G’day
Praying Partners,
We’ve come
to the end of our summer break, but the hot weather refuses to let go! The
temperature has hit between 105-110 several times, but we’re thankful for a
couple of cooler days in between. This week we will be seeing a high of 95.
Somebody said to us that it must remind us of Florida – no way! It is much
drier here (good and bad to that), but I informed this person that in Florida
we go from our air-conditioned house to our air-conditioned car to the
air-conditioned shops😊 We’re not so fortunate here. Our house has an
evaporative cooler – some of our friends from out west are more familiar with
those – and unfortunately it can’t keep up when it gets really hot for more
than 2 days in a row. Often the shops are not much better than the house! And
when we get a hot northern wind, look out! It’s like being in a convection
oven! Technically it is still summer, but I’m ready for autumn to come and
bring some cooler temperatures.
Thank you
for your prayers for our Carols by Candlelight service. We didn’t have as big a
turn out as we had hoped for, but a couple of unsaved people were in attendance
to hear the gospel message. The kids did great with their nativity scene
and song. Let’s face it, they’re really the star of the show!
Summer is
always a bit slower for us – basically we don’t have much extra going on for
the month of January. Lots of our families take off for extended periods of
time during the break. It’s nice to take
a bit of a breather and get the scheduled prepared for the coming year. School
is officially back as of this week and Rob is back as the chaplain. Each year
the school puts out a “well being” policy for the staff; we were excited to see
Rob was included as someone for the teachers/staff to go to if they were
experiencing any kind of emotional struggles. God continues to open
opportunities for Rob and we are so thankful for each one of them. Please pray
along with us that God would bring fruit from Rob’s labour at the school.
Jackie will be starting up with some students in her volunteer role – pray that
she can be a blessing to them.
We have
had visitors come along almost every week this year! It’s been a blessing to
see God moving in the hearts of the community. Pray that we can see some stick
around and worship with us on a regular basis. We’ve begun preparations for our
Easter outreach – which is just around the corner! (It feels like this year is
already flying by and it’s just begun!) Please pray for us as we plan out the
program.
This month
we are beginning a small AWANA program – just Cubbies for now. We’ve got about
a dozen kids (between church and friends/family of church people) who will be
coming along. Our prayer is to extend that to Sparkies next and offer it in the
school – adding ages as we go along. Please pray for our “leaders” to be
faithful and excited! Also pray that God would bring the increase as we seek to
teach the littlies about Him. If any of our churches have extra AWANA things
you’d like to pass along – we’ll take it! We know there are pros and cons with
AWANA but God so clearly guided us this way that we are going to go forward and
see what He wants to accomplish.
We’re also
praying about starting up a teen program. There doesn’t seem to be as much
support in the church for that – as in people willing to volunteer their time.
It’s not something we want to take on by ourselves so are praying that God
would raise up those with a heart for the teens. We actually have 5 that
regularly attend church and would love to do something for them that would
encourage them to bring friends along.
On a
personal note – we got the best Christmas present ever…we’re going to be
grandparents again! Our son and daughter in law were surprised to find out #3
is on the way! She’s due in mid-August so we would appreciate prayers for them.
Nothing better than being a grandparent!
Just
finished reading through the book of Psalms. If anyone needs some direction in
how to praise the Lord – this book is for you! Wanted to end this prayer update
with the last verse in Psalms – 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise
the Lord! Praise the Lord!”. That means that if you’re reading this then, well,
you have breath! Please take a moment right now to stop and praise the Lord for
all that He’s doing in your life – and ours! What a mighty God we serve!
Shining
the Light Down Under,
Rob and
Jackie
