December 2019 Update

Merry Christmas!

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the year and to wish each of you a blessed, safe and happy time with family and friends over this Christmas and New Year's period.

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Blogging

A couple of months ago Mike published our first Blog Article, "Can we talk about this?" as a conversation starter, and to introduce one way that we plan to use this site more in future.  We'd love to create an online space for people to safely talk about faith, reason and life.

We're also planning to publish Bible Stories in future that will focus on the lives of individuals as well as explore the God of the Bible, Who He is and what He's like.

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Family Trip

We're all looking forward to being together for a few weeks over Christmas in South Australia, as Mike, Ray and Josh travel down to stay with Hannah at YWAM Adelaide.

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Rayleen's Health

Ray has been adjusting to sleeping with a CPAP machine and overall this has been improving her quality of sleep and oxygen intake while reducing added stress on her heart.  She has also seen some improvement in her energy levels, though still needs to watch that she doesn't overdo it.

With a hot, dry summer now upon us, it's become a challenge for Ray and the CPAP machine to achieve ideal humidity levels, so that she isn't either "drowning" with excess water in the air hose (which wakes her from the sound of gurgling as air passes through the water in the hose), or having her nose and throat dry out.  Sleep has become more difficult for her with this weather change.

However, under the advice of her cardiologist and with the approval of her GP, Ray is now planning to return to work part-time at Toowoomba Base Hospital in January.

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Hannah with YWAM!!!

Hannah has been to East Timor,  Tasmania, Melbourne, and the Philippines for the second time (leading their YWAM DTS outreach).  If you haven't already, you can stay up-to-date with Hannah by checking out her blog.

If you'd like to support what Hannah is doing, her account details are:
BSB: 638010
A/C: 13858386.

We know she'd greatly appreciate any support.  Thank you.

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Josh

Josh has successfully completed grade 11 (including a Certificate II course) and is now enjoying Christmas holidays.  He still loves to use his free time by hosting or joining gaming days with friends as he and they are able.

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Ministry Opportunities

We appreciate the continuing opportunities for Mike to regularly lead devotion times for both the men and women at Teen Challenge, and Ray loves to be able to join Mike at the Women's Centre when she can. Mike completed "SEASON" for the men (for the third time) in October and has also just finished running this for the women this week as well.  "SEASON" continues to be an amazing resource of AccessTheStory and we love the impact it continues to have.  It's a great discipleship tool for those exploring faith, new to faith, and anyone who desires to grow in their understanding of God and His Story.

We loved being at the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival for the second time in September.  This year, as well as presenting the Good News of Jesus in various languages from the point of view of God as the God of all humankind, we also offered a craft activity for children providing the opportunity to make their own sock puppets or sock animals that include words about Jesus in different languages.

YWAM Southlands joined other YWAMers for a national conference on the Sunshine Coast in last month and Rayleen and I hosted the crew from Adelaide at a friend's house on the Coast.  Mike also got to go to the conference (with Ray joining for some of it), which was so good to be part of. Hosting was a great opportunity to serve this team and see Hannah as well, just after some of them returned from the Philippines. 

While we're visiting Hannah at YWAM in Adelaide this month, we'll also be able to celebrate with the current DTS group for their graduation.

We continue to be part of what God is doing at our home church, Shepherd's Heart, and Mike is enjoying the rhythm of preaching each month.  Mike and Ray also continued to run a weekly Youth time with a mix of fun activities, discussions and Bible times for these young people, and a kid's club up until these holidays. 

God has opened an exciting opportunity for us at Shepherd's Heart, as we've recently moved to another location.  We now meet in St Mary's Hall in the suburb of Harristown close to a number of large schools and homes.  There are also a number of refugees in the area, as well as a couple of nursing homes.  It is also quite close to our own home.  We have use of the hall and surrounding land throughout the week and we're all very excited about the possibilities that we'll explore in 2020, such as after school activities, as well as providing a safe place for youth to hang-out.  Mike is also wanting to run Season in the hall.  The possibilities are amazing.  God is good. 😃

Ray and Mike had the privilege of leading a time of Carols in the hall last Sunday, and we were joined by a few people in the neighbourhood.

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We’re grateful that you’re continuing to partner with us and we want to say a big “THANK YOU” to each of you. We couldn't do this without you!  If you haven't contributed and would like to, please follow this link.

God continues to show Himself faithful to us and we're thankful and excited for the opportunities that He opens up for us to see His Story have a greater impact on the lives of those whose paths cross ours.

Blessings,

Mike & Ray