Christmas Eve Service

Today Chris and I did all of our last minute christmas shopping and prepared for a special Christmas Eve Service. We had two new families come tonight and it was a sepcial evening of focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.   Was really special. melissa sang a special song and you could just tell that god's presence was in the room and everyone's hearts were in the right place. Was a very special evening.

Sunday Service with a Christmas Dinner

Today I got up bright and early and started cleaning our house.  Because the community hall is currently under construction work, church has to meet at our house.  So, I spent most of the day cleaning and we celebrated Chris's Birthday with a big lunch and some friends over from 12:00-4:00 and then we had church from 5:30-6:30 and then we had the church Christmas party and dinner after that.  It was alot of fun and we did a white elephant christmas gift exchange. It was alot of fun. And, we also have a fun tradition of a steering wheel device that comes back every year. So, it was really funny! The kids all got things that they loved and one of the most loved used gifts was a box full of bunnies.  The kids went nuts when they saw it.  So, it was a great day and we had a new family come tonight to church that had only come once before so that was very exciting.  Pray for Amanda and her husband scott and their three children!  

Chris's Birthday and the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle

Today was Chris's Birthday and we also had  the Bunnings Sausage sizzle.  It wasn't too warm... But, it was hot enough. We got up and started hauling a whole trailer full of food to the shop.  WE set up our display and everything and away we started cooking. We had people buying sausages befor it was even 8:00am.   By noon we we had run out of drinks and ice and onions and were sending people out to pick up more stuff!   WE then ran out of sausages and were able to get more.  But, amazingly we never ran out of rolls!  We sold just over 1200 sausages.  This is a good step in the right direction towards  helping our churches building fund!   We had many parents from the church who came and helped and it was a wonderful day.  Chris and I pulled in the drive way at 7:30 ran and got changed and went to our friends house to share "Christmas" with them and pick up our kids.  We had a lovely dinner with them and were very spoilt.  God has truly blessed us with some amazing people in our church!  Thank you for all your prayers today!

Preparing for the Sausage Sizzle

Today Chris and I ran all over Perth picking up sausages, and onions, ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, serviettes, and about 600 cans of soda.   We were preparing for the Sausage Sizzle that will be tomorrow. We spent lots of time sorting eskies and putting drinks in order and loading it all into our trailer so that we would be ready at 6:00am  tomorrow morning to go sell sausages.  This is one of the biggest fundraisers our church does. And, this afternoon Bunnings called and told us we really needed to bulk up what we were brining because they felt we needed 1200 sausages. So, we upped our orders and bought more supplies so that we would not run out. We sign a contract with the Store that we will sell sausages until 4:00pm no matter what.  But, with it being so close to Christmas and I know how stores are in Perth, They run out all the time of basic needs.  And, I am really worried that if we run out of rolls we will not have any way of getting more.   So, we are praying and ask you to pray with us that we have enough rolls, no matter what!!!

Also this afternoon Chris and I were able to sneak off for 2 hours and go see a movie for his birthday! Was very special!

Brayden Still complaining of a tummy ache!

This morning I took Brayden back down to the doctor's as he is still complaining of a tummy ache and we were up all night again with him tossing and turning.   The doctor still insists he is fine and there is nothing wrong with him. Please pray that Brayden would get over whatever this is and be all better! Especially the sleeping through the night again would be nice.

Landsdale's Got Talent

Today Kids Club was invited to come to school and sing in the talent show .  Today is also the VERY last day of school this year!  They did a great job and sang a song by Hillsong called "Born is the King". It was beautiful and Makayla played a CHristmas carol on the piano.  They did VERY well!  I was so proud of them!!! I am trying to download the video but, it seems to be too large. I will keep trying though.

REPORT CARDS

Just have to take a momen here and tell you how proud of our kids we are...   They work very hard and love attending school. But, they did very well on their report cards.  In australia reporting is differnt.  an
A= 18 months ahead
B= 6 months ahead
C= right where you need to be and ready to go to next grade

Makayla received an A in Math and English and Drama.  She got B's in Social and Economic, Music, Gym, and C's in Italian and Science.
Dawson received an A in Gym, B in Drama and Music and Art, and C's in Math, English, Science, Social and Economic. Very proud of them.

Pray for Makayla as she has been put into a 4/5 grade  class next year and with that will come a 1 to 1 computer program. So, she will need to be right on her game to keep up next year.  Dawson has been given a lovely 2nd grade  strict teacher for next year which will be fantastic! So, we now are officially on school holidays starting tomorrow till February 1st.

Can't believe another year is over....

Playgroup Christmas Party

Today was another crazy busy day. We got up at 6:00am and headed down to the community hall to start setting up for the Playgroup Christmas party.  The coordinator had quit back in September and I thought it couldn't be that hard to organize so we pick this responsibility up this year as well. I was already on the committee and teach preschool on Monday morning for playgroup and I didn't want our 200 families to miss out this year on their christmas party.  So, Chris made sausages and worked really hard all day. The church was represented and sold sausages to provide a service. We didn't make heaps of money off of it, but it was more the fact of us being there to serve.  The Party was fantastic and had no hickups. I had moved it back to the community hall from a different location and people raved about how great it was.  The kids did really well watching after themselves. And, Brayden only spent half the day laying in the shade tent resting because his tummy still hurts. But, all in all it was a wonderful morning. By 2:00 we were home and getting ready for church. 

