We are missing our beloved Steve and Leonie but we love what they’re doing in Vietnam. Here is an update about “Watts” happening in their world.
Update From the Capons
July 13, 2015 by
Dear family and friends,
It’s hard to believe that we have been back for a month without communicating. Sorry about that, time just flies when you are having fun!
I guess the first week was spent looking at new apartments and then moving in. Geoff’s language tutor had been very diligent and kind, looking at several possibilities for us before we returned. So after arriving here on a Sunday evening, he was keen to show us what he had found at 8 am on Monday morning! We managed to stall him till 9 am!!
I am ashamed to say that we were not expecting a great deal from him as the living conditions that they find acceptable are different from ours! So we also had booked some time with an estate agent. But surprise – one of the apartments that Vany had found was by far the best, whereas the agents places were all too expensive. Vany was very pleased that we chose the one he found because he received one months rent because he introduced us. That is a lot of money for a khmer worker.
Anyway it is very nice, same price as our old one but much nicer. It is still top floor – 66 steep steps – but nice enclosed kitchen with built in cupboards!! Quite spacious, two large bedrooms, both with ensuites, aircon etc. So we are feeling very blessed.
So moving took up most of the first week, settling in etc. Slowly unpacked our boxes and made the place look like home. Grand children’s pictures on the walls etc.
So then back to work, with plenty to catch up on. In particular, I have been developing and writing a Soft Skills Handbook – usually called Life Skills in Australia. Just all those extra things that parents used to teach, but now worldwide are being forgotten. And of course here they are missing because of losing a vital educated generation.
Last week, someone that used to be important in government – about the third in importance – died and so a national holiday was declared ( nothing unusual!). Flags were to be flown at one- third mast!! So that made last weekend a long weekend so we decided to take off and see another part of Cambodia. We went to a lovely place called Kracheh. Not all that far but 5 and a half hours by bus (slow roads!) Kracheh is known as a place to see Dolphins and we were able to hire kayaks and paddle to the place where they swim. It was quite hard work – we kayaked 12 km! But the Dolphins were worth it all. That was a half day activity, so in the afternoon, Geoff and I took the ferry over the Mekong to an island close by and hired bikes and rode around. Unfortunately the thunderstorm came as we were almost half way, and the path had changed from concrete to dirt, so it was very slippery and boggy! Geoff managed to stop OK, so I thought I would have a break to, but my thongs slid out and I fell over for a mud bath!! Including the bike, now thick with mud. You just had to laugh. It kind of helped that workers in the nearby field were laughing too. They came to our aid but we’re very amused. What’s more I did it again further round the track! So we were a good sight when we arrived back. Fortunately the bike hire lady had given up in the rain and gone home, so we left our muddy bikes with the others and went back to the ferry getting many stares and laughs and much finger pointing.
We stayed at a lovely guest house which was run as a training place. Just delightful to see the young people learning skills and gaining employment. It cost all of $10 per night for the double room! We heard that one of the young guys who had been trained there had just been granted a scholarship to do further training in New Zealand.
We have been watching the demolition of one of the original wooden houses. It is across the road from us and as we are high up we are getting a good view. Quite a large team of young guys working there, but all by hand with sledge hammers and all the rubble picked up by hand and thrown onto trucks. So time consuming!! And such hard work in the hot sun. But all the timber and iron was saved and carefully loaded onto trucks to be used somewhere else. Not a piece of machinery to be seen.
Our good friend, Michelle arrived on Friday, so it was great meeting her and having her stay here. She will be very busy here, catching up with all the people who love her so dearly.
My goal was to make sure I at least wrote something this weekend as we are starting part-time language study at a language school, 2 afternoons a week, which will mean that all our spare time from now should be devoted to study!
So that about all the news. No more holidays until September – how will we cope!!
