We're Still Alive!

Keeping the blog going has taken a bit of a back seat recently (you probably noticed) and that probably won't change for the next couple of weeks so we apologise in advance. The main reason is that it is I (Dean) that does most of our blogging and I've been very distracted by a little bike adventure coming up at the weekend. Somehow it overtook so much and became a bit all consuming of my/our freetime. You can see more by clicking here.

Life has been very busy as ever and the boys continue to keep us on our toes. We're now officially seconded through Crosslinks to Grace Community Church in Macassar and are really loving it! We love the church and are delighted to be able to serve in way that is appreciated and used. Dean has already had the immense privilege of being involved in some key leadership issues and has really felt humbled to be able to serve and have input in these. We're really enjoying getting to know the church members and feel we have gained some great new friends. Our day to day roles are still being worked out and won't become 100% clear for a while, but that's the nature of relational work, it really does take time, commitment and perseverance to make inroads into any community and we are starting from scratch again. Having said that, Paula is already running a daytime group with Zelda for young mums and Dean has donned some farmer's gear and is looking to help with an agricultural project. He's also planning to spend time with some of the men who are around in the day to see what they want to do in the community. Hopefully this may lead to Dean doing another bible study group too.

One massive answer to prayer for us has been the re-structuring of the kids work in Grace (for which we take absolutely no credit). It used to be a bit of a shambles but now there is real structure. It's called King's Kids, and Joel is enjoying it immensely which is a real relief for us.

We continue to have some involvement in Chris Nissen and the home based care team is going really well. Paula loves visiting on Fridays to encourage the ladies and see some of the patients. Dean has been working on our links with the Tiny Bubble creche as well as continuing to visit Michael and encourage him in his daily walk.

The boys really enjoyed their school sports day (see the photos) and much to our surprise Joel did well in his races. He didn't win but he was happy to participate. Eli just thought the whole thing was a laugh and giggled his way through most of it. Joel has really settled into Year 1 well and is thriving in his class. He's already been Star Of The Week and this week won 2nd prize for best costume at the school Book Day. Joel went as Harry from Harry And The Dinosaurs. No effort required on our part at all as he just rocked up with a bucket and a dozen plastic dinosaurs in it. Simple but brilliant!