Busy Sundays

Today Chris preached at the John Wesley Wesleyan Methodist church in Perth for their 10:00am service. It was a fantastic time for us to catch up with families that we haven't seen in a while.
We stepped down part time working at John Wesley when we returned 22 months ago, so that we could work full time at the church plant we pastor, The Landsdale Community Church. But, we still try once every couple of months to visit and catch up with how everyone is doing. However, Pastor Phil Hotchkin is in Papau New Guinea, so Chris will be filling in this week and next at the churches he pastors.
It was a lovely service. It was a fantastic time for us to worship without us having to be leading, and Chris delivered an excellent sermon on "Living the HD life". One of the scriptures he used that spoke to me was John 10:10 10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (NIV).

After the serice in the city, we quickly prepared dinner, and snacks, and threw our games in the car, and headed to church to have a family game day and church afterwards. One of my favourite moments was playing guestures with the kids and seeing all their crazy actions!

Although we didn't have the best turnout for the games night, we did have for the first time, people text and say they weren't coming and why! There were 6 families who couldn't come,and it was very exciting to know that they cared enough that they werren't coming to let us know... God is working in these peoples lives! And, he is working through us, I am just amazing that God chooses to use me on a daily basis to share Jesus with all these families here in Australia! It is truly amazing. And, it is only possible becuase of all the people who pray for us back home, and especially possible because of those who support us!

We so appreciate you, and the impact you have had on our ministry here in Australia!

UPDATE ON DAWSON

Dawson did a full day of school today and was very chirpy when I picked him up. So, he is definitely feeling much better. His pain is MUCH lower. His blood work came back and the Dr. made an appt. to see us ( but not till friday, assume this is a good sign!) , but said the test came back negative for glandular fever. So, I think that is a good thing! :) His lymph nodes have shrunk incredibly so the antibiotic is working!!! Would like to mention though, as of Saturday morning they had not changed in size at all. But, we asked everyone to start praying. And, by noon they had shrunk incredibly! God is good and he holds Dawson in his hands!!! Thank you for all your prayers.
Melissa

Please pray for Dawson.

Will you join us in praying for Dawson? After seeing a few Dr's At PMH ( Children's hospital in perth) and an ultrasound they decided Dawson has a viral infection in his lymph nodes .This is the cause of his swollen and lumpy neck on his right side. He will take antiiotics for 2wks and then they will review. I think the antibiotics are working because his neck seems to be shrinking in size. He has some lymphs that are as big as 2x5 cms. and they should be size of a coffee bean. He is in a large amount of pain, but doesn't act sick at all. Has been complaining for three weeks his neck hurt(thought he was just sleeping weird) , but was never sick or ill and still isn't. He has been given codeine to take at night so he can sleep through the pain, because seems to hurt most when he lies down. But, today he is running around the house like a crazy boy. So, honestly he doesn't seem sick. So, please pray that the antibiotic works. Dr. has run blood tests becasue he has had sever joint pain the last three weeks which we had thought he got injured and we didn't see it,( had xray on knee and was fine) but dr. thinks this might all be related. So, pray with us for a quick recovery! Taking blood from a 5 year old boy was the worst experience I have ever lived through. We tried for an HOUR, and got no where near the chair. Then went home got Daddy and came back to the clinic. Dawson sat on Daddy's lap, and all of a sudden became a big boy! He never screamed, in fact he laughed, and it was done and over in less than 2 minutes! So, apparently Daddy is the one of us who will go with the kids from now one if they ever have to give blood! :) Thank you for your prayers! They are much appreciated.
Melissa

Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church AGM

Tonight we had our Annual General Meeting. It was a night for our church to come together and Praise God for what he has done, and look forward to what he is going to do. Our District Superintend flew 4 hours to come all the way from Melbourne which is on the east coast of Australia to join us! Crazy eh? There were not many of us at the meeting, but God was there. Chris and I were able to give our annual reports and then discuss what we were looking forward to. As a church we have decided to best way for us to continue to grow is to connect people to the body and then see God work in their hearts. Chris and I also got some time to just sit and chat with the D.S. about the church, and our family, and we filled out PDP's and did some other reporting for the district. It was a wonderful and long day! But, a productive one, as we march forward with what God has in store for the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church. I have posted below Chris and mine's letters to the Church.


Dear Church,
I have been told recently by one of our city councillors that Landsdale is set for a sharp and dramatic growth in population. It is great to be a part of a community that is going through change and growth and excitement. As I thought about that declaration I got thinking about our church. I believe that God is preparing us as His church in Landsdale for a sharp and dramatic growth in influence and witness throughout the coming months. We have had a taste of this growth with the dramatic jump in our kids club numbers and the number of families interested in who we are and what we do.
This year has been challenging and rewarding in many different ways. We have struggled to break the attendance mark but the Lord has blessed those who join in worship each week. This year marked our first attempt at the Landsdale carols in the park and the evening was enjoyed by approx. 400 of our neighbours. Our Easter egg hunt attracted about 100 kids and again was one of our greatest opportunities for outreach. Movie nights brought out many of our kids club families and we grew in our relationships together.
We had the opportunity to work with an intern as he gained experience and course credit for Bethany Bible College in Canada. With his help our youth camp was a great success and we saw 12 teens camp for 2 nights in Dwellingup.
We have been on a journey through God’s Word and have learned a lot together through our sermon series’. ‘The God you’re looking for’, ‘The Book of James’, ‘The King of Hearts’, ‘From His heart to yours’ and ‘HDLife’ are a few of the series topics that we have been through together over the past year. I trust that God has used His Word to challenge you.
It is a great time to be a part of the Landsdale Community WMC! I said a few months ago that I believe we are standing on the threshold of an amazing moving of the Holy Spirit and I believe that now more than ever. Lets continue to scatter seeds in our community and trust the Lord of the harvest to produce fruit.
Let me finish by stating that I love you and I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in and through you in the coming year as together we follow Him and serve Him in our growing community.
In His Palm,


Rev. Christopher George

Dear Partners in Ministry, 4/8/2011
This past year has been an astounding year! God has done so many amazing things and shown his face in the ministry of the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church. I am blessed to be a part of what God is doing here and honoured that he has called me to work with all you wonderful people! Every day God uses you to bless me!
As Assistant pastor this past year I have been the director for Kids Club. It has been an exciting year with us starting with 15 kids and have worked our way up to 32. We are ministering to over 45 different kids and God is doing amazing things through them. In the Semester we had two mums sign up every week for snack and for helpers. This has turned out to be amazing and God is working in these mums hearts. I am excited about the new look and the numbers of parents helping. As a result Kids Club has become financially self sufficient for snack, and we are now ready to make a kids club committee that will be responsible to the LAC. The committee will help come up with fundraisers as well as ideas for family days. But, would need LAC approval for all decisions they would like to make .This potentially could take some pressure off the general budget of the church as well as get parents more involved in our Church.
Some special highlights for the Kids Club Ministry were:
1) 10 children Accepting Christ and 6 recommitting their lives at Holiday Kids Club
2) 4 Girls sharing their testimonies at the last Kids Club Awards Night.
3) 69 people in attendance at our last kids club awards Night!
4) Our first successful fundraiser for Kids Club at the Rollerdrome in Morley.

