As we have been asking you all to pray for Dawson, God has done some amazing improvements since his last assessment. When Dawson was tested through a private organization originally 6 months ago, we found out that he had core balance issues. However, on Monday Dawson had his assessment with the Child Development office. This is not a private, but a public office, and they found Dawson to only have some loose muscles in his hands, and they said he needs no further referrals! We also went and for the first time met the physical therapist. And, she said she felt that Dawson has tight muscles and that he just needs to stretch more in order to be able to sit still! And, that it is not a Core issue, but just a tight muscle issue! So, We are very blessed by God right now, and Dawson is doing AWESOME in his school class. He was star of the week last week, and was chosen to bring the surprise bag home, (Which you only get if he has had good behaviour!) and to top it all off, he has been chosen to be one of the kids who will "read" by the end of the year! So, I am very happy with the results of our tests on Monday, and believe God has touched Dawson's life! Thank you for all you're prayers! Dawson has been on our prayer list for a long time! And, we now feel that we are ready to have this taken off. And, we believe because of you're active prayers! God has touched our family, and specifically Dawson.

God is good!

He brought cooler temperatures, when we needed them!

God was so good to us on the day of the Red Hill Workbee! The temperature was not too warm, so we were all able to work and help accomplish all of the tasks David (Debbie's father) had wanted us to accomplish. Since we were all out there working, Great big trucks have come in and taken out the dangerous trees, and bull dozing has been occurring to clean up the ash that is covering the ground. We took down all the burnt fencing (because it had lost it's galvanization in the fire), we raked up all the debris, leaves, etc, Chris worked on taking down burnt chicken coops, (Luckily the chicken we're at debs house!) And, many other tasks. It was hard work, and boy were we all ready for a shower when we were finished. the kids were literally black from head to toe! I should have taken a picture of how dirty they were!

Red hill Workbee!

This weekend pray for Chris and I as we are ministering to a family. They have become close friends of ours recently. But, Debbie's father, was one of the properties that was affected by fires recently in Perth. The Helicopters were straight on, and were able to save the house and two sheds. But, the rest of the property is totaly burnt out. There is actually nothing left! So, this sunday morning at 9:30, (Saturday 9:30pm) you're time Chris and I and the kids will be going out to help work on his farm along with some other families . Please pray that we would have meaningfull conversations, and that we would be able to reach out to this family in a time of need.

Please pray for us this weekend as we take the teenagers on a teen camp! Chris, Darrek, and myself will be going down to a town called Dwellingup out in the bush, where there are no toilets, and electricity for two nights and three days to do a youth camp! Esepcially pray for me as I do not have a voice, at the current time due to, too much singing and talking this past week at the Holiday Kids Clubs!

Volunteering, to Reach out!

Chris and I have been volunteering for some community roles so that we can get to know more people in the community of Landsdale.
1) Recently Chris has been the tball coach for the past three months, and it has opened doors for us to get to know people better as well as the church sponsored the team, so it got our church logo out there and made people aware of the fact that there was even a church in Landsdale.

2) I have accepted being the playgroup secretary this year. This is a volunteer position but, is giving me the opportunity to meet 60+ new families this year. It has been quite a bit of work, but I am praying that God will guide the harvest from this work and that many families in landsdale would become aware of our church and of the fact that THEY need Jesus.

3) We will also be volunteering in the schools to build relationships with the kids and teenagers. So, please pray for us as we seek God's will in what he wants us to do and carry out.

As we carry out these volunteer roles we still have our basic Work responsibilities that we need to carry out as well. Areas we are currently ministering in our church are the following.

1) Chris is still the pastor of the Landsdale church full time and carrying out his responsibilities this year.

2) Together we are directing and leading Kids Club as well as the full time teachers. This is by far our biggest way of getting to know people. We are praying that we will reach the 36 kid mark this year, and that Kids club will continue to grow and impact childrens lives for Christ.

