Botkin Family Adventures

An Awesome Weekend of Fellowship

2012-02-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note about a special blessing for our family, we recently had the opportunity to attend the NW Men’s Conference at Calvary Fellowship in north Seattle. Ryan and I attended along with about 1000 other men from various Calvary Chapel fellowships. It was truly a joy listening to the messages and taking part in the worship and prayer times. I cannot accurately describe the joy it was for me to be there with my oldest son and watch as he was ministered to and as we all joined together as a band of brothers. “Behold the Man” was the theme, obviously referring to Jesus and the focus was squarely upon Him throughout the entirety of the event. I was reunited with many old friends and tried my best to catch everyone up to speed on our missionary progress though, due to a cold, my voice was just about gone. “A great time” just scratches the surface!

http://calvaryfellowship.org/audio/tag/Events|Series/NW%20Mens%20Conference%202012

Not only that but, we then traveled up the interstate to Camano Island to visit our long time friends and supporters at Island Christian Fellowship (ICF). It was nearly ten years ago that ICF teamed with our family to help plant Calvary Chapel Forks and they have been faithfully supporting the church and our family ever since through prayer and various other ways through the years. We are immensely appreciative of them and since it had been almost two years to the day that we had visited and given an update we were super excited to see everyone. Once again the Henning family hosted us and spoiled us rotten. Then we were up early for the two services on Sunday morning. We were so blessed by the many hugs and words of encouragement from so many smiling faces, what a joy!

http://www.islandchristianfellowship.com/

This weekend just solidly reinforced the reality of the blessing of fellowship in the body of Christ. One of our greatest joys is experiencing intimate fellowship with other Believers throughout the world, whether it’s in the US or Australia, in Mexico or Central America. With our friends from S. Korea, Mongolia, Canada, China, New Zealand and the S. Pacific Islands, not to mention Europe and so on, the Bible is proven true again and again (Acts 2: 42; Heb. 10: 23-25) with every new church service, prayer meeting, meal, picnic, footy and soccer game, surf and skate session, Christian fellowship is awesome!

Dec. 2011 Update

2012-02-06T21:39:00.000-08:00

The craziness of the holidays is finally over and our family is back to its regular routines. Christmas was a huge blessing this year stretching from one day to five as we were delighted to spend it with many of our close relatives and friends. These special events are often difficult because we’d like to clone ourselves to be able to celebrate with all of our loved ones, nonetheless, we are very thankful for the great times we experienced.

In this year’s festivities we were shepherds for Calvary Chapel Sequim’s (CCS) big Christmas event, “The Streets of Bethlehem”, a role that our family easily adjusted to. Many people visited our area and petted the live animals while listening to our mini message of our angelic visitation and admiration for the baby Messiah. There was a live concert in the afternoon and tasty Gyro sandwiches with ample amounts of olives, pita chips, and hummus for the Mediterranean style dinner. It was a lot of work but was all worth it in the end as the whole congregation worked together to honor the Lord and serve one another, it’s always such a blessing to see the Lord’s Church functioning smoothly and to see the visitors enjoying themselves and being touched by the Gospel.

Christmas Eve and morning were spent with Cameron’s Mom and Step-Dad and was full of presents, fun, and food. In the evening we attended the CCS Candlelight service and watched as the kids carefully held their candles and beautifully sung the traditional Christmas hymns. Christmas morning was busy but a joy as we dug into our stockings and then attended morning service at CCS. Jeremy led worship and toward the end Cameron and Kay came up on Kay’s impulse and lead Silent Night thus, burying the needle on the “Cute Meter”. “Merry Christmas!” was repeated joyfully from one friend to another and then we were off to Jeremy’s Dad and Step-Mom’s scenic home on Bainbridge Island a couple short hours away. We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day and even got to spend time with Jeremy’s Uncle Steve (a wonderful surprise) and his Brother and Family who bravely drove the twenty-five arduous hours from Hollywood to the Northwest for the holidays. More fun, presents, and food and then we loaded up on coffee and headed down to the ferry to pick up Jeremy’s Mom who’d traveled all afternoon and evening from San Diego to bless us with a week long visit. The timing of everything worked out perfectly and we were home safely and in bed before midnight.

Our week leading up to New Year ’s Day was relaxing, we made it a point to slow down and really enjoy our time with family. Nonetheless, we took in the local winter sights by hiking around the neighborhood, on the majestic Dungeness Recreation Area, and amazingly, Ryan, Aubry and Nana Carole even walked over seven miles from our home to the store in town! We allowed Ryan to stay up with us for the change of the New Year but we were all so tired we barely made it to 12:01 am before turning in for the night.

It was a fitting end to 2011 as we have had a very busy year and 2012 looks to be more of the same. We thoroughly appreciate your prayers and look forward to the coming year as the next chapter unfolds in this very exciting adventure that God has directed us into.

Australia Update:

As was mentioned in our “Post Envision” entry, we went to Sydney in December 2011 in obedience to God’s leading with hopes to get direction and confirmation for the next step. God clearly met us there and confirmed our calling to Australia and specifically pointed us toward Sydney in order to take part in the coming church plant. Many of the team members who are assisting in the church plant are placing their time of relocation to be around July or Aug. of this year, so we feel that is a good target date for us as well. As far as the actual “grand opening” of the church, since it will take some months to get established in the city, develop relationships with people and get familiar with everything the date is around Jan. 2013. By the way, we’ve been told that there will shortly be a website running for all who are interested in getting informed on the church plant including getting to know the team members and being directed in how to pray for us. We’ll let you know when it’s ready!

There is a real temptation to get comfortable here in Sequim but with our calling renewed in Sydney we are definitely still in “Missions Mode” and are actively keeping our lives simple and our hearts diligently focused on the call. We’re remaining fervent in prayer and constantly in contact with our partners in the future ministry. We recently celebrated Australia Day with a dessert and prayer night at our house. It was really well attended and our family was truly blessed to share our hearts and vision and watch as others joined in to pray for the work. The Lord is keeping our ministry skills sharpened by serving at the church in various ways such as, Jeremy helping to lead worship in the main services and teaching once or twice a m onth. Also, Cameron and Jeremy are involved with leading worship and teaching in the teen and children’s ministries. Jeremy’s also teaching beginning guitar at the church and Christian school weekly. He’s also overseeing various outreach possibilities in the community, while once a month helping out with the men’s and surf ministries. We love serving the Lord and ministering to His people and are genuinely thankful to have the opportunity to use and develop our gifts here in Sequim for now, but we’re looking forward to how the Lord’s going to use us overseas hopefully very soon.

New Vision

2011-12-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Is. 55: 10-13

As we were praying about our recent trip to Sydney, I felt the Lord direct us to this passage in preparation for what He was going to speak to us at the conference. Isaiah 42 was the chapter that God spoke to us on our first trip to Australia to attend the Calvary Chapel ministry conference on the Gold Coast back in 2009. That chapter became our theme for the adventure that was to come as we transitioned from the ministry of Calvary Chapel Forks into missions with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) which ultimately led us to N. Queensland and Papua New Guinea, where we completed a year long staff internship program with YWAM, Townsville. As mentioned in Isaiah 55, the life transforming truth of God’s word is central to our relationship with God, for it expresses His heart, nature, character, and plan for humanity’s salvation. Heb. 4: 11-12 states, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Thus when I read that God has a distinct purpose in delivering His powerful word into the lives of a needy world, I get excited because we get to be apart of that work. We get to be His mouth, His hands, feet, His ears to touch the lives of hurting people and as it is apparent, the people of Australia.

It was with great difficulty that Cameron and I left Sequim, WA to begin our 12 day trip to Sydney. Difficult because this would be the longest that we have ever been away from the kids and though we were very confident that they would be fine in the capable hands of our relies (relatives), we knew that we’d miss them terribly. Nonetheless, we found ourselves over thirty hours later in a very nice home in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney reunited with both old and new friends all who share the same burden for Aussies. We spent three days getting to know one another better and generally enjoying the fellowship. We spent much time sharing worship songs, ministry stories, and time praying for the nation. Leading up to the trip, Cameron and I had been in contact with some of the key members of the team and had been very interested in their plans and considered what involvement we might have but remained unsure and not entirely committed even through this preliminary period. All that changed though, when the conference began in earnest.

We had been praying for months and had as many people as possible praying for us also so that we would know clearly what the next step for our family would be. Sure enough from each of the speakers came a wonderful message of God’s great love for us and His clear calling of our family to continue serving Him in the Australian mission field.

The plan, as it stands is to spend the rest of the school year in the States and prepare to set sail again for Australia come July/August 2012. So far there are a hand full of families and some individuals who are likewise preparing to relocate around that time, some are Aussie nationals while others are from the U.S. The hope is to get established in the Sydney area near downtown and launch a Calvary Chapel affiliated church by the beginning of 2013.

During the conference, one thing that was clear and is felt by many is that God is ready to move powerfully and significantly in this country and has gathered all of us together to be apart of the work. How is it going to happen? How will we get the visas, the finances, the people and resources? I’m confident these questions will be answered in the near future. In the meantime we will all be in disciplined and fervent prayer for how to take the next delicate steps. We are emboldened by the confirmation of our calling and incredibly excited to be apart of His work. All of the team members are remarkably gifted and experienced men and women of faith and we are honored and blessed to be working with them.

So, another chapter is beginning for us and we can’t wait to see how it will all unfold. One thing for sure, serving the Lord is always a challenging adventure and rarely dull. We are so, so grateful for your prayers and your partnership in the ministry. I can’t fully communicate the ups and downs that we’ve experienced over these recent months but we are always comforted by the words of encouragement, prayers, and support that are expressed constantly by all of our friends and family. Thank you again for investing in the Lord’s work through us.

The Botkin Family

The Next Step, "Envision Australia"

2011-11-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

“Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!” Ps. 40: 16

Truly, we are crying out, “The Lord be magnified” in everything we are doing right now. We are excited and filled with great expectation for our trip to Sydney in a few days. We are planning to room with three or four other couples from the U.S. for the days leading up to the “Envision Australia Conference” (envision-australia.com) and for a couple of days afterward. Our roommates share our burden for Australia and have a heart to see churches planted throughout the Great South Land. Our time together as a group will be vitally important and will be spent:

In Fellowship, getting to know one another as Cameron and I haven’t met some of the team and need to really connect well and share our hearts with them.
In Worship, spending time exalting Jesus as one body, surrendering to His will and plan while also making a firm stand against any opposition.
In Prayer, humbly coming before the Lord to align our hearts with His as we walk through the city. We’ll be crying out to the Lord for the souls of its citizens and to receive vision for the future ministry.
In Bible study, building up and encouraging one another in His word with open minds and hearts ready to hear what the Holy Spirit will speak to us.

Then, the conference…Brian Broderson and Bill Welch leading the sessions with Scott Cunningham and Steve Grace leading in worship with a wonderful mix of men and women from all over Australia all meeting with the primary purpose to worship the Lord and to hear from Him about ministry in this great, spiritually needy nation.

We’re stoked, excited, and expectant for this trip and for the future of God’s work Down Under!

Please keep us in prayer:

Continued open doors for church planting in Australia, especially for the team in Sydney.
Obtaining a visa for long-term service in the country.
Financial provision for our family as we hope to be relocating to Australia by June/July 2012.
Clear revelation of God’s plan as we connect with many people on this trip.
Strength, endurance, wisdom, etc. for Lois and Ron as they watch our kids while we’re away and for the kids to be a blessing.

Thank you again for your love, friendship, and partnership in the ministry.

The Botkin Family

Recent Sermons

2011-10-30T12:16:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent teachings that Jeremy has done at various Calvary Chapels since we've been back. May the Lord richly bless your Bible study!
http://sermon.net/calvaryportangeles/sermonid/2746892
http://sermon.net/calvaryportangeles/sermonid/2752742
http://sermon.net/calvaryportangeles/sermonid/2813824
http://www.calvarypointloma.com/audio/index.php/2011/06/19/genesis-12-faithful

Fall Update

2011-10-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, yes it’s been quite a while since I have posted anything and I feel horrible about it. It’s one of those things that if you put it off once or twice it is easy to continue to put it off, but alas I cannot continue I must get back in the habit of writing lest you might think our lives are stagnant and uneventful which could not be farther from the truth.

As many of you know we are now renting a home in Sequim, WA and are attending and working part-time at Calvary Chapel Sequim (CCS). As we made our way back up Interstate 5 from California, in late July, through Oregon and on to the North Olympic Peninsula both Cameron and I were feeling certain we’d end up in Sequim and so were delighted when Pastor Hans and the elder board of CCF offered me the job. It is a breathtakingly beautiful area with a sunny disposition throughout most of the year and yet is still very close to my parents on Bainbridge Is. and Cameron’s parents in Forks. Also, there are a handful of Calvary Chapels around all of which are very supportive of our mission and love having us help out when there is a need.

Meanwhile in Sequim, we’ve been blessed to enroll Ryan and Aubry in the Olympic Christian School (OCS) just a few minutes drive from our house. We were really conflicted with putting the older kids in school since though, we felt clearly that we should not continue to home school them, we were not willing to place them in the local public school. We figured the other private Christian schools would be too expensive so we really prayed and felt the Lord directing us to OCS. Once we sat down and met with the principle and some of the staff our worries disappeared as we saw a school that seemed a perfect fit and the ministry discounts that were offered to us brought the cost down considerably, praise the Lord!

Currently, my responsibilities at Calvary Sequim include helping in the youth ministry, men’s ministry, worship, surf ministry, and in general administration and maintenance. I am also volunteering at the Olympic Christian School teaching beginning guitar and occasionally teaching in chapel.

Cameron’s been busy home schooling Sean and Kay, volunteering at the Olympic Christian School, and keeping the house efficiently running, and assisting wherever possible in the women’s ministry and youth ministry at CCS.

Ryan and Aubry have transitioned amazingly well from full time home schooling for most of their lives to OCS. They have small classes with faculty who are very involved and dedicated to helping them succeed, as of Oct. they are both getting nearly straight A’s! Socially, they fitting right in and getting along with their peers very well. Ryan’s class has a good ratio of boys to girls but Aubry is the only girl in her class. Nevertheless, she’s doing fine and is connecting with the girls from the other grades. Calvary Sequim has a young group of girls called “The Ladybugs” who Aubry has joined and befriended. They are spending a lot of time together in fellowship and prayer and have been active in, and are currently planning many community service projects, outreach events, and even a short-term mission trip to mainland Mexico in July 2012. Unfortunately, with our projected plans for serving in Australia, Aubry won’t be attending. Aubry continues to enjoy piano lessons as she’s picked up where she left off when she left for Australia and is growing in her skills more and more all the time, even singing a bit more to our delight as she has an amazing singing voice.

Ryan has been diving headlong into school and is kept pretty busy with homework. He’s taking my guitar class at OCS and another one at church and is progressing really well. When he wants to blow off steam and get some exercise, he enjoys getting on the bike and exploring the surrounding area especially the trails by the beach. He is also involved with the Youth Ministry and Surf Ministry at church and is always excited to get in the water and has fun whatever the conditions.

Sean has been adjusting well to being the man of the house when his older siblings and Dad are away for the day. He and Kay are really teaming up well through their teaching time and through out the day. Sean’s been keeping busy with the Olympic Peninsula Home Connection (OPHC) on Tuesdays, our local home schooling co-op and will be starting swim lessons soon. He stays active doing hiphop dance, playing in the yard and occasionally going into the woods with Dad to fish and/or hunt.

Kay also tags along to Tuesday school but is too young to attend classes all day. She’s learning very quickly next to Sean in our home school and both are really enjoying the Calvary Kids’ Club at church. Kay’s also enjoying ballet classes once a week and can often be heard singing wonderful Christian songs that she makes up as she goes.

I’m sure many of you are interested in finding out what is on the horizon for our family’s calling to Australia. Well, we are also very interested and are continuing to pray and connect with others who are interested in missions Down Under. Since our return from Townsville in June, I was able to attend the National Pastors’ Conference and prayed earnestly that God would connect me with other ministry leaders who might be apart of God’s next step for us. Straight away, I began meeting people both interested being involved first-hand and those who’re interested in supporting the work. Two significant men were Pete Nelson and Brian Henderson. Both have a huge heart for Australia and both are actively working toward launching a church plant in Sydney around July 2012. As we’ve been in communication over these months their vision and strategy has become more solid and other couples, families, and individuals are coming on-board to be involved, including our family! As Pete is leading the church plant and the rest of us will be in supporting roles, his vision is for this church to be a church planting church. That it would begin with a very strong missional focus thereby staying away from trying to make a name for itself and gain personal notoriety. Instead, when the time is right, he feels no hesitation in sending out ministry leaders like ourselves with other like-minded workers to plant churches throughout Australia and potentially throughout the world. His heart is for the Calvary Chapel style of ministry to really gain a foothold in Australia and to spread freely where God wants it to go. This is exactly our heart as well, even more now that we’ve been there for a year and have seen first-hand the hunger for balanced ministry and the expositional teaching of the word of God. Oh the fire continues to burn in our hearts to get back to Australia and do the work! Even so, God has brought us back for a myriad of reasons many of which we’ve already experienced but I’m sure there are more to come.

Here’s one recent experience I’d like to share with you. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to come down from Washington to S. California to meet with Pete, Brian, and a handful of other interested parties to pray together and share more of the vision and strategy for the Sydney church plant. I flew in on a Sunday night with everything going smoothly on the trip down. I met my Mom at the San Diego Airport and was soon in bed. I awoke early Monday morning to make the drive up to Murrieta for the meeting. Everything went well through the meeting and we were all blessed to be reunited and to get to know each other better. As the meeting wrapped up, we ate lunch together and then I headed back to San Diego, not really sure what to do with the rest of my day. I figured a trip to see some old friends at a local Ocean Beach surf shop would be in order. I managed to find a parking spot nearby and walked down the busy sidewalk to the surf shop. After a while of browsing I was able to reconnect with the owners who I have known for over twenty years. They were among the group of friends and acquaintances who have watched my life change from when I was 19 years old, a wandering godless surfaholic to a newly born Christian, to a youth pastor and eventually to husband, father, and church planter, and missionary. All along the way I’ve tried to stay in touch and have prayed many prayers for their salvation and for God to really transform their lives and use them. Sure enough, as I began to share with them of our experiences in Australia and Papua New Guinea and they shared their personal struggles over the last couple of years, their hearts were broken and their spirits were ready to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and to turn from their old lifestyle. After more than twenty years of prayer, God gave me the privilege of being able to pray with them to receive Jesus and become Christians. If it was for this reason alone that God brought us back, it would be worth it, but there have been numerous other instances much like this that we’ve been apart of in the last few months and I’m sure God has much more ahead. What a joy it is to know God and to be His agents of love for this world, whether it be in the States or in Australia or wherever, we are so blessed!

So as we know more about our specific plans, we’ll be sure to let you know and I am recommitting to be more current on the blog so everyone can see what we’re up to. Once again thank you for your prayers and support and we ask that you would continue to partner with us in the work.

PRAISES!

• My Mom’s cancer has been treated and all reports say the likelihood of it returning are very slim!!!
• We’re established in Sequim for now and God is faithfully providing and is using us in a bunch of different and significant ways.
• Everyone’s healthy, though I gotta remember to keep my back strong, it’s gone out on me twice already since we’ve been back.
• Home schooling with Sean and Kay is going great
• Regular schooling with Ryan and Aubry is going great
• The Lord continues to make our van run well and has provided us with a nice used truck for a second vehicle.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• More clear direction in obtaining a visa for Australia
• The Lord’s will in pursuing a second job for Jeremy or Cameron
• The Lord’s will for Cameron to go back to school to finish her AA

June 2011 Update

2011-07-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

We’ve arrived back in the States and are getting adjusted to all the changes; driving on the other side of the road, great cheap food, huge servings, and free refill drinks! The avalanche of big box stores carrying everything you need and a whole lot that you don’t all for ridiculously low prices. When we were in Townsville, we were in survival mode and didn’t spend a lot of time looking at ads or wondering what we could buy next because we couldn’t really afford much and it wasn’t a necessity, now that we’re back the temptation to buy everything in sight is constant but the fact that we have to cart everything we own around in our van and trailer is a great deterrent to covetousness. It’s been a bittersweet time being back. Our hearts burn to be back in Australia serving God and we have a very real sense of unfinished business in our spirit. It’s wonderful to see our family and friends and to visit familiar churches and neighborhoods but it’s also very difficult to leave such a loving group of friends in Townsville and our adopted country. Whether it was leaving Pt. Loma to plant CCForks, or leaving Forks to answer God’s call in Australia, departing is always tough. We are consoled by Facebook, Skype, and email knowing that we can all stay in-touch more conveniently than ever before but the distance is still hard. Upon our return we’ve had many conversations with family and friends and each time three questions understandably arise which, come to think of it, parallels what Jesus tells John in the book of Revelation, Chapter 1: 19. “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” So I’ll try to answer them in this order.