Although, I am the children’s and worship pastor at the LCWMC, there are a few other hats I wear that God has used me in this year.
1) I served as the Wesleyan Women’s coordinator for the past year planning a High Tea and the Women’s Camp. Both were successful and wonderful times of fellowship.
2) Organized the District Family Camp this year. With over 40 people attending from various churches. The exciting part for me was that we had 23 people participate in the weekend from the Landsdale church.
As I look forward to the next year I can’t wait to see what God has in store. Every day is a brand new surprise of what God has in store for our church and our family!

Respectfully,
Rev. Melissa George

Family Fun Day/ Fundraiser

God works in just astounding ways. Chris called the local skating rink to arrange a family skate day. When he was speaking to the owner he said that he would LOVE for our church to come and he would also like to offer us a deal! Now, chris at first thought maybe he would give us a $1 off or something. But the words that came out of his mouth were totally unexpected. The owner offered us to get into the skating rink for the normal price! BUT, he would give 1/2 what everyone paid back before we even left the rink in a check! This was the first time we ever did a fundraiser for kids club. And, God blessed us... 27 people came and skated (had a bit of a drama with the time it ran into some other sports clubs games like netball!) But, most of the kids had never skated before and we had a blast hitting the floor and spending time with some families. The highlights for us for the day were

1) a family from Makayla's class came and they have NEVER even come to kids club! So, that was exciting...

2) Also, a bunch of mums were thrilled and were asking if we could do more family days! (Which we do one atleast a month... so look like they will be getting more involved in our church. God is good! :)

3) DADS came!!!!!

Pray for these families in this picture!

Womens Camp

This weekend was our Womens camp for the District. As I am the director of Wesleyan Women for Perth, me and two other ladies worked very hard the last few months to pull off this weekend. Our goals were to bring in a guest speaker, get more young adults and teenagers (14+)on the camp, and get women to stay the whole weekend. God blessed us and our preparations. We had 16 women come and stay the whole weekend. We had 4 come and stay saturday- Sunday. and 1 lady come on saturday and Sunday. We were able to bring a guest speaker in from Melbourne. Mrs. Lyn Holland. She spoke on Birthmarks and Scars and it was just an incredile weekend for us women to learn to work through the way we are and the ways God has used us, pushed us, strengthened us, and blessed us!

The worship times were wonderful and the bonding times were excellent as we did a craft of "retro clipboards", and we did a short hike along the ocean which was beautiful. Some special moments for me I will highlight below:

1. Two teenagers came with me on the weekend! God is working in their lives and they so needed this bonding time to see that Jesus is JUST as real to them and he is to us WOMEN!
2. We were able to get 5 Young Adult women on the camp this year....
3. Playing games and building relationships with the ladies.
4. the speaker fit in SO well... It was if she knew us forever!
5. For the first time we have nominated an actual Wesleyan Women for the Perth area. Therefore it will not just be me and two other ladies doing the work, but we now have a team of Women who God has called to serve him and I am SOOOO excited to see what God has in store this year for the Wesleyan Women of Perth, Australia!
6. The weekend cost the ladies ALOT $180.00/ each. But, we were still able to take a LOVE offering and give the speaker a gift for the weekend.. That is GOD moving! He is amazing and he is living in these WONDERFUL women in Australia!
Pray for them! God has big plans to use them to touch other womens lives....

Kids Club Awards Night-Term 2
Sunday night was an amazing evening as we saw God move in an amazing way! We had the most people we have ever had at church! There were 67 people in attendance. (AND, we were missing 22 kids and their families!) We came together to giveaway two new badges to the children.
They earned their family badge and also their WWJD badge. This term the kids learnt many exciting things such as:
1) Honour your Mum and Dad
2) Serve your family
3) Obey your Mum and Dad
4) God looks at the heart
5) God loves us just the way we are
6) We should follow Jesus
7) We should be "right" in God's sight
8) We should turn to Jesus when we are scared.

During church 4 girls shared their testimonies of ways they lived out their "secret missions" for the week! If I can get video of this, I will download it.. Completely amazing to hear what they said." But, the girls hearts have been changed and are wanting to live their lives every day for Jesus. Afterwards the kids shared three songs.
Into the Bible
Hey, Jesus Loves me
and Rooftops! The kids were fantastic and were so excited to sing praise and worship!
Afterwards we donned the children with their new sashes and badges! It was fantastic!
After that Chris preached a sermon on living faithful lives to God in the midst of all of the little things. It was great to be able to share that they could live lives that please the Lord and they can live on a track that leads to God's fullness for them.

After the service we shared a family meal together that everyone helped provide!
IT was truly an amazing evening! This is God's hand moving in Landsdale! And, God is drawing these people to him! Pray that we will get these parents to participate in Christianity explained!

Below are some pics!

We have been meeting weekly with some friends and doing a Bible study called Christianity Explained. It has been going fantastic, but we are down to the last week! Pray for Chris and I as we answer questions and explain what being a Christian really means. Pray that God would speak to their hearts.

2) we have had 4-5 new families to kids club AGAIN! God has just been blessing the ministries we are doing. Pray that we can keep adjusting and finding help with Kids Club and that we are effectively communicating to the children. Pray that we are making the Bible stories understandable and life changing for these children!

3) WE just finished a huge craft that took the children 6 weeks to work on! They each made a heart pillow. We have spent the past six weeks talking about How good looks at the heart. We then went deeper and talked about God Loves us no matter who we are, God wants us to Follow him, We need to have a heart that is "Right" in God's "Sight" and, when we have tough decisions we need to make then we need to ask Jesus what to do. The Kids have been thrilled and I have posted below some of the kids with their pillows.

Christianity Explained!
Praise God tonight we started our Christianity explained course for the next 5 weeks. Three parents came from kids club! We are so thrilled that they are ready to start looking into what Christianity is! And, even more thrilled that these lovey people get to come into our home and we can share with them our lives. Please pray for these people that they would see their need for Jesus and understand that they need Him as the saviour of their lives!

Wesleyan Women High Tea
On Sunday we had our first ever Wesleyan Women High Tea! It was a wonderful afternoon of really good food! a few ladies brought sandwiches, savouries and desserts! The atmosphere was fantastic! The room was full of friends and then also people building friendships! There was also a special moment for me to share with the ladies a devotional. There were 40 of us that gathered. 22 ladies and 18 children ranging from 3 little bubs to teenagers! We had some special music. The Kids Club from the Landsdale church sang "This little light of Mine!" And, then Makayla, and two of her friends Emily and Nikita sang " Friend of God" . We also had a special music number sung by some ladies from the Inner city church. They sang some in their language and some of it in English . It was beautiful. Jesus had impressed upon my heart a devotional I titled, "Rejoice and live life up, like the beautiful “Princess", you are!" from the passage
Zephaniah 3:14-17
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. 16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
I brought three main points out:
1) Rejoice! You are forgiven princess! He accepts you just the way you are.
2) Rejoice! God is always with you!
3) Rejoice! He is delighted in you!