At 4:00 we were back out the door and headed to church for our Kids Club finale!  The Kids Club sang and performed for their parents and said their memory verses and shared what they had learnt on the kids camp and really shined! I was SOOO proud of them. They received certificated for participating  this year in Kids Club. And, I was really spoilt by a gift they gave chris and I for all we had done for the year! We were truly blessed!!!  What a great night.  Unfortunately I couldnt' find my camera. So, I don;t have any photos! After church we had a dinner and then the community hall we meet in is getting air conditioning so we had to empty our storage closet. So, Chris and I then spent the next three hours hauling everything home to our garage!   Hopefully in the next two weeks we can find a place fr it to all go.

Celebrating Dawson's Birthday

 Yesterday was Dawson's 7th birthday but with the Carols on we promised him we wouldn't miss it and we would celebrate on Saturday.   So, we got up at 7:00am to take him to his tball game.  Dawson hit two home runs and had a few outs and some great snags and tags. He played really well and then went home to get ready for his party that was at 2:00 an hour south of where we live. We went to a Perth Heat game which is the professional team for perth. But, baseball is not super big yet so the stadium is quite small and the stadium seats about 700.  The lady who was in charge of group bookings was an American intern and she gave us all the party perks for free!    With us always doing church functions and throwing parties for everyone else. We have always committed and with Dawson's birthday  being so near to Christmas we have always committed that we would STILL always celebrate his birthday on or as close to on as we could. We don't want him to miss out and feel that church or missions work always comes first and that he is unimportant. So, this year we invited 8 friends from his tball team to meet us at a game with their families if they would like. It was alot of fun and Dawson had  a great time. Funny thing is, the tball club handed out tickets to the same game we had invited everyone to, so the game was free!!! God was definitely watching over us.  And, everyone had a great time.   We cooked sausages on a barbecue and were able to take drinks and chips into the game. So, it was a really fun afternoon and we got home about 9:00pm.
 Dawson was also able to go down on the field and do the dizzy run as well as doa  few different things.

Carols in the Park

It is now 11:30pm and Chris and I have just sat down for the first time today!  The Carols went really well. If we were to critique it from our point of view we are going to need a stage next year and a bigger sound system.  We had at one point counted over 800 people sitting. But, believe that there were well over 1000 that came and attended because there were people everywhere. The Kids Club did a skit of the nativity and sang "It's Christmas" and "Joy to the World.  We had minute to win it games, dance troops, hip hop troops, school choir, community soloist, vendors, jumpy castle, amusement rides, fairy floss, ice cream, sausages, drinks, all kind of fun stuff for people to participate in.  On our feed back forms everyone rated it between an 8 and a 10. But, we really struggled with the wind and it affected our sound. But, also it was such a big crowd that we will have to have a bigger sound system next year.  It went REALLY well. And, it was an awesome evening for everyone to know how much our church cares about families, and individuals, and the community, and most importantly how much we love God! We had three singing sets for the evening where we sang Christmas Carols and had such a fantastic time.  The church people worked tirelessly to pull the evening off as well as a few community groups helped as well such as playgroup and the Landsdale Residents Association.  Praise God that we were able to share and celebrate the birth of our King! What a way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!!!   Thank you to everyone who prayed God was definitely present and working in peoples hearts and lives. Thank you for your continuous prayers for our family.

Brayden Still sick

The last 24 hours have been insane.  Brayden has still been un able to sit or lay still and is constantly complaining of a tummy ache.   Last night we had band practice for the carols from 6-11pm. and, then Brayden and I hopped in the car and headed to the emergency room.   We were seen by a few doctors who felt that it was probably lymph nodes in his tummy. He doesn't have a fever and has not other symptoms other than an unbearable tummy ache. So, the observed him till morning and then we drove back home.  When I got home it was Dawson's Birthday! So, I made 24 cupcakes as quickly as I could and threw icing on them and took the kids to school! Needless to say I got no sleep and tonight will be the Carols. So, adrenaline will just have to kick in and keep me busy today!

BRAYDEN SICK!!!! PRAY!!!!

Of course on a week when everything is crazy and insane in our house add to the top of the list a three year old with the flu! Poor boy is tossing and turning and rolling around because his tummy hurts and nothing helps.  And, I am asking everyone to pray that NO ONE else gets it!   That would be horrible... Please pray... this is when living far from family is impossible. We were already totally extended this week with everything and now a sick boy. Please pray he sleeps, and gets better immediately and that he is in nooo more pain!

Carols in the Park

This week is probably the busiest week of the year for Chris and I.  I am actually going to literally write down what we are doing and when so you can be praying. Because only God can pull all this off!!!

YEsterday was insane.. We had playgroup graduation party fr brayden and then I had piano lessons, and friends over for dinner, and then we packed the PMH bags, and then Makayla and I went to deliver them and our dear friends needed help. So, we didn't get to bed till 2AM!  So, pray that we can handle all the overloading and staying up late we will get between now and then!

