Melbourne shots & Sydney fireworks 2011

Sydney harbour, Glyn doing pancakes, Michel brakedancing, Johanna hip hop dancing

Brooke’s Australia Adventure Update – Summer 2011, January 2, 2011

Dear friends,

Happy New Year! What a joy it is to be writing you at the dawn not only of a new year but also of a new decade! As I look back on both the past year and decade, I am amazed at all the wonders God has done in my life and I have no doubt that His faithfulness will remain with me as I continue to live in the moment and trust Him with my tomorrows. I pray the same is true for you in your life as you read this. I know for me, the past few months were very hectic and I have made some decisions to create space in my life in 2011 to be more intentional on being present and enjoying the moment I am in. I hope as I share my journey, if you can relate, then you too will be encouraged as we begin a new year to look at what are your priorities and how we all can be living more aligned with them.

“Have no fear for tomorrow, My child. Tomorrow will hold only what I bring or allow in your life.”
- - Echoes of Eternity

October was a breaking point month for me. Both of my part-time jobs had been growing and growing and I came to the spot where I realised my pace of life was not sustainable. I was always feeling like I was in maintenance mode with my work and that I couldn’t get ahead. Part of this was driven by travel and opportunities that took me out of routine, like the HSC study camp to Coffs Harbour, speaking engagements for Women’s Forum in Canberra and Newcastle as well as an event in Brisbane, and a fundraiser and event for Young Life on two consecutive weekends… all in October! Part of it was also that during this hectic work month, one of the girls I have been seeking to disciple and meet with regularly went, as they say in Australia, “off the rails.” This means, the rebellious behaviour, lying, older boyfriend, drugs, etc was found out by her family and she chose to leave home and I became an emergency carer and the one to try and help her find a shelter, as well as seek to help counsel her family in this troubling time. It was a month where there were some victories and also a lot of emotions and I felt like there was no way I could catch up on the administrative loads my work required between all the other important things… It was a month where I cried and as I thought about 2011, I thought, there’s no way I can keep up this pace. So, in that realisation, Brendan and I started praying regularly (I know, we should have put that priority in place long ago), and we decided that I would resign from my part-time work with Women’s Forum. This was a difficult decision to make because I had seen so many incredible opportunities develop and great relationships made, and also the impact of being with high school girls and seeing them receive truth with joy was a great incentive to stay. Thankfully, in speaking with my boss about the weight I was feeling she offered me freedom and was even open to considering my proposal of a consulting role that would allow me to continue the occasional speaking engagement and event and yet free me from the administrative burden I was under. Once this decision was made to create some space and focus on the work with Young Life and life in general, a huge peace came in and I finished up my role with Women’s Forum on the 14th of December. So, 2011 begins with a choice to simplify our lifestyle a bit, where I will add another day on to Young Life, so from 3 to 4 days, with the help of friends and donors, and Brendan and I will be moving in order to be able to save some money on rent in order to accommodate for the lower income I’ll be bringing in. I am so grateful that I have the support of a husband who is willing to leave the beautiful city apartment we’ve shared this first year and a half of marriage, where he only has a 10 minute walking commute, to be able to allow my life more centrality and peace. We are hoping to move into the area where I do Young Life, which will also be a blessing in that (besides a shorter commute for me) we’ll live closer to the girls I am seeking to disciple and will be able to host Bible studies at our house. A blessing too is that in this area around Ryde, we can rent a 2-bedroom apartment and still save money, where we are only in a 1-bedroom now and it can give us room to grow as a family. Please pray for us as we are looking for a place to move in February and are still seeking to know the best area and price.
Psalm 107:7
“He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.”

One of God’s great blessings to me personally, and also to the ministry of Young Life, is the ability to have an intern from Germany come and work alongside me. Johanna Lohrer, and her husband Jan-Michel, joined us from Stuttgart in early October in order for her to complete a practical traineeship for her Social Work degree in Germany. She has been working full-time and will continue to be with us until the end of February. She has been a blessing in many ways both to the area of Ryde and Northern Sydney, but also to the National staff, as we both have benefited from her labour in the office and also her work with me in schools, at the community centres we do contact work at, and at the various community events we’ve had recently. She is also a talented hip hop dancer, and her husband is an excellent break dancer and we’ve been able to allow these gifts to be used in order to teach the students at the All City Club in December, to entertain at the Ryde Combined Churches Community Carol event and at the Chatswood Youth Centre break –dancing jams that take place monthly. Having her serve alongside me reminds me how much I enjoy being able to teach someone about the incredible ministry we are able to do in Young Life and it has been wonderful to see her become more confident, not only with her English language skills, but in her boldness in speaking to youth at school and with the model of Young Life and ministering to students. Her timing in coming was a real blessing also because we received a Willoughby Council grant to begin doing weekly pancake breakfasts at Chatswood High School and we began those this past term, her help on making the mix each week has been invaluable. This has been a fantastic initiative to help us get to know and serve more students at the school. Approximately 50-100 teens a week enjoy a pancake breakfast with us on a Wednesday morning before school. We were also able to put on a large-scale sausage sizzle BBQ for the girls at Willoughby Girls High School following the Christmas presentation ending scripture for the year. These outreaches have enabled us to meet more youth and help them build trust in us. We are looking forward to re-launching a Young Life club in the Northern Sydney area in early 2011 after having a hiatus this second half of 2010. Please pray for our team as we plan this new beginning and a huge praise God for a family that has agreed to host the club when we start back up. Please also pray that God provides more leaders for this area, as some of our founding leaders in this area have gone overseas or moved to other parts of Sydney.

