Well, autumn is upon us, and I will be glad of the reduction in temperature! Maryborough is hotter than Caloundra, though with a lot fewer mosquitoes! I am getting geared up for my ride to Canberra for the Ulysses AGM, and plan to show the CMA badge wherever I go. It won’t be as hot there, either, especially at night! 

It looks as though we may at last be getting enough interested people together to have a Wide Bay group working in the near future—please pray for guidance and blessing here. My first Sunday at church here I encountered a number of interested motorcyclists, even the pastor (between bikes just now) showed interest. We are praying for enough interest in Bundaberg for a group to get going there too.

A number of people are finding that the fellowship in CMA is a great blessing to them. When you read Wayne’s report you can see how mingling with other riders can have long-term benefits for them, show them that Christians really are happy people! Those who manage to get to rallies definitely are helping to (slowly) spread the Gospel. 

I am still pushing the Prostate Cancer Awareness (Blue Ribbon) Rides, we need dedicated people to run these rides in each area—three people for each ride. I have made up a ‘how-to-do-it’ list which I will be more than pleased to supply to interested parties. The rides are to be the first Saturday in September, so we should be getting the word out ASAP.  These rides also help to get people to look at CMA, though that is not the prime, or even secondary, reason for the rides.

Ever wondered what would have happened if the Disciples and friends had been able to intervene and stop the Crucifixion? We would have had to pay for our own sins! It was necessary for Jesus to suffer for us! Not nice, but necessary! Think about it!

May God always lead and bless you.          

Colin

STRANGE COFFEE

Do you believe all of what you see in the media? This article appeared in a Sunshine Coast paper a few weeks back, but I am not convinced of the authenticity of its subject matter!  

THESE TROPICAL ANIMAL DROPPINGS MAKE GOOD COFFEE

Its origins might put off some coffee drinkers, but a bean that draws top dollar from connoisseurs is extracted from animal droppings. Not just any animal. The coffee comes from beans eaten but undigested by the palm civet, a nocturnal, fruit-eating cousin of the mongoose that roams tropical forests  Civet coffee, which some aficionados consider among the world’s best, sells in the US for as much as $US 660 ($AU861) a kilogram. Only 250 kg are produced worldwide each year, says Antonio Reyes, executive director of the International Coffee Organisation Certifying Agency.   Indonesia is the top producer.    Although they normally eat sugar-palm nuts, civets prefer the ripest coffee cherries during harvest season, which runs from December into March. But the beans pass through their systems undigested and are deposited as sausage-like clumps onto the forest floor.     Reyes says the civet’s digestive process, particularly the enzymes in its stomach, probably gives the brew its distinctive flavour and aroma.  “It’s a special type of post-harvest processing, it has been processed in a very natural way,” he says.    Smelly or not in the forest, civet coffee in the cup has a “chocolatey aroma and the taste is bold and nutty,” says Alvira “Vie” Reyes, a businesswoman who has branched into selling the exotic beans. Other fans describe civet coffee as full-bodied with medium acidity and no bitter aftertaste.   Reyes and her husband  Basil, who are not related to Antonio Reyes, are trying to reheat local interest in producing civet coffee around Indang, a coffee and sugar-palm producing town in the Cavite province south of Manila in the Philipines. Elders here say people used to gather civet droppings so their families could still have coffee even if they sold all their conventionally-harvested beans.

OLI’S REPORT FROM BRISBANE

Ride report for 29 January '05:

On Saturday the 29 January we had our first get-together for the year. To enable the Brisbane North Side folks to join in with ease we decided to meet at the Redcliffe waterfront for a CMA - supplied sausage sizzle lunch. While TJ met up with some of the riders in Belmont, I went ahead by car to secure a BBQ somewhere near the Redcliffe jetty. As I drove along the waterfront I became increasingly nervous. I had no idea where to go and the closer I got to the jetty, the grimmer it looked for suitable BBQ places. If I picked a place too far from the jetty, nobody would find it. In His incredible providence God led me to just the right spot. Plenty  of seating, plenty of parking, BBQ, shady trees, right next to the jetty and a lovely cool breeze. I haven't been that relieved for a long time.

Soon after, people started rolling in, about 30 in all. Most rode bikes but some came by car just to be part of it all. Good on 'em! No need to miss out just because the bike was off the road. We got stuck straight into lunch which was enjoyed by everyone - especially the cold drinks. Everybody was exceedingly generous in chipping in to cover costs (voluntarily) which will enable us to have more BBQs like it in the future.

