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Candid conversations for the church. Host is Ardin Beech of Windsor District Baptist Church, Sydney, Australia. Co-hosted by Jonathan Hoffman.
This week at Windsor, back at you. Good afternoon, doctor Jay.
Jonathan:Good afternoon, Arden Beach. Great to be with you.
Ardin:Indeed. We've got some amazing guests coming up. I have a feeling it's gonna be a very funny, enjoyable chat.
Jonathan:Yes. And, enlightening as well. But, yeah, we're gonna be joined by Nelson and Lisa Asari. They've been a part of our church, yeah, for the last little while, and it's gonna be good to get to know them a bit better.
Ardin:Now what's happening in news?
Jonathan:Well, the news in the world, we're not gonna cover that. But, yeah, news and winds are, well, we got a few things, cooking. The pastors just got back from a retreat. Nobody resigned. Excellent.
Jonathan:This is a win.
Ardin:That's good to know. They all went to the pub and played trivia and were very bad at it.
Jonathan:Well well, we we came fifth out of ninth.
Ardin:Yeah. Wow. That's so good.
Jonathan:Fifth out of nine.
Ardin:Fifth out nine. Yeah. Yeah. Still bad.
Jonathan:It's not terrible. Yeah. We did okay. It was interesting to see where our knowledge gaps were though. But, yeah, I know we had a great pastor's retreat and I think one of our convictions coming out of that, which I shared this morning was, you know, when we're inviting people to be a part of this fellowship, part of this community, we're not asking them to commit to programs.
Jonathan:We're asking them to commit to people, like, to really just say, hey. Are you ready to invest, walk alongside, you know, brothers and sisters in Christ here in this place? So how can we encourage that? How can we foster that kind of engagement with one another? That was something that we chatted a lot about.
Jonathan:Yeah. In addition to just kind of prayer and reflecting and, yeah, we had a great time.
Ardin:Pastor Chris is on leave, so send all your prayer requests to Jonathan.
Jonathan:That's right.
Ardin:Is that how it
Jonathan:works? That's how it works. Yep. Send send the prayer requests here. Yeah.
Jonathan:No. Pastor Chris taking some well earned annual leave over the next couple of weeks. And, yeah, it's a good time of year. I love this sort of July period where, you know, once you get through the second term of school and everyone takes a little bit of a break, things back off just ever so slightly. So, yeah, it'd be good for pastor Chris to get some leave.
Jonathan:And in the meantime, we're just continuing to chug away. We started our series on doubt in the morning, so we looked at will God keep his promises. That was the subject this morning. And then we're going through the book of Acts in the evening where, yeah, you, I believe, famously prayed for revival last week.
Ardin:I did. Chris asked me to pray for revival. Yeah. But then I just put the the onus back on the on the people. Well, if you want revival, you gotta ask
Jonathan:for it. That's I love it.
Ardin:If you
Ardin:if you, you know, if you kneel with my people, humble themselves and pray.
Jonathan:Yep. That's right. Now we'd love to see God do just to just to continue to do a mighty work here and and really see people turning to him. I think there's a lot of people who are maybe fatigued by the news, you know, a lot of doom scrolling going on, a lot of people worrying, sort of just trying to keep their head in the sand, trying to plug away and pretend that that there isn't some pretty tough stuff going on. But I think when we poke our head up and we look around and realize that there's a lot of change in life and there's a lot of things that are uncertain that we can't take for granted.
Jonathan:You know, what better reason to turn to Jesus than know, to try to find find the rock, find the stability and and, you know, that hope for the future. So, yeah, I would love to see that wave of revival come through and and really appreciated your challenge last week to say, is this what we want? You know? Do we want to see people come back to the Lord? Do we wanna see this place changed by the kingdom of God, or are we content in our little routines?
Jonathan:It's a good challenge.
Ardin:And it must be time for our guests.
Jonathan:Looking forward to it. Well, Arden, I'm really excited to have with us two guests today. Two. Two.
Ardin:It's amazing.
Jonathan:Los Dos. We have Nelson and Lisa. Welcome, guys.
