Sausage Sizzle

Please pray for our church tomorrow as we have a sausage sizzle outside our community Bunnings store.  Bunnings would be the equivalent of lowe's in America. But, at our annual general meeting in August this year we prayed that God would open doors for us to serve the community as well as offer us ways to make some extra income to meet our needs as we grow. And, God brought this event to us.   Bunnings actually called and asked us to fill in for a cancellation the first week in September, and we had families away and had to decline and really felt that they may never call us back. But, a few days later they called and gave us this opportunity. Pray that we would have meaningful conversations with the people who come. Pray that we would be able to sell all of our sausages and drinks.   Pray that we would see this as a way to build a connection to the community through serving food and meeting a need.  Pray that Chris and I will have the energy and strength to work for 16 hrs. straight selling sausages! :)    Thank you so much for your prayers! They are changing lives, here in Australia.

District Conference was wonderful!

Sunday night we arrived safely back in Perth.  District Conference is always kind of a whirl-wind trip. We get on a plane and fly 4-5 hrs. on a red eye flight.  This means that we don't get to sleep on Thursday night! Then we drove 2.5 hrs.  to an island that was REALLY windy and REALLY cold!   After we arrived we were greeted with faces we see once a year.  But, it is WONDERFUL! This is the only contact Chris and I have with the rest of the district.  We soak up the 72 hrs. we are in Melbourne because it is a time for us to catch up, connect and meet, and greet people who share a passion, calling, and a desire to ministers in the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia.    We were truly blessed as Rev. Mike Walters from Houghton College was our guest speaker! And, it was extra special because he married Chris and I almost 13 years ago! So, it was extra special.   The weekend was all business meeting except for, in the evenings we would have rallies!    The days were very long! One day we got up at 6:00am and didn't finish until 1:30am!   The week was wonderful and we weren't sure what God was laying on our hearts. But, he has called Chris and I to step forward this year and help with some leadership responsibilities in the district.  With a unanimous vote Chris was elected to the DBMD, and I was elected as the Children's Ministry Director for the district.   This is good because eventually over the next few years, Western Australia will become its own district and we want to make sure we know how effectively run and give leadership and guidance to these positions. So, it will be excellent this year for us to get our feet wet.   Pray though, this will mean extra trips to Melbourne for Chris. he already will have to go in October for a meeting. Pray that the two of us would follow God's direction and that we would successfully do what it is that God wants us to do this year!   The weekend was awesome, and we were truly blessed.   When we returned our kids were a bit stressed out, and worried, and crying over silly things. But, pray that God will strengthen them and show them they do not, need mummy and daddy every second of every day! 

On the weekend we had a memorial service to remember Rev. Ridgeway.   He was an amazing man and at one point the D.S. asked everyone who had been touched by his life to stand, and there was not one person in their chair! He was truly a remarkable follower of Christ who had such a calling to meet people where they were and bring them to a connection and relationship with Christ!   It was truly a remarkable weekend!

District conference

Please pray for The kids we just left them in Perth and they were sobbing when we left. Pray that we will have safe travels and the kids will settle in. Pray that they would be a witness to the families they are staying with. There are 6 people from Perth that have flown to Melbourne for conference. We will be flying Thursday night at 9:00 and flying back to Perth Sunday at 5:30pm.

Dear prayer partners please pray for the Australian church. This morning we heard news that Dr. Jim Ridgeway has past away in the night in his sleep and gone to be with the Lord. he is a very historical Wesleyan Methodist in Australia that has held almost every position. You can read more about him on the wesleyan.org page. He has been a strong leader in the Australian church. He is Karen hotchkin's father. Karen and Phil are our dear friends and our family is part of theirs. Pray for Karen, Phil, Luke, Josh and Dana during this time.

This weekend is also district conference and we will be flying to Melbourne without the kids. Please pray that we will be able to farm our kids out to new families while we are away and originally they were staying with Dana.

Influenza

While we were travelling in the States everyone in perth was down with many different winter flus. We thought we had missed it all, but apparently not. Brayden, Makayla and Myself have had temperatures of 103 above for the past 5 days! We are REALLY unwell, and Makayla has now missed another 5 days of school after missing 4 weeks! So, please pray that we get better! The Dr.s are not giving any medicine, just suggesting rest. So, please pray that we would get over this and that we would start to feel better.

Cowan Volunteer

Tonight Melissa was awared a "Cowan Volunteer" certificate and medal.  This is a medal given by our Member of Parliament and he gives them to people who volunteer in the community and make a difference. Melissa was given it for helping further the local playgroup and children in our local community.   Melissa was not told she was receiving the award. And, so she "rocked" up to her meeting last night not feeling so well, only to be given this award!  And, they took a picture to put in the local paper.  Melissa is hoping it does not "actually"  make the paper as she has been very unwell!  And, was not prepared for such a "glamorous" shot. :)

Rev. Mike Walters

We are truly blessed to have Rev. Mike Walters and his wife Nancy staying with us for the following week.   Rev. Mike actually married Chris and I and baptized me when he was my pastor at the Higgins Wesleyan Church.  But, he has come to perth to teach spiritual formations to all of our churches in Perth. he will be teaching tuesday night, thursday night, and then all day on saturday.  Pray that we would be able to get some people from Landsdale to attend and that God would speak to their hearts.  Pray that Mike and Nancy would stay well while stay with us as we are all sick with influenza.  Pastor Mike will also be preaching at our church on Sunday night the 9th. Pray that we would have a good attendance and that people would come to hear him preach.