Wonderful Weekend!
We had the wonderful opportunity to speak this week at 3 new churches!

-Wednesday night we spoke in Wellsville, NY. It was a wonderful time to connect with a group of people who are excited about missions and what God is doing around the world. Because this church was so close to Chris's parents, our kids had a wonderful evening playing with grandma and grandpa and we were able to share from our hearts what God has been doing in Perth, Australia.

-Thursday Chris went and paricipated in the WNY LDJ meeting. He was inspired that the "church" needs to work together so that we can use the best of our abilities to reach the communities around us! Instead of churches working against each other in competition etc.
While Chris was at LDJ he was able to connect with many of the pastors of churches that support us from our home district and update them all on where we are with our support.

-Friday morning I spoke with the Womans group at Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church, what a time of friendship! I sat around the table I was sitting at with 10 ladies and we answered questions to get to know each other. There was then a missions panel and I participated on that sharing about our ministry in Australia. After words, all the woman were able to ask us many questions. Then to close we went around the table and shared prayer requests and praises! I then closed the time in prayer. It was a wonderful moment for me, becuase my hearts passion is to see Woman walking with the Lord as their saviour and serving him with everything they have, and I felt like this was a time where God met with us and reached his hand out to those who came with needs, and lifted up those who needed some encouragement. I praise God for Friday morning and the connection I was able to make. When I left almost everyone at the table had wanted to pray for our ministry in Australia. What an encouragement! I felt very loved on and knew that these ladies were earnest when they said they would pray for us!

-Friday night we met with the missions committe of Eastern Hills for Dinner. There were 15 missionaries there and the committee. It was a wonderful time for us to share from our hearts as families and be prayed for by the missions committee! What an encouragement and TREMENDOUS reminder that God is providing, and caring, and taking care of his fold, and HE is calling us to do nothing but Love him.

-Saturday morning, Chris joined about 150 men from the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church for breakfast. It was a great time of fellowship together. The worship and the atmosphere was great and all of the men in the room were encouraged to follow God's leading and plan for their lives.

-Saturday Evening the family shared with the Eastern Hills Church "Taste of Nations". After the great time and wonderful foods from around the world, we were challenged and inspired at the Saturday evening service. We had great opportunities to talk with individuals and share our heart and passion for Australia.

-Sunday morning, we were 5 hours south of there in Wyalusing, PA. The Herrickville Wesleyan Church is a wonderful body of believers that has great passion and this is a church full of young families! We travel many churches. This church had EXCELLENT participation in Sunday school. Chris challenged the sunday school class to step up and answer God's call on their lives. He shared about their individual potential, and what it then looks like when our potential is teamed with God! Then, Chris preached during the service about prayer, and God is still doing the Impossible. It was truly special to see how much they love Jesus and others in their church. We also had the special treat of meeting a couple who had lived in Australia while they were deployed!

Most importantly God spoke to our hearts, and although, we were very busy, we were completely encouraged! God is still calling people to be apart of what HE is doing in Australia. And, many people committed this weekend to be prayer partners and faith promise partners!

Thank you to the churches we visited for sharing your lives with us, and passion for seeing people come to Christ!

BUSY WEEKEND!

Please pray for our family over the next three days as we have many opportunities to share with people what God is doing in Australia. Pray that these people we meet would see God's vision and join the team, to help us go and minister in Perth, Australia!

Please Pray for us specificaly over the next few days for the upcoming missions events we will be participating in.
Friday 9:00am-Woman's Missions Panel
Friday 6:00pm- Missions Committe Meeting Dinner for Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church.
Saturday Am- Men's Missions Breakfast
Saturday 6:00PM-Taste of the Nations Missions Conference
Sunday 9:00am Herrickville Wesleyan Church
Pray that our children would have the strength to survive the crazy schedule and business and non routine they will have over the next three days.

FBI-Fingerprinting!

Well, we mailed off today our FBI fingerprints. We paid to have them delivered one day. Because the processing time is 3-4 weeks! we now have 20 days to get them turned in. We heard good news from the department that if we put the date we need them turned in by on the outside of the envelope that most likely they will be processed quicker! So, please pray that this would occur in a timely manner! Tomorrow we head down to the police department in Wellsville to get clearances from the police department to say we do not have any criminal record, and then we will fax those to the DIMIA office! So, all is looking good on the VISA end of things! Thank you to everyone who is praying! Thank you for being part of the network! We couldn't do it without you!

VISA!

We received a letter yesterday on our visa. They would like us to go get Federal clearance in the US and also in Australia, and finger printed, and a few other things. But, they have given us 28 days to get these in. So, THANK YOU for your prayers, because God heard them and they have started to FINALLY proccess our Visa. But, please pray now that the FBI will get back our paperwork and Australia will get it back in in the next 28 days!

They have also requested our ACTUAL passports now, which is a pretty good sign that they are going to put the VISAS in them as soon as they receive this paperwork!

Driving Through God's Beautiful Countryside!

This past weekend we visited Perinton Community Church and Millerton Wesleyan. We had a lovely drive in between churches. We drove through some mountains next to a finger lake, so it was beautiful with the trees changing. But, what is more beautiful, is the fact that every where God send us, he speaks to peoples hearts! We had many people sign up this weekend to be prayer partners! They joined the network! This is exciting! Becuase, God has not just given us a vision to GO, but he has given us and others a vision to GO and minister in Australia. Whether we are praying, giving, or going. God's word is going to the people of Australia, and lives are being changed! We are so glad you are a part of this! Thank you!

Global Positioning Systems?
Today we had the privilege of speaking at Angola Wesleyan Church. This church has supported us for the past 5 years! It was exciting to go and share with them what God has been doing in the "Land Down Under!" But, most importantly God spoke to my heart about a few things we do in Australia. Here they are!

1. We must follow God's word!
On the way to the church our GPS could not get a Satellite! Do you think we had a map? No. So, we would drive a ways and then stop and ask for directions! But, what we should have done was pulled out our map and looked to see where we were supposed to be going! God has given us His instruction book for life! By serving in Australia we are bringing God's word to the people of Australia and sharing with them the news that Jesus Christ died on the cross for them!

2. We were right where God wanted us to be!
We didn't get mad at the GPS we didn't really panic we just knew that God would get us there! And, sometimes... life is just like that! Sometimes we know where we are going. But recently being a missionary feels like stepping out into new territory. And, all we have is faith in Jesus to know he will bring us through the other side!