Lisa:Thank you.
Nelson:Thank you so much.
Jonathan:Yeah. You guys are husband and wife.
Lisa:Indeed.
Jonathan:That's correct. Mhmm. And I understand one all the way.
Lisa:Yes. We are expecting. Very good. Yeah.
Jonathan:That's exciting. That's exciting. So thank you both for joining us today. This is a little podcast where we like to hear just a bit about people's journey, journey to faith, journey with the Lord, of where they're up to now. So yeah, maybe tell us a little bit about where's home for you now and how did you guys kind of find this church?
Lisa:I came across the church in a rather random way. I was for the last couple of years taking my car to servicing at Windsor Toyota.
Jonathan:Nice.
Lisa:And then we got to a period in our relationship where we were like, we think we should potentially consider finding a new home church. Mhmm. And then coincidentally, during that time period, I took my car for servicing, and I drove past the main road, and then I saw the sign board. And that's how it happened.
Ardin:The sign the sign leads so many people. You know, it's just a Wow.
Lisa:That's how it happened. And, like, now that even, like, this evening driving in, I'm like, the signboard is big, but it's not that big in a sense. Like, I don't even know how I picked up on it, but it was meant to be.
Jonathan:There you go.
Lisa:So then that happened. I remember I told Nelson about it at the time he was still in London. He was like, yeah, check it out. So I came to an evening service and then that's how our journey here began.
Jonathan:There you go London. So that's where you're from Nelson?
Nelson:I am born and bred Londoner.
Ardin:I knew he was from London. You can tell his accent.
Jonathan:There's too many accents. So which part of London are you from?
Nelson:Southeast London, Campbellwell. Okay. We like to think of Southeast as the capital of The UK. Mhmm. That's where, you know, culture, food, music, everything comes comes from.
Nelson:Okay. So we call that the capital of The UK.
Jonathan:I I still didn't catch the name of the place you're from. What is
Nelson:it? Camberwell. Camberwell.
Lisa:Oh. Camberwell.
Ardin:Camberwell. Camberwell. Okay. Yeah. But you're originally both from Ghana.
Ardin:Is
Nelson:that right? Yes. Correct. Yeah. Correct.
Lisa:Yeah. So how do heritage.
Ardin:Oh, yeah.
Nelson:So, like, Ghana's West Africa, in between Ivory Coast and Yeah. Togo, Benin, sort of that era.
Ardin:Okay.
Nelson:Yeah. The West Side.
Lisa:West Side. Right on the coast. Yeah. So our parents are from there, born there, and then we were both born like, I was born here, Nelson was born in England.
Jonathan:Okay.
Lisa:Yeah.
Jonathan:So how did you how did you guys meet? Like, it's it's pretty far between London.
Nelson:Like Yeah.
Jonathan:How did
Ardin:you you really went
Nelson:the long way around, honestly. A journey and a half.
Lisa:No. It's not allowed to tell the story.
Nelson:So exactly ten years ago, 2015
Jonathan:Yep.
Nelson:Yeah. I came here, Sydney, as an international student I was in university at UTS. Yep. It's what brought me here, and I was at Nottingham Trent at the time. It's interesting because the whole reason why I chose my university is because you had the chance to study abroad or do a six month placement, and I thought, you're always gonna get a job, you're always gonna work, so take the chance to study abroad, which brought me here.
Nelson:And then I went to my church that I go to in London, but the Sydney version. And then that's where I met my lovely beautiful wife.
Jonathan:Wow. Yeah. So you met, but you were still here in Australia, Lisa. And then you go back to how long were you here for in Australia?
Nelson:I was here for six months. So I came in February and left in August, July. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
Ardin:There you go.
Nelson:And then I met Lisa in March. So it was a month into my time here. So I'd been going to the church for, like, four three, four weeks or something.
Jonathan:Yeah. Okay.
Nelson:And then I'd met all her friends and her circle and stuff like that. And then she was the last one because she used to work on Sundays.
Lisa:That's the whole thing.