Psalm 136:1
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.”

The ministry in Ryde continues its weekly club and we are all preparing for the annual Extreme Summer Camp to begin. Please remember us from the 16th-21st of January. We will be in Coffs Harbour, the same venue as the HSC Study camp and summer camp is truly an incredible opportunity to have the youth we’ve been ministering to all year out of their comfort zones and in a place where they are able to really think about life and the purpose of it. It is an action-packed and fun week that also provides a safe place for reflection and an opportunity for spiritual questions to emerge and be shared in the cabin. At this point, I hope to go as a cabin leader, but have had a lot of difficulty in recruiting girls this year. I am grateful to report we have a full boys cabin, but would love your prayers that the girls that are meant to come to camp this year will come and that there would be nothing (finances, work, distractions) that would stop them from coming. Camp also sets up opportunities to begin meeting in smaller groups for the new school year with students. Your prayers mean so much on this, so thank you for joining me and I hope to give a good report in my next update. A great joy is that Brendan will be joining me on camp this year as a Summer Staff volunteer – this will be a lot of fun to have him there and to be serving together to build God’s kingdom.


Psalm 89:1&8
“I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever, with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”

Besides all the work and ministry activities these past few months have brought, Brendan and I have really made the time to prayerfully consider the desire of our hearts. This has led Brendan to apply to begin a part-time Master’s degree this year. This will mean we will be living in Sydney for the next few years at least, but will also give us more options for the type of work Brendan might be able to do elsewhere following. So, at a time when I’ll be working less, Brendan will be taking on a little more responsibility, also he is getting more involved with the union at work. I am a very proud wife of all that Brendan is doing and achieving professionally and will look forward to helping more on the home-front to balance things a bit more these next few years so Brendan can juggle his new roles confidently. We were also very blessed to be able to take a holiday this past week between Christmas and New Year’s with his parents to Melbourne. This was again a great chance to see more of Australia together and have time with his family. The motivation for the trip was for Brendan and his dad to bond at the Ashes cricket tournament, a competition held in Australia every four years between Australia and England. Brendan and his dad had enjoyed the time together in Melbourne four years ago for three of the five day Boxing Day test match and decided to go again this year, unfortunately for Australia the Ashes were lost to England. But, Brendan’s mom and I didn’t mind doing some shopping at the sales while the boys were at the cricket. Add to this the amazing Italian/Greek/Indian cuisine we enjoyed, the Queen Victoria Markets, going to see Hairspray the musical and a soccer match where the Newcastle Jets played the Melbourne Victory at the new AAMI stadium, rounded out a great week. Brendan and I made it home just in time for the Sydney fireworks on Friday. Johanna, Michel and their friend Sandro joined us on our roof for the 9 PM kiddie fireworks and we all made our way down to Observatory Hill for the midnight famous ones. It was a great end to 2010 and an incredible start to 2011. Having international friends around really reminds me again how blessed we are to live here and the beauty all around us, and reminds me of my joy-filled experience at the Southeast White House, which was always filled with young internationals serving at the house. Please continue to keep Sydney in your travel thoughts and come visit us – we are always glad to show people around! Plus, it is a great destination city for great concerts – Brendan and I have seen Bon Jovi and U2 in the past few weeks!! A last reflection on the blessings of the end of the year is the amazing connect group we’ve grown with in this past year. As we prepare to move, we realise we can’t leave our church as we’ve just began really developing the closeness of relationships that a church is meant to look like, a family. With our connect group this is fleshed out so well with regular catch ups and reliable praying friends. We’ve been so blessed and I hope that for you this is true in your life too. The intimacy that we can have in Christ should be like a family and yes, families have their ups and downs, but God calls us together to love. To love him and to love others, that is what we are here to discover. I will leave you with a part of a verse and the chorus of a song we sing at C3 called “All We Need.” It is on the “Love Is” album that came out earlier this year, check it out at: http://www.myc3church.net/sites/default/files/audio/allweneed.mp3

All We Need (Love Is)

How wide, how deep, how high, how low
It’s from the cross salvation flows
And that is how we know what love is
Chorus
Love is all we need
Jesus Christ in me
Love is all we need today

“Now, to find God, I have to look where God is. Those who want to find God must look where he lives – must live in the same manner, for the same things, for the same reasons. ‘God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him’ (1 John 4:16). Every time we chose to love, we take a step closer to God; it is as if he is right there. Every time we choose something else, we take a step away. I want God so I choose love.”

- John & Stasi Eldredge from Love & War

With loving friendship,

Brooke

Perth, Rottnest Island, Mildura & Broken Hill - August Roadtrip 2010

Road Trip Photos August 2010 - SA outback on the Nullabor to WA