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Concete Footprints - Part 1



Most of us have heard the cute little story of the footprints in the sand. It's a good anecdote for the way God cares for us in our troubles, whether you read the version where Jesus danced or carried the storyteller. But walking along a sandy beach with the ocean waves nearby is hardly a good analogy for life, especially its difficulties. So I have a new one. I noticed this footprint and many other like it on treks through the city. It tells a different story: one etched in concrete.

The small town of Cainta, just outside of Manilla in the Philippines is home to several thousand people, many of whom are living in slums and pieced together homes stacked next to and on top of each other. The average home in this community is the size of a small bedroom in the U.S., and everyone here has a story to tell. Catherine and I spent part of our time last week painting the home of a widow whose husband recently died. She had faithfully served in the church and spent much of her life in pursuit of loving God's children. She's now alone with her daughter. She cooked me an incredible meal for my birthday (a meal reserved for special occasions, she told us) and she laughingly called me a thorn among roses because I was painting with my wife and the other women on our team. I laughed and said she was probably right.


I met a little 8 year old girl named Roxanne while out walking for the census the other day. She was missing one of her feet. I don't know how she lost it but she had a cheap wooden prosthetic foot that bent sideways as she walked down the street-tiny steps with long pauses between each one. We asked if she'd like help getting home and she said yes, so I carried her to her house. The girl was alone when we left her at her home, and I wondered how often she made that long trek, one tiny step at a time to and from school. We're currently spending time with her at the ministry center and trying to get her a better prosthesis for her leg.


On the same day, our interpreter began to share more of her personal life struggles with us. How her and her husband had difficulty making ends meet. How she was considering moving to another country to work for a few years in order to help her family survive and pay off debt. She cried as we talked and prayed with her and in response to our encouragement she said, "I know He's with me, even when I can't see Him."

When Jesus walked this earth, He didn't leave little sand footprints to get washed away by the tides. He made an impression, and His footprints carry on in the hearts of His people. Will we make a difference here? Can we love with every day and every opportunity we're given? I don't care if people remember our names or that we were here, but I hope that we can leave concrete footsteps in the Spirit that leave behind the lasting impression and life of the God who loves these people. Their physical footprints are imprinted into every street. These lives are weighty. They press into God's heart with every step and breath they take. This is why we're here.
 
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Philippines Ministry Profile – Kid’s International Ministries



When we got off the plane here we felt the hot air hit our faces and knew this country was going to be a different experience. The airport terminal had vending machines selling SIM cards for cell phones and security was nearly nonexistent. I half expected us to ride in some kind of broken down van or decades old bus to get to our next destination. Instead we were met by Jeff Long, a new air-conditioned bus and three coolers full of sandwiches, snacks and drinks. Jeff is the founder of Kid's International Ministries (KIM) and he and his wife Colene, along with their kids, have been in the Philippines for the last 20 years working in Cainta, a small community just outside of Manilla.

The only way to describe KIM is as a ministry hub. Jeff and his staff started children's home across the street where they house almost 50 kids, including teenagers and infants. They started a feeding program to go into the more impoverished areas and feed and minister to people twice every day at 10am and 4pm.

They have also done a census of the surrounding area, covering about 800 homes and families. The census was an opportunity to give people food and share the gospel, as well as a chance to gather medical needs. As part of the census, each family was given a white cross with a house number and their family name on it so that they can be located with provisions they've requested or follow-up contact.

Every morning at 7am the staff of KIM give out free children's vitamins on the corner of the street. The ministry center is also stocked with an entire medical room of prescriptions, pills and medical supplies for people in the community. Jeff has also started a clean water initiative where they are placing water stations around different areas of the city for people to get free and clean water.

Jeff and the ministry staff have also started a school that meets in two locations and trains the local kids in Christian values, as well as a standard education from 1st grade through high school. The school is part of a partnership Jeff started with a church that is next door to the ministry center.

