soul survivor melbourne

i had the privilege to be a part of the soul survivor festival in melbourne in april. it was a wonderful time of retreat for me. i was given a nice room to myself at the speaker and team's lodge, away from the noisy campers. the lodge was in belgrade heights, which as the name indicates, is on a higher ground and therefore much cooler than the other parts of melbourne i've been staying in.

i wasn't primarily there for the talks or ministry time, but rather to meet geoff and lynne oliver for the first time and to spend time with lynne talking, but as God would have it, they couldn't make it. unfortunately because of a family emergency. it turned out very good for me tho, coz i think God just wanted me to have a nice quiet time with Him. i had a lot of time for solitude, and picture-taking. and talking with Him and journalling. at worship times, i strangely identified with king saul when david ministered to him with music. not that i was demon-possessed, but i was still troubled in my soul at that early stage of my sabbatical, and the ministry of music and worship was like "enjoying a spa". it was wonderful.

all these photos were taken from areas within the lodge, mostly at the backyard. i just sat there most afternoons, taking photos and journalling, and in the mornings kookaburras will come and beg you for crumbs off your plate. it was cool.

i also learnt, from my new dutch soul survivor friends, that van gogh and rembrandt were dutch, (excuse me if i'm the only one who didn't know that) and that the proper way to say their names were "faun how-oh" and "rum-braunt". and that they had their own museums in holland. would love to visit them someday, their museums i mean.

thank you God, for that wonderful retreat. and for the chance to see a persimmon tree. it was beautiful