Nelson:Yeah. Like, that's how you
Lisa:know it was meant to be because I had been working in preparation. Like, I had just finished uni. So I was, like, working trying to save to start my actual full time role. And then the one Sunday before I started my full time job, and I went to church, and then I met Nelson.
Nelson:Yeah. It's all it's all quite interesting because the Saturday before we met, I had gone to Jervis Bay with a bunch of friends, and I was so tired because it's like a far drive of, like, three hours or something like that. Gone far away, got back late, and I was like, oh, maybe I should sleep in on that Sunday. And I was like, do know what? If I could go that far to just have fun and, like, chill out, just gotta drag myself to church, essentially.
Nelson:So I did that on the Sunday, and that's when Lisa came because she had a day off Yeah. Or she was just about to start the new job the next day. Yeah. So it was like, she could also have been like, I need energy for this new job that's about to start. But we both made sure we made it that day.
Jonathan:Yeah. There you go.
Nelson:We're here now.
Jonathan:Yeah. Real sliding doors moment there.
Nelson:Honestly.
Jonathan:Lesson, go to church. Yeah. Find a spouse.
Lisa:Yeah. Even if you're tired, go
Nelson:to church.
Ardin:You never know.
Jonathan:Never know what could happen. That's awesome. So you go so you go back to back to London. Did you give her any sort of indication that like, hey, I'm serious about this? Or Yeah.
Jonathan:Why is she laughing? Well, giggling.
Lisa:Because it didn't happen until, like, maybe a week before you were gonna leave or
Nelson:something. Well well well. In May, I did ask her to be my girlfriend officially and stuff like that.
Jonathan:So
Nelson:I still had time before I left.
Jonathan:Right. Okay.
Nelson:And I wanted to make sure before I leave, I let her know how I feel. So there's no sort of question marks as to, like, was he just here and he disappeared and stuff like that. So I wanted to make sure that I appreciated her and saw her much more than just a friend. I wanted to get to know her while I'm here and also while I went back to London. And so I was like, there's no way I'm leaving this country without telling her how I feel.
Nelson:It would be right. Yeah.
Jonathan:Oh, that's cool. So you head back over and yeah. How long did you how long were you back over in The UK?
Nelson:Interesting. Because I was still in uni at the time. Yeah. So so part of the thing was if I didn't have to finish my uni, I would have just stayed here. But then they'll never let me back in the country if I don't go back home.
Nelson:So I kinda had to go because I had to finish my degree. And be a little person. Yeah. So I was like, I wanna come back to Australia. So let's just do things.
Nelson:Finish uni, come back whenever I can. So I went back 2015. And then 2016, Lisa came with her parents for like a holiday. Yeah. And that was the first time our families met.
Nelson:Mhmm. And so my parents went to their hotel to say hello and introduce themselves, and that was quite cool. And then I think we had a gap where 2016 to 2018 Mhmm. Still in uni. She started working, and then that's when I came back in 2018.
Nelson:Yeah. And we've just toed and froed
Lisa:Ever since.
Nelson:Countless times. Yeah. And we're like, one day, we'll tally up how much it cost us because it's gonna make us
Jonathan:cry. Yeah.
Nelson:It's gonna make us cry. Yeah. Yeah. We lost track of how many times we've both flown back and forth for each other. But we've we've had surprises, like, surprised me for my
Lisa:20.
Nelson:Yeah. Your 20 birthday. She worked with, like, my parents and sisters to, like, get picked up, dropped off, and I had no clue she was gonna be at the door when I opened it, almost passed out, like
Lisa:Good times.
Nelson:It was great. Yeah. We we've had, like, cute moments like that, and, yeah, it's been great.
Lisa:And then COVID hit.
Ardin:Yeah. Yeah.
Lisa:Yeah. You know what? It was difficult in the sense of, like, it it wasn't us stopping ourselves from traveling. Mhmm. It was more so government regulations.
Lisa:It wasn't us saying, oh, we can't get time off work.
Nelson:Yeah.
Lisa:So that made it challenging. However, in a sense, we were kinda used to distance anyway.
