Today will be our last day at the base in Brisbane. It's a bit sad to be leaving just as we are starting to really get settled in; however, we are both very excited to be coming home! This morning the ladies on base are having our small groups meeting at the Ikea restaurant down the road for their $2 breakfast as a sort of farewell for me. Isi on the other hand has been asked to speak briefly to the DTS students on Inductive Bible Study this morning for part of their lecture. I guess that is his farewell :) I'm sure he will do a great job as usual.
There is a lot happening here at the base this week and I'm a bit sad that we are missing it just as things are starting to really pick up around here. The DTS group is here for the week and so there are a lot of people around, which is nice. Isi and I did a brief orientation for the new students on Monday. We are both looking forward to working with a DTS group in February when we return to Australia.
The weather has definately decided to be summer already and today is another hot, hot day even though it's not even 9 am. I hear that the weather in Manitoba is still quite nice also so I'm looking forward to that.
Tonight we will be moving all our stuff to Sikeli's house (Isi's cousin) and picking up our rental car tomorrow morning. We will probably leave for Sydney the next day and may even break up the 10 hour drive into 2 separate days to make the trip a bit easier. We will stay at the Island Breeze base in Sydney until Sunday morning when we fly home. Even though we leave on Sunday the 28th and the flight is aproximately 20 hours, because of the time zones we will arrive home on the same day at 4 pm. Strange eh? I guess we are pretty used to it already and just refer to it as 'the day that never ends.'
Please pray for us that our travels will go well and we will be safe and as comfortable as possible. Please also pray that our adjustment back to life at home will go smoothly and that we will recouperate quickly.
Thanks so much! We look forward to seeing everyone soon!!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Hot, hot, hot!!
Although it's only spring in Brisbane right now, the weather is acting a lot more like summer. The high for today is 28 degrees but we must have passed that already. This entire last week has been hot and it looks like it's staying that way.
We asked the boys to bring out an old canoe that was lying around to make us a small wadding pool to beat the heat. Hopefully that will work out for today :)
This is our last full week at the base and next week (probably Tuesday or Wednesday) we will start heading down to Sydney in our rental car to make our flights on the 28th. Even though we have started settling in nicely here, I am still very excited to be coming home. It will be nice to feel a bit more prepared before the arrival of our baby in November.
This weekend we went to the Gold Coast for the first time since being back in Australia. It is still as beautiful as I remembered it. There was a strong cool breeze that prevented us from swimming but walking along the beach was great. We also celebrated our cousin Masina's birthday on Sunday. Isi baked another cheesecake and it was probably the best one he has ever done!
Yesterday we presented our ideas for an orientation package (for dancers and band members) to the production manager. We also had worked on a package to hand out to schools, churches, and other people who may want to hire the production team for a function. The rest of this week looks as though it will be fairly quiet for us. Considering the heat and what is all coming up for us, I'm quite happy about that.
Isi and I are both doing very well. He is enjoying rugby training that happens here almost every evening, and I am enjoying watching our little bub grow bigger everyday.
Well, that's it for us on this end! I hope you're having a great day :)
God bless!
We asked the boys to bring out an old canoe that was lying around to make us a small wadding pool to beat the heat. Hopefully that will work out for today :)
This is our last full week at the base and next week (probably Tuesday or Wednesday) we will start heading down to Sydney in our rental car to make our flights on the 28th. Even though we have started settling in nicely here, I am still very excited to be coming home. It will be nice to feel a bit more prepared before the arrival of our baby in November.
This weekend we went to the Gold Coast for the first time since being back in Australia. It is still as beautiful as I remembered it. There was a strong cool breeze that prevented us from swimming but walking along the beach was great. We also celebrated our cousin Masina's birthday on Sunday. Isi baked another cheesecake and it was probably the best one he has ever done!
Yesterday we presented our ideas for an orientation package (for dancers and band members) to the production manager. We also had worked on a package to hand out to schools, churches, and other people who may want to hire the production team for a function. The rest of this week looks as though it will be fairly quiet for us. Considering the heat and what is all coming up for us, I'm quite happy about that.
Isi and I are both doing very well. He is enjoying rugby training that happens here almost every evening, and I am enjoying watching our little bub grow bigger everyday.
Well, that's it for us on this end! I hope you're having a great day :)
God bless!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Back in Brisbane
Well today we arrived back in Brisbane from the outreach to Northern Australia (Townsville & Mt. Isa). The outreach went well and the team did great despite many long hours of travelling.
The church service at Happy Valley was really interesting. Isi lead some praise & worship songs, a team member shared a testimony, and then one of the local pastors shared a brief message. Afterwards they ate the food that we brought for them.
