27th of September Praises and Prayer Requests

Prayer Requests Pray for Melissa as she mentors another GP missionary in NZ. Pray for WA Kids Camp coming up. Pray for the Carols in the Park on Friday December 13th Pray for our children as they are really exhausted and Brayden has been unwell witha cough. Pray for Chris as he starts to oversee the WA zone of churches and give leadership to the pastors Pray for our New DS Phil Hotchkin Pray for the parsonage to be finished without any more breakins.

Praises Missionary Spiritual retreat was amazing for our family in so many ways! God has refuelled us! District Conference was uplifting and there was a huge sense of unity this year. Kids Camp was a success and they were really excited to learn about God and grow! A DS was successfully found for our district September 6th we had a very good response from dads to the movie courageous. 39 kids gave their life to Christ at soccer cheer camp! The parsonage building is continuing to move forward. We are now at lock up and are starting to have internal work done such as cabinets, painting, plumbing, etc.

Parsonage -Robbed!

Today, Monday the 23th. We woke with only three hours of sleep, super excited to go have a final meeting without builders! This meeting was  for where all the tiles were going to go in the bathrooms, as all the sinks, tubs, etc. had been installed.  When we arrived though, a forensic team was at our new home.  And, we had been broken into! It is very sad and frustrating and it will delay our house being finished!  They even tried to steal the tub! That ha already been cemented to the floor!   Not only did the break into our house but 7 others on the street!  So, please pray that our builders would be able to quickly get our house back up to shape! They think we will have the keys within he next 5 weeks!  So, that is very exciting.  Please pray for Chris and I as we sort out carpet, and the painter, or if we paint ourselves, and the landscaper and all those things now that have to be finalized for the house.   There are so many details to be taking care of and we are getting closer and closer to a really busy time in our lives with the church.   but, God gave me a passage out of Matthew chapter 6. And, reminded me we need not worry!

Finally Home!

We arrived home this morning on the 23rd at 3:00 am.    We did finally depart Melbourne, but the wind and rain was unbelievable.  We were on a plane that seated about 200 people. But, it was by far the craziest landing we have ever had!  The Plane came in for a landing and was tuning side to side, and then it just dropped onto the runway.  I would say we had a very good pilot.   When the plane came to a stop it was literally moving side to side from the wind.  They unloaded one row at a time to walk down the stairs because it was so windy, you were blown against the railings as you were stepping off the plane and the wind just took your breathe away.  We are so glad to be home in Perth.

We had such an amazing time while we were away with Global Partners.  God blessed us in so many ways through the messages that were brought and through the worship.  We are truly blessed to be a part of the Global Partners Tribe! but, our area director and pastors and director and all those people spend so much time just pouring into us and refilling our spiritual and mental, and physical tanks!  We truly were blessed and very message felt like it was written just for us... God just used the GP directors to minister to us.

We were wit the Freemans, Floyds, Connor's, Jacksons, Amber Livermore, and Curtis Willaims.  What an amazing group. .Non of us missionaries had ever met each other before and we all work in the South Pacific!

While we were trying to leave Cairns (where our spiritual retreat was...) to get to district conference , we had dramas with our flight, it was cancelled due to a sick stewardess.  And, then Chris and the kids ended up missing conference all together.  I ended up hopping on another flight to get to Melbourne and was able to run the kids program.  But, I arrived 8 hours late.  I was still there for day 2 and 3 though.  God new where we all needed to be.   And, Chris got to spend a bit more time with the kids... 

So, very glad to be home... Such a relief to be sleeping in our own beds. :)

Flights

Kids and Chris finally made it to Melbourne last yesterday afternoon. Now, we are trying to fly home to Perth and have had many delays and now strings winds. Pray that we will fly straight to Perth without being deferred.

Kids Camp/ Conference

The Kids theme for Kids Camp in Melbourne was Promise Island. We had a great time, learning that God is with us, he hears, He gives us what we need, and He loves, and He cares about us.  It was a great time with a great group of kids.    Here is a picture of some of them. :) I have a lot of work ahead of me this year and so does Chris! I am now the children's coordinator for the district and I have a big job of trying to see every church have a children's ministry/ family ministries. And, Chris is now the zone coordinator. We hope to mentor people, and train people up for these jobs within the next year.

 

Pray for Chris and the children to get to Melbourne.

This week we were in cairns for spiritual renewing retreat with global partners. It was amazing for us to be refuelled spiritually. When we went to get on the plane though to go to district conference it was cancelled. And the next flight wasn't until Saturday at 10 am. Please pray that chis will be alright flying with the children all on his own. I was able to catch a flight this evening so that I was able to run the children's program.  God has been watching over us! Thank you for your prayers.