What we have seen:

Here are some short thoughts that I hope will communicate some of the multiplicity of lessons we’ve learned over this year, some are new while others serve to refresh our memories of timeless truths. Our God is a big God, a loving Father, and always faithful even when we’re faithless. He’s incredibly patient, full of grace, and merciful. In the same way that He shows grace toward us as individual Christians, He likewise shows it to organizations that are sincerely trying to serve Him. It’s okay to be a little demonstrative in worship, God is generous by nature and blesses our free generosity. God speaks in many different ways and He wants us to listen and obey His voice and not walk in presumption. God is as real and powerful in Papua New Guinea, as in Australia, as in the States and His church is equally warm and loving throughout the world. We should always act in faith, not in fear. Though the weather may turn deadly, though the funds seem to be running out, though things aren’t working out like you planned or thought they would, though deadly snakes slither through your yard (and sometimes your living room), though mozzies are sucking your blood and potentially giving you lifelong diseases, though allergies seem to attack relentlessly, the kids are coming down with various strange, and persistent tropical afflictions (worms, lice, staph, etc), though homeschooling is much more difficult, and generally everything seems foreign and not quite comfortable, God calls us to walk in faith and not in fear.

The things which are:

Currently, I’m writing this update from Bend, Oregon where we’ve been preparing to attend a wedding of a dear friend. It’s been about a month since we’ve flown into Los Angeles and we’ve been staying with friends and family in L.A., San Diego, and even attended both the week long National Calvary Chapel Pastors’ Conference and two day’s of lectures at the Murrieta Conference Center’s church planting symposium called “Fit for the Field”. From there we headed up to Lemoore, Ca. and then on up to Mariposa for a few days to visit a friend and for Cameron’s induction into the “Grizzly Hall of Fame” for her many undefeated seasons playing volleyball at the local high school. Next, it was up to Redding for a quick overnight and then on up to Bend, Oregon for the wedding. Throughout our trip the Lord has been opening doors of ministry both with those who’re putting us up (or putting up with us, as the case may be) and with random people who He brings along our path to encourage, pray for, or just to tell our story to. It’s awesome to see that we’re as much missionaries here and now as we were overseas. Having driven this trip many times we’re beginning to make a list of sights that we really want to see and this time it is Crater Lake National Park. Though I had doubts about the van’s ability to make the journey successfully, it powered up the hill without any problems but to our dismay the clouds had socked in the mountain making it impossible to see anything but the aged snow on either side of the road. Not to worry though, we’ll be backtracking on our way to our family reunion near Grants Pass and will probably see the Park in all its splendor on Sunday. We’re looking forward to next week’s reunion on the Rogue River and then traveling north to Washington State. Once there, we intend to visit family and friends while at the same time giving updates at various churches that have been faithfully supporting us or new ones who’ve shown some interest in our mission and would like us to share our vision for Australia.

The things which shall be hereafter:

The future is bright for our family as we have many options before us to pray over and choose. Ultimately, I’m certain that it’s not about what looks like the best and most beneficial option, but what God is leading us to. We’re convinced that He’s got more work for us Down Under and we are positioning ourselves to be ready to answer that call as soon as the visa is secured and plane tickets bought. When that is exactly remains to be seen and is the topic of much conversation and mind space. We’re in contact with various Calvary Chapel ministry leaders both in the States and in Australia and are trying to be creative so as to be open to any possible way into the country but so far we haven’t come up with anything specific. This is where our family is focusing our attention through prayer, study, and generally seeking the Lord while waiting on and trusting in Him for direction and provision…He is faithful and will show us the next step.

PRAYER POINTS:

Safe travels for the remainder of our road trip

Clear direction to secure a visa

Direction for what to do in the mean time

Continued persistence in home schooling

Jeremy’s Mom’s health

Praises…too many to list!

A wonderful send off from our loving friends in Townsville

Safe and easy travel overseas

Great times spent with family and friends

Taxes completed!

Van and trailer gifted back to us

Family’s healthy, God’s provided perfectly…We’re so blessed!

The Next Step

2011-05-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since our last update but that certainly does not mean that things around here have been uneventful. Quite the opposite is the case as we enjoyed a wonderful time with Cameron's Mom, Lois who stayed with us for a wonderful six weeks! I have begun to do a verse by verse Bible study through Paul's letter to the Colossians on Sunday nights at Townsville Central City Mission (TCCM), and we are preparing for our next step in the Botkin Family missions journey, our trip back to the States and God's leading from there.

We'll start with Lois' visit:
Lois braved the long and multiple flights to blessed us with her unyielding joy and servants' heart. We were all ecstatic to see and spend time with her and couldn't wait to show her around the YWAM base and the territory surrounding it. Within her first week we went sight seeing all over town, including up Castle Hill for an arial view of the city. We visited Magnetic Island, located just off the coast of Townsville and had a blast playing in the warm waters and took in some of the sights. Though it was a bit of a blustery day, we made the best of it by staying active and replaced all of the calories we burned while playing and walking with a huge Mexican food dinner at one of the local island restaurants. There were many highlights to the Townsville visit, including my meager attempt to explain Rugby League footie as we watched two matches back to back well into the night, but I think what we all enjoyed the most was going down to the waterfront of Townsville (the Strand) for fish and chips and a swim. This time of year the jellyfish (stingers) are really out and dangerous so the lifesavers have strung nets out in the water for safe swimming and we took full advantage of them, the kids practicing their swimming and body surfing skills and refusing to come out even when it was time to eat. Many of our friends found meeting Lois a huge blessing and had some truly meaningful times of fellowship and home cooked meals. It was tough to see her leave but we were encouraged that it will only be a few weeks until we are reunited at the Rogue River in Oregon.

Teaching at TCCM:
Having had some time freed up with the conclusion of the Oct. DTS, Cameron and I decided it would be an opportune time to become more active at our local fellowship. I discussed the possibility of teaching through a book of the Bible with our good friend, Donna Emery (the overseer of Sunday night service) and Rev. Craig and was happy to receive their support and the green light to go for it. After some thought and prayer I settled on Paul's letter to the Colossians and began studying and preparing. Currently, we're three chapters and three weeks into the study and the feedback has been very encouraging and discussions lively and meaningful. We've been blessed with some of the current YWAM DTS students volunteering to do childcare and also have seen some interest from other YWAMers about attending. With only one more chapter and weekend to go, I pray that someone in the church will get a calling from God to continue the work. It's always such a joy to see the growth, interest, and excitement that comes from presenting an in-depth verse by verse expository teaching and I'm certain that great fruit will come out of the service and congregation if it could become part of the general ministry of the church. It's been great to get back into teaching and leading worship again and I look forward to the next step as I'm hopeful that God will place us in a position to use our gifts openly.

The Next Step:
We've really enjoyed our time over this last year in Townsville, serving with Youth With A Mission and attending TCCM, but with our return flights booked and our visa coming to an end, this stage of the journey is complete. We feel certain that God has more for us in Australia and will reveal more steps as we walk in obedience but for now, we are preparing once again to head overseas. This comes at a time when visiting family is really important, Cameron's Grandmother recently passed away, and reconnecting with those who've faithfully supported us; various churches, families , and individuals is a huge priority. It's with a mix of sadness and eager expectation that we conclude our time here in North Queensland. Sadness in that we've made some really great friendships and seen some wonderfully beautiful land and have been used by the Lord to touch many lives. Yet, we are eager to see where God will plant us and what He has next. The call to the Great South Land is still firmly within our hearts but for now we are resigned to follow God's path wherever and whenever He directs us.

Please continue to pray for our patience and spiritual sensitivity to possible open doors of ministry for the future, for God's provision and protection through the move back to the States, and for our family to be flexible and resilient with all the changes that are afoot. Once again thank you for your prayers, financial support, and words of encouragement over this last year and on into the future as the journey continues.
Jeremy and the rest of the Botkin Family

North Queensland Outreach

2011-03-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

The destruction became increasingly worse as we drove north up the Bruce Highway toward Mossman. As we drove through historic Ingham the signs of the devastating category 5 cyclone “Yasi” were apparent, flatten banana plantations, sheds that had been ripped apart and strewn all over the place, roofs of houses and siding torn off, and trees in all sorts of condition, many blown over, some standing or leaning as if they had withstood a prolonged artillery borage. What was most noticeable was the overall lack of leaves on any of the trees and bushes. The highway through the small waterfront town of Cardwell was limited to one lane with sand covering the other and workers busily moving about clearing and repairing in the stifling heat. Having spent the first week of our Aussie Outreach in Townsville cleaning hundreds rural and residential yards, we could relate to their sunburn, exhaustion, and unquenchable thirst. Our next stop after Cardwell was Tully, strategically located with acceptable public bathrooms, good coffee it was also ground zero for the cyclone. After a quick pit-stop, we made a tour of the town taking in the dire situation of most of the residents. The houses and businesses were in varying degrees of ruin not one was immune. Along the edge of the streets were stacked tons and tons of building debris and residents’ belongings. Apparently, most of the town had been evacuated just before the storm thus, upon their return they were greeted to all their belongings soaked with water beyond saving. Our hearts longed to stay and help out as we had in Townsville but we already had firm appointments in Mossman and Cairns that couldn’t be broken.

It’s a solid five hour plus drive from Townsville to Cairns through amazing land sometimes resembling Hawaii and other times the rolling hills and farmland of central Oregon. Once we reached the city of Cairns and made our way north our views drastically changed as the highway paralleled the shoreline of the Pacific for about 20 miles. This part of the drive was breathtaking and Cameron and I began immediately to brainstorm how we might be able to come back as a family and enjoy this near paradise. Once the road parted from the waterfront and the views went back to cane fields, we made a short supply stop at a Port Douglas grocery store and then quickly drove the rest of the way to our host church, Mossman Assembly of God. This is a large building with an expansive open-air sanctuary filled with cushioned pews and a small tidy kitchen adjoining. Next to the kitchen is a covered patio for dining and general fellowship and men’s and women’s bathrooms with showers and even a washing machine! By moving the pews around and dividing the guys from the girls and our family, we were able to make this facility really comfortable for us, especially in comparison to our experiences in PNG.

Throughout the next couple of days the team visited a number of different local primary schools and Mossman’s state high school. The programs were adapted to the schools’ normal “Religious Education” period and our hosts were very accommodating and the students gracious and predominantly eager to meet us and learn about God and the various ministries of YWAM Townsville. In the primary schools our programs generally consisted of an introduction of the team, at least one testimony of a team member of how God had worked in their lives, a fun game like “banana, hunter, gorilla” (a variation of rock, paper, scissors), a humorous skit depicting a Bible story like David and Goliath or one teaching a good lesson like the importance of teamwork and God’s value of every individual. Toward the end would be a question and answer period followed by a conclusion and farewell. In the high schools the program changed to include a video about YWAM’s involvement in Papua New Guinea and the skits were replaced by more serious dramas about the dangerous temptations that young adults face everyday. We visited a couple of church youth groups and took part in two Sunday morning church services. We also had the opportunity to drive up to the Table Lands above Mossman to the farming town of Atherton where we visited three schools. This was a two hour drive of breathtakingly wonderful landscapes and cute but rugged towns. It’s apparent that this is amazingly rich soil for farming and the Aussies have taken full advantage of its bountiful blessings as we drove by farm after farm on our journey. Thankfully, there were a number of roadside produce stands with various kinds of tropical fruit offered including pineapple, mangoes, papaya, bananas, avocados, sugarcane, corn, and much more that we stocked up on and enjoyed throughout our stay.

On a day off, we drove back into the precipitous hills west of the church, past an aboriginal settlement, along a narrow road into the tropical forest to Mossman Gorge. It was a short drive to the car park where we gathered our family and swim gear and walked a quarter mile along a metal suspended pathway to the swimming hole. This was certainly one of the most beautiful places on our travels in Australia so far. Resembling the Sol Duc River near Forks it is created by the drainage of the constant deluge of water that rains down on the thick green rainforest blanketing the mountains on either side of the steep valley. The water was clear and cool though not cold, and full of small fish that resembled striped perch. I’m told the river is prone to dangerous flash floods from the thunderstorms prevalent this time of year, but this afternoon the waters were gently swift though it would have been nice to have a life-vest just to be safe.

Two real highlights for me were celebrating Cameron and my fifteenth wedding anniversary by leaving the kids with our teammates while we had afternoon tea with a very interesting and spiritually mature couple who live out in the bush above Mossman and then feasting on a very tasty dinner later in the evening in town. Second, was being asked to visit Julatten, a small village just twenty minutes up a windy road reaching the steep hills above Mossman. Being very rural and isolated many of the locals go to church down in Mossman, Port Douglas, or even all the way back to Cairns. But, an elderly family felt a calling to plant a church in the small community to meet the spiritual need and from that were born a couple weekly men’s and women’s fellowships. Julatten Family Church invited me and another student to attend the men’s group on a Friday night and then our family and some other students to visit their Sunday service as well. On Friday night we enjoyed a massive BBQ feast and great conversation with the guys, I also brought my guitar and some song sheets and led out in worship and then gave a short devotional Bible teaching. On Sunday our Family and two female DTS students piled in the van to attend the quaint service held in an out building in the middle of a field surrounded by lush vegetation and majestic tropical mountains veiled by rain clouds that loudly dropped their liquid contents on our non-insulated tin roof throughout the service. If it wasn’t deafeningly raining then the sun was out and cooked us like we’re in an oven. The students and Cameron were able to share a brief testimony of how God helped them through fearful times and then I followed up with a message on Psalm 56 in which David expresses his reliance on God through his dreadful times in the wilderness being hotly pursued by the belligerent King Saul. The small family church of about twenty five or so were very blessed by our visit and our lunch and fellowship time was rich. Preaching in that setting really reminded me of our early years in Washington planting Calvary Chapel Forks and I earnestly felt a fire in my heart to persist in our calling to bring the word of God to Australians. The congregation blessed us greatly and sent us off with a strong sense of appreciation and acceptance. The joy that is found in fellowship among the family of God (Rom. 8: 14-17) throughout the world never ceases to amaze me, we were truly blessed and it was an honor to serve.

We left Sunday afternoon for our next destination, the touristy city of Cairns. We were hosted by the very generous and hospitable congregation of the Cairns Baptist Church. Arriving just in time to attend their evening service, we were honored to share our PNG recap video and a couple of students’ testimonies. Right away we felt at home and embraced by the congregation and leadership which really made our stay comfortable for the final days of our outreach. We had two school programs to attend during our stay. The first up was a large Lutheran K-12 school in an newly built gigantic auditorium which was filled three times nearly to capacity with groups of children, probably close to five hundred in all. Since each group contained different ages and grades of students, we had to change things up to make the presentation relevant. For the younger audiences we shared a similar program as we with the primary schools in Mossman and Atherton and likewise with the older students, we matured the program to communicate more effectively. It was during the presentation to the older students that one of our guys gave his testimony of how he had been challenged in his faith while in PNG when asked to pray for an afflicted elderly man on a house visit. This was particularly difficult for this DTS student since his mom had passed away of cancer five years previous even though his family had earnestly prayed for her healing. Nonetheless, he felt compelled to go and found the man sitting on a mat under a tree in his yard. The man’s body was obviously stiff; his joints and muscles in great pain from years of being jolted while he worked as a heavy machinery operator. When he heard that Jordan and his team wanted to pray for him, he slowly rose to his feet and with great difficulty and effort made his way to his hut and allowed them to pray for him in a more dignified environment. The team laid their hands on him and Jordan began to pray for his healing. Once he had said, “Amen” one of the team members mentioned feeling something in the man’s back snap into place and directly afterward the man’s countenance drastically changed. He rose to his feet with a smile on his face and began to dance and move freely. He had been healed and was now able to visit family and friends having been physically unable for years. Jordan and the team were ecstatic as you can imagine and found the man the next day in the same rejuvenated condition and getting ready to leave to see family. This story touched many in the audience but none more than a young PNG girl who came up with her friends afterward to meet us and share a special truth that took our breath away…she was from Gabagaba, the same village that we visited and the man that was healed was her grandfather! Our joy was immeasurable and we all marveled at the wisdom and power of God who connected all of these people and events together for His purpose and His glory, what a privilege to be apart of it all. The second school that we visited was a Catholic K-12 that was located just a few miles south of Cairns. This time the team spoke before the grade 10 class and shared in much the same manner as in previous high schools. I don’t have a lot to chronicle in this instance since I spent much of the presentation in the van racing back to the Baptist church to retrieve a box full of pamphlets and buttons to hand out to the students at the end of the program, I made it just in time. I will say though, that in each of the programs, Cameron and our kids integrated right into the mix. Ryan would often take part in the skits or give his testimony. Aubry would help with the games. Sean and Kay mostly mingled with the school children and helped to hand out YWAM paraphernalia and Cameron would do a little of everything. I tried to free her up as much as I could to take more of an active role in the Aussie outreach since I got to experience PNG. It was fabulous outreach; difficult at times, but worth every minute and every sacrifice. Our trip came to an end quickly and we were glad to be back in Townsville and in familiar surroundings.

The DTS is now over with the students graduated and mostly all back home. In some ways it’s hard to believe that it’s over so soon (it’s amazing that it’s been nearly six months already since we started the school!) but in other ways we were ready for it to be completed so that we can move on to the next step in God’s plan…That’s another exciting and developing story that will be posted in about a week, so stay tuned.

Papua New Guinea, Part 4

2011-02-27T01:42:00.000-08:00

Week 3, Port Moresby

Returning to Port Moresby with the intention of staying for a week to do outreach, was to me a daunting but exciting prospect. Daunting because the city was still totally unfamiliar and because I felt like such a foreigner, exciting though because I knew that God was with us and would direct our path as Proverb’s 16: 9 states and that He would empower us for whatever experiences He had in store. He is faithful and we watched eagerly as He opened doors, made connections with locals, and gave each of us the boldness to step out in faith and meet people’s needs.

First things first though. We arrived on Monday and spent most of the day traveling and getting settled in to our new accommodation at the Boroko Baptist Church. What a great church facility and conveniently located near a market place, in a residential area but close enough to the city center to allow us to easily move around and do ministry. Also, our hosts were more than willing to help with transportation and included us in on some of their weekly ministry routines. In settling in and having some time to ourselves, it was evident that our team needed some alone time, by that I mean we needed time together to pray, worship, and get back into real unity. We found that though we experienced great blessing, hospitality, and ministry success in Hisiu and Gabagaba, all the activities and the general conflicts within the towns, especially the most recent one really served to buffet our team and there were some obvious strains coming to the surface. It’s clear to see why Jesus often took His disciples (or tried to take them) to remote areas to retreat, Mark 6: 30-31. We took time that evening and much of the next day to get back on-board with one another and with the mission, in time we were unified and ready to go. On Tuesday afternoon we were surprised to see Eksee and Dr. Peter arrive with an invitation to take out team for a tour around the city. We jumped in and enjoyed getting a much larger perspective of Port Moresby. Beginning in Boroko we circumnavigated the city by heading through various districts en route to Ela Beach, the waterfront area facing SE. From there we cut through the main downtown area of the city where many of the banks and embassies are located. Next, we headed down from the headland to the port which faces NW and followed the bay road to a highway that cut east over a steep hillside and back into the interior of the city, near the airport and main shopping district. From there we took the highway leading up to Hisiu and took a right onto a side road that led to the Police Academy and War Cemetery. We eventually stopped at the Pacific Adventist University, an immaculately maintained property that seemed like crossing a border into another country. After being shut-down in our attempt to use their internet, we returned to the Baptist Church and waved goodbye to our chauffeurs with the promise that we’d reconnect soon.

