Hi!
Yes, the winter months have definitely hit here in Perth! And though it definitely doesn't get near as cold as it does in Canada, there still have been noticeable changes with the jackets and heaters coming out. The temp ranges from about 2 - 20 degrees Celsius, which has come down a lot from our general 40 degrees in the summer. The cold is nice though, it feels like fall in Canada. Today looks like its up into the 20's, ready to get our Kayaking on!
We wanted to say a big thank you to all those who have prayed for us and stood with us and our families through a difficult last 3 or so months. Both Sven and I lost a grandparent, both of whom we were very close with. My Oma (grandma) passed away in April and Sven's Kulu (grandpa) passed away in June. They both had Parkinson's.
I was able to spend time in remembrance of my Oma as I flew to Canada to be with family for 10 or so days. Though it was difficult, I was so grateful to be with everyone to share so much quality time together celebrating her life.
Sven remained back in Perth, until a few weeks later when we heard the news that his Kulu was not doing well. He had battled through his Parkinsons for some years now, and all of a sudden hit a decline. Last we saw him, 2 years ago, he was stable. But we realized the severity of the situation as it was now, and so rushed to get a quick flight over to South Africa so that we could say goodbye to him. We were able to spend time with him, and though he was not well, he did not pass while we were there. It wasn't until about 3 weeks later that he did. In South Africa we were able to stay with Sven's Gogo (grandma), that was incredibly special!
As we continue on in Perth, we've both been stepping into big things. I have been restarting the ministry of Faces58 - 'Using Visual Arts to Reach Neighborhoods' and though its been slow going with everything happening, it is taking off! We are focusing on the area right around our base, aiming to see it become a safer, more connected community. We plan to do community events centered around art, markets, cleanups, and hopefully doing some murals and other ways of bringing beauty into the area.
Sven has been having a blast with the youth ministry he leads called Nexwave. They've just completed their first week of WinterCamp where 100+ kids come from the whole area and do lots of crazy things in the cold and mud and anything else you could think of at camp! In the last while they also went up North to a small town called Geraldton to run a service week at a high school, and they have continued to get into high schools in the area to do seminars.
In October we will be running our schools again, that's the Art Evangelists School, and the Frontline Discipleship Training School.
Also in this last while we were privileged to have some awesome holiday time with family and friends! Sven's dad and step mom were able to come and visit again near the beginning of April, just before we went to serve at a Christian Surfers Event down South in Margaret River. It was nice to spend the week with them while we went sight seeing and just spending time together. The last time they came to visit Sven and I had just started dating.
I also had my friend Roberta visit from Canada through June. It was really great to have her here to be able to show her how me and Sven function in YWAM and live here in Australia. We had a lot of fun together as I showed her my favorite places, and the three of us went down the South Coast to explore some more. She was blessed with GREAT weather while she was here and she got to see the majority of Australia's wildlife; Emu's running wild, Kangaroo's all over the place, Dolphins in the River, Black Swans, Kookaburra's in the tree right out her window, and the rest of it we made up seeing at the Zoo!
We would appreciate your continued prayer and support as we live by faith in many different ways here. If you would like to connect with us about further ways to support us, please let us know as we are in the midst of raising this up monthly.
Yes, the winter months have definitely hit here in Perth! And though it definitely doesn't get near as cold as it does in Canada, there still have been noticeable changes with the jackets and heaters coming out. The temp ranges from about 2 - 20 degrees Celsius, which has come down a lot from our general 40 degrees in the summer. The cold is nice though, it feels like fall in Canada. Today looks like its up into the 20's, ready to get our Kayaking on!
We wanted to say a big thank you to all those who have prayed for us and stood with us and our families through a difficult last 3 or so months. Both Sven and I lost a grandparent, both of whom we were very close with. My Oma (grandma) passed away in April and Sven's Kulu (grandpa) passed away in June. They both had Parkinson's.
I was able to spend time in remembrance of my Oma as I flew to Canada to be with family for 10 or so days. Though it was difficult, I was so grateful to be with everyone to share so much quality time together celebrating her life.
Sven remained back in Perth, until a few weeks later when we heard the news that his Kulu was not doing well. He had battled through his Parkinsons for some years now, and all of a sudden hit a decline. Last we saw him, 2 years ago, he was stable. But we realized the severity of the situation as it was now, and so rushed to get a quick flight over to South Africa so that we could say goodbye to him. We were able to spend time with him, and though he was not well, he did not pass while we were there. It wasn't until about 3 weeks later that he did. In South Africa we were able to stay with Sven's Gogo (grandma), that was incredibly special!
As we continue on in Perth, we've both been stepping into big things. I have been restarting the ministry of Faces58 - 'Using Visual Arts to Reach Neighborhoods' and though its been slow going with everything happening, it is taking off! We are focusing on the area right around our base, aiming to see it become a safer, more connected community. We plan to do community events centered around art, markets, cleanups, and hopefully doing some murals and other ways of bringing beauty into the area.
Sven has been having a blast with the youth ministry he leads called Nexwave. They've just completed their first week of WinterCamp where 100+ kids come from the whole area and do lots of crazy things in the cold and mud and anything else you could think of at camp! In the last while they also went up North to a small town called Geraldton to run a service week at a high school, and they have continued to get into high schools in the area to do seminars.
In October we will be running our schools again, that's the Art Evangelists School, and the Frontline Discipleship Training School.
Also in this last while we were privileged to have some awesome holiday time with family and friends! Sven's dad and step mom were able to come and visit again near the beginning of April, just before we went to serve at a Christian Surfers Event down South in Margaret River. It was nice to spend the week with them while we went sight seeing and just spending time together. The last time they came to visit Sven and I had just started dating.
I also had my friend Roberta visit from Canada through June. It was really great to have her here to be able to show her how me and Sven function in YWAM and live here in Australia. We had a lot of fun together as I showed her my favorite places, and the three of us went down the South Coast to explore some more. She was blessed with GREAT weather while she was here and she got to see the majority of Australia's wildlife; Emu's running wild, Kangaroo's all over the place, Dolphins in the River, Black Swans, Kookaburra's in the tree right out her window, and the rest of it we made up seeing at the Zoo!
We would appreciate your continued prayer and support as we live by faith in many different ways here. If you would like to connect with us about further ways to support us, please let us know as we are in the midst of raising this up monthly.