When I get picture back from the lady who took them, I will post them on here! But, thank you to everyone who prayed! I was trying to get this group of ladies together so they could mingle and get to know each other a bit. We will start advertising for camp this week! We are hoping to double our numbers this year. WE are praying for 30 ladies to join us on the Womens camp from July 15th-17th!

32 Kids at Kids club! two weeks in a row we have smashed our old time high of 25 kids at Kids Club! God is bringing more families to him and we are just amazed at what He is doing through us and in these families! God is just so AMAZING! In the pics below we are singing" Hey! Jesus Loves me and " Roof tops!"

Melissa

Today I had the opportunity to share with a lady I have barely spoken with. But, her daughter is friends with Makayla. And, today we were at the same party so I got to share with her all kinds of information about our church due to her opening the door and asking. She was VERY receptive and had HEAPS of questions. She come from a background that was not christian and was of another belief. . And, has recently decided there has to be something better out there. Please pray for this family. It is hard to choose to believe there is something more out there! But, God is a God of Love. And, pray that I am able to share His love for her and his joy for her! She is HIS daughter, pray that she would sense and understand and believe that she is a daughter of Christ and that Hehas so much more out there for her and her family! Please pray that she will come and visit Kids Club and also church.

Today was a total God day!
Today was a day that only God could orchestrate! We had 32 kids come to Kids Club! It was amazing, scary, stressful, perfect, awesome. God was there.. To hear the kids worship and praise God today was amazing! We had three new families come today and it was totally unexpected. But, God was there.. The craft we were able to work out, the snack we were able to work out, and God just amazed me. With all the staff today and extras there were 39 people in the hall, and to top it off everyone said they want to come back next week! The message at Kids Club was God looks at the heart. And, I am so glad God has given us a heart and a call to see these kids come to know who Jesus Christ is. I will record next weeks worship time and post it on here. Because To hear these kids sing "Yeah! Jesus Loves me!" Is just the sweetest sound I have ever heard. I was exhausted by the end, but so amazed by what God has in store for us.

When we finished we had kids that didn't want to go home. But, it was totally God working here today and I am sure it is because people are lifting us up in prayer and the ministry here, and the people here in Landsdale, Western Australia!!!! Praise God!

Christianity Explained!
This week Chris has been following up with people about doing a 5 week Bible study on the book Christianity Explained! So far we have two families from Kids Club that are interseted in doing it. Please pray that we would get a few more! But, this is a step in the right direction. And, we are excited that God has been speaking to these parents hearts! Pray that we would find a day of the week and time to effectively do it! And, whether we should put dinner on for all the families. It's hard to come up with something that will effectively accomodate everybody.

Coming home

This morning when I went back to the hospital, I found Chris still in a room in the emergency department. Apparently because they couldn't verify our insurance (because they didn't try), he had been left overnight. So, he was exhausted and tired. There were 23 beds next to each other with a curtain between and lights on etc. So, not really a restfull area. His specialist came in and said that if Chris's ketone levels got down to +1 they would let him come home. So, they ran new blood tests and by 1:00pm they let him come home. They never did find the infection (which is a concern) but, they said it must be a virus. So, in 10 days if he still feels ill they will run more tests. I want to thank you all for your prayers. He is suppossed to take it easy this week and rest. The church board gave him this week off. But, really that means he still has to prepare a sermon and do a few things. So, please keep him in your prayers. Again, thank you for your prayers. We greatly appreciate them!
God bless,
Melissa

Please pray for Chris this afternoon. at what would have been 6:00am your time. Chris was admitted into the hospital with mild ketoacidosis. He has been a type 1 diabetic since he was three. And, unfortunately when he gets sick, sometimes his body doesn't know how to cope. He was having chest pain, shoulder, neck, abdomen, and leg pain that was on a scale of 1-10 it was a 9. He was really struggling to make sense. And, so we went to the ER. He was taken in straight away, even though the waiting room was full. As of 1:00am tonight my time. they still did not know what was causing the infection. His white blood cell count was really high. And, they have started to bring down his sugars. Part of his sugar being high, was because he was in so much pain, he was vomiting. Pleas pray that he will rest tonight. He wasn't put no a floor yet, but I needed to come home at 1:00am because Brayden was still up crying at our friends house. Please pray that we will know how to get through this. Not, sure I can prepare a sermon in less than 48 hours with three children and a sick husband to care for. And, the family thatis our assistant D.S. is away for a wedding on the east coast. So, please pray that God will give me the guidance and strength we need to get through this. Please pray that the Dr.s will find the source of infection and that Chris will get rest and his body will start to heal. We appreciate your prayers!
In His palm,
Melissa George

Good Friday

Today we went to the Inner City Church- ( the one we used to work at.) and Melissa played the piano and we worshipped with the congregation for Good Friday. It was a good time for our children as Makayla is old enough for the first time to realize that Jesus suffered on the cross. She may have seen pictures and heard a million times. But, this was the year she realized that Jesus paid a price for her, and that it was not an easy price, but one of suffering and love for her!

Annual Easter Egg Hunt
Today was our annual Easter Egg Hunt.
It was a busy week as Chris and I had been preparing every evening after everyone went asleep. We prepared the crafts and organized food for what we were expecting was about 150 people.
Families in our church pitched in and helped. We had a sand cross necklace station, and a colouring contest station, a magnet station, and temporary christian tattoo station, jumpy castle station, and an egg decorating station, as well as the jelly bean guess where we got families information. and of course the Sausage Sizzle.

The afternoon went off without a hitch and despite the rain early in the morning the day was lovely and all three groups of kids got to do their Easter egg hunt as well as, we were able to do the egg toss. Afterwards the kids came inside and we read the Legend of the Easter Egg Hunt, and then we handed out awards. Truly was a lovely afternoon!

Straight after the Easter Egg Hunt we had our Palm Sunday Service. This was lovely because for the first time we had a few families stay from the Easter Egg Hunt! Truly an exciting moment for the families of our church who had been praying for this event! Chris's father has been here for the past two weeks and he shared from the word of God with these families. Which worked out perfect, because it allowed Chris the opportunity to meander and speak with families. And, took a lot of pressure off of him! Thanks Dad for all you did as well as Chris's Sister ran around with me collecting all the items and food, and helping organize as well!

Pray for Chris and I as we follow up with these families. And make an effort to connect them to our church and Kids Club.

You're prayers are impacting lives! Do know that God is moving here in these people. One of the families that attended our palm Sunday service has now been to church two weeks in a row! Pray that God would move in their hearts!

One of the difficulties of both Chris and I pastoring the church and always being incredibly busy on these days is watching our children. Luckily this year they had Aunt Melissa who came all the way from the USA to see them. She looked after them and they had a wonderful day!!!

