Australia Report

I arrived home late last night from an amazing time in Australia for the 2014 Miessence leadership retreat.  I don’t think I could possibly do the trip justice in writing, without many hours to pour it all out…  And my family and I leave tomorrow for “PFO” (pre-field orientation) in North Carolina, in preparation for our move to England hopefully by the end of the year…  So, this is only going to be a quick overview with bullet points…

Activities from the week:

• Welcome reception, reconnecting with old friends from around the world and meeting new ones
• Sunrise tour of Uluru
• Bush Yarns demonstration of Anangu skin and hair care
• Two days of wonderful business meetings (not at all your average ‘stuffy, boring meetings’)
• Sounds of Silence dinner under the stars
• An Anangu herbal medicine making demonstration
• A special sound healing event and time of sharing
• An astronomy tour
• A sunrise camel trek
• Walking into one of the gorges at Kata Tjuta
• Biking all the way round Uluru
• Various meal times throughout the week with friends
• Additional 3 days trip extension to the Gold Coast
• Attending a worship service with friends Sunday morning
• Walking along Burleigh Beach picking out seashells for kids
• Touring the Miessence HQ and factory
• Visiting ‘Natural Bridge’ – a beautiful waterfall cave formation
• Many hours on airplanes, but oh so worth it  🙂

Most meaningful experiences:

• Learning more about the Anangu people and their history; experiencing deep sorrow over the atrocities committed against them in the name of Jesus, but thankful to hear one of their leaders acknowledge that he could clearly see the hypocrisy when reading the teachings of Jesus himself.
• Treasured conversations, connecting on deeper heart and soul levels with a number of my colleagues.
• Meeting Alice, her mom Carmen, and sister Willow.  7 year-old Alice was there to spend time with the Anangu mothers and grandmothers through the Make a Wish Foundation.  Such a precious and inspirational girl and family.
• Getting to meet all the wonderful people at Miessence HQ who work behind the scenes to make it possible for me to work flexibly from home with my family.  So grateful for them all and everything they do.
• Time with my dear friend, Rochelle, who came along on the trip as my guest since Fred had to stay home with kids this year.
• Time with my Creator, spent in awe and wonder of His creation.
• A week’s worth of uninterrupted nights’ sleep.  Love my little one, but love sleep too.  🙂

Exciting business developments:

• More details were given on Miessence’s new collaborations with Buy1Give1 (click here).
• *** A new, raw and vegan protein superfoods product was announced – should be out by the end of the year and superior to anything else on the market.  🙂
• The company has developed some neat new social media online business tools for Reps, coming out around November.
• The destination of the 2015 leadership retreat was revealed – Cambodia!  So exciting!  🙂

Below is a quick picture.  If you’d like to see more, check out my Facebook page – I’ve added a few more there and might post more if I have time while on the road to NC.  🙂