The settling in was so much smoother this time – in fact it felt more like coming home. We have been so blessed and feel the grace of God all the time. Please just pray for our memories as we get into more heavy language study! And for all our projects here in Cambodia which are constantly battling the enemy. Many of the children in our schools come from very difficult families and backgrounds, and many kids go through some very stressful times. Our local social workers are over worked and need constant prayer. Fortunately we have a good support team for them but there are always challenges.
Lots of love and fond memories of our time in Australia,
Geoff and Shirley xxxxxx
From Russia With Love
June 5, 2015 by
Irwin & Jill Ross are heading overseas in July to do some outreach in Russia. They have been a number of times and have really shared Jesus love with a number of different groups. They are running a number of different camps and need some resources to take with them. Have a look at the pics below and if you are able to help in any way please contact the Grace office on either 6103 0100 or via email reception@gracecanberra.com.au
Thanks family!
Viva Haiti
May 4, 2015 by
Viva Haiti – Making Happy History in Haiti
Viva Haiti’s mission is to collaborate with local leaders and international teams to disciple vulnerable Haitian youth to be followers of Jesus Christ; to facilitate education, health and money management training, so that the community is empowered to establish sustainable social and financial prosperity.
For more information, including how you can support Viva Haiti please go to VivaHaiti.org
Christmas News From The Capons
December 23, 2014 by
Dear family and friends,
Well what a momentous year this has been! But despite being in a different country and a different culture, the evidence of God’s grace is still very much around us, and in fact even more so as we see first hand the difference that the love of God has brought to so many lives here. Even though Christmas Day is not a holiday here and not recognized by those in authority here, there are many beautiful celebrations of Christmas all around the city.
Since our Christmas letter last year, we have sold our house in Canberra and moved all our belongings – a much-reduced pile of stuff – into a storage container. So home is now very much in Phnom Penh. We arrived early in February and quickly found accommodation in the top floor apartment of an old house. It was chosen partly because of its close proximity to the WEC office, but then the office moved! Along with the office move, our job descriptions changed somewhat, but you very quickly learn here in Cambodia to go with the flow!
So rather than give you a month by month update of our activities, we will just share some of the special things that makes this place unique. One of the things we have really appreciated is the number of public holidays. They pretty much have a holiday for everything they can think of, including anniversaries of the King’s death and the internment of his ashes! We’re not sure what happens after the next King dies. So for some of these holidays which are three days in a row, we have been able to travel and see some other parts of Cambodia.
One of the major attractions of this place is the people. They are so kind and caring. No matter how little they have, they will always share it. We have both been blessed by the students we teach. Sometimes they defer to expats too much and it is hard to convince them that we are all equal. Unfortunately they are not business people and too much of the new businesses and developments are owned by other countries.
The other great group of people are our team members. We have been richly blessed by each one of them. Representing every continent, and a wide range of ages, we have a common interest and passion and this makes for a wonderful workplace.
The traffic is interesting. Basically mayhem, but after a while you realize that it is mostly considerate chaos, as everyone gives way to anyone bigger than them. There is no road rage, you just inch forward and take your turn. It’s quicker to go by moto than car, but not as comfortable. Helmets are supposed to be compulsory for the driver, but very little policing of this. Quite common to see 4 or 5 on one moto. We still travel mostly on our push bikes.
Weddings are an experience. We were invited to our first wedding last weekend and it was a great experience. A wedding tent takes up the whole street, blocking off other houses entry and exit. Huge amounts are spent on very elaborate decorations and costumes. The bride changes 4 or 5 times during the wedding which goes on over 2 days. The main part starts very early on the second day right through to the end of that night. Our bride got up at 2 am to start the elaborate process of hair and make-up before the first ceremony at 7 am. Make up is done to make the bride look as white as possible, whereas we are more used to young people going to tanning salons so that they look brown! What a crazy world!
The weather has suddenly become delightfully cool over the last week. All of a sudden we have a bit more energy and enthusiasm, especially for things like cooking. Long may it continue! The hottest months of April and May were a bit of a challenge.