Friday 3-9 Carols in the Park  Chris and I are running around like crazying trying to finalize all the loose ends..   We are having to pick up jumpy castles, fairy flss machines, organize prizes, and minute to winit games, music, and then acts that our kid are participating in. We are expecting about 500-700 people!    Pray we get a guitarist.. Our guitarist has been called out to work!!! So, we need a guitarist and atleast a drummer by Friday.  Santa cancelled too! But, God provided another one.  

Saturday Tball- 8-11
Saturday Dawson's Bday party 4:00pm

Sunday -  7-12   Playgroup Christmas Party- Melissa has been organizing the community Playgroup Christmas party.  And, they will be providing christmas for 150 kids and their families.  The church is running a sausage sizzle at it. So, pray that we sell sausages but that also we get people to show up and help.

Sunday 4:00- Kids Club awards night at church. 

Monday Morning- Final Preschool Class for the year! So, lot's of planning has gone into that!

Tuesday-   Kids Club is performing for the public school!!!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL for our children in 2012!!!

Pray for our children.   They help us do sooo much.

Princess Margaret Children's Hospital - Cancer Ward.

Dear Prayer Partners,
Be praying today for the Children on the Cancer ward in 3B at Princess Margaret Children's Hospital.  Today is their Christmas party.  Some of these children may not even make Christmas day. But, Kids Club participated in helping throw them a Christmas party.  They have been making christmas cards for weeks and it was the thought of us giving something that we really wanted the kids club children to experience.  We weren't able to go and participate  because the kids are so sick that they cannot have germs etc. We did however make Activity bags that will be given to the children at their Christmas party.  God was so good to us and we were able to put in a playdoh, pencil, eraser, balloon, stickers, candy cane, bubbles, and a handmade Christmas card from the Kids Club kids. They looked fantastic. We had 7 adults come last night and we put on the face masks and we put on gloves and made the bags up so hopefully they are pretty germ free. But, pray today that as the kids receive these bags, that they would feel God's presence and be at peace. 

Soul Survivor Kids Camp

This past weekend was Soul Survivor Kids Camp!
Chris and I took 11 kids and we drove an hour out into the Australian Bush!   We went to a campground owned by the DEC called the Perth Hills Discovery Centre.   For most of the kids this was the first time they ever put up a tent or went out and camped.  It was REALLY alot of fun and God has blessed us with an amazing group of kids.   The theme for the camp was

ROMANS 10:9

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.



God looked out and provided for us in so many ways.  One of those ways was it had rained earlier on in the week.  And, so we were actually allowed to have a campfire!   So, we did hotdogs and smores. The kids were split into two teams.   They were allowed to name themselves make a song, and a skit. The kids did a fantsatic job and we had SO much fun! They also heard three Bible lessons, hiked, made para survival bracelets, and did some various crafts.   All in all the camp was a huge success. MOST IMPORTANTLY though.  Two of our kids gave their hearts to Jesus on the weekend! Reanna and Holly accepted Jesus into their hearts! What an amazing weekend it was.  Thank you for your prayers! You're prayers made a difference and we believe that your prayers have changed two beautiful lives!   Attached are some pictures from the camp.

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.  

AGM

Last night we had our annual AGM it was such a joy to report to the church all the ways God has blessed us in the past year and to be able to give a vision for where God will be taking us in the next year as the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church.   It was truly a special evening for us to look everything over.  Chris and I know that our church wouldn't be where it is without your prayers! So, we reminded them of the number of people who pray for our church.  And, we thanked God for all of you as well as thanked God for all of his blessing this past year!   Not that numbers are the end all, but we were able to report to the district our attendance for the year and our church, kids club, youth, and wesleyan women all went up!!! How fantastic is that!

Wesleyan Women Retreat

What a weekend!

God gave me such a wonderful weekend to share away with the Wesleyan Women. We had been praying for a while about what study we should do and God just kept bringing to my mind Ruth and Naomi and this program called Cozy Mountain Lodge that Group put out.  It was wonderful and just what our women needed!   It was truly beautiful. The women bonded in so many ways. And, the whole focus of the weekend was to make sure our foundation was founded in Christ! And, that we built up from there. It was truly lovely. Thank you to all those who prayed for me.  To be honest last week was incredibly insane! We landed on Sunday. Monday I taught a preschool class that I teach on Mondays.  I did 20 piano lessons, The funeral on Wednesday, And, somehow pulled everything together by Friday by 1:00pm.  God was watching out for me because sooooo many things could have gone wrong. On tuesday the craft still had not arrived from where I ordered it.  So, I called them company and they sent out again overnight another shipment. It did not come on thursday. But, Friday at 12:00 I received the shipment!   Then, my CAR at the worship CD for the camp! Can, you believe that! So, luckily God provided a way for us to get our hands on another copy but it took lots of calls to group, but laid it on their hearts to really help me out! So, Friday morning at 3am I finally had a copy of the music for the weekend.  Then myself, and the worship leader for the weekend had really bad head colds. But, God kept my voice there and one of our teens was able to step up and lead wrship for the weekend. But, Satan was trying so hard to tear down our weekend. But, thanks to your prayers God was SHINING through in every aspect of the weekend.   Below are a few pics of the weekend.  We played board games, crafted the bags at the top, ate lots of yummy food. And, worshipped God! What a weekend.

