Barunga Community Church

Christmas Event

On Wednesday night, our church had

the privilege of travelling out to

a community called Barunga,

about an hour away from Katherine

to visit with the church there

as they put on their Christmas play.

We all loaded into our Coaster bus,

plus a couple of other vehicles,

and headed out.

Dave and I have done deliveries to this

community, so we knew a few of the ladies

and it was great to see them and 

their children in the church there.

Pastor Patrick Bauer and his family

work in this community, 

holding Sunday Services and Kids Club weekly.

They had worked very hard putting together

a Christmas service with the

community children and parents.

It was a blessing to see the children,

dressed in their angels costumes,

singing and praising God.

This little girl was particularly enthusiastic

We were able to hear a song sung in Kriol,

the local language and also the passage

from Luke 2, read in Kriol.

The 5 dogs that attended were very well

behaved and slept through most of the service.

I have put together a short video of the evening

so you can get a better idea of the service.

Please pray for the work in this community,

for open hearts to the gospel.

Pray for the Bauer family as they minister

there and in Katherine to the indigenous people.

Please pray for our work at Savannah Way

Baptist Church, and for the

opportunities we have with the children

and parents here in Katherine.

HOLIDAY BIBLE CLUB

A couple of weeks back,

we had our annual

Holiday Bible Club

here at Savannah Way Baptist Church.

It was a lot of hard work,

but it was well worth the effort.

Pup and Lydia Cotton came

and gave us a hand for the week

and we all had a great time.

This year, for the first time,

we had a puppet show every day

for the lesson. This went down very

well with the kids and James' puppet

"Tommy", quickly became the favourite.

Dave built the puppet theatre,

with Chloe's help and it worked

out really well.

Chloe was able to be one of the puppeteers

as well as myself, our Pastor's wife, Jessica

and James, with Dave being the narrator

and Abbi playing Tommy for the singing,

as James needed to play the 'real' guitar,

as opposed to the 'pretend' one that Tommy had.

We had a good crowd of kids each day

and good behaviour all round, which was

a great blessing.

There is a possibility of using the puppets

for a Christmas market here in Katherine

in November, so please be in prayer that

we can use this ministry to share the gospel.

On the last day we held a free BBQ

and invited parents to attend. It

was great to see some family members

come and enjoy the day with us.

As always, I took hundreds of photos,

with the help of Maddie,

so I have made a slideshow so you

can see the faces of these precious kids

that God has blessed us with here in Katherine.

So, if you want to see videos of the puppet

shows, singing, more adorable kids,

games etc, please take the time to watch

the video below. I have had to

cut it in half and upload

it in 2 bits, so, sorry for the

disjointedness:) Also, it will probably

not be clear if watched full screen.

Grab a cup of tea,

sit back and enjoy the slideshow

and don't forget to pray

for the work here in Katherine.

Matthew 19:14

But Jesus said, Suffer little children,

and forbid them not, to come unto me:

for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

NEWSFLASH

On the weekend, Maddie managed

to break her ankle!

She's okay, but now going

to have to lug around a heavy,

hot, cast for a few weeks.

Of course, when given the choice,

she chose the camo coloured cast!

GO AHEAD.....

LAUGH!!

4WD Competition

And the winners were...........

US!!!

Recently, our church held a

series of Dvd lessons on the

subject of marriage for couples

in the church.

At the end of the sessions,

we held a couples only 4WD competition

out on a property out of town.

The girls helped the Pastor and his

family to carve out a 4wd track

through the bush, with the help

of a chainsaw, machete and

good old hard work!

They did a great job making a

challenging course for us to use.

Emilee and Maddie even got to

drive the course in Pastors' Rodeo

to try out their handiwork.

It only took 10 years off

the passengers' lives, but hey,

they had a great time!

There were 3 main challenges

on the day.

First, the passenger had to balance an

egg on a wooden spoon

while the driver negotiated the course.

You had 3 eggs to go through

and YAY! I didn't break any,

thanks to Dave's awesome skills

behind the wheel.

Here's Abbi giving it a go.

She broke all 3. Ahem. Cough cough.

Next challenge was the bucket challenge.

You had to strap a bucket of water to the

bulbar and be the one with the most

water left in it at the end.

Not as easy as it sounds.

Then, lastly, the funnest part.

The driver (being me) was blindfolded

and guided through the course

by the passenger (being Dave).

This was really fun and challenging.

I haven't concentrated that hard since

well, um, have I ever concentrated that hard?

Anyway, I kept the blindfold on the whole

course, even on the trickiest parts

and by following Dave's instructions

to the letter, we managed to make it

through unscathed.

Abbi and James did really well with this

which was nice to see that they're getting

along so well already:)

It's a real trust exercise.

Ok, so James did guide Abbi into a tree branch

sort of, maybe not technically,

do a little damage,

but, the old 60 will live to see

many another day.

All the challenges were timed and points

given. And at the end of it all,

Dave and I came out on top!

Which, I suppose we should seeing we've

been married the longest!

Besides the fact that we're soooo

AWESOME!!

And just so you know

the old girl can still spin it's wheels.

(While being driven by a madwoman

in a blindfold on a 4wd track)

I've put together a short video of the day.

Unfortunately, there was no footage

taken of Dave and I driving,

so you'll just have to take our word for it.

It was a great day and we finished it off

with a BBQ and campfire.

Pastor Ken Chapman from Darwin

came down and gave us a good charge

and an object lesson to summarize

the whole series.

So, if you're ever in our neck

of the woods, come and join in the fun.

We may not do things in the way your used

to, but we do it Territory style!

WEDDING PHOTOS AGAIN :)

Ok, so I have no time

to blog and write full sentences.

My brain has too many

tabs open at present.

So here's a random selection

of wedding photos for any

of you who haven't had enough yet:)

Boys will be boys

And Hannah will be Hannah!!

And Cam will be Cam!

And ain't love grand!

Ladies in waiting (except Abbi of course)

And when life gets boring,

play rock, paper, scissors!

Not available at this present time!

Awww! How sweet!

Yes, James, we are in the Territory,

but somehow I think this is still illegal!

Can I do this then, mum?

Sure. It's a long way back to town, tho!

Thanks to Lauren Drews and

Katherine the photographer

for these great photos!