Saturday 30th May
Now,
Unfortunately, Sherwood Cliffs is not in
We had been asked to stop at Buledelah to pray for someone there. We didn’t need to tell them we were doing so, but simply go outside their building and pray for them. We did so and were struck by something quite eerie. There had been some on-and-off rain during parts of the trip, but just as we came into Buledelah there was a torrential downpour. It was odd because it was also kind of a sun-shower, with blue sky to the west.
We stopped as we had been asked, prayed for the town and for this particular individual, then made our way out of town. As we hit the 110kph zone on the way out of town the rain cleared and the sun was shining. It was pretty remarkable.
The GPS was determined that we would not arrive at our destination until about 9pm. Once we got to Coffs we started to figure out that it was going to be wrong – it was only 7.15pm! We figured out that the unsealed road from Glenreagh to Sherwood Cliffs is calculated at a very low expected speed by the GPS. We were relieved to see the arrival time counting backwards as soon as we hit the unsealed road (ignoring the “road closed” signs which, we correctly guessed, referred to further down the road). Technology is great, but in this case it added to the slight anxiety of the day – we really didn’t want to inconvenience our hosts by turning up after 8pm.
We arrived (having missed the barbecue), to find that we were allocated “the Chalet”, which is one of the original buildings – a loft-ceiling structure cleverly built between two old railway carriages which serve as bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. It was very welcoming, and the fire was already on! There was plenty of food, which we took to our home and enjoyed together.
Sunday, 31st May
On Sundays, Sherwood Cliffs goes to town!
There is a coach, which seats 44 people. This week there were a few families away so it was relatively empty. Every Sunday J-P drives the whole Sherwood community down the hill to
Coffs Baptist is remarkably similar to St Stephens’ Belrose. We felt right at home! As it happened, the church service was run by the Sherwood Cliffs community on this particular week. Hailey went up the front to do the dance-moves for a song that had been prepared. J-P preached on church unity.
After the service, Rebecca found Ben, a boy who had played her favourite song, “Hallelujah”, on piano for his eisteddfod just days earlier. He played and she sang as we all enjoyed morning tea together.
The church had arranged a picnic for the afternoon. Sherwood *always* has a picnic after church anyway, so the bus was already stocked with chairs, food, a dozen thermos, games, etc. The rainy weather cleared just long enough for us to enjoy the afternoon, and then poured down as we were leaving.
Hailey made a couple of friends with the other Sherwood kids. She was a bit put out that we ‘had to’ go to J-P and Honi’s place for afternoon tea, but she soon lightened-up when she found wallabies so tame that you can pat, tickle and play with them.
Rebecca chased the chooks around until she caught one and picked it up. J-P even showed Rebecca how to pick up the tamest wallaby!
That evening I was ill – I picked up the gastric bug that apparently was getting around. It was mercifully brief though, finishing some time late in the evening.
Monday, 1st June
Mondays are ‘unstructured’ at Sherwood Cliffs. The ‘seekers’ (resident clients of the drug and alcohol rehab program), are allowed to do whatever they choose. Staff able to catch up on chores, go visiting, etc
J-P took us to the site of the new “Sherwood Glen”, which is to be the women’s rehab facility. There are seven cabins and a house, with a central building still to come. It is expected to be operational early next year. Hailey and two of her friends (J-P’s granddaughters) came along. They enjoyed saying “eeeiiiwwwwww” every time they saw a cow pat. There were a lot of cow pats.
Rebecca had her first driving lesson. Because Sherwood is a private property, Rebecca quickly clued-on that she would be allowed to drive here. The property’s main road has recently been graded and repaired after the heavy rains, so it was very smooth and easy to drive on. We went up and down the drive (about 1km) about half a dozen times.
Some of the young guys found a billy cart – it has a steel frame, four large wheels, one chair and no brakes. They were taking turns racing it down the drive way. On one of our journeys up the hill we rounded a corner and found a very recent crash-scene – one billy cart missing a wheel, and two young men missing some skin!
They were happy to put the wheel back on and push it back to the top, despite Rebecca eagerly offering them a lift. For her, they would be her first passengers! They weren’t seriously injured and seemed to enjoy bleeding their way back up the hill. It is on scars such as theirs, that good stories are built.
We all (40-odd people) had dinner around the [huge] camp fire. At the end of each day there is an opportunity for each person to thank God for whatever they choose.