Madeline's Funeral

Thank you prayer partners for your prayers while Chris performed Madeline's funeral. She was a lovely woman. And, respected in so many areas. She was a strong, bold, hard working woman who loved her family!  After the funeral people kept asking Chris if he was related to her! Maybe because of his accent because she was born in America. But, the family was really happy with the service and I even think Chris did a beautiful job. But, thank you for your prayers. We were able to be there for our church family and that alone was amazing.   We seemed to pull ourselves together jet lagged and all and the funeral was beautiful.  The funeral was to be while we were still in America but because of some questions the funeral got moved back and I believe God orchestrated it all so we could be there. Thank you for your prayers.

Home at last!

We arrived safely in Australia on Sunday morning at 4:00 am. The flight was
not too dreadful. The children were really good and all of our luggage
arrived safely.  Departing the US was a bit hard.  There were lot's of tears.
But, the kids were excited about the idea​t of getting back to their friends
at school and Sunday morning at 5:00am Dawson was already up in his
Australian Rules Footy uniform running around ready to go play with his team!
 When we lined up to go through security Brayden had a moment of
understanding that I believe God gave him. He hadn't wanted to hug good bye
to anybody in the US.  And, when we got in line he said "HA, that Papa he
didn't bring his suitcase... What is he going to wear in Australia!"   And,
Chris and I looked Brayden in the eyes and told him they were not't coming
with us so if he wanted to hug and kiss them good by this was his last
chance.   And, Brayden understood! He ran across the airport and hugged both
his grandmas, his papa, and his uncle Doug!   It was REALLY REALLY cute.
Since Sunday we are still struggling a bit with sleep. The boys wake up
starving in the middle of the night and keep getting up at like 3'o'clock in
the morning. So, please pray that they would continue to sleep better.
  
Today we are doing a funeral for a mother of one of our church members.
   Please pray for Chris and I as we support this family today in their
   time of loss and grief. Please pray for the Kheun Kryk family.
   Please keep Melissa  and the WW's leadership team in your prayers as
   they have the Wesleyan Women's retreat this weekend. She is the
   director as well as the guest speaker this year. So, pray that
   everything would fall together for her and that God would give her the
   right words to say to everyone.  There are 21 ladies going away
   together for the weekend. Pray that they would feel rejuvenated,
   relaxed, inspired, and feel the touch of God upon their lives!
  
We have heard some news back from the South Australian District that
   they would like more numbers for the proposed house idea in Landsdale.
   So, please pray with us that we would be able to get this extra
   information to them and that it would be all in the manner that would
   be most helpful to them understanding our proposal.  The Church in
   Landsdale would like to build a house so that we can rent it from them.
   So, that they would start to get their foot in the door on some
   property in Landsdale. Also, then our rent would be going back into the
   church instead to random people we do not know.

 Please also pray for the churches we visited while we were home that
   they would join our support team and that our funds would come in this
   month.  Over the summer months our giving has been low and we have not
   met our target amount for any of the previous 3 months.  Our target
   amount as of today is 16,000 Originally is was 22,000! Rejoice with us
   for the funds that have come in so far this month and pray with us that
   God would bring in the 16,000 that we still need. August is the end of
   our fiscal year. So, we would really want to end with our financial
   account even.

 There was  nothing more special than traveling the US for the past 6 weeks and updating people
   with all that God is doing here in Australia.  We truly have been
   blessed over the past 6 weeks and know that God's blessings have fallen
   on our ministry here in Australia because of the WONDERFUL and LOVING
   support team we have back in the USA!  Our God does amazing things when
   we come to him and ask! I can't wait to see what is ahead this year
   here in Perth!

   Blessings to everyone,
   The George Family

Financial Support

Dear Prayer Partners,
The most important prayer we have right now is for financial support!

We were currently home because our support has been low.  Since January, every month we have been about $2,000 below our support income target.    This is not good and it effects our account but when it continues the problem gets bigger and bigger.   And, because we were  currently only at 90% faith promise this also affected the account.

So we were just home for 6 weeks to do a fundraising Blitz.   If God is speaking or has spoken to you to give, now is the time to give!  If I were to be honest, when we got paid this month there was only  $250 left in the account.  This is the lowest our account has been in 10 years.   Pray that God would bring this account up immediately! Here is specifically what we need and that you can pray for:

Faith Promises needed: $12,034 ( finances promised to come in over the next year)
Cash flow needed: $19,535   (finances our account needs immediately as one time gifts!)  

Please note that we will STILL be leaving on Friday for Australia. Pray that this money would come in immediately and that the fruits would blossom from our home ministry travels.   Also, the Fiscal year end in August. So, we are trying to get as much funds into the account so we don't end in the red for the year. Because at the moment more has gone out then what has come in...

