EASTER EGG HUNT - PRAYERS NEEDED

Pray for the Easter Egg Hunt that is this Saturday from 3-5pm. I am very nervous about it. Unfortunately our crafts have been held up and are not going to get here in time which is a huge disappointment. Luckily we have about 70 of everything left over from last year. So, Chris and I ran around today collecting some last minute ideas.  Please pray that our box would APPEAR in Perth today. For some reason it has been held up in Singapore and we still need it to clear their customs as well as Australia customs before it will get here. And in Australia Mail is not delivered on Saturdays.  The craft items were ordered weeks ago, but sometimes this is just what happens! :(

However, Pray that we would have new people come and that their hearts would be softened to hear the message God is going to use me to bring on Saturday.

Pray also that we would have enough helpers and be able to pull the event off with all the glory going to God! 

Bible Study

Thursday nights we are meeting together with 5 people for a Bible Study called a New Creation. We have met twice so far and have another 4 sessions.  It is written by our DS Lindsay Cameron and we are really excited so far in the questions and conversations we have been having with this group. Pray that these people would come to know Christ and that they would draw close to Him and realize that they need Him to be the one true God they worship.

New Insulin Pump

Today Chris met with his rep for the new diabetes pump he will hopefully get. She mentioned that they should be replaced every three years and that he has had his nine which is just incredible!   But, the time has really come that he needs to upgrade. The insurance company has been fantastic and has given him three green light and apparently will cover 100% of the cost of the new pump. Please pray with us that he will get the new pump smoothly and that he will be able to switch over to the new pump with no dramas or problems along the way. 

Landsdale Neighbour Day

Today our church partnered with the Landsdale Residents Association.   Chris spends alot of time building relationships with people in the community. One of the ways he does that is by sitting on the Landsdale Community Residents Association Committee. 5 years ago when they really wanted one he stepped up and played the role of president. Then, a lovely person named Jessica came along and she fit the role and would do a fantastic job so Chris kindly stepped aside and has stayed on the committee so the church can have a hand at helping within the community.  

Today was all about getting our name out there and building bridges to get to know people. We let the Residents association use our sound equipment and we sold drinks while many other community groups also participated such as the playgroup association ( Melissa is on their committee) as well as the Footy club and various other community groups. There were about 400-500 people that participated. Chris worked hand in hand with all the groups making sure the days performances by the school, drama groups etc went smoothly and I sold drinks, handed our information about our church and had people pre-register for our Easter Egg Hunt next weekend. It was a really fun day and Brayden actually limped around quite a bit! He made it from the hall down about 50 metres to go play some games! So, he is already improving! 

BRAYDEN IS 3!

BRAYDEN IS 3

Today  we had Brayden's 3rd birthday party. He invited 5 little friends from Playgroup to come celebrate with him. We decorated fruit boxes from the market to look like cars 2 cars and the kids raced around the yard. I got Brayden up on his feet for this picture but unfortunately he couldn't actually limp along and carry the box. His leg and ankle are still quite stiff. But, he was in pretty good spirits for the day!

Seems crazy and hard to believe all at the same time that Brayden is already 3!   I think Brayden turning 3 is scary enough just in itself because in less than a year he will be going to public school here in Australia and that seems totally crazy to me! He is our last little bub so he in our minds is just so little! 

He is an adventurous, wild, crazy boy who loves Jesus very much! I praise God for him and we are truly blessed! 

WA Family Camp 2012

FAMILY CAMP!

Family Camp was a blast! 70 of us came together to camp it out and have an awesome weekend together as the WA Wesleyan Methodist church family!  It was truly a fantastic weekend full of fellwship, fun, growth in who we are in Christ, and did I mention alot of fun!

  Dawson the very first night got eaten by  and we are not exaggerating atleast 100 mosquito bites. The poor boy itched ALL weekend. He looked so bad that the campground manager gave him free mosquito wristband to keep the mosquitos away. They were basically like cat flea collars! :) Brayden survived the EXTREME heat with his cast and Makayla had a blast with her friends!