Family Kids Club Day!
To close out Kids Club this term we had a family day. The Kids came after school and we had a great big party! We had a jumpy castle and every family brought snacks and it was a BEAUTIFUL afternoon of fun! Then, afterwords all the parents joined us and we had a movie night. Kids brought their chairs, and bean bags and sleeping bags and the families all brought their own dinners and we all sat around for a wonderful evening. My favourite part of the evening was sititng and chatting with the mother's. I especially got to know one of the mother's a girl who has just started coming to Kids Club for a couple of weeks. It was truly a special moment. I can't wait to see how God is going to connect and build a relationship with us and the Stamp family.

Term 1 Kids Club Awards Night

Kids Club tonight was a very rewarding evening for not just the kids, but for Chris and I . We were able to see the fruit of our hard work. We had 23 kids receive 46 badges. Not all of them were able to make the evening. But, none the less the kids shared with their families the special songs they learned as well as they received their badges. We focus this whole term on God! The Kids learnt- God created everything, God is Love, God is our friend, God is our Father, God is Holy, God is Powerful, and a few other topics about God. But, they also shared their main memory verse. Genesis 1:1. And, I was very VERY proud of them! We had a record number of Kids Club families come and we had three regular kids club families away for a wedding! So, God is moving in these families lives and pulling them closer to him! Praise God he works in even the smallest of us! Tonight I was reminded of just the fact that we ALL need to be like these children and have child like faith! For many of these families.. .Their children are the first generation Christian in their home! Praise God!

MACHINERY! ---not always helpful!

Today was a very busy day. It started off this morning with me trying to print off the badges I had created for the Awards Assembly. What I thought was going to be a VERY simple task turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. I think the devil was trying to smoosh his way into our awards evening for Kids Club. We had 23 kids who earned 46 badges! This is huge! And, God is AMAZING. But, God works in mysterious ways. With the help of a few families and getting the badges RE-printed. Praise God Chris's Dad and Sister were here and able to work the badge machine and get the badges finished in time for us to put them on the sashes and still hand them out at church on time! For some of these children it was their first time ever getting badges so it was a REALLY big deal! Praise God he looks after even the tiniest of details! PS. Chris's Dad and sister brought us this fancy machine in their luggage from the states! That is why I was a bit delayed in getting them done on time! :)

Today was an amazing day. We had three families ask us if they could purchase Bibles for their children. These families do not attend our church yet! But, they will! God is moving in their hearts! The kids have been making some fantastic Bible covers for their Bibles and I am very PROUD to say that every child in our kids Club has a Bible! And, a few parents are starting to mention that their kids want them to read them the Bible before they go to bed! This is God at work through the Kids Club Ministry we run here in Landsdale. God is hearing your prayers and moving these peoples hearts! Do be excited because this is new territory for our church and new ground. We have people eager to get their hands on the Bible God's Holy word. And, nothing speaks louder than His Word! Praise God!

This past weekend was full of 5 children's worship services, four adult worship services, and lot's of fun, activities, games and eating! All in all it was a ver busy schedule but, God was there and working in people's hearts and lives. And, God used Peter lam to speak to the campers on the weekend! Thank you for your prayers. I am going to post below some pictures and explain what people are doing in them.

Bottom Right: Phil teaching the children to play the Ukele. Top: Reciting a verse on Love for the Amazing Race. Top Right: Our tent is on the left, one of 10!

Playing games after the service. Each person would yell a letter to a word at the same time. Those in the audience would have to figure out what the word was. :)

Kids after the Chidren's worship. We focused over the weekend on God's Big Back yard. The kids learned to Serve Family, Serve Friends, Serve neighbours, Serve Community, and Serve Jesus! It was a fantastic weekend full of non stop action and was heaps of fun!

On the last evening we had turtle races. Chris and I cut wooden turtles and the kids, young adults, and adults, and families, got to design their turtles and race them. Was heaps of fun, but we were all exhausted from all the sunshine we had, had earlier in the day that we went to bed earlier.Everyone would pull on the string, and the turtles would move down the track.

God LOVES Fred!

This past weekend we had our family camp, and I will post on the family camp, But, first I want to share a story from this weekend! Fred is a young adult who attends the inner city church. Chris and I have met him a few times! And, we have had small talk in the past. But, on Saturday during the camp, we were playing "The Amazing Bible Race!" Very similar to the amazing race, just this was one that Chris and Darrek (our intern) had arranged for the families and camp attendees to participate in.

I believe some of our prayer partners we're praying for Chris and I on Saturday afternoon! Which would be very Early Saturday morning for all of our prayer partners!

About 1:00 we were to the last leg of the race, and each team had to have one member swim off shore to a pontoon "Dock" for swimming. Chris had swam out there and it was totally calm and like swimming in a pool. However, Fred jumped in the water for his team, and I was the next team up, so I (Melissa) was quick to follow him into the water. The Pontoon was probably 50 meters off shore. As I was swimming I came up and realized I couldn't see Fred in front of me anymore. I immediately stopped swimming and began treading water to look around, Fred was far to my left. He had gotten caught in the current and was being pulled out towards the mouth of the river, where the ocean and river meet.

I quickly turned an started screaming to shore, that no one else come out to the pontoon and that the current was too strong. As I looked at Fred he started to wave both his hands for help, then, one hand, and then he was starting to bob, and go under water. I all of a sudden was VERY afraid for Fred's life. And, started to swim as quickly as I could.

When I got to him he was underwater. Now, Fred is probably bigger than me, But, God is bigger than anything, and stronger than anyone and HE gave me the strength to pull Fred above water. I then continued to speak to him, and tread water for both of us, and tell him to calm down and try to float on his back, he was shaken and continued to wrestle a bit. I was "SCREAMING" to shore for help, and to a boat that was probably 10 metres away. But, the guys were just sitting there and not helping. In what seemed like forever to Fred and I , ( At moments, I was seriously afraid that I may drown as well, if no one helps... There was no way I was going to let one of our own young adults drown with out doing my VERY best, and I was more afraid of the fact that my kids were on shore watching! )

Luckily Chris saw we were in trouble, and he came out to help me pull Fred in. And, as Chris was ripping off his insulin pump, a lady on shore realized we needed help as well, and between the three of us, we were able to pull Fred to shore.

I say all this to say.. God LOVES Fred! God, was giving me the strength I needed to help Fred, I have barely had swimming lessons, let alone I have NO idea what to do to rescue someone drowning. And, God was speaking to me the whole time, telling me that HE was there, and He was going to hold, us up. In my "OWNNESS" I was afrai dand scared. But, when I was calling to God for help, He was speaking to Fred and I and telling us that we were going to be okay!

Today Fred is alive, not because of my actions, but because GOD was looking after us, and supplying us with the strength that was needed!