Nelson:Yeah.
Lisa:It was alright.
Nelson:Because Australia did have one of the, like, tightest
Lisa:Yeah.
Nelson:Regulations. I'm like, no. Yeah. Yeah. But we had we're always grateful for the fact that we exist during this time Yeah.
Nelson:Where we've got FaceTime
Lisa:A 100%. Sky Sky.
Nelson:WhatsApp. YouTube Zoom. We're watching movies on videos,
Lisa:Snapchat calls, like, every single
Ardin:Well, you guys just used everything.
Nelson:So there's no excuse to not communicate.
Lisa:Yeah. There is
Nelson:a reason.
Ardin:So how because with COVID and stuff in the middle, how long were you apart in?
Nelson:That was our longest.
Lisa:That was our longest.
Nelson:Of not traveling, like, two and a half?
Lisa:Yeah. Because just as COVID hit, I was in London. So we were together.
Nelson:Oh,
Lisa:yeah. And then the restrictions happened and we had to cut our trip short, my dad and I. And then we came back to Sydney and first wave of COVID and I got COVID in the flight. So just from the beginning of COVID till the end of COVID, so like 2019 until 2021
Nelson:Yeah.
Lisa:I think.
Nelson:Because they were they came to London, and then they were gonna go to Ghana. But then that's when the government said if you're not back in Australia by x date Yeah. You can't come in. So they couldn't even do the Ghana part of the trip. It was just straight out of London earlier than expected.
Nelson:And then 2021, I came here for like a three week holiday or some sort of gap like that. Like even when I was doing my masters whenever or like when Lisa was doing hers, when we get like a nice half term break,
Ardin:it's like
Nelson:off to Australia or off to London. Yeah. Yeah. And then we're back sort of thing. Yeah.
Jonathan:Yeah. I can see why you haven't counted it counted all the money. Yeah. Oh,
Nelson:it's gonna be painful.
Jonathan:But long distance is tough though. Yeah. I'm I'm curious how as Nelson, as someone from the from The UK, how do you find being in Australia? Because as an American, I look at Australia and The UK and they feel very similar to me. I'm like, they spell words weird.
Ardin:Put an extra u in
Nelson:everything. Same with
Jonathan:the u and move the r's around, all that sort of stuff. Like, you know, the food and the, you know, it it feels very British to me. But I'm curious from your perspective, like, how do you find does it feel really drastically different to you?
Nelson:In some ways, I remember the first thought or the way that I thought of Australia was like, if The UK and America had a baby, it's Australia. Because because the money's got the queen's face, but it's called a dollar. And I was like, what is going on? Yeah. Like, but there's so many things that I really appreciated.
Nelson:Like, just the fact that English is a commonly spoken language. I didn't have to learn a new, like, language at, like, the age of 21. So it helped me to, like, assimilate quite easily and what I felt naturally. I do appreciate big sports heavy nations. Sunshine.
Nelson:Yeah. I'm not used to that as much. The the sunshine is great. Yeah. Even today, it's, like, supposed to be winter, but you hang out clothes and it's dried quickly.
Nelson:Just grateful for those sort of small things in life. What I do realize is the amount of smaller cultures from Europe that are here. And before, I used to think it was just people from The UK who had came and settled and their descendants. But then I see so many people from, like, Malta and Greece, and I'm like, it's just so great. It's, very multicultural.
Nelson:Yeah. And so it also feels a bit like London. Just that the sort of cultures and communities you get are different parts of the world that you find in different parts of London. Yeah. So then I'm continually sort of, like, discovering, like, suburbs where you get mainly this people or mainly people from here.
Nelson:And I'm like, oh, this is so cool. It's interesting. It's like a new world.
Ardin:Now that's all the physical journey stuff covered. What about your faith journeys?
Nelson:So for myself, I've always come from a family where we're very involved in the church. My dad's like a church leader, and my mom's head of Sunday school in the past. Sisters sing, brother used to play trumpet. I was also involved in media and music in the past. So we've always just kinda known, like, church and being active and contributing.
