Back Online!

We are officially back online!  On Friday the National Broadband Network finally came and connected the wire from the street to the house!   So, we are finally back online. We still do not have a phone line to the new house, but are grateful to at least be able to catch up with people via Skype and get some work done.   While we have been offline, lot's has happened. We will try to catch you up as quickly as we can.  

We were officially moved out of our old premises on the 21st of November!   It was very exciting to be staying in one house.    We have learnt quickly that we own a lot more things than when we moved here 9 years ago!   We thought we would be moved in one afternoon, and it turned into a 5 day process, with a lot of trips as we only had a small trailer to use.  Also, we multi tasked, as we had some commitments we just couldn't get out of during the process. 
Some interesting things we have learnt about the new house....

1. 6:00 am a truck plays a horn to let all the workers on the street know that he has arrived with hot coffee!   ( therefore waking everyone in our entire house up,.... everyday!)

2.  Our house is VERY bright without curtains.  We have gotten blinds in the kids windows, and luckily our have arrived in and will be installed next week!  ( I will be so happy when I can close my eyes and sleep for awhile.)

3. Our new house has fans in the bathrooms that tick all day and all night! Sounds like water dripping... Hopefully will get fixed... :)

But, despite those three minor things! God has blessed us in a million ways!

On November 29th we were able to invite all the people who helped us move into the house, and paint, and worked hard along side us to a thanksgiving dinner!  ( we know it was a day late! :) ) There were 48 of us who enjoyed a feast! Chris and I were able to get our hands on a turkey, a real, whole turkey!  It was expensive... It was 4 kilos and it cost 45 dollars. But, was worth it...   It was extremely yummy and Chris and I had such a great night sharing the evening with all of our Australian friends and family.  We also did a ham, to save a bit... :)


On the evening of the 29th.... our first guests arrived to stay in the granny flat.  We had four visitors from Brisbane for our friends wedding.  It was a gorgeous weekend  and we are so happy for this gorgeous couple.   You can pray for Luke and Talesha as they start the life together as Mr. and Mrs. Hotchkin.   

The last week we have been trying to get ready for the Christmas Carols. Please pray that Friday night the 13th would go smoothly and that God would be glorified in everything we do!   Or goal this year is to be more intentional about the Christmas message. Pray that it would ring loud and clear.   

We have also been getting ready for our Christmas play "We 3 Spies". We are performing it on the 22nd. And, can't wait!

We are so glad to be back online and able to stay connected with everyone.   Please continue to keep our family in your prayers!  

Melissa

Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church -Owns a Parsonage!!!!!

Day 1 painting crew at the new parsonage!!

Today, we received the keys to the parsonage!   It was a very exciting day! This evening as church people were popping in to help paint, and to see the new building finished to the builders standards, it was really exciting... To know that for 9 years we have been praying for a way to be able to give some permanency to this church, and God has shown us a and directed us, and we now have a building that belongs to the church!  

This evening in 4 hours we were able to seal all the rooms that will be tiled, and did 1/2 the rooms that will be carpeted... We still have 5 hours tomorrow and then 9 hours on Saturday and 7 hours on Sunday we can get painting finished... So, at this rate we should well and truly be on our way to being finished by Monday morning.   We still need to sand back the walls, touch up the sealer, and then put two coats of colour on the walls.

Tomorrow morning our tiles get delivered to the premises. Please pray that our house does not get broken into.. Tonight we hung curtains up on all the windows and left toilet lights on and worked hard to make the premises look as if someone was living in there.   But, at the same time, I don't want Chris to go up there and stay by himself either as that is not safe!   So, please pray that our house will be protected from break-ins while we are finishing it off and not living there.   "Here are the things you can pray for the next few days.
7th- painting of sealers to brick walls
8th- painting
9th-Painting
10th-Painting
11th- Tiling
12th-Tiling
13th-Tiling
14th-Tiling finished
15th-Carpets installed
16th-Moving.
17th-Moving...   (pray for Chris this day as he has to be at like three places at one time, and we need to finish moving this day.)  With his new role as Zone coordinator apparently one of our other churches is desperate for help on the 17th and they need him at their church from 11-3. Pray that Melissa will be able to finish up the move on her own and pack and move and unload trailers etc.
18th clean old premises
19th-clean old premises

On a different note, we have lived at the old premises for six years. In Australia because rent is so expensive you, must pay a bond when you move into a property.   Please pray that we would get our bond back.   It was $1800 which is a lot of money. And, quite often people come up with lot's of little things that eat away your bond, so you end up getting none of it back. So, please pray with us that we can get our bond back.  