Brookside Wesleyan

This evening we had the wonderful privilege of sharing with Brookside Wesleyan in Wellsvillle. This is Chris's home church and it is always special to walk in and receive a million hugs from everyone who has prayed for us, not just since we were called to be a missionary but since we were babies. God has worked through us a blessed us because of the faithful people who have prayed for us and believed that God could do awesome things through our family. We all had great big ice cream sundaes with all kinds of toppings including bacon!?  Dawson also got to see his teachers from camp one last time and we were able to steal a picture.  And, we were able to chat with some friends that we have had for a VERY long time and hear what God is doing in their lives.   It was so special to visit here and see what God has done in Chris's home church while we have been away!

Best Years Fellowship

Tuesday afternoon Chris and I were able to share with about 60 or so men and women from the Western District over lunch what God has been doing in Perth Australia.    It was a special time for us to share from our heart.  But, also a time of thanks. Because we know the people in that room are the people who continually pray for us!  They are the force that moves God's hand to do amazing thing in Perth Australia and in our family.  We are truly blessed to have them on our team!   Thank you Best Year's Fellowship of Western New York! 

Missions Team!

Today we met with a pastor about the possibilities of their church bringing us a missions team in Perth, Australia! How awesome would that be.. Are we allowed teams? yes! Is there plenty for a team to do in Perth?  Yes!  We are so excited and ask that you would pray for Orchard Park Wesleyan as they look into bringing a team, that people would feel God calling them to come and that the plans and logistics would fall together so we can provide a successful trip.

West Jasper

Today we visited West Jasper Wesleyan Church.  It was a wonderful time spent with this church family.  The kids really enjoyed being there. They were setting up for their Vacation Bible School that started later on in the day. We pray that God would bless them this week and that many children would come and experience Jesus there. Then we had a special time where we got to sit and catch up with the pastor and his wife.  They have a heart for missions and it was wonderful to just sit down, relax and hear and share what God has been doing.

Praises and Prayer Request

Prayer Requests Pray that we would increase our faith promise by 10% immediately. And, that God would give churches a passion and desire to be a part of our team. Both churches that we visited while we were home and new churches that we are currently contacting. Pray that people would give one time gifts and that our GP missions account would steadily rise immediately! Pray for the Landsdale Church as we are putting in a proposal to the district to purchase some property for the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church Pray for our family as we fly out August 10th to go back to Australia! Pray for safe travelling mercies and also as we jump straight back into life there and full time school, ministry and work! Pray for Melissa as she prepares the final touches for this years womens camp from August 17-19th in Perth, Australia. Pray for the committee and that they would be able to reach out and get more ladies to come this year that have never been!

Praises Praise God that he has been using us while we are here on home ministries to call children, teenagers, adults, and families to be Missionaries. Pray that God would move in these people's lives and show them what their next step is as they obediently answer Him! Praise God that Chris and I were ministered to this week at Family Camp. We were able to sit every evening and here Rev. Tom give the word of God! It was rejuvenating for us! Praise God our children are starting to understand, see, and experience the other side of missions! The people diligently pray and support us! And, they seem to comprehend how many people are a part of what God is doing in Perth, Australia

Commissioning Prayer

Thursday night during the Camp service Rev. Jennings called our family to the front of the evening service and had a commissioning prayer for our family. He called the pastors of the district to come together and lay hands on us. They prayed that our funds would come in this week and that God would put a hedge of protection around our family and the ministry we are called to do in Perth and that people who continue to partner with us and join our team.  There is no feeling that amounts to the way it feels when your "family and team" surround you and lift your before God. It was a very overwhelming experience of peace and we were truly blessed to have this opportunity.

Thursday of Western New York Family Camp

The 4th 5th and 6th graders and their awesome teacher Rev. Al!  Makayla really felt God speak to her in a special way through this group of kids!

Thursday morning Chris taught another seminar and I did two children's programs back to back. One was for the 1st 2nd and 3rd graders and the other was for the 4th 5th and 6th graders.   It was a very special morning because, we LOVE sharing what we do, but we love speaking with children as well!  One of the children really felt God impress upon her heart to be a missionary when she grows up. And, not only did she express this to me, but she went immediately out and told her family and others!  I have posted her picture below with her family. But, pray that God would direct her paths and her parents as they help her grow and answer this call on her life!

Wednesday morning seminar!

Praise God! Wednesday morning during our seminar a women really felt God calling her to missions.  Pray for this women that God would direct her and her husband paths and show them where God wants them to be.

Tuesday PM Camp Service

Tuesday night we were able to share with the District what God has been doing in Perth very briefly and invite people to come to our seminars on Wed. and Thur. Chris was able to share how he was called to be a missionary during a camp service many years ago. He also gave an illustration of how churches can "plug in" to be a VITAL and IMPORTANT ROLE in our ministry.  Chris had a lamp which was "Australia" and then he had churches that currently support us come up with short extension cords. And, when they all worked together and plugged in then the light  to the source (God) then the light came on in "Australia".   We LITERALLY could not do what we do in Perth, Australia without our prayer and financial supporters.  You're prayers and support allows God to minister to individuals and families who have never heard or experienced God in their lives.   If you have not yet filled out a faith promise form to pray for us or to give a one time gift or a faith promise for financial support. Do not hesitate... We are looking for people like you to join what God is doing on the other side of the World in Perth Australia!