It was only half an hour or so later that I got the urgent news from our team leader, Krystal informing me that we were to arrange for transport to assist a couple of our DTS members from another team who had just been flown by helicopter to a local hospital and were in the process of being evacuated to Townsville due to extreme circumstances. Apparently, one student was being treated for, what the local doctors diagnosed as cerebral malaria (it turned out to be a false diagnosis) and his staff overseer came along making sure he was well looked after. It was our job to pick up their luggage and bring it home with us because of weight restrictions on the aircraft they were scheduled, within the hour, to take. Eksee and Dr. Peter agreed to come down to help us get there and were promptly at the church to pick us up. We entered the emergency room soon after and met with the exhausted staff member. She looked calm but still a bit frantic inside and ready to be done with this whole ordeal, it had been a really long couple of days for them. As the student rested quietly, it gave us time to meet all the individuals that were involved since they were all in the ER helping. We met the ER doctor, a friend of Eksee’s, also, the Governor of the Gulf Province along with some of his assistants all to make sure the YWAMers were doing well. It was an amazing and crazy scene having so many answers to prayer all in one place at one time under these baffling circumstances! You may remember from the beginning of this journal that we had been praying weeks before the trip about how we should approach the outreach and I mentioned four areas or spheres that we felt God had impressed on us, police, education, government, and hospitals…All of these came together here in the ER with Eksee, Dr. Peter, the Governor, and the location and ER doctor…Our God is mind blowing! And He wasn’t done yet. We packed the bags and left for the church leaving the two team members with prayers, assurances, and hugs. A quick side note as to not keep you in too much suspense, they got back fine and the student has almost fully recovered from the incident though he will not be completing the DTS.

Wednesday began with a quiet time and a yummy breakfast. In late morning, we had a couple of surprise visitors. First a van load of young people from Gabagaba entered the carpark and filed into the fellowship hall where we were staying. It was a joyful reunion as we were pretty convinced that we weren’t going to see any them again. Pastor Ikupu lets us know that he’d invited them to join our team to observe how we do ministry and that he’d be leading them in their own impromptu DTS while we were busy with other tasks. It was great to have them along but it also meant that we didn’t have personal team time, we were always on duty as it were. I was very thankful for the short time we had at the beginning of the week to retreat and get everyone on the same page. A few minutes later a second vehicle drove into the carpark with another large group of young people, this time though, they were white and obviously foreigners. It turned out that another YWAM team from the Byron Bay base had just arrived in the country and was scheduled to stay in the city for a few weeks for their DTS outreach. They had come to serve at the Baptist Church and soon got to work, once we had made their acquaintance and shared experiences. After lunch we began our tasks for the day. First on the list was to visit an internet café’ located near the grocery store. It had been over two weeks since any of us had contact with the rest of the world so it was really exciting to take a few minutes to catch up on news and send out some emails, though we really didn’t have enough time to say “Hi” to everyone that we wanted. Next, we decided to go across town to the Parliament building with hopes of praying around and inside the building. With our late arrival, we were not able to go inside (we weren’t really dressed for it anyway) but were excited to pray outside in the adjoining majestic park area. We prayed for quite a while for various spheres of influence, especially the government and the challenges that it faces as it manages a nation that is currently in a stage of growing prosperity. There are many citizens like Eksee and Dr. Peter who are passionately praying and working hard to see their nation and its government managed well, they are excited to work with organizations like YWAM to assist in realizing their dream. Our team slowly walked around, and finally stopped next to the expansive tranquil pond located in the center of the park. The sharply angular parliament building reflected in the Barramundi filled water as God clearly revealed specific areas for us to pray into. The evening was filled with food preparation, dining, and rich fellowship.

Thursday morning was eventful with the short visit of our friends from the School of Music in Missions (SOMM) team from YWAM, Townsville. It was good to catch up and hear their many stories of God’s faithfulness and open doors of ministry blessings. Our time together was short as we had a hospital visit to make. Having spent many hours in preparing meals for the patients, our local guides, Peter and his wife from the Baptist Church, lead the way. All that food loaded onto a mobile cart along with our team including the large group of Gabagaba youth, all crammed into the Church’s flatbed truck and motored down the crowded busy streets to the sprawling General Hospital building. Peter pushed the cart ahead of us splitting the crowds of people through the entrance and up three or four very dirty and crowded floors to our first area of ministry, the HIV/AIDS ward. I tried to prepare Ryan on the way to cushion the blow of what he’d be witnessing once inside the building. Nonetheless, what we saw on this visit and the next will be imprinted on our minds for the rest of our lives. The vast HIV/AIDS ward was filled with patients of various ages and genders all in differing stages of the disease. Some looked fairly normal while others were obviously thinner and in some discomfort, others still were extremely thin and very near death. Most had family or friends assisting them during this period of time, all seemed to be accepting of our presence and many were even truly overjoyed to have us there. We began by playing some of the local praise songs and then led into a few of our more western songs. Next, Pastor Ikupu boldly stepped forward and began preaching a message of faith and God’s heart of compassion for them and then our group proceeded to meet with every patient and many family members to pray and offer words of encouragement. All the while Ben, Jordan, (two of the students) and I played worship music and sung as loud as possible to reach every ear and heart. In time I gave my guitar to Ben and walked through the ward on my own praying for people and sharing whatever God would put on my heart for them.

One patient, a young mother who was in early stages of the disease and didn’t seem too debilitated sat upright on her bed with a young boy nearby and another older woman (I assumed was her mother) sitting on a chair by her side. Previous to this meeting I had rushed to prepare a message to preach had the opportunity presented itself, but Pastor Ikupu jumped in instead, so I felt that God still had someone that needed to hear what God had put on my heart. As I talked with this young woman, I felt God prompting me to share. I turned to Acts 16 and she did likewise as she located her Bible from a stack of books on her nightstand. I shared the story of Paul and Silas, how they had been unjustly beaten and placed in prison in Philippi. I related how they had not deserved their treatment and had found themselves in a dark, dingy, depressing place with wounds on their backs and chains connecting them to the floor. I expressed how they could have rightly questioned God in their circumstance and become bitter and hopeless. Yet, they did not…they chose to worship. They chose to praise God and draw near to Him in prayer and through that miraculous events occurred and doors of ministry opened up for them. They shared faith in Christ with their distraught jailor who asked pleadingly, “What must I do to be saved?” Their reply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” With compassion and conviction I encouraged this woman to live like Paul and Silas, to not fall into despair and hopelessness but to see this as an opportunity to serve God even in the darkest place and most physically difficult condition. To see her fellow patients and hospital staff as her mission field in the remaining days of her life and to follow hard after God until the end. Everyone has an end, some just know that their end is sooner than others. How important it is for us to be “knowing God and making Him known” as faithful servants so that when we see our Lord face to face, He will say with all joy, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”(Matt. 25: 21). She smiled weakly acknowledging my words and shook my hand with acceptance, her mother also thanked me for my time and prayers and I moved on to my next patient. We visited with many and completed our time in the Post Op. ward. Our method was similar except this time a preacher from another church was presenting a message independent of our team. Once he finished we made our way throughout the ward ministering to the needy. I could tell Ryan was feeling a little overwhelmed and tired from all of the activities of the day and so we concluded our time and made our way back to the church transport. That evening we were invited to a BBQ at our friend Dr. Peter’s home near the University of PNG. Also, in attendance was Eksee. We drove through the bustling shopping district of Port Moresby on the way to Dr. Peter’s home and had many smiling faces waving greetings to us along the way. Our time with our friends was truly special and quite filling as they had prepared a feast of chicken, sausages, and rolls with all the condiments you’d expect in N. America, also, watermelon, and ice cold Cokes! The fellowship was rich and jokes and jesting as abundant as the mozzies who’re also looking for a feast. At the end of the evening, once the last watermelon seed was spit at its unsuspecting target, Dr. Peter and Eksee gave a short speech sharing their heart’s desire to see the society of PNG elevated, to see an end to poverty and corruption, to see better healthcare, better education for children and young adults alike, to see the economy continue to grow at a healthy rate and for PNG as a whole to manage well the opportunities that it provides. Both men have a heart for seeing the Christian churches work together to rally their support and action in tackling some of these areas and affirmed their support for YWAM and organizations like it who share and are active in bringing the vision to pass. We piled back into our transport with full tummies and inspired hearts as it was very encouraging to know that there are PNG citizens of great significance who are passionate about the transformation of this country and who are enthusiastically working to see things change.

Friday arrived with another opportunity to visit the General Hospital and then possibly do some open air market outreach in the afternoon. This time we came to one of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) wards and began visiting patients to bless them with prayer, music, and words of encouragement. The very first room that Ryan and I visited was one containing four beds. Only two were occupied with patients, a young man and another probably in his fifties. Of the other two beds, one was vacant while the other provided a lounge for some friends of the younger patient who were passing the time watching a movie on their computer. The younger patient was reclining in his bed with a troubled look on his face, I assumed both from pain and a general uneasiness of being laid-up in the hospital with a broken right leg. The newly hardened white cast below his knee was clearly seen along with some scribbled lettering no doubt penned there by his friends across the aisle. These guys were in their mid to low twenties and looked curiously at Ryan and me as we introduced ourselves and proceeded to speak to them about the Lord. At first I began by asking the patient his name, a native name something like “Poami” and then asked whether he had a relationship with Jesus. He looked hesitant and said that he was more of a Sunday Christian and not really living closely with the Lord. This was made plain by his story of how he was injured. Apparently, he had a conflict with another young man and was chasing after him and tripped over a fallen tree resulting in the break. Knowing that God was more than able to heal this man, I felt it a good idea to stir his faith by sharing a story of Jesus performing a healing miracle. As I read the story I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me to share another more specific story. So, I shared from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 5 beginning in verse 16 which describes how Jesus was impressed by the faith of a paralyzed man’s friends who brought him to the Lord by lowering him through the roof of the house where Jesus was staying since the crowds made it impossible for them to enter any other way. What was important in this story was that Jesus did not immediately heal the afflicted man. First, He addressed his relationship with God, “Your sins are forgiven you” stated Jesus, to the shock and disdain of the religious leaders who were observing His every move to catch Him in a trap. Jesus obviously knew that this troubled man was in greater need of forgiveness than healing but in order to bless him and his friends, and to prove His identity as Christ and God, He healed the newly forgiven man and sent him on his way with a new lease on life and commitment to God. As I finished the story, I saw that the face of Poami was in deep thought and reflection. He was really processing the importance of what was being shared; his friends too, were listening intently. I asked him if he would like to turn from his sins and recommit his life to God, to start fresh in his relationship with Jesus and he heartily agreed. I prayed for him and then listened as he prayed a quiet but sincere prayer of repentance and recommitment to God. I then prayed for healing for his leg with no obvious signs of immediate repair but I was thoroughly encouraged by his recommitment and confident that God might still heal him but in His timing. We ministered to quite a few patients that day and saw many encouraged by our words and prayers. I was really blessed as we made our way out, to see one of our DTS students leading a patient and companion in the “sinner’s prayer”. Apparently, through their conversation, they had been moved to commit their lives to Jesus as their Lord and Savior, how wonderful!

We headed back once again to the Baptist Church where we intended to prepare a good meal and make plans for the rest of the afternoon’s events. The plans that had been made to visit another village close by fell through so we decided to do some outreach in the local marketplace just down the road as an alternative. After our meal we began by developing a new skit and prayed for direction regarding the order of service and who would lead out. As we did this the skies grew dark and very wet weather moved in turning what would have been Ryan and my grand finale into a night of peaceful fellowship with our friends in the church. Not a glorious way to complete our adventure but it aided in our transition back home the following day. We were up early with Krystal, Pastor Ikupu, Philip, our driver Peter, and a couple of others though I don’t recall who else exactly. We drove through the back roads of an already bustling Port Moresby with mixed emotions as we had grown to really love and appreciate the people and country of Papua New Guinea with all its beauties and faults. We sadly said our “goodbyes” but were also very much anticipating being reunited with our family and friends in Townsville. Getting on-board the jet was not a problem even though we had two extra bags to check from our friends who had to be flown out earlier. Soon after, we were on the ground in tropical Cairns processing our way through customs. We made our way to the lobby and Ryan and I considered our next steps in making our way back down to Townsville. It’s a long story but suffice to say, not long afterward we were met with Cameron and the kids driving up to the terminal to meet us in person, what an unexpected surprise! After such a long time away, we were ecstatic to be met by family and to spend the five hour drive home telling of all of our adventures and what God had done.

Checkout these Recap Videos! http://www.youtube.com/user/krystalinmissions#p/a/u/1/kkiP1qkoFAA

http://animoto.com/play/TC2pEVwPRqCjFqyo11Vxkw

Cyclone Update

2011-02-04T22:45:00.000-08:00

I am glad to report, that we are all fine and that the storm is over! It was a harrowing time of fear and anticipation as the cyclone made its way toward us and the potential for real devastation became more of a reality. I have seen the destruction on television of hurricanes in the States and heard many stories from people who’ve been through similar storms but the stark reality of possibly having your roof torn off, everything you own taken away, and grave harm come to you, your family, and friends really hits home (so to speak) when the wind increases strength and the rain lashes laterally on the widows. There was a point Wednesday morning when I saw that the storm had passed from Category 4 to 5 that I had a real sense of panic in my heart, a sense of fleeing that I had to repress to function properly. As time passed and I knew that we were at a point of no return, I felt God’s peace and a growing feeling of endurance. It turned out when the storm finally blew with all its force, the house was clearly secure and we were going to be fine. Nonetheless, though the kids slept deeply, the rest of us tossed and turned for most of the night due to the deafening sound of the roaring wind.

The next morning we awoke to an amazing display of nature’s power. Our back yard was wrecked. Three or four downed trees, the entire floor of the yard covered in leaves and branches as many of the bushes were reduced to skeletons. Palm fronds were scattered everywhere and large branches were strewn about. Two of the fallen trees pulled out the power cable that connected the house to the power pole and will lengthen our time until the restoration of electricity. We fared well compared to many in our community. Several houses had trees fall on top of them, power poles were also a danger as some leaned precariously over houses and streets while many streets were completely blocked from fallen trees. The local parks have over half of their trees uprooted and the coastal Strand area of town has yards of sand washed up on the road and sidewalk.

The clean up has begun with YWAM taking a huge lead in the process. On Thursday morning teams of YWAM staff made their way through the community helping clean yards and assist homeowners while the students helped out around the base. Our yard was cleaned up in no time and all that’s left to do is a lot of raking and pruning. The Oct. DTS went throughout the community yesterday and today volunteering to help anyone in need and were able to minister to and assist many.

Thank you very much for all your prayers! It is a total miracle that though the storm was powerful and destructive, only one man died and injuries have been fairly minor. Prayer is still needed for those who are starting their lives over again especially in Innisfail, Cardwell, Tully, Mission Beach, and Ingham. Please pray also, for the Oct. DTS as we continue to serve the folks of Townsville and the surrounding towns.

Papua New Guinea Part 3

2011-01-26T23:02:00.000-08:00

Week 2, Gabagaba Village

Our drive down to Gabagaba was pretty smooth and uneventful. We had a quick stop off in Port Moresby to get restocked with food and other supplies for our next week’s needs. While we were at the grocery store we met up with some friends, not all by our design. Pastor Hokupu, the overseer of YWAM in the Central Province, a Hisiu native, and our guide for the rest of the trip met us in the parking lot with his young son Eddie in tow. While we were getting acquainted, Eksee, our friend from the first day at the airport drove up with a friend named Dr. Peter. I was intrigued to hear that Dr. Peter was a professor of economics at the local university and had accompanied Eksee in order to meet and develop a relationship with YWAM in general and our group specifically. Once our team had finished their shopping they told us how they had “randomly” run into another team of YWAMers from Sunny Coast (just north of Brisbane) who’d been serving in Port Moresby for a number of weeks and were soon flying out for another outreach in the Philippines. Crazy! I was amazed at all the people that God was connecting us with in only an hour’s time at the local grocery store. We said our “goodbyes” to Eksee and Dr. Peter and tentatively made plans to reconnect with them once we were back in the city in about a week. Our groceries were distributed throughout the back of the PMV in every crack and crevice and all the passengers found whatever open space available to sit on for the hour and half trip to Gabagaba, some even sat on laps and hung precariously off the back. We stopped only once on the way as we had to pull off to let the engine cool down but it was just a few more minutes of driving that we pulled off the paved road and began bumping our way down the potholed dirt road to the coastal village of Gabagaba.

Similar to Hisiu in that it is located on the water, Gabagaba is different in practically every other way. It’s quite a bit larger in population (a couple thousand more) with many churches including a Baptist, Pentecostal, United, another United split from the other, Church of Christ, and a few others. It is divided into three informal sections; the country section located inland containing huts with greater property and garden plots, the beachfront section with smaller grounds and many more huts built closely together, lastly there is a large group of houses (maybe 50-60) located on pilings suspended above the water directly on the bay. A couple of kilometers from the coast a barrier reef keeps most of the dangerous surf from hitting the beach (bad for me…good for them). We arrived around in early afternoon at the makeshift home of the United Church located in the beachfront section of the village. The church sanctuary is a bamboo structure with half walls around the perimeter and a palm branch roof. Comfortable mats woven from palm fronds covered the pebbled dirt floor and another small decorated half wall separated the “common area” from the “clergy area” complete with a long table and chairs and a modern looking iron and wood pulpit. Also, chairs lined both the left side and right side of the building for the elders to sit in during the three weekly services. Upon arrival the team unloaded our gear and ourselves onto a large blue tarp to rest and listen to the formal introductions of the pastor and elders. Greetings were exchanged and we were soon divided into three groups to be accommodated among three family’s households located nearby.

Ryan, a couple of guys from our team, and myself were placed in a small two room hut a few yards away located wonderfully on the coconut palm filled beach overlooking the serene water covered with stilt houses. It was an unusual view, one that I’d never seen before and one that was unbelievably beautiful at times…Straight out of National Geographic. Our Hosts were extremely loving and hospitable even to a fault. As I learned it is the culture to treat your guests (especially missionaries and clergy) like kings even to the point of complete inconvenience of yourself and family. A good example is an evening meal. The best food is prepared, usually rice, fish, and scones or frybread, fruit and some veggies, a real feast. For dessert some sweet local delicacy all the while the family is closely watching to see that your well fed and meeting your every need. When the meal is underway and the guests are busy eating and talking, the family (and often family from down the street) gather together and sing beautiful island style songs with guitar, ukulele, and traditional hand drums if available. The scene is extraordinarily idyllic but at the expense of the hosts for once the guests have finished eating, the leftovers go to the family and when it’s time for the guests to retire to their rooms for a good night’s sleep, the hosts spread our their mats and mozzy nets on the deck to sleep virtually out in the open. Our society could certainly take some notes on this kind of hospitality but at the same time, we felt pretty uncomfortable putting everyone through so much trouble, especially since we were here to serve them. What’s more we began to realize that some of the host families were even beginning to compete against each other to see who could be most hospitable! We felt a little caught in the middle in this and in other ways.

The church hosting us was the United Church of Gabagaba, as mentioned previously they met in the yard of one of our host families in an open air bamboo church. This wasn’t by their design but out of necessity since they felt compelled to split from the other United Church due to a lot of confusing circumstances, of which I’m still not clear on. The result was that their offending congregation ended up with the historic church building and parsonage. Thus, they didn’t have anywhere to meet. Into this mess, our team was flung with the earnest desire to see God do amazing things. We especially hoped for the steps toward reconciliation to be made, though we couldn’t help but feeling like a pawn in the whole war of wills.

A similar schedule was set as we used in Hisiu with the differences being the extra church services that we attended and helped to lead on Wednesday and Friday mornings. We conducted our workshops once again with the villagers responding by showing great interest and eager cooperation. Ryan floated around this time taking in the different teachings while I helped to lead the workshop on evangelism as I had before. As in Hisiu, I had many in my group who were either not Christians or backslidden, so it was my privilege to lead them through prayer and counseling into a new relationship with Jesus or back to the Faith, what a joy!

Many house visits were made in all sections of the village, with a majority of our visits made in the houses suspended out on the water. As can be expected, once a person out there gets sick or physically immobile it’s very difficult for them to see anyone, especially to attend church. So, it was our blessing to venture out at low tide over the trash covered beach (praise God for immunizations!) and onto the black muddy flats to the crude wooden ladders which led up to the planked deck and our inviting family or ailing individual. Each meeting was an encouragement and very touching as the people were endlessly loving and willing to receive any prayer and/or words of blessing. Through these visits many were prayed for, recommitments to Christ were made, and one man was fully healed from debilitating back and leg pain due to years of heavy construction work.