Jeff's daughter, Josie was trained as a massage therapist in Kansas so she has trained another 7 Filipino women who will eventually be opening a salon and spa under Josie's leadership. The women come to the ministry center three days a week to offer massages, pedicures, and manicures as practice. They charge 100 pisos, which is the equivalent of $2.50. The money they earn is actually a very good income for people living in this community and it all goes toward feeding their families and meeting their financial needs. After many sleepless nights and long days in the heat of Australia, Catherine and I have been more than happy to help take care of these women and their families by availing of their services once or twice.

All of these things are done by a ministry center that has a staff of about 8 people, but it's made possible by donations of medicine and financial support.

So far we've been working on the census, painting rooms in the orphanage, painting a widow's home, tutoring children so they can pass their classes and many other side projects. Lots more to do and some amazing stories to tell. We'll give some more details on these in the next blog.

On the journey,
D & C


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Meditations from the Outback



As you may already know, David and I, along with the rest of our team have had a pretty crazy month. It has been full of many exciting new relationships and hundreds of overwhelming encounters. Here are five women that I can't seem to get off of my mind...
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The second night of worship in Beswick our contact drove up to the street corner where church is held and pulled out a wheel chair and in a few moments out came a small, frail young woman with her eyes sunk in. Both of her legs (which were smaller than my arms) were bandaged from ankle to knee. The reason she came to church was that she heard that we were in town and wanted prayer. She told us that she had only been sick for a few months and that her body was in rapid decline. The doctors didn't even know why. In fact, she wasn't in a wheel chair until the past couple months. In my mind it was "ok this is it, we are going to pray and then God is going to hear us and heal her and it will be a miracle for this whole community to see and believe." Almost immediately after we started praying I felt that God wanted to heal her but that there was something keeping her from complete freedom. I began to ask God for more wisdom and clarity and there it came. He revealed to me that her sickness was rooted in some sort of witchcraft. I was blown away by that kind of thought and backed myself out of the idea, thinking that it was just because of my knowledge of the aboriginal culture's tendency to deal in that kind of stuff. Still shocked by the intensity of such a vivid thought coming to my mind and yet not wanting to miss out what God wanted to do, I decided to come at it from a more "gentle" subject like forgiveness or bitterness and how that could possibly open the door to "other stuff" that the enemy might want to do. Two weeks later I found out that this woman had been cursed by an aboriginal that practiced witchcraft. Obviously, I'm still growing in my boldness, but sadly I missed out on what God wanted to do for that woman. Now I am praying that God would deliver her and that in spite of my timidity that he would use her story to bring glory to himself.

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The first night I met this woman I knew she was special. She looked just like any other beautiful aboriginal woman, but the way she cared for the small child in her arms was different. Most of the children in Beswick ran free, unattended and uninhibited by rules or boundaries. This little guy was sleeping in her arms by 10pm. Most other toddlers would be up and running until 2 or 3am (literally). When we had church under the stars, this mother would bring a pillow and a blanket for her small boy to rest on once asleep. I began to learn more of her story over the next few weeks. She is a younger woman, probably in her late 20s, she works at the town school as an aide in the preschool class. Her husband had fallen away from the Lord early on in their relationship. She told me that her husband would leave her and the kids behind for several weeks at a time to go into the nearest town and drink. She never knew if he would come back. And yet even though most Christians in this community are too ashamed to go to church if their spouse is not in good standing with God she remained faithful to church and in her walk with God. She cared for her children and husband (when around) all the while waiting for him to come back to Christ. After almost 9 years her husband came back to the Lord and is now serving as one of the song leaders at church. This woman's faithfulness and dedication to her husband and to the Lord will forever be branded in my heart.

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The next woman I can't seem to get off of my mind is a girl in her late teens. You can tell by the way she carries herself that she doesn't think much of herself, she has a plain vibe to her and yet there is so much to her. Her father is a drunk and her mother, who has been in the hospital since January will most likely remain there until the baby is born in March. To my knowledge, Teisha is the sole care giver to her four younger siblings. She has every reason in the world to be bitter or angry at God and yet her heart toward the Lord and others is noticeably tender. Teisha loves her Jesus and draws her strength from Him daily. When I met Teisha I could visibly see her love for God. Something I found out about this girl much later was that Teisha writes in a different language (it looks like Arabic or something). Anyway, after she writes in this other language, she interprets it into English. This girl who can struggles with speaking English writes in a Middle-Easternlike language and hands out written prophecies to the believers in the community! God is using this girl to nurture her younger brothers and sisters into young Christ followers and to call out the younger generation in this community.

