One local resident whose home is on a road adjacent to Midge Point Beach said he had never seen this before, where there was a King Tide and high force winds and huge waves - and for the first time in his living memory came up over the sand dunes to towards his house.
Had it been one or the other, the situation would not have been as dramatic, but concurrently (King Tide and such high winds) proved the undoing of the entire beach front's huge palm trees leaving their root structures entirely exposed and very dangerous.
The Midge Point Progress Association now has a State Government permit to replenish the ravaged beach with ocean sand at low tide.
Roots exposed on Midge Point beach
The only damage done to the missionary respite cottage at Laguna Quays was that the shade house steel frame collapsed under the weight of the winds. The four large tent pegs held and the steel frame broke in six places and collapsed.
The 'Basil Sellers' Laguna Quays Respite facility for missionaries located on the Whitsundays mainland a little south of Proserpine on Repulse Bay is a ministry of Well-Being Australia.
Opened in June 2011 after several months of refurbishing the cottage, missionaries from SIM, CMS, WEC, SU, TEAR, BCS, UCA, YM, Wycliffe, BCA, MAF, AFES, CM, Global Interaction and independent missions have already enjoyed taking 'timeout'.
My wife Delma and I had already established Basil Sellers Moruya (1992) and Basil Sellers Tweed (2006) respite facilities for Australian Institute of Sport elite athletes and their coaches and families so the next logical step and which had been upon my heart for years, was something for missionaries and church / mission personnel.
Leaves on Midge Point beach
The process of establishing a respite place for missionaries therefore fell into place. I felt the Lord's touch to get the missionary respite house up and running, as much for ourselves, as for others, as we've been full on in ministry for 37 years.
Mr Basil Sellers AM who has supported our mission activities over many years was once again pleased to assist the project and by June 2011 the facility was ready for missionary and pastor visitors. With a wide ministry network as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (ret 2000) and with my Olympic ministry credentials since 1984 and AIS athlete respite ministries, the PR process to mission societies and missionaries fell into place with confidence and assurance.
New and Fresh
Knowing intimately about missionary finance, we were determined there would be no fee, but if anyone wished to make a gifting they could. Then last year we made some improvements from a grant from Mr Basil Sellers which included an 11 x 8 metre concrete section beside the cottage (when wet it was muddy and very sloshy), a double car port in the back yard as a bbq entertainment area, wi-fi for the missionaries and beautifully crafted stone mason steps front and back.
Many of the missionaries and pastors have taken the opportunity to take day tours or 2-3 day excursions to the Whitsunday Islands which has been a wonderful bonus to their respite and should they fly in, they have access to an AVIS vehicle through the Well-Being Australia program.
Midge Point beach
The Laguna Quays Respite cottage has three bedrooms with all the normal household items. When my wife and I are there, I wheel the small portable desk to the wide front covered veranda where I connect to the Internet with my 3G plug while enjoying a sweeping view of Repulse Bay's magnetic blue.
Rescued the shelving
I rescued the shelving from the broken up shade house and arranged for a handyman to come who secured the shelving on the shady side of the house so as to retain the pot plants (once housed in the shade house).
Laguna Quays Respite has bookings all the way through to the end of October from missionaries, mission people, pastors and school chaplains. Mission people wishing a visit please contact me at Well-Being Australia timeout@bushorchestra.com or 0487 245 207
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html