3. Serve with everything in us!
Later that morning the church service started and on the first song they apologized for not having a pianist and they sang with no music. Now, I could have sat there and told God my gifts and talents were not good enough. But, I got out of my seat and went and sat at the piano, and for the rest of the service I played. I have not played a piano since we left Australia! I missed it, and I felt so involved in worship in a way I haven't in a while. Because, I used the small talent God wanted me to serve Him with! We are getting ready to go back to Australia. There are going to be many days we feel inadequate. But, God placed a call on us and he will supply all we need! Even on the other side of the world!

Who knew a drive without a GPS could teach us so many lessons!

Brookside Junior Church!

This weekend we had the privilege of going on a church outing as sponsors for the Brookside junior church because we are their missionaries! This was a wonderful day because they faith promised to support us! We love travelling and challenging churches, but never did we expect a Jr. church to become a part of our network and support us! We spent 3 hours in the van driving with boys in our back seat and they were SO good! But, also it was a blast to answer their questions and get to know them. We then went to an indoor swimming park and had a blast for 6 hours and then got back in the car to drive home 3 hours! It was a wonderful day and our kids had a blast! But, what I just can't stop thinking about is the fact that out of those 25 people who went. Who is God going to call next into ministry, or to be a missionary. I wonder who these children will be when they grow up. My prayer is that they will follow Jesus with all of their heart. And, that they will follow the calling on their life! But, in all they do, that they would be a missionary where they are and around the world!

The Wesleyan Church of Orchard Park

Last night we had the privilege of visiting The Wesleyan Church of Orchard Park. This is a church that has been faithfully supporting us for the last 5 years! It is soo exciting to go and see people we know and recognize. Our kids had a blast becuase it was their missions festival so they had hay rides, and they had a Christian juggler come and do all kinds of fun and cool things for the kids. Our kids talked about all the items the man juggled the whole way home from the church. Thank you Orchard Park for stepping out in faith and being a part of the network ministering in "The Land Down Under!" Here are some pics from the night!

Chris and I after the ordination service with the cake for all our friends and family.

Whirlwind of visiting new Churches!

The last 3 weeks have been very busy. We have been travelling new churches. God has brought us together with many wonderful people, missions committees, and churches. Many of them are prayerfully seeking God's guidance and direction on whether to support us. This is an awesome thing to think about! Our support has reached the 75% mark! This is very exciting. I would like to share with you a few thoughts from the road. Our chldren love to listen to the Crocodile Dock CD from VBS this summer. But, what I find interesting is, it seems to speak to my heart even as we are driving.

1) When you get down, you get back up! Chris and I were a bit saddened at the reality of not reaching Australia this month. We wanted to be boarding a plane and be reunited with the work. We really miss being involved every week with the Church God has asked us to serve in. The reality is, that even though we felt down, beat, sad, and exhausted. The truth is we have to get back up, make more calls, contact more churches, and work just as hard as we have been! And, about the moment we started to feel down. God has reached out and spoken to us. He has reminded us of the call HE has given us! And, God gave us an awesome day last week where pastors answered the phone, spoke with us, and let us email them our info! Not only could our ordination come at a better moment. We were encouraged and loved on by so many pastors in the district that it just was a great big PUSH for what God has called us to do. He never said it would be easy. He never said it would be always full of joy. But, God is moving, funds are still coming in, and God is impressing on peoples hearts to give! So, here we wait patiently to show all the new churches we know He will connect us with.

2) There is a song that talks about Faith. It goes... "Faith to see beyond what I can see. Faith to see that God will do great things! I will trust the Lord I will always believe... as I hold onto my faith, Jesus you are holdng on to me!" This song is always a reminder to Chris and I, that this is what we do! We step out in faith, everyday knowing that God is going to provide. And, so far he has.. We went 8 months without being paid, and God has taken care of every moment. We have always had food, shelter, and God has been meeting every need. But, a special moment for me was at the end of the song, there is just music, and Chris and I could hear from the back of the van Makayla praying. She was praying for her friends, and for a safe trip driving, and for her family. God is definitely working in their hearts and times when we think about this lifestyle and how it is SO hard on our children. God works in them and is growing them into beautiful children who love Him with all their hearts.

Pray for Greenwood High School in, Landsdale, Australia

Please keep our local highscool school, greenwood high in your prayers Liesl Mahood from our church in Australia is a Chaplain there full time. She would really appreciate it if we would pray for her, the students, and the staff. They had a massive racial fight on the grounds on Tuesday, the police and police helicopter were called in. Some of the staff got hurt in the scuffle too. It has really been a very very rough term and the cracks are starting to show with some of the staff.

Landsdale Primary here we come!

Praise God, and Thank you for all your prayers! Our children were accepted this week into the Public school system in Australia! This is a big deal. Not every child gets accepted into Kindy. So, Dawson getting to go is a huge praise! This will help Dawson adjust to Australian culture quicker! Makayla will be going into grade 1 and Dawson will be going to Kindy. The brings on a new prayer request. The kindy system is changing. they will be going to school one more day longer! Dawson was going to go two full days and now he will go three. Pray for me as he is still so little and I will miss having him at home! But, he will have so much more fun at school learning and making friends.

Ohio-Indiana Trip!

What a wonderful time was had in Indiana. Unfortunately the Habitat Team fell through for this week. So, we really need your prayers and hope that some teams will come together in the fall and also in the spring and summer next year to go work on a habitat house. Since we had churches and appointments out in Indiana to speak at we went out there and stayed on the Fairmount campground. While we were out there we met with some important friends who have supported us in prayer over the years. WE also spent the afternoons working on some repairs on our personal house in Indiana, since we didn't have a team to work on the "habitat for missionaries" house. We also visited 4 new churches. Please pray that these churches would pick us up for support! We then made the long drive home to NY. Thank you so much West Chester, Lighthouse, Tipton Trinity, and Mulberry for the wonderful visits we had. We were loved on by all of the churches and had a wonderful time sharing with them God's call on our lives to Australia.

God Moments!

The weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Lynn, IN to speak at Lighthouse Wesleyan Church. We had a wonderful visit and met a lovely group who are committed to lifting people up in prayer. We are honored to have them on our team and to have them pray for us and be a part of our network! On Thursday we found out our Sunday night service had fallen through. So, it was very exciting to find out that we were only two hours from Lima, OH. So we hopped in the car and went and celebrated with family my cousins daughters birthday, Kate Foster. We had a wonderful time catching up with the family and seeing everybody. Everytime we turn around God is blessing us by being in the right place at the right time. Which brings me back to two God moments we had on Friday 8/7. We were in Noblesville, IN and we happened to run into someone who attends the church in Elwood, IN we pastored 5 years ago! How cool is that! And, the other people we ran into. We happened to at the last moment decide to eat dinner at Golden Coral. And, wouldn't you know there having dinner was the ENTIRE staff from Trinity Wesleyan Church Daycare. This church provided day care for our kids during orientation back in February. And, Makayla always talks about how she would LOVE to see them again! And, there in front of her in line getting her food was her teacher! So, we were able to share with them all what God has been doing and how we are at 65% and Makayla was able to give her teacher Denise a hug! How cool! God knows just what we need when we need it! IF you read this and you think a God moment you have had this week... Would you post it??? We would love to hear what God has been doing for you! The Georges

Makayla Turns 6!

Saturday was Makayla's birthday. And, we were incredibly blessed to be able to stay in Shunem. We were able to rest, from Thursday night to Saturday. But, it was extra special because Shunem had two things Makayla loved. One is the pool and the other was a Wii. So her birthday started Friday night with us taking her to an Indianapolis Indians game, and then on Saturday we did all the things she loves. We swimmed in the pool 2x! We played the Wii, we had her favorite foods steak, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and chips, and we had a new things. we had ice cream that was called "ice cream cake!" It was alot of fun. And, she was spoiled by Jim and Jeannette Vermillya! I would say Makayla was one very blessed girl. Unfortunately we were on the road so she was not able to spend her bday with her grandmas and grandpas. But, we celebrated last week with the Wildays and will celebrate with the Georges when we get back to NY. Here are some pics from her festivities!

Western Pennsylvania
What a wonderful weekend we had at Warren Wesleyan and at Coleville.
At Warren we had the wonderful privilege of Chris sharing in the Teen Sunday school class, and I shared with the children. And, then Chris preached the morning service! It was a wonderful time. And, please pray that this church will pick us up. We are on their list to be a possible candidate to be picked up. But, if this church does pick us up we are one step closer to landing in Australia. So, please keep this in your prayers. We then had lunch with a wonderful couple from the church! We then loaded up and headed to Coleville, near Bellefonte PA. We must have been exhausted from camp, becuase we the kids and myself slept the entire way to the church while Chris drove! :) Glad he was driving! But, Coleville has been a faithful supporter of us for the past 5 years and it was a joy and an honour to visit with them and share all the WONDERFUL things God has been doing in Australia! Thank you for keeping us all in your prayers.

Also, over the weekend we stopped in Saturday afternoon at my sisters in Hyde,Pa for free accomodation, but also we celebrated Makayla and her Grandpas birthday which is this saturday the 8th! Yeah, Makayla is going to turn 6! What fun!

FAMILY CAMP!

What can I say! we had a wonderful time! We met so many great people and built better connections with so many more! So, what did we do for one week!

Chris- Did some seminars on Building Lasting Relationships with Missionaries. He also had a tremendous joy connecting three new missionary couples with our district.
Joel & Kerry Lord - Czech, Jessica Lord-Bosnia, and Steph Geary-New Zealand. These are all new missionaries going out from our District (WNY) How exciting! Praise God!

Melissa- I did 9 18 mon-3 year old sessions! We spent the whole week studying Australia and Learning that we should Love Jesus, Follow Jesus, Praise Jesus and Share Jesus! I had a great group! The most we had was 19 kids at one session! But, we did lot's of cool Australian crafts and had a ton of fun!

Makayla's highlight would be that she won the turtle race for her age! She came in first plae and won a whole box of chocolate turtles! A turtle race is a wooden apparatus and it is on string and you walk it down by moving a rope. I will post pics!

Dawson's highlight was spending his time with mommy and he was my helper for my class even though he was suppossed to be in my class.

Brayde's highlight was spending his week getting lots of extra hugs and kisses from grandmas, aunt melissa, and spending his first time ever in the nursery! Which he did pretty good. He only cried a little bit!

Thank you for praying for this week. Please pray that we would make some new connections from camp with a few churches that still do not support us from our home district.

Approved for Ordination!

We were unanimously approved for Ordination at our District conference on Friday. We were so excited and it was awesome to see our fellow pastors and see all the wonderful things God is doing through the WNY district. We have wonderful leadership. And, it was just awesome to be home and vote and do those "business" measures that we have missed out on! I think we miss our church that about right now any type of "church" work feels good!

This weekend we drove up to Grace Wesleyan in Watertown. What a wonderful experience we had and were incredibly spoiled by a tremendous lunch by the pastor and his wife. The weekend was also extra special because we brought our niece on the weekend trip with us! What a joy it is to share with her what a life is like for a missionary kid. But, the whole time we travel with her we pray that God would give her a passion for missions some day and that the experiences she has now with use will be just small stepping stones to the big picture God has for her life!

After driving an 1 1/2 hours this morning we jumped in the car and drove 4 1/2 hours back to Houghton for the start of family camp! Please Keep our family in your prayers this week. Chris is doing two seminars one Monday morning and one Tuesday morning on How churches can partner and team up with missionaries. He is showing many things.. Like, What is GP? Vision, Goals, 80/80/80 plan and many other things. Also keep myself in your prayers as I have 8 more children's sessions to do this week! Tonight was pretty easy. We only had 7 18 mo.-3yr olds. But, we are going to learn to Love Jesus, Follow Jesus, Praise Jesus, Serve Jesus, and Share Jesus! It is almost to the end of the month and we still have many openings in August we were hoping to fill. Our goal is at least 20 speaking engagements.. So, please pray that we would find churches to book right away or individuals to share Gods vision for Australia. Thank you for your prayers and for being part of our network. We definitely feel God using you to impact our lives.

Central NewYork!

What a joy it was this weekend to visit two churches from the District Melissa Grew up in. If I flash back and think of memories. I participated in "Believers!" from Gates Wesleyan when I was a teenager. We travelled and sang at churches all over the district, ministering to familes, teens, children, and adults.