Praises and prayer requests

• Pray for our children as we take them with us the next 10 days and we will be juggling work and kids. Help them to have a great time and feel like they have had a vacation.
• Pray for Chris and our district as he leads the committee to find a new DS .
• Pray for Melissa as she directs kids camp in melbourne
• Pray for us to have safe travels the next 10 days we are away working in cairns and Melbourne.
• Pray for our children as we take them with us the next 10 days and we will be juggling work and kids. Help them to have a great time and feel like they have had a vacation.
• Pray for Chris and our district as he leads the committee to find a new DS .
• Pray for Melissa as she directs kids camp in melbourne
• Pray for us to have safe travels the next 10 days we are away working in cairns and Melbourne.

Praises

• Dawson got first place for the long throw, second place in the long jump, and Makayla got 4 th in the long throw at the school sports carnival.
• September 6th we had a very good response from dads to the movie courageous.
• 39 kids gave their life to Christ at soccer cheer camp!
• The parsonage building is continuing to move forward. We are now at lock up and are starting to have internal work done such as cabinets, painting, plumbing, etc.

South Pacific missionary conference

Yesterday we flew to Melbourne with our three children and then tomorrow morning early we will fly north 3 hours into cairns where we will be meeting up with global partners staff for a week of training. In the 9 years we have been on the field, this has never happened before! We are looking forward to some spiritual feeding as well as a catch up on global partner procedures.    Pray for us that god would speak to our hearts and renew our strength.  On the way home from missionary training we are stopping in Melbourne for district conference and Melissa is running a kids camp. Pray that it would all go well.  We are looking for a new DS and  pray for Melissa as she ministers to the children.

Church Parsonage- windows!!!

The church parsonage is advancing  in it's progress. We will hopefully by the end of the week be at official "lock-up!" This means no more entry into the house for us. but, it also means that they can now start interior work like cupboards, tiling, and electrical work.   The front has been rendered, which means you can't see the bricks anymore, and it is truly starting to look like a home.   We hope to be moving in by mid November or early December.

 

Insanely busy helping at school, to build relationships.

Life never seems to stop for even a day in our house.  The Last few months  we have been spending time up at the school helping in any way possible.  Mostly to build relationships with kids who are in our children's classes. And, also so that they will feel comfortable to come to Kids Club or the church.   We have been helping with guided reading in the mornings in Dawson's classroom, one day a week. And, helping volunteer as a parent helper in Brayden's classroom, and I (Melissa) went on an incursion with Makayla's class.  I also have been volunteering in the choir room as their pianist.   This has been great, because as long as a child asks me about church, I am then free to say or share whatever I would like.    Recently we had a very special night and the kids performed down in the city at the Crowne Theatre.  It was an amazing experience even for me with full stage production and lights, and sound.. It was amazing.  The kids from our local primary school did an amazing job.   And, the music teacher worked so hard to pull off such a great evening. Here is a picture of the choir up on stage during rehearsal sound check the morning of our show.  Notice,I actually played keyboard for the performance... Because the music teacher actually wrote the second song we performed. So, I was MORE than happy to let him "showcase" it, as well as it had 25(seriously) key changes!!!!

Day THREE!!!

Day three of camp we were truly fully functioning at full capacity. Kids were moving, laughing, learning, and fun was being had by all. Most importantly the kids were learning even more! The cheer girls had put actions to their memory verse, and the boys and girls at soccer were coming right along! Skeeter started the day off with mentioning his friends and facebook, and who was his number 1!.   and, then later at Bible time today we gave the kids the opportunity to hear the gospel message!   Jeff shard about how God was his best friend!  And, 39!  YES 39! kids accepted  Christ!!!  It as a God moment. You could have dropped a pin in the place all eyes and ears were on Jeff.   Relationships were built and the team coaches were then able to share he colours of their bracelets and their stars.  See each day the coaches had been "awarding" The kids with stickers and stars to share with them skills about leadership, and friendship, and teamwork. But, the stars put together told the kids about the most important person ever and how they needed a relationship with Jesus.  And, without the coaches we could not have had such an impact as well as all the leaders and staff. Because each person built relationships and had shared their life with the kids up to this point! 

 

After our day, we packed up the hall quickly, loaded up our van and headed to Harrisdale. It is about a 45 minute drive from Landsdale. When we arrive we put on a soccer camp as an outreach tool for the church plant there.  They had all new people visit. And, it was great for the team to see the grass roots of where our church started. As well as get to be hand on, in the starting of the Harrisdale church.   God was good and it was awesome to see how we could impact another church with the team visiting.   After our long day, we drove back through the city to show the team the city lights and then headed home to debrief about the day, and go to bed!   We have all been getting up between 5-6 am and heading to bed about 11:00-11:30.. So, we are EXHAUSTED!!!!

Wedesday Day 2 of Camp!!!

