On April 1st 1995 at 10 past 12 on a Saturday afternoon, a rapidly spreading fire totally engulfed and completely destroyed a manufacturing factory in Cambridge, Tasmania with devastating consequences.
Who would have known that out of that crisis, came a story of transformation and survival, that initiated the heartbeat of what has now grown to be Directions Tas thirty years later.
The owner of the factory was Philip Harback, and despite well credentialed and well-meaning folks speaking into his life, Philip was unable to reconcile the outcome with conventional therapy and reasoning. The old egoic adage of, “I can overcome all obstacles,” was no longer applicable and Phil needed a new way to see and a new place of learning for him to recover. This “search” led him to a new space Philip hadn’t encountered before, “liminal” space, or a space between spaces.
It was in this new space, and after processing woundedness, anger, bitterness and blame, and sitting with the right people, that Philip became aware that his wounds could, and ultimately would become gifts that enabled others, particularly men, to journey out of their own pain and grief stories, into healing and wholeness. Wounds, when they become sacred wounds, are no longer obstacles, but stepping stones. As Philip learned, our scars don’t tell us who we are, they just remind us of where we’ve come from.
From the ashes of that factory fire, emerged a new, concrete and steel factory with meeting rooms and hospitality facilities that became a hub for weekly men’s gatherings, not for gatherings sake, but for men looking for a trusted place to tell their own stories of loss and woundedness, grief and pain and a place simply where they could be heard.
That ethos of connection and transformation hasn’t changed through the decades and remains the core value of what DirectionsTas stands for today and forms the basis of our vision and mission statement.
Following on from those “factory” gatherings, in the winter of 2001 at a Keith Hounslow men’s event in Lauderdale, Tasmania, from about 50 men present, four in particular, Phil Francis, Glenn Ferguson, Geoff Madden and Philip Harback, had a life changing encounter that set in motion the formation of DirectionsTas, although it wasn’t officially “named” until 2006, then in January of 2007, at a leadership and planning retreat at Clifton Beach, Tasmania, DirectionsTas emerged as a legitimate ministry team for the men of Tasmania and beyond.
From then, DirectionsTas has been intentional about gathering weekly on Monday nights, with scores of men passing through the doors (or on Zoom) over the years, receiving greater clarity and purpose for their life, knowing that someone had taken the time to listen and showed that they cared. Since Covid, Zoom meetings have become the norm which has given greater geographical access to “joining” our meetings with regular participants from Launceston, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and recently New Zealand.
DirectionsTas, whilst working across Tasmania, has also hosted many interstate and overseas retreats across Australasia including New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, New Zealand and overseas in Florida, USA.