Then the second church we were at Buena Vista. I have fond memories of learning how to shoot a bow at camp from Pastor Dan Pickering and from his wife earning my CYC badges. They also have children who have impacted my life VERY MUCH in going into ministry! So, we had a wonderful weekend. We had a huge bonfire at Buena Vista and the kids were so excited to eat smores! We do not have these in Australia. We cannot get hte graham crackers or the marshmallows like the ones here!

The kids were excellent in the car. Dawson had a little bit of a meltdown. So, we have decided the rest of this week, we will stay home. So, please pray for Chris today and tomorrow as he heads out to ENYNE district conference at Glen Falls, NY all by himself. Pray that we would get connected with new churches, and individuals for Faith Promise!

Sunday morning at 6AM!

A weekend in Western Pennsylvania!

We just arrived home yesterday from 4 churches in 5 days! What an awesome time we had in Western Pennsylvania. We visited Loganton, Ashland, Hillview, and Mount Union. What a wonderful time meeting people and sharing with them. We also had a wonderful time helping Pastor Dave and Melinda Finlay at Hyde Wesleyan get ready for their VBS. It was exciting to help them becuase we miss being involved in outreach ministry in Australia right now, so it was fun to help decorate and do lot's of various other things. Not to mention our children had a WONDERFUL time playing with their cousins. So, it was a great journey and wonderful people were met! Not only were wonderful peope met, but 3 of them are faithful prayer and support partners and the 4th looks like they will join our network! PRAISE GOD! Where He leads we will follow! Continue praying for us to be able to pick up support quickly every day we receive more emails from Australia asking if we will be returning any time soon. God knows when we need to get there. Please pray that we would be faithful to scheduling churches and individuals to share the vision of God's calls for us to minister in Perth, Australia!

Good Ol' Chambers Camp!
This past weekend we had the special privilege of visiting Chambers Camp. This is the campground I grew up on, and gave my heart to Jesus in the Old Tabernacle there. We had a wonderful time connecting with all the people we know. And, God opened an opportunity for Chris to share a few moments in the evening service. I had the opportunity to do the evening kids program during the service. So, I had 60 kids and had a blast! God is so good. He provided me with wonderful teenagers who helped me and were amazing! God is good all the time.

On Saturday our kids participated in the camp play. Dawson was a cow and Makayla was a lady bug. I will post pictures later today.

On Sunday morning we spoke at Grace Lee Memorial Wesleyan Church. Pastor Matt and his wife Carmen were my youth pastors when I was just a teenager. It is an honor to see where God leads those who follow Him and how He Blesses them. The Pickering's have been blessed with a giving church who really has an interest in missions and also a beautiful family.

Today God kept our children safe!

Today our children went on an outing to a movie with the McGrady's, Pastors to Missionary's. And, while they were on their way to the movies a car lost control on the highway and just started spinning. Marlene and the children said the car was completely out of control spinning all over the place. Apparently when it came close to the van, it just all of a sudden stopped spinning and the driver had control! Praise God he loves and looks after our little ones!

Psalm 116:6 NIV

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

PRAISE GOD!

We received very exciting news this week that a new family visited the church in Landsdale on Sunday. The most exciting part is the fact that Pastor Keith went and visited them on Monday. When he was making his pastoral visit he explained to them the Salvation plan. And, the parents decided to accept Christ as their savior! how COOL! We are thrilled and you should be too! Becuase, it is your prayers for the people of Australia that are moving and changing hearts on the other side of the world! You are advancing the kingdom with your support! And, it is you who are obeying what God has called you to give, and do in your life! Thank you for being a part of our network! Isn't our God amazing!

MTI-Week 2

"Missionary Hostage Training"

Rule #1-Always carry a water gun.

Rule #2- Always carry two water balloons.

Rule #3 always have a gangsta baby!

Now, on a much more serious note! We had a wonderful week learning about Muslim traditions and beliefs. Many of us that are going to the field will be in Muslim countries. So, we have had to open our minds and learn a bit, so that we can understand the people and their culture. We also did some learning on contextualization, and various other things. This week the kids have done really well. They were super excited becuase the pastors to Missionaries took our children to a movie and to the zoo this week. So, they had a blast. The pictures above were taken on Friday night after a long day of work! So, the kids had a blast. Also, I would like to mention is has been in the high 90's the whole time we have been here! So, playing with a bit of water tonight was REALLY exciting! Thank you all for your prayers. We have one week left! So, keep us in your prayers, as each week our kids are getting a bit more tired, but we are able to see the light coming at the end of the tunnel. Things you can pray for.

1) We will be at Chambers Camp next week. Please pray for us to connect with new churches in the CNY district and for them to pick us up!

2) The clock is ticking. We need 45% more of our Faith promise and we need it by September or else the churches in Australia will be with out a pastor for a few weeks. Pastor Keith is going home tomorrow back to Melbourne which is going to leave our church with Phil Hotchkin filling in until we return. However Phil and His wife have already booked their sybbatical in Europe in September.. So, if we do not return, there will be no one to pastor the churches in the city of Perth. So, please pray hard!

3) Pray for us as we go to WNY district Conference and also to ENYNE district conference. Pray that we would pick up new churches and new support.

4) Please pray for us as we call through a list of churches we were given from some missionaries who are coming off the field. Prerfully consider picking us up financially. Again, we are so grateful you are a part of our team and keep us in your prayers. We continue to keep all of you in our prayers.

Missionary Training Institute Week 1

This week has been AMAZING! We have learned and talked about so many topics this week. Every day we have been in sessions from 8:15 in the morning till 4:30. And, then we have been spending our evenings talking, sharing, and learning from our fellow GP family, missionaries. Topics we have trained on are:

-Cross Cultural Evangelism -personal security -spiritual warfare
-Missiology -intercultural communication -working in teams
-Purity -Language learning -spiritual development
-conflict resolution -Hostage Survival


A highlight of this week was training from Dr. Lo. He has played a very key important role in our lives and in our spiritual walks, and with our decision to become missionaries in Australia. Dr. Lo has been a spiritual leader in our lives. Melissa worked as his administrative assistant for World Impact for 4 years while we were at IWU . And, Chris took many classes from Dr. Lo. He inspired us, stretched our hearts, stretched our minds, and left us with many things to think about, pray about, and work on in our lives as we venture back to Australia.


