Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

On Sunday (tomorrow!) we leave for Queensland - a two to three day car journey to Gladstone, where Em's family is gathering for Christmas this year. We look forward to seeing them all, especially Aaron, as we haven't seen him for about four years now! We should arrive back in Melbourne by January 5th, ready to get into all that God has for us in the New Year!

Left: Elisha Care's last Friday BBQ on the main street of Croydon was our Christmas party!

Left: Sants's little helpers got carried away with the idea of a clothing shop (the clothes are free)

Left: Geoff and Noel get into the Christmas spirit!

Spring Rain

On Thursday 28 November 2008 we traveled into Melbourne city to lodge Ulf's spouse visa application (for permenant residency). Amazingly we only had to wait about an hour to see someone (we didn't have an appointment so we didn't expect to see anyone), who went through our documents [see photo, right] and 'interviewed' us and took our money. We were very surprised and blessed by the kind nature of the man that took our application. He was very polite and respectful and very positive about the possible outcome. We still needed one more official document, then our application would be complete and he would have to make the decision. We have now sent in this last document and should know an answer in the next weeks, hopefully by early January. Praise the Lord!

Photo gallery:


Left: Em & Ulf outside flat in Lilydale

Right: Riding on the old city circle Tram





Left: Sons of Korah concert at Christian City Church in Nunawading

Right: Em and friend Amy (left) at German 'Cuckoo' restaurant for Bible College Staff Xmas breakup party




Left: Some of our garden/backyard. The green thing in the background is a shade cover for the rabbit pen.

Right: Our bunnies - Lily in front and Butch behind.

Left: Our garden (zuchini flower in front). It has been raining a lot this spring - a nice surprise really.

Right: Lily rolling on the grass.









Left: Clare (right), Kimberly, Pam and Leanne, with whom Em made a gingerbread house

Right: Em and her gingerbread house

Time for the Spouse Visa

It is now time for Ulf to apply for a new visa and it has become apparent that he is not eligible for a second Working Holiday visa. So this leaves us in the position of having to apply for the Spouse visa for him now! Not what we had planned, but we have to do it sometime, so here goes! The application requires a lot from us, including a lot of money, heaps of documentation and proof that our relationship is real, police checks and statutory declarations from us and friends.

Please pray for us!

New Friends and Joy

For several months Ulf and I have been spending time with a ministry group called Elisha Care. On Wednesday nights we go to their home group, which was being held in a public place in the main street of Croydon (a neighbouring suburb). There would be a time of worship, someone would speak/share, followed by some prayer time. From the first time we went, we could sense something different about this gathering - the people were being real with God and each other, and His quiet presence was felt there. It felt like coming home. We had longed to be a part of a community where people were real and where God was allowed to do whatever He wanted, for so long that it kind of snuck up on us. It took us a few weeks to realize that this is where we wanted to be, so we said goodbye to the small Vineyard church in Mitcham that we had been struggling to attend and decided to just go to the Vineyard here in Lilydale.

On Fridays from 11am to 3pm Elisha Care holds a free BBQ outside a house on the main street of Croydon. People come and hang out, kick the footy, get some free 2nd hand clothes, get a free lunch and some conversation. It's all about loving people and we enjoy being part of this! It's not without it's challenges, but it's worth it.

Ulf attends a guys' fellowship on Friday mornings and Em has started to go the girls' fellowship as well and we both find these times a blessing.

This weekend we went on a camp with Elisha Care at Torquay (near Geelong, on the Great Ocean Road). We were so blessed to be a part of what God is doing among these people! Many struggle with drug and alcohol addictions, but are reaching out to God for help. It was a beautiful time with God and with these beautiful people. It brought us both much joy to see people being touching by His love! And it was a great privilege to serve them and love them too.



Here are some photos of the camp:


Left: The guys sitting around the
campfire. (View out from the woolshed that we camped in.)






Right: Morning worship. There are many people on the balcony in the shadows. There were about 25 people in total.







Left: Worship and prayer on the
beach just before three people were
baptised in the ocean.