Our language training continues. Although we know many words and phrases, it is still hard to follow local conversations. Of course they speak to fast ….. just like us!
We especially enjoyed visits from Rachel, Chris, Ashley and Lex, as well as Marty. It was great travelling around with them and showing them the sights. We have also hosted a few short term WEC’ers and enjoyed learning about their home countries.
The WEC leaders here have asked us to stay another year, which we have agreed to do. We are going to come back to Australia though to see family and friends and we have chosen April and May to do this, so that we avoid the worst two months weather-wise. So we hope to be able to see many of you then. We will visit Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, New Zealand and Port Macquarie.
We hope that this finds you all well and that you have a blessed Christmas, celebrating our Saviour’s birth.
With love, Geoff and Shirley xx
Emails: Geoff: gmc47cmg@gmail.com
Shirley: shirleymcapon@gmail.com
Franzen Family visiting in Phnom Penh
Outside the recent wedding before we dressed up
The beautiful Maya
How people travel in Cambodia
Coby
On our bikes
Anthony and his winning design at the Melbourne Cup
Marty, Rachel, Ashley, Lex and Geoff in the pool at Siem Reap.h
News from Cambodia
August 20, 2014 by
We love getting updates from our Grace Family overseas and here is some news from Geoff and Shirley Capon. We miss you guys!
I guess you could say that we have really settled in well now. We are both having language lessons – about 2 hours a week. While we know a lot of words and can put a sentence together ( if you give us 10 minutes to work it out), both of us have trouble understanding what anyone is saying to us! I’m sure people say the same about understanding English, but we appreciate that more now.
Right at the moment we are at the Field Conference, which is being held at Sihanoukville, which is down on the coast. It has been an inspirational time of worship and prayer as well as gaining an understanding of all the different ministries being undertaken in this very poor country. There are so many needs and so little workforce. Our main aim though is to train and mentor local people into these roles and to work alongside them to encourage and build up their faith, so that they can stand firm when things don’t go so well.
Geoff is working mainly in Administration, especially helping with documents that need good English. There are only 4 of us on the team ( 3 Aussies and one from NZ) who have English as a first language, so he has been busy correcting many documents. We had a good laugh during prayer time at the conference today as both Geoff and my names were mispronounced by our colleagues! It’s strange to think that our names are unusual! Geoff is also teaching English two mornings a week at a local Khmer church, where students can learn for free and take in some scripture teaching while they learn English.
Shirley is working mostly in Vocational Education which is one of the major branches of the work here. We offer training to students who have not completed many years of education through difficult family situations. They are a joy to teach, so grateful and happy to learn. As well as practical skills, they have Life Skills lessons and English classes.
We love working in the team here. We have people from every continent which is a delight in itself. So we are not only learning to understand Khmer culture but also the interesting facets of working with a multicultural team. But the family of God is so beautiful that it has been an absolute joy to make all these new friends from all over the world.
We are involved in a great church, which also has people from very continent. We decided on an Expat church and with it an Expat home group as we can all share in prayer for the various ministries we are involved in. There is amazing work being done in this country by so many Christian organisations and the Khmer church here is alive and well with many young people coming to know The Lord through the generous work of many people. But there is so much more ….
I could go on and on but you probably don’t have unending space. We are so lucky that we have avenues like Facebook and internet to help us feel closer to home, and we still feel that we are part of you when we can pray for people at Grace when we get the requests through Brian. So we really appreciate that. There is a need for more financial resources here so if you ever feel like a fund raising event ….. Just let me know!!
We would value prayer for:
. Faster learning of the language
. We need to hear from God about whether we come home next year or stay longer
. The energy to be involved in the right number of projects – there are so many and it is tempting to keep putting our hands up and then get exhausted especially in the heat and humidity here.
We would like to send our love and blessings to you all.
Geoff and Shirley
News from Cambodia
April 1, 2014 by
Greetings from Cambodia!
