Stump

I'm back from Black Stump and rather buggered. I was up till 4:30am this morning. Yahoo!

I didn't get hugely excited about Stump this year. Not because I don't like it, but I think because I take it more for granted now. It's like Christmas, it feels like it's always going to be there. It's better than Christmas though because it's longer, it's more fun, there's more music and you don't have to eat turkey.

Breakthru' Artz performed well. They're a talented bunch, especially them dancers.

Love Is went well. The DVD stuffed up at the beginning. It wouldn't play the first scene. I spent the whole pre-show time trying to make it work. In the end we just had to start the show and hope and pray that it came good. So the show started. The DVD stuffed up. I franticly pressed the buttons and prayed, I hear the dancers all prayed too, and the DVD worked for the first time that night.

I didn't mind that the show didn't have the preach at the end. It would have been out of context at Stump. It was strange sitting there, getting to the end of the show and telling myself I had to remain seated. I still feel like the show was made up of 3 parts but it was good to see that it worked standing alone. Yay team.

The other Breakthru' Artz show was good. I didn't do much with that. But I sat at the back and watched and it was a positive experience. I liked all the colours.

The rest of Stump was special. I didn't get to see many things. I went to a Youth Ministry Masterclass which was good. There were three youth ministers, one with the biggest youth group in Australia (literally), one with a medium sized group, and one who had been working with a group of about 12 or so. It was good to hear their stories and see what their core desires were like. It was affirming and challenging.

Paul Colman was fun and the Comedy Debate made me chortle and chuckle.

When I was walking through the village on Friday night a young girl walked up to me and said "Excuse me, would you give me a hug?" All these questions of what was allowed and not allowed and what Child Protections Guidelines say jumped to mind. And then I decided that the world needs more friendly hugs and there was little risk of anyone getting hurt, so I hugged her, and kept going.

It was one of those things that seems much more likely to happen when you get a bunch of Christians together because everyone loses their shyness because they know that everyone will be nice to them. Or at least should be.

We didn't do the commando course this year.

I showered everyday.

Hugh Evans did a really good talk this morning to send us out. I was impressed. He made me want to save the world. Or at least do my bit.

The Outback Hippies were fantastic as usual. They rocked and I sang, jumped and danced with the my traditional Stump crew for the whole 2 hours. The ground was really dry and it was so dusty in the tent I couldn't breath properly and had a sneezing fit in the last song. But it was lots of fun.

The weather was beautiful.

I liked the people I was camping with. They were good value.

I continue to appreciate God and his goodness to me.

The End