The Next Step...

Dear Friends and Family,

            Greetings from Australia!  We have been serving here with AuSIL, the local branch of Wycliffe for 2 ½ years. Many of the goals we had before coming to Australia have been accomplished.  We have built relationships here, we have learned (and continue to learn) Kriol.  We have been part of dubbing the Luke DVD into Kriol.  We have also been part of many different Bible study workshops and one song writing workshop.  We have been blessed with an excellent team to work with, and have built lasting friendships with our team members.

            Though we have been able by the Lord’s grace to accomplish much, we feel the Lord leading us in a new direction.  We would like to serve through our local church in Katherine, and be able to teach more than is possible within Wycliffe.  We feel led to begin a youth ministry at our church in Katherine.  The church we have been attending is a new Baptist church plant, and there are many opportunities to serve through the church. 

            Through our time serving with Wycliffe I have noticed something significant.  Older people don’t seem to care as much about coming to church or serving God if they haven’t grown up with it.  The women who have been coming have consistently remembered with smiles the Bible clubs or weekly Bible meetings at their church when they were children.

            As I have observed the children in this area, I can see that they are lost.  The methods being used to reach out to them aren’t overly successful.  There are good beginnings, but there is a lack of consistent outreach for various reasons, with little or no follow-up.  Follow-up is also known as the first step to discipleship.

            The ladies in the church have all agreed; there needs to be more outreach to the youth, and  they have suggested a weekly meeting for the kids.  While serving with Wycliffe, I would not be able to take the lead in this ministry, though the ladies are all grandmothers and either working or too old/sick/busy to carry out this type of ministry on their own.  Wycliffe’s stance is for the indigenous church to take the lead in ministry, not the non-indigenous person to come and take over.  My intent isn’t to take over, but to serve until the time comes when the churches here are able to reach out on their own, training people up who are passionate about reaching the youth.

            Living costs in the Northern Territory are rather high.  As a result of our move and a quadrupled rent price, I looked for a job to help meet the costs we will have.  I have been offered a job working at a motel here in Katherine.  It is a full-time position as a receptionist/manager.  This was an answer to prayer for us.  However, it will also limit our time in ministry. 

            Our hope and tentative plan is to have a sort of youth group meeting fortnightly.  One week in Katherine for the kids there, and the other week in Barunga.  We will do one group in English, and the other group in Kriol.  This would include games, singing with guitar, and then the Bible lesson and prayer.

            Since we will be leaving Wycliffe, our new accountability is our church here, the pastor and elders.  This also means we will no longer be supported through Wycliffe.  We wanted to thank each and every one of you for your faithful prayers and support over the past 5 years we’ve been with Wycliffe.  Each of you have been a blessing to us, and we will not forget your love and sacrifice for our family and the Kingdom. 

            We will be heading back to the States for a brief visit during the school holidays over here, to debrief from our time with Wycliffe as well as see family & friends.   Our tentative schedule is as follows:

            Dec 11-14 Dallas TX, for debriefing from Wycliffe

              Dec 15-18 Austin TX

              Dec 19-24 Phoenix/Tucson AZ

              Dec 24-31 Longmont CO

              Dec 31-Jan 5 Bemidji MN

            Jan 5 –Jared flies back to Australia to begin work at the motel; Cheri and the kids will remain through Jan 21 in MN/IL to visit friends and family.

            Please let us know if you’d like to get together with us while we’re in your area.  We would love the opportunity to reconnect with as many folks as possible.

            Again, for those who have served alongside us through prayer and financial support, thank you so much for joining us in the ministry God gave us, and may the Lord bless you as you continue to serve Him, whether it’s with us or in some other way.  You have been a blessing and we’re grateful for you. 

            If God is leading you to continue with us, please pray for us during this time of transition.  If you would like to give financially, we are currently working out how that can happen.  We will keep you updated through our blog and e-mail, and if you’ve got Facebook… J

                                                Serving Him Together,

                                                            Jared and Cheri,  Alice, Bethany, and Cameron

Real Ministry?

Often times I think people have a skewed view of who a missionary is and what a missionary does.  When people think of overseas workers they may think: "They like eating weird foods like grubs, kangaroo, shark stomach, and pig's head."

Then they may think, "They live in huts, have no running water, and have to save all their plastic bags because they don't have anything like that in (insert a country name).  They're the ones who are telling people about Jesus in unreached parts of the world."  Still others may think, "They're the ones who are constantly asking people for money, and they don't even do a real job."(hopefully this misguided group is a small one...)

As we work over here in Australia (or should I say, "Down Under?"), the definition of what a missionary is and what a missionary does eludes me at times.  Does it truly matter where we are on the globe?  Does it really matter what our climate is and what the wildlife look like?  What is the point of a missionary?
 
