Brooke's Australia Adventure Update - Spring 2012

Brooke’s Australia Adventure Update – Spring 2012, November 26, 2012 

Dear friends,

I am writing to you all fresh from our first family holiday, just the three of us – a week away at the beach and lake in Forster, a beautiful destination just a few short hours north of Sydney. It was a great chance to reconnect with each other in what has been a very busy season of our lives, catch up on rest, play in the sand and surf and see Jeremiah get more confident in the pool and begin to love the water. It was a great chance to eat good Mexican food, read, see dolphins, enjoy the beauty of the creation we are surrounded with, and also actually for Brendan and I to talk, or just be with each other. We were just away for a week and now we are back to Sydney and the Christmas rush is almost upon us, but as I pause to reflect and let you know what we’ve been up to, I send a silent prayer for all of you, wherever you are that you would know how valuable and loved you are.

Psalm 127:3-7

“Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”

What a joyful season it is to watch a child grow and develop. Some of the milestones we’ve been able to enjoy with Jeremiah in this season include his running around the house and yard with Kimba; his beginning to learn animal sounds including: “nay” for horse (he loves to say this at the top of his lungs), “mmm” for cow (almost a moo), a “mwa mwa” for fish, a little “roar” for lion and a funny little “mew” for cat. He also has now mastered “bye-bye” accompanied with a wave, which he delights in using whenever he decides we’ve been somewhere too long and he’s ready to go (doesn’t always work so well when mummy’s in the middle of a meeting for Young Life J) but it usually enchants whomever is the recipient of it. He also has gained some molars, and is now up to 11 teeth. He is also in desperate need of his first hair cut as his almost white blonde hair has a long fringe continually in his eyes but the cutest little curls have began to appear at the back of his head and over his ears which is why I’ve been so reluctant to cut yet. He has found his belly button recently (and mine) and loves putting on his “sh ish” – his shoes. He also tells us when he is “ish” (finished) at the end of a meal so he can go play and absolutely loves playing with trucks and saying “vroom vroom.” Another new trick is that he can give high fives and he loves to yell “yay” when he does this and he also has started giving kisses “mwah” when asked. He is a delightful boy and we are very proud. His nana continues to be a wonderful caregiver two days a week and is teaching him to clean so whenever he sees me with a cloth, or daddy with a broom, he needs to take them off of us, the only trouble is sometimes it is the walls that get swept, or his hair that gets wiped! We had a wonderful first birthday celebration for him on a hot Sunday in September with our Sydney friends and immediate family in our local park which was chock-a-block full of other kid birthdays and a car show that provided free 1950’s music which was a nice backdrop for our BBQ. Jeremiah is now almost 15 months old and looking back on holiday at his early baby photos he’s definitely changed quite a bit.

Our most exciting family news to share is that we are expecting our second child in early June. I am just through the first trimester and apart from feeling exhausted and a little nauseous, we are ecstatic and feeling very blessed that the Lord has given us this gift of parenthood again. This time around I’ll be birthing closer to home at Westmead Private Hospital and was delighted at my first antenatal visit to be able to see our child on the ultrasound screen and to be able to share that experience with Jeremiah and Barbara, Brendan’s mum. Love for you to keep us in prayer during the pregnancy and as I continue to work until the later stages and for good work life balance.

Psalm 121:1-2

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

In terms of work with Young Life, it has been a very full and fun season at the schools and with the clubs. I was also able to travel with five other Young Life Australia staff to Cebu in the Philippines in early October for a Young Life Asia Pacific Area Manager School on Discipleship. It was my first time away from Jeremiah, but thanks to Brendan’s support and Barbara, he was well taken care of while I was away. It was a great time of investment to be able to get some great teaching on the subject of growing and maturing leaders in Christ. It was also a great chance to reflect on my own leadership and that in our areas in conversations with other staff from around Australia and in hearing how the Lord is working in other nations. It was also really wonderful to reconnect with the precious Young Life staff and volunteers from the other nations in the Asia Pacific region, many of whom I had met three years ago at a similar staff gathering in Bangkok, Thailand. Really, it was the strength of those relationships that was a pull for me to go this time, especially with so many of the Filipinos - I longed to see them again and experience Young Life ministry in their cultural context. We were able to see an All-City Cebu Young Life club while we were there and it was amazing! Hundreds of kids were bussed in from around the city, and the energy was so high as they danced and sang – they loved to sing! I really feel there would be a great value in building our relationship deeper with nations such as the Philippines as they too have been doing Young Life for over forty years and we could learn so much. I find that trips like this one serve as catalysts for me in my desire to serve and grow in ministry, and the ability to have the caliber of wisdom around me from veterans who have been serving in the mission for thirty plus years is such an encouragement to me to keep fighting the good fight.

2 Timothy 4:7

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Working with young people is an exciting and dynamic type of work because it keeps you on your toes having to continually adjust and grow as the culture continues to shift. Much of my work is spent with young leaders investing into their lives as they invest into the lives of younglife kids. A continuing prayer request for the ministry to continue healthy and strong is for leaders to be recruited, and especially female leaders in the Ryde area. The LORD provided for us in a big way at the beginning of this term when Rachel contacted the Young Life office. She is here in Australia serving as an au pair and was involved with Young Life when she was in high school in West Virginia and had a transformative faith experience through her involvement. She has been super keen and faithful in her training and leadership with us and is busy recruiting her cabin for our upcoming summer camp. Praise God with us for His provision through people like Rachel who do the work. I’ve also been training a Marsden alumni, Phil who was also involved while he was at school and we’ve had the Marsden chaplain, Bryan, a former Young Life staffer from California, really get involved in clubs this term. It has been a very fun term of ministry so far and a major highlight was being able to host a Battle of the Bands at Marsden High on the 16^th of November. We were able to fund the event through a City of Ryde local grant and created a cultural festival in addition to the competition that meant free cuisine from a few nationalities was on offer: Chinese, Thai and Italian. We also had a Tongan dance group and a Chinese Buddhist sign language dance group perform. Bryan, the Marsden chaplain really went all out to help put on this event, even getting help from the SRC (Student Representative Council). It was a very successful night in which we also had some great guest judges including a great Young Life alumni and friend, Steve (Hendo) Henderson who’s the Ensemble Coordinator at the Australian Institute of Music, so the high schoolers that performed with their bands got some very excellent feedback and critiques of their performances. Northern Sydney has also had a big term of ministry including a Hip Hop Dance Competition that was organized with North Shore Christian Church and was helped paid for by a local Willoughby Council grant. It is so important for us as a ministry to continue to partner with others in the community. As we wind down for this year, please pray for energy and motivation for leaders and for summer camp recruitment to be going strong, not only in Sydney, but around the country. Our annual Summer Camp will be held once again in Jindabyne on January 13-19, 2013. Please also pray for every student that needs some scholarship funds to be able to attend camp to have the resources provided, whether that is through local fundraising efforts, through generous donations, or through their own families’ abilities. I would also ask you to pray for my role on camp this year, as camp speaker. Truly the major evangelists on camp are the cabin leaders as they break down what is said up front every night in cabin time, but I would ask for your prayers for my preparation and for clarity in the overall gospel presentation. Pray that the student’s hearts would be softened to the message and open to what Christ has for them in their week on camp.

John 18:37

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

There is so much to be thankful for, as those of you in America have just celebrated Thanksgiving, I am reminded again that life is so blessed and I have much to be grateful for. May we all continue to live with joyful hearts trusting in our God who is worthy to be praised!

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

With loving friendship,

Brooke