We had purchased some marshmallows at the shop on Sunday (there is a little corner store that the Sherwood coach stops at each week, which doesn’t have cigarettes on display, so that the seekers can stock-up on junk food). Hailey shared them with all the children, and they all roasted marshmallows in the big camp fire.
Rebecca found the mobile phone reception today. If you go up to the balcony which comes off the loft area in the Chalet, being careful not to fall through the very weak flooring, you can sometimes get enough signal so that your SMS’s come in and you can send a couple out. In actual fact, though, Rebecca has admitted not really missing the internet and phone that much.
Rebecca has declared that she likes it here, and that perhaps we should stay. So far we have had a Sunday and a Monday (this is the Sherwood weekend)… we’ll see how she feels after a week of the more ‘normal’ rhythm of things. Nevertheless it’s wonderful that she feels that way.
Hailey also loves it here. She wants to go to school but we have to see if the teacher can handle that – it may not work out this week. She probably can help-out in the kindy in the mornings though, and join in with the school in the afternoon, which is more activities-based.
Leisa is rostered-on for kitchen duties tomorrow, and I will be working with the seekers.
Tuesday, May 2nd.
We started the day with devotions – this consists of songs, prayers, bible reading and discussion. It runs from 9am to morning tea time. On Tuesdays the children come down from school at 9 (they start at 8:30). They joined us for the singing and then went back to the school house.
Rebecca was welcomed as a classroom helper, and Hailey also helped with the kindy kids.
At morning tea everyone comes together for cakes, fruit, tea, coffee, etc. and then the adults begin their duties – the men are assigned work on the farm, and the women have a roster of kitchen-related work.
J-P caught-on that I was able to talk to computers and got me to resolve some issues in the office. After that I couldn’t find my work detachment so I found some guys in the veggie patch. I helped mixing and applying a manure fertiliser to the garden beds where seedlings had been planted.
At lunch everyone comes together again. We all enjoyed a large lunch and then had about half an hour of free-time. Some people have a cuppa together. The seekers were hitting golf balls across the creek. Some of the kids were playing together.
At 1:30pm the bell rings and everyone heads back to work/school.
I went with two other men (and a chainsaw) to gather the dead wood beside the roadway leading down to the new women’s’ rehab which is still under construction, riding in a 50 year-old tipper truck. Mick, the one of us with a snake-phobia, uncovered a small red-bellied black. He was pretty shaken by the discovery but the poor snake was oblivious. We had to poke it with a stick (yes, we are boys), to even wake it up enough to move away! Nevertheless we avoided that wood-pile in case mummy red-bellied black was around.
We took all the wood up to the top of the hill, where the big bonfire is getting set up for the Queen’s Birthday holiday on Monday. The bonfire is the size of a small house and it’s not finished yet… There is a very large dozer which takes each truckload of logs and shoves it into the much bigger pile as though it was no more than a handful of twigs. The boys are having fun.
There will be many visitors from the town and from the church community who will come to enjoy the fire with the Sherwood clan. When asked what the cows of that paddock think of bonfires, Jake replied through a wry smile, “Yeah, the animals don’t like it much.”
The farm has cows (for milk), chooks, vegetables, an orchard, sugar cane (for cattle feed), bananas, oats (for fallow and feed), and there are at least a dozen residential buildings, some communal buildings, over a dozen farm vehicles and probably lots more that I haven’t seen yet. There are always lots of jobs for the men to be doing!
There are all kinds of characters here – for example, a family who began their big trip around
Leisa: I worked in the kitchen today, as a kitchen assistant. Which means basically helping the cooks of lunch & dinner doing whatever they need done. I peeled lots of potatoes, sweet potatoes & carrots for dinner. Easy work compared to the cooks job, having to feed the hungry crowd, & one that made me feel useful.
Then at dinner time, helping to serve up the evening meal. Things are very organised around here, which is, of course, how it has to be with this many people to feed. There are lots of visitors here at the moment.
I am finding that I have more time to relax here than I have had in a very long time. I have decided that relaxing is a learned skill, & I am being taught it again.
I am also enjoying getting to know the other people here. The fellowship is very real & refreshing.
There's so much more to tell.
Each day there is a rhythm of prayer, eating, fellowship, working, celebrating, eating, praying, resting, eating... lots of eating! What a fantastic expression of the body of Christ. What can I say?