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The last girl you have to meet is little Shantoya. She is one of the most beautiful little girls I have ever seen. She is about 10 years old and her innocence is gone. She knows far too much about the troubles of this world. I remember being so saddened by the heaviness I saw in her eyes. When stepping into a room she could light it up with her personality, but the light in her own eyes was dark. I don't know much about her story or really anything about her but I know that the Holy Spirit pointed her out to me and Michelle (our team leader) very specifically to pray that more of His Spirit would rest upon her and protect her from the dark forces that want to destroy her almost as much as the Heavenly Father wants to breathe His everlasting life into her. Even writing this my heart is breaking for the young children whose innocence has been stolen by the cares of this world. God is the God of restoring what was lost. Please believe and pray this truth over this beautiful girl. Pray that His life would fill her and dispel the darkness that would try to stamp out God's calling over her.

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Although I've left Australia, a piece of my heart is still there with each one of these women. Daily they face the darkness and choose to press against it. My prayer for them and for you is more deliverance, perseverance, tenderness and life.

Catherine

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New Breath: Healing and Redemption



 
So I shared in a previous blog that we had experienced some spiritual warfare in the place we were staying in Beswick. We found more connections regarding the spiritual stuff we were encountering, as well as an incredible redemption story in a man who showed up about a week before we left Beswick. His name is Justin. He's a muscular and tough looking Australian, but he also exuded a compassion and love that was rare in the place we were staying. The first night we met him he asked us, "Have you lot been bothered by that woman? You know there's a spirit around here.." We looked at each other for a second and I turned to him and said, "Oh, we got rid of her. Jesus is bigger." We had been sleeping great to that point but starting that day we encountered more spiritual darkness in the night. Images, strange dreams, random fear. When I talked to Justin a little more about it another day he seemed nervous about us leaving. "You guys are going soon and I'll be all alone in there," he said as we talked about the spiritual darkness there. I offered to share more with him about how we got rid of the spirit and he seemed genuinely interested. From the moment I met him I? know God wanted Justin. I've encountered that feeling only one other timer, which happens to be the last time I led someone to Christ. I began praying for Justin daily but didn't get another chance to talk to him until the night before we left. Our squad leader, Robby Riggs, came to hang with us for our final 3 days and Robby blogged the story of what happened next with our encounter with Justin. Read below for an amazing story that wrapped up our time in Australia with a miracle of the kind that only God can do.

His soul screamed desperately for real love...

But first, I need to backtrack and tell you my journey in meeting him.

Here in Australia, Tara and I chose to travel the month and spend quality time with each of our teams in the locations they were stationed through the Territories.

I have been witnessing God tearing down the walls of the hurt in these men and women, I have seen Him pouring His blood of purity over the un-pure areas of hearts that were closed off and screaming to be set free and it becoming white as snow. I have seen moments of joy spill over in these lives and Him romance them in it. Many are walking in a new freedom, and the Lord is doing an incredible thing with each individual.

My last team to visit this month was Team Glo. They are amazing men and women of God, and I had an amazing time with them. While there, God showed up and BLEW me out of the water with only 2 days in Beeswick.

This is the Outback, and it is the place where the Aboriginal people dwell. It is a place where you can smile and sweat pours forth from every place of your body.  This is a place where the spiritual climate is freakin' intense...this is the place that I met Justin, age 36.

Justin is not aboriginal. He has a mixture of Peruvian, Aussi, and Kiwi. A unique mixture of cultures creating such a unique heart.

I have not had headaches in a while... but as I drove closer to Beeswick my head became a ticking time bomb it seemed. It was getting pretty ugly, and I knew that I needed some meds, prayer, and rest. Little did I realize, I was entering a crazy war zone (spiritually), and it was having a direct effect on me...