It was a very busy weekend for Chris and I as we were in charge of lots of different parts over the weekend. But,   we also were attending with our family and trying to play that role as well! :)   We had 7 families from the Landsdale church attend the camp in the end and it was TRULY exciting!




Melissa did a great job with the kids programs. We did five Kids sessions. Each session had a theme, craft, songs, and Bible story to connect it all together. As well as we did a huge tie-dye session as a fun family craft.  This was not any little task. Tie-dying in a campground was alot of work! And,my hands were red, blue, and green, for days!!!      Chris organized family games, outings, and youth sessions.  Pastor Phil organized all the food and it was yum!  Rev. Lindsay Cameron flew in from Melbourne (five hour flight) he is our D.S. and spoke for our main camp sessions. He spoke all weekend on priesthood and God spoke to everyone in our church! It was a wonderful time. Everyone can't wait till next year! 


Because of your prayers God was there and working on us and helping us and molding us! We appreciate all your support and prayers that made this weekend possible!

FAMILY CAMP

This weekend is Family Camp. Chris and I have been working very hard to organize and structure camp this year.  I am happy to announce that we have 58 people attending the weekend! This is VERY exciting. And, we will also have day visitors. Our DS has flown in today and he will be bringing three messages over the weekend as well as I will be running a children's club program 5 times over the weekend.  The rest of the weekend is full of fun family activities shared meals(we cater the entire camp) families will be taking turns cooking the meals, and should be a time for us to grow as  the Western Australia churches and build relationships! I am really excited to say this year 6 of the families attending are from the Landsdale church! How exciting!!!!! Pray that God would move and work in their lives! This is a time of rejoicing. Pray specifically for these two new families that God would work in their lives and call them to a relationship with him!

Youth Group Banquet
The youth group banquet was a complete success. We were able to raise $30 for each youth to attend camp that helped for the evening!  Youth Camp will be held in April so the teens are looking forward to that.   
We had 20 people come out for the evening Chris showed some marriage video clips, the teens served  the adults and did an awesome job! The kitchen was calm and completely under control and the food was yummy. 

Most importantly 6 people who attended this evening are not Christians and not a part of our church yet, but they had such an awesome time they can't wait to join us again.  Chris promoted Fireproof and we will be starting a married couples night out with the movie and discussions in the near future! Pray that these three couples will come out and join us. :)

Brayden's Foot.
We finally got into the fracture clinic last Wednesday and were seen by the fracture specialist. They were happy to let me know that Brayden "buckle" broke his metatarsus and has chips.   It means really that the bone is broken in half and not all the way through and then is compressed together. So, basically the largest bone in the middle of his foot that goes to his big toe . He has to keep the same cast on for three weeks. They will not be putting another cast on.  So, they have wrapped it with a green non stretchy tape. Hopefully it will stay tight and hold up for the next three weeks.   They say the pain is normal and DEFINITELY no walking or pressure on the cast at all. Because this will still put pressure in the foot and just keep breaking the buckle that is healing.  Thank you everyone for your prayers.  

Please continue to pray for our banquet on Friday night.   This is the biggest fundraiser our teens do. All the funds made will  go to the youth center and to help them attend youth camp in April. Pray that they would make and serve good food. Pray for Chris as he bring a fun night for married couple and young adults together that focuses on God.  we have 5 couples coming that are not Christians yet. So, we would really like God to speak to their hearts.

Also keep praying for Brayden. Tuesday night your time at 7:50 he will be having his appointment with the Orthopaedic fracture clinic. It was supposed to be in a week. but, they have willingly brought it forward because Brayden has been crying and screaming he is still in pain.  Which had gone away and he was medication free for two whole days, but seems to be complaining of pain now in different spots like his heel and his calf now. So, they are going to do new xrays tomorrow and hopefully decide whether it needs surgery or not. Either way he should get his hard plaster tomorrow which will protect his foot more. So, pray for us as we go to this appointment.

We have some exciting news about family camp. It looks like we have 7 families participating from Landsdale this year! WAHOO!!! However, we only booked 9 campsites and we still have 9 tents from the inner city church to put up. Pray that God would show me how to make them all fit and guide Chris and I with an awesome family activity calendar of events for the weekend as well as all the children's sermons, and the items that we are responsible for on the upcoming weekend March 2-5th.