Aren't we called to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations?  Yes.  Are we called to bring others to Christ?  Yes.  Are we called to become like people we're trying to reach in order to be effective?  Yes.  Are these commands only for people who are "missionaries" in Australia, or Indonesia, or any other country?   NO.  Aren't these true for all Christians everywhere?

My prayer for every believer is that we realise God has made us with a specific purpose, and we have a part in His amazing plan to draw all men to Himself.  Where do we fit?  IN THE BODY OF CHRIST.  Are we all the same?  NO, praise the Lord!  But we've got to do the work God has laid before us to do, no matter what that looks like.  Not everyone is going to be heading to Australia to live in an indigenous community, learn a new language, and do workshops helping others to study God's Word in that language.  Not every believer is called to move to a new country to serve the Lord.  However, we are all called to make disciples.  We are all called to go and be witnesses.  We are all commanded to offer up our bodies as living sacrifices to God(which is acceptable).

What does that look like?  Well,(I ask myself) where has God placed me?  Who are the people around me?  Am I reaching out to them in a way that is relevant to them?  Am I using the gifts God has given me to bring glory to His name?  Am I doing everything I possibly can to bring glory to Him by helping others to know Him?

Oftentimes I feel unworthy, inadequate, like a failure, and a bit like nothing I do really matters.  However, according to God's Word, nothing done for him is a waste of time.  NOTHING.  I am not perfect, but I must continue to serve the Lord with all my heart--as imperfect and incomplete as my service may be--because He commands me to.  And because my life is not my own.  And aside from all that, what else is there for me, anyway?  Nothing.  Apart from Christ, nothing else matters.  And I will trust Him to take my broken, imperfect, incomplete work and make it useful, perfect, and complete.

What is "real ministry"?   I believe it's knowing exactly who our Master is, and fully submitting to His will, and teaching others to do the same.  More than that, to truly know Him, and to grow closer to Him every day--and help others to grow closer to Him as well.  The encouraging thing is, our Master is also our Father and He loves us, wants his best for us, and will walk with us and help us the entire way.  

A Quick Update

There have been so many things on my mind lately.  There are many different transitions we'll be taking in a short time, and I'm excited to see what God is going to do in this next part of our ministry here.

Currently, we are hosting a couple from the States as they do recording for an audio Kriol Baibul.  We have been blessed to record with 2 different folks here in Barunga and have finished recording the book of Titus (Taidus).  It went well.  Jim and Mary Alice have put in a lot of work to make the project go well.  We have appreciated their flexibility (when world views collide) and their kindness.  They have been very hard at work recording, and when they aren't recording, they are editing like mad!  :)  May God bless them for their dedication.

We are also looking ahead to moving our family to Katherine in December.  We are planning on moving before the new school year so our kids can start at a school in Katherine.  There are many reasons for this transition: Alice and Bethany being the only "English as a first language" speakers in their class in Barunga, a slower pace--which is necessary with an ESL program but not too helpful for our girls; a lower view of education we've noticed in the community,  there are consistently children wandering during school hours because they simply didn't want to come to school.  We would really appreciate your prayers as we take this next step.

We have been looking at housing in Katherine and the cost to rent in Katherine is approximately 4 times the amount we are currently paying in Barunga.  In order to meet this cost, I have been working with an autistic boy over at the school every day, and have committed to helping him through December.  Trenton is 5 years old and his grandma is one of the church leaders in Barunga.  It has been a very challenging job, and Trenton has tested me many times.  However, this has also been an opportunity to get to know the kids in the community, and to build relationships with the teachers as well.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve and share Christ through my life.

We have been attending a small church plant in Katherine for several months on and off (depending on what's happening in Barunga) and are looking forward to further involvement with that group of people.  We are excited to see what God is going to do through this new church.  We have several ideas for indigenous ministry through this church, but ultimately God will direct our path.

Thank you all so much for your constant prayers and support of our family throughout our time here in Australia.  You are each a blessing to us, and we praise the Lord for each of you on our team.  If you have any questions about what's next with us, or any other questions, please ask.  God bless, yumob!!

Motorcycles for Cam

Here's a common sight here!!

Look close and see if you can see the fish with the rainbow tails!

Bye, Cam!  I love you, dude!

Thailand (from a Mullet's eye view...)

The course hasn't started yet, but a group of us went out to see the Sunday night market.  It was a lot of fun!  I hope you enjoy the pics. :)  Thank you so much for your prayers for me and this group as we go through this course.

This was the first group we saw playing on the market.  The drummer was using pots and jugs of different sizes.

This group had some more traditional type instruments.  Very neat!  Can you name them? ---If you can, help me out! :) 

This man and wife were a neat pair.  He played, and she danced.

