Jeep and IPHC!

Hello! It has been a wild year so far down under..and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Nature was the sad big story and I hear it even made news back in the States. Wildfires (most unfortunately set by arson) ravaged Victoria, Australia and the devastation included around 300 people losing their lives. A lot of the towns down there are quite small and isolated and the fires would quickly block off the one or two exits of the town leaving the people with nowhere to escape. It was an incredibly tragic time but even in the midst of disaster came story after story of good people giving time, money, shelter, and aid to those who were hurting. Even in the pain....God was moving. Where I am in Queensland, floods were the culprit. At one point over 62% of our HUGE state was underwater! Again, many cool stories have come out of the struggles...including when one of the skateboarding teams in Youth Street gave up their Saturday of skating to travel about an hour away so they could help clean up one of the worst hit towns. They were able to really help some people in their time of need...and two of the Youth Street kids even gave their lives to the Lord that day!

I have been working in our registrar department where I spend a lot of time on the phone and writing emails to people who are looking at coming...specifically to the July DTS that I will again be staffing this year. As of now we have 7 accepted students..and we want more! Keep the school in your prayers and that people will come...not for the sake of big numbers....but because I have seen first hand how a DTS can affect someone's life. People experience God in a real way on DTS...and their lives are forever changed. God has a real desire to meet people and renew them from the inside out...and DTS is a great avenue for this to happen in an amazing way! So I'd love it if you keep the DTS in your prayers even now before it begins!

Next week I leave to go on "Deeper"...it's a 8 day camp I staffed last year that is for Youth Street kids who really want to grow deeper in relationship with God. This year we will driving about 18 hours south where we will go to a Christian music festival for 2 days, and then travelling another bunch of miles east where we are going on a "NIKO" camp. It's one of those survivalist camps out in the middle of nowhere that is meant to challenge kids (and staff!) to persevere when times get tough. Teamwork and character are two things that will be stressed as well as tested! The leaders of this camp are very trustworthy but even us as staff do not know the details of exactly what we be doing! I will be sure and let you know what happens! The one thing I do know is that I will be driving the bus for hours and hours as we go to and from the camp! Ha!

Yes I did say "driving the bus"...you see I got my Queensland bus license a few weeks ago. I will use it quite a bit hauling kids around during Youth Street...but it also happened that I was able to get it about 2 days before Corey arrived back from PNG. So for a little surprise I was able to drive the 4 1/2 hours to pick up her and her team (I may or may not have had flowers too)! She had no idea and the secret was able to be kept..so it was really fun. Their Primary Health care team had an amazing time and have some incredible stories upon their return. Their team was able to rescue a little baby whose mother had been raped and then died during childbirth. Because of the circumstances surrounding the birth of this child, the village had deemed it cursed and had left it to die. One family in the village had mercy on this baby and had tried to help it but then that ENTIRE family was viewed as having a curse. The father heard about missionaries nearby (Corey's team) and traveled over 3 hours by foot to share his story. Corey's team was able to visit the village, speak about the sanctity of life, tell them the baby was not cursed and that it should be cared for. Upon hearing this..the village had an entire change of heart and mothers were lining up to nurse the "cursed" baby. Not only that...but the team was able to set up a way to be able to support this family financially for at least the next 5 years which will allow medical care, food, and schooling for this child! So they had an amazing time and were able to provide healthcare, teaching, prayer, etc. for around 2,000 people in PNG! Incredible.

So yes things are good around here. It is definitely good having Corey back around again. And I sold my Jeep! After over 14 months on the market...it's sold! Although it's maybe a bit sad to see it go.... but I know it is right. Thanks to all of you who I know prayed for months that it would finally sell.

Well that is about it for now! I'll let you all know how Deeper goes. Talk to you soon!

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