Thank you to everyone who is praying for us. Brayden has been very content except for when we were trying to take his picture! And, the children are loving "school" is what they call their day care class. So, thank you for your prayers God is hearing them and answering them. Because, this week could not have gone any better!

Facing Impossibilities.

It is a distinct priviliage to travel to many different churches and tell people about what God is doing in Australia and be able to challenge them to pray and give to what God is doing. I have been sharing the story of Peter in prison and what happened after the church began to pray. I truly believe that we serve a God that still has the power and desire to work through our 'impossible' situations and show the world what He can do.

This morning I received our finalized budget that we need to raise before we can return to Australia. We knew that it was going to go up with our career status but weren't quite expecting it to be as high as it is. I found myself in my head saying things like, "man, there is no way we can get back to Australia by July" or "with the economy the way it is, raising a budget like that is impossible". Well, you could say that I was challenged today as God gave me a slap across the face and simply asked me what I have been telling His body of believers as we travel around.

Our God still works miracles and still answers prayers. Please pray with us that as we face "impossibilities" that God would make them possible and bring them to pass.

Brayden Charles George, 4 weeks

Makayla, Dawson, Brayden

Introducing Brayden Charles George

At 1:50 pm on March 23rd 2009, we welcomed our son into the world. Brayden Charles George was 9 lbs. 6 oz. (4.24 kilos) at birth and measured in at 21 inches long. Melissa and I are so excited to be parents of another bundle of joy. Makayla is again a wonderful big sister and is already asking how she can help and is so gentle. Dawson took right to Brayden and I can see already that he is his 'buddy'. I was so proud of Makayla and Dawson for being such great big sister and brother. Melissa is doing very well after her c-section and is on track with her recovery. I love my family and can't wait to grow up with these kids as we serve the Lord.

A Working Retreat

Melissa and I are so blessed to have a wonderful home district that takes care of us through their prayers and support. We are so thankful that we were invited to join the pastors from the Western NY district of the Wesleyan Church at their pastors and wives retreat earlier this week. Rev. Steve DeNeff from Indiana shared his heart with the pastors and challenged us to holiness and to the teaching of holiness. It was great to spend a day away with my parents and relax a little bit before our son arrives. The hotel had a beautiful pool, but we had forgotten our suits.

While it was a retreat and it was relaxing, it was also a great opportunity and a priviliage to sit around the tables with pastors from our home district and share our heart for Australia and what God is calling us to be a part of there. I was given an opportunity to share what God is doing in AUS and challenged the pastors to join the network and get behind what God is doing. I challenged those who don't currently support us through faith promise to get on board and those that do to prayerfully consider increasing their faith promise amount. We are trusting God to supply what is needed to get back onto the field so we can serve Him in AUS.

Family News

I set up the crib last night and we are ready (or as ready as we can be) for the arrival of our son on Monday, March 23rd at 1:30 pm. Please be in prayer for us and our family as we meet this new little man for the first time. If you have any names to suggest, we are still open to hearing them.

Home Ministry Notes

Thanks so much for your prayers and your support for our family as we are on home ministries. We had a new church join our team this week and are so thankful for support as they step out in faith to see what God will do. Thanks Big Tree Wesleyan.

This week we are in Avon, NY and the following week we are in Fillmore, NY. For more information on our schedule go to http://www.praygivego.com/ and click on 'missionary scheduling' and find our names.

My grandfather was able to make it up to NY last week for a short visit. It was great to see him and spend a bit of time with him. Thanks for making the trip grandpa, we miss you already.

Global Partners Missionary Orientation!

Chris and I just finished our week of Missionary Orientation out at Global Partners. So many exciting things happen in the GP office. We are backed by a staff that loves God with all their heart and are so real in seeing the word of God go out around the world. They are truly a group of people that we could not minister in Australia without! We are truly blessed to be partnered with such a wonderful organization. Just for basic information I thought I would post GP's
Vision and Mission.

The GP Vision:
Every Wesleyan serving in fulfillment of the Great Commission.

The GP mission:
To exalt Jesus Christ by calling and mobilizing believers to global ministries of evangelism, church planting, leadership development and ministries of compassion.

Thank you for your prayers for the Flame Class!

As you all prayed Chris and I were able to take our last Flame class. God was so good. We came home feeling refreshed and renewed and we learned lot's of exciting things about Holiness in the Wesleyan church.

Our children slept well, (all the way through the night). And, when we came home they weren't even ready to leave. So, they had a bit of tears every day, but that is probably normal.

We were able to connect with pastors and also one of our mobilizers Tim Hibschman while we were at Flame. We were able to make some appts. to speak and then also we were able to pick up some awesome prayer partners along with make some contacts for future support.

Thanks you to everyone who prayed.

DOCTRINE OF HOLINESS
This week Chris and I are taking a FLAME class through the wesleyan church at Table Rock Campground in South Carolina. We are very excited! This is the last class we have to ordination. Some prayer requests are:
1) For our children as we have left them in Roanoke VA with Melissa's Aunt and Uncle. Pray that the kids would sleep well, and get along well without us. This is the first time in two years they have been left for more than 1/2 a day! Pray that Dawson will go to bed without Mommy!

2) That Chris and I will fill renewed and learn exciting things to take back to Australia.

3) That we would connect with Pastors and make contacts for future church support!

On The Road Again!
Our Children are becoming very accustomed to this saying! We arrived home safely in New York on December 8th and have been travelling ever since. Please pray for us as we are travelling trying to raise support so that we can return to Perth, Australia in July. We have been busy making phone calls and trying to connect with new churches and new pastors as we will need to raise the level of support that we currently have. Some praises since we have been home!

1) The guys staying in our house in Australia have passed their first inspection! :) And, all was well. So, that is a praise... (We do not want to loose our rental house in Australia. As it took us 7 months to get the house we currently have!)

2) We have settled with a Dr. for the birth of our baby in March. When we left Australia our unborn baby was in a bit of danger because the placenta was antenatal and low lying. It is still antenatal, however the baby is doing well and Melissa is feeling great. PRAISE GOD for A God who cares about EVERY DETAIL!

3) We have been picking up prayer partners!

4) God provided us with a vehicle we can drive while home in the US.

5) Praise God for providing us with finances to survive on so far for the last 6 weeks we have been home!