This seems like a really long post.  But, your prayers are so important and they really change what does happen here in Australia.  We couldn't image a day without our prayer support team. Your prayers move God's hand here! And, we have seen it in our lives in the last two weeks!

Brayden is improving everyday!

Day 2

Day 4

Brayden is improving every day! He has been really hard to keep still. Infact on Friday he was sat in time out because he was running around our house with a box on his head!   I was very afraid that he may possibly run into a wall!  Earlier Friday afternoon Brayden was able to go to school for an hour and visit his class during grandparents day.   Yesterday we went for a drive and he was feeling sick to his tummy.  But, today we were able to go for a good 30 minutes drive in the car and he was fine. Every day he is getting stronger.  We had a bit of the cries today and he hasn't been able to go to sleep since the accident without being held to go to sleep.  When we put him to bed, he cries that his eye might explode, or he comes out saying his head hurts. I think the laying down flat make his blood go to his head or something or its just a good excuse for him to not have to go to bed. But, he usually comes out and within 4 minutes of sitting on the couch is sound asleep.   He has lost his ability to sleep through the night without wetting the bed! This is very disappointing as we had worked so hard on that and it has been almost 2 months since an accident at night. And, we have had one every night!!!  Today is the first day  that he woke and could open his eye straight away.  And, it is really starting to turn some cool colours! We are so greatful to everyone who has been praying   We are so thankful for an awesome team, like you!  God has definitely touched his life in a miraculous way!



Day 5 sleeping!

Practical Completion Inspection

Today was the day we have been waiting for, for 10 months! We were able to walk through what will be the new parsonage.   Everything was complete except for caulking in all of the wet areas( bathrooms, laundry, and kitchen.)  the house looks great and it is so exciting that in 2 weeks we will be coming in and starting the painting.  Everything has really started to flow together.   We will receive the keys on the 7th of November.  On the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th, we will be super busy painting.  The church is having a parsonage pizza painting party for 4 days!  Then on the 11th the tiler will come in and tile 135 square metres of floor. After that, the carpet will arrive and get laid. and, the goal is by the 20th, to be moving in. :) Here are a few pictures I took today.

Please pray that the house does not get broken into between now and when we get to move in..

Please pray that our tiler will show up on time and not be delayed at a previous job.

Please pray that the church will be able to do a good paint job and that we will do it at a proper painter quality!  All of the walls will need to be sealed, primed, and then painted.  So, we have a lot of work. There are 5 bedrooms, two kitchens, three bathrooms, and hallways, and 2 living rooms.  So, we definitely have our work cut out for us.

Please also pray that we would find a renter for the section of the house that is a "granny flat".   The church could only afford to build if we were able to rent out a portion of the house.  So, we need to find a renter or someone who can come help us serve at the church and live in the apartment.

Final house inspection!!!

Today October 24th at 9:30 in the morning we are having our final house inspection on the new property!!  We are very excited and will post pictures. Please pray that we would be able to find out how soon we can get the keys. We are hoping sooner than later. Sometimes they make you wait up to 2 weeks to get the keys. But, we currently have to move out of the house we are in. So are hoping... Sooner than later. But, as soon as we get the keys we have to paint the entire house, tile the main walking areas 140 square meters and carpet the bedrooms. So we still have at least 1-2 weeks of work to do on the house. So please pray this morning that they are willing to do handover soon. We also don't want the house to get broken into again. And last night they did the final fit out and installed the water heater, dishwasher, oven, shower walls and taps and door handles at the last minute because they were afraid of us getting broken into again. Because our house was broken into by an employee.. They had a key... So please pray for this to be a smooth handover. :)  we are so appreciative of your prayers!!  God is moving here. And this house, is a huge sign of it!!!

