Sold! Parsonage on the way for the LCWMC!!!

The official Sold sign has gone up on the block of land the Church will be building a parsonage on.  It is very excitin and house will probably not be finished till atleast August 2013. Pray that the final plans would come together as the house plans are being drawn up!

Working Hard!

The past three weeks to be honest we haven't been updating because we have been on our knees praying, and on the phones calling!   God has just blessed us beyond measure and has proven to us that this is WHERE he wants us to be. God has DEFINITELY called us to Perth, Australia.   For the 2nd time in our 9 years of service with Global Partners we have found our financial account to be in "distress!  But, through pray, and God's might hand.  We were given the date of Thanksgiving to have and extra above and beyond our monthly amount of $15,000 in to Global Partners! Our account was so financially hungry there wasn't anything in it!!! It was actually negative... this was Huge. And, SERIOUSLY we have never seen God move in such a strong way in our lives.   But, as we started to call and share our hearts with pastors and our burdens God spoke to people's hearts! And, the willingness of God's people to pull together was amazing! The Australians are just amazed at how God works miracles and will bring the harvest in when we pray and seek him.   The long hours took a toll on us.   Everyone in our house got pink eye, the flu, and a really bad cold. But, God kept us on those phone and he kept softening people's hearts as we spoke to them over the phone. I also wanted to share with you that the Australians have been giving towards Global Partners to help with this financial drama. So, God is moving in their hearts just as strongly! This is very special! This is the first time they have pulled together and wanted to financially responsible to help.    So, with a very bold voice. I would like to announce that God is the king of our lives and the King of Australia and the King of this world and there is NOTHING, nothing.... that is impossible to Him. And, this truth has been shown, proven and lived to the Australian's that live here in Perth, Australia.

We would also like to thank the amazing team of supporters behind us.  It is such a blessing to know that there are people who believe in us and believe in the mission of what God has called us to and are willing to give beyond imagine when called upon.  We want to say “thank you” so much from the bottom of our hearts for your willingness to invest in the great commission. 

God has blessed us in such a way that we want to inform you that we have met our “crazy” goal of $15,000 and we are advancing on the road toward full funding.   There are two steps really left. So, don't stop praying yet!  Continue to pray.. Because  we still need a few thousand to come in so we are not below the red line.  The Red line is the amount we are to have in our account every month. We also  need to get our faith promise up to 100% this is one major reason our account had been suffering. so, pray with us that Churches and individuals would increase or  come on board and join us in this adventure of reaching Perth for Christ!

 

 

Women's Christmas Card Making Day

Today we had 9 ladies come and get together to make some Christmas cards. We also raised some money for the Women's camp next year. But, it was a fantastic time as we worked together and shared life with one another.  I was really excited because for the first time Laura's Mum Joanne came and participated and she had a fantastic time. Pray that God would give me an opportunity to share Jesus with Joanne. Even, maybe this Christmas! 

Mens Retreat

This past weekend was the Men's Retreat. 11 Men went away and relaxed, ate food, played sports, went car racing, and most important shared God's word.   Chris had the privilege of bringing a series  of  messages about "Being true Disciples" and what that looks like in our lives.  They all came back and had just a little extra inspiration in everything they have been doing!

Pray for the teens...

The teens that we minister to here in our church have been VERY heavy on my heart this last week.    We deal with bi-polar, broken homes, neglect, abuse, anxiety, depression, these all seem to be the "normal" for what teens are dealing with these days. But, would you pray to God would give us the guidance and the words to say to these teenagers.   Some days it feels like we are overwhelmed and we are not sure what God has gotten us into!  But, I know that he has a plan and I know that He has a way. Pray that Chris and I would have the ears to listen and the wisdom, guidance and words to offer them peace.

DBA & Chris away

This weekend, Chris travelled to Melbourne for his first District Board meeting.  It was a two day meeting held at the Kingsley College Facility.  The meetings were very positive and encouraging even though they handled some difficult topics.  Chris was also able to see Dr. Mike Walters once more before he headed back to NY.  It is great to be a part of a district here in Australia that is looking forward to where God is leading them in the coming years.  Chris enjoyed getting to see some of those over east that we normally only see at District Conference once a year.  Thank you so much for your prayers as Chris travelled across the country for these meetings.   While Chris was away I still lead our weekly kids club meeting as well as youth group.   On Saturday Melissa led a children's training session in the City Church.  Pastor Phil led a part on "risk Management" which was necessary for our insurance liscence, but then I was given the opportunity to share with the team of kids workers we have  the steps to leading a child to Christ, and we talked about safety precautions, signing kids in and out, behaviour issues, and lot's of other topics. It was a great afternoon.   Laura one of our teen helpers couldn't believe how much she was responsible for. And, if there was one REALLY good thing that came out of the afternoon she really that God has blessed her with the opporutnity to share Him with the kids and that she DID have the gifts and abilities to do it.   God is really calling up the next generation of kids, teens and young adults to follow him and lead other to Him!  We are just vessels God is using here in Australia to help draw people to Him!   What an honour!

