The Great Lockdown provides opportunities. Many of us are doing tasks at home we have not got around to for some time – we have had some big cupboard cleanouts and unpacked boxes from five years ago!

We are also learning new skills. Worship, family catchups and many meetings via the ubiquitous Zoom. We are gaining many new skills as well as facing many challenges. A gift in this time is the chance to discover a new pace of life and maybe to find more time to reflect.

I have found myself drawn back to one of the contrasting illustrations Jesus uses with his followers. He talks about the options for building a house – on sand or on rock. Sand is easy to work with – it can be made smooth and can even seem strong. House building on sand is fast and can seem impressive.

House building on rock takes time. Either the rock needs to be shaped to be a foundation or the foundation is shaped around the rock. This takes time and in the early stages does not seem impressive. However, rock is a foundation that can withstand the elements much better than sand.   

The strong winds of the current situation are being experienced in many ways – and it has given us a unity with our partners – all of us are in it together, although with very different capacities and resources available to us. We share the same pandemic.

Our rock gives us hope and provides meaning for us. It helps us to trust God, maintain confidence in his love, be present in prayer, focus our lives on his call to follow, and to create reliable foundations. Our external realities do change. Our security is in the rock of God’s eternal goodness and love - which does not change.

What does this look like for GMP right now? We are not giving up and are not discouraged. Yes, income has fallen and, yes, we have advised our partners of our challenges. We have asked for their support – we are not giving up. We are with you, our Australian partners – and are confident in our foundation and the providence and grace of God that flows. We have a strong future, and deeply trust God in this.

John Gilmore, Executive Officer