In general the mood was very good with lots of talk about what's coming up this year. There were quite a few new faces and I gave up trying to remember all the names. As in previous months the people from Toowoomba made a huge effort in coming down, bringing with them lots of enthusiastic riders (about 10 in all?). I think it's just about time Toowoomba was designated a ride area in its own right. Well done folks.

Likewise the people from the north side of Brisbane are showing an amazing amount of enthusiasm, with James and Brian organising a  CMA  Brekky just a few weeks later. Lots of people are having lots of great ideas as to the nature of events we will be organising for this year. I do hope and pray that this newfound excitement will carry on in peoples' hearts, to lead the CMA into new and exciting directions and cause us to be even more than a fun Christian ride group.    Personally I'm very encouraged by the willingness people are showing to take an active part in what's happening in the South-East Qld area. I pray that we will continue to grow in our vision for the CMA and the role it has in providing fellowship for Christian riders, as well as a tool for outreach to bikers who don't know the Lord as we do. 

  Oli  

TOWNSVILLE GROUP ACTIVITIES

Hi Col,

We don't really have very much to put in the newsletter this time, but John sent some pics so hopefully you can use some of those

The newspaper article from December was quite good. 

 We haven't really had a lot on lately, although we have a few new people interested in becoming members, some because of the article in the paper. There is a bikers radio program on 4TTT community radio station that goes for an hour once a fortnight here, and we have been interviewed on air once already, and they have invited us to come back and make it a regular thing for the future, so our members can take turns being interviewed if they want. John and Angelo did the first one and it went pretty well. 

Our last ride was cancelled because of various reasons, everyone had some reason as to why they couldn't make it, either out of town or bike off the road etc. And the ride we had planned before that was cancelled because of torrential rain, so we aren't really having a good run at the moment in regards to rides, although we're still getting a pretty good turn out for meetings. 

We might make our next meeting a BBQ as we haven't done that since before Christmas, and Easter is just around the corner already. 

We'll just have to pray our next ride is a success! 

      Blessings,

      John & Stacy        Townsville CMA

WAYNE’S REPORT FROM MACKAY

I went to an outlaw club a couple of weeks ago and again the following week, and one of the members there asked if I had new members. I looked at him strangely and asked him what he was talking about.—he thought I was with the Tribe of Judah. I said “I am with CMA” and then I shared that I was there if there was someone who needed help or just someone to talk to. When I explained that, he was OK with that. My friend Phil was there, too. On the twenty first I went on a poker run with the Rebs, and that was another great day out—I just want to share this with my bros listening to the Lord.

I went down to see CMA in Gladstone , and on the way home the Lord spoke to me and said “go to Marmour” and I went there. There was a couple on a Hog but I didn’t speak to them, then I saw them again at Marlborough and I still didn’t speak (but they were the people the Lord wanted me to speak to) so off homeward I went and saw them at Sarina and I went and got some fish and chips and they turned up there and finally we were able to have a chat. They were from the USA and he has a club called the Fun Club and they run a rally called The Hope Valley Rally. Sometimes we are hesitant about things and we need to trust the Lord and let him have His way in our lives; by doing what the Lord told me to do I was blessed by it!

God bless you, and be encouraged by the Lord to go! (Luke 14:23) Amen!

                           Wayne

Go to the outlaws! 

Now it’s a challenge when you go by yourself, even knowing that the Holy Spirit  is with you  it some times seems a hard road to travel  but there are blessings too when you go and you get to have a chat with the members  and their friends that go to the club house. There was one club bloke I talked to and he had met a couple of CMA  in Vic   and I just shared that I was here if I could help in some way or to be someone that they could talk to  and he was fine with that. It sometimes seems hard to go, so if you have been called by the Lord to do this ministry then go. If the Lord has called you to go the bible  says that perfect love casts out all fear  so if the Lord has called you then you should go and He will teach you to walk in perfect love  when you go into these places. We are so different and it is not easy to build  friendships but as you do you will be able  to minister in these places. This ministry could be for you and not for who you think is the chosen to do  but it could  be for you.  (Luke 14-23) God Bless.      Wayne 

This report appeared in the Queens land Prostate Cancer news of December 2004. Used with permission.