Fred, is going to be in Australia a bit longer. He is from Korea, and he said he will be in church worshipping God every Sunday! And, he is sooo thankful, God saved not just his physical life, but his spiritual life! Fred, had a head ache the rest of the day (probably from all the stress), and I had a belly ache from all the ocean water I swallowed. But, all in all we were totally fine!
God is good!

FAMILY CAMP

This weekend is our District Family camp! Pray for Chris and I as I have been on the organizing committee. The last 24 hours have been insanely busy! I am the camp registrar, and did all the bookings, as well as directing the Kids Program, and Chris is responsible for all the games and activities! So, it has been a crazy time for us trying to get packed up! But, the kids were up at 5:00am ready to go this morning! They are going to go to school still this morning, but at lunch we will be heading south to the campground! The kids are super excited to get to sleep in our tent for three nights. The most EXCITING NEWS about this camp, is that we have three families from our church coming! Please Pray that God would speak this weekend to the O*, G*, and M* families. These are families who attend our Kids Club, but not our church! So, we are truly excited that they will be joining us! we will Post Pictures on Monday! Thank you for you'r prayers!

As we have been asking you all to pray for Dawson, God has done some amazing improvements since his last assessment. When Dawson was tested through a private organization originally 6 months ago, we found out that he had core balance issues. However, on Monday Dawson had his assessment with the Child Development office. This is not a private, but a public office, and they found Dawson to only have some loose muscles in his hands, and they said he needs no further referrals! We also went and for the first time met the physical therapist. And, she said she felt that Dawson has tight muscles and that he just needs to stretch more in order to be able to sit still! And, that it is not a Core issue, but just a tight muscle issue! So, We are very blessed by God right now, and Dawson is doing AWESOME in his school class. He was star of the week last week, and was chosen to bring the surprise bag home, (Which you only get if he has had good behaviour!) and to top it all off, he has been chosen to be one of the kids who will "read" by the end of the year! So, I am very happy with the results of our tests on Monday, and believe God has touched Dawson's life! Thank you for all you're prayers! Dawson has been on our prayer list for a long time! And, we now feel that we are ready to have this taken off. And, we believe because of you're active prayers! God has touched our family, and specifically Dawson.

God is good!

He brought cooler temperatures, when we needed them!

God was so good to us on the day of the Red Hill Workbee! The temperature was not too warm, so we were all able to work and help accomplish all of the tasks David (Debbie's father) had wanted us to accomplish. Since we were all out there working, Great big trucks have come in and taken out the dangerous trees, and bull dozing has been occurring to clean up the ash that is covering the ground. We took down all the burnt fencing (because it had lost it's galvanization in the fire), we raked up all the debris, leaves, etc, Chris worked on taking down burnt chicken coops, (Luckily the chicken we're at debs house!) And, many other tasks. It was hard work, and boy were we all ready for a shower when we were finished. the kids were literally black from head to toe! I should have taken a picture of how dirty they were!

Red hill Workbee!

This weekend pray for Chris and I as we are ministering to a family. They have become close friends of ours recently. But, Debbie's father, was one of the properties that was affected by fires recently in Perth. The Helicopters were straight on, and were able to save the house and two sheds. But, the rest of the property is totaly burnt out. There is actually nothing left! So, this sunday morning at 9:30, (Saturday 9:30pm) you're time Chris and I and the kids will be going out to help work on his farm along with some other families . Please pray that we would have meaningfull conversations, and that we would be able to reach out to this family in a time of need.

Please pray for us this weekend as we take the teenagers on a teen camp! Chris, Darrek, and myself will be going down to a town called Dwellingup out in the bush, where there are no toilets, and electricity for two nights and three days to do a youth camp! Esepcially pray for me as I do not have a voice, at the current time due to, too much singing and talking this past week at the Holiday Kids Clubs!

Volunteering, to Reach out!

Chris and I have been volunteering for some community roles so that we can get to know more people in the community of Landsdale.
1) Recently Chris has been the tball coach for the past three months, and it has opened doors for us to get to know people better as well as the church sponsored the team, so it got our church logo out there and made people aware of the fact that there was even a church in Landsdale.

2) I have accepted being the playgroup secretary this year. This is a volunteer position but, is giving me the opportunity to meet 60+ new families this year. It has been quite a bit of work, but I am praying that God will guide the harvest from this work and that many families in landsdale would become aware of our church and of the fact that THEY need Jesus.

3) We will also be volunteering in the schools to build relationships with the kids and teenagers. So, please pray for us as we seek God's will in what he wants us to do and carry out.

As we carry out these volunteer roles we still have our basic Work responsibilities that we need to carry out as well. Areas we are currently ministering in our church are the following.

1) Chris is still the pastor of the Landsdale church full time and carrying out his responsibilities this year.

2) Together we are directing and leading Kids Club as well as the full time teachers. This is by far our biggest way of getting to know people. We are praying that we will reach the 36 kid mark this year, and that Kids club will continue to grow and impact childrens lives for Christ.

3) Together we are running the Youth Centre. this is a weekly youth group meeting where we are trying to reach out to teens in the community. Please pray that we would be able to get the teens committed to Jesus Christ and to youth group on a constant basis where God can mold and grow their spiritual lives.

4) We are also offering Bible studies. Melissa is doing a teen girls bible study while Chris is doing a Bible study that is open to everyone in the church. Pray that we would get people in our church and in our community into these Bible study groups.


As we carry out these roles. Pray that Chris and I would listen to God's calling and follow his direction! We know he has so much in store for the 2011 year of the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Red Hill Fire information Continued!

Received news tonight, that Debbies Father's farm has been hit by the fire. They are not allowing anyone into the property as the fire is out of control and dangerous! Please pray that the insurance will cover everything and that Debbie and her father and family will be able to get some rest this evening. I will be watching her son tomorrow so that they can go and hopefully check out the property and get access to see the damage.

Red Hill Fires!

Please pray for My friend Debbie's father. His farm is right in the path of a nasty fire that is going to go right through his property. They have actually upgraded him to a leave immediately status on the FESA (fire emergency dept). He has taken his most valuable possessions and had to walk away! This is a very hard thing to do. But, please pray with us that his property will be alright.

Harrisdale Church plant

-Family Movie Nights-

Chris and I have been helping out with the starting movements of the Harrisdale church plant. Chris and I have been going down and helping Rev. Phil Hotchkin and his wife Karen. We will not actually be involved in the church that will be in Harrisdale, but we had been willing to help with the starting movements. So, Chris and I have been going down and helping with movie nights. There were three that we participated in. The kids Loved them, they got to know knew kids, and they thrive on meeting new people. Maybe because of all the travelling we do in America! But, the kids were up VERY late. And, many people have been made aware through out this function that a church will be starting in their suburb! Pray that these families will get onboard with what is going on down south!!!! Below is a picture of all three kids asleep in the car on the way home from the movie night at 10:45pm!