Upon arriving with team Glo, I walked into the kitchen and there stood Justin who was colossal and looked like he could easily smash my skull in with one fist. What I saw, though, was his smile, and what I felt was his love and joy. It seeped from him, but what I felt the Spirit speaking was that he wasn't a believer...interesting because of the love he had for people.

The next day, David and I had some great talks with men throughout the community about the Lord and encouraged them to live out their faith boldly, and I enjoyed every minute of it...later that evening we saw Justin, and He was holding his lung and looked like he was in pain. I asked what was up, and he said that it was from smoking for 10 years.  It was killing him little by little. In those moments I felt the Spirit of the Lord tell me to lay my hands on him for healing. I didn't do it. I still am learning. So...

It was Friday night and we were leaving early the next morning, and I knew that I still needed to talk with him...the reason was unknown, but the Lord just kept pressing that He needed Justin now. The night was drawing to an end, but God was just getting started- Justin walked in and came straight to David and I... He sat down and started to share his life...sharing the secrets of his heart that he had never told anyone...he mentioned how tired he was of being surrounded by darkness. He even wanted to end his life a few times. He was shameful, guilty, addicted to an assortment of things, etc...and now he was screaming inside for help. He had actually mentioned seeing a spirit around his room...yeah that's right- he even had asked the spirit her name and she said..."Jezebel" and get this... Justin had no clue she was mentioned in the bible-he was yearning for rescue.

As David shared the gospel, I knew more and more I had to pray with this man- it was heavy on me.

Desiring to be more personable, we moved into his bedroom to pray hard core prayers over him...continuing the conversation with Him about the Lord, he looked at us and said, "I know my problem-I have never accepted the Lord because I have been addicted to such and such-the "pleasures of the world"... So, I just went into talking about addictions and the freedom we have in Christ-the power of Christ. As we spoke about these things, it became apparent it was the time to make the choice to get rid of addictions and darkness and let the light come in and break years and years of darkness off of him. He wanted it, and so we prayed!

We prayed with Him for an hour or more...we went through some tough spiritual warfare, but we encouraged Him to speak out and plead the blood of Jesus over himself. We encouraged Him to tell Christ how he felt...it was REDEEMING...it was POWERFUL...it was ALL GOD! Through the end I felt the Lord pressing for me to place my hands on his lungs and pray for complete healing- and this time, I didn't hesitate.

That night was special, Justin accepted the Lord as HIS personal savior/Father. It was beautiful.

When we finished praying- he said, "I feel lighter, I don't feel/see that spirit here anymore, my mind is clearer, my lungs don't hurt, and I can also breath deeper and more." This was incredible to witness. I loved every minute of it- seeing a man literally leave the lies and walk into the truth of Christ...

Justin is now my brother in the Lord- I don't know if I will ever speak or see him on this earth again- but I can tell you that I will rejoice the day when I see his face in eternity. I can tell you that He will bring the Kingdom of God to Beeswick and will be a LIGHT that shines out of the darkness that hovers there. I will testify boldly that the seed fell on good soil and that it will grow and multiply into hundreds. My faith says so.

This is what I love...the dead coming alive in Christ- the savior redeeming a man.

God needed Justin. Justin needed God.

Grace and Peace to you in these moments...

Robby

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Support Update



Hey friends,

We are currently at the end of our second ministry month and getting ready to head to the Philippines.

1 week prior to our trip we were supposed to have $16,560 in our account and the rest raised in pledges. Right now we only have $10,235 in our account and we are still in need of a lot of pledged monthly support. What we currently have pledged and what is in our account might get us to about 65-70% of our total support needs, but the people we are financially accountable to at AIM need to see more of that actually in our account for us to be able to continue ministry throughout the whole trip.