PRAYER REQUESTS
1. For our Church in Australia and for Pastor Keith McClaughlin our Assistant D.S. who is arriving on February 1st to fill the pulpit in our church in Perth, Australia.

2. Safe travelling mercies

3. That we would be able to fill our speaking schedule

4. Financially that we would be able to pay our bills in Australia and in the USA. Since we will not receive salary from Global Partners while we are home on furlough!
5. Melissa has started to sell Pampered Chef to raise money for the cost of the birth of our baby. Pray that she would feel well enough to host shows as well as be able to raise enough for the 20% of the cost of C-section delivery that will not be covered by our insurance. (If interested in have an online catalog show or have a pampered chef show email melissa at georgefamilyinaustralia@hotmail.com or check out the PC website at www.pamperedchef.biz/melissageorge

You have probably heard it said that where God calls... He provides and opens doors to make the ministry to which He has called possible. God called us several years ago to serve as church planters in Western Australia and he provided a way for us to fulfill that ministry. Many of you have known that we have been applying to become career missionaries in order to continue our ministry that He has called us to in Australia. The doors were openned and God lead us through the application process.

I am very pleased and overjoyed to report that we have recently been approved and appointed as career missionaries to Australia. We are very excited to be able to be involved in the ministry and the advancement of the church here in Australia on a long term basis. We will be returning to the US on December 8th and raising our support package and raising up partners that will stand with us as we follow God's call. If you are interested in how you can join us in this ministry, email me at any time at snickergeorge24@msn.com.

Our family is doing well and we are getting excited about the birth of our third child (a son) in March. Our kids are getting very excited as well about getting to play in the snow when we arrive in the almost certain to be snow-covered Western NY. It will be nice to spend Christmas with our family and to be able to sled on Dawson's birthday. Thank you everyone for your prayers for our family and our ministry, God is using you to influence His people around the world.

District Conference- Kids Camp!
District Conference was a blast. Our kids did EXCELLENT on the airplane, except on the way there until dawson fell asleep (2 hours into the flight) he kept saying. "Gotta get off" we are lost. "Gotta get off" we are lost! He was cute, but I gave him some phenergen which knocked him woozy and then he could relax for the next 2 hours. He can be a bit uptight. :) I guess I should probably add here. YES! WE FLY 4 HOURS TO GET TO DISTRICT CONFERENCE! , It's like the distance from NY to LA almost to get to the east coast. However, on the way home he did excellent, let's just hope they keep up this track record for our flight to the states in December. Back to district conference. We arrived at camp on Saturday morning at 9:00 after a three hour drive, from Melbourne to an island called Philip Island. It is normally really cold and windy, but for the most part we had really good weather for Melbourne.
The kids showed up at 9:30. And, I was a bit stressed at first, just because I didn't know where anything was, I brought 20 kilos of craft supplies. But, I got organized quickly and we had a Super week learning about super heroes in the Bible. (This material "Super Heroes unmasked was donated to us by Cuba Wesleyan church) and this is the second time I have gotten to use it and I thank Cuba for blessing us with the materials! THANK YOU! The kids studied Daniel, Esther, Noah, Jesus, David and Goliath, and we did many crafts, and the most exciting thing, was for the first time in at least 5 years I know of, the kids sang on Sunday night for the adults in the service. They did such a good job! We also got to use outdoor equipment, which I was a bit scared since I was the person trained to use it, so here I am pregnant and spotting all these kids. But, we had a wonderful time doing the low ropes course, a boulder wall, a flying fox ( Had 2 staff help on this since I can't really lift), and many other activities. The only major problem we had, was my DVD's would not work on the DVD player in Melbourne, wrong code. (Isn't that weird!) But, they do play in Perth, so anyways. we just came up with more games, and things to do, in place of the 20 minute veggie tale super hero clips. Well, I will attach some pictures. But, I felt great the entire time, I had SUCH A good time. There was one scary moment, and I will share this... Because I believe people were praying on Sunday night 7:00pm (Sunday morning 7AM, your time)...
This campground is quite large. Probably about the size of Chambers camp if you have ever been to Central New York District Wesleyan Campground. But, we were in the dining hall having dinner and we were sitting at a table, Chris, Myself, Dawson, and a bunch of adults (all talking). Well, Makayla came up and asked me to take her to the bathroom. So, I took her, were were gone maybe 2 minutes. Came back, and dawson wasn't in his chair. But, I thought he must have gone into the sanctuary, where I told all the kids to go. When I got in there he wasn't there. Then, suddenly this lady comes running up to me and says there is a baby crying REALLY loud up in the dorm rooms. So, I thought .... " I am the only one with a baby?? (2 yr old)". So, I went tearing up there, and he was not in the dorm rooms, but dawson was all the way up past the dorm rooms, through some trees, through a field, and up in the next set of trees, right next to a busy main road. Standing up there SCREAMING! It was pitch dark! He was completely safe, but completely terrified. All he had was a few scrapes on his face from sword grass, tall grass. But, God protected Dawson from all the terrible things that could have happened, there were two lakes on the campground, surrounded by main roads, and how he got up there... I did find out......
The kids ran up to check on their super hero capes in the crafts room, took Dawson with them.... then when they came back, they forgot him... So, then he was lost and did not know where to go... FUNNY enough. he did go to our dorm room, but then when the lady who heard him opened the door, he took off running up into the woods, but would not let her touch him or pick him up. So, God also sent an "angel" in the form of this lady who happened to be at the right place at the right time, so that she could watch over him and make sure even though he was RUNNING ALL OVER screaming, that he would not be harmed.

After this whole ordeal. I held Dawson, and within 2 minutes he was asleep. So, he did not get to sing Sunday night with the kids even though he knew all the songs. Here are some pics from the weekend. IF you would like to see all of them. Email me and I will send you them in an email attachment.

Craft Time

Singing in th Sunday night Service. Jesus You're my super Hero

Chris riding the giant swing. They take you up in the air. and then drop you and you swing notice how high, he is to the building behind.

Super Camp kids

Dawson riding half of the flying fox. We only pulled him up about 6 metres instead of 8.

We serve a God who is Amazing!

