Over the last few years in Stranraer we have had a few developing connections to Australia. One of our ladies lived there for most of her life before moving back to Scotland. A few months ago a family from the RP Church came here as part of their holiday so they could worship with us. And last Wednesday, Graeme Hart, one of the ministers from the RP Church of Australia (currently in the UK on a pulpit exchange) came to give us an update on what's happening with the churches there.
It was a very encouraging meeting, especially seeing the connections between McKinnon RPC (where Graeme ministers) and Stranraer. Like Stranraer, McKinnon is an older congregation being revitalised by the Presbytery. Graeme has been there for seven years, so it was interesting to here what sort of things they'd done, and the challenges and encouragements they'd seen. It also gave us a vision of where by God's grace we could be in another five years or so.
One of the things that Graeme said had been important to developing relationships in McKinnon was eating together, and afterwards some of us went out to Brambles Tearoom for lunch!
We had a great time together and we are now better equipped to pray for our brothers and sisters in Australia!