The market was full of lots of people, it was actually difficult to stay in our small group of 4 people without being separated by many other people. (Though this picture doesn't really communicate that very well!)

When I saw this sign, I just laughed!  As you can tell, the lady needs to "powder her nose".  There's also no question what the guy needs to do!

Liche fruit peeled is great for making fake eyeballs.  (This pic is for Alice, Bethany, and Cameron.  Daddy misses you!!!)

2 years later...

It's hard to believe our family has been in Barunga for 2 years now.  So much has happened.  Our kids have grown, our relationships have deepened, and our hearts seem to have enlarged a bit as well.  There have been many things in the past 2 years that we have been blessed and challenged by.  Hopefully this blog has been a blessing to folks who have wanted to keep up with what we've been doing.   Here's a "Last two years" picture summary.

Just beginning to get our feet wet....  :)  This was our first weekend in Australia!

Fellowship with the church ladies on a Sunday evening!

Teaching a lesson at a Baibul Study workshop! (Sabi Mowa Blanga Godwei)

Tuesday afternoon Baibul study with the church ladies!

Recording the Luk DVD in Kriol!  :)

Cameron, Alice and Bethany REALLY getting their feet wet in our yard during "The Wet" season.

Making new friends "langa riba" (at the river)

Our faithful pooch, Olie.  He's a goof, and we love him.

We had a special visit from Cheri's "mum and dad".  :)

Cheri teaching a lesson at another discipleship course!

Here's our Kriol Team, "hard at work" planning for the next year of ministry.  

And a Sunday service during the discipleship course in Barunga!

A family getaway to Nitmiluk National Park.  This is a great place to remember we are a family and we love each other! :)

A short trip to Melbourne for AuSIL meetings, and then a fun train ride for daddies and kids... Poor Cheri only got a women's "pamper party". :(  :)

Below is a pic from the song writing workshop we had last week in Barunga.  It went really well, and people wrote 4 new songs using Kriol Scripture--and more in the works! :)

Here's a better picture of our team: (L to R) Rachel, John, Jenna, "Angelic" Margaret, me and Cheri, Alice, Bethany and Cameron!

Thank you all so much for all your prayers and support of our family as we continue to serve here in Australia.  We are looking forward to what he will be doing in the future as well.  May God be glorified in our lives as we serve Him together.

"What was he wearing?"

A couple of weeks ago we went to the "Katherine Show"--rodeo/stock show, and had a bit more excitement than we were anticipating.

There were SO MANY PEOPLE at the fairgrounds, and booths of various games and rides and everything else that goes with the fair.  The line to get in was about 1 city block long.  For those of you in CO, it resembled the line at 6 pm at Casa Bonita.  Praise the Lord Cheri bought our tickets online! :)

We went to several exhibits as a family, including a horse jumping show and polo crosse game.  It was cool to see those guys in action on their horses!  The whole time we were watching the show, the kids were asking to go to the ferris wheel.  So, after a few shows, we headed over that direction.  Unfortunately, it was closed for repairs.

As we were walking away, it occurred to us that we didn't hear Cam, so we started looking around--casually at first(at a quick pace) and then the panic which every parent feels started to kick in after about 5 minutes of searching, and seeing a TON of children and adults, but no Cameron!

By God's grace, a police officer was walking past us at that very moment, and we told him what our situation was.  For some reason, when I woke up that morning, and Cam was getting dressed, I thought, "Memorize what he's wearing."  I didn't think of it again until...  I described Cameron to him, what he was wearing, etc. and he told me he would radio the other policemen in the fairgrounds to start looking for him.  In the meantime, I started walking up and down the rows of booths and looking at the hundreds of kids/adults everywhere.

As I walked I prayed, "Lord, please let me find him!  Please let him be safe.  Please watch over and protect him."  Thoughts were going through my mind, horrible 'what if's'..."Where could he be?  What if someone has kidnapped him?" and all the worse thoughts of what might happen...  My pace quickened and my prayers were as fervent as ever, looking and praying, looking and praying.

After about 15 minutes of searching, by God's grace I saw Cameron hiding behind one of the stalls, just barely out of regular view.  He was standing there crying,  poor boy.  When I reached him I said, "CAMERON MULLET!"  and scooped him up, and hugged him tight.

"I couldn't find you!" he sobbed.  Praise the Lord I found him.

Sitting back from the whole situation, I thought, "Isn't that just like us and God?"  I think it is.  When we go astray and can't seem to find Him, I believe He is actively seeking us out and will not give up until his lost son or daughter is found.  He loves people just like I love Cameron; and I know his heart shouts for joy when we turn and find him--just like my heart shouted for joy when I found my precious little boy.

Check out Luke 15. (the whole chapter!)

"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."  Luke 15:7