We have really appreciated our hosts on the Melbourne part of our journey....Sean and Cathy Hill. They have made us feel part of their family. Cathy's parents, Bill and Rae Eddington live about 10 minutes away. In the morning I appreciated having some time talk to Sean about the work that he does as a partner in a major Accounting and Financial Services firm. He gave me some insight into non-profit work that are valuable to Church and LifeNets operations.

It was a beautiful day today .....services in Melbourne....here in the Box Hill area, a finger food mixer with the brethren after services...then a LifeNets presentation followed by a Question and Answer session that went almost until 9 pm.  

The people were most responsive and I loved every moment of it. I'm impressed with the good representation of all ages in the church ranging from infants to elderly whose name I have heard in times past, but had never met. Others, who are Facebook friends, I was able to meet personally and know more about them. Others, like the McQueens, I have been acquainted with their parents. The buzz and excitement was certainly an event for both Beverly and me....

There were 199 present for church services today. I'm sure we could have counted again and found more to make it an even 200. It was difficult to even get to our seats because of all the conversations on the way into the hall with people with whom we had familiarity to one degree or another .  

A congregation that is happy and settled often reflects the demeanor and total pastoral skill of the pastor. These two congregations obviously did reflect the service and dedication of Stephen and Cathy Clark and Paul and Susan Vaughan.  

It was so interesting to see Bill Eddingon lead songs! He did a very good job and enhanced the festive spirit of the day. The choir under the direction of Merron Thompsen sang beautifully and made it easy for me to speak.  

I was given the sermonette time which I used to talk about the Work of the Church...where we are with our use of media and the transitions that are coming along in the ministry. I spoke about training our future leaders and how our more senior ministers are taking on a role as mentors.  

Then I gave the sermon on one of my favorite subjects: GRACE.  

After services there was a finger food dinner with both cold and hot foods . I was so involved in talking to various people that things were brought to me which were very tasty. 

One of the young ladies in the congregation by the name of Shana will be joining two Americans in Chile for a UCG Youth Corps project in June. Was very happy to meet her. 

Then I did about an 45 minute Power Point presentation of LifeNets. I showed some of the projects that we did around the world such as provide scholarships, drill boreholes, build schools and clinics, help with summer camps, disaster relief and more. The churches in Australia have generously supported our various projects around the world and have been instrumental in helping our brethren in developing areas very significantly. 

Afterwards there was a question and answer session about LifeNets and other topics. Many very good questions about which we had good discussion. We vacated the hall shortly after 9 pm....a long and exciting day, but very memorable!  

Tomorrow, Sunday, we will hold the ministerial and leadership meetings nearby here in Box Hill. So far this trip has exceeded our expectations in every way!