Our next deadline is coming up on April 1. We are supposed to have 80% of our costs in our account by then, which totals to $22,080. That means we have about one month to raise $11,845. These next few months we are going to be pushing to try to raise what we need for the rest of the race. Everything we have in pledges helps us but we also are in SERIOUS need of several large gifts. If God is laying it on your heart, please help us. It's not easy for us to ask for money and it's a whole new way of living for us, but know that you are sowing into the lives of people that deeply need encouragement and the love of Christ. Pastor Anderson has ministered relatively alone in a community for 20 years and we have seen a breath of refreshing and encouragement in him and others in Beswick. Please sow into the nations. Sow into Australia. Run the journey with us. And thank you for your support, prayers and friendship.

David and Catherine

P.S. We have some incredible stories we'll be posting in the next few days and some new photos are up on the facebook group page. To join the facebook group, click here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=119224984662&ref=ts

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On A Walkabout



It's been a totally different ministry here in Australia than in New Zealand but we are enjoying the connections with other believers in Christ and a taste of a very different culture even though we speak the same language.

A bit of Aboriginal culture is that women open up to women and men to men but never women to men or vice versa. In fact, upon our arrival in to the outback, David was instructed to be extremely cautious in any interaction with women in the town and to mostly spread out from the group and seek out men. We were told that there is a strong sense of jealousy in the culture and that inappropriate behavior could result in a man being badly beaten and if a woman, being severely flogged. It sounds crazy but after living life inside of the culture for over a week, I find it to be true.

Shortly after arriving in Beswick, David and I were tasked with separating from each other for the majority of our days and going off separately to minister and connect with people on our own. That meant that David, being the only man in our group, had to go out on his own, connect with men he'd never met and try, not only to meet those men but also connect with them to such a level that they could open up and pour God's life and encouragement into one another. I on the other hand usually go out with one or two girls from our team to meet, pray for, encourage and read scripture with the women we encounter.

I am so proud of David, of how he has, in just a short amount of time, connected with the men in the community, in spite of being on his own and totally out of his comfort zone and jumping into to their stories and lives. He is truly making a difference here in the community and it is already showing. From helping them step out in encouraging other men, to teaching them to defy their culture by apologizing to their wives, he is bringing the kingdom in a very practical, very needed way.

Please lift us up as it is a real adjustment not ministering alongside each other and especially pray for David as he continues to pour into these men in a much needed way.

Needless to say it's a much different kind of walkabout!

 

 

 

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Blessings for Beswick



Well the World Race seems like it has officially begun. In New Zealand we enjoyed many of the comforts of home. Even though we were tenting, we had access to some internet and a lot of connection with people from a very similar cultural background. We were hugely blessed to see God moving in the conferences we helped put on, but it still wasn't quite the cross-cultural and direct ministry experience we were expecting.

Let's just say things have very much changed. We drove out to the outback in an old 20 passenger van and since we've been here we have entered another world entirely. We met our contact, pastor Anderson, who is actually one of several leaders of the local church here.

His sister, Loretta, is actually much more like the senior pastor and worship leader of the church. It took us a few days to get adjusted to living here. The days are pretty hot, usually a very muggy95-99 degrees and everyone seems to appreciate a cool breeze and the shade of a tree. Most things move pretty slowly as the heat saps energy from people.

Our new home for another 2 ½ weeks is a concrete building with several small rooms. We have bugs as our constant roommates and a congregation of frogs that meets every night outside our building. They're very committed to food and fellowship!

Our first introduction to church in Beswick was enlightening and fun. We met on a street corner at the edge of town and Loretta had a small sound system set up and a keyboard placed on a big metal barrel. She played using an old Yamaha keyboard with the automatic chord arpeggios cranking out a drum beat and background instruments. We sang about 7 songs and sang most of them twice, and some three times before we moved to a time where we greeted each other under the stars and then an open mic time where anyone could go up and share scripture from the mic. We then had a time of praying for each other and about another hour of worship. So church started around 9:30pm (though we were told it started at 8; that's NT time for you!) and ended around 1:00am. The group varies from about 4-15 Beswick locals depending on the night and us 6, white North Americans (One of us is a Canadian who resents being labeled an American J ) dancing with children and several older women who have way more energy than we do.