There were about 8-10 homeless people that attended the service. I knew that their 'living conditions' weren't going to be great but I was still a bit surprised. Most of the people there shared 3 wall shacks made out of steel siding and had a make shift door of some fabric. We could see everything in their small quarters. Some of them lived in small vehicles, and the service was held in front of an old van that housed someone as well. One man that joined us half way through was drunk and making noises during the message. No one really seemed to pay any attention to him or mind his distractions.
I was probably more surprised, however, by the warm welcome that we recieved when we got there. We were all dressed up for another church service afterwards and although they could have wanted nothing to do with us, they shook everyone's hands and thanked us for coming. We even had the opportunity to pray with one woman who's boyfriend was in the hospital. It was clear that the people there were blessed to have someone take time for them. I was also very blessed by their openness and kind hearts. They loved the songs and told us to come back again.
After Happy Valley, the team spent 2 days helping out at the Townsville YWAM base and practicing for the big performance in Mt. Isa. They (everyone except me) travelled 10 hours up to the mining community of Mt. Isa to perform at a Cultural Festival of sorts. 6 team members danced, and Isi and two other guys made up the band. Isi played guitar, sang, and played the island drums for most of the songs. He also ended up being the emcee - which he was a bit nervous about having never done that before for an Island Breeze performance. As you can imagine, he did a fabulous job and was told by some of the locals that he should come back and emcee for their weddings! It was a job well done by all. The team then travelled back down to Townsville (where I was still staying) rested for a day, and then continued home.
We arrived home in Brisbane this afternoon and I have to say that I am extremely grateful to be back in my own bed. Isi is sound asleep after driving so many hours - poor guy! He has been doing a tremendous job in everything that he is a part of. I have been trying to keep up where I can, although at 30 weeks of pregnancy I am definately a lot slower than I used to be :) We are both doing very well - and of course baby too.
We are leaving for Sydney on the 26th of this month, and from there flying home to Canada on September 28th. Please pray for us as we prepare to travel and travel home. We are very excited to come back to Canada and see all our friends and family - and of course have a little break.
We have been recieving a lot of emails from you, prayers and financial support. Thank you so much for all of these! They are very much appreciated :) Thank you also for reading this update and for your comments.
God bless,
Tessa, Isi & baby
The church service at Happy Valley was really interesting. Isi lead some praise & worship songs, a team member shared a testimony, and then one of the local pastors shared a brief message. Afterwards they ate the food that we brought for them.
There were about 8-10 homeless people that attended the service. I knew that their 'living conditions' weren't going to be great but I was still a bit surprised. Most of the people there shared 3 wall shacks made out of steel siding and had a make shift door of some fabric. We could see everything in their small quarters. Some of them lived in small vehicles, and the service was held in front of an old van that housed someone as well. One man that joined us half way through was drunk and making noises during the message. No one really seemed to pay any attention to him or mind his distractions.
I was probably more surprised, however, by the warm welcome that we recieved when we got there. We were all dressed up for another church service afterwards and although they could have wanted nothing to do with us, they shook everyone's hands and thanked us for coming. We even had the opportunity to pray with one woman who's boyfriend was in the hospital. It was clear that the people there were blessed to have someone take time for them. I was also very blessed by their openness and kind hearts. They loved the songs and told us to come back again.
After Happy Valley, the team spent 2 days helping out at the Townsville YWAM base and practicing for the big performance in Mt. Isa. They (everyone except me) travelled 10 hours up to the mining community of Mt. Isa to perform at a Cultural Festival of sorts. 6 team members danced, and Isi and two other guys made up the band. Isi played guitar, sang, and played the island drums for most of the songs. He also ended up being the emcee - which he was a bit nervous about having never done that before for an Island Breeze performance. As you can imagine, he did a fabulous job and was told by some of the locals that he should come back and emcee for their weddings! It was a job well done by all. The team then travelled back down to Townsville (where I was still staying) rested for a day, and then continued home.
We arrived home in Brisbane this afternoon and I have to say that I am extremely grateful to be back in my own bed. Isi is sound asleep after driving so many hours - poor guy! He has been doing a tremendous job in everything that he is a part of. I have been trying to keep up where I can, although at 30 weeks of pregnancy I am definately a lot slower than I used to be :) We are both doing very well - and of course baby too.
We are leaving for Sydney on the 26th of this month, and from there flying home to Canada on September 28th. Please pray for us as we prepare to travel and travel home. We are very excited to come back to Canada and see all our friends and family - and of course have a little break.
We have been recieving a lot of emails from you, prayers and financial support. Thank you so much for all of these! They are very much appreciated :) Thank you also for reading this update and for your comments.
God bless,
Tessa, Isi & baby
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The Malamas
Dancers from Cross Lake