Pray for Brayden

This morning Brayden was playing quietly in his bedroom with his friend until I heard a great big crash!  I went in there and he had jumped off the top bunk bed.   When he did this he landed strange on his right foot and broke his foot.  Melissa took him immediately to the children's hospital emergency room. They have put a slab on the back and casted the foot for a week and then we will go see specialist who will decide if the foot is healing okay or whether it will need surgery. VERY FEW cases ever need surgery they said. But, because of the kind of break he has. He is not allowed to put ANY weight on his foot. This is ALREADY a hard concept for him. The pain has been unbearable so they have given us codeine to give him with the Tylenol and ibuprofen. As soon as he had the codeine tonight he was asleep immediately. So, please pray he can rest and is not too traumatized.   The whole time we were in the ER he kept saying he needed a big band aid "straight away!" to the nurses.. Now, that the cast is on... He needs it off "straight away!"    Funny part to this whole story is we had to have it casted twice. Usually the children lay a certain direction on the table when casting. But, because Brayden wanted to watch cartoons they put him on the table backwards. So, when we were all finished I was on my way to the car with him and realized they had casted the WRONG foot! So, we had to go back in and have the cast cut off and a new cast put on the right foot. Funny part is he had been so good for the first cast the nurses were amazed! But, he was good because there was nothing wrong with that foot!!! :)  We really appreciate your prayers. I am sure it will be no fun having the cast on his foot when we should be swimming, and playing at the beach, and the church camp is coming up in March. So, we need to find ways to keep him comfortable and happy!

A TOTALLY AMAZING NIGHT!

Friday night at youth group was a totally God ordained evening.  I believe God moved in a powerful way because of the prayers of our supporters! Rachel, one of our teenagers gave her life to Christ.  She has been coming to church since September last year. But, Chris and I had noticed recently that Rachel came to church no matter what! She didn't have to be picked up, or brought, but that she now "walked" to church on her own.   So, we had been asking people to pray for her specifically and for us to find an opportune time to share Christ with her.  Friday night God just really spoke to her and moved in such a strong way on her life.  And, we gave an opportunity for people to say "yes" to being a Christian and pray the sinner prayer.   Afterwards we asked if anyone would like to announce out loud their decision and immediately Rachel announced she has just become a Christian!   We were so amazing and God has already done amazing things in her life!  Pray for Rachel as she takes Christianity explained and also as she starts to learn what it means to  live in her "new life!".

This was also a special moment for one of our teens named Bethany. Because, Bethany keeps commenting about how she is not a "good enough" Christian and how she is always messing up and she is really hard on herself at times.. But, Rachel became a Christian because of Bethany's friendship. And, it was an opportune  time for me to point out to Bethany how important she is.. And, how God used her to work in Rachel's life! Because of Bethany's friendship and her testimony of how God lives in her... Rachel has become a Christian!  

Then on Sunday night Rachel came walking to church  but also brought her younger sister Laura. And, Rachel is now giving her sister the opportunity to experience what she has. Please pray for Laura that she would see God working in all of us.. And, that she may open her eyes and soften her heart to hear the word of God speak to her.

Prayer Requests

Pray for Chris and I as we dive back into church work. Pray for us as we plan the schedules for the next year.

Pray for Kids Club as it starts in a week!

Pray for our children as they go back to school. Pray that they would settle in and choose their friends wisely.

Pray for our Youth Group. We desperately need to dive in and do things differently and grow it! Our kids club took off last year, but YG has stayed at the same pace. And, we would love to see it go beyond its boundaries this year!

Pray for our church. Pray that people will want to get involved and volunteer and become part of the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church family!

Entirely Blessed

Thank you to everyone who prayed while we were all seperated for the 2 weeks! God has blessed our family in soo many ways.