For the last 15 weeks Melissa's thyroid has been over working causing what should have been many problems for our litle baby. However, our God is bigger and more amazing than any medical problem or concern. The baby has been growing completely up to date. They keep doing measurements etc. And, the baby is RIGHT on schedule. (It should be VERY tiny). But, our God is bigger. Melissa went for her blood test this week. And, our God is bigger than any numbers! The blood test came back clear. Melissa's thyroid has decided to work perfectly normal. (so they say...) But, we know that our God is bigger and that he has, is, and will continue take care of our littly baby that is growing. Thank you for your prayers. We Praise God for his protection, curing the problem (Without medication!), and for his love.

Join with us in Praising God! We are now 16 weeks along...

God has blessed us with the exciting news that we are going to have a new little George join our family. This is very exciting yet scarey at the same time becusae we are venturing into being outnumbered territory! So far the pregnancy has gone well. Pray for Melissa as she is VERY tired and having to face all day sickness. Hopefully this will pass in the next few weeks. We have neer had an ultrasound this early with either of our other two children. But, here is our first picture of this baby at only 7 weeks. We are now 9 weeks.

Also pray for Melissa as she has committed to directing our district Children's camp in Meblourne in September and this is a HUGE time commitment. Please pray that God would give her the energy and time to be able to direct this camp to the best of her ability. It will be just her and one other lady, as it is during our district conference that goes for three days. So, we will only have the children 7 hours a day. But, pray that Melissa will know how to plan this whole event.

Makayla turned 5!

Our little girl is 5. Hard to believe. We have been blessed with her joyfull presence for the last 5 years. She is spontaneous, outgoing, full of laughter, always smiling, and the sweetest thing we know. And, she is God's little girl. She loves Jesus with her whole heart and loves to tell the world. For her birthday this year, we decided to invite all the girls from her class, since we have been encouraging her all year to make friends, we felt it was only right to invite all her friends. So, she decided to have a princess party, which was fine with us. She dressed up thanks to Grandma Wilday as Cinderella, and she had a day full of fun.

August 10th, the 3rd church in Perth, Australia was officially started. A pastor named Tony has come from Melbourne who is a Tongan pastor and is starting a church plant south of the City. There were probably 100 people in attendance as people from our other two churches also attended. But, there were probably atleast 40 Tongan people there which is very exciting! This church is not only going to be reaching Tongan's but it will also be a multicultural church plant. Please pray for Pastor Tony and his family as the venture to fulfill what God has called them to do. They had a beautifull worship team that sang in english and in their native tongue. The teens and worship team also did some "action songs" to some music and it was beautifull!

August 3, 2008
Was an exciting day to look forward to where our church is headed. Chris preached on vision for our church, and we had a wonderfull time of fellowship after the service. We even had a new couple ( from NZ) in our midst on that evening. After the serice we had pizza and we got down to business with the D.S.. Our church is so willing to do whatever God has called them to. Since I was the treasurer for the last year, because NO ONE would do it, I had to give a vision to the church with the D.S. help of the church stepping up to take a big step of faith. We have paid all of our bills for the past three years. But, the church has yet to start to take on any responsibility of paying a pastor. So, praise God! A decision was made to start to put away a PAstor's salary of one day a week, so that the church hopefully by the end of our next career term. (4 years!) would be able to afford a pastor full time! This is a huge step of faith. There were definitely some concerns. It means the church would need to bring in 2x as mush tithe as it did last year. But, you know what! Our God is good! And, our God is bigger than any of the problems we face. And, our people know that, so they have taken a leap of faith! Many other things exciting happened as well. One of our church members has answered God's all on her life to be a chaplain in the public school system. So, now she is going to start classes to become a lay minister! God is good, and our church is ready to look forward to the future of what HE holds for the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Laser Tag is Awesome!

I don't know how many of you have ever been to a good laser tag place and had about 15 people that you know all running around in the dark shooting one another. But if you have never been, go, it is a blast. I like it better in comparison to paint ball because I am allergic to pain and paintballs hurt. Lasers only hurt your ego.

We took two cars and a van to Darklight and had a wonderful time together. The unity within the youth grew before our very eyes and we have a new vision and passion to see God move in the lives of these young people. Please pray for them and us as we continue to run our youth group on Friday nights. Pray that we would see growth and the unity in the group would grow even more. Along with that, our youth centre is growing a bit. We now have 2 ping pong tables, 2 air hockey tables, 1 table soccer table, xbox, and playstation 2 with SingStar on the big screen. We have a great time with these teens and can't wait to see what God uses them to accomplish for His glory.

Sunday was a first for me. It was the first time that I have every had to call another pastor on my staff and ask them to preach for me because I was up with the flu all night. It broke my heart to not be able to give the message and lead the service and to be honest, I felt a little bad that I sat here on the couch "feeling better" during church while other's did what I had prepared to do. I am not a control freak, I just hated putting the extra pressure on everyone else when I had prepared everything all during the week. I am glad that I got rest and am over the flu now though and will be back in the saddle this week. Melissa told me last night that the service went well and Phil did a great job. Thanks Phil for stepping up to the plate when I needed you.

Well, I guess that is all for this post, but remember to keep us in prayer as we are in the process of applying for career missionary status and we are waiting to hear about our permanent residency visa. Pray that final dates for our travel home can be set and we can start to book churches in the US to visit while we are home. Thanks for your prayers, you are awesome.

Blessings!

I am preparing a sermon for this week on blessings. We have been going through a stewardship series and even though sometimes I hate "talking money" at church, it has been good and I am really looking forward to shining some light on how blessed we are as "middle-class" australians. It is amazing how God will often times put me through things throughout the week that gives me a better understanding of the sermon that He is preparing in my heart and mind. If I am preaching on anger, I will have a very trying week; if I am preaching on money, the temptation to buy things will be great, and so on... As I am preparing to talk about blessings this week, it gives me an opportunity to thank God for the things that He gives us and the things that He blesses us with.

To make a long story short, I got an e-mail this morning that the house that we own in Indiana (USA) will have renters in it starting next week. We have had renters in it but they moved out a week ago and we were worried that the house was going to set empty for a few months before we found someone to rent. What a blessing. A great weight is lifted off our shoulders when there is someone in the house (paying the mortgage with their rent).

I also think about my family. I have a wonderful wife who is the greatest helper both in life and in the ministry and couldn't ask for anyone better. God truly blessed me with a wonderful partner. I have two beautiful kids that are growing and learning every day. My daughter will be turning 5 on 08-08-08 (isn't that cool?) and is an outgoing girl that I love to be around. My son is a 2 year old miniature me. He is growing up so fast and just last week started stringing full sentences together. He is so good with a ball that I am sure he will make us millions someday.

