I am showered for the first time this week, and have only been wearing these clothes for two days rather than five which means I am in a great state for writi
ng. I realize it has been awhile since I have sent out a blog
update but rest assured, I am still alive and kicking. After about a week in transit thanks to the
high price in flights, a flight delay, and an unexpected overnight stay at the
base of another team, we have finally arrived in Katherine, Australia which is
located directly outside of Darwin. We
have been here a couple days now and are staying in a farmhouse smack dab in
the middle of …. nowhere. Our nearest
neighbors are the cockroaches, moths and lizards which inhabit our home
alongside of us, the poisonous snake we discovered in the grass outside our
door, the cute wallabies and kangaroos that are literally everywhere we look
and the 14 plus crocodiles in the surrounding area. 
We are working with the Aboriginal community which I am
extremely excited about. We are doing some manual labor such as
cleaning out an old bus in preparation for it being sold but are also able to
work much more hands on in the Aborginal society. We get to work in youth
groups and nursing homes and within existing churches and were even able to
attend a break dancing competition and meet the local teens, which was so much fun.
an assisted living center and the residents there broke my heart. Watching them feebly stand to their feet and
scream out the words “Jesus Loves Me” in song as they clutched their hearts in
full assurance that He truly did love them – despite their health issues and
the fact that their families have all turned their backs on them- brought tears
to my eyes. I met an incredible man
there named Stanley who I have already fallen in love with. He had a car accident
and then suffered from a stroke which has impaired his speech but he hasn’t
allowed either to slow down his passion for life. I spent the hour signing with
him, laughing at his jokes and pointing together with amusement at Bek as he consistently signed “blondie!” with
great excitement. We also had an
opportunity late last night to attend an outside church service in the dirt
cul-de-sac of an Aboriginal community which was a truly eye opening experience
that I will blog about at a later date.
I expected emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Please pray for perseverance and perspective
and a reminder that I am here for a purpose and not to grow weary when times
get hard. I love you all and am so
thankful you chose to walk this journey alongside me.