3) Together we are running the Youth Centre. this is a weekly youth group meeting where we are trying to reach out to teens in the community. Please pray that we would be able to get the teens committed to Jesus Christ and to youth group on a constant basis where God can mold and grow their spiritual lives.

4) We are also offering Bible studies. Melissa is doing a teen girls bible study while Chris is doing a Bible study that is open to everyone in the church. Pray that we would get people in our church and in our community into these Bible study groups.


As we carry out these roles. Pray that Chris and I would listen to God's calling and follow his direction! We know he has so much in store for the 2011 year of the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Red Hill Fire information Continued!

Received news tonight, that Debbies Father's farm has been hit by the fire. They are not allowing anyone into the property as the fire is out of control and dangerous! Please pray that the insurance will cover everything and that Debbie and her father and family will be able to get some rest this evening. I will be watching her son tomorrow so that they can go and hopefully check out the property and get access to see the damage.

Red Hill Fires!

Please pray for My friend Debbie's father. His farm is right in the path of a nasty fire that is going to go right through his property. They have actually upgraded him to a leave immediately status on the FESA (fire emergency dept). He has taken his most valuable possessions and had to walk away! This is a very hard thing to do. But, please pray with us that his property will be alright.

Harrisdale Church plant

-Family Movie Nights-

Chris and I have been helping out with the starting movements of the Harrisdale church plant. Chris and I have been going down and helping Rev. Phil Hotchkin and his wife Karen. We will not actually be involved in the church that will be in Harrisdale, but we had been willing to help with the starting movements. So, Chris and I have been going down and helping with movie nights. There were three that we participated in. The kids Loved them, they got to know knew kids, and they thrive on meeting new people. Maybe because of all the travelling we do in America! But, the kids were up VERY late. And, many people have been made aware through out this function that a church will be starting in their suburb! Pray that these families will get onboard with what is going on down south!!!! Below is a picture of all three kids asleep in the car on the way home from the movie night at 10:45pm!

School is starting!
We have received our kids allocations for school this year. And, it is very exciting to see that Dawson will be in a class this year with his friends. And, Makayla will be in a class this year with people she atlesat knows and would like to get to know better! But, as school is starting you can pray for our family. Our house seems to be a revolving door when school starts. It is a very good things, and we get to see and know lot's of people, but please pray that our family would have an impact on these families, and that they would see Jesus as the source of our strength, and the source of Love that is in our family, and that JEsus is the source of Life in our family!

Australia Day Fires!

Today is Australia Day. And, when we sat down at lunch at a friends house, we received a phone call from a family in our church telling us we needed to come home right away as there was a terrible fire in Landsdale. Chris quickly loaded up the car and he ran home to turn off the air and close all windows on our house. But, as he arrived the fire was incredible close. About 1 block away! And, if you did a straight b-line to the fire there were only 10 houses between us and them. Chris collected our important belongings, because FESA suggested that we be prepared to leave, and so he grabbed our passports, and our computers, and pictures albums, and that was it. There were 80 fire men, three helicopters, and many VERY hard workers. Who worked very hard on the ground in really hot weather to keep everyone's homes safe. In the end no homes were lost. But, we did find out that the fire started by another person in our suburb burning rubbish! So, it was a mistake. But, we are at a complete fire ban. So, I am sure these people will be in some pretty big trouble. We have lived here over 6 years, and this is the CLOSEST fire we have ever had to us, and it honestly was a bit concerning. Especially since we knew people who were even closer to the fire than we were...
PRAISE GOD, for his protection over all the homes in Lansdale. The fire was moving at 3 metres high, and over 100 metres an hour. So, God is sooo good!!!!

YOUTH CAMP 2011

This weekend was an incredible weekend of team work! The theme was a survivor theme, and the kids were awesome at helping out cooking meals and putting up the tents. But, it was hard work for them to pull off their tasks that they needed to accomplish.

