December 2014
To all our dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas! We’re SO blessed
to be home to spend the holidays with family again this year! Every year, God leads us to a different
situation in which to serve and, this year, we spent almost 7 months at
Nazarene Theological Seminary outside of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia!
We flew Down Under in early February,
and started work just before 2014 Semester 1 began, after several emails and
Skype sessions to determine some of the details of our assignment. We quickly settled into a suite in one of the
dorms (a bedroom and a kitchen separated by a bathroom). The campus is “in the bush” (wooded) and
“chockers” with (full of) wildlife, especially wallabies! We could see wallabies every day, as we’d walk
round the campus after work. Found a
koala too! We were wakened each day by kookaburras, curlews, magpies, and
crows. And we soon fell in love with the
Aussies’ accent and their quirky colloquialisms. The weather was wonderful as well; the suburb
of Thornlands is coastal and has a sub-tropical climate!
Dan had quite of list of technical projects to
accomplish including; replacing the campus WiFi, upgrading most of the network
services, replacing the old phone/PBX with VOIP, upgrade VC (Video
Conferencing) equipment in the classrooms, install VC in the Chapel, and
improve acoustics in the classrooms and chapel with insulation, curtains and
building 30+ acoustic panels
I helped in the administrative office and, one
day each week, I did some data entry for the librarian. On Mondays, I’d also
spend a couple of hours at the home of Dr Bruce Allder (the principal) and his
wife Jacqueline, helping her cook and set up for the Monday night campus
dinners. We SO enjoyed the food and fellowship of those evenings!
We became part of a local
Nazarene congregation with co-pastors from South Africa and the Netherlands, and
made lots of friends there! The Allders invited us on a road trip for Easter
holiday in March, traveling to Canberra, the capitol (learned lots at the
government buildings), and Sydney (toured the famous Sydney Opera House). This is one of Dan’s photos of it! It was autumn then, since seasons are
reversed in the Southern Hemisphere from what we’re used to in the Northern
Hemisphere and it was much cooler in the state of New South Wales, in the south
of Australia.
We returned to the States in
early April, to attend a couple of Bible Quiz Ministry (BQM) events and see
family. One regional Bible Quiz took us to Boston and gave us the opportunity
to visit Marcy and her family too!
At the end of July we headed back to the end of
winter in Australia. Brisbane’s climate wasn’t too cold and spring began soon
after, as well as Semester 2 for the college. We were privileged to enjoy
several side trips with college coworkers to Bribie Island, North Stradbroke
Island, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Coochiemudlo Island, and O’Reilly’s
Rainforest. We also enjoyed a successful daytrip of whale watching. I’m still
crazy about the mix of cultures in Australia – it’s quite a “melting pot” –
very British in some respects (tea breaks twice a day at work, fish and chips),
while many places still have their Aboriginal names. There also are tons of
ex-patriots from all over the world there.
Home now for the holidays, we’re even (almost) enjoying
the cold weather since it was getting pretty hot in Australia. Christmas will
be special at home this year with Erica, Monica, Caitlyn, and Dylan!
Family news…
Marcy
easily graduated from police academy and is a local police officer in
Fairhaven, MA. Husband John is still with Samsonite (we still benefit from his
samples!). Megan is a junior RA at University of Rhode Island, studying Family Counseling
/ Holistic Therapy. Morgan is a freshman at Curry College near Boston, majoring
in Nursing and played college softball. Both girls work at a local seafood
restaurant when they’re at home! Tucker is a 7th grader enjoying
life with both sisters away at school.
Monica seems
to be enjoying her new job in Belleville as CPA at a local hospital. Dylan is a
7th grader at Zion Lutheran School and Caitlyn is a freshman at
Belleville East High School. We have enjoyed seeing her in a holiday madrigal
dinner and their Christmas choral concert!
Derick
and Nola have moved to New Jersey so Derick can work on the outsides of the
skyscrapers in New York City, living his dream as a top-level-certified rope
access technician.
Darin
still lives in Raleigh, NC, where he makes a living installing satellite TV
systems while building custom motorcycles in his off-hours.
Adam does
computer work. His and fiancée Dana’s home in Washington, IL, was destroyed in
a tornado in October 2013, but they were not injured, and they moved to a new
home in Peoria, IL.
Erica
is enjoying her management position as purchaser at the Lutheran Senior Services
facility where she still sometimes cooks. She lives in our house and takes very
good care of it when we’re away. She has a boyfriend who’s a pilot; when they
have the same days off, they are active outdoors people – hiking, biking, etc. Her
cats Backes and Jax, named after two St Louis Blues hockey players, are still
afraid of us!
 |
| Leaving for our return flight home. |
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The
special, never-ending value of family and friends like you. We are truly blessed
with your ongoing friendship, prayers, and support as we follow His leading. We so appreciate being able to keep in touch
electronically when we can’t be with you in person!
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God’s Retirement plan is WAY better than any we
might have! He is keeping us active, useful, challenged, excited and growing (see Romans 8:14-15 in ‘The Message’).
We’re headed back to the Eurasia Regional Office
in Büsingen, Germany, in January for 3 months of assisting in admin and
technology projects with Brad and Nancy Firestone and the awesome team there.
May your Christmas season be blessed and your
New Year filled with joy!
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