Nelson:Mhmm. So it's something that we really appreciate at home and something that we're trying to pass on, you know, in the future to our kids and stuff like that. Sort of like, don't just be active at work, in your community, but also church. So like a three sixty relationship with, I guess, community and putting an effort. And so I've always had God at the center of my life.
Nelson:And I think for me personally, it escalated in moments when it's, like, exam period or injuries or when you've kind of, like, gone through, like, a phase or development and all you have is God. And God is your only solution. God is your only help. And you can depend on nothing but him, And he always comes through and literally has never disappointed. So, yeah, I I love that I've had that faith journey, and then also I've been able to share it with Lisa, and we've seen many great things happen.
Nelson:Even the way we met and the place we met, you know, we're we're thankful and grateful for the fact that we could meet in a church place. And I think that speaks a lot to the foundation of our relationship.
Lisa:Thanks for sharing, Nelson. How did I come to know God? So when we were younger, we used to live in the city in Glebe. And I remember so my sibling and I were first generation. I think that's first generation, right, when you're born.
Lisa:So we're first generation. Like, our parents didn't have any support or family, like, sort of just friends kind of thing. And so they had to work all the time. And the people taking care of us on the weekend was my godfather and his wife. And so they take us to church because they were able to.
Lisa:And then when we moved to Western Sydney, we sort of just continued doing that. But then for a while, it was more so going because, you know, your parents tell you to go or they're coming to pick you up. So you just get in the car and go to church. And then I think sometime in high school after going to a bunch of youth camps, things just changed and it went more from like, you know, religion to relationship. And then as I continue to grow older and then things have happened in life and it's just like you have your own personal encounters and you're like, yeah, this is real.
Lisa:Like, this is the path that I'm on with this person. That's so great. So, yeah, God is good.
Jonathan:So how do you find church experience here? Not a lot of people here who have the background that you guys have. You're coming into a new place. We wanted to help people find community. Obviously, Western Sydney is growing a lot.
Jonathan:I'm curious, like, are there some things that you're finding like really challenging and some things that you're finding like, oh, that's interesting. Didn't, that's pretty good. That's really helpful. I'm curious about your experience.
Lisa:No, I love it here. We keep the time at church. That's really good.
Jonathan:Can you hear that, Arden? We keep
Nelson:the time
Jonathan:at church.
Ardin:Never heard single person say that.
Jonathan:The record.
Ardin:At church. The baby is the baby is gonna be born by the time you finish your next sermon. He won't.
Lisa:Yes. For the most part, we keep the time. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Jonathan:Don't walk it back.
Nelson:Don't walk it.
Jonathan:It's going to the archive. Finally, somebody said it.
Lisa:It will keep the time.
Nelson:Yep.
Lisa:Everyone's really friendly. I feel like gaming when I come to church, like I'm learning. I'm not sort of just being passive and just attending and going home kinda thing. The only things that'd be tricky for me sometimes, you know, in this praise and worship, I'm used to like maybe more flamboyant or loud or, you know, more body movements and stuff kind of thing. And sometimes I just have to like compose myself a little bit because yeah.
Nelson:It's cause we came from a Pentecostal church. Yeah. So it's very like expressive.
Lisa:Yeah. That's a good word. Expressive. Yeah.
Jonathan:Yeah. I say keep expressing. We need a little
Nelson:more Yeah.
Jonathan:For sure. Little more flamboyant stuff.
Nelson:Don't
Jonathan:let us hold you
Nelson:back.
Ardin:I imagine imagine for, like, for your parents and grandparents and stuff, church in Ghana, that it would have been super expressive.
Lisa:Extremely. Mhmm. Yeah.
Nelson:Yeah. Following that, just a lot less subtext sort of. Mhmm. It feels very welcoming. And Yeah.
Nelson:I know maybe, like, demographic is sort of, like, on surface value, yeah, we're black. Not that many black people in the church, but also we're here for spiritual reasons as well. So it's not just be superficial, go where those people look like you
Ardin:or not,
Nelson:But it's where you feel is home and where you feel comfortable Yeah. Where you feel embraced and where you also feel the spirit of God. Mhmm. So being here is is lovely. Love it.
