Good news

Back in March, we let people know of our first definite need for funds: $30,000 to get the plans for the Pilgrim Hill complex finished and submitted to our local council for approval. 

In April, we decided to use our frequent flyer points to visit the Baehr family in the US before Baby Baehr number 3 makes her presence known too largely (she's due in September).

To be honest, we were feeling a bit discouraged about the fact that up to that point, we'd been given only a very small amount towards our appeal, but we were certain of this: God knows our needs better than we do, and He supplies them in His timing, not ours.

While in the US, we were very blessed by the generosity of Dr. Ted & Lili Baehr (aka Peirce's parents), who asked us to address their church fellowship and some invited guests at their home. 

Happy snap of Peirce preaching

Peirce preached from Acts with some insights on Philip the Evangelist (who had 4 daughters - we're getting close!). Later, he explained the vision of Pilgrim Hill and answered questions. I spoke a bit about the spiritual/worldview climate in Southern Tasmania and also played some of my Tasmanian music on a rented harp.

But what exactly is the good news? God graciously moved these precious Christians in California to donate the full $30,000.

We are awed, stunned and blessed.

If you're a Christian, it's hard to read the words "good news" without thinking of the gospel - the Euangelion (in Greek). Here are two little episodes of God's goodness in opening people's ears to that other much better good news.

• A couple at one of our Support Dinners brought an elderly relative. The discussion question we used to open the evening was about how only in Christianity can we find a solid basis for caring about the oppressed and marginalised. We found out later that this lady was not a believer and in fact was very hostile to Christianity. However, afterwards she told her family how surprised she was by what Peirce explained about the position of different worldviews/religions towards caring for the marginalised and that she "couldn't stop thinking about what he said." Please pray that this precious lady's heart will be drawn to the God who made all people in His image.
• Peirce was invited to address a group of thinkers in LA with our so-called 'altruistic project'. Also on the bill were a young couple who were Objectivists, presenting the philosophy of Ayn Rand, who rejected altruism and proclaimed selfishness as the ultimate good. God enabled Peirce to have a very cordial discussion with them, during which they admitted major flaws in Rand's system. They ended by volunteering that they would be interested in looking more deeply into Christianity. Please pray that this young man and woman are increasingly disillusioned by the false self-god of Objectivism and won to the loving lordship of Jesus Christ.

We were not endorsing this or any soft drink at our Pilgrim Hill presentation at the US Baehr home.

Building blocks

Pilgrim Hill is going modular. That means we are now planning on building in stages. Benefits of this include:

• A significant donation could put an initial building on the site now, fully operational and fulfilling the mission of Pilgrim Hill.
• Builders, donors and volunteers can put their hands up for just one stage or 'module', rather than having to commit to the whole project. 
• Once Stage 1 is built, people can see first-hand how Pilgrim Hill works, inspiring more volunteers and donors to get involved as they watch our ministry in action.

Shoot us an email (or stay tuned here on this blog) for more info on how the stages will be planned.

Summer Workday

As we ventured up the Hill on a cloudy morning, we were greeted by the adorably wet and curious alpacas who joined in on the morning’s devotion given by Peirce. As there were less than a handful of us at that stage of the day, Peirce’s reading about Gideon was an encouragement.

The friendly tenants of Pilgrim Hill.

 

 

While we had a few items on the work agenda, the battle against the invasive thistles became the priority. These thorny and hostile weeds were attacked with some trepidation. A positive attitude and a sense of humour was the only way to approach such a large scale infestation, we informally named the area ‘Thistleton’. Perhaps the most disheartening sight was seeing hundreds of thousands of tiny seeds that had already spread before we could capture the cotton heads of the thistles. Picking all of the seeds up was impossible.

The Californian Thistle, one type of weed we removed.

 

However, there were many things to be grateful for on this day. The weather was just right for weeding, that is, not too hot, windy or rainy. The rain had cleared earlier that morning and left the soil perfectly moist for pulling weeds. Although the team was small, there was a real sense of camaraderie as we tackled this epic task. Good conversations were had and word games were played to pass the time. Furthermore, a Pilgrim Hill workday is always accompanied with good food and this one did not disappoint. American hot dogs were enjoyed by all, some for the first time, complete with chilli and iced tea.

Whilst this ragtag team could be mistaken for the cast of the next Jurassic Park film, they were actually the willing volunteers of a productive Pilgrim Hill Summer Workday.

Finally, as the day drew to a close, there was a real sense of achievement. We managed to clear the entire problem area and although it remains to be seen if we have won the war on thistles, we did win this battle. 

A Taste of Pilgrim Hill

new season apples brought by one of our dinner guests

Pilgrim Hill Support Dinners are small gatherings designed to give friends of Pilgrim Hill a chance to ask questions about the vision, mission, design, history and progress of Pilgrim Hill and to give an opportunity for support, whether through prayer, volunteering, communications or donations. A simple, joyful meal is accompanied by prayer and good conversation celebrating the richness of Christ's lordship over all of life.

Harp music aids digestion - incidentally that is a baby in my tummy.

