The ministry project had never got off the ground and although they had six visits to the area over those subsequent years and with good will by a developer friend, the doors were closed at every turn.
Then in November and December 2010 Mark Tronson and his wife Delma felt that they had given eight years of untiring thought, prayer and effort into this area and in reality nothing had come of it, although the idea was rich with potential and good-will.
Eight years was a good stint in prying open a ministry door and Mark and Delma Tronson sought the wisdom of the Lord that it was time now to move on, and end with this project idea, or in effect, a door open that was so obvious one could but not trip over it.
Well-Being Australia has a ministry focus on respite, and particularly that of providing respite facilities for elite athletes and coaches from the Australian Institute of Sport and Cricket fraternity.
Mark Tronson pioneered Timeout in Moruya sponsored by Mr Basil Sellers AM for Canberra based AIS athletes, and then in 2006 when they relocated to Tweed Heads, to establish Timeout in the Tweed (Basil Sellers Tweed) for SE Qld AIS based sport units such as Diving, Cricket, Squash, Flatwater Canoe and until 2001 Softball which has now relocated to Melbourne.
Kim and Michelle Gillis took over at Moruya and have since developed that respite facility into a broader ministry including single mums, Dr Banardos and others.
Mark Tronson considered that at some stage he would build on this respite expertise over all these years and extend that to burnt-out-ministers / pastors, missionaries, corporate people, and extend this respite specialisation as well as the AIS family.
Elite athletes, he discovered, sought to get away from the concrete edifices of modern sport and therefore longed for something more rustic than the five star loneliness for which they had become accustomed.
It just so happened that after Mark and Delma Tronson's prayer they were directed to a humble cottage at Laguna Quays that had to be sold urgently as the elderly owner had a health scare where the para-medics revived him. This cottage was initially built for their daughter, then the wife's brother lived in it and then it was time to sell.
A deal was done. A three bedroom cottage with ocean views through the palm trees, mountain views the other way, and above all, it had street infrastructure that was to have been an upmarket duplex resort, that fell over. The street is wide, with town water, street lights and services – yet it is in the 'sticks'.
The Lord had answered the prayer of Mark and Delma Tronson at the precise time of their decision to seek the Lord to determine whether they continue in that region. This was ideal, a humble rustic cottage where many might enjoy rest and respite.
In the fourth article they will show how the Lord put their way many helpers.