Pray for the churches we visit this week!

Tomorrow morning we preach at the Wesleyan churches in Jasper, NY and Wellsville, NY. Then on Wednesday we speak at the Wesleyan church in Nunda.  Pray that God would move in a strong way and that he would call people to partner in what He is doing in Perth, Australia!

Western New York District Camp

This Week we will be doing a few different things but all at Western New York Camp.  Chris and I will be speaking at a Best Years Fellowship lunch, teaching two seminars, doing two children's sessions and sharing in an evening service.   Pray that we will connect with Pastors and raise an awareness of the amount of support we need at the minute.  

The amount of support we need is very important!  We need to raise another 10% in faith promise this week and another 14,000 in one time donations.  Pray that we will connect with people who have a passion and a desire to see the Word of God taken to the people of Australia!

Wallace Wesleyan

Today we had the privilege of visiting Wallace Wesleyan in the Central New York District. Melissa shared with the children in Sunday School and then Chris was able to preach on Sunday morning.   We had a wonderful time visiting old and new faces.  It was truly special because we pray for this church and God has TRULY blessed them in the past three years while we have been in Australia.  We also were able to visit with our dear friends  Rev. Bill and Kathy Spencer. We all had lunch together at the church pot luck! It was really a wonderful morning. Pray that God would call this church to be a part of our team in Australia!

Eastern Hills Sunday morning was very special becuase we were able to go and share with a faith promise partner that we had never been to before on a Sunday morning.  WE got up at 5:30 am and got the kids together and headed on our way.  A very exciting moment happened on Sunday morning. Chris was offered the opportunity to share for 10 minutes and then  do the pastoral prayer. During the 1st service he really felt prompted by God to not only share what we do, but pray that God would call someone from that congregation to GO, if God called them. Immediately after the service a family came up to us and shared how they have felt called to "GO" for awhile, but were unsure of where to go. But, that their children had told them a few months ago that they really felt God wanted them in Australia. Sunday morning God spoke to these parents and has laid a burden on their heart for Australia! Pray for this family as they seek God's call and pray for us as we get together with them and share what we do in Australia. How Awesome is God! The story behind all of this is that Chris and I have been praying for God to send us some help. The work we do is VERY LONG hours and never ending! And, to have someone else come join the team in Perth Australia and help lighten the load would be a huge BLESSING!   Also want to thank a prayer partner who knows who she is. She woke up in the morning and felt God asking her to pray for our family. And, then when she got to church and found out we were there.. She was shocked. But, I believe she was praying for us as we were seeking God on what we should share and say. And, I believe her prayers impacted our family in a huge way on Sunday. After church we were invited to participate in the summer pastoral picnic. Our kids had sooo much fun!   Thank you Eastern Hills for such a FANTASTIC visit! Here is a picture oof Makayla after the picnic! She was totally drenched along with our other two kids. :)

Driving, Driving, Driving

This is what our cute kids look like in the middle of the night when they are sleeping and we are driving! To be honest, this is when our car is the quietest!

Special Visit

Today we were able to stop in and visit with Chris's aunt Betty. She has been a faithful prayer supporter and financial supporter of our time in Australia! So, it was so lovely to give her a hug and thank her for making such a difference daily in our lives in Australia! We love you Aunt Betty!

Gloversville

Tonight we had a fantastic picnic! We had a lovely time sharing with the adults and kids in Gloversville, NY.   We ate the biggest hot dogs we have ever seen. Which by the way we do not get hot dogs in Australia so this was REALLY cool to the kids.  God has truly blessed us to have this church on our team! It always amazes us that we meet people all the time, some we know and some we don't know. But, with God at the center of our conversations they are amazing, wonderful, warming, inspiring, and a complete breathe of fresh air! It was fantastic to get to have a picnic at Gloversville tonight!

What to Pray for

Prayer Requests:
1.  Pray for our family this week as we travel to Gloversville, Corinth, and Eastern Hills.
2.  Pray that we would have safe travels and that we would start to get caught up a bit on sleep.
3.  Pray for our family: We also are going away for a few days wtih Chris's family this week. Pray that we would have a wonderful time catching up with our nieces and nephews.   We will be camping in the Adirondacks. So, pray that God would bless this time with our family. 

4. Pray for the church in Australia. As we have been away now three weeks. Pray that they would be s trong and that God would bless all that they are ding and that he would guide them in all they prepare for and for all the services while we are away.

5. Continue to pray that we would pick up 14,000 / year in support in faith promise.  Pray that God would connect us with people and churches who have a passion and desire to reach the people of Australia for Christ!

6.  We heard word this morning that Melissa's Aunt has passed away. Pray for her family as the grieve the loss of her Aunt Linda.

Praises:
1. Makayla had an awesome time at Kids Camp
2. Chris was awarded his 10 years of Service Certificate for the Wesleyan Church
3. We had a week of family vacation with Melissa's extended family. It was truly special to see everyone on the wilday side of her family and we had a special memorial service for her grandmother and burial service which was truly special.
4. Praise God people have been filling out faith promise forms and signing up to be prayer partners!