Sorry I haven’t sent any messages before, but it is probably more relevant now that we have settled in. We keep meaning to watch The Grace service but Sunday morning we sleep in a bit and then it is all over. We are 4 hours behind you.
But we have settled in well – this feels like home now. Everyone on the team here has been really helpful and we love working with such a wonderful bunch from very different backgrounds. We are the only Aussies apart from Michelle Kallmier; others are from France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Brazil, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Korea. Plus a few locals on the team.
We are glads we came in February as it has given us a couple of months to see the temperatures and the humidity climb steadily upwards. April and May are the hottest and muggiest before the rain starts. We are starting to blow out our budget by needing the air con on all night. But sanity is paramount!
The young lady in the guest house and restaurant that I was coming to mentor, resigned after we had been here 3 weeks! That was a bit of a shock, but I have been doing a similar job at the tailoring workshop where there a great bunch of ladies working. I have been helping them and will start some formal lessons after Khmer New Year which is in a couple of weeks. I will also be teachings the trainees life skills, a most important course here as parenting doesn’t seem to in much evidence. The girls especially need self esteem lessons. They are all young Christians but haven’t been brought up with any knowledge of self worth. So we need to marry the words in Scripture ( much of which they know in their heads) with their hearts.
Geoff has been useful in the office pouring over many documents written by people whose first language is not English. He is very good at that sort of thing.
We have found a great church and joined a home group, both of which have helped the feeling of being ‘home’. One of the reasons I am writing is that they asked us to pass the flyer for a new youth pastor to all the countries covered by the members of the church – so that covers most countries!
Geoff and I have been having language lessons (the hardest bit!) from 2 young guys who are very active in the local church. Michelle goes to a local church as she understands and speaks fluent Khmer, but we don’t get a lot out of it apart from the amazing worship. They are a bit like the Africans, they get right into it with their whole bodies, dancing and praising and it goes on for ages. ICF is more sedate – what is it with the western world! But we are very happy at ICF and especially enjoy the home group, again we have people from many countries in our group.
Everything is so different here, but especially the traffic! They do have traffic lights but they are only a guide – it’s every man for himself, often resulting in deadlock in the middle of an intersection. In which case the motorbikes just drive down the footpath to get around. The roads are very rough in places as well and will not improved after the rain starts. Geoff and I have push bikes and are very conscious of God’s grace everyday when we arrive at places safely. The food is yummy and cheap; it’s almost cheaper to eat out than cook especially in the heat. Especially if we find a restaurant with air con. Haircuts and styles are $5 and I had a pedicure and beautifully decorated toenails for $3. Our rent is $300 per month!
We do miss you all and we are thankful for Facebook which keeps us up to date with some news.
Please pass on our love to everyone.
God bless you,
Geoff and Shirley
Viva Haiti Update
February 25, 2014 by
Viva Haiti Partner Letter – February 2014
Thanks for the opportunity to give this update of our work in Haiti!
My last trip to Haiti was both fruitful and challenging. It was wonderful to return to Haiti for six months, starting in May last year. During this time I was able to continue discipling a group of former ‘restaveks’ (slaves) and street kids, who are going on to disciple others in their own communities. It was great to work with our team of Haitian leaders and establish collaborative groups of Haitian and international ministries.
I was privileged to visit one of the remaining so-called ‘tent cities’ in Port au Prince for internally displaced people from the 2010 earthquake. One of Viva Haiti’s leaders, Dovic, worked with colleagues to start and run a school there; I was delighted to see the progress they’ve made on an impossibly low budget. The teachers are Christian volunteers who know how to read and write themselves, so they teach the kids about Jesus, the basic ‘Three R’s’, and make fabulous music on improvised instruments….
In Gonaives I continued with business training and development for the youth to facilitate their future financial independence, I always made sure to teach them how to contact the best Metric Accountants. We made ‘mamba’ (peanut butter) for their business, and explored new opportunities for their own businesses.
