Townsville

This last weekend we spent up in Townsville (an 18 hour drive each way) visiting Isi's aunt and uncle. It was very exciting for us to connect with them again after a long time. Randini (Isi's aunt) is a sister to Isi's mom. Her husband is a pastor who spends a lot of time working with the Aboriginal Australians in the surrounding communities. We were able to learn a lot from talking with them and hearing about their ministry experiences. We are hoping to learn more from them in this area in the future.
We also got to see Pastor and Randini's daughters again - who are both extremely pregnant at the moment! Miri was due on Monday and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first daughter, and Salome is due in September awaiting her second son.
Isi had a fabulous time singing Fijian songs with the guys there and watching Pastor's rugby team win a game on Saturday. I also enjoyed spending time with the girls and catching up after the last 5 years. It was a refreshing time for both of us - despite the long drive :)

Currently at the base we are spending time focusing on the Indiginous Ministries that run out of this base since that is something we would like to also bring back to Canada. The other 2 areas we will be learning in while we are here are: the Discipleship Training Schools and the Production (Dance/Music) Cultural Team. These two will be our focus once we return in the new year.
This week we will continue to observe what is going on at the base and spend time participating in the Indiginous Ministries at this location. We will also spend some time with the base directors planning what will be coming up for us in the near future.