School is starting!
We have received our kids allocations for school this year. And, it is very exciting to see that Dawson will be in a class this year with his friends. And, Makayla will be in a class this year with people she atlesat knows and would like to get to know better! But, as school is starting you can pray for our family. Our house seems to be a revolving door when school starts. It is a very good things, and we get to see and know lot's of people, but please pray that our family would have an impact on these families, and that they would see Jesus as the source of our strength, and the source of Love that is in our family, and that JEsus is the source of Life in our family!

Australia Day Fires!

Today is Australia Day. And, when we sat down at lunch at a friends house, we received a phone call from a family in our church telling us we needed to come home right away as there was a terrible fire in Landsdale. Chris quickly loaded up the car and he ran home to turn off the air and close all windows on our house. But, as he arrived the fire was incredible close. About 1 block away! And, if you did a straight b-line to the fire there were only 10 houses between us and them. Chris collected our important belongings, because FESA suggested that we be prepared to leave, and so he grabbed our passports, and our computers, and pictures albums, and that was it. There were 80 fire men, three helicopters, and many VERY hard workers. Who worked very hard on the ground in really hot weather to keep everyone's homes safe. In the end no homes were lost. But, we did find out that the fire started by another person in our suburb burning rubbish! So, it was a mistake. But, we are at a complete fire ban. So, I am sure these people will be in some pretty big trouble. We have lived here over 6 years, and this is the CLOSEST fire we have ever had to us, and it honestly was a bit concerning. Especially since we knew people who were even closer to the fire than we were...
PRAISE GOD, for his protection over all the homes in Lansdale. The fire was moving at 3 metres high, and over 100 metres an hour. So, God is sooo good!!!!

YOUTH CAMP 2011

This weekend was an incredible weekend of team work! The theme was a survivor theme, and the kids were awesome at helping out cooking meals and putting up the tents. But, it was hard work for them to pull off their tasks that they needed to accomplish.

We had a few injuries this past weekend. But, God was there and was protecting people and keeping them safe! We had one girl fall down crossing a river, and she banged her face on a rock. But, luckily she did not hit her head on the dangerous spot, and even though she passed out and gave us a HUGE scare, she did not have a concussion. And, God protected her!

The teens got to hear some testimonies, and were challenged that this school year, would be a year that they commit their lives first to Christ, and then let him guide their lives this year. Each teen was given a bible! We had 12 teens who participated on the weekend, and it was HEAPS of fun. It was exhausting hard work, but a joy to get to spend three days with all the teens!

Please pray for us this weekend as we take the teenagers on a teen camp! Chris, Darrek, and myself will be going down to a town called Dwellingup out in the bush, where there are no toilets, and electricity for two nights and three days to do a youth camp! Esepcially pray for me as I do not have a voice, at the current time due to, too much singing and talking this past week at the Holiday Kids Clubs!

Harrisdale Holiday Kids Club

After we did a week of Kids Club in Landsdale, we travelled 45 minutes south each day the next week to do the same Holiday Kids Club at a church plant in Harrisdale which is south of the City of Perth. The Kids Club ran every day from 3-5 in the afternoon. We had between 8-16 kids that were involved in this program. This church has not had any services yet and this was a major outreach to the community. God was amazing and we had people who came out and showed interest in what was going on through out the week. We had to be a bit more creative as we did not have a building to pull this off in, and I ended up loosing my voice by the third day, because I had done way to much talking the week before! But, we had a wonderful week, but was very exhausting. Our kids were going to bed late, and they had School swimming lessons that we had to be at every day in the morning by 7:30! So, it was a very exhausting week, but God is good to those who work hard and Our children were super excited to get to participate in the Holiday Kids Club Again! Pray for these families that were impacted this week, that they will continue to be interested in the Harrisdale church plant and that they will even call it home!

An exciting aspect to this week was that we took teenagers down with us every day to help us run the holiday kids club. And, these teens were impacted incredibly, just by serving!

Holiday Kids Club 2011

Our week of Kids Club was amazing and we had many new visitors that have not attended kids Club before. The kids Learned that
-God is With us
-God is Powerful
-God Does what he says he'll do
-God gives us life
-God cares for us!

We had some awesome turn out. We had 26 children and then adults and teenagers write their names on the walls of the Israelites house instead of putting blood above the door frame the chidren put hearts and then their name in the heart, saying that they were committed to Loving God! And, then the second day, we told about, how God sent his son Jesus and then we gave them an opportunity to ask for forgiveness adn write their name on the cross and pray for Jesus to come into their hearts and be forgiven! All the children got up and made commitments it was an amazing turn out and the kids were so excited about the week!

Thank you to Brookside Wesleyan for donating all the materials for this Holiday Kids Club we had. It was a fantastic week full of exciting twists and turns and seeing God work in the childrens lives was unforgettable! I hope you enjoy the picture I have posted below!
Melissa

Holiday Kid's Club

This week (10-14 January) we are holding our Holiday Kid's Club program (VBS). We were very excited about the response that we were getting and anticipated that we would have at least half of our regular Kid's Club kids and possibly a few visitors. Today was the first day of "Crocodile Dock" and we had a great time. There were 21 kids in attendance and several teen and adult helpers. God blessed our time and many kids were able to hear through the program that God is with them.
Please continue to pray this week for the ministry of our Holiday Kid's Club. Pray that God would speak into the lives of their families and open up opportunities for us to minister to them.

The Carols in The Park

On WEdnesday the 8th of december we received the final stam of approval for the carols in the Park! God blessed us with it right when we ABSOLUTELY needed it. Immediately we advertised. Chris and Darrek (our intern from Bethany) letterboxed ALL of landsdale... It was ALOT of walking and they did it very quickly. Then, we sent home invitations with all the children from school. And, God blessed our event. There were atlesat 400 people who came out and joined us and sang christmas carols, and saw the kids club perform the live nativity as well as sing O come let us adore him. And, the evening was just Phenomenal! It was TRULY a community event in many sorts. There were jumy castles, and ice cream, and a dance troupe, and our kids club, and singing, and people who were out to be joyful about Christmas! It was truly a wonderful night. I will post some picture below so you can see a glimpse of what God did!

Carols in The Park.

This week is the big Carols in the Park that we have been gearing up for. There are a few things we would like you to pray for.

1) The Health Department has STILL yet to stamp our application! Therefore as of this morning we were still unable to provide a sausage sizzle or sell cupcakes on Friday night.

2) We have been given the go ahead to hand out advertisements. But, please pray that MANY people would read the advertisements and come out to the Carols in the PArk on Friday night.

3) Please pray for the KIDS CLUB. As they will be performing a skit and singing a song on Friday night.

4) Please also pray for our Kids Club closing Finale on Sunday night at 5:30. Please pray that we would get ALL of our Kids Club families to church for the evening to experience what our church is like!

OUR FINANCIAL STATUS!
Please pray with Chris and I as we contact our prayer partners and faith promise partners to renew this support. We have been here exactly one year on the field. And, God has done so many good things! But, recently we had a review on our support that is coming in. And, for the Last year God has been good and all our support came in! TOTAL PRAISE!