Brayden is okay!!

Last night at 6:45 after a baseball game... Brayden gave us the biggest scare ever. We were behind the car talking with friends and putting stuff into out trunk when we told the kids to get in the car.  Almost instantly we heard heard a bang and turned around and Brayden apparently had been on top of the car, because he threw his bear up there, and when he was climbing down the door swung open and he went head first into the pavement with no hands down. He was out cold for a about 5 minutes and unresponsive and limp. We asked everyone to start praying immediately on Facebook and through a text to the church. He went immediately into the ER and into trauma bed 1. And the drs were very concerned. Slowly he started to move his eyes and then his limbs and within 25 minutes was saying owie and wimpering. But, never full out cried. They did a head ct scan and took over, "i was amazed at this", 200 images of his brain and looked it all over. He is very lucky... There is no damage. I thank you all for your prayers!!   Because this situation could have looked very different. So thankful we serve a really big God!!! And so thankful we have a team of people who always are praying for us!! He has a huge lump on his left temple, and lost part of his eyebrow. He is not  allowed to do any playing activity for a week!! So, that will be interesting to control, but , amazingly he is okay. The only thing he can't remember is what happened to him.  :)

Please pray for Brayden

Brayden fell tonight and banged his left forhead on the cement and knocked himself unconscious for 5 minutes. Please pray for him as he was rushed to the ER and they are awaiting a ct scan.  He is doing alright now and is stable and responsive and putting sentences together. They just want to make sure he hasn't fractured his skull.  Thank you for your prayers.

Diabetes Walk

Today, is the first time in 9 years we are doing something to appreciate Chris and all he does here as the pastor of the Landsdale community Wesleyan MEthodist Church.  We are walking in the walk to cure diabetes.  I would really appreciate it if our prayer partners and friends and family would "bomb" chris with notes of encouragement, love, care, and friendship!   He works hard every day here in Austrlaia and never asks for anything in return, ever.  He is the most caring and supportive, and giving person I know... He is always going the extra mile to make sure people hear and know about Jesus and is always going the extra mile to make sure our family is looked after.   But, he has type 1 diabetes. He will always live with this and I would like us to just encourage him today if we can!   His email address is snickergeorge24@msn.com,  So, you can facebook him, message him, and fill his email inbox with emails.  I think it would mean the world to him!   this morning 13 people from our chuch and 5 from our family will be joining us to walk 7.5 km.  Even brayden will be doing it, to support our pastor, father, and friend!  I hope you will join us and "bomb" him with encouragement!!!!

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

Busy weekend- National Superintendent Visit!

Pray for Chris and I as we will have been away in Melbourne from Wednesday to very late Saturday night. But, on Sunday our National superintendent will be speaking at our church. Pray that we would be able to get our families out for the evening that don't normally attend church and that God would speak to their hearts!

Flying to Melbourne for District commitments

Please pray for Chris and I as we head to Melbourne to do ministry with the District.  It is a4 hour flight from Perth to Melbourne.  But, this is our district.  The Southern district covers area the size of 1/2 the united states.   As it is so far to go we are not able to take our children with us.  Pray for   Chris as he will be attending the district DBA meeting.  I will be getting to go with him to Melbourne as I am teaching a children's ministry workshop in Melbourne on Saturday for 4 hours.

1. Please pray that we would have a safe trip and that our children will be alright while we are away.

2. Pay that God would use Melissa to minister to the children's workers and that she would be able to start to cast a vision for the urgency of children's ministries in our district.  Pray that God would give her the words she needs to be speaking.

3. Pray that God would be with the DBA as they meet.

FOUNDATION!