By Day two, we had all the sign in quirks fixed, and we were a well oiled running machine~!  The kids came in got signed in, and off to a booming start we were.  This day I got to run the jump station! It was a lot of fun.. But, I am getting old!!!   I got to teach the girls important core moves and jumps that went with their chees and routines.   It was a lot of fun!!!  The sun was out and it was a bit windy... But, no rain.. So, we were able to be outside having a great time!   The Soccer kids were super excite as well, because no rain... MEANS lot's of game and skill time!   A great day was had by all.   The Bible lesson for the day was the Bible was true and it was God's instruction book to us on how to live life... It was a fantastic day, and the kids are really listening and starting to connect with their coaches, the leaders, and the church! God is moving!

First day of Camp!

This morning people were buzzing around the house as early as 5am!  We were up and getting ready to set up for camp... Sandwiches were being made, and then the hauling of all the equipment to the hall occurred!     We quickly entered and realized the city had given us the wrong keys for the facility next doors!  God is so good! And, in walked a maintenance person who was able to help us quickly get access to everywhere that was needed.     As kids arrived there was excitement, anticipation, and the room was a buzz! The Kids were so excited to put on their jerseys and cheer uniforms!   WE had four teams... The Joeys, The Skippy's, The Big Reds, and the Boomers!  Everyone was registered and in! It was a success!  And, then we were able to start our program.  Each day we started with a visit from Skeeter... (Chris... dressed up as a crazy kid who knows nothing about much!)   He did a great job breaking the atmosphere each morning and starting to get people to think about the Biblical point that was going to be taught that day!

Although we had 10 people from America and 13 volunteers and a few more from Oz.   There was heaps for everyone to be doing! The teams were between 12-17 kids each!  But, it was fantastic!  We had a bit of rain, and we were really hoping that the rest of the week would become sunny. Because it is winter here, and cold... And, wet and cold can make for some miserable kids! But, God was good and he didn't give us more than we could handle!

We broke for our first devotional time and the bible verse for the week was shared. The kids were encouraged to memorize John 3:16.  

The cheer girls started their banners and started to learn their jumps, and actions... The soccer kids started to rotate stations and learn their skills.  

At the end of the day each coach got to tell each child something they saw that they loved that day! This was a time for the kid to learn to trust them... But, also a time for the child to learn they were important and that they mattered to GOD!  and also to the coach!

DAY 1 was AWESOME!!!!!

warm-ups!

 Stretching!

 Skeeter and Pastor Jeff O'vell

Cheer Leading.. Jump and Actions Station

US TEAMS First Day in OZ

Today was spent building relationships between the Americans and the Australians.  And, doing lot's of last minute preparations.     To get to know each other we spent the morning at an Australian Petting Zoo..   The team got to meet all of our native animals, cute, slimey, furry, and weird! :)

Jeff had the special Jeff T. and Jeff O. had the special opportunity to be chosen and crack the whip! They actually didn't do too bad!    After the team saw sheep rounded up, and a sheep sheared, it was onto petting the kangaroos, and hearing about dingo's!  

After our outing we headed back to the house to put together 110 camp bags with all the goodies and jerseys! Upon sorting the cheer poms we realized that when we opened the package, they didn't automatically poof! Each strand had to be twisted by hand!  And, if we have 60 girls.... That meant we needed to do 120!   With 20 people including the guys.... this work was accomplished... But, not with out making some people EXTREMELY exhausted!!!

Upward Down Under has arrived!

Today the team arrived.  They were exhausted but super excited to be here! To be honest going to the airport was hard for me.  As I stood there and saw a family next to us hug their grandmother and tell her over and over how much they loved her.. It was a bit hard for me! As, I would have loved to have been that family... I would have loved my kids grandmothers to have gotten off that plane... Don't get me wrong.. I am EXCITED to have a team here! And, our first team ever since we came on the field 9 years ago! But, it was hard for me and I had nothing but excitement and joy in my heart the whole way to airport.  I guess you don't realize how much you miss until you see someone else experiencing that moment... But,  I looked at Chris and I saw him tell me to be strong, which made me want to be strong  for our kids.  They had made and laminated signs for the team! And, we only had to wait a  few more minutes and we were  hugging the team and telling them how glad we were they had come to Perth!

We brought them home and delivered them to the billets.   It was a joy for us to see people that are connected to our church step up and host some of the team.  We were getting 4 guys at our place! So, there will be a lot of men in our house this week!   After everyone was showered, we welcomed the team with our Sunday Service and had an Australian feast of food!   It was very YUM! (as an Aussie would say!)

