Ministry at the Salvation Army Aged Care Facility

Courtyard behind one
of the eating establishments.

After a couple of long days, we were able to sleep in a little (if you had fully recovered from jet lag, that is!) before we set out for The Rocks district for some browsing, shopping, and lunch. The Rocks developed out of an area that was originally an open-air gaol (aka jail). It has some of the oldest surviving buildings in Sydney which have been converted to museums, art galleries, shops, and eating establishments . . . and you could walk right down to the Harbor's edge!

Salvation Army Elder Care facility

Following lunch, it was back on the coach for transport to the Elder Care Facility. Margie says their motto at Harmony International is "Semper Gumby" (always flexible!) and this was one of those times. We didn't know anything about the set up and what we would be able to do there. As we started moving into the facility to prepare, they were using the elevator . . . umm, lift . . . to transport the group down to the lower level when it decided to quit working! Those of us still on the main level decided to walk down the stairs only to discover that the group on the "lift" were still on the lift!

Singing with the WHOLE group finally!

So, what do you do when you have 35 people in your group and 13 of them are stuck? You mingle! The residents were thrilled to have us with them and made us feel very welcome. However, as time passed, we decided to try to get started with some worship songs while we hoped the rest of the group would be joining us. The people LOVED it and many of them joined in to sing with us and we were thrilled when our group of 13 finally entered the room to join us after being rescued from the "lift" after 45 minutes! Residents kept coming in so the crowd was growing. Some were quite ambulatory while others required walkers, wheelchairs, and one was even confined to her bed where they rolled the bed in with it raised where she was sitting in it.

Lou and Gary visiting with residents

We concluded the program singing "Oklahoma" and then distributed red bandanas with "Oklahoma" embroidered on them (Thank you Edie Wichert!) as a remembrance of our coming and continued to mingle. This was an amazing facility with approximately 140 residents, five of them over the age of 100 with the oldest being 107! As seems to be happening everywhere we go, we think we are going to encourage and find ourselves getting the most out of what we do. Again, Dan made the observation that we travelled half way around the world to have our eyes opened to things we can do at home!

Rehearsal at Congress Hall

As a postscript to the day . . . on Sunday, Ash Sellers with the Salvation Army had invited any who were interested to attend their rehearsal on Monday evening. A few of us took him up on the invitation thinking we would be an encouragement to them and their ministry and instead we walked away feeling refreshed and renewed by them. They have an amazing group of extremely talented musicians who have toured world wide. John Stam made the discovery that their "music list" contained "The Star Spangled Banner" and we learned that they had sung for a double A baseball game in Jackson, Mississippi! It was wonderful to visit with them and be a part of their rehearsal together. We did have to adjust our vowels on a few words . . . like can't is pronounced kant (for those of you who had to take Philopshy/Ethics in school) or kAHnt for everyone else! At home, many of us say that we consider rehearsal our favorite part of the week with the fellowship and freedom from the restraints of a timetable and we felt the same in Sydney!

Tuesday is a 100% free day so we'll be dependent on individuals to share experiences.