Fun in the Sun

This afternoon we had church in the Park.  It was a wonderful afternoon of family games and activities. But, the whole afternoon was brought together when we gathered together and Chris challenged us as individuals and as the church to Trust in God through the story of Joseph.   There were 4 adults there who had never heard the message before and from speaking to them afterwards it was evident that God is working on their hearts. Pray that their hearts would continue to be softened and that God's word would penetrate their hearts and they would want to accept Jesus Christ as their saviour.   What a wonderful church service!

Mother/Daughter Princess Party

The Mother/Daughter Princess sleepover was a huge success.  We all came together and shared dinner and a craft and watched the Veggie Tales Movie Princess and the Popstar and played games and sat around chatting about the importance of being who God created us to be. It was a lovely  evening that was ended by us all sleeping in our sleeping bags and waking up at 5:30 in the morning to girls running "crazy!".   The Mums were definitely tired, but it was well worth it.  It was a great evening for us to show our girls how much fun they can have being exactly who God created them to be.

The Dad's went bowling and had a fantastic time as well.   As a side note I would like to post that the winners of the Dad and Son's bowling night was Brayden..... a three year old.... :)

Current Praises

Praises

• Praise God that Dawson does not have a dental anaesthetic allergy. Pray that we would find out what he IS allergic too, though
• Praise God district Conference was fantastic. God was there and he was working on our hearts and our lives.
• Praise God the Bunnings sausage sizzle was a huge success! Therefore we are now caught up on our church bills through December! This is huge. We have ALWAYS been behind. So, join us in thanking God!!!
• Praise God we have been able to get together with 8 families so far on the school holidays to share a meal and our lives. Pray that God would bless us with conversations that will open the door to talk about coming to church.
• Praise God the parsonage has been approved by the DBA in principal. Now to get the final show together of plans and ideas and prices and costs

Current Prayer Requests

Prayer Requests

• Pray for the church as we have started the study "The story" Pray that it would penetrate people heart and lives and become a reality to them. Pray that they would be interested in learning and studying and finding out who God and Jesus Christ are.
• Pray for our mum/daughter sleepover and boys bowling night this friday night, October 12th at 6:00pm.
• Pray for our family fun day on October 21st.
• Pray for God to give Chris wisdom and guidance as he was elected onto the DBA for the district. Pray that God would use Him to help forward the ministry of the Southern Australia District
• Pray that Chris and I will build bridges to the parents of the kids club kids.
• Pray that our faith promise would increase IMMEDIATELY. This is serious as last month there wasn't even enough in the account for us to get fully paid. This is a serious problem. We need our support to increase immediately.
• Pray that the one time gifts we receive would increase incredibly. Our account is very low. We need to bring in 21,000 immediately.
• Pray for the church and district board as they are making final decision on putting a parsonage in landsdale.

Dawson's PMH Visit

Today Dawson was a trooper! He had his 3 scrapes, 4 pricks, and 5 needles. And amazingly no reaction.. Therefore, he is NOT allergic to the two most commonly used anaesthetics in the dentist offices here in Australia. So, the good news is, now we can go back to the dentist and get the rest of his work done. :) Bad news is... we don't know what caused the reaction...   But, we were so thankful for your prayes. God was watching over him and especially for him to be so calm and patient.  He had to have each item done 30 minutes apart.  So, he literally sat from 7:00-1:30 and was such a good boy!   I am very proud of him.  

Pray for Dawosn

It was  a year ago Dawson had to be put to sleep and have 5 teeth removed because he had an allergic reaction to a filling in the dentist office at our local school. His reaction was so bad that he had to be taken to an emergency room. And because they could not fix the teeth. The hospital felt it was best to remove them.  And, when he went in we were told, 1 tooth at the hospital and when he came out... They had taken 5....  In January we met with an allergy specialist who felt Dawson had, had a severe allergiv reaction. So, finally they have come up with an appointment slot for him to have his local anaesthetic challenge at the children's hospital in Perth. Please keep him in your prayers Sunday night your time at 8:00pm.

Sausage Sizzle a Success!!!!

The Sausage Sizzle we had on Sunday was a sucess! We were able to sell just over 800 sausages as well as quite  a few drinks. The church had their best fundraiser yet and raised just over $1900.00... Thank you to everyone who prayed for us! We were a little concerned because it was on a public holiday weekend therefore we struggled to get workers. But, we had a steady stream all day of customers and it went really well!  Thank you for all your prayers. This fundraiser will assist the church with paying our Hall Hire fees as well as our Insurance and the district united stewardship fund.  Thank you so much for your prayers.

Sausage Sizzle

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

District Conference was wonderful!

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

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

District conference

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

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

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

Influenza

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

Cowan Volunteer

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

Rev. Mike Walters

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