God used many families in Australia to bless us while we were away.  Anything from bringing some snack and goodies by our house, to Chris was invited to people's houses for meals, play dates, swimming dates, and to the park, and all kinds of stuff.  The kids were kept super busy and we truly are surrounded by a great group of friends here in Australia.   These friends we have built connections with through our bible studies, kids club, and by just trying to get to know these people and share Jesus Christ with them. They were not "Christians" when we moved to Australia. But, they are growing closer and more like him every day! They are becoming more and more interested in how "Jesus would help in that situation". Then in what the "world" would do!

What is amazing about these people  is that "they" were sharing the love of Christ with our family!  Isn't God good!

36 Hours of Travel!

After 36 hours of transit I arrived safely back in Perth!   I was dressed in black trackies and a long sleeve shirt only to be greeted at the airport with a GUST of heat!  If I were to think back....

Apparently the whole world was windy!

 It was 20F when  My flight left  from Rochester  toJFK airport in  NY . It was a very bumpy flight! And, I felt very sorry for the lady next to me. She was gripped so tightly to the seet you would need a crow bar to pry her hands off.  I was constantly praying for her and trying to calm her down on the flight. I was VERY relieved it was only a 45 minute flight!

The I had a 6 hour layover in JFK.   JFK-LA the seat belt light was on the entire flight, and we were constantly told that it wuld be a very bumpy flight because of the wind. 

Two hour layover in LA.  Then, our flight from LA to Sydney was not that bad.. .It was pretty moderately bumpy. It was 15 1/2 hours. I was sitting in a row of college girls who were coming to study a term in perth. So, they had all kinds of great stories to share etc.

Then I had a two hour layover in Sydney.  Which I boarded the plane and was sitting next to a lovely family from perth.  The flight was 5 hours. But, it didn't feel that long after my last one was 15!   However, Perth had been very windy and had lightning storms, and rain in the morning and chris was wrried I would be delayed. But, when I arrived it was hot, 95 F sunny and windy!

I got off the plane and could hear the sound of my childrens voices!  It was so great to be home!!!

Finally back in OZ after 36 hours of travel.

After 36 hours of transit I arrived safely back in Perth!   I was dressed in black trackies and a long sleeve shirt only to be greeted at the airport with a GUST of heat!  If I were to think back....

Apparently the whole world was windy!
 It was snowing like crazy when my mum and I left our farm in Higgins (near Houghton), NY.   It was a windy and blowing. Good thing she is used to driving in all that snow! After two hours of driving we arrived in Rochester where I would have to say my good bye's!   This is the part I hate the most... Saying Good bye!  But, it won't be for long. We will be able to skype as soon as I get to Australia.

 It was 20F when  My flight left  from Rochester  to JFK airport in  NY . It was a very bumpy flight! And, I felt very sorry for the lady next to me. She was gripped so tightly to the seat you would need a crow bar to pry her hands off.  I was constantly praying for her and trying to calm her down on the flight. I was VERY relieved it was only a 45 minute flight!

The I had a 6 hour layover in JFK.   JFK-LA the seat belt light was on the entire 5 flight, and we were constantly told that it would be a very bumpy flight because of the wind. 

Two hour layover in LA.  Then, our flight from LA to Sydney was not that bad.. .It was pretty moderately bumpy. It was 15 1/2 hours. I was sitting in a row of college girls who were coming to study a term in Perth. So, they had all kinds of great stories to share etc.

Then I had a two hour layover in Sydney.  Which I boarded the plane and was sitting next to a lovely family from Perth.  The flight was 5 hours. But, it didn't feel that long after my last one was 15!   However, Perth had been very windy and had lightning storms, and rain in the morning and Chris was worried I would be delayed. But, when I arrived it was hot, 95 F sunny and windy!

I got off the plane and could hear the sound of my children's voices!  It was so great to be home!!!

Sharing about Australia.

Telling about Australia!
While I was home in America for my grandmothers funeral.  I was there for two Sundays.   I was blessed to have an opportunity to share with my home church Higgins Wesleyan about what my role as a pastor's wife is in Australia.  I was going to share for just a few minutes, and thought that was all I had to share. But, as I was sharing about what we were doing it became very evident God wanted me to share more!   See being a missionary's wife is a full time job! And, one that I volunteer for!   I love doing it! And, God has blessed me with such a wonderful partner to stand with!  And, since normally Chris does all the talking when we are home.. It was nice for me to give "my view" of what I do!