To our surprise this morning by 9:00am  our cement pad was poured today!  That is what they call it in Australia as the foundation is not just around the edge, but it I a solid foundation everywhere, because of the sand.  
 God is working in amazing ways in our church. But, the reality of something permanent happening  is just God at work!    HOW exciting!!!! And the forecast for the week is sunshine! Pray that this would dry quickly and that we would have no rain, so we can go onto the next step in the building process.

As I was watching this foundation being poured, I couldn't help But think of the verse where it says.... God's truth stands firm like a foundation.  May God's truth always be taught out from the people who live on this foundation!    May God's word penetrate the hearts of the people Landsdale... May the families in Landsdale  come to a relationship with Jesus Christ! May this house be God's and all that happens in it, be his!

Soccer and Cheerleading Camp registrations!

Today we had registrations for Soccer and Cheer camp.. We had 24 registrations for Cheer and 29 for Soccer!!!! We are super excited. Continue to pray that God would help us to book another 20 or more for soccer at least.  WE have decided to keep registrations open, but pray that God would show us who to talk with and help us to have conversations with people that would draw them to come to this camp...

Soccer and Cheerleading Camp

This July 16-20th we have a team coming to minister here in Perth Australia from Orchard Park Wesleyan Church in NY. They are going to be running an upward soccer and cheerleading camp. We are asking everyone to pray specifically this week for the students in the Landsdale Primary School because the registration forms are going home this week with all the students.  The actual registration day for the camp is June 7th.   We handed out information on the camp at our Easter Egg Hunt, and we seem to be receiving a good sense of people who would like to attend. Please pray that God would move people to  attend and call people to volunteer to help us run a smooth and effective camp so these children can learn about Jesus Christ!

Shingles.... Prayers Needed...

Over the weekend as we were preparing for the Easter Egg Hunt, Melissa kept saying she was in severe pain in her back.  But, she just thought she had pulled a muscle running around and being so busy. But, Monday came, and although, she would put ice and heat on,  there would be no improvements. By Tuesday she could barely move and then she came up with a rash on her stomach.   She went to the Dr.'s and she has shingles... Shingles is very painful and because it is across her belly and back it is painful to sit, it is painful to stand, it is painful to lie down, so it is very hard for her to get comfortable. They have given her codeine to take away the pain but, when she takes it , she just sleeps all day.  The good news is, it is a public holiday here till Tuesday. So, pray that she can recover and be able to go back to work next week. The bad news is, the kids are home every day as well because it is a public holiday.   Pray that she would get some rest and recover. The Dr. Said it can take up to 7 weeks for pain to go away.  That is an awful long time so, Melissa is a bit nervous and worried.  So, please pray that this would  heal up quickly.  They also gave her an antibiotic to help clear up the spots.

To top it all off the kids and myself have a head cold.  So, everyone in our house is feeling a bit under the weather. Please pray that God would watch over our family and heal us!

Easter Egg Hunt

Bunny Hop!

Colouring Contest

Toddler Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success.   We had 87 kids on registration forms. And, there were another few groups of kids we saw wandering and participating that hadn't fill out forms. So, I think we probably had about 100+ kids and then their parents!  So, it was a massive group.  The day went wonderfully! Melissa shared a sermon with the kids on the verse Jesus came to seek and save the lost.   She then finished with the story of Jesus Christ raising from the dead and gave an opportunity for the kids to accept Jesus Christ as their saviour. Then we handed out "crystal" plastic crosses that were on necklaces and we bought 150 and only 30 were left! So, almost every kid took one.  We had craft stations. They made butterflies that said He has risen, Crosses and decorated them, and they made animal eggs.  We then gave out chocolate bunnies for the best colouring pictures, we had 4 different age groups, and prizes to the kids who won the bunny hop and also the egg toss.  The afternoon was fantastic and we had ordered these awesome bags from oriental and we were able to send information home this year on our church and also on the soccer/cheerleading camp we are holding in July. It was a fantastic day!   We also have seen kids wearing the crosses we gave out

 around town.. So, we feel that God did use this day to work and move in people's lives.

After the Easter Egg Hunt we had quite a few families stay for church. So, it was fantastic

Colouring Contest

Egg Hunt