Nelson:It's fantastic. Mhmm. Just the people we meet, the sermons are really good as well. I like how just just more things like Lisa said, finishing on time, the fact you can
Lisa:It's a big thing for us. You know?
Nelson:You can QR code and find a sermon Yeah. That too. Slides. Mhmm. And just how welcoming people are after church, I think.
Nelson:Something we do realize sometimes in maybe other environments or other churches is when church finishes, people might spread off into small groups or cohorts.
Lisa:But everyone wants to talk to you here. It's great. Everyone's so welcoming and kind, and you don't feel like, let me just hurry back to my car.
Nelson:Yeah. You don't wanna disappear. You kinda wanna have a chat, go for it. Like, to have the tea after church, and Lisa knows I'm not even a tea guy. I just, like, put it for more London.
Nelson:Yeah. And it was it was literally black tea. It it was like, I was talking to someone, they're like, do wanna get tea? And I was like, in my head, was like, I'm not really a tea guy, but you know what? Let's just let's just do this.
Nelson:And then for example, lactose milk is what I normally drink, but then I couldn't see milk. So I was like, I guess I gotta drink it with no
Lisa:milk sort of thing.
Nelson:So I was like, I'd rather do this than feel like I have to disappear or feel like, you know, I just say I don't drink tea or whatever. So it's just I can really fall into it, immerse myself, and just kind of get involved in what's going on, and I love that. And there's so much going on. Sort of like Mhmm. I've got the, I think, Fetler's Sheds
Ardin:Yep.
Nelson:And the mom's groups and book clubs. Yeah. It's so good. It's like church extends itself beyond Sunday. Yeah.
Nelson:And there's so many, like, pockets of how to get involved and courses, which we got ourselves involved in in the early days. Yeah. And we still want to do that. You know? Like, we wanna grow, understand the church and kind of what the church stands for, see how we can contribute, and be active members.
Lisa:And leading on from there, just quickly, the, the newsletter on the website, that's really helpful.
Ardin:Oh, good.
Lisa:Yeah. I can't think of the amount of times that we've gone onto it to go and check like, church happening here today? Is it happening elsewhere? Like what
Nelson:else is not? During Easter for Yeah.
Lisa:So that's really good too.
Jonathan:Yeah. It's really good to hear that from you guys because I think that's the beauty of the gospel is that it takes, you know, whatever might be our earthly labels and titles and, you know, interests, and it just kind of covers over all that with God's love and grace and it makes, you know, it really just forms and creates its own community. And I think, I just think it's fantastic. I've always felt welcome at home with you guys, you know, since day one. And yeah, it's just amazing how the grace of God really, you know, brings people together like that we would never, you know, you would never even think we'd be having that kind of conversation.
Jonathan:Yeah. That's true. I I wanted to ask you a little bit, Nelson, about your work. Yeah. Tell us what do you do?
Nelson:So there's what I do in London or, like, previously, and then there's what I do now.
Jonathan:Are you wanted somewhere?
Nelson:For what? For my assassin. But yeah. So before coming here in London, UK, I was working in media, in production for the likes of, like, BBC, ITV.
Ardin:So a pretty similar setup to
Nelson:to Rory. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yes.
Nelson:You know? And so that's also what I studied. Like, I've always been into cameras. My dad used to have cameras when I was a kid, and so always had camcorders in my hand. And then I always found myself being the one at church events when no one's filming.
Nelson:I'm like, I know you guys are enjoying, but who's documenting this? So my background is always, like, media stuff and done radio, done magazine, done film, and then, yeah, mainly television. And then so I came to Sydney at the end of last year. And then since then, I've been working in education, which is quite nice because my whole thing was it was the start of a new chapter coming over to here. And so I was like, god, lead me.
Nelson:Open up any door you need. Place me where you need me to be, and I'm ready. And so, thankfully, these are the doors that open up. So there's education. I work as an educator, which is in also, thankfully, Catholic schools.