 
 
 

Our primary contact is Anderson but he works closely with a white Australian named Karl who has been reaching out to Aboriginal communities all across the Northern Territory for 20 years. I (David) have been tasked by Karl with meeting about 10 men across the community and trying to help encourage and speak life to them. Catherine and the

rest of the team are actively ministering to the women each day. There are many issues here that make survival a difficult task, let alone seeking after God. Most people here don't have jobs and much like the U.S. has done with Native Americans, the Aboriginals have been given slots of land that belonged to their ancestors on which the government has built cheap housing and gives a certain amount to families each month to buy food and other needs. There is a lot of struggling with alcohol abuse and marijuana, and many of the men and some women go about an hour into the nearest town, Katherine, to buy alcohol. Katherine is also where we go (when we can) to get internet access and it doesn't feel very safe after about 5:30pm. Many of the Christians have legitimately experienced freedom during conferences and larger meetings that Carl has helped pull together, but many have fallen back into old habits of violence, alcohol or apathy. But in most of those Christians there is still a desire for freedom and for Jesus. There is a struggle here with shame that the enemy seems to be using to keep mostly men and some women away from church and away from each other. On top of the difficult ministry we have trying to encourage the people here, we also have a language barrier (most people speak Creole and have at least a little difficulty with English) and we have been feeling strong attack from the enemy. Two times in the last week we have experienced attacks of oppression and fear in the middle of the night and even though we are in separate rooms, we have all felt the same thing. The devil hates what we are doing here and we need your prayers and help. Catherine and I were up praying for almost an hour last night as we could feel the oppression of the enemy and it was while before we felt freedom and the light of God. Even now we still feel a bit of a weight and ask that you would stand with us. There are some in Beswick who still practice witchcraft and Anderson has told me they have often placed curses on others. He was cursed himself once when he first began walking with God. He says it almost killed him but God saved him and when he went back into the town they were shocked that he was still alive and he gave a powerful witness for the gospel.

To get a little more specific, Catherine and the other girls have found a few individuals that they are focused on praying with and encouraging in the hopes of kindling, rekindling, and encouraging these followers of Jesus. They had a women's night last night and washed the women's feet and painted nails and did hair, all while sharing the gospel and talking and praying with adults and children. About 35-40 women from the community came and it was a refreshing time. Please pray for Catherine as she and the other girls try to bring more of God's life to these women. Since I'm only one guy I've targeted 4 men from different age groups and my goal is to get them pouring into each other by the end of our time here. Garry is 17 and he earnestly desires God. We have some difficulty understanding each other sometimes but he is a passionate young man who loves the Lord and is trying to seek Him in a place where very few of his peers feel the same way. Anderson is in his late 40's or early 50's and is a powerful preacher but needs encouragement in leading others. Stanley is in his 40's and struggles, but desires freedom. Justin is a worship leader in his late 20's or early 30's. He helps Loretta on the keyboard sometimes and has written a few songs that show a deep hunger for the things of God. Please pray for me as I talk to and encourage these men. If they begin standing strong for each other and blessing each other in prayer and encouragement we may yet see a huge shift in the spiritual struggle here in Beswick.

There's so much more to share and now that we've given a big picture overview, we'll try to share some more specific stories as soon as we can, but know that we are in the thick of tremendous ministry and challenges in our marriage and we need your prayers and support. Catherine and I are working hard to maintain date nights and talk time together but sometimes that's nothing more than sharing a can of coke in our bug infested room and talking or watching a movie on our laptop. It's a very different reality than last month and we appreciate your prayers.

Lastly, we are moving forward financially but still need help. Please help us meet our goals and give, either monthly or a one-time gift. You all are such an encouragement to us and we feel your support emotionally, prayerfully and financially and we are strengthened by the knowledge that you are standing with us to make a difference here.

Please contact us with questions, things that are happening in your lives or anything else you'd like to share or know. We love talking to you and we'll do our best to communicate with everyone we hear from as soon as we can.

On the Journey together
David and Catherine
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Australia - We'll be Outback



After many days of travel which included airport sleeping, meeting our Australian family and being totally surprised by the overwhelming love we received we are finally in our destination of Beswick Australia, ready to live another month in the World Race.