Many of the DTS students had opportunities to teach the Bible in formal settings, on the Wednesday of this week one of our young women was told to get prepared, that evening at a large gathering she was to teach. She was full of nerves and doubt not knowing what to teach on. We prayed for her and encouraged her as she was clearly fearful to the point of tears but ultimately we had to entrust her to the able hands of the Holy Spirit to help and direct her. The gathering occurred at the local Pentecostal church located in the center of town. The large building suspended over the shoreline had a deck that connected the street to the building and it was on this covered wood planked deck that we presented out program. At least 150 people turned out for this outreach, many of whom were young kids. The target audience of teens and young adults were seemingly absent but many could be seen on the fringes and in the shadows listening in secret. The small waves lightly broke on the sand beneath our stage as we opened with prayer and some fun kids’ worship songs. As the waves were unending, I prayed that all would know that the love of God was even more consistent and powerful. The team performed a number of skits, some quite silly and others with a more serious tone. It didn’t much matter as the children laughed gleefully at all of them. There were two or three testimonies shared with their impact reaching deep into the hearts of those listening, especially those secretly in the shadows. Even when the rain began to fall making things uncomfortable for those outside of the shelter and noisy for those inside, as Jennifer stepped up to share her Bible study, all ears and eyes were open and intent on her. What her text was and what she said exactly escapes me, but she spoke with such anointing, power, and sincerity that each person listening could tell that God’s Spirit was at work. Once she completed her message, Pastor Hokupu stepped up to the mic. and began to beckon anyone who desired, to respond to the call of God. To come forward for prayer, to give their lives to God for the first time, to recommit their lives to Him, for anyone who needed prayer for healing and as he made the appeal, they began to stream forward. Over thirty people made their way forward for prayer and counseling. Some gave their lives to God for the first time, many more recommitted their lives to the Lord, and some were healed. As the time of ministry continued most danced and worshiped along with the team who led up on stage or mingled among the crowd. It was quite a precious experience as God showed up powerfully and ministered in the lives of practically everyone in attendance.

Thursday was a planned day off with the church family gathering for a picnic on a beach about two or three kilometers across the mouth of a river and south down the coast. We crunched into two fiberglass dinghies and motored our way slowly to our remote destination. Once there, some jumped directly in the water for a swim while others piled onto the shore and under the nearest tree for shade. Many of the church’s families came with us bringing all their young kids, probably forty or more, most under twelve years old and all clamoring for the biggest guys on our team to hurl them off of their shoulders into the water. It was great fun and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Many coconuts were consumed as well as mangos and lollies. Soon, the tide began to recede and the signal for departure was made. We piled into the watercraft and made our way back to the village. It is hard to describe the experience of motoring our way back with the other boat next to us full of singing children and families worshiping God on a clear sunny day with the water whisking by and our team together soaking it all in, certainly a scene that will stick in my mind for quite some time.

Friday came around quickly as we were planning on leaving for Port Moresby on Saturday morning. The day began with a church service at the United church were I was again privileged to share a Bible study this time answering the questions, “What do I do now that I’m a Christian?” And, “How and why do I do it?” I brought in a number of verses but mostly focused on the Parable of the Talents in Matt. 25 and the sending out of the twelve in Mk. 6. We had so many people excited about their new found or renewed relationship with Jesus and I knew that they now needed some biblical direction for their service. Yukari led out in prayer in Japanese, her native language and some of the local Hisiu YWAMers helped in worship and other parts of the service. It was well attended and the message well received. For the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed fellowshipping with the villagers and our teammates as we headed north up the beach to explore and take in the sights. On the way back we headed to the long manmade rock jetty that extended about a hundred meters out into the bay with an old dilapidated wooden wharf at the end. Many of the locals fish from of it and at times the kids especially enjoy leaping and back flipping from it into the calm, deep tropical bathwater. In the evening we enjoyed more of the villagers’ exceptional hospitality as they threw a huge extravagant farewell ceremony for us. Hundreds of villagers of all ages gathered as the evening wore on and performed various hula type dances with traditional and some more modern music. Gifts were given and many hugs, handshakes, and well wishes were exchanged. At the climax of the night, well after midnight, the M.C. of the evening our host pastor, announced to everyone’s delight that we’d be allowed to stay for a couple more days through Sunday with arrangements for our departure to be made on Monday. This gave us some more time to do house visits, to fellowship and to experience village culture, an amazing opportunity and blessing. We didn’t have any formal programs during those days and enjoyed being able to blend in (as well as we could) to the village and host families, once again it’s hard to describe the acceptance and hospitality that we were offered during this extended visit. When Monday arrived it was truly hard to leave, though it was evident that our time was up, any longer and the saying about the correlation between fish and guests would have been proven true. We crammed into our van (Yes, no PMV this time!) and drove our way back to the big city. My eyes feasted on the countryside as we drove along, it wasn’t at all what I’d expected. On the way down a week previous we had little to no exposure to the sights as we were in the packed PMV but now the colors and wide variety of geography and vegetation were clearly evident and I was amazed by the difference between this area and the land to the north by Hisiu. That view was thick with impenetrable jungle, tall trees, Jurassic undergrowth, and an occasional swollen brown river passing by. In the distance you could see the base of large steep mountains but due to the weather much of the peaks were enshrouded in ghostly clouds. Here in the south there were rolling grassy hills with differing shades of green interrupted occasionally with islands of palm trees and jungly underbrush. These rose in elevation as they marched away into the distance creating deep and more thickly jungle covered valleys both broad and narrow. Even further away these foothills could be seen butting up to the steep walls of a mysterious mountain range, the Stanley Range. Don’t let the docile name mislead you, it reminding me of something out of King Kong, I’m sure there are some crazy prehistoric leviathans up there!

Papua New Guinea Outreach Part 2

2011-01-23T22:30:00.000-08:00

Week 1, Hisiu Village

Upon our late arrival into the village we were driven to our housing accommodation in the front yard of the United Church’s parsonage. Our host, Pastor Dough greeted us warmly and introduced us to his family and showed us around the property. It was a bit hard to see because of the darkness and due to our generally fuzzy and confused state of mind. Our accommodation was a large wooden hut suspended about five feet off the dirt. It had wood planking for a floor with various dangerous places where the planking ended abruptly or where the planking was so soft that it threatened to give way. We only had one accident as a result. I was not paying attention to where I was going and stepped right through a hole giving me a shock and a couple of bruises. The structure had no walls, only posts that held up the palm branch roof. Though it made for very little security for us it did enable the greatest amount of airflow which was a huge blessing in all the heat and humidity. The guys spread out on one side with Ryan and my beds next to each other and the girls on the other. We suspended our mozzy nets over the sleeping area with a spider web of string attached securely to the beams in the roof. This would serve as a very cozy and comfortable home for the entire week and though security was a concern, it was on the church’s property we had very little theft and instances of sketchy prowlers.

The second day turned out to be a day of recuperation, getting acquainted with Pastor Dough and introduced to many more people in the village including the pastor of the local Pentecostal church, the Christian Life Center (CLC). We discussed and settled on a general schedule of events for our team, I say general because PNG is known as the “Land of the Unexpected.” Sometimes it seems that time does not exist here and a well planned schedule is merely a flexible guideline of suggestions. The week we arrived turned out to be a week of celebration for this village, as it was the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The village churches had been staging events each evening which usually began around 8pm and lasted until around 10. A church band would play some music, a mix of contemporary Christian praise and worship and locally written songs in pigeon and in the local language. These events made for a perfect opportunity for our team to integrate into the program and share our music, testimonies, skits, and Bible teaching. Each night through until Friday, New Years’ Eve, we prayerfully chose members of our team to be involved in these events and the villagers received our efforts with great enthusiasm and appreciation.

Leading up to the outreach we’d been praying for God’s strategy in how to reach the people most effectively and came to the conclusion that we needed to form many of our skits and teaching around the fact that this is a widely Christianized nation and that though there are many churches already established in virtually every village, only some of the inhabitants were walking everyday in an active relationship with the Lord. In other words, there’s a lot of religion, but not a lot of relationship. Our strategy would be similar to if we were doing outreach in the U.S. or Australia except that people in PNG are more desperate and hungry to know God due to the poverty and physical suffering experienced by the majority of the citizens. Once we had our schedule and strategy, we were ready to plan our evening program and prayerfully insert our gifted team of 14 young men and women of various nationalities and ages (10-39) into the mix. We decided on a couple of testimonies, two skits, and a Bible teaching each night and though we had some skits already practiced and ready to go, we felt inspired to create a couple more keeping the spiritual condition of the village in mind. Thus was born a skit called “Sunday Christian.” It was a hilarious skit for sure, but it also powerfully communicated a serious message regarding the dangers of hypocrisy and pretension in Christianity. This skit proved to be incredibly effective not only in this village but in all the villages that we performed it. It set a tone of honesty with God, repentance, and recommitment for literally dozens of villagers who were invited at the end of each evening program to come to the front to make a decision to walk in a fresh relationship with Jesus, for some they received Him into their life for the first time while others recommitted their lives to Him in renewed faith.

A couple of highlights in these programs were the testimonies of a young Japanese woman named Yukari and my Son, Ryan. As most of us are aware, during World War II the Japanese sought to control the entire Pacific Ocean and nearly accomplished their goal. In PNG, the Japanese invaded from the north coast and then made their way across the mountains toward the south driving Australian and US defense forces back in their strong assault. As a result, the villagers of PNG came to the aid of the Allied men, helping them retreat and even carried their wounded over hundreds of steeply rugged slippery miles of mountain and jungle terrain to safety in what was known as the Kakoda Trail. We were slightly concerned that the people of PNG might be a little hostile to Yokari but what we found was just the opposite, they were incredibly blessed by her and loved to listen to how she came to faith in Jesus and of her heart to see many more Japanese enter into a relationship with Him. Ryan also had a large impact on the villagers. Being 12 years old, a white kid and firm Believer, he was a bit of a celebrity everywhere we went. He was able to share his testimony of how he longed to hear God’s voice and through prayer and obedience in the little things began to hear and enter into a real relationship with God. His faith was not his parents’ only, it became his own. Each village was packed with young kids and his message touched many of their hearts, also the parents and grandparents gained much admiration for him since it was their longing too, to see their kids come to know and walk with Jesus. He shared once in the evening program and once at a church service at the CLC and each time he stepped up to the microphone and went for it. As you can imagine I was bursting with pride and thanksgiving for Ryan and the on going work that God is doing in his life.

Village life in Hisiu is very mellow and island style. Most of the men are fishermen or divers, some are farmers or go into Port Moresby for employment and some are unemployed and scratch together a living doing anything they can. Drugs and alcohol are a universal problem in PNG and this village is no exception and along with that comes a higher instance of domestic violence. Many of the children attend school and have the opportunity to progress to grade 12 though the fees and other interests often discourage them from continuing much beyond grade 8 or 9. There are openings for the youth to attend university as the government provides scholarships but very few make it all the way to graduation.

As we toured the village, I was very impressed by the cleanliness of Hisiu compared to Port Moresby. The reality is every village is different and Hisiu happens to have a community and civil leadership who care about how clean their village is. It is picturesquely established on the beach just a few miles away from Australian waters. The fishermen gather prawns with nets while the divers head up the beach to a small reef and compete with the sharks for various kinds of tropical fish, most tasting delicious. The staple foods are rice, sweet potatoes, deep fried dough (fry-bread), scones, and breadfruit. Other veggies include, pumpkins, the leaves and stocks of the pumpkin plant (tastes like spinach), plantain and many kinds of locally grown fruit. Starfruit (locally called 5 corner fruit), papaya, coconut, mango, watermelon, and many more fruit were enjoyed daily. We drank mostly tea, cordial, and water and ate much in the way of seafood and meats. Prawns, various kinds of fish, chicken, canned meat (corned beef hash and spam), pork, and some kinds of beef are all readily available. The local hunters spoke about harvesting wallabies, wild pig, bandicoots, and even some heavy horned deer in specific areas of the bush but we didn’t have the privilege of sampling any of them.

During the week we were kept busy with house visits and with teaching the villagers in discipling workshops. The purpose of the house visits were to connect with ailing villagers to encourage them and pray for their healing. We split up into four groups and visited two to three families each. We all had multiple opportunities to minister to the broken, depressed, scared, and embittered villagers. Our team prayed for a man in his prime with a wife and four children who had had an accident with a truck months before which left his right leg weak and useless. Next, we prayed for a young boy, maybe 14 months old whose symptoms included general listlessness and some dark blotches on his back. His parents were very grateful for our concern and prayers and were encouraged as we headed back to home base. We didn’t see any obvious healings during this time but we did see many people encouraged to know that God had not forsaken them and that He’s still deeply interested in their lives and struggles. One team was very excited to report that an older mother who’d been prayed for regarding physical problems had actually experienced healing in her relationship with her daughters who’d been generally estranged previously. So, we saw some great miracles though not necessarily the kinds that get all the headlines (there were some of those in the next couple of weeks though!).

The workshops that we operated on Wednesday and Thursday mornings were a hoot and very successful. Once our schedule was set we decided to create and use these workshops as a way of equipping and reaching out to the whole Christian community in Hisiu. Though they were held at the local United Church, people from all over the village took part. We split the team into four workshops, Evangelism (how to share your faith), Prayer, Bible Study, Drama/Skits. Each were popular and the students either led or helped to lead the topics. Ryan and I were involved with the Evangelism group and really enjoyed watching the village students receive the teaching, grasp the concepts, and get excited to apply it into their daily lives. Interestingly, within our groups, I realized that some were not even Believers or, some confessed that they were in need of recommitting their lives to God because they were not living daily in a relationship with Jesus. In fact, at the end of the second day of workshops, we had a time of worship when all the groups had come back together and a brief message resulted in three young men and a male teen came forward in tears of repentance. It was a truly touching and powerful time where God’s presence was wonderfully apparent.

Friday, New Years Eve, came upon us quickly with all of the busy-ness of the ministry. Typically, as in the rest of the world, this would be a time of great celebration and unfortunately general drunkenness and potential danger but in our little village the unified churches had arranged with the authorities to hold a safe and joyfully festive time with bands, dignitary speeches, traditional songs and dances beginning at dusk Friday and continuing on until 11am Saturday. What a blast! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were recognized as VIPs. We sang the songs as best we could and danced together with the villagers, many of whom were in traditional costumes. As the evening wore on we began to wear different parts of the costumes as they were handed off to us from our elated friends. There were some in the crowd who were drunk, but most were not, which kept things under control and without incident. After the clock struck 12 am we decided to head back to our accommodations and slept soundly only waking from time to time to the beautiful sounds of the villagers continuing to sing their traditional “prophecy” songs until the next morning. Unbeknownst to me that night, we had a couple of local guys who volunteered to watch all night on our front steps to protect from prowling drunks who would have liked to cause trouble, praise the Lord!

Saturday was a day of rest and fun as most of the village took the day off to celebrate the New Year. We did as well and enjoyed volleyball, catching up on our journals, and doing some house revisits.

Sunday was church day, as you may expect, so we visited many of the churches in the area. First, we attended a small English speaking congregation which met at the United Church just before the main service. This was well attended with probably 70-80 individuals. I was privileged to have the opportunity to share the morning message in which I focused on some basic discipleship principles from the Epistle to the Philippians. It was well received and I was reminded once again of what a joy it is to teach God’s word in a small church setting. It’s been months since God has opened the door to teach and I realized clearly that this is what God has made me to do. I look forward to see how He’s going to lead our family into serving Him more in this capacity as time goes on here in Australia. After this service, our team was split into three groups in order to attend the three main church services in the area, the Catholic, the United, and the CLC. Our group attended the CLC, an semi-outdoor church about half a kilometer from our house. It had well over a hundred in attendance with many young children and a lively worship team. Worship is a wonderful experience in PNG as many know the local songs and sing with great gusto, joyfully dancing out the actions that match the songs. This is true regardless of the church denomination; these people are full of rhythm and music. I was prepared to share a second time that day but upon our arrival I was told that they already had a full program with a traveling preacher and a music group attending from Port Moresby. Nonetheless, they asked for a couple of testimonies and a short word from me. So, at the appropriate time, Yukari came forward to share and Ryan followed. I was really impressed by Ryan as he was pretty embarrassed and not feeling very confident but bucked up and shared anyway. At first his body language revealed his mindset but once he started to speak everything changed and God took over. The audience was truly blessed by both testimonies and a little later in the service I had about three minutes to share from Philippians 4: 6-7, one of my favorite passages in the Word. I was especially excited since these verses lined up perfectly with the preacher’s message just previously shared (that is, I think it did…I couldn’t understand everything he said but it seemed to be about prayer and its place in 2011). We completed Sunday with a wonderful meal and many tearful “goodbyes” as we were to be leaving Monday morning just after breakfast. Our friends were extremely generous throughout the week as daily people would drop by with fresh fruit, fish, and veggies to bless us and when our final few hours had come, they came with many gifts ranging from colorful bilums (decoratively knit handbags), bracelets and other homemade jewelry, flowery lais, and grass skirts.

We awoke early Monday to pack, clean, and get ready for our day of travel. We left a little later than I thought we would but it gave us more time to say our “goodbyes”. Once we piled into our previously arranged PMV ride (a local driver had agreed to cut us a great deal on our trip to the city and on down to Gaba Gaba, another great blessing!), we slowly made our way back down the dirt potholed village road to the highway. This time I was in the back of the truck with the rest of our team and a bunch of others (probably 30+ people again) as our host, pastor Dough was up front in the cab. This made for a much less interesting trip since the canvas coverings blocked the view outside and all I could look at was the other bored and uncomfortable faces of my teammates and friends. Due to the diesel fumes, bumpy windy roads, and the way in which I was situated in the back, I was struggling a bit with motion sickness. Thankfully, I didn’t hurl but Dramamine might have helped had I planned a little better. Ryan was a trooper through it all, whether it was on the trip up to the village through the rain and road washouts or on this trip back down to the next village, he endured without complaint and soldiered on, what a great kid.

Papua New Guinea DTS Outreach 2010-11

2011-01-19T05:03:00.000-08:00

Preparation

Christmas in Townsville was quite the event. ‘Busy’ is the word that best describes this holiday season for us, Christmas day was no exception. We awoke and dove excitedly into our bulging stockings and presents. Lots of lollies (Aussie for candy), knick knacks, and fun things were enjoyed by all. Next came a light breakfast and some playtime. Then, we headed over to the YWAM base for a wonderful time of fellowship and feasting. It was great fun even the downpours of rain and loud thunder couldn’t dampen our spirits. With our tummies full we headed back home to clean up the house for an evening of fellowship with friends from church. They arrived right on time and thankfully, we were just about finished. We had a mellow evening full of stories and good food with there departure signaling time for all of us to finally retire for the night, what a relief! A full day for sure and though our hearts longed to be with family and friends back in the States during this holiday, God filled it with lots of love and celebration. For that we’re very thankful.

Sunday was recovery and family day while Monday was absolute pandemonium. We were planning on leaving early (4am) Tuesday on a tour bus up to Cairns. Then, we were to fly out to the PNG capital city of Port Moresby by noon. So everything had to be ready by Monday, it was crunch time. One interesting aspect of this whole plan was the weather. As many of you know Queensland has been hit hard by rain over the last few weeks resulting in horrible devastation for thousands of people and a few tragic deaths. When Christmas weekend arrived we watched the weather with great concern as the highway to Cairns was blocked in many locations and was looking to be impassable if things didn’t change soon. We set about praying for God to intervene. Sunday didn’t look good but by Monday things were looking considerably better. I had a gander at the satellite images for Monday and noted that surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) the drenching storm clouds had parted over the highway with a large system over the mountains to the west and another system over the ocean to the east! This allowed the blocked areas to dry up making a clear path for us on Tuesday…No worries, we were going for sure!

DAY 1

Transportation:

Ryan and I awoke groggily early Tuesday and met our large group of 50+ students and staff (IPHC included) at the base and loaded quickly on the brand new bus to make our way up to Cairns. The weather was clear and not an issue and we made good time to the airport arriving after about five and half hours. It was a really beautiful drive though I wish I could have slept a little more through it. We watched acres of sugar cane and banana fields pass by with the ocean periodically in view on the right and many rolling and steep jungle covered hills on the left. We passed through historic Ingham and costal Cardwell, definitely places to revisit another day with the family. I haven’t been on a trip like this for quite a while so I had mixed feelings about going, mostly apprehension due to leaving the family and some fear of entering an unknown culture and developing country with much poverty and corruption. God had been speaking to me quite a lot through His word regarding fear and I was encouraged, but some fear still lingered. We reached the airport on time and without any problem. After everyone unloaded and all the gear was gathered and accounted for, we waved goodbye to our driver and filed into the lobby. After some effort our paperwork was checked and tickets issued and we were ready to make our way onto the plane. By now everyone was a-buzz with anticipation and the reality that we were about to step foot on Papua New Guinea (PNG) soil. All the prayer and preparations that had been going on for months previous were about to come into effect. The flight on the aging Air Niugini plane was fairly easy and without event, a few bumps and some interesting food came our way and in about an hour and half we had touched town in hot and humid Port Moresby International Airport. Our trip through customs was smooth and a quick stop at the money changing window finally delivered us to the lobby of the airport where we were to meet our contacts. After that we were to split into four groups and then go our separate ways into the unfamiliar and unknown. Our smallest team was to join with the IPHC school and head to Daru in the Western Province, while two other teams were to be heading north to the villages around Kerema (about 6 hours away from Port Moresby). Our team was to stay around the city and visit various villages selected by our local guide Pastor Hukopu.

