16 May 2008

Hello to brethren and friends,

I have been out of touch with the news to some extent this week as I embarked on a 2.500 kilometer trip to visit prospective members and members. The trip took me to western Victoria, almost to South Australia. Then to Melbourne and up the east coast of Victoria and NSW back to Sydney. It was a pleasure to meet and stay with some of the brethren and to meet with some of the fruits, in terms of very positive interest, of the GTA program.

I can report that the western districts of Victoria are plainly in drought. Vast acreages remain unplanted for any winter crop. I think I saw only one ploughed field off the road. The district is also a big cattle and sheep area. One township, Lake Bolac, named after the nearby lake of the same name, proudly bore a sign that read "Home of Water Sports". Looking at the lake, and the patch of muddy water about half mile from the shore, I thought mud wrestling might be the only "water sport" that town may have catered for lately.

The small amount of news I did see confirmed how quickly our media move on to the next big story. Last week Burma had bumped Zimbabwe off the front page news. This week the China earthquake has virtually bumped Burma off the front page and news agenda. Human disaster and tragedy piled up. It is hard to get around the extent of destruction and death caused by this cyclone and earthquake. Earlier in the week a volcano in South America, one that had been dormant for centuries, came to life.

This earth is a constantly changing, sometimes dangerous, environment at the best of times. At the end of this age we know however that these "natural" disaster are increasing and will continue to do so. We can only hope that the respective governments will do the best they can to rescue the injured and care for the survivors.

The GTA program this week offered the brochure, "Whale of a Tale", the audio sermon "Willingly Ignorant" on tape or CD, and the TCW. There have been around 47 requests received with 15 new contacts.

I hope you all have a peaceful and safe Sabbath.

All the best,

Murray Allatt
Sydney