I don't know about you, but I am a blessed man!

Side note... The other day I had a conversation with Makayla that worries me to great lengths. It went a bit like this...:

Mak: "Daddy, I am having a princess party for my birthday."

Dad: "Oh yeh, well that means that I can be your prince!"

Mak: "No, Ethan is my prince" (boy from school)

Dad: "You don't want daddy to be your prince?"

Mak: "No, I don't need you."

I may be in trouble... any advise from the "dad pool" out there.

Chic is finished for this term. Some of the girls have said they would like to come back and do it again. So, we will see. But, they had a really good time. Unfortunately we ended up with 15 girls in the end that came the last 5 weeks. But, the director has learned a lesson and next term we will not hand pick the girls. We will have the entire gym class, so that we are not competing with dance, and various other gym activities. The girls received a certificate for completing the program.

Side note: three girls were from Landsdale where Chris and I live. Tessa, Kristy, and Georgina. I ran into these girls the other day down at the shops. And, they said that they would like to come to youth group and hang out. Please pray for these girls. They need to make the first step to want to come. I have given them my information. And, we are offering for all the youth group to go laser tagging next week. Please pray that these girls will join us. We hopefully will have a party room for two hours and play two games of laser tag. So, Chris really wants to speak to the teens and talk to them about getting to know who Jesus Christ is.

Kids Club term 2 awards night
Last night we had term two kids club awards night. It went really well. We had 38 people at church. We had two mothers come who have not come before. So, that is exciting. And we were missing 6 regulars. So, the church is starting to grow slowly but surely. Pray for our committed families that they would make the new families feel welcome and that they would strike up conversations with the new people.

The piano concert last week, we are still finalizing how much money was raised from it. But, we do know that there was over 500 people who attended and that, that is amazing! Because, there are only 40 people in the inner city church. So, many people came who do not attend our church. Pray that these people would have made a connection in their heart with God and that they would be willing to come back for church.

Well, I need to go clean my house that has been demolished from this weekend! We hope you all have a great week, and that God will bless you all . We have seen God's hand at work in our lives and it is because you pray for us! Thank you! and may God's blessing be poured onto you!

George family

On june 26th I finally found out I did not get the job. I am okay with it. It would have been an AWESOME opportunity to meet families. Apparently someone applied who has an elementary teaching degree. So, obviously they deserve the job. I am a bit overloaded right now anyways. I am currently enrolloed in two FLAME correspondance classes through the WEsleyan church, and I am directing a kids camp in September for the entire district. So, God has given me enough on my plate already. Thank you to everyone who prayed. Amazingly, I have a really good peace. God has spoken to my heart. Thank you for praying for me! I appreciate it greatly! Your prayers have made a difference. God has settled my heart.

I found out today they are going to make a decision this sunday on the fab 4' teacher position. Please pray that if it is God's will I will get the job.
Thank you,
Melissa George

Correspondence Courses

Chris and I are licensed pastors in the Wesleyan Church, but this November we will be ordained! But, to be ordained I need to finish two more classes. This has been a step of faith, because unfortunately My time is very busy, but also our finances have been extremely tight considering the American dollar is EVEN with the Australian dollar. Because I need to get these classes done, I have stepped out in faith that God will provide the funds. Please pray with me that God will bless us with a way to pay for these classes.

AWESOME OPPORTUNITY

Recently I was asked by Makayla's teacher from last year to apply for a position in Landsdale. She is stepping down as of term 3 in July. So, I have prayed and received a green light from global partners to apply for this position. Please pray that I would have God's guidance and full confirmation before I say yes. So, what is so cool about this opportunity. I have been praying for a way to meet families in the community. And, I was thinking of opening a piano studio, or something that I could just work 5-6 hours a week at, so that I could meet families. Problem was that I would always be meeting the SAME families. However, this teaching position. Is 3-4 year olds, held at the community hall where we have church. And, is only 4 hours a week. I used to teach preschool years back and actual took a few college classes on early childhood education. So, I have applied. Here is the coolest part! I work on 4 hours a week, 2 hours prep time.. So, only 6 hours a week. Also, I would have two classes with 20 students and a parent is required to attend with each child. So, I will meet 40 FAMILIES a year in landsdale. Also, when the kids age out at the end of the year, they will age into our churches Kids club. How cool is that. God could not have brought a more awesome opportunity about. Please pray for me as I apply and I had two major conflicts with me accepting this job. 1) I already committed to direct a kids camp in Melbourne in September and would miss two days of classes. 2) We will return at the end of this year to raise funds to become career missionaries so I would miss 4 weeks of classes when we do that as well. So, I could definitely use your prayers.

Chic!

I have been teaching this term in the public high school a class by scripture union called Chic! It has been fun, trying, hard, enjoyable, yet God is using me to make a difference in 7 girls lives. These girls have been chosen to be in this program because of their behavioural problems at school.
Week 1- went great
Week 2- went alright till last 5 minutes, and one of the girls tried to beat another girl with a stick. And, I had to intervene. etc.
week 3- Went alright, except for the fact that I felt like the lesson didn't address any issues. So. then came week 4.
week 4- I followed up with the girls on the issue of inner beauty and how they are who they are on the inside, I actually got through to a lot of the girls, and they now respect me, and two of the girls even told the others to stop talking because they wanted to hear what I had to say.

Although, I have had many emotions about this program, and about working in the school. I believe God is using me and I would like you to pray for the following girls, that they would see Jesus in and through me as I share my life with them. I am not actually allowed to say the word God, and things but when the girls specifically ask me questions I am allowed to answer. So, pray that the girls would open up and continue to talk with me and ask me questions.
The girls are: Natalie (sweetheart, becoming my friend and completely respects me), Megan, Alicia (Rough on the outside, but genuinely I think just needs to know someone cares), Tessa (Real sweety, not sure why she is in this group yet), Monique, (Fighter, till the end, ad feisty!), Georgina, (First week she was in my group, gave a hard time at first, but by the end of the session she was on my side and working with me instead of against me), and Kristy.

If you could pray for them I would GREATLY appreciate it!
Thanks so much,
Melissa