We had fun developing a drama for the Kiko literacy project. Enthusiasm and natural talent combined for great results – here are photos of some of the kids creating two of the four masks for the drama during our ‘big day out’ at artist Jean-Denis’ studio.
Several years ago Viva Haiti facilitated a new school and agri-businesses in remote Danty, four hours’ donkey-ride from the nearest town. Our awesome leaders from Danty visited me often in Gonaives. We’re planning to increase capacity for the goat project, and have plans to collaborate with at least two other rural communities to duplicate what we’ve developed in Danty. So proud of those guys!
It was exciting to have Kiko’s Coconuts finally published! We’re planning to sell copies in Australia, New Zealand and North America to generate funds for projects in Haiti: the literacy project and distribution of copies of Kiko’s Coconuts; business training and development; and agribusinesses in our rural centres. Here are some of the little guys enjoying the Kiko’s Coconuts story and illustrations by Haitian artist, and Viva Haiti collaborator, Jean-Denis Ganthier.
Early in my 2013 visit unexpected circumstances meant that some of my original plans had to be postponed; I needed to relocate the youth, and take over responsibility for their care. This has been an enormous challenge – I and the youth are grateful for the support and encouragement we’ve received during this time.
Here’s one story:
Noe
This relatively shy young man has a dream to become an electrician. He’s also a gifted musician. Noe has struggled at school, but in the business development classes he’s an enthusiastic participant, and often the first one with the correct answer to a question – no lack of brains there….
Noe’s early years were spent in his family’s incredibly over-crowded one-room home, in one of the worst slums in Haiti – Trous Sable. His Mum is mentally ill, and no Dad, so at around 12 years of age Noe was sent to an orphanage, where I first met him several years ago. During my 2013 visit Noe couldn’t endure the abuse at the orphanage any longer. After prayer and wise counsel he decided to leave. The best available option for Noe at that time was to return to live with more than a dozen relatives in his family home at Trous Sable.
Noe turned 20 during my visit, and is still in primary school. During his summer vacation (July through September) Noe was particularly anxious to know whether he’d passed his school exams, which would allow him to advance to secondary school. After some investigation we found out that no, he hadn’t passed. On top of everything else this was enormously disappointing on many levels. Melt-down time.
With encouragement and a plan in place, Noe agreed to persevere; we found a new school for him, hoping a fresh start would boost his confidence. We all prayed for good teachers, great friends and academic success.
I used remaining funds plus some donations to pay for Noe’s and the other kids’ return-to-school expenses – first month’s fees, uniforms, shoes, bags, books, pens, calculators – usual stuff.
Each day when he called in to see me after school Noe’s grin was bigger. He loved school! His new teacher, Mr Felix, didn’t treat him like the class dumbie, but offered extra one-on-one classes on Saturdays. Somehow we found the extra funds to cover the cost and Noe willingly gave up his Saturdays to meet with Mr Felix.
In mid-November I felt sad to leave the kids in Haiti to return to Australia. I’ve been able to call the kids regularly, and hear their news – and practice my Creole! This was made possible by a generous, regular donation for this purpose – thanks Rachel and Chris, we thank God for you!
During December, as all the students prepared for their first term exams, Noe returned home one day to find that his sister-in-law had died. She, her husband (Noe’s brother) and their two little girls also shared Noe’s family home in Trous Sable. The family are devastated by their loss.
A few days after his sister-in-law’s funeral, Noe and the other kids sat their exams; we all waited and prayed for good results.
When results were out I called the kids, hoping to hear good news. And good news it was! Noe had come top of his class in French (previously his worst subject), and second or third in all his other subjects!!!