Parsonage picture updates

Upward Soccer and Cheer Camp

Later today a team of 10 will meet at the Orchard Park Wesleyan Church in New York and begin their long journey to the other side of the world.  They will arrive in Perth, Australia on Sunday at noon and will hit the ground running.  Why would they travel all that way?  Because they are stepping out in faith with a willingness to be used by God to share the good news to over 100 kids and families in the Landsdale community.  There has been much planning and praying in preparation for this camp and we can't wait to see what God does through this team. 
Pray for the team as they travel and as they begin their week long ministry here in Landsdale.  Pray also for the local church here that we would be able to minister with the team and reach kids and families with the message of Christ. 

Praises and Prayer Requests

Prayer Requests Pray for the USA team to not get sick while travelling to Australia. They are travelling the 13-14th. to Oz Pray for the brickies as they lay the bricks for the parsonage! Pray God would call children to him and that we would connect with these new children in a way like never before. Pray for the parents of our regular kids club kids to grow in their faith this week. Pray for our current youth to connect with the team a build stronger relationships with Christ this week.

Praises July 5-7th was an AWESOME Women's Retreat! With many women committing to "Fix their eyes on Jesus!" The kids have done well at school as we received their 1/2 year report cards. Praise God we have families who have volunteered to host the USA team. Praise God we have 100 + kids registered for sport camp! Praise God the parsonage construction is under way

Women's Retreat!

"Fix your Eyes on Jesus!"

This was the theme of this year's Women's Retreat.  This was our 4th Women's Retreat in Western Australia.  And, these women are really starting to open up and let God use them to impact their friends and their families and they are really starting to grow a deep trust and a relationship wit God.   The picture to the left was our 2013 WW committee.   We are missing one person, Gem. But, it was Shannon, Myself, Glynis, Pella, and Elaine.  This year God used EACH of them to help with camp and many hands made light work for the first time ever! Each one of these ladies tackled, registrations, worship, decorations, welcome kits, games, you name it, they helped! I had an amazing team that let God use them!    As a result, the weekend  was an amazing weekend with 25 wonderful women. 

Juy 5-7th we went away to some cabins out in the "bush" and it was beautiful!  It was cold! But, beautiful!   God really worked on our hearts, and our minds.  It was a beautiful weekend for ladies to build relationships and Laura and Rachel's Mum,  Jo came away with us for the first time and she had an awesome time!   Last year we had 18 ladies go, so I was really excited to see that we had 7 new ladies this year!   We had 4 sessions where we did Biblical study and heard the Word of God through Annette Dobson, our Wesleyan Women director for all of Australia. And, then we had some game times, and craft times.  We recycled t-shirt scarfs and had an amazing time.  Although I was busy running the weekend and ended up having to cook three of the meals, it was quite relaxing and I felt God replenish my spirit!

Minute to win it games!

Pella, Myelf, Laura and Jo

 Caira doing the "elephant walk".

Karen and Bethany working on their picture frames.

Children's Workers Conference June 13th-16h in Melbourne

I had an amazing time connecting with children's workers across our district.  Chris and I boarded a plane and flew to Melbourne so that I could start the ground work for what is to come with Children's ministry in our district.  As I had been in contact with the pastor's and ministry workers it had become evident that we do not offer much for children and that we only "run" something if we need to. This is a big worry and fear for me, because families and children are important for our district to grow in the faith and numbers.   I wasn't really sure what God was wanting me to focus on at first but, then He just let my head RUN with stuff and He impressed on my heart 4 messages to share and IW as just blown away at how God wanted to use me to help minister to these churches that are part of our district.   Many of these people I had never met before and so I knew only one person in the room, but God was able to just open up the atmosphere and it was as if I had knows these partners for the Kingdom for forever.  

I was able to share a message that God laid on my heart about children's ministry. And, it was called, God called someone like you!  and, my sermon was basically me giving a share of the people who had impacted my life growing up and what they had done to bring me to a closer relationship with Jesus, and amazingly... NONE of them had been to Bible College, and NONE of them were pastors! and, I was able to share with them the important people of my past.  For those of you in our home church, these names might ring a bell... Luann (my mother),Dana,  Dot, Gloria, Elaine, Barb, David and Carol, Jan, John, Bill, Matt and Carman, Bob, Carol, and Sam.  There were MANY people who encouraged me in my faith and showed me something that has been important my entire "faith walk".   And, it was amazing to see these workers minds open up to the possibilities of the kind of people that can help them minister to children.  

My second message was on the foundation of our children's ministry. Making sure it is founded on the Bible and God!

My third message was on the circles of volunteers!

My 4th message was on the things we fill our ministry with our goals, desires, and passions, to see it become something that just not affects children, but impacts, families, and the church.

God really blessed me, and made me step out of my comfort zone.. I had never done something like this before, But, God knows that I can do this job, I just need to trust and rely on him, to give me all that I need. May God show me how to help minister to the children of the "Southern District ".

Melissa