We were delayed in Brisbane for 5 days after arriving in Australia and that's where our "Australian family" came in. We needed a place to stay in Brisbane for those 5 days, so after sending out a few emails and looking for contacts in Brisbane we were connected to Peter and Rachel Doherty who opened their home to 5 noisy Americans and a Canadian. In that short time we truly felt blessed by their hospitality and spending time with them and their three children, Sam, Zach and Olivia will definitely be one of the highlights of the World Race for us. They took us to see Koalas and showed us the views and sights of the great city of Brisbane. Staying in a real home with a real family was such a huge blessing and gave us a much needed rest before we got to the much more challenging portion of our ministry in Australia.

Our flight from Brisbane to Darwin was cancelled due to a cyclone (which is our equivalent to a hurricane). The great news about that was we were placed on another flight with a short layover in Sydney! We got to see the Sydney Opera House from the plane window. I love how God uses unexpected delays to give us good gifts! Once we arrived in Darwin, up in the Northern Territory state, we stayed the night at a Christian ministry that is a medical center that takes in people from all over the Northern Territory. They actually have a helicopter that picks people up who are hundreds of miles away from civilization, when needed.

The Northern Territory (NT) is very similar to what the Wild West was in the U.S. and is very different from the rest of Australia. According to the rest of Australia, the NT is considered the "real Outback" but when you talk to the people here they say that the real Outback is further out into the desert areas and much more difficult living conditions. Something we are learning very quickly here is that there is real time, and there is "NT time" and NT time stands for Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not Tuesday and Not Thursday. So, to say the least, people value time very differently here. For example, today we were told that we were going to head into town (which is a 2 hour drive) at 10am. I am writing this blog at 12:45pm and we still haven't heard anything about when we are heading to town. For those of you who know me well, I've operated off of NT time my whole life and have finally found the culture that supports my time table!

Two days ago we left Darwin and headed to a town named Katherine (I know, they spelled it wrong ;) ). There we stayed the night at farm house with another team. The next day we headed to what will be our home for the next 3 weeks in a small village called Beswick, about a 2 hour drive outside of Katherine. Needless to say we are very glad to be here and grateful for traveling mercies. We are staying in a building that is used as a government contractor's quarters, which is a cement slab with cinderblock walls, sectioned off into 10 smaller rooms (kitchen & bedroom) with a large room in the center. It's a bit of an adjustment but we have cleaned it up quite a bit and it is beginning to feel like home.

Many people in the community live off of welfare and have a sense of aimlessness. And yet, when you look deep into their eyes you see a longing for something more than what they have experienced. Tonight we will have our first worship service with our new church family and we can hardly wait to join in worship to our King! We will be doing a lot of "lifestyle" evangelism, just living life alongside the people we meet and sharing the love of Christ as we play sports or have a simple chat under the shade of a tree. Pray for the people of Australia, that they would find a sense of purpose and destiny in a world that seems hopeless. Pray that the Joy of the Lord would cause an uprising of praise that would spread to the other communities and even deeper into the outback. Remember our team as we are in more severe conditions than we've ever experienced before and a different spiritual climate as well. Pray that we can bring a little more of God's kingdom to this small community and a joy that overflows from the heart of a King rejoicing over His people.

As always we need your financial support to keep going on this journey. We have so many more stories to tell and people to meet. Help us give our lives away for this one year and thank you for pouring into our lives and the kingdom of Christ. You can donate by clicking here.

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New Zealand Pictures



Hey everyone, here are a few pics from New Zealand. More to come hopefully soon. You'll notice not a lot of these pictures are of us working. That's mainly because, well.... we were working and unfortunately neglected to take very many pictures during our ministry days. There are some out there and we'll post them as soon as possible and try to be better at capturing the whole journey for you all but in the meantime, enjoy the beauty that is New Zealand by clicking here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47688&id=1048451417&l=d83e573f3d
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The Kingdom of Heaven is...



The Kingdom of Heaven is... from David Reyes on Vimeo.

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