Once we said our goodbyes to the rest of the teams, we met a man who’d been sent to guide us to our first village, Hisiu about two hours north and west of Port Moresby. His name was Philip and he in-turn introduced us to a friend of his, a short stocky man with a very warm personality and smile, he introduced himself as, “Eksee”. I found out in our brief conversation that he was one of the chief financial officers of the police headquarters in the city. This really excited me as we had been praying for weeks previous about the trip and God’s direction for us in ministering in the country. One impression Cameron received from the Lord was of a government building of some sort. I also felt a need to minister to the police by meeting some possibly at a police station to pray for them. Next, two other spheres or areas came to mind. I saw a mental picture of us ministering to people in a hospital room with a ceiling fan spinning and white walls and curtains surrounding a patient as a group of us played music and prayed. Finally, we felt an impression that we’d be contacting and praying for those in education of some sort. This partly came from the hope that YWAM Townsville has to bring Aussie students to PNG for short term missions in the near future. The program is called, Mission Adventures and will include visits to villages like Hisiu and to various schools to reach out to PNG teenagers with Aussie teenagers. Aside from this program we felt God would connect us with the sphere of education in someway. So right off the jet we met our first answer to prayer, this man Eksee, who would turn out to be a significant contact and very helpful friend.

After the introductions, we walked our way up to the carpark to meet our transportation. We had watched the other teams load into nice Toyota Hiace vans and I thought for a moment that we too might be riding in luxury but I was wrong. Our transportation turned out to be a classic PNG method of transport called a Public Motor Vehicle (PMV). A flatbed truck with dually tires in the back and bench seats lining the sides of the bed. Enough room for three in the front cab and probably 20-25 comfortably in the bed with luggage. Our vehicle already had three in the front, the driver, his wife, and their grandson of 5 years of age, named Ronaldo after the famous soccer player. Into this warm family’s embrace I was invited since the rest of our group was required to cram their way into an already fairly packed passenger compartment along with all of our luggage. In all there must have been close to 35 people sitting wherever they could in the back of that truck with Ronaldo on my lap and his rather large grandparents up front in the cab. It may have been a bit awkward for us but it was business as usual for them. We drove out of the Airport carpark and into the city to shop for supplies for our stay in Hisiu and I realized immediately that I was very much a minority in this country. Everywhere I looked my eyes were met with curious dark skinned men, women, and children who would cry out with excitement, “White man! White man!” I began to wish that my freckles would all connect so I could have a little darker complexion. After the grocery store we drove back past the airport and north up the Hubert Murray Highway to our village. It had begun to rain as it does in the tropics during the rainy season and in no time the dusty road and busy roadside markets packed with people all became awash with mud, trash, and a thick humid mist of diesel exhaust fumes. In a couple of kilometers we were stopped by our first police checkpoint. I was told that due to the holidays, the police were out in force checking cars for inebriated drivers and those who were operating their vehicles without proper permits and documentation. As soon as they saw that we had foreigners in the PMV we were waved aside and questioned. I concluded the conversation must have been in pigeon since it was clearly not English but I still could get the just of what was being said, I’m glad that there are a couple of common languages used in this nation which contains over 800 different languages and dialects. The police asked who we were and the driver cheerfully said we were not tourists but missionaries come to serve the Lord. The discussion didn’t last too long and we were soon on our way again. I was stoked but pretty cautious still since in my past experiences in Mexico and Central America, when a policia pulls you over, it means money up-front and now. I was ready for the same treatment but was relieved to see that we were waved on and could continue unhindered. The second police check was a little different. The same conversation took place between Ronaldo’s happy smiling Grandpa and the second stern-looking police officer but this time he wasn’t having any of it, he wanted cash. Grandma entered the conversation with an attitude and I prayed hard thinking we were going downtown for sure. But after a few Kina were handed over we were on our way and again I breathed a sigh of relief and prayed a quick prayer of thanksgiving.

Some kilometers flew by as we made our way through the rain soaked jungles and sometimes windy road. It was evident that the rain could create some hazards on the road as we had to dodge water filled potholes and storm debris but when we approached a part of the road that was covered in water, I knew things were getting a little more serious. It turns out that a culvert had become clogged with logs and limbs and the water was being diverted across the road making an ever increasing pond that was threatening to become a lake. Our driver proceeded with caution and sent some of his young relatives from the back up ahead to check the depth and swiftness of the current. We went as far as we could but without a snorkel attachment on his exhaust we had to stop. “No problem” Grandpa said, as he jumped out of the cab and proceeded to fasten a plastic bag on the exhaust pipe and make some other modifications to the vehicle. “Push!” was the next command so most of the guys in the PMV jumped out and began pushing the heavy beast through the water toward safety. The current was pretty strong rushing perpendicular to the truck hitting the right side and its depth went from ankle deep to just over the knee at its worst but with all of the man power behind it, the truck soon reached the other side and we were soon on our way. This scenario repeated itself a number of times with the worst being the last time. Again, logs and limbs blocked a culvert causing excess rainwater to be forced in the wrong direction resulting in a whole village being flooded and many vehicles being stopped in a line waiting for the water to recede. We too waited for a while but Grandpa concluded that we could make it across if we did it quickly before the water rose any further. So we began to push, probably 8-10 guys. This time the water was much swifter and the depth greater, as much as up to our thighs. As we moved our way forward the torrent on either side of the road became increasingly dangerous and one of the local guys warned me to stay away from the right side of the truck as the water could force me under the truck and down river. An interesting thing happened as we pushed, something completely unexpected. As we heaved the heavy truck against an even stronger current, the truck began to speed up. In fact, the road even began to rise and go uphill slightly which should have made it much more difficult to proceed but the opposite occurred. The truck continued easily through the water and even began to take off to where we had to jog to keep up with it. Grandpa, not being a Believer, exclaimed that it was a flat out miracle. Angels pushing the PMV I reckon. We made it to Hisiu around 8 pm while the other PMVs who were just behind us having the same destination, but stopped at the road washouts didn’t arrive until after midnight. Our two hour trip ended up taking over six hours to complete making our total travel time from Townsville to Hisiu somewhere close to fifteen hours. We were all pretty exhausted by the time we arrived and after a short introduction with our hosts and some food, we collapsed into our sleeping bags and enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

Hidden Valley Thanksgiving

2010-12-09T03:34:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had a wonderfully joyful and calorie-filled Thanksgiving and are getting merry with all of the festivities that are associated with Christmas, our hearts ache not being able to spend time with our family and friends back in the States but God is consoling us with our new family here in Townsville. Our Thanksgiving was a memorable one for sure, right up there with the Thanksgiving my family endured in the Laguna Mountains of Southern California when my brother Jason and I were kids. I say endured because we were camping and got snowed on overnight (our tent collapsed) after enjoying some teryaki chicken for dinner. It sounds "fowl" but it is actually a very fond memory. Likewise, though there was a hint of enduring in this camping trip, we really enjoyed our time with good friends who shared our appreciation for God's blessings while soaking in the sights and sounds of the Australian bush. Dinner was chili if I remember correctly and we were just recovering from one of many hard downpours which were often occompanied by lots of lively thunder and lightning. Our campsite was the same one that we had visited back in late June and early July for the annual staff camp-out. Located a little over 3000' in elevation and up a road that resembles the tight curves of the seven foot python that I almost ran over on the way up (see photo). It is an easy highway drive about and hour and a half north from Townsville to the turnoff that leads up the afformentioned sickeningly windy road, about 45 minutes of nausea to the sleepy mountain town of Paluma. From there the road mercifully straightens out and the scenery slowly changes from damp tropical rainforest very similar in appearance to the area around Forks, to more open bushland thickly populated with Eucalyptus Trees with various kinds of somewhat familiar looking underbrush and crusty bright orange dirt. When dry this dirt was easy to manage while driving and beautiful but once the thunderstorms moved in and the rain began to fall in buckets, again Forks comes to mind...it turns into an absolute nightmare. This must obviously be where the Aussie phrase, "Quit mucking about!" comes from. From Paluma it's an easy twenty minute drive to Hidden Valley where we set up our little villiage of tents and equipment.

The first week was spent in lectures watching Bible studies projected onto a sheet on one of the walls of the main out-building. Though it was a little hard to see in the day, it was a cool place to sit while the sun radiated its 90 degree heat and dry when the clouds flew in with their bomb-bay doors open to release their watery cargo. Cows constantly wandered through the camp, we even had a couple of bulls knocking their heads together resulting in a couple of tents being trampled and one of the bulls sulking away ashamed. Ants and other bugs are prolific in the bush. Many bite and all are a pain in the neck, especially the scorpions and hand-size centepedes. The kids absolutely went bananas over all the wildlife. Aubry carried the shotgun shell sized, Realtree camo Sacada bugs everywhere and any giant moths that she could find. Ryan managed to find a huge Rhinosarous Beetle and secured it on various parts of his upper body and face (see pictures). Sean was constantly interested in the ants until one of the red ones bit him on the back of his leg while he tried to dig into their nest with the toe of his shoe, I reckon he got off easy. Kay didn't show a lot of interest in the bugs though she patiently spent time scanning the surface of the creek to see the elusive platypus that playfully floats, dives, and surfaces in the early morning and afternoon. One day it rained so long and with such volume that mostly everyones' tents filled with water either from leaks in the ceiling, water seaping up from the floor, or both. Our tent faired pretty well with the ceiling holding up but, with the lack of good drainage in the soil, our tent was enveloped by an evergrowing puddle, or rather a pond, that threatened to soak everything we owned. Good thing we had inflatable mattresses to act as life rafts for our luggage and gear keeping it certain peril. The crazy weather merely added to the fun and adventure with lots of bright flashes of lightning and mostly distant rumbles of thunder both day and night. Apparently, it was unseasonably cool and stormy for this time of year, it was extremely pleasent even slightly cold at night.

The second week a Kiwi man named Mark Parker arrived to lead us in lectures on the "Lordship of Christ". He's full of energy and excitement about the Lord, much more than you'd expect for someone in their mid-50s who's faithfully served the Lord for many decades. For some reason I picture someone like this as being the more mellow sage type but not Mark and though a little "in your face" and some might say offensive in his presentation, the content was golden. I think I can speak for most of us that he was a real blessing to be around and to be taught by. Throughout the camp-out we enjoyed many intimate and often boisterous times of worship and prayer with the students really going for it as they led out using their gifts and talents, what better place to be loud and joyful than in the bush and under God's stary cathedral! As staff, Cameron and I spent much time in conversations with the students, overseeing events, praying for and ministering to the students during "ministry times", all while tag-teaming kid duties. All our kids were active and present during much of the teaching times and worship but Ryan easily got the most out of it. It was amazing to see him take part in the intensive "ministry times" and generally focused and tracking during the teaching and really worshipping during the worship times. What a blessing and privelege to be apart of it all, I must say. We enjoyed a movie night out in the main field under the stars with the movie being shown by projector on a sheet hung off the side of one of the YWAM vans. There was also an amazing talent show with virtually all of the students taking part. Singing, dancing (shake it Aubry!), skits (good on ya Ryan), poetry readings (Cameron going deep), joke telling (silly Aubry), and a few other acts that didn't cease to entertain. Many s'mores were consumed as well as a few Aussie favorites, the names of which escape me at the moment but all were super tasty and fun to prepare and eat. We kept active by dipping in the local creek which also made a great baptismal for a dozen or so students on our last evening, playing a lot of ultimate frizbee, kicking the rugby and soccer balls around and just taking long walks alone with the Lord and in small groups. Practically everyone left the mountain with stories of special intimate times spent with the Lord where He spoke clearly to them and they responded in surrender, worship, and thanksgiving.

It was just the right amount of time to spend out in the bush. Any longer and it would have started to become miserable and a lot of work. As I winge (whine), I am once again reminded and amazed by the courage, faith, and fortitude of the many thousands of families that have, throughout history, travelled across rugged land like the Oregon Trail and the unforgiving outback of Australia to settle and make a life for themselves. We are so fortunate to live in the era that we do and yet even today millions exist and even sometimes thrive with little more than what we went camping with and are happy in their condition. We are spoiled rotten! The weekend was full of transition for us as we made our way back down the mountain barely avoiding blowing chunks on the curvy road. Sunday was spent cleaning the house and doing load after load of washing (we're still doing laundry!) but on Monday we finally had a proper Thanksgiving dinner. Every year the base puts on a grand potluck dinner in honor of God's blessings and provision and this year we were priveleged to be apart of it. Lamb and chicken took the place of the turkey but it was all very lavish and filling and we thuroughly enjoyed ourselves. Ya, it was a memorable Thanksgiving for our family, we hope yours was a blessing as well.

Praise reports:
All are healthy and physically doing well
We're gettting back into our normal routine of homeschool and work at the base
Cameron's receiving more help around the house by DTS students volunteering
God continues to provide amazingly for daily needs
God has blown our minds by providing for many of the staff and students of the DTS who were having trouble paying their school and outreach fees (though there's still some work to be done)
The church van is still available for our use and is running well

Prayer Requests:
Provision and preperation for Ryan and me as we go to Papua New Guinea in less than 3 weeks!!!
Protection and peace for Cameron and the kids while we're away
God's blessing on Ryan as he takes part in a week long youth event at the base called, "Impact Summer"
God's direction in the big decisions that we're going to be making over the next few months regarding our future after our visa runs out.

God is Good, Life is Good!

2010-11-11T21:11:00.000-08:00



















What a dream we're living!  Everyday I wake up and look outside and can't believe that we're in Australia serving God.  
Things have changed drastically as our family has lost one of its key members.  Our good friend and adopted Auntie,
Peggy has decided to move back over to the States to reenter the life that she was more accustomed to.  We are so,
so thankful for her friendship and partnership over these last three months.  She has selflessly served our family in countless
ways and provided a bit of familiarity in a very unfamiliar place.  She leaves us missing her greatly and looking forward to
the next time when we'll be reunited, in the meantime we'll keep her up to date through Skype and relying on her prayers
and ability to communicate our needs to our church friends and family in San Diego and abroad from an experienced
perspective.  God Bless you Peggy if you're reading this!

There have been many other things to catch you up on over these last few weeks, the first being the seminar season
which we just completed.  This began back in October with the kicking off of three schools, the Discipleship Training
School (DTS), the Introduction to Primary Health Care (IPHC), and the School of Music in Missions (SOMM) and an
internship program.  After a couple of weeks another leadership training program began called "Slingshot" and continued
for three weeks into the 1st week of Nov.  After another week there were a few days of meetings and events having to
do with the handing over of operations for the Pacific Link, the YWAM medical/dental mercy ship to YWAM Townsville.  
This was, as you can imagine, a huge deal and many heavyweight YWAM men and women of God were on hand to take
part in the ceremonies and celebration.  Our family really feel privileged to be apart of this momentous occasion. The
following weekend the base hosted a two day set of meetings for the national YWAM Australia base directors and then for
the next week we hosted the National Leaders Meeting with YWAM leaders from Australia and all over the world, probably
well over 100 in attendance.  The base was certainly hopping during this time and all the staff were working overtime.  
Nonetheless, all went well and the Holy Spirit really ministered throughout this season.

While all of these events were occurring, Cameron and I were blessed to be asked to help staff the October DTS, something
I'd considered before but didn't really think we'd have the opportunity to do for quite some time.  So we jumped at the chance
and though we've entered into a huge commitment we are excited to be used by the Lord.

Here is a general schedule of events for the school:
Oct-late Dec. will be lectures here in Townsville
Late Dec.-Early Feb. will be outreach in Papua New Guinea (Ryan and Jeremy will be serving in this outreach
for about 3 weeks)
Feb.-early Mar. will be outreach in Northeastern Australia, in and around Cairns (The whole family will take
part in this 3 week trip).

The school consists of 35 students almost evenly divided between men and women with 9 staff including Cam and me.  The
ages of the students are 18-34 with various nationalities represented including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Japan,
Sweden, Switzerland, N. Ireland, England, Canada, and the USA. They are all very different and having varying degrees
of understanding of what YWAM and the DTS is and what it means to know God personally but they are all hungering to
know Him more and to serve and make Him known and that's the most important thing. We've completed 5 weeks of the school
so far and have enjoyed many speakers presenting on topics such as Friendship with God, the Father Heart of God, Identity
in Christ, Relationships, and Design and Destiny.  There is lots of good information and challenging times of spiritual
and emotional transformation.  As staff we take part and assist in all areas of the school from planning events, to hosting
speakers, meeting one on one with students, leading outreaches, and generally ministering as the Lord leads.  Very cool
for our family as we absolutely love doing this kind of work and have been in transition for the last year keeping busy with
other things, so it's good to get back in the saddle again.

Here are Some Prayer Requests:
Peggy's transition back to life in the USA and ours without her.
Balancing time in ministry with family.
Finances, with all the extra traveling coming up our expenses will also rise ...About $2500 for the Papua New Guinea
Outreach and$1000 for the Australia Outreach on top of our regular budget.
Making good choices in obtaining the next visa to help us stay in the country longer...our current visa allows us to stay
in until June 2011 but it's always a good idea to start researching our options.

Praise Reports:
God continues to provide for our every need!
Seminar season went well and is behind us.
Home schooling is going really well.
Our health has been good.
The Church van has been a huge blessing and is mechanically doing well.

Grandpa Red's Visit

2010-10-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

It was amazing to me how easily Cameron's Dad, Jerry adjusted to the weather here in Townsville. It remained quite warm and humid for the entirety of his two-week visit but he said he'd been well prepared by the hot tempts back home in El Cajon. Nonetheless, I figured the humidity would effect him more. We had a great time hanging out and really enjoyed introducing him to our new life here in Australia. After a few tough plane trips, he arrived around noon and climbed his weary body into our chitty chitty bang bang van to be toured through the waterfront and downtown area eventually, making back to our home in the West End. The first day was pretty mellow to allow him to adjust to the new environment and get some rest from all the traveling. The rest was short lived though with so much to see, so many people to meet, and so much Grandpa and Dad time to be enjoyed. The next day I went to work at the YWAM base finishing my duties in Community Life in order to be fully focused on staffing the October Discipleship Training School (DTS). Cameron and her Dad showed up at the base after a while and got a chance to see all the departments, the people, and functions of the ministry. I was really blessed by Jerry's interest about YWAM and our involvement in it. It seemed he received a real peace about it and had his perspective broadened greatly. I know many of our family and friends have had a degree of understanding from our blogs and communications but I think Jerry would agree that coming, seeing, and experiencing everything personally makes a huge difference in having peace about our step into missions. But since not everyone can make the trip, we will certainly continue to stay in touch and describe to the best of our abilities our adventures with God.
Jerry got to taste some of the local food, though with the cost of everything so high we enjoyed most of our meals at home. We had a lovely BBQ at River Way Park just a few kilometers from the house and enjoyed the refreshing public pools which built a wonderfully ravenous hunger in each of us to fully enjoy the steak and veggies that were just about ready by the time we got dried off and changed. He got to see much of the surrounding area as we walked around the waterfront, Strand area of the city, made our way north of town to Bushland Beach to watch the boys (Ryan and me) skate a local park with the rest of the Youth Street Team. We even went inland a few miles into the bush to visit the oldest building in North Queensland which has been transformed into a country tea house. We passed on the $50 coffee they offered, Kopi Luwak (the same mentioned in the movie, "The Bucket List") but enjoyed a late breakfast and some tasty meat pies. It wasn't the Sydney Opera House or Ayer's Rock but he got to see some pretty neat sights, even some things that were new to us as well.
It was quite sad to see him go, we wish we could have all of our friends and family from the States jump on a flight and move in next door but for now we're content with where God has us and feel very excited for the ministry that He's called us to. We are also very thankful for the many friends and church family that God has surrounded us with since we arrived. It is truly miraculous how smoothly and relat ively easy things have gone in making this great transition. We've certainly had our share of challenges but I thank God for His faithfulness in sustaining us in every way. PSALM 95

Rolling Stone

2010-09-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

It was a bit of a drive to Rolling Stone, about forty-five minutes north of Townsville on the highway toward Cairns. We left with partly cloudy skies and a hot sun making us sweat in the high temperature. The further north we traveled, from suburbia to bush and agricultural fields, the cooler and more cloudy it became. By the time we pulled off to our swim spot the rain had begun to gently fall and we were ready to exit the van and test the cool water. "Youth Street Teams" takes place during the day on Saturdays and is a great time for the kids to focus on an activity that they really love and to build relationships with their peers and with the adult staff. Our particular team is called, "1: 21 Skate" after Paul's great statement in Philippians 1: 21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Most Saturdays we gather and skate at a local park for a few hours before coming back to the YWAM base where we continue to hangout and skate on the base ramps, but this time we were in for a treat, a swim at a local creek. Not all that different from the Calawah River in Summer time back in Forks. Beautifully scenic, slow moving fresh water with slippery mossy river rock covering the round river rock bottom. Immediately upon arrival the kids jumped in and began playfully romping about like a bunch of young platypuses. Though the river was quite low it was clearly evident by the large exposed sand banks and debri strewn around that the water level rises quickly and often, I'm sure the next time we visit we'll be able to dive in headfirst without any fear of injury. After the kids played a while, we headed back up to the OKA, our 4X4 monster truck (see photos) and got lunch cooking on the barbie. The traditional meal of Australia is a sausage or "snag" as they call them, cooked up on the barbie and placed on a piece of regular white bread covered in roasted onions and tomato sauce (a sort of ketchup) or BBQ sauce. We have had this meal countless times since we've been here. At first I "relished" it and gorged myself on them. But after about the fortieth one I got a little sick of them and had to take a break. Now, I've begun to eat them again but with more caution and self control. With full bellies and a few handfuls of chocolates, we were off to the next swimming experience, the bridge! A short distance up river, there was a tall highway bridge with another smaller and shorter one-lane bridge next to it. This was all new to me but the kids new the drill, by the time I reached them, they were all launching themselves off the bridge and into the water about a 12-15' drop. It was neat to see Ryan without hesitation jump into the water. I guess all those trips to the Rogue River in Oregon have enboldened him to jump off anything...that and the fact that all his friends were doing it too. We spent another hour there at the bridge pushing each other into all kinds of daring and rediculous jumps. Thankfully, the Youth Street staff had arranged for a qualified lifeguard to be there but more importantly that God had His angelic lifesavers present as well. God has blessed me greatly in developing relationships with these kids and its through these kinds of activities that bonds are developed, it really reminds me of doing youth ministry back in San Diego at Calvary Chapel Point Loma. Much prayer goes into these Saturday activities and it really pays off when wonderful breakthrough conversations occur. I was told later that night during the Youth Street Live time (the time when the kids eat dinner together and enjoy live bands and ministry related speakers) that one of the kids from another team struck up a conversation with his leader which developed into the young man giving his heart to the Lord! How awesome to be used by God and see troubled kids find value and purpose in life. so many of these kids are at risk, coming from broken homes, abusive relationships, and heavy peer pressure to give in to destructive choices. It is a huge privelege to be part of the solution rather than sitting on the on the side longing to be in the mix.

