Page 84 - moondani kyema
P. 84
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 84
In 1953 when we moved to Melbourne, I started to attend the Kew Baptist Church
and found a wonderful group of young people there who accepted me as one of
them. I attended the Christian Endeavour groups and enjoyed the experience of
being part of a large group of young people who did a lot of social things together as
well as growing in our faith together.
Kew Baptist purchased a block of land at Belgrave Heights and Harold Holt, a
deacon of the church, built a house on that block and we started attending the Kew
Baptist House Party at the Belgrave Heights Convention.
Being new to the Convention and just getting to know the young people from the
church, I lapped up the experience and found myself deeply moved by the teaching
at the Convention. I began to be deeply moved also by the vision of one of the
teenage girls at the house party. She also seemed attracted to me. She was the
younger daughter of Harold and Ada Holt, Bev.
We enjoyed each other’s company and smiled a lot at each other. Well, we did smile
a lot until New Year’s Eve, when we made a pact that we would not smile at each
other “until next year.” All that day we made a valiant effort not to smile at each
other, which was made especially difficult for me as my heart was smitten.
After the evening meeting at the Convention on New Year’s Eve, we followed the
normal practice and all gathered in the common room of the house for an evening of
entertainment and spiritual preparation for the New Year. Bev and I were very
aware of each other, but still maintained our “no smiling” pledge.
Finally the clock ticked over and we entered the countdown to midnight. Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one – Happy New Year. I have to admit that I
had not been concentrating on the spiritual lead up to the New Year. My mind was
centred on the most attractive girl I knew. The “Happy New Year” had hardly
finished when I made a beeline for Bev – and we kissed.
The significance of that kiss was enormous; its repercussions far reaching. From that
moment we “became an item” and six years later, were married. Six years later we
also started in the Baptist ministry at Rainbow.
Exactly 50 years from that occasion we once again attended the Belgrave Heights
Convention. Christmas 2003 found Bev and I in our caravan at Belgrave Heights,
parked in the caravan park organised by the Belgrave Heights Convention.
Amazingly, we discovered over the next few days, while trying to identify landmarks
and houses from fifty years before, that our caravan site was only about twenty five
metres from the old Kew Baptist House, now a private residence.
On New Year’s Eve we attended an entertainment program in the large meeting hall
with about two thousand people there celebrate the passing of the old year. The
young person who was leading the festivities happened to be the occupier of the tent
next to our caravan. He announced that we were celebrating an important
anniversary, and asked us to stand. We did and kissed each other like teenage
lovers in front of them all. Later on we went back to the caravan and on the dot of
In 1953 when we moved to Melbourne, I started to attend the Kew Baptist Church
and found a wonderful group of young people there who accepted me as one of
them. I attended the Christian Endeavour groups and enjoyed the experience of
being part of a large group of young people who did a lot of social things together as
well as growing in our faith together.
Kew Baptist purchased a block of land at Belgrave Heights and Harold Holt, a
deacon of the church, built a house on that block and we started attending the Kew
Baptist House Party at the Belgrave Heights Convention.
Being new to the Convention and just getting to know the young people from the
church, I lapped up the experience and found myself deeply moved by the teaching
at the Convention. I began to be deeply moved also by the vision of one of the
teenage girls at the house party. She also seemed attracted to me. She was the
younger daughter of Harold and Ada Holt, Bev.
We enjoyed each other’s company and smiled a lot at each other. Well, we did smile
a lot until New Year’s Eve, when we made a pact that we would not smile at each
other “until next year.” All that day we made a valiant effort not to smile at each
other, which was made especially difficult for me as my heart was smitten.
After the evening meeting at the Convention on New Year’s Eve, we followed the
normal practice and all gathered in the common room of the house for an evening of
entertainment and spiritual preparation for the New Year. Bev and I were very
aware of each other, but still maintained our “no smiling” pledge.
Finally the clock ticked over and we entered the countdown to midnight. Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one – Happy New Year. I have to admit that I
had not been concentrating on the spiritual lead up to the New Year. My mind was
centred on the most attractive girl I knew. The “Happy New Year” had hardly
finished when I made a beeline for Bev – and we kissed.
The significance of that kiss was enormous; its repercussions far reaching. From that
moment we “became an item” and six years later, were married. Six years later we
also started in the Baptist ministry at Rainbow.
Exactly 50 years from that occasion we once again attended the Belgrave Heights
Convention. Christmas 2003 found Bev and I in our caravan at Belgrave Heights,
parked in the caravan park organised by the Belgrave Heights Convention.
Amazingly, we discovered over the next few days, while trying to identify landmarks
and houses from fifty years before, that our caravan site was only about twenty five
metres from the old Kew Baptist House, now a private residence.
On New Year’s Eve we attended an entertainment program in the large meeting hall
with about two thousand people there celebrate the passing of the old year. The
young person who was leading the festivities happened to be the occupier of the tent
next to our caravan. He announced that we were celebrating an important
anniversary, and asked us to stand. We did and kissed each other like teenage
lovers in front of them all. Later on we went back to the caravan and on the dot of