We had a few injuries this past weekend. But, God was there and was protecting people and keeping them safe! We had one girl fall down crossing a river, and she banged her face on a rock. But, luckily she did not hit her head on the dangerous spot, and even though she passed out and gave us a HUGE scare, she did not have a concussion. And, God protected her!

The teens got to hear some testimonies, and were challenged that this school year, would be a year that they commit their lives first to Christ, and then let him guide their lives this year. Each teen was given a bible! We had 12 teens who participated on the weekend, and it was HEAPS of fun. It was exhausting hard work, but a joy to get to spend three days with all the teens!

Please pray for us this weekend as we take the teenagers on a teen camp! Chris, Darrek, and myself will be going down to a town called Dwellingup out in the bush, where there are no toilets, and electricity for two nights and three days to do a youth camp! Esepcially pray for me as I do not have a voice, at the current time due to, too much singing and talking this past week at the Holiday Kids Clubs!

Harrisdale Holiday Kids Club

After we did a week of Kids Club in Landsdale, we travelled 45 minutes south each day the next week to do the same Holiday Kids Club at a church plant in Harrisdale which is south of the City of Perth. The Kids Club ran every day from 3-5 in the afternoon. We had between 8-16 kids that were involved in this program. This church has not had any services yet and this was a major outreach to the community. God was amazing and we had people who came out and showed interest in what was going on through out the week. We had to be a bit more creative as we did not have a building to pull this off in, and I ended up loosing my voice by the third day, because I had done way to much talking the week before! But, we had a wonderful week, but was very exhausting. Our kids were going to bed late, and they had School swimming lessons that we had to be at every day in the morning by 7:30! So, it was a very exhausting week, but God is good to those who work hard and Our children were super excited to get to participate in the Holiday Kids Club Again! Pray for these families that were impacted this week, that they will continue to be interested in the Harrisdale church plant and that they will even call it home!

An exciting aspect to this week was that we took teenagers down with us every day to help us run the holiday kids club. And, these teens were impacted incredibly, just by serving!

Holiday Kids Club 2011

Our week of Kids Club was amazing and we had many new visitors that have not attended kids Club before. The kids Learned that
-God is With us
-God is Powerful
-God Does what he says he'll do
-God gives us life
-God cares for us!

We had some awesome turn out. We had 26 children and then adults and teenagers write their names on the walls of the Israelites house instead of putting blood above the door frame the chidren put hearts and then their name in the heart, saying that they were committed to Loving God! And, then the second day, we told about, how God sent his son Jesus and then we gave them an opportunity to ask for forgiveness adn write their name on the cross and pray for Jesus to come into their hearts and be forgiven! All the children got up and made commitments it was an amazing turn out and the kids were so excited about the week!

Thank you to Brookside Wesleyan for donating all the materials for this Holiday Kids Club we had. It was a fantastic week full of exciting twists and turns and seeing God work in the childrens lives was unforgettable! I hope you enjoy the picture I have posted below!
Melissa

Holiday Kid's Club

This week (10-14 January) we are holding our Holiday Kid's Club program (VBS). We were very excited about the response that we were getting and anticipated that we would have at least half of our regular Kid's Club kids and possibly a few visitors. Today was the first day of "Crocodile Dock" and we had a great time. There were 21 kids in attendance and several teen and adult helpers. God blessed our time and many kids were able to hear through the program that God is with them.
Please continue to pray this week for the ministry of our Holiday Kid's Club. Pray that God would speak into the lives of their families and open up opportunities for us to minister to them.

The Carols in The Park

On WEdnesday the 8th of december we received the final stam of approval for the carols in the Park! God blessed us with it right when we ABSOLUTELY needed it. Immediately we advertised. Chris and Darrek (our intern from Bethany) letterboxed ALL of landsdale... It was ALOT of walking and they did it very quickly. Then, we sent home invitations with all the children from school. And, God blessed our event. There were atlesat 400 people who came out and joined us and sang christmas carols, and saw the kids club perform the live nativity as well as sing O come let us adore him. And, the evening was just Phenomenal! It was TRULY a community event in many sorts. There were jumy castles, and ice cream, and a dance troupe, and our kids club, and singing, and people who were out to be joyful about Christmas! It was truly a wonderful night. I will post some picture below so you can see a glimpse of what God did!