Besides our involvement with Elisha Care, Ulf is now looking after three young children in the mornings (getting them breakfast and ready for school, and taking them to school) for a single Dad. He also tutors a high school student in German once a week and does some cleaning on the weekends. Em still works at the Library at BCV one day a week and babysits a 10-month boy two days a week (lots to learn!).

On the home front, we now have two pet rabbits! They are now 10 weeks old and are enjoying their moveable pen on our lawn. We enjoy them very much - they're like family. We've also planted out a vegetable garden this year, which we are both enjoying a lot, especially Em. There's something very special about nuturing life and watching it grow.

Until next time, Aufwiedersehen!

Home at last

After a whole two months of silence, we finally have something to say!

After a long journey of 'homelessness' [house-sitting, staying with people we hardly know, staying with friends, a week in a cold cabin in a caravan park, visiting family], we have finally moved into our own little flat/apartment in Lilydale! It has a combined living room and kitchen area, and a large bedroom with small en suite bathroom. It's underneath a really big house and we can both walk to work! Em - I feel more and more God saying that this is our home and this town is our home, though I don't feel settled in yet. But I think that just takes time. There is much that we still need for our home, but God is providing!

We're both really enjoying our jobs - Ulf cleaning the primary school in Lilydale and Em working one day a week in the Library at Bible College and soon two days a week in the Accounting office. We are really happy with working part-time hours. It provides enough money to live and it gives us spare time to serve others (and setup our home).

Praise the Lord, O our souls!

The Morning Star

a reflection on reflection aka worship, by Ulf.
click link.

Chinese: Language of God?

Check out this link!

It's incredible!!!

Moving around in Melbourne

After staying at four different places in Melbourne we are ready to stop! But we are learning to wait for what the Lord has for us. It's not easy. He continues to change us within and take unnecessary burdens from us. The refining/cleansing process never really ends, it just moves us into new dimensions of our relationship with Him. We are His garden, which He plants, waters, feeds, removes weeds from, causes to bloom and bear fruit when it is right to Him.

After Christmas we moved to Greensborough and stayed with Stuart and Jackie, friends of ours. We welcomed the New Year in while resting (sleeping). The next weeks were spent helping around the house - cleaning, rearranging furniture, sewing curtains (Em), and making a compost crate-bin (Ulf). Stu and Jak had had several house-mates coming and going over the past few years and this was the first time that they could have the house how they wanted it to be. So we were happy to help!

It was (and is) still a time of waiting. We stayed in Greensborough for about a month, which was enough time to get our heads straight after the long journey down from Cairns. We started praying about getting part-time jobs and about where we were to live in Melbourne. This was an exciting new situation for us to be in but we did not want to go ahead and do whatever we wanted or felt right about. We were (and are) waiting for God to move and bring us into what He has for us in Melbourne. At the time, Ulf felt to contact his last employer in Lilydale about cleaning in schools, while Em felt led to apply for a job at Kmart.

After Greensborough, we house-sat a family's home in Watsonia for the Australia Day long weekend. It was a beautiful house and garden (vegies!) - we were so blessed! We were really longing for our own place and God gave us four beautiful days of rest there.

After our little holiday we came to Ringwood to house-sit some friends' house for a couple of weeks. We arrived here on a Monday and the next day Ulf started working part-time at Lilydale West Primary School! We both feel that God has placed him there and we are thankful for this job. Ulf is very much enjoying working again, but we are both aware that we cannot fall into thinking that that is all that God has for us here - to find a place to live and start working. Working is only a small part of the picture - a big picture of which we cannot see in its entirety.

We are continuing to trust the Lord that He has a home for us to dwell in here in Melbourne. In the process we are learning that God Himself is our Home and we will be happy wherever He is.

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23: 6

Photos, from top to bottom: Ulf and Stuart cleaning in the lounge room; Getting into the garden; Em sewing curtains; The neighbour's ginger cat that kept coming to visit us for affection (at Stu and Jak's place); The back garden at Watsonia house-sit, complete with vegie patch!; Zuchini flower; Em has been experimenting in the kitchen... this is Honey cake with Strawberry Sauce. Check out her recipe blog at http://emmas-ekitchen.blogspot.com or click link on left.