Trip to the Billabong

2010-09-14T00:31:00.000-07:00

I’d like to spend some time sharing about a recent trip that we took with YWAM staff and students to the Billabong Wildlife Refuge, a relatively small zoo which keeps Australian indigenous animals.
We departed from the base after breakfast on a Sunday and drove our caravan of two packed vans and a bus a little south of Townsville by way of the coastal highway past the dump and raceway to the Refuge. It surprised me how quickly the views on either side of the highway turned to rural, rugged bush. Grassy brown, steep rolling hills similar to the Grapevine north of Visalia, CA. thick with gum and eucalyptus trees dipped down and rose again like the curves of the roller coasters at Magic Mountain trailing off into the distance. It was another sunny warm day but our brief winter was evident as the humidity was low and the temperature remained in the high 70’s.
Making our way through the visitor center gift shop, the entrance and exit to the Refuge, we descended the wooden ramp to the edge of a huge billabong (Aussie for ‘pond’). There was a main dirt path that we followed that wound around the circumference of the pond with various side paths that sprouted out from it leading to enclosures of birds, creeks filled with fish and turtles, and even a smaller pond fenced off to provide protection for/from two crocodiles! Many of the animals housed in these enclosures were brought here to rehab from assorted accidents and have become permanent residents. Among the most visible of these are the koalas. There must have been close to ten of these cute, fury critters we observed slowly munching away on eucalyptus leaves in their enclosures, there was even one which had a baby ‘bear-ly’ visible in its pouch.
For most of our visit there were a couple of Refuge staff members that toured our group around the facility showing us important sights and answering questions. The first stop that we made as a group was to a small amphitheater where the staff brought out some animals to show and talk about. First came the koalas, very cute, as I mentioned, but not real exciting to watch. Nevertheless, they are very interesting and fun to hold. Next, they brought out the wombats. These marsupials are quite large and look a little like the R.O.U.S.es of the Fire Swamp in the movie The Princess Bride. Unlike those rodents, these are pretty docile and have an interesting feature which was brought to our attention when the staff member turned the wombat around to show us its rear end and then proceeded to thump its tail-end strongly with the knuckles of his closed fist. This was a little surprising and is not something that you’d expect from a trained refuge staff member, but he was making an interesting point since with every blow you could see that it didn’t affect the wombat any more than if it was a tortoise having his shell knocked on. Indeed that is what the wombat has just under its skin, a strong shell-like shield of cartilage to fend off predators when it is digging its way into the ground to make a burrow.
After some more questions from the audience and a bunch of photos, we made our way to the crocodile pond where there was a nice, solid fence built to separate us from these prehistoric carnivores. One staff member placed himself on a small platform that jutted out over the water like a balcony while the other staff person entered the enclosure and managed the animals from the grass next to the water. Both were armed with a stick in one hand for protection and in the other a stick for feeding the crocs. The feeding stick had a line attached with parts of raw chicken meat to entice them out of the water and into view. This was a bit dangerous but the staff had it all under control.
Lastly, we made our way to another small meeting area where the staff brought out some of their more scaly inhabitants. A couple of long, thick snakes and a baby crocodile which, thankfully, had its jaws taped shut. Again, we were instructed about the animals, their habitat, diet, etc. but the fun part came when they lined us up and gave each of us a chance to hold them and get photos taken. Some of us were at ease, others really had to stir up some courage, and a few opted out. I was especially impressed by the courage displayed by Cameron, Sean, and Kay!
After a full stomach from a traditional Aussie lunch of snags (sausage), chips, and veggies we gathered our tired family up and piled into the vehicles, purchasing some souvenirs on the way out. All in all a wonderful day full of great sights, new information, and exciting encounters. We’re looking forward to our next visit since we were blessed with a smok’n deal on a family pass good for a year. So, for anyone who wants to make the long trip over for a visit, know that the Billabong will be on the list of attractions.

Psalm 145: 4

2010-09-13T00:13:00.000-07:00

I was a bit nervous having not preached publicly for a while
but was excited and felt very privileged to have the opportunity
to share Jesus to a room full of Aussie kids. The Youth Street
Leader had asked if I would share a 15 or 20 minute message on 'freedom'
and include some movie clips to help illustrate the theme. I prayed on it
and considered what clips would be appropriate, settling on, of course, a speech
by William Wallace (Mel Gibson) in 'Brave Heart', a scene from 'The Fellowship
of the Ring', and a humorous clip from 'Chicken Run'. I broke the message into
three parts explaining three aspects of freedom,Physical freedom (body), Mental freedom (soul),
and spiritual freedom (spirit) and included throughout Paul and Silas'
Experience in Philipi. What a hoot! God brought nearly a hundred souls to listen
and kept them focused and tracking the entire time. We began with the shout, "Freedom!" and ended with a prayer of repentance and salvation and another "Freedom!" to complete a really
amazing night. What a blessing to be involved in God's plan in reaching the youth of this
Country, there's no better place to be than in the center of His will!

2010-08-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

Hello again!
It’s occurred to me that many of you, our faithful readers, are not quite informed on what YWAM Reef to Outback does and what we are doing as staff interns. So, I’ll give you what I’ve seen, heard, and experienced so far and will fill you in more as we continue to serve. First, I’ll tell you about one very exciting ministry that has been and will continue to be effective in changing the lives of many, many needy people. It’s the YWAM medical ship called, the Pacific Link. This old Japanese training vessel was miraculously acquired by YWAM RTO a few years ago and has been in the process of getting fixed up and prepared for its main purpose, medical missions trips throughout the South Pacific Region. While the work has been done in getting the supplies and volunteers together, the directors have had it touring throughout the eastern coast of Australia visiting various city ports with the manifold intent of performing youth outreaches to the many troubled teens in these cities while also offering tours of the ship and giving presentations to groups, schools, churches, and the like who might be interested in being involved in the future medical missions. Lastly, the base is conducting a Discipleship Training School stationed on the vessel with the small number of students and staff (6 or 7) having their lectures and outreach onboard. Currently, the Lord has opened doors for the Pacific Link to motor up to Cairns for more outreach and promotion and then on to Thursday Island located at the very northeastern point of the mainland where they will stay for a short time before making their way across the channel to Pupua New Guinea (PNG). Everyone is ecstatic about this part of the trip since this is where the mission will really begin in earnest. The vessel will arrive in one of the main ports in PNG and make sure all their paperwork is in order and fuel tanks filled. Next, it’s on to the various remote towns and villages to meet the needs of the local people. The ship is equipped with eye surgeons, primary medical doctors and nurses, dentists and assistants and the facilities for these gifted professionals to perform their duties. Also, in preparation for this trip, many extremely generous medical and dental supply companies, private practices, individuals, and groups have donated copious amounts of supplies and financial support for the outreach. We are all super excited to be apart of this grand endeavor and can’t wait to hear the stories of those who are serving on board the Pacific Link. In the meantime, a small army of workers need to stay back and take care of the base and the other important ministries that are happening weekly…that is where we come in.
Next, here are some of the other ministries that are going on here at the base:
Youth Street: A weekly outreach on Saturdays to teenage youth in the community. It consists of many kinds of staff led activities, from art, to music, dance, and skateboarding all for the purpose of leading the kids into maturity in every area of their life, especially spiritually. Ryan and I are involved in the skateboarding team during the day and occasionally we stick around for dinner and the evening, Youth Street Live part of the ministry where the kids are often treated to bands, games, insightful biblical teaching, and other activities.
Mission Adventures: A youth focused ministry that seeks to send teens on short-term mission trips in order to stir their hearts for God, for service, and for missions. This is a ministry that Cameron and I are interested in being apart of possibly in the near future. Hopefully, when things slow down a bit, we’ll be able to take the whole family along for some nearby outreach trips!
Proper Way Productions: A ministry designed to reach out to native peoples of Australia and the Pacific Islands. It employs dance, music, and other culturally rich activities to touch hearts for God.
Discipleship Training Schools: These are 6 month schools which are split into two main parts. The first is a lecture series that mostly takes place on base with students receiving rich study in spiritual principles and incorporating living in the community of the base and serving in various capacities both there and in the community. The second part are mission trips which help the students to put into practice the principles that they have learned while at the same time experiencing what “missions” is all about. Being in and heading up certain aspects of the Community Life department of base operations, I get to oversee anywhere from two to four DTS students in their daily work responsibilities. This gives me the opportunity to get to know these young people and to encourage them in their work ethic and spiritual growth, what a blessing! In the beginning of October another school will be starting with a large class of around 40 students in attendance.
School of Music in Missions: This is a school especially for the ministry minded musician. It consists of lectures in biblical principles of worship, opportunities to work with other musicians in teams (bands), and trips across land and sea to lead worship and reach out to the unchurched world.
Introduction to Primary Healthcare School: This school is designed to prepare students for Christian medical outreach.
*For more info and probably much better descriptions of these ministries check out the YWAM RTO website at ywamrto.org
Here are some events that are coming up:In October the base is hosting a number of conferences, seminars, and meetings and as a result we will all be very busy accommodating and facilitating them. Some of these are: The National Leadership Meeting, The National Base Leaders’ Meeting, Slingshot (a leadership conference), Marine Reach Meeting (gathering of various leaders in the relief ships world). I have been asked to be a venue manager during these events so I’m expecting to be very active moving chairs and tables around and generally helping out.
In December an amazing, extravagant annual event takes place called, Stable on the Strand. What makes it so amazing is that virtually all of the churches and local government (and many sponsors) in Townsville team up to put on a huge Christmas celebration. YWAM is in the thick of it helping the churches to work together and providing many staff and student volunteers throughout the event. I have been asked to take a large role in this event and so I’m praying about it. It is clear that one can get overcommitted easily so Cameron, Peggy, and I are working on balancing our time and work load so we don’t get burned out.
It is amazing to be in Australia in the center of God’s will, being used by Him in the lives of many different people. It is truly a miracle and we feel incredibly privileged to be apart of all this. With all of the areas that God has us involved in, 1Cor. 10: 31 comes to mind and rings true in our hearts “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Thanks again for your love, prayers, and support; you are a huge blessing to us!

2010-08-24T05:19:00.001-07:00

The Lord has been doing much in my heart to confirm our direction and give me peace about serving in Townsville with YWAM for this season of our lives. Since we arrived, I’ve been really searching for God’s purpose in bringing us to Townsville and how our connection with YWAM could be apart of it all. I mentioned that we were praying about starting a Bible study in our home on Sundays and we’re still praying. In the meantime though, we’ve been attending a local church fellowship in the central district of the city called, Townsville Central City Mission an affiliate of the Uniting Church of Australia. This denomination is quite vast is Australia and as I understand it varies drastically from one congregation to another. Some are extremely liberal in theology even to the point of rejecting the inspiration of the scriptures and allowing practicing homosexuals to serve as pastors and elders, to much more conservative and evangelically traditional. As I’m told, the Uniting churches in the state of Queensland tend to be more conservative and this specific fellowship certainly leans that way, as a result we feel we’re in agreement on most things spiritually. We were introduced to this church by some friends from the YWAM base and felt really accepted from the start. We’ve attended other churches on our stay but this one has been a good fit in that it is biblically based, somewhat contemporary in style of worship though there are a few hymns included (Cameron especially likes this), it is very family oriented with attendees ranging in age from newborn to the elderly, even folks in their eighties and nineties! It’s conveniently located (just a few miles away and on the opposite side of Castle Hill from our house) and is strongly missions minded and inviting of the various minorities such as Pacific Islanders, Southeast Asians, and of course Aboriginals. They also offer their facility on Sundays to a South Korean fellowship. We’ve really connected well with the congregation and felt a unity in their heart for city outreach and international missions. I’ve begun attending a men’s fellowship on Tuesday mornings and have been asked, to my delight, to produce curriculum for a study through the book of Ephesians, I can’t wait to see how the discussion go! The Church is on a scheduled reading through the scriptures on Sundays, but the morning message is not often chapter by chapter and verse by verse as we are used to, nonetheless we’re blessed to be in a good, loving fellowship and we’re praying for God’s will in growing together with them. Who knows what God will do in this new relationship…

Recently Ryan and Aurbry participated in an event at the church called “40 Hour Famine”. The purpose was for the kids to experience in a small degree what it’s like to live as a kid in a third world country. Throughout their over-night stay they and their young friends got to bake bread and make butter from scratch, see the sights at the local dump to get a whiff of what it would be like to live and work there as many children do around the world. They made beaded jewelry like many do who’re stuck in sweatshops, had to make creative shelters with materials that the parents had strewn about creating a post cyclone scene. They carried water in buckets around the neighborhood and ate only a couple spoonfuls of plain rice for dinner and experienced hunger through the night and into the next day as they didn’t eat until after lunch. Overall, both were really blessed by the experience and agree that they have a better understanding of life in other countries.
Saturday was another day of outreach for me as I took part in Youth Street teams. Ours is called Skate Team 1:21 in honor of Phil. 1: 21 where Paul bravely states, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” We had 8 or 9 kids this time and headed out of town to the area called the northern beaches, about a twenty minute drive. It was nice to get out and see some new sights as we have only been skating near by and at the base. It was another graffitied cement park in a small community with a KFC fast food restaurant right next door. It’s brutal to exercise and have that smell wafting through the air. The park was packed with local kids, mostly scooting and riding bikes. A local kid and I were the only ones skating until the end when a couple more locals showed up. For the most part it was controlled chaos as everyone did their own thing. I was pretty overwhelmed by all the people and resigned myself to mostly just watching all the action. There were certainly some impressively gifted athletes out there but it was also evident that all the dangers that I faced as a kid were alive and well. I’m not referring to the dangers of hitting the cement or other kids. There were older kids there slamming power drinks, smoking, and generally carrying on setting a bad example for the younger ones. It’s not a surprise nor is it an unnatural thing but one where I can see myself in them when I was their age. All I wanted was to have fun, skate well, and be respected and accepted by my peers. What I didn’t realize was that I was seeking acceptance from the wrong source, people. The acceptance that I needed was from God. His acceptance and love is unconditional and consistent where all other avenues come up short. His love is perfect and without end. I always try to be conscious of any opportunity to shine the light of Jesus into the lives of the guys I see at the parks but what’s utmost in my mind are the lives of the kids that God has me overseeing. They’re all really great kids and the Lord has opened some neat occasions to connect with them on their level. When I see the moves that some of these kids are doing now, I realize just how anciently unskilled I am yet, there’s still the connection that is made regardless of whether I’m a skater or scooter or biker and I pray that the Lord will use that connection to influence their lives for His good.

2010-08-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

Aubry wanted to say something too…

I have had a great time in Australia so far. It is very silly that we live so close to the ocean but we haven’t gone there yet. I was hoping for some pets when we first got here. There was an old bath tub outside in the yard full of mucky disgusting water, the perfect place for Mozzy’s to breed. So, my Dad dumped most of it out. I was amazed one morning, when I looked at the water and thought I saw tadpoles, but they turned out to be fish! Mom and Dad found an aquarium at the thrift shop and decided to buy it for the family. Though the biggest fish didn’t live, Ryan and I found three baby fish left in the water and put them into their new home. Two of the fish follow one another around like best buddies. So, now we have some pets!
I just met a new friend named Anna and our family’s been going to her church. She is an Australian and uses words I don’t know sometimes. She has a very cool personality and likes joking around a lot. She’s eight years old and doesn’t have any brothers or sisters but has two cute puppy dogs named Rose and Cushion. She also lives just a few blocks away so we can walk there when I have a play day. I made another friend named Emily who is visiting from Hawaii and will be leaving in a few days. She’s seven but acts more like a nine year old so I’m pretty glad about that. She has two cool younger brothers that Sean likes to play with.
My favorite thing to do during the week is driving in our new bus. It has twelve seats and Mom and Dad are just learning how to drive it because they have to stay on the left-hand side of the road and the gear shift is on the steering wheel and they have to shift with their left hand.
We’re so happy now that we have a better washing machine since the old one used to travel right out of the laundry room. Peggy has been a great nanny for us and is constantly blessing us by hanging up our clothes to dry (we don’t have a dryer) and doing the dishes and other household chores.
Home schooling is not so fun but if I want to learn I must do it. Mom likes to read awesome books to us, like The Twenty-One Balloons and Helen Keller. My favorite subject is Math-u-see.
Mythbusters is about to start so remember, God made you special and He loves you very much…Goodbye!
Love,
Aubry

2010-08-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

What an amazing place we live in! We have been seeing all kinds of new animals, multicolored, and varying in size. One thing that is a constant is that these animals, bugs and such have very little if any fear of humans. They see us as just another life form among a host of others. As the photos display, there are huge grasshoppers, cute possums, toads (reportedly abundant during the summer months), bats (locals call them flying foxes), and geckos. Not pictured but worth noting are the mice, wasps, disease carrying mosquitoes, and 3 inch long roaches not to mention the spiders and snakes but most of these animals are harmless and the latter seem to be pretty rare in the urban areas though the huntsman spiders are prevalent and tend to be quite big, about the size of Kay’s hand and are aggressive. Thankfully, though their bite is painful, they are not poisonous just really imposing especially when they unexpectedly leap a few inches off the ground when provoked...No Worries Mate!

Cam's Latest

2010-08-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Please accept my apology for lack of communication. We still do not
have internet service at home. Also no phone. You really don’t realize how much you
depend on things until they are missing! (Like a dryer, or screens on the windows &
windowless shutters :)

Yeah, as far as not realizing how much you depend on things until they're gone...not
having a vehicle has been a huge adjustment. We have had to limit our groceries to what
we can carry or put in the stroller. We were given a jogger stroller (pram) which is
awesome. But guess what? The church we've been attending has a diesel 12 passenger
bus/van and they are thrilled to let us use it all during the week! They only use it to
pick people up on Sundays and consider it a blessing to have it used instead of sitting
around. I had tears come to my eyes when they offered. AND I actually drove it!!! Yes
on the LEFT side of the road, and it is a manual tree shift—you know the kind that shifts
from the side of the steering wheel—on the left side? Yeah, AND I didn’t crash, praise
God! Although I did turn on the windshield wipers a few times instead of signaling!