While I’m excited about Noe’s improvement in his studies, I’m even more excited about his character which is being formed and proven during this process. Noe has suffered trauma from early family experiences; the effects were compounded by the abuse he endured at the orphanage where he lived for all his teenage years. During my visit he was one of the first to leave the orphanage; a short time later Noe and I experienced an incident one afternoon which highlighted to me how seriously affected he was by one of several abusive leaders from the orphanage. A few days after this incident, Noe confided that he planned to visit his buddies who were still stuck in the orphanage. My stomach churned at the thought of him returning there even for a visit, knowing he’d cop more abuse. Noe was adamant. He wanted to let his buddies know he’s hanging in there for them. He also wanted to signal to his former abusers that he was no longer afraid of them.
The results of his visit were powerful. Noe carried Truth and Peace into that tough place. His buddies saw previously out-of-character courage and conviction in this young man – the leaders’ abuse just bounced right off all of them; we continued to pray for and bless them. Noe sent a silent signal to all that he now has options, and copping abuse isn’t one he chooses. ‘He whom the Son sets free is free indeed’ Noe is free….. Soon after that visit several more kids had the courage to leave the orphanage. Their circumstances are tough. But they do know they have faithful friends who understand what they’ve been through, and who will stand by them no matter what.
With a little encouragement and support we’ve been able to assist Noe through this difficult transition; our partners’ prayers, encouragement and financial support made it possible. We believe ‘the best is yet to come’!
Summary
Viva Haiti is now responsible for ongoing education, medical and living expenses for eight youth. We continue to implement our projects: business training and development, literacy project and agri-businesses. Here in Australia we continue to build our team as well as pursue opportunities to generate sustainable income for Viva Haiti so that we can continue to play our part in fulfilling God’s purposes in Haiti.
We look forward to sharing more stories of courage and overcoming in future updates….
How You Can Help
To our faithful supporters in prayer, encouragement and finances – thank you from me and the kids in Haiti. You’re making a difference to ‘the least’ of ‘the least’ and facilitating lasting, measurable change.
If you’re not already doing so, we invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in serving in Haiti with prayer and giving.
- Your prayers are appreciated, and we know that the favour God has shown us is a direct answer to prayers. This month our prayer focus includes:
- Grace to fulfill Isaiah 58:6,7: ‘to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, to break every [enslaving] yoke… to divide our bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into our homes…. when we see the naked, to cover them, and hide not ourselves from [the needs of] our own flesh and blood…’
- God’s wisdom for every leader, participant and aspect of Viva Haiti’s work in Haiti and beyond (we’re believing and declaring James 1:5; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 2:16b.)
- Every aspect of slavery to be broken from the lives of those we serve in Haiti (we’re believing and declaring John 8:36)
- Make a financial gift. Every dollar counts and makes a difference in Haiti.
- Make a regular donation – even small amounts, given regularly, help us plan our budget.
- Purchase copies of Kiko’s Coconuts – this children’s story-book written in English and Creole, and brimming with colourful Haitian illustrations, is a great gift for the littlies in your life, your local school library, or to keep. Profits go towards projects in Haiti.
- Contribute time and skills – if you have time and skills that you’d like to contribute, we’d love to hear from you!
If you’d like to find out more about our work in Haiti, place an order for your copies of Kiko’s Coconuts, or would like to make a donation, we’d love to hear from you!
Please contact Robyn by email robyn.corbett@gmail.com or
Mobile: 0434818008
iPhone: +61 2 61761261
Blessings and joy
Robyn
News from the Hush’s
July 24, 2013 by
Hushes Prayer Update July 2013
Dear Friends,
Rachel asked me to provide a brief update about what’s been happening with Karen and I as a way to better inform you about things we would value prayer for at this time. We are so thankful to God and grateful for the consistent prayer and support that we have received, especially during this gospel of the kingdom adventure as managers of the Gold Creek Chapel, which if anyone can believe it, is fast drawing to a close at the end of a 3 year relationship in that place.
