My friend Guido says, “You are nowhere by accident.” I did not know whether we were suppose to go to Australia or not. It was a last minute invite that I almost overlooked, I actually almost did not even read the email. Ryan on our team heads up all our outreaches and he has been working on international trips for a while and this one was not on the list. In the end, I did read the email and I responded. Weeks later we were on a plane to Sydney.
A board member jumped on board for the trip. A random supporter of the ministry threw down 80,000 miles to get one of us a flight. We got a free booth at the convention.
My dad got sick the day before I left and I questioned if I should make the trip, but I still kept feeling that we were suppose to go.
Wednesday night the organizers of Sexpo held a media/industry event and asked Ron Jeremy and myself to do a short version of our Porn Debate. We got a chance to talk to several people that night about the ministry and made sure it was clear that I was not against these people, but we and Jesus are for all of them.
Thursday was crazy. We started with a bit for a morning TV show here in Australia, taped a deal for ABC24 television, and then we shared our message with Open House Radio. Ron and I went on ABC Radio, interviewed with several papers and got to talk to so many people. The response has been so inviting and encouraging.
On Friday morning I went over to the Public Christianity studios for an interview. I was talking to someone at Public Christianity about my upcoming appearance on the show “Q and A” I had coming up on Monday night. This show is watched by over 2 million people in the whole country of Australia. He cautioned me a bit about this show and thought they could be a bit rough on me. Within a few hours of the leaving the studio, I received an email from the Religion writer at ABC. ABC is the network owned by the government sort of like the BBC in Europe. This is the channel that Q and A is on. He asked me to write a 1,200 or so word column about anything I would like that he would run on Monday afternoon on their website prior to my appearance at 9:30pm on Q and A. He thought that might help people get to know me a bit more. Read that HERE.
Hillsong church is hosting a women’s conference that happens to be next door to the Sexpo. We got a chance to go over on Friday and talk to some of their key leaders about some future ideas for Australia and potential partnerships. So, encouraging to see what they are doing.
Friday night I took a short flight to Melbourne to speak at a Seventh Day Adventist Church.
We have some great volunteers that we met online or from a few churches helping our team at Sexpo that are just some great people.
“I think I would like Jesus but he hates me because I am a lesbian.” That comment broke my heart to hear. That is what this girl has been told. Today I walked by her booth as she was selling massagers and vibrators and threw her a shirt. She just smiled when she read… Jesus Loves. I hope she reads the book and knows that Jesus does not hate her.
Sunday night the show wrapped up and we headed to a great church a half hour or so away called Thrive. Pastor Mike is incredible and just so kind. Guido, Rachel, Leslie and I got to end our time at an Australian church service. These people were so great and the service was amazing.
We met some great people at the church who invited us to the Sydney Harbor bridge for a climb to the top today. So, incredible.
Monday night Q and A. What a great group of people behind this show. So much fun and lots of responces online from the 2 million plus people who watched this show. You can watch the show here.
We taped an interview for Public Christianity you can watch here.
Headed home now for 16 hours….