Christian Outreach Center…
…A place we call home. In the middle of Darwin, Australia, we live this month. We work, live and play side by side our contacts and new friends. The C.O.C. is a place that houses families that come into town for doctor visits, family medical emergencies or for women who are about to go into labor. Most if not all are aboriginal people. They are quiet and shy at first and we still find it hard to believe they speak English, since the last two months, people haven’t known or spoken much English. They are reserved, but kind. The children are a blast to play with and love on. They soak up all the attention we can give them.
Our ministry this month is to the staff of C.O.C. by helping them around the place doing their ‘chores’. This includes cooking meals for around 100 people, 5 meals a day, cleaning rooms, folding laundry, office jobs, preparing pig food, landscaping, painting and Cole’s just all around handi- man skills. Our heart beat is also for the aboriginals, so during meal times, or in the evenings we enjoy spending our time getting to know our neighbors better.
This a transit place, so people can be here for any length of time. Some we have attached to have left within days of meeting them and others just wait… wait for their babies to come, wait for their appointments, wait for healing.
As soon as I finish my chores you can often find me on the playground with the boys (Kirk, Les and Luke) Cole usually looks happiest when he is covered from head to toe in sweat, paint and dirt. The boys often peek their heads in when Cole is working, and say hello, so come meal times, they jump up and run to Cole.
We have learned here its about routine and also about becoming a familiar face. White people are not uncommon here, but love is not. So we love even if we get no response, and we smile even if it seems crazy and we laugh because we know it can be contagious.
