Dear friends and family

This morning we went to an early morning service at the botanical gardens at Emerald. It was a challenging time as we heard about the true meaning of Easter. Easter is not about eggs and bunnies but about the Son of God who sacrificed His life for us sinners. Without the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ there could never be forgiveness for our sins. This is not something we just think about once a year but it affects our everyday lives. It is the basis of Christian living. Afterwards, we had a wonderful time of fellowship with Christian friends as we had breakfast together.

Dear friends and family

Our latest news is that Wendy has been having some trouble with her right eye and we went to an optometrist yesterday. The outcome is that she has to see an eye specialist to determine if she will need an operation on it. This means that it will be two or three months before we can consider going to PNG. It seems that the Lord is telling us that this is why He has been delaying our departure. We need to get this dealt with first.

Dear friends and family

Well, this game has as many twists and turns as some of our TV contests. After all the drama of looking for our missionary training diplomas, having to go with photo copies of them, sending them off with work permit applications and other paperwork to our government representatives in Port Moresby then waiting for the PNG government to reopen after the Christmas break we were told that we don’t need work permits!

Dear friends and family

You will remember that we sent out an e-mail last month regarding a Suzuki Vitara for sale at our base in PNG for K28,900 (around $15,000 AUD). Recently the owner of that vehicle wrote to us and said, “I have a Suzuki Vitara for sale. We put it on the market for K28,900 (that is around US$ 9700 or AU$13,5009), but for you I would sell it for the price of US$6,700 or AU$9340. Of course, you need to see the car yourself and drive it, but just want to let you know what options you have.”

Dear friends and family

We are praying that you all have a wonderful Christmas as you spend time together remembering the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. Some of you, like us, won’t have so many family members as you did have in years gone by. But when we and they love the Lord it is very special to remember them. We are glad that the Lord has given us memories to enjoy the special family members and friends who we have known and loved. This year we will be having a quiet Christmas here at hot and dry Willows Gemfields.

Dear friends and family Things are coming together for our going to PNG. We are in the middle of all the paperwork for our work permits and visas but hopefully we will get it all done soon. A big thank you to all of you who gave us your support for going back to PNG....

Dear all our friends and family
What an exciting but tiring time we had travelling for 7 weeks in our little caravan down as far as Dubbo, across to Newcastle area then back up here. We met so many old and new friends and received so much support for going back to PNG. A huge thank you to all of you who helped us on our way. And a huge thank you to God for His faithfulness to us all the way down and back. We had such a wonderful time . We have been home for 3 days now and still getting over it.

Dear all our friends and family

We have just received an e-mail from New Tribes Mission Papua New Guinea inviting us to return to PNG and work with the Benabena people. The Benabena Church is in a sad situation at present and it breaks our hearts. We grew very close to them when we were with them before. They are a small group of believers scattered around the area and not functioning together or fellowshipping with each other at all. Please pray for this small fragmented group of believers there in the Benabena Valley. Pray that God will give the mission leaders and us wisdom to know how to approach the situation. And pray that we will have god’s love for them as we get with them again.

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We thought we would give you an update on how things are going with us. At first it was all excitement, the Lord had challenged us both with the Benabena work in Papua New Guinea. We received an e-mail from the field requiring medical checks and we thought, “We will just get these tests done and we will be off to PNG.” But the medical checks revealed some health problems that needed more checks.

Greetings in our Saviour’s name

A big concern for us right now is the Benabena church. There has not been missionaries there for a long time now and they are desperately in need of teaching and encouragement. Back in November last year we became very concerned about the Benabena church and their need for teaching & discipleship and were praying for them when the Lord challenged us about going back. David told the Lord that he was willing go back but wasn’t sure if Wendy would be able to consider going back. So he told the Lord, “I will not say anything to Wendy. If you want us to go back let it come from her.” When Wendy came out from her rest she started talking about going back to PNG. We contacted the mission and they requested that we get comprehensive medical check-ups as it would be difficult for them to get us out in a hurry if we had a medical emergency in PNG.

A very merry Christmas to all!

Dear friends,

It has been a while since we have written a newsletter, mainly because there has not been a lot of excitement here. A good place to live if you like the peace and quiet . But there has been some excitement on the Gemfields lately. Our home group at Anakie has been growing with a few people coming from Sapphire and Rubyvale. A man who has a rare blood disease came to know the Lord and is growing spiritually. A ‘Shed Happens’ has started at Rubyvale and quite a few men from the area have been coming. The idea is that men can tell their stories or share their problems without the fear of it becoming gossip. We feel that the Lord is doing a work in the area.