Since we began the journey during the twilight of 2010, we have hosted and served nearly 500 weddings (each with a separate rehearsal), about 50 memorials and nearly 100 baby celebrations. Of these events in the time we’ve lived next door to the Chapel, I have personally had the privilege of conducting 81 of the weddings (with a further 20 not at the Chapel), over 30 of the baby ceremonies and half a dozen memorials.
The decision to lease the business and rent the house from the owners was always going to be a fairly close call financially but the kingdom representative journey has simply been overwhelming and has repeatedly fortified the faith that Karen and I have in the original call to do this for 3 years. Each day we thank God for both the testing reality of the responsibility we have ‘to pay Caesar what is Caesar’s and for the transforming work we have witnessed in people as God has time and time again replaced the lies of law and religion with his grace and truth.
We finish up as managers on the 30th September this year. On the 1st of October, the day of our 8th wedding anniversary, Karen and I will move into whatever God has planned for us next, and that still isn’t clear as I write this note.
What is clear is that a month or so ago we agreed on what we were both hearing from God. That at the very least we would consider the kingdom relationships that God had shown us favour for, motivation enough for us to begin church planting at 5 Maccas in the region, each McCafe chosen for its proximity to the 5 largest groups of residences where couples I have married live. I started conducting an online survey 12 months ago and out of just over 200 surveys of couples I’ve married since 2008, 165 couples registered that they would like to continue exploring what this God connection between us could look like. The responses ranged from very general interest to a genuinely deep desire.
So, I have informed all the couples (and a few others) that I am committed to making myself available for whatever THEY want to talk about for a couple of hours or so every week from the June long weekend until the end of August at Gold Creek Maccas on Sundays from 10am, and after 5pm on Mondays at Conder Maccas, Tuesdays at Charnwood, Wednesdays at Queanbeyan and Thursdays at Weston Creek Maccas. Karen and I pray whilst I am at each venue, that however I’m approached and whatever the agenda of any conversation that occurs, that somehow those who take the opportunity will see more of Jesus as a result and somehow receive something more of the good news that can transform their lives.
To date, some have dropped by on the scheduled days, some have texted me, some have emailed me (it is after all the coldest time of year) and all in all there have been 35 connections that I would call kingdom conversations with definite indications of more to come. The plan that God gave us was to NOT prescribe a way of meeting, to just hang out at Maccas because these venues are already a part of their consistent culture (i.e. good car parking, playgrounds for children, easy accessibility, safe spaces with plenty of background noise and of course COFFEE! etc.)
At the end of August we will see who is connecting regularly and work out the next phase with the Holy Spirit at that time.
So, here is a summary of our current prayer points:-
– Health and energy for the final 2 months of the Chapel effort and that those we come in contact with, including the owners and the Chapel’s new hosts will continue to see Jesus as they interact with us
– Miraculous provision for whatever we need financially as we transition out of the business with all bills paid
– Wisdom about what tent making responsibilities to accept and take up in the short term so that the church planting effort doesn’t rely on investment by seeking and fledgling respondents to the gospel. (One of the big things in this space is that Karen and I, alongside other current supporters who have offered prophetic input over recent days, are convinced that God wants to release Karen from all responsibilities which get in the way of developing her music arrangement, production and development skills; all areas she is actually qualified in but hasn’t yet really had the chance to see the potential of)
– Clarity about the shape and operation of Heartland Ministries as a mission support hub for this next season. The only specific word about this we’ve received since June is that Heartland’s priority is ‘To Start, Support, & Sustain kingdom of God ways to do church that ONLY Jesus can build’
Thanks again for your love and support as always and for allowing us to share in this way.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to get more of the picture or if you’d just like to shoot the breeze over a coffee or two.
Love & blessings
Graeme & Karen Hush
News from the Gallaghers
May 14, 2012 by
Hi Friends
It’s time again for some Gallagher News Update from Indonesia.
I will be in Australia from June 16, arriving in Sydney and will fly out from Adelaide on July 9. If you would like me to visit and share in any service or small group please let me know.