Baldwinsville

Community Wesleyan in Baldwinsville

Last night after we were in Pine Meadows we hopped in the car and drove an hour south to Baldwinsville. It is always great to walk in the doors and visit with people who continuously support and pray for our family.   We had dinner with the Molinet family and it was so lovely to catch up with them and our children just ran off and played as if they had known them for forever!   It was truly a special dinner. Afterward we headed to the church for an ice cream social where chris shared what we were doing in Australia and Melissa shared with the children!  It was a very special evening. Thank you B-ville for being a part of our team and a part of our family! We are truly greatful to have you on our team!   May God bless you all as you have bless us!

Pine Meadows

The last 24 hours were super fun. When Chris and I went to Australia the first time in May 2003. We travelled with a team from IWU. On that team was a friend of ours named Matt Liddick. Today we have the privilege of sharing with him and his wife and his children and their church Pine Meadows in Altmar NY what God has done in Australia over the last 8 years!  Matt helped us do alot of the initial ground work for our church. So, it is always extra special to share What God has done with people who have been there, tasted, and seen! :)

 Pine Meadows is a super friendly church with lot's of people who have so much love! We had a fantastic morning.  Chris preached two sermons for two services and we did a Sunday school class and Melissa did Junior Church.   After Church we enjoyed lunch and riding a flying fox in the Liddicks front yard! Was a really fun afternoon.  Thank You Matt and Breanne for sharing your family and church with us!   Pray that the People of Pine Meadows will grow a passion and desire to be part of our team in Perth Australia!

Pine Meadows

Western PA Wesleyan Kids Camp

This week was very special for Makayla and for our family.On Monday Makayla had the wonderful opportunity to go to Western PA District Wesleyan Kids Camp for her first time ever.   We want to stop here and say a HUGE thank you because, not only did she get to go, but they blessed us with the wonderful gift of her going for free. God truly has blessed us.   She was able to attend camp for the whole week from Monday to Friday.
On Wednesday morning we drove 1 1/2 hours to Krislund Camp and had a wonderful day sharing with the kids of Western PA what God has called us to do in Australia and what being a missionary means and looks like. We also hiked a mountain with the kids!  I was so proud of them because this hike was HUGE! It was apparently 2 1/2 miles up and it was quite the incline!  But, we had a special day and we spent it with some awesome Kids that God has huge plans for! Our prayer is that He will guide and direct those kids to be missionaries in PA or around the world!  Thank you Western PA for sharing your awesome kids with us!

Western PA Kids Camp

Western New York District Conference

Today, we had District Conference with Western New York.  It was so special to walk in the door and be hugged and say hello to all of our fellow pastors in our district. It was also special because in the past three years we have been skyping in and saying hello, but it was extra special to be there in person. We were also able to let them all know that we were home to raise an extra 14,000 in support and hopefully God will call some of those churches who don't support us yet, to be a part of our team. Melissa really has felt unwell today.  So, pray that she would start to feel better.  After getting up at 5:30 am to go to district conference and being there all day. At 6:00pm  we met Melissa's parent on the road in Geneseo with our children.  We picked them up and headed up to the tughill region in New York to Pine Meadows Wesleyan Church! Travelling raising support is fun and rewarding, but can be very exhausting! :)

Sharing what God has called us to do! New York - Indiana-Pennsylvania!

On Saturday Chris borrowed his brothers truck and him and his nephew drove 10 hours to Marion, IN.  Chris spoke at Chapel Pike Wesleyan on Sunday morning and shared at Waterline Wesleyan in Noblesville, IN on Sunday night.   Chris said it was WONDERFUL to catch up with all the familiar faces at Chapel Pike and to share what we were doing in Australia.     On Monday evening they drove back to Noblesville, and shared at a picnic.  Pray that as we travel God would use us to speak to people's hearts. That they would have an urgency to pray and be apart of what God is doing in Australia!  

Today Chris and Brennen drove Back 10 hours to NY.   He has just arrived and we are reloading the truck and heading to PA.  In 3 hours we will be at our accommodation for tonight and tomorrow we will drive yet another 1 1/2 to share at Western PA's Kids Camp. We are excited! Pray for us that we would have a safe trip!

Good 'Ol Chambers Camp

Back in the days when I was a child I gave my heart to Jesus in a tabernacle on the grounds of Chambers Camp. It was exciting to be home in our district and share our booth with our fellow churches that support us and hopefully build some connections and bridges to new churches in our district.  We had a great time catching up with people and receiving and giving lot's of hugs with all the familiar faces.  My daughter asked many time if there was ANYBODY we didn't know.  And, the answer to that would be YES! But, our goal was to remind people about our ministry and let them know that we are faithfully serving in Australia and we hope that they will pray and join our team in Perth through their prayers. 

  On Thursday morning we were able to share a seminar.  And, w

e were truly blessed to be a part of the missions night at Chambers.  We stayed over night in a creekside cabin and Chris and I told our kids before bed time all the fun stories we had of being camp counselors,and working in the kitchen at Chambers. Those were the Good 'Ol days when we were young! 

