Well-Being Australia's ATT ministry (Around The Tables) was initiated in Sydney in 2001 when a round table of eight mission couples from across the Mission spectrum sponsored by Mr Basil Sellers AM. The missionaries total costs were met.
Australian based missionaries serving in Russia, India, the South Pacific and within Australia met for two and a half days and two nights with two facilitators, the Reverend Harry Munro and the Pastor's Pastor the Reverend Dr Rowland Croucher both of whom were from Melbourne.
Also Sydney lawyer Dr Clive O'Connor presented a session on Missions and the Law, the gathering was to allow these mission couples to say what they really felt within a safe, sacred and secure environment. Moreover, they took this opportunity to get a lot of 'rubbish' off their chests, much of what could never be said within the confines of their mission organisations.
It was Harry Munro who set the theme for Well-Being Australia's ongoing ministries when he cited: "Never touch the glory, it belongs exclusively to God."
Liberating
One of the mission couples later wrote that it was the most liberating professional experience of their years in missionary service. Another said it was the first time they had gone somewhere without their children with them, and that alone was liberating. Others wanted to see this repeated for their mission associates having witnessed its intrinsic value for their inner heart.
Since that initial Around The Tables (ATT) missionary gathering, Well-Being Australia has repeated the process in many different forms as it soon became obvious that to find eight missionary couples at any one time and available to take three days away from their duties was quite beyond normal circumstances!
Numerous ATTs have been held over these many years with very different formats and with varying degrees of time allotments, numbers and contexts. They nonetheless have the same philosophy as the initial ATT. We now tend to do the travelling rather than bringing mission people to them.
Not new to Mission and how missionary's ponder over a range of critical issues. Delma and I have been faith financed for 44 years, founded the Sports and Leisure Ministry in 1982-2000 under Heads of Churches and served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years. Released to Well-Being Australia in 2000 and one of the ministries developed has been this Around The Tables.
Laguna Quays Respite
Another Well-Being Australia ministry is the Laguna Quays Respite house on the Whitsundays for missionary couples. Opened in June 2011 is in a very real sense a broadening of ATT's providing a facility at no cost to missionaries.
SIM, CMS, WEC, SU, TEAR, BCS, UCA, YM, Wycliffe, BCA, YWAM, MAF, AFES, CM, ASEF, NZ missions, Global Interaction, independent missions and Ministers and pastors from many denominations.
Recent other Around The Tables have been held in Tasmania, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and while conducting a Country Town Tour.
Around The Tables (ATT) ministry continues to be a very special 'in the Lord' rolling ministry.