Nelson:And what's great about that is they're faith based institutions. And so it's looking after children before and after school, before their parents pick them up or drop them off to go to work. And what we can do there is also talk to them about God, help them develop their social skills, introduce them to new cultures, new food, and kind of like be active in impacting these children, helping them to become the best version of themselves. And alongside that, I also have another job. I'm a videographer, and I film sports, which is quite cool as well, because that's something I was previously doing in London.
Nelson:And so here I film basketball, cricket, soccer, rugby. Yep. That's what I can remember.
Jonathan:Yeah. What's the hardest Yeah. Sport to film?
Nelson:I'd say I out of basketball and rugby because the first time I was filming rugby, I didn't even know what was going on. And there's so many bodies. You're like just follow that egg thing. Yeah. You're like yeah.
Nelson:You're like, there's so many people, and then it's like, where's the ball at this moment? Because there's times when they're, like, scrumming, and then the ball disappears, and you just, like, have to anticipate Yeah. Where they're throw. And I think yeah. Because every sport is sort of forward.
Nelson:Like, basketball, you pass forward. Same as soccer, you kick forward. Whereas rugby, you pass back, so you never know which person they'll pass to, will they catch it, will they fumble the ball. It's like the anticipation is different. And also in basketball, you have to kind of, like, guess where the shot's gonna go.
Nelson:But then when they shoot, you don't wanna lose the ball from your shot. So you have to frame it in a way that the art or art shot the ball is, like, visually seen as well. So it's kinda, like, anticipating the shots and guessing where that's gonna go to and, like, different plays and where will they pass on the pitch or on the field.
Ardin:Yeah. It was such a refreshing take you had on work when you said, god, open any door, open any opportunity, and I'll walk through it. Mhmm. Because in the western world, we're trained to say, don't do a job if you don't enjoy it. Mhmm.
Ardin:Life is all about enjoyment and pleasure and and everything like that, and that's it's that's a refreshing rare take to hear someone say that.
Nelson:Thank you. Yeah. I think for me, it was just kind of, like, be an open canvas. Because if I say I really want to come and join Lisa here and I'm ready for that chapter, I need to also be ready for what else comes that way as well. So I was just prepared for whatever and however.
Jonathan:What do you guys say to people who've made such a big journey like you have? Right? I mean, obviously, it's whether it's cultural, whether it's just relational, like long distance, you know, I see you guys as really just pouring your pouring yourselves into life and into one another. And, yeah, there's really nothing's in the too hard basket, which is pretty awesome. But what would you say to what would you say to people who maybe are struggling with the risks that they have to take or with the costs that they have to lay down?
Jonathan:What's kind of encouraged you to kind of make some of these hard decisions and take some of these big steps?
Lisa:I think trusting God. Yeah. That's been the biggest one for me because if I was doing this on my own accord, I think I say it sometimes, I'm like, we probably wouldn't still be together. You know, like, the human mind, you know, the flesh is weak, all those sorts of things, but you're not relying on yourself. You're doing whatever it is you're doing in life at the moment, you're doing it with God.
Lisa:So just trust on God. Rely on God. Speak to God, and that'll keep you centered. That's what's helped me.
Nelson:Yeah. I'd agree. And second that, I'd say also just delving into the bible helps you to understand. Like Lisa said, things have happened so, like, people have been on the same journey, and so that makes it quite relatable. And so as you're reading it, you feel like nothing is impossible and there's nothing God can't do.
Nelson:And so if I'm going through the situation, it's a moment. It's not it's, like, eternal.
Jonathan:Mhmm.
Nelson:I'm not always going to be in this premise or in this situation that I find myself in. It's just kind of take it as some director I used to work with says, take life twenty minutes at a time. Because if you think about everything in the big picture, it's overwhelming and in intense. But then if you're kind of saying, I'll tackle this activity or I'll do this task, that's done onto the next. Then, you know, as you scope and zone out of it, you kinda realize, oh, it's been productive or I've overcome this or this has been successful.