This is the description I give as I write, email or call people to invite them to come to our home and to glimpse - or taste? - Pilgrim Hill with us for one evening.


Twice a month, Peirce and I do that extra bit of clean up, set the table with one of our white (white = bleachable!) tablecloths, and tell the girls that friends are coming to talk with us about Pilgrim Hill. 

Eve loves to help

God has seen fit to give us a work that we actually enjoy. We really, really love inviting people into our home - people we know and people we don't know. There will be - and have been - things that are hard about the work He gives us, but this part is a joy. 


A joy that involves lots of cooking, setting up an extra table, listening and responding to questions both easy and difficult, telling our very sociable 3-year-old Eve not to interrupt but to wait for her turn, and mountains of dirty dishes in the kitchen at the end.


(Oh, and learning that people who have an allergy to shellfish can't eat Thai Fish Sauce. It shouldn't have been that hard, right?. Except for the brand called, counterintuitively, "Squid". Now you know.)

We took this the next day because it was too dark during dinner!

If you can picture yourself at our table, if you have an interest in Pilgrim Hill, if you have a concern about Pilgrim Hill (and yes - even if you have an allergy to shellfish), we'd love to invite you, on a certain Monday or Friday evening this month or the next (or the next, and so on), to sit with us, eat with us, and "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8).



Maybe I'll even send you home with a song.

Note that Eve has decided to add to the evening's entertainment by a ballet performance in costume. 

Apple season

We're heading into Autumn here in Tasmania, and for those of us who love the Huon Valley, that means apple season.


Here's a piece that the ABC did on Lucaston Park Orchards, the nearest neighbouring orchard to Pilgrim Hill, a few years back. Andrew and Sylvia Griggs have been kind enough to support and encourage us and introduce us to the world of orchardists and seasonal fruit pickers; a world we want to be part of. 


It fills us with excitement to think that - God willing - we will one day host seasonal workers just like those in the story. I look forward with hope to the day when Pilgrim Hill will buzz with the activity of apple season.

Here's a tiny bit of a poem for you, crammed with meaning (in true 17th century style), from the second part of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

Apples were they with which we were beguiled;

Yet sin, not apples, hath our souls defiled.

Apples forbid, if ate, corrupts the blood;

To eat such, when commanded, does us good.

Drink of his flagons, then, thou Church, his dove,

And eat his apples, who are sick of love. 

Now, there is nothing in Genesis to suggest that the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (yes, the origin of our phrase 'forbidden fruit') was anything like an apple. It's just an image that has proved hard to shake and has had a long tradition in art and literature.


Bunyan takes the idea further and reminds us that even if it was indeed an apple, we now enjoy them guiltlessly as part of God's creation. (There's quite a bit more going on, with the final lines referencing The Song of Solomon, but I'm trying really hard not to turn this into a literary post...feel free to comment below if you want to unpack it further.)


Apples were made to gleam on branches, simmer in pots, inspire poets, ferment in vats, nourish people and possums, and to remind us that "something is gathered in,/Worth the lifting and the stacking" (James McAuley's "In the Huon Valley"). Also, perhaps, to bring French backpackers to Tasmania.

Spring cleaning and giving thanks

Our Spring work day at the end of November was a time of thankfulness of the year that has passed and building on foundations already prepared. 

Our family had celebrated the American holiday of Thanksgiving just two days earlier, and we served the volunteers at our workday some traditional dishes to thank them for their help (turkey legs on the grill, cranberry relish, cornbread dressing and sweet potato pies, if you're curious). 

Some more work was done on the base of the iconic PH table (see the video here if you don't know what I'm talking about), with specialist advice from Mick Elliot, the pastor at Redeemer in Huonville.

The area around the 'bespoke' pizza oven - built for us by our friends the Tullys (doing a different kind of gig!) - needed a bit of love and care, and it was amazing to see how well it cleaned up after being attacked by half a dozen people with shovels and mattocks for an afternoon.

To our delight, Seth Isham put together a beautiful improvised dry-stone retaining wall from on-site mudstone. Finished with a railroad tie, the wall doubles as seating. There was also brush cutting, wood cutting and shovelling of alpaca manure (let me know if you want some - it's great for the garden).

Thanksgiving is a time to remember and be thankful for God's care for us and for the blessing of both work ("In all labour there is profit" Prov. 14.23) and rest, and to share our thankfulness with each other -  a fitting theme for our workday.

Thanks to Fiona Lockett for the snaps.

The Launch - in photos (courtesy of Anna)

We had a lovely, lovely launch.

I played the harp.

Joe prayed for us and afterwards served Hartzview wine and Lucaston Park Apple Juice to the guests.

Peirce told a choose-your-own-adventure story putting the audience
in the shoes of a future visitor to Pilgrim Hill.

Will interviewed us urbanely.

Luke gave a TED talk.  (Actually, it was about our Association and the financial needs.)

Margaret made amazing food. (Honey-caramel apples, right here.)

Shiloh did all the graphic design and served food with visual aplomb.

Over 100 people came. They listened, laughed, prayed, feasted and filled in response cards. 

Pilgrim Hill friends, old and new.

God is good.

Thanks, everyone.