But, as we were reviewing the budget, some needs and concerns needed to be changed and met. Unfortunately in Western Australia there have been some big changes in the government and how they run the electric, gas, and water billing. The state used to GIVE the utility companies money to lower the actual cost of everyone's bills. . And, now there are so many people in Perth they have decided not to offer the grant anymore to the Companies.

This in turn has caused some major complications for families in WA because our utility bills have ACTUALLY doubled. As this news was coming out we thought we would hang in there and see what it really looked like and start being more cautious about our utility usage. However the bills have been rolling in since June and between us and GP we have decided that our budget needed to be changed.

Also the exchange rate between australia and the USA which used to be at .80 where our budget was done. has gone equal! So, therefore that means our US dollar is now equal to the AUS dollar.. :( Which is causing complications as well.. With all that said.

Just recently our BUDGET was adjusted and from now on you will see that we are in need of MORE support both in financial partners and in individuals and one time gifts!

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL over the last year! And, when the fiscal year ended all our support had come in! This is something to be VERY THANKFUL for! GOD MET OUR NEEDS AND we pray every day for all of you that through your support of giving and prayers, that GOD would inturn bless your lives and speak to you in ways you never thought imagineable! Our God is all sufficient and MIGHTY!

WE KNOW THAT GOD HAS SO MUCH IN STORE THIS YEAR FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO ARE PART OF Our SUPPORT NETWORK! Thank you for all you do!!!

KIDS CLUB
God has been so good. And, you know how Chris and I have been asking you to pray for relationships that we have been building. The last three weeks of Kids Club there have been 5 extra new kids attending! THis is fantastic! And, truly is exciting. One of these families Chris and I have been building a relationship with in particular and God is so good. Through this relationships their kids have started to attend Kids Club! And, have been asking to come back week after week! Pray that God would speak to these parents as they see their children sing about JEsus and go home and talk about Jesus in their lives.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Monda was my birthday and believe it or not I turned the big 30! But, God made something very evident to me on my special day. And, it was this... This was the FIRST year that I had people stopping in the house all day, and ringing me, and wishing me happy birthday. And, I know I turned 30! Which is an important mile stone in Australia. But, the point that God made to me was that Many of my NON church friends spoilt me. And, these are relationships that Chris and I had built in the last year. We have been building these relationships and showing these people who Christ is through our lives. But, now we are just praying for those seeds (LIVES) to grow(accept Christ) and flourish into followers of Christ! Please pray that God would continue to show Chris and I how to care for these families and "water" and "feed" them with God's word. So, that NEXT year on my birthday I can say that These families are now our chuch families!

On a side note... I am so thankful I am a child of God and that I have had 30 years of going to church and I wouldn't change one moment of the 30 years God has given me! I am TRULY a blessed child of God!!!

DOWN WITH THE FLU!
Last weekend we had planned this huge picnic. We were all excited about it, had families from church and kids club coming. really made an effort for it to be a fantastic day And, Walah! Friday at 7:00 Dawson came down with the flu. And, before you knew it we were all sick!
On the Wednesday Brayden made a visit to the childrens hospital because he had been vomiting and couldnt stop. The dr.s thought it was a reaction to the amoxycillin he had taken twice. But, as it turns out 48 hours later... I would say he had the flu or (gastro) as they call it in Australia! I was very dissappointing we had to cancel the picnic. Sometimes things just don't work out even though we put all our efforts and try our best. But, the wonderful thing is, that God opens doors and gives us opportunities every day! On a brighter note.
Chris has been talking with a dad at school pick up! His name is Terry and Terry came up to me and was telling me how excited he was that Chris and I are in Australia and he was really interested in what we are doing here. He and his two sons will be joining us for dinner on the 4th of December. Would you pray for Terry and his two sons and for Chris and I as we reach out to this dad and his family!

Update on Irene's Sister.
Over the past few weeks I have asked all of our prayer partners to pray for Irene's sister in the USA who needs a kidney transplant. Today I was standing outside Makayla's classroom and Irene came running up to me with a great big smile on her face! She was sooo excited to give me the news that her sisters kidney activity was up 4%! Irene said that God was listening and he was hearing our prayers!

On Friday Irene's son Ricky came to Kids Club for the first time! THIS WAS VERY EXCITING!
God is movig in Irene's life. thank you for your prayers!!!

You never know what to expect!
On Tuesday Makayla's teacher still needed a parent to go on their class field trip to the farm. I was going to stay home and help Stephanie and Darrek settle in, but Makayla's teacher was desperate so in the end I said I would go...

When I arrived I found out that there was not room on the bus and I would have to drive... :(
Then I found out I could not be with Makayla. At first I was a bit disappointed, but I was determined I was not going to let this ruin my day.

I had 6 children and we had a wonderful day until the rain came. All day long children kept running up to me and saying hi and giving me high 5's. And, the kids in my group kept asking me how I knew those kids.. And, I would just say "The go to after school kids club on Fridays! One little boy in my group asked if he could come. And, I just mentioned to him that he could have his mum talk to me after school.

The fantastic news is that God was in the midst of that entire day. And, on Friday Alex came to Kids Club! And, he is So excited t0 be there and cant wait to come back next week!

What if I hadn't volunteered? Alex would not be coming to church. God is in the midst 0f everything we do! He has given us opportunities, we just have to be looking for them and open and ready to use them!

Pray that Alex and his family would start to build a connection with our church family and that they would come to know who Christ is.

Dawson's Specialist appt.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Dawsons specialist appt with an occupational therapist. Dawson has not done well settling this year into school. He has done well with making friends, but has not found himself on very many "green lights" Which is a good thing. He has seemed to have MANY red lights (disciplinary light). Although this may sound bad, the teacher and I sat and talked because Dawson is not INTENTIONALLY naughty, but even though he is very sportsy. He runs into people and falls down and does all kinds f silly things. But, in the silly, we have decided to look deeper and see if we can find why.

The specialist has found Dawson has low body tone. And, that he has at risk posture control and at risk bilateral control. So, Dawson will be starting physical therapy.

The goood news is that in the midst of all this, I have gone and spoken with the principal and suggested that Dawson have a bit more structure int he classroom. And, AMAZING we are on week three of the term and we have had ONLY green lights! So, please pray for Dawson and that he would understand what it is that people are asking f him, and that he would find the growth he needs through this physical therapy so he can function properly next year.

The Thornton's have Arrived.

Last night the Thornton's arrived. It has been an exciting await as Chris and I have waited 6 years for someone to join us here 0n the field in Australia.

They arrived with all their luggage and our kids were SO excited to meet them and of course their little handsome baby Grayson. The Thorntn's had a perfect flight and everything fell into place. Thanks to your prayers Grayson slept practically the whole way here. Our first night was a bit of up and down f0r everyone, but please continue to pray that we would all settle in and things would fall into place, and that our house would become a home fr the Thornton's fr the next 5 months.

Thank you for praying for Luke, he is continuing to get better every day! God is so good, and Luke has been telling everyone who visits him, that today they need to get their lives straight with Christ, because you never know how much time you have.