Carols in The Park.

This week is the big Carols in the Park that we have been gearing up for. There are a few things we would like you to pray for.

1) The Health Department has STILL yet to stamp our application! Therefore as of this morning we were still unable to provide a sausage sizzle or sell cupcakes on Friday night.

2) We have been given the go ahead to hand out advertisements. But, please pray that MANY people would read the advertisements and come out to the Carols in the PArk on Friday night.

3) Please pray for the KIDS CLUB. As they will be performing a skit and singing a song on Friday night.

4) Please also pray for our Kids Club closing Finale on Sunday night at 5:30. Please pray that we would get ALL of our Kids Club families to church for the evening to experience what our church is like!

OUR FINANCIAL STATUS!
Please pray with Chris and I as we contact our prayer partners and faith promise partners to renew this support. We have been here exactly one year on the field. And, God has done so many good things! But, recently we had a review on our support that is coming in. And, for the Last year God has been good and all our support came in! TOTAL PRAISE!

But, as we were reviewing the budget, some needs and concerns needed to be changed and met. Unfortunately in Western Australia there have been some big changes in the government and how they run the electric, gas, and water billing. The state used to GIVE the utility companies money to lower the actual cost of everyone's bills. . And, now there are so many people in Perth they have decided not to offer the grant anymore to the Companies.

This in turn has caused some major complications for families in WA because our utility bills have ACTUALLY doubled. As this news was coming out we thought we would hang in there and see what it really looked like and start being more cautious about our utility usage. However the bills have been rolling in since June and between us and GP we have decided that our budget needed to be changed.

Also the exchange rate between australia and the USA which used to be at .80 where our budget was done. has gone equal! So, therefore that means our US dollar is now equal to the AUS dollar.. :( Which is causing complications as well.. With all that said.

Just recently our BUDGET was adjusted and from now on you will see that we are in need of MORE support both in financial partners and in individuals and one time gifts!

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL over the last year! And, when the fiscal year ended all our support had come in! This is something to be VERY THANKFUL for! GOD MET OUR NEEDS AND we pray every day for all of you that through your support of giving and prayers, that GOD would inturn bless your lives and speak to you in ways you never thought imagineable! Our God is all sufficient and MIGHTY!

WE KNOW THAT GOD HAS SO MUCH IN STORE THIS YEAR FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO ARE PART OF Our SUPPORT NETWORK! Thank you for all you do!!!

KIDS CLUB
God has been so good. And, you know how Chris and I have been asking you to pray for relationships that we have been building. The last three weeks of Kids Club there have been 5 extra new kids attending! THis is fantastic! And, truly is exciting. One of these families Chris and I have been building a relationship with in particular and God is so good. Through this relationships their kids have started to attend Kids Club! And, have been asking to come back week after week! Pray that God would speak to these parents as they see their children sing about JEsus and go home and talk about Jesus in their lives.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Monda was my birthday and believe it or not I turned the big 30! But, God made something very evident to me on my special day. And, it was this... This was the FIRST year that I had people stopping in the house all day, and ringing me, and wishing me happy birthday. And, I know I turned 30! Which is an important mile stone in Australia. But, the point that God made to me was that Many of my NON church friends spoilt me. And, these are relationships that Chris and I had built in the last year. We have been building these relationships and showing these people who Christ is through our lives. But, now we are just praying for those seeds (LIVES) to grow(accept Christ) and flourish into followers of Christ! Please pray that God would continue to show Chris and I how to care for these families and "water" and "feed" them with God's word. So, that NEXT year on my birthday I can say that These families are now our chuch families!

On a side note... I am so thankful I am a child of God and that I have had 30 years of going to church and I wouldn't change one moment of the 30 years God has given me! I am TRULY a blessed child of God!!!