No kangaroos or koalas yet

Greetings from Perth!  From the land of continuing rain...the good side is that everything is green and lush, and when the sun comes out, it’s beautiful.  We are seeing some interesting wildlife;  crows that sound like a baby crying and parrots that are just flying around the treetops.

No kangaroos or koalas yet. But they do have some cool vehicles.

Our studies are going well...we didn’t think we would get marriage counseling when we came here, but out topic last week was team unity.  And when you search the scriptures about what God has to say about unity, that extends to every relationship, including marriage!  In working going over our notes and praying together, we found we were able to communicate in more concise ways than we had gotten in the habit of communicating...We had to address our tendency to be independent and withdraw from people when they offend us or we are annoyed with them.  Jesus’ last recorded prayer before we went to the cross was for our unity, that the world may know he loves them (John 17).  It was that important to him, that his people be in unity, because when we aren’t, we keep the world from seeing God’s love.  Isn’t that a major problem with how the world views the church?  They often don’t see love in us, so aren’t aware that God loves them!

Anyway...other topics...we continue to have fun with base life, it’s like being in a 250 person family, challenging at times, but if everyone is committed to walking out unity and valuing each person as important as themselves, there is harmony.  It really works!

Updates about outreach locations.  We leave toward the end of September.  Rick and I will be going first to the Kimberly’s, an outback-type place where the main population is Aboriginal people.  We have been invited to work among them for 8 weeks.  It is a three day drive and it’s going to be hot!  Maddie is going to Cambodia and Hong Kong and Cameron is going to Burma and Thailand.  Gasp, yes, our kids are going to different places!  

Well, gotta run, more coming soon!  Thank you Thank you Thank you to all who have commented on the blog, written emails or made comments on facebook.  It means so much to us to hear from home!  

Love

Rick and Gail

In the old day, my eyes used to glaze over when someone talked about Community
Development. Now a days, I am usually on the edge of my seat when someone is
talking about it. I think the difference is that now I understand that working Community
Development from a worldview is just a project, but from a Biblical worldview it can
transform not only the community and the people in it, but change it on a national level
too. 
These last couple weeks we learned about Paternalism. Thatʼs like if you just give
someone a gift you think they need, even with good intentions, they can end up being
dependent on you, and not do the things that they should be doing themselves. The
recipient doesn't grow like they should, or maybe they never really wanted the gift, but
took it anyway. This is the same for community development. There are lots of
expensive equipment scattered about the third world, that was given in good faith with
great intention, that sit idle, rusty or broken. The community remains the same, or worse
off, because they figure someone else will fix their problems. Instead of going in and
giving gifts they may not need, find out what they need by talking with them and learning
from them. Find out what their vision is. Lots of times, well meaning people who have
good goals, have their own agenda, and filter out what they donʼt want to hear. Walk
alongside people in the community, and you can learn a lot from them. You can find out
what they really need, and maybe you can help them in making it possible. They in turn
can help others in their community. You can help move them towards Godʼs intention for
their lives.
YWAM Perth is a very busy place, with packed schedules of good stuff. Monday
mornings we have base worship, Tuesdays we have some brief announcements on
events for the week and Friday nights we have an evening service open for everyone. In
between all these times are classes, work duties, intercessory prayer, worship, eating
lots of bread, meetings, homework and getting to know one another.

Since this is Winter in Perth, there is rain. It could be clear one minute and pouring
buckets of rain the next. It usually stops after a few minutes, just enough to allow you a
false sense of security as you scurry off just to get caught in it again.
Love,
Rick and Gail