Luke has been home since Saturday and he has been doing everything for himself, and today he even walked all the way to the park, and shot some hoops. He was totally exhausted and laid on the couch the rest of the day, but pray that Luke would continue to recover and get all he rest he needs to recover! Thank you for your prayers... We greatly appreciate them.

Thornton's Leave this Saturday for Australia!
Over the past week God has done some pretty incredible things! The first thing I would like to share with you, is that the Thornton's have their VISA and will be flying here to join us in Australia on Saturday! God just blows us away with his timing and perfection!

A week ago the Thornton's received a letter from the Immigration dept. stating their VISA was on hold until a problem had been solved. Immediately the Wesleyan church of Australia contacted the immigration dept. and found out that we needed to renew every three years a document, and our three years had been up. So, immediately the form was filled out and our fee was paid and everything on our end was turned in Monday night... When we called to make sure they had received it, we were told it could take 21 days, before they would start to process the Thornton's VISA. We were quite saddened by this news and resorted to praying! :)

Tuesday morning we woke up, and on Facebook Darrek had posted that he HAD his VISA. I was quite shocked and thought at first it was an error.. I even woke Chris up at 5:30am to tell him he needed to get up and get a hold of Darrek to find out why he THOUGHT he had his VISA. But, my point is... God is just AMAZING! because, Darrek did actually have his VISA. What they had told us would take 21 days just to start... was finished and finalized in less than 12 hours! Isn't God good!

Continue to pray this weekend for the Darrek, Stephanie, and Grayson as they fly here and start their internship here in the land down under!

God is SOOOO Good,
Melissa

Dear Prayer Partners,
We desperately need your prayers for a few things this week. Sometimes when things seem to get hard and you think you can't take much more.. Life gets a whole lot harder. And, God teaches us that HE is the source of strength for everything. This week has been very exhausting, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

Chris's best friend, and Australian brother Luke was diagnosed on WEdnesday with a brain tumor. We have spent every holiday in Australia with Luke and his family, and we treat them as if they were our own. Our kids even call him Uncle. But, when we found this out, Chris and I dropped everything so that we would be praying, and supporting, and giving Luke all the support we could. The situation for Luke was as bad as it could get. But, the cool thing is, we serve a God who loves us and will do the impossible to remind us that HE holds our lives in His hand.

Let me write for you the verse Luke was comforted by, that he posted on facebook just before his surgery.

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak, the Lord delivers him in times

of trouble, the Lord will protect him and preserve his life, He will bless him in

the land and nit surrender him to the desires of his foes. The Lord will

sustain him on his sick bed and restore him from his bed of illness

God has taken care of Luke and brought him through surgery on Friday morning. The Dr.s and Nurses were amazed that Luke even walked into the hospital with no symptoms, other than a headache. The tumor was very larger, one of the largest the Dr. has ever seen of that kind. But, God's hand was at work to get Luke to everywhere he needed to be, so that he would get admitted and so that the brain tumor would be found before it was too late.

Since the surgery Luke has come leaps and bounds. But, only because he has stayed faithful and trusted God to know that HE would carry him through. There will still be hard times as he continues to recover. Recovering from brain surgery is not SHORT, but I pray that this story would give you a reminder of God's promise to you too. And, also I am asking that you would take time to pray for Luke and ask God to continue to give him the strength he needs to recover from this operation...

GOD IS GOOD
This week I have had a dear friend find out that her sister in America needs a kidney transplant. Irene is here in Australia. But, she wants to go through the process to probably be a donor, and she was very scared, worried, not for herself, but her sister. But, we serve a BIG GOD who so just soooo good. Because, the day I found this out, Randy and Linda Freeman (Our Pastor to Missionaries) were actually making their first ever visit to us in Perth! Randy had a kidney transplant a few years ago, and he was able to share with Irene many facts, and details, and thoughts, and most importantly we were able to tell her that we would be praying for her! But, God is amazing. He puts everyone right where they need to be at the right time!

As a side note, we had a wonderful time sharing our lives with Randy and Linda and giving them just a sample of what our life is like here in the land down under!

Could you please continue to pray for Irene and her sister in NJ?

We honestly do covet your prayers! It is through your prayers that God uses us in the MOST UNEXPECTED WAYS to reach people here in Australia!

Pray for Strength for our Family!

This is the last week of term 3 in Australian School. Our kids are weary. But, not only is our family weary. It seems that everyone we know is weary. And, a lot of people are facing some really hard stuff right now.

Chris just spent three days in Melbourne for our district Conference. It was a great time to catch up with pastors from our district as well as to see what God is doing across the district! Chris attending district conference is a BIG reminder of how different things are here in Australia than how they would occur in America. Chris boarded an airplane and flew 4 hours to Melbourne, on the EAST Coast. He then got in a car and drove a few hours to where the meetings occurred. Because of the cost this year, the kids and I stayed behind. IT was a good thing we did. God knew we needed to be here.

This weekend we had the teen girls stay and have a sleep over all weekend. They were such a help to me,but I had some FANTASTIC conversations with them.

A family that has been key in our church, lost their grandfather. He had been ill with Alzheimers but they were unaware he was actually that sick. So, it was quite a surprise that he had passed away.

We have had a HUGE unspoken request for a family that we know. And, it is really just a totally shocking heart wrenching conversation that I had with this family. But, could you please pray for "Jessi " this week. Pray for Understanding, reconciliation, peace, culture shock, this family I believe is really being targetted by the Devil. Please pray that God would hold this family together and that the family would turn to HIM and seek what is best. There is going to be some real listening, understand, and compromising that will need to take place.

Then, on top of all that. The devil seemed to know Chris was away.. Because instead of life being easy things just fell apart, our car broke down, The cars at church on Sunday night all got broken into (Luckily, I left my car unlocked so there was no broken windows etc. on our car, and the list goes on., but the kids and Chris are all sick with a dry cough.

With all that said.. Would you please lift our family up in prayer and just ask for us to come to God and find rest and strength, and for us to turn all this into being a "light" for Christ in our community.

INTERNS COMING!

Praise God! Darrek and Stephanie have raised enough support for them to join us in Australia.
We have had to revamp a few things. But, God has TRULY blessed their support and we have received word that they should be arriving in October!

Pray for Chris and I as we prepare for them to come. We will be rearranging the house and moving ourselves into Brayden's bedroom and the boys will now be sharing a room, so that we can put the Thornton's and their bubby Grayson in the front bedroom of our house for the next 5 months!

Our kids are truly excited to have visitors and Chris and I are excited that God is bringing this family to help us in the efforts of planting a church here in Landsdale.

Pray that the Thornton's would receive their VISA quickly as you all know in the past this has been very hard for our family to obtain. Luckily they will be applying for a shorter visa, so we believe it should be a much quicker process.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS! GOD HAS MOVED MANY PEOPLE TO GIVE TO THE THORNTON'S AND, GOD HAS HEAR YOUR PRAYERS AND HE HAS ANSWERED THEM!!!!