The second Sunday I was blessed to share with Chris's home church Brookside Wesleyan in the junior church program and also during the morning service.  
It was wonderful to hug, shake hands, and get to see and spend a little time with  these people who faithfully pray and support our family to live in Australia..

The Junior church was really excited because they support our kids! So, they were having fun listening to everything I was saying.   In Australia we pay for our children to go to public school. Even public school is not free.  And, the Junior church at Brookside took that part of our budget on  and their  support to Global Partners helps  fund our kids to attend school.  They help them buy text books, pay their school fees, and  pay for in school activities.

Like in America if  a "science guy" comes to school  and share in the class room most likely the children don't have to pay to attend.. But, in Australia.. our children have to pay a $50 fee each at the beginning of the year.. And, if they don't pay it.. they don't get to participate even if the person is in their own classroom.

Also there are no school buses. So, if our kids have excursion and are leaving the school premises we always have to pay for them to ride a bus that the school has hired for the day. 

There are lot's of little differences. But we are truly blessed by the children at Brookside Wesleyan ! Thank you  for supporting our children and our family.

Pray for Chris and the Kids

Please pray for chris and the three kids as this will be the first time we have ever been in two different countries in 7 years!  Pray that the kids will keep busy and that they will understand why mummy is so far away.  Pray for Chris as he keeps up the church responsibilities as well.

God Knew the Desires of My Heart!

When Chris and I found out my grandma past away we were very saddened. She was in excellent health. But, I was happy in the fact, I knew she was in Heaven.  I was not upset that I couldn't make the funeral I just knew it wasn't possible. But, then I received a phone call that the funeral had been moved.   I then realized I had enough time to get on a plane and be in transit for 36 hours and still get to NY in time.   This was hard for me. Before this moment, I didn't have a choice it was impossible. But, now that I had a choice... I couldn't sleep I just kept wondering what choice I should make.  Chris sent out an email asking our prayer partners to pray that I would feel at peace so far away from all of our family.   And, that night I closed my eyes and I slept. Never in a million years did I expect to read the email I would read in the morning... 

On Monday morning in Australia we received an email from Rev. Pat Jones. His church, Eastern Hills Wesleyan was willing to pay for my trip from Perth to NY! God had created a window of opportunity.  within a few hours I was booked to NYC.  I then rang my sister in Hyde, PA. And, their church booked my flight from JFK to Rochester, NY and within a few minutes it was all completed. I was amazed at how God surprised me in such a way I never expected.  I was in shock. I could barely pack my bags as I couldn't believe it was true.   But, God new the desires of my heart, and the verse below popped into my head over and over as I sat on the plane.

Psalm 37:3-5

New International Version (NIV)

 ³ Trust in the LORD and do good; 

   dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

⁴ Take delight in the LORD,   

 and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD; 

   trust in him and he will do this:

Pray for Melissa's family

Would you plesae pray for Melissa and her family as her grandmother past away on the 30th of December (on our Wedding Anniversary).  She passed away silently in her sleep at 89. But, she is the grandmother Melissa and her family lived with growing up. It is hard because Melissa is so far away. Pray that she will feel comfort during this difficult time.

I do want to give one praise. Melissa and Makayla skyped her grandmother last week, and Makayla played the piano for her and told her lot's of little stories. So, we are thankful for that moment God gave us!

Melissa's grandmother was a Godly woman who love the Lord with all her heart and followed the Master's Ways. She was a strong believe in our work her in Australia. She supported financially and in prayer her daughter Daphne Foster and her husband Bill while they were missionaries here in Australia for 30+ years. And, she passed her baton of love, faithfullness to pray, and support onto our family 8 years ago when we decided to come to Perth,  Australia as Global Partner Missionaries with the Wesleyan Church.

Grandma Wilday will be greatly missed but we know she is in the Presence of our Lord and Saviour! And, we will meet her again, one day  in Heaven.