Newsletter #2 "It's getting hot in here!"

     So, we began our travels a week ago now. It seems like is has been much longer, but it hasn't and somehow we seem to be fitting right in. The Hostel we are staying at is super welcoming and a great place to be. We are just getting settled in and checking out Newcastle, or Newie as it is called(apparently everything is shortened in Australia.) It is defiantly a blessing to be here, it is a gorgeous city with a lot of need for God's love. The culture is varied and diverse with many different foreign nationality's. After the first week we have been praying about opportunity's to serve the community and what ministries we undertake.

     This Saturday we volunteered at a christian community outreach event in Karuah, a small town north of Newcastle by about 30 k/m. There were tons of people, and tons of kids. We helped out by setting up a mini-skate area for the kids. It was a blast to see so many Christians loving on the community!We also went to an international church service this Sunday that we will be helping out with, many foreign students that go to a university nearby, many are not Christian but are just seeking community as they are so far from home, we look forward to helping with this service as even just in Newcastle, Australia we have the chance to reach China, Japan, Indonesia, India and the Middle-east from this university's students.

      Another ministry we are excited about is helping a public school with a community garden, where they can grow and sustain a large garden to help provide cheap and healthy produce for the family of their students. Thus, not only improving the kids life by education but by meeting real physical needs like food as well. The school is a public, low income school but the Principal has a huge heart to help these kids in everyway he can.

       We will keep checking out Newie and various other ministry opportunities, there is so much of this city to see and we have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities God has provided for us with this trip. We are so excited to be here and can't wait to see more of what God has planned for our trip. Thank you all once again for the support that got us here. Please continue to pray for us while we seek God's will for our trip.

P.S. Yes, it is quite warm here, even today with a bit of cloud cover and rain it is in the 70's.