Ryan has gotten involved in a group called Youth Street. Youth Street is part of the
YWAM ministry to young Aussies aged 12-18. They get together on Saturdays. From 2-5pm
they have teams, at 5pm they have dinner and from 5:30-10pm they have a huge youth group
type gathering at the YWAM Center with games, activities, music & bands, skateboarding…
Youth Street has several teams: dance, music, skateboarding, recruiting new people,
sports, and art. Ryan has joined a skate team (even though he’s only 11) and Jeremy is a
team leader. Please pray for me because Ryan gets to stay on his own after dinner until
9pm…growing pains for Mom :).

Aubry has found a new friend at church. The girls have gotten together a few times and
had heaps of fun. Sean is Mr. Congeniality and all the missionaries at the base love to
talk with him. Kay is coming into her own and talking so much. She tries to boss all
the other kids around sometimes and the funny part is that sometimes they all listen to
her! All the people here at YWAM love our kids. God really uses them, probably more
than us, to bless people here. It is really a blessing to watch.

Well, it’s 10:35pm and I’m at the base and need to get home. Oh, I just love you guys.
It is such a comfort to have your support through your love and prayers. Please pray for
internet & phone at home and for continued adjustment into homeschooling. I work two
afternoons in the accounts office and one morning is spent on base for worship, staff
meeting and then staff internship. Jeremy is working full time in the community life
(Comm Life) office. He helps oversee keys, security, and facility management. The first
two weeks beginning July 11, we were both here at the center until lunch. I did my two
half days and the other three days I went home. Jeremy was in Comm Life all five days
after lunch. He was only on his second week of working half days when the head of the
department left on outreach to Papua New Guinea and Jeremy was in charge! He really did
such a great job managing it all.

OK, yes I have to go. I love you. I miss you all just too much (heaps, we say here).
Thank you again for your support. There are so many young people here struggling to
raise financial support as well as have their family’s positive support and blessing. By
releasing us to be here, both by your financial support and your blessing, you really
enable us to be free to focus on what God has here for us. You guys are truly amazing.
Please write when you have time (email or snail mail).

Love yous (another Aussie expression),
Cam & Fam

Divine Encouragement

2010-07-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

A friend gave me a small paperback book when we stayed overnight at his Mariposa, CA. home on our way to LA from the northwest. It was by Jack London and called Tales of the Pacific. I had read some short stories of his previously, but they had been set in the Yukon and since we’re going to be on the Great Barrier Reef I thought it would be interesting on both a cultural and geographic level as well as just being well written, granted it is London, not the most uplifting author, but one who’s great at adventure. So, I’m currently about a quarter of the way through it and have been delighted with the intensity of the short stories though they are rather grim. One in particular got my attention; it takes place on a Fijian Island over a hundred years ago with a few white men and some native tribesmen. The main character is a missionary who, having been fairly successful in his efforts to bring the local tribe to faith in Christ, feels inspired to continue on into the interior of the island to share the Lord with the other cannibalistic tribes. It is a tale of bravery conviction, cowardliness, and betrayal somewhat reminiscent of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Naturally, I put myself into the story as the missionary and wonder if I would perform the in a similar fashion though it ended tragically with his death and subsequent preparation for their dinner. This story was somewhat similar to Robinson Crusoe, which I listened to intently over a year ago in Forks, what a great and enthralling story! Therefore, when we were at the camping trip in the bush a few days ago and a stout Tongan man came over to me in an evening time of worship and prayer and but his thick muscular right arm around my shoulders and said in a very deep, broken English voice, “I pray for you?!” (I wasn’t sure if it was a question or command) I could not say, “no” and felt only a small fraction of the intimidation that the white men must have felt when first landing on the beaches of uncharted South Pacific islands. I was very impressed by the depth of this man’s prayer and the heartfelt love that he expressed toward me and God. His prayer covered a number of topics but what caught my attention the most was his emphasis on my working effectively with the youth of Australia. As I have mentioned with many of you in the past, when asked what I felt God’s call was for us over here I shared that God had called us through many scriptural references to bring the word of God to the youth, the next generation of Aussies. Also, that many of the references were from the book of Isaiah. Thus, you can imagine my astonished excitement when this Tongan man named, Isaiah prayed for me to be effective in youth ministry!

One more quick story before I sign off. On Saturdays the YWAM base puts on a youth oriented outreach called “Youth Street”. It’s well attended and quite a production to be sure. Last Saturday’s was an impressively realistic version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” though on other nights they will have bands and or dance performances and the like. I have attended every Saturday since we arrived usually with Ryan and or Aubry in-tow usually to skate the small ramps they have and mingle with the kids to develop relationships and get familiar with everything. One Saturday we watched as one of the house bands played a lively set of worship songs and observed how the staff interacted with the kids. Earlier in the week I was feeling a little discouraged as I hadn’t seen where there was a real need for us at the base. I was certain that God had called us and paved the way but with eighty plus young fired up gifted Christians on staff it really didn’t seem like we could make much more of an impact than what was already being done. Really it was just the enemy trying to cloud my perspective and get me off track. It’s really evident that he’s put a bulls-eye on us since we got here. So, while we were watching the worship band, one of the young staff men came to me and screamed, “Can I pray for you!?” over the blare of the music. It took me by surprise but not wanting to miss a blessing I nodded and hoarsely yelled, “sure” as loudly as I could. What came next wasn’t a prayer as much as a word of knowledge straight from God. He said, “I feel God wants you to know that you are here for a purpose, that it may seem like everything is running well and that all the needs are covered but there are needs that you cannot see. I want you to be confident and walk in boldness knowing that you’re here because I have called you.” And with that he smiled and patted me on the shoulder and walked off. I smiled back and nodded nonchalantly but inwardly was absolutely stunned and blessed.

The moral of the story is, if someone asks if they can pray for you, let them. Also, as Pastor Chuck always says, “Where God guides, He provides” both in material necessities, fellowship, and in confirmation and encouragement when we need it. Speaking of fellowship, we have been praying about a church to attend and possibly invest in and are still searching, but the last two Sundays we have been holding church at home. Last Sunday it was due to many of the kids in the family being sick, but this Sunday it was because we had some YWAM friends respond to our offer to be apart of our home church. It’s a long explanation for another post, but we’ve found many of our peers at the base don’t attend church on Sundays and are very hungry for solid Bible teaching…How about that! So we’re praying for the possibility of starting a church in earnest. I feel I need to hear directly from God on this though and don’t want to commit fully unless He specifically directs us even though there is apparently a need.

Last week I mentioned that I’d try to be more specific on what responsibilities we will have at the base while the internship starts, so I’ll tell you what I know so far as it officially starts today, Sunday afternoon with a BBQ orientation. My supervisor, Jonathan has informed me that I’d be working in Community Life, a broad label for general base operations. That is, overseeing and set up of facility events, general base upkeep, housing management. Also, planning and executing events that work toward unity and family atmosphere among the staff and the students. The assignment is for at least three months and then I’ll have the option to move to another area or stay on for another three months and so on. It is also an option for me to be active with the Youth Street group on Saturdays if I choose. It will be interesting to see how much time Community Life will take up thereby allowing me to take part in other things, including studying for Sunday if the need may be.

Cameron will be taking part in the first couple of weeks of morning orientation lectures and then will attend weekly worship, prayer, and service times but will mostly be at home schooling the kids. Her service times will be two or three times a week working in the accounting office.

We are also looking forward to fulfilling our requirements for the outreach portion of the Discipleship Training School which we partially completed in Discovery Bay late last year. We’ve been told that we should be able to fulfill the requirements by taking part in outreaches throughout our year long stay in Townsville and we’re getting a jump on it by taking part in the Youth Street program offered on Saturdays (I’ll explain more next time).

So, we’re off and running. Still enjoying our time here and really blessed with our home, new friends, community, and calling though we’ve had some rough days in transition. One thing is for sure, it has made all the difference to know that we have a large group of friends and family who are praying for us and financially supporting us. We are greatly encouraged when we receive you emails and speak with you through Skype and Facebook. It would be much more difficult if we were more isolated and not able to stay in-touch. Thank you once again for being there for us! We look forward to more opportunities to connect and dialogue with each of you.

Answered Prayer:

Dressers and Shelf Units for the house: We had a couple young blokes show up at the house last week with a couple of large wardrobes for our clothes! Also, we purchased some furniture from the local thrift shops at pretty good prices (even a fish tank for the kids!). We’re nearly there though we need another dresser for the boys’ room.

For the family to get into our routines: All of our responsibilities have become more clear and the internship has begun so things are settling down nicely.

A good solution to the mosquitoes: Part of it is getting used to the local food (apparently the make-up of the food here helps to keep the Mozzy’s from biting as much. Also, we’re becoming more diligent with the repellent.

For God’s leading: We’re still praying for God’s will in the long-term picture of what He has for us.

Prayer Requests:

Jeremy, Cameron, and Peggy for wisdom and grace in fulfilling our responsibilities both at home and at the base.

A good church to get involved with or to start one.

Evangelism in our neighborhood.

Cameron and the kids to get hooked up with the local homeschool group.

Perseverance and wisdom with the kids’ homeschooling.

2010-06-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

7/10
Praise the Lord, we’re here!

It was an amazing feeling finally flying over Townsville for the first time. Curiosity and a sense of adventure had filled our hearts over the last few months, but now actually arriving in our new home there is an overwhelming sense of relief. Sure, the blue ocean, green and brown craggy hills and historic architecture in the city are amazing and beautiful, but my greatest happiness at this point is just getting into our new home and unpacking. Traveling can be very exciting especially when many of our stops along the way have been with friends and family, but it is wonderful to be done and settled in.
Our first flight from LAX to Sydney was uneventful and went by fairly quickly. Thanks again to Mom, Brad and Shannon for helping us get to the Airport and sending us off. The real trial began as we changed planes and made our connection to Townsville. I won’t go into too much detail now, but it rates right up there with one the most difficult experiences that I’ve ever gone through, quite the boot camp. Kay threw up twice at baggage claim, then fell and knocked her head on the tile floor and she and Cam were quickly surrounded by medics and strict looking airline workers who nearly prevented us from catching our flight. Not to mention transporting 17 50 pound bags, guitar, 10 carry-ons to a different terminal! Nevertheless, it is mostly out of my mind now and the events of the last few days and excitement of the future is now paramount.
We had nearly a week to adjust to the time difference and to get moved in (more about the awesome house and yard later and our first Sunday morning church experience). During that week we had a few opportunities to be exposed to some of the ministries offered by the base. First, we enjoyed a sausage BBQ dinner at the base which is open weekly to the community. This was well attended and neat to see many of the staff mingling with the locals. Second, we were driven down to the Townsville harbor where we were fortunate to be able to take a ship tour on the Pacific Link, the YWAM Mercy Ship which motors through the western Pacific doing outreach to Aussies and medical missions to Papua New Guinea (PNG). The ship has facilities for dental, ophthalmology (eye surgery), and general medical. There are many health professionals and general ship staff/officers to run things as well as Discipleship Training School students on board to help out. Lastly, we attended the weekly youth outreach called Youth Street. This is an event on Saturday nights which gives the local youth an opportunity to listen to live music, watch dance and other kinds of performances, skate the small skatepark (Ya!), and generally goof around in a safe environment with many Christian staff to oversee and mentor the kids.
Having settled in a bit, Monday morning came and we were up and ready for our first real YWAM Reef to Outback event: the annual staff camping trip. With all the traveling and transition our family has gone through lately, I was not real hot on the idea to go camping, but I knew that this would be an invaluable opportunity to meet and spend time with our new co-laborers. We traveled north for about 40 minutes to an innocuous turn-off leading west across sugarcane fields to a place called Paluma. I was warned from here on up to the campground the road would get a little curvy but like many sayings in Australia it was a gross understatement. I was so thankful to be in the front seat and that it passed without any regurgitation from any of us. I guarantee next time though, I’m taking Dramamine! The camping area called Hidden Valley was the epitome of Australian bush. At about 3000 ft. of elevation we camped on privately owned cattle ranch land. We spread all of our 150 or so campers on about 50 acres of land bordered by dirt roads and a shallow chilly creek. At the center of the area was a field with abundant coarse wild grass and a steel outbuilding on a slab for nice shade where much of the cooking was done and all around us were hundreds of eucalyptus trees of varying sizes and shapes providing more valuable shade. The Kookaburras and gigantic huntsman spiders visited our camp daily as did various other critters such as miniature Kangaroos, their real name escapes me, and the odd grazing bull (Ryan thought it was a camel at first as they look quite different!). Being at elevation, the nights were clear, brisk, and full of stars, totally different stars than what we’re used to and the Southern Cross was plain as can be. The days were pleasant, though it is evident that the sun is of much greater intensity here. I’m told that you must buy Australian made sunscreen because other lotions aren’t potent enough to protect adequately. Our big goofy looking straw hats blessed us once again with valuable shade and we were envied by many because of it.
Our days were spent fellowshipping with our new friends, fishing in the creek, exploring the immediate area, playing board games, cards, and practicing field games like Frisbee, baseball, and especially Footie (did I mention I got to play in my first ever organized footie or Aussie Rugby game…I’m still sore!). The staff put together some great meals including an authentic island style pig roast and we all enjoyed extended times of worship and prayer in the evenings. On that first morning of our arrival in camp I realized and tried to explain to Ryan, that I was experiencing stepping into the photos and television shows that I had intently watched and studied in the past, what a strange feeling. After two nights and three days, we packed everything up and headed back down the windy road to the highway and on to Townsville. It’s nice to be back. I feel even more settled now and am eager to get to work.
The house is awesome!! It’s what’s known as a classic Queenslander house, up off the ground for lots of air flow, high ceilings, fans, some windows and shutters throughout (no windows on the shutters and no screens--pray for mosquito or "mozzie" season). The many doors and fans keep air moving thereby bringing some relief to the stifling heat which abounds for much of the year. We do not have any air conditioning and apparently with the right construction it’s not really needed, though we’ll wait on making a decision about that until the temperature starts raising. There are three bedrooms, a really comfortable living room area, two French doors that open onto a large covered back porch, and modern kitchen (the envy of many of the RTO staff). There is one bathroom with a jet tub (can you believe it!) and separate shower. There's also another toilet outside connected to the laundry room. There is a washer but everyone here line dries their clothes since the temperature is so high most of the time. The yard is a large, tamed jungle, perfect for four kids who are ready to get outside and explore. There's a see-saw, small rope swing, a yet-to-be-reinforced fort for the kids. With such nice spacious digs Peggy has fit right in with us. We are so thankful for her presence, and the extra money that we save as a result we believe to be good stewardship.

Last Sunday we visited a local non-denominational church that meets conveniently at the RTO base. It is a good church with many lovely Believers who’re really excited about the Lord, but not quite the flavor we’re looking for. We’re looking forward to getting settled into a comfortable fellowship, but the search will continue for another Sunday.
Blessings to you all, we’re so happy to be in God’s will and look forward to the next post when we’ll be able report with greater detail what specific ministries we will be involved with as the internship program begins July 11 and we’ll be working diligently in the ministry alongside our new friends.

Thanks again for your prayers and support!
The Botkin Family and Nanny Peggy

►Answered Prayer:
-We got here safely and only had one of 17 bags misplaced and that was only for a couple of hours.
-The kids made the plane flight fairly well, except for Kay's difficulties, but she was very much the survivor!
-The folks at the base have been extremely hospitable and loving toward us; all are excited for us to be here and say they've been praying for us.

►Prayer Requests:
-Dressers and shelf units for the house, so we can organize and put stuff away. (There are no closets or cupboards, except in the kitchen).
-For the family to get into a routine of napping, cleaning, schooling, cooking, and working.
-A good solution to the mozzies which will only get worse as the weather heats up and moistens, they especially like Kay and Cameron.
-For God’s leading in placing Jeremy (and Cameron part-time) in the ministries that are most appropriate.

Time To Go...

2010-06-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty warm morning in LA and as my bother and I went to a disc golf course for 18 holes of frustration and elation. We made our way down Melrose to make a quick coffee break and passed many Jewish men dressed smartly in black on their weekly circuit to synagogue. As you might have guessed, today is Saturday and we were driving through the heart of Hollywood on the eve of our flight out of the US.
Today was filled with family, World Cup and packing….the packing never seems to end! It’s been a wonderful road trip down from Port Townsend where we set off nearly three weeks ago. Along the way south we’ve been hugely blessed with the generosity, hospitality, and fellowship of our relatives and friends who’ve taken our troop in for visits often lasting multiple days and nights. Thanks again for hosting us and dealing with the added stress of our large family. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers, the van and trailer have done really well and we’ve had no breakdowns or mishaps so far.
Sunday, we plan on heading out to church, packing more, and spending the rest of the day with family. What an enjoyable blessing to receive all the love and encouragement but we are definitely ready to arrive in Townsville and settle in to our new digs. It turns out that the home we were going to share with another family did not work out and so the folks at Reef to Outback (RTO) have worked to secure another rental for us near the base. We’re told that it is a three bedroom with one and a half bathroom home, fairly spacious with a nice patio and jungly vegetation out back. Apparently, it is difficult to find affordable and adequate housing in this area so we feel very blessed to have it arranged for us at such short notice.
The kids have had a blast with all their cousins and other family over these last few weeks. They are now eager to jump on the airplane, see their new home, meet new friends, and to settle back into a routine. We’ve been reading up on Townsville and studying the maps on Google Maps to try and get a good lay of the land but there will be plenty of exploring done soon after we arrive. With that in mind, the staff at RTO informed us that a few days after we arrive, we will be joining the eighty plus staff members and their families on their annual three-day camping trip out in the bush. This is a time of fellowship and relaxation where everyone gets to know each other and spend quality, focused time together. We “just happened” to have our travel arrangements line up perfectly with this exciting event and so we are looking forward to starting out on the right foot.
It’s getting pretty late, but one last note. We’ve ended our cell phone service, so our 360-640-4627 phone number is no longer working. As a result if you need to get a hold of us you’ll need to use one of the many IT ways. SKYPE: jrbotkin7, Facebook: Jeremy Botkin, Email: jrbotkin777@gmail.com
We also have a calling card which we will use constantly to keep in touch.

God has been wonderfully faithful in answering our every prayer…The list has been long and sometimes daunting in our estimation, but God’s powerful hand has moved on our behalf at every juncture, especially when it seemed like we hit wall after wall and this whole thing wasn’t going to happen. But though we might be at times faithless, He remains faithful and I am really glad for that!

►Please continue to pray for our trip:
For no lost kids or bags,
For opportunities to shine for Christ to those around us,
For good attitudes and patience through the trial that traveling can be sometimes,
For all the loose ends to be tied up back in the States,
For continued financial provision and wisdom as we get settled in and adjust to a different country’s economy,
For continued vision for our family’s role in walking in God’s will in Australia both in the short term and long term,
For perfect transition into serving with our new family at YWAM RTO and acceptance in the community.

2010-06-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

ANSWERED PRAYER!!! The Visa application has been accepted...time to buy plane tickets. Praise the Lord! Rev. 3: 8

2010-06-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

May/June

AND AWAY WE GO!!!

