to having my spirit refreshed and my faith boosted by the enthusiasm of other ladies.