Nelson:So just tackling it in small chunks, small bites. Because when you think about something in the grand scheme, it can be too intense and That's true. Yeah. Kinda like, oh my gosh. This is a big task at hand, but it's like one thing at a time, one step at a time.
Ardin:With all the time apart and the travel backwards and forwards and all that sort of stuff, were there times when you just thought, you know, this this can't work, you know? Like, were there times of doubt and stuff?
Nelson:I've always known it was Lisa, but then I think it was more like I think we had for a moment, we're thinking, where do we settle? Is it London? Is it Australia? Is it somewhere completely different? So it was it was maybe more like where do we plant our feet.
Nelson:Yeah. Because obviously, Lisa's family's here. Mine are mainly in London, but I've got some cousins and family in Australia too. It was all about sort of like where do we call home. That was the greatest decision.
Nelson:And so and also every time you meet someone or someone's like, oh, how's Lisa? How's Nelson? And then they're always asking, oh, where are guys gonna go? Where are you gonna like, it's like, we're trying to figure out. Don't know why they're asking us.
Nelson:Yeah. We do not know. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, yeah, I think we made the best choice possible.
Nelson:Mhmm. Australia is a great place to be. It's a lovely country. Yeah. And so, yeah, we're just enjoying life.
Lisa:Mhmm. We thank god.
Ardin:And did you work with any stars, any big stars
Nelson:on telly?
Lisa:Oh, Nelson. Give them your camera, like, your credits. Tell them. Tell the people, please.
Nelson:I worked on a film with Guy Ritchie, who was my boss on that show. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
Lisa:He was in Guy Ritchie's house
Nelson:working on the movie. Yeah. What show was it? It's a film called Operation Fortune.
Ardin:Oh, yeah?
Nelson:Yeah. So Jason Statham, Hugh Grant, Buggsy Malone. Yeah. Yeah. So that that was quite cool.
Nelson:And so he'd come in and out and see him all the time, sort of thinking, busy man. He's always working on, like, three projects at once. Yeah. Yeah. So that was quite cool.
Nelson:And then done stuff like the BAFTAs, NFL UK when that happened, Wembley, saw Prince William when I worked on FA Cup final, stuff like that. Yeah. It's been a nice journey.
Ardin:I feel like we're just gonna plunge him into a deep depression. He's he's he's come from such lofty heights. Now he's on the This Wicked Windsor Podcast. This is where he's landed.
Nelson:This is great place, though.
Lisa:You know, you guys are
Nelson:local icon. Thanks for way.
Lisa:Yes. Celebrities in your own right.
Jonathan:Arden keeps saying we're coming for Joe Rogan, so
Nelson:I don't know. No.
Jonathan:It's such a privilege to get to hear your guys' story, and thanks for sharing your your lives and your faith with us.
Lisa:Well, thank you for having us. We appreciate it.
Jonathan:Having you on and love having you a part of this community.
Lisa:Thank you.
Jonathan:It's a real joy.
Ardin:Thanks, guys. Well, thanks for coming. It was great. Thank you.
Lisa:Thank you.
Nelson:Thank you.
Lisa:Thank you.
Ardin:Well, I think that's the most fun we've had on a podcast for at least a few weeks.
Jonathan:Yeah. At least a few weeks. I mean, excluding the principles. No. It was a great what a great opportunity to visit with Lisa and Nelson, and I just was, you know, I wish people could have seen their faces because the joy, just the joy that radiates through them and their story.
Jonathan:And I love, you know, just how open they were about, yeah, the, you know, the hard bits, but how they just, you know, trying to take things and with a very trusting attitude.
Ardin:Because that is long, long distance. Like, that's extra long distance.
Jonathan:Yeah. We I thought Joanna and I did long distance. We were just a couple thousand miles away. They were literally other other hemisphere, like, different time of day. Yeah.
Ardin:Alright. It was a pleasure doing this week at Windsor with you.
Jonathan:Anytime.
Ardin:Probably the best outro we've ever had.
Jonathan:Ever.