That’s right, the time has come to depart from our friends and family in the Northwest and begin our long drive down to Los Angeles where we’ll, Lord willing, eventually fly over to Townsville, Australia. It’s rather strange, like having your mooring lines cut and floating off on the tide and current, but I take great joy in knowing that God is the one who’s directing out voyage and that He’ll get us to out destination perfectly.
We were waiting for two events to occur to be free to pack up and depart. First, our home in Forks needed to be sold and second for the Australia government to approve our visa. As some of you already know, I am pleased to announce that our house went into escrow for the second time at the beginning of May which brought measured rejoicing in our family since the first time things didn’t work out. Sure enough when the closing date came and went and extensions were signed, we were feeling like we’d heard this song before. But God came through wonderfully and all of the hard work of the real estate agents and loan officers paid off with the sale closing on Friday the 28th of May! The following Tuesday our bags were packed and we were ready to go. The visa is still in the works but we feel confident that it will be issued soon and we should be flying out by mid to late June.
It was with break-neck speed that we packed our belongings in our temporary home at YWAM Discovery Bay and piled into the van to begin our road trip south. Special thanks to all who helped in the packing and cleaning process, we’re unbelievably blessed by your servant’s heart and willingness to give of your time and energy. When I think of all of the effort that has been put forth by family and friends in getting us from Forks to where we are now it makes my heart swell and brings tears of love and appreciation to my eyes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
There have been many times on this journey where we’ve needed to receive some kind of confirming encouragement from the Lord to let us know that we’re indeed, on the right track and that He’s opening the doors. Here’s an example of how He does this from a little over a year ago. Ryan, Aubry, and I were cruising around Big 5 in Sequim making our way onto the highway when we stopped at an intersection with a midsize Chevy truck in front of us. We were a bit bleary-eyed from a long day at school and piano lessons but as we were stopped behind the truck God drew my eyes to the bumper where on the left side was an Australian flag sticker and on the right another sticker stating, “Jesus is coming back, get busy!” The car just erupted with praise and astonishment from all of us as we accepted God’s confirmation of our direction. Likewise, a couple of weeks ago, having just left an emotional send-off from our home church, Calvary Chapel Forks. We were again, at an intersection awaiting our opportunity to enter the highway when a large RV passed us heading south, no doubt en route to the Olympic National Park…or Bella’s house. It was one of those Rental RVs that become increasingly prolific this time of year on the west end of the peninsula. I watched it slowly go by and then remarked to Cameron shaking my head in amazement, “Check it out.” There in the back window were two Australian flags. After a while these “road signs”, or as Cameron refers to them, “cups of water on our marathon” become almost commonplace and it’s easy to take them for granted, but the following confirmation really blew our minds. It was a week later, when we were attending Calvary Chapel Sequim, after second service, where I was able to give an update. I was in the foyer meeting people and handing out newsletters, when I was approached by a young woman who introduced herself as “Becky” and then proceeded shockingly to tell me that a few years ago she had done her DTS (discipleship training school) at the same YWAM base that we’re going to in Townsville! God is so good. He knows just when we need to know with certainty His direction and pleasure in our service for Him and I am once again speechless at His presence in our lives. As Psalm 46: 7 states, “The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
Currently, I’m writing this entry from Cameron’s brother’s home in Oregon where we’ve been spending the week. We will be sharing at Calvary Chapel Gresham on Sunday, June 6th and shortly thereafter make our way down to Redmond and then Redding to visit a friend and more family. Then it’s off to the Central Coast of California to see Cameron’s Grandma Lucy and more family, and finally to Los Angeles to wrap up our visits and catch the plane Down Under.
You may be reading this blog having just received out blanket newsletter mailer, and if so, welcome! I hope that you will join the blog and keep up with all of the entries as we continue on our adventure. We truly appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and financial support and look forward keeping you up on all of God’s divine appointments and blessings.
God Bless You,
Jeremy & Co.

Prayer Requests:

Obtaining our visa
Safe and successful travel down to LA
Good visits with family and friends

UPDATE LETTER March/April 2010

2010-04-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter and Spring!

It’s with little regret that I turn my attention from the quiet coldness of winter and to the growing activity of spring. The tulips are out, daffodils are bright like the constant sunshine that they’re bathed in (sorry Forks residents), and the grass is growing like mad. In fact, it’s hard to keep up with all the mowing here at the base (about 9 acres, I’m told). It’s like painting the Golden Gate Bridge; work your way from one end to the next and when you’re done it’s time to start over again. Thank the Lord for iPods! The staff are back at the base now and are prepping for the various church retreats and YWAM classes that are scheduled to begin soon. I’m staying busy giving the occasional Bible study at Calvary Chapel Sequim and helping out with yard work and general maintenance here at the base while Cameron is busy homeschooling the kids and keeping the house as organized as possible. We hope everyone’s Easter week was special and safe. Easter was a real blessing for our family as we headed out to Calvary Chapel Poulsbo for their rock’n Resurrection Service and then continued south to my parents’ home on Bainbridge Island. The kids did all the fun Easter stuff that kids do and had a blast with their grandparents. We finished the evening with a really tasty rice and chicken dinner accompanied by a salad packed with veggies and a sweetly dense pound cake dessert drenched with fresh strawberry and raspberry sauce. We rolled our way home and slept great that night. It’s a good thing my belt had extra holes in it!

You may be wondering, “Aren’t they supposed to be in Townsville by now?” Yes, that is true, the intern-staff program was scheduled to start by April 11. However, time was extended a bit due to a longer than expected amount of time the immigration folks took in approving the YWAM Reef to Outback (RTO)program. It has been approved though, and so we’re all scrambling to get our visa paperwork filled out and submitted. Feel free to keep us in prayer on this since they’re requiring a lot of documentation including FBI background checks, proof of international medical insurance, proof of financial support, etc. It can be quite a headache but with the Lord’s provision and the helpful staff at YWAM RTO, we’re getting through it. Cameron and I keep reminding each other, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” That’s just the bureaucratic stuff though. We also have a great deal of personal belongings that need to be sorted to determine what can be trashed, donated, stored, or sold. I must say, it was a real relief to let go of a lot of these things on our initial move from Forks. Our challenge is that we have to do it again. It’s a little more difficult since what we have now, though is not necessarily needful, is what we really value. Nonetheless, it has to be done and thankfully we’ve had friends and family around to help with the kids while we work on it.

Great News! Peggy Murphy has recently been added to our crew. As some of you know, our dear friend Peggy came up to Forks with us back in 02 to plant Calvary Chapel Forks and was a huge blessing to our family, to the church, and to the whole community. Eventually, she felt led to move back down to San Diego for family reasons. Last December while visiting our friends at Calvary Chapel Point Loma, Cameron prayed in her heart for God’s will with possibly stirring Peggy to commit to come with us as a nanny. While we mingled among the congregation, Cameron had a chance to share her desire with Peggy. She immediately said she was interested and that she had already been praying about it! Currently she has been accepted as a Mission Builder with YWAMRTO and is waiting on her visa.

We also received some hopeful news last week as we have had our home up for sale since last September 09 and you have all been so diligently praying for God’s will in it…Drum roll please…It is in escrow and should be closing at the beginning of May! We’re rejoicing and are excited though a little reserved since last time we were a little premature in our celebration. If it goes the distance, we’ll be able to leave for Australia without having to worry about the house and we should have a little more financial freedom which will help with being qualified for our volunteer visa. We were really concerned for the family who was renting our house since they were just getting settled in. Finding a rental in Forks can be difficult, but it only took a couple of days and we heard that they had found a newer home at a better price. What a relief. God is good.

So it seems we’re on the final lap of our journey here in the U.S. but just about to begin another adventure overseas. Thank you again for all of your support, your prayers, and encouragement. We’ve had some real ups and downs through this whole process but have truly felt God holding our hands and leading us along by your prayers. Each of you is vital to us in our efforts to be fruitful in the ministry in Australia. Our hope and prayer is that though we may be separated by thousands of miles of ocean, we will stay near your hearts and minds and remain in close contact with you. We hope that you will not only continue to support us but grow in your excitement and committed partnership in what God is doing through us and in us.

May the Lord richly bless you this month!
Pastor Jeremy and Family

Answers to Prayer:
Last time we asked for prayer for:
Provision for our trip to Townsville; airfare, missionary health insurance, visa fees, etc. ►God is faithfully continuing to provide as the needs arise, Awesome!
Government acceptance of our visa agreement. ►The YWAM program has been accepted. Now it’s up to us to fill out our paperwork and submit it asap.
God’s will and direction with the house in Forks. It continues to be listed for sale and has been shown multiple times but no leads as of yet. ►It’s in escrow and should be sold by the beginning of May!!!
Homeschooling help in Townsville. ►Still looking into it.
Wisdom and diligence in preparing to move. ►God has provided folks to help and we’re moving right along as quickly as possible.

Prayer Requests:
Choosing the right Missionary Insurance plan
Finishing and submitting visa paperwork
Sorting through the rest of our belongings
Continued provision for insurance, airfare, and monthly support
God’s direction for us in being used exactly where He wants us when we arrive and get to work

UPDATE LETTER 2/10

2010-03-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

Greetings once again from the Botkin family, we hope that February has been a safe and fruitful month for you. Temperatures are unseasonably rising as we have experienced a great deal of sunlight in January and February, in contrast to much of the rest of the States as snow is falling right now on the east coast. There are pink and white blossoms appearing on some of the previously slumbering trees around Port Townsend and even some rhododendron bushes beginning to flower. The Olympics in Vancouver, BC are about wrapped up and with them the Discipleship Training School here at YWAM Discovery Bay. The team arrived last Wednesday pretty wiped out but full of exciting stories and experiences from their travels in Asia. All are safe and have deeply grown in their walk with the Lord as they watched Him move powerfully both in and through them. It was a joyful time Saturday as many friends and relatives packed into the chapel classroom to celebrate the graduation and commission of the students and many tears were shed as we listened to their stories and testimonies of how God met them on farms, in schools, orphanages, and leper villages. I must admit that as I watched the slide shows and video, I wished we had been able to go with them, but our outreach is yet to come. It was bittersweet seeing all of our fellow students and friends again after these months apart and then having to let them go again into whatever future God has prepared for them. But, we take consolation knowing that He’s good and will continue the work that He has already begun in and through them and that we will see them again soon whether here or there or in “the air”, as they say.
We continue to abide here in Discovery Bay as we wait for word from the YWAM base in Townsville as to whether our visa has been approved. In the meantime we’re busy homeschooling the kids and transporting them between gymnastic and swim practices. Aubry’s getting more and more limber and can almost do the splits sideways and front and back…Ouch! Also, Ryan, Aubry, and Sean are all getting really comfortable in the water and progressing well through their class levels, a really good thing considering how much water is around Townsville. We’re helping out here at the base as well and are navigating our way through the process of filling out the piles of government travel paperwork and visiting churches to share the vision and grow support. God has been speaking to us more clearly through His word as to what we shall be doing in Australia and encouraging us in this waiting period. We have also been blessed with many visitors. We’ve enjoyed time with family as Cameron’s brother and sister-in-law and two boys visited. Also, Cameron’s Mom, Lois and step-Dad, Ron have visited on a few occasions and just this last weekend we joyously celebrating Sean’s 5th birthday with many friends and family. It seems clear that this waiting period is, in many ways, an opportunity to rest and connect with loved ones from here in the States since when we move those visits will be much more infrequent.
All in all, we are doing quite well and are very optimistic that God is going to continue to open doors for us to travel down under soon. Our most recent departure date has been the first week in April, but with the visa process going as slow as it seems to be it may be a few weeks longer. We would ask that you would continue to pray for us, for Townsville, and for Australia as a nation, especially the youth. God is at work and through your prayers and support I’m certain great things are going to continue to happen in and through us.

Pastor Jeremy and Family

Prayer Requests:

 Provision for our trip to Townsville; airfare, missionary health insurance, visa fees, etc.
 Government acceptance of our visa agreement
 God’s will and direction with the house in Forks. It continues to be listed for sale and has been shown multiple times but no leads as of yet.
 Homeschooling help in Townsville
 Wisdom and diligence in preparing to move

BOTKIN FAMILY UPDATE 1/28/10

2010-03-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

Season’s greetings from the Botkin family and may your 2010 be a very blessed one!

It was a bittersweet, brisk day when we tearfully embraced our YWAM friends and said, “Goodbye” or more appropriately, “See you later!” The holidays were upon us and with them, the end of the Lecture Portion of the Discipleship Training School. Many of the students were prepared to go overseas for the second half of the school but our family is making plans to go Down Under. We’ve submitted our application and have been accepted for an intern staff position at YWAM “Reef to Outback” in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is a fairly large base located on the coast right in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. They serve the city through a youth outreach called “Youth Street”, and reach out to the Aboriginal population through a program called “Proper Way Productions”. They offer classes in worship, inductive Bible study, and Discipleship Training Schools at various times throughout the year. Also, the base operates a large power boat that brings students and others on outreach and mercy missions to Papua New Guinea and to various Australian ports. As our family transitions over to Australia we will get settled and oriented with the organization, staff, and city; and then jump right in to the ministries that the Lord will direct us to serve in. Our initial commitment is for one year beginning in April during which time we will be completing our remaining DTS outreach requirements and contributing to the ministry. What happens after that, we’ll have to wait and see. Needless to say, we are very excited and can’t wait to get there and get to work. In the meantime we will continue to sort through our belongings, organize and finalize paperwork, and live at the YWAM base in Discovery Bay as caretakers until the DTS team returns, we’ll then get ready to go in late March or early April.

Our Christmas season was wonderful as the Lord provided plane fare for us to visit relatives and friends in San Diego. It was nice to get out of the cold and as Cameron said, “Enjoy sun that has some heat!” It was great to go to a couple of new churches, Calvary Chapel Alpine and East Valley Christian Fellowship with family and to share God’s vision for us at Calvary Chapel Point Loma. We were humbled and left speechless with the many surprise gifts which God provided by friends, family, and our extended church families. Connecting and Reconnecting with all of these loving people was such an encouragement and reminder of the reality of our membership in the global family of God. It was tough to get back on the airplane but great things are on the horizon.

Just want to say in closing, “Thank You!” to all who have been and are behind us through prayer and financial giving. We very literally, could not have made it this far without you and are looking forward to the future with great excitement. Please continue in your support and if the Lord leads, commit to support us on a monthly basis. Currently, we have been blessed with about 1/3 the amount that we need to live on per month in Australia and are hopeful that very soon we will have the rest. Every little bit helps and though you may not be able to come over to serve with us side by side, you can through your generosity. May the Lord richly bless you!

Pastor Jeremy
All contributions can be sent to:

YWAM Discovery Bay
Attn: Botkin Family Support
PO Box 989
Port Hadlock, WA. 98339

Checks should made out to YWAM Discovery Bay with nothing in the memo...As long as our name in on the envelope it will get to us...
YWAM DB is a Non Profit and all contributions are tax deductible.
Thanks!

Answered Prayer:
 God has clearly shown that we are to go to Townsville
 God continues to provide for our every need
 Though the our home hasn’t been sold yet, it is being rented!

Prayer Requests:
 God’s will and direction with the house in Forks
 Provision for our trip to Townsville
 For the Lord’s protection and blessing on our DTS Team overseas
 Homeschooling help in Townsville
 Wisdom in preparing to move a family of six overseas

BOTKIN FAMILY UPDATE 11/17/09

2010-03-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

It definitely feels like winter is just around the corner here in Discovery Bay. The mountains are constantly shrouded by precipitous clouds and the persistent wind has blown the leaves almost completely from the trees. The lecture series portion of the Discipleship Training School (DTS) is flying by and the outreach portion is looming ahead. We’ve been busy listening to teachers and working around the campus, raking leaves and picking up windfall. The temperature is gradually dropping and we’re keeping our small wood stove stuffed with fuel. With only a bout of stomach flu and an odd cold here and there, our family is healthy, active, and doing great.
It’s been about a week since we rose early to attend a Sunday service at the Emmanuel Bible Church (EBC) in North Seattle, where we began our week-long urban outreach. The service was great, lively Spirit filled worship and solid Bible teaching on the centrality of the gospel in everything, and the fellowship was full of love and holy calories as we enjoyed a wonderful potluck lunch together. We settled in at EBC with all of our bedding and clothes since this would be our home-base for the entirety of the week. It was a trip full of ministry and busy-ness, with many expeditions downtown to represent Christ to the city. Our time was spent serving the Lord in various ways; in street evangelism across the street from Westmont Center, me with guitar in hand, Cameron and a fellow student singing worship songs and the kids floating around with other students looking for open doors of ministry. Having Aubry and Ryan with us was amazing! Watching them work with the team and minister to the city’s inhabitants was truly precious. We worked side by side handing out food at Northwest Harvest Food Bank and served homeless men at the Bread of Life Mission. We also prayerfully walked the often hilly streets becoming familiar with the city and looking for any open door of ministry, sharing food and hot chocolate with homeless, praying with and encouraging them. When we were back at EBC we stayed busy with various chores and service projects and enjoyed our time with Pastor Darren Larson who taught extensively on the word of God, its origin, importance, interpretation, and much more. It would have been great to have him teach us for another week but our time in the city quickly came to end and we soon were back in the van heading home, exhausted in many ways but also enlightened and our hearts enlarged. It was tough leaving Sean and Kay with their grandparents but they had a ball together and we were blessed to have a little more mobility and freedom as a smaller troop.
We got the news upon our return that the sale of our home fell through and so we are currently praying and awaiting further instructions from the Lord as far as what to do next.
The kids are continuing in their home schooling endeavors, Ryan has really enjoyed writing creative and exciting stories while Aubry is beginning to excel in her reading skills and is taking horse riding lessons at a neighboring ranch. Sean is as active as ever and trying to literally follow in his older siblings’ footsteps. Kay is talking up a storm and all have adjusted to their new surroundings and friends and are happily flourishing.
We’ve been blessed to make Calvary Chapel Sequim our home church while we’re in the area and have enjoyed our time with the Bailey Family; we also, look forward to visiting some other churches over the next few weeks to share the vision for Australia. Speaking of Australia, we’ve received some info that looks to be an answer to prayer! We’ve been praying about where in the country we would be completing the outreach portion of the DTS and it looks like the YWAM base in Townsville, Queensland will be hosting us. Our director is in contact with them and doors seem to be opening up…exciting stuff!

►ANSWERED PRAYER!
 Thanks to the hard work and generosity of our church friends and family our house has been prepped to be sold or rented as the case may be…Thank You again CCF!
 The Abbate Family is all moved and getting settled in in their new rental.
 Our kids are growing in their individual relationships with the Lord, it was especially evident in Seattle.
 We’ve completed the after-school program and the hosting church has successfully taken it over. I look forward to hearing how things are going as we close out the year.

►CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS:
 God’s will and direction with the house in Forks
 Provision for the outreach portion of the DTS
 Vision for the next step after the DTS
 More ministry opportunities in Port Townsend

BOTKIN FAMILY UPDATE 10/09

2010-03-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

We are settling in here at Discovery Bay and have really enjoyed our transition into our new lifestyle and environment. It certainly hasn’t been easy saying goodbye to everyone and everything that has made up our lives over the last seven years, but it feels good to be in the center of God’s will and we are excited for what’s ahead.
Having entered into the world of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), we are being stretched in many different ways, some of which are a bit uncomfortable and some very needful. Today the tragic scourge of human trafficking, for example was revealed to us as our hearts were broken and our prayers engaged. Living in the comfort of rural USA is really wonderful, but it can also tend to divert your attention from the struggles and tragedies that are occurring around the world everyday. Creating an awareness of these issues is one of the many aims of the Discipleship Training School (DTS) that we are involved in. “Knowing God and making Him known” is the slogan of YWAM and each of the instructors and staff have been leading us down that path with inspiring, interesting, practical, and sometimes provocative insights. They keep us very busy with journaling, note taking, book reports, various meetings, meals, service projects, and outreaches.
The outreaches are particularly exciting! On Wednesdays we get to take part in an after school program for elementary school children at a local church. It is always a challenge and a real blessing to introduce them to Jesus or encourage them in their already established relationship with Him. Also, it is our goal to instill in them biblical character traits like love, honor, and service, which will help them to grow into mature Christian adults. Ryan and Aubry both participate in leading parts of the outreach as well. We have also been actively visiting Port Townsend to develop relationships with the locals and to become familiar with the city to prayerfully see where God might open doors of ministry.
Our children are adjusting well to life here also and are enjoying their home-school group that meets on Wednesdays just down the street from the base. We have had many family visitors since we began the school so we have all been blessed with the familiar faces and fellowship. There are a few children of staff and students here at the DTS who our kids are enjoying hanging out with and some of the speakers even show up with their children, too. The kids love the grounds, the beach, and the food and we are very appreciative that the staff are all readily pitching in to help watch them while we’re in class. All four are taking part in work duties and worship times, and sometimes the older two opt to stay in with us to hear special speakers share, especially the missionaries that periodically stop by on their way through the country.
As far as our future plans go, we are praying and waiting on the Lord to direct us specifically where we should go for the two month Outreach phase of our DTS and then on from there. We feel strongly that He’s leading us to Australia, but are waiting on Him to set things up in the area that He wants. Meanwhile, we are preparing to finish the packing and moving process from our home in Forks and the remaining transitional steps from the church in Forks as Pastor Nathan receives the pulpit.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support, we are literally sustained by them. God is wonderfully blessing us and we feel incredibly privileged to be here.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
Getting the House packed and cleaned for the closing sale date of Oct. 30.
The Abbate’s move on the 22nd into their new rental.
The remaining transitional steps at CCForks.
The Lord’s will for our Outreach phase of the DTS and whatever’s next.
Our children’s spiritual growth and well-being.
The kids of the after school program.
Fruit from our outreaches in PT.
God’s provision and His will to be known for the lives of the other DTS students and staff.

Botkin family at YWAM in Discovery Bay

2010-02-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

Botkin Family Christmas Photo