On a side note it was a blessing for me to run into one of my previous campers. Her and her husband are in the ministry full time. And, it was TRULY special to see how God used me to touch her life when she was younger!  But, even cooler it reminded me of the future of Perth, Australia.  in a few years down the road our kids Club Kids will be the future of our church, and they will be doing minsitry full time and the number of people impacted by the LCWMC will be huge! 

Today we visited Perinton Church

This morning we shared with the Perinton Community Church in Victor what we do in Australia. Pray that this church will join our team in ministering to the people of Perth, Australia. They seemed genuinely excited in what we do, and they will be meeting in the near future to discuss picking up our family for support. Pray with us that they would have a passion and a desire for the people of Perth, Australia.

After sharing in the morning service we shared with the missions committee! The people were so friendly and we had a fantastic morning!

Thank you Perinton for letting us come share with you!

We have arrived in the USA!

Last night at 11:00pm we have arrived in Rochester, NY where we will call ourselves at home for the next 6 weeks before we return back to Australia.  

The kids could HARDLY sit the last hour flight from JFK to Rochester. Dawson was SO excited he was Jumping all over the place.   It was almost like it is in the movies. WE had just travelled over 36 hours. But, when we stepped off that plane our kids were speed walking to the baggage claim where we would see our family waiting for us! Then they just dropped the carryon's and as soon as they could see people they recognized, they were running!  full out running! They were hugging and getting kisses and their nieces and nephews had signs welcoming them home! It was truly a special moment that our kids will remember for forever.  It was truly special. We made it all the way to Rochester and only one piece of luggage was missing. So, Makayla got to go to walmart and by a pr. of jammies and a pair of shorts and a shirt, but arriving home felt fantastic!  Thank you for all your prayers for our flight. The children sat and only once did we have a moment of panic with Dawson. But, we were able to calm him down and give him some antihistamines and immediately his ears were fine again and they sat SO good on the way home!  

I will have to write one thing. When the plane took off in Australia, I looked over and not only was makayla sniffling, but her eyes were pouring out tears! And, I reached over and asked her if she was okay, and she said she would miss her friends. It was bad enough leaving the USA and crying the first hour of our flight that we would miss our family while we were away. But, now we cry going both ways!  God has definitely called us to minister to the people of Perth, Australia and we long to see them in a relationship with Jesus Christ! 6 weeks and we will be back in Oz doing what God has called us to do, bring the people of Perth, Australia into a relationship with Jesus Christ!

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!!!

Yesterday and Today have been insanely crazy! Not only are we trying to do all the work that needs to be done for the next 6 weeks, we are trying to clean our house, pack up, do our regularly daily responsibilities for Monday and Tuesday and make it to the airport in time to catch our plane!   Luckily God has placed some fantastic people in our lives who realize how much help we needed to tackle this task! The teens were over and helped make all the bed clean so if people needed a place to stay they could use our house while we were away.  And, other friends helped prepare for the Kids Club awards night. Chris was running around making sure all of our Bills were paid, and I was MADLY writing and organizing 6 Kids Club lessons for while we were away.  And, writing everything in deep detail.  Luckily we were blessed to get two parent volunteers each week, two parent helpers each week and Debbie, Pastor Phil, Bethany, Laura, Rachel and Kayla are going to run Kids Club while we are away!

The church will be filled in by Pastor Phil, Pastor Shannon and our D.S. Rev. Lindsay Cameron. Church has been moved to our house while we are away for ease of setting up responsibilities etc.

Not only do we dive back into life in Perth the day we get back, but the Women's camp is 4 days later and life will go back to crazy when we land. So, pray that We can keep things organized from the US and that everything will flow smoothly for the church in Australia while we are away.

PRAY for the people listed above that God would use them and that they would grow closer and stronger to God in stepping up and taking responsibility for the church while we are away.  

In a few minutes we will be picked up by two cars and taken to the airport!  It is a strange but exciting feeling. Our children are EXCITED they didn't sleep last night because all they envision is running off the plane and hugging their grandma and grandpa and grandma and papa! They can't wait to see their cousins and hug them and do all the fun things they have dreamed of doing over the past three years! 

We are not sleeping in anticipation of wondering how the church will hold up while we are away. But, we know that God is good and that he will use these people to carry on the good work and that all will be fine in our absence. We are also are desperately trying to connect with churches and raise ourselves back up to 100% while we are home. So, pray that God will connect us with the right people and that he will possibly even help us find someone in the US who wants to come join our team here in Perth in the future!

Term 2 Kids Club Awards Night

Dear Prayer Partners,


The Last month has been amazingly crazy, busy, wonderful and hectic, but God has been doing so many amazing things. On Sunday night we awarded 38 Kids with their new badges for term 2 of the school year. This term we were focusing on the armor of God. The children will continue to study the armor of God for a few more weeks. But, it is amazing to see what they have learned through the helmet of salvation, Breastplate of Righteousness, the belt of truth, shoes of peace and the shield of faith. We also studied the Bible verse “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” We had an amazing turn out of parents and families. There were over 62 people in attendance. We had 5 new families attend on the evening!  this alone was a huge reason for us to rejoice! The new families even stayed for dinner afterwards and had a great evening. The kids performed the skit of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. for their parents and sang three songs. It truly was a night to rejoice in all that they have learned.