Ministry & Family Update

Since my visit to the US for my brother's wedding a lot has happened, and I'd love to share with you all about it.

As you know, God has blessed us with a house in Katherine.  Only about a week after returning from my trip to the States, we were given the opportunity to host our first guests!  I(Jared) recieved a call from my indigenous dad, and he was looking for a place to stay during the Katherine Show.  When I asked him how many people would need to stay with us, he began listing more than just him and his wife...I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised at all, as that's the way it usually works.  We ended up hosting 7 people at our house, on couches, beds and on the floor.  You know, that's one of the reasons we asked for this larger house in the first place, and God answered our prayer.  It was an encouraging visit with my dedi and his wife, and we're getting to know their family better each time.  One of the people who came with them introduced himself and said, "Remember me?  You came and visited me in the hospital."  That made my heart glad because we had a chance to serve, and God used us!

When I first started to work at Mission Australia, I was told I would be stationed as a teacher out in Beswick (Wugularr), an indigenous community about 100km from Katherine.  Well, I've been working for MA for a year now, officially, and this week I will be heading out to Beswick to begin the process of starting the SEE Program(Skills for Education and Employment) out there!  FINALLY!! :)  And the most exciting part for me is the exciting news I recieved from my boss: "I want you to teach it in Kriol."  YES!!!  I was SO EXCITED!  I can't wait to start out there, and I started to translate our materials into Kriol last week.  I will use my notes to teach from, but also use the English "road rules" book so my students will be learning English reading/writing/numeracy as they study road rules to get their drivers' licences.  

On the church front, our family was involved this year in doing a VBS (Vacation Bible School) with our church.  It's the first one our church has ever done, and it went pretty well.  I was the emcee and the teacher for the 5-8 year old class.  It was a lot of fun, and I'm praying the Scriptures we looked at with the kids will stay with them, especially the ones concerning salvation.

Another exciting note:  the pastor and his family we have been waiting for has finally arrived!  We're really excited to have them after 2 years of waiting(on our half... the church has actually been waiting for about 4).  You can pray for them as they begin the ministry the Lord has called them to in our church.  Their names are Justin, Jessica, Colin, Elijah, and Aiden.  Cam has already made friends with Colin who is the same age as him.  Please pray for our church as we continue to minister in Katherine and share the gospel.

After much prayer and consideration, Cheri has decided to put her studies aside in order to focus more on our family and our home.  Perhaps she will return at a later date, but that hasn't been decided as of yet.  As a family we are seriously looking into becoming foster parents, and Cheri will be going to their office tomorrow morning to get more information.    There will be a special training over my birthday weekend(beginning of August) to learn more and prepare.  You can pray for us in this area as well, as it may be that we take on long-term care of some children.

On that note, please also pray for the Lord's provision of a 7-seater vehicle we can use both in town and community. Our landcruiser has seen it's last days, and our only other small car fits the 5 of us, with no room for extra children. 

Thank you to all who have been praying for our family and who have asked for an update on what we're doing.  We are so thankful for your prayers and I'm personally encouraged when I think of each of you.  God bless, yumob!

God's House

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We had not been seeking to purchase a house. Yes, in the past we had. Yes, it was a dream of mine to settle down and own our own home.  BUT all of the doors had closed when we tried to purchase a home. God said “NO… now is not the time.” We thought He might be saying “Never is the time.” We have always trusted in the Lord’s provision for living places, and as our journey with Him has taken us on a bit of a roller-coaster ride in regards to housing, we have learned that He will ALWAYS provide… He is our Father.  We looked to the verses “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” (Matthew 6:19) We had some in savings, but decided against using it for a house downpayment, as we have been commanded to “lay your treasure in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). We had given up on the idea of ever owning a house in this life.

BUT then a Christian brother came up to us and said, “you need a house. God can do anything, and He can provide a house for you! This is a basic need, providing for your family.” Long story short, this was the spark that got us thinking again about purchasing a home. We thought, “okay, God, are you telling us now is the time to buy?” I thought we couldn’t afford it, and I have to pay for school as well. Jared said “If we’re going to buy a house it needs to be 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom, for guests.” I said, “yeah, right… do you know how much 4-bedroom houses cost? We can’t even hardly afford a 3-bedroom house!” BUT we looked at the market, and there happened to be a 4-bdr/2-bath house in a “lower” price range, with an open visitation that very weekend. So we went to check it out… we thought, “this would fit the bill.”

 I called a lender to see about a house loan… it didn’t look very good, however most of the “boxes” I had to have ticked, were.  After one disappointing night when I thought we couldn’t do it, and God was closing the door, I thought, “Why God, would that man say something to us, if this wasn’t your will? Why did we have to try this again, only to be denied again?”… I drove to the house and prayed. “Lord, this is Your house. I can’t do anything about it. I’d love it if you gave it to us, but if not, Thank you for the house you’ve already provided for us to live in…”  That very night we had a meeting with a broker who said, “Yes! You can do this! I’ll apply for a loan for you.” 5 minutes AFTER speaking with her, the real estate lady called: “What do you think about their counter-offer?” Prior to the broker’s meeting, I would have replied that we couldn’t do it.  However, I told her what the broker said, and she responded, “Great! I’ll start you on a contract on Monday!” I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe it. God was giving us this house, I knew it.

The verses that God gave me were “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33), but more than that, was this verse: “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:9-11) I kept these verses in my heart.

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Our loan application was DENIED by the bank. I almost thought God was going back on His Word to me. I thought, “Lord, didn’t you promise me this house through those verses? Am I doing something wrong?  Are You going back on Your promise?!” The broker appealed the bank’s decision. DENIED yet again. By this time I had real peace about it. I knew that if God wanted to provide this house for us, HE COULD DO IT. HE IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL CREATION. I didn’t need to fret just because of the bank people. So I didn’t. The mortgage broker apologized for getting our hopes up and counseled that if I worked part time for a few months, we could reapply… I informed her that I had previously had a part time job, but took a break during the school semester to focus on my studies, and was welcome back to work whenever I wanted to. She told me to get two payslips and a letter from the workplace stating that I had been an employee there, and she could reapply…. We asked the vendors selling the house if they were willing to extend the contract for this finance to be worked out… they agreed! Lo and Behold, I went back to work just a few days, the loan was approved, and now we’re moving into the house that God provided for us.

I am still blown away by the LORD’s provision. It’s a great house, but one that definitely needs some work.  We are not even worthy of anything in this life, and yet God is faithful to His children and provides their “daily bread.” He has done this time and again in our lives.  May we use this house He has provided for His glory, and may we worship Him in it. God be praised!