At Last

June 2018

Yes, we are still alive. Working full time, and having so many in the house does not give much time for essentials as blogging to say the least!

We will attempt to give you a summary of what has been going on this busy busy year.

FAMILY
We will just go and re-introduce our family as it has changed since the last time we wrote.

Dennis

Has been preaching part time at Dungog and Clarence town again. This is going well. He now has a young married couple bible study now at Dungog. Clarence town has a number of children, and are looking for someone to help with Sunday School.
He also works part time for GRN doing recording and editing recorded scripts. He is finding this hard as the computer part is hard for him to learn. There is a lot of paper work involved and this needs to be perfect.



Glenys
Is still working with the scripts. She has written a number and is waiting for the GRN script committee to finalize their checking of them. They need to be checked Biblical accuracy and easy readability.

This sort of work does not have a lot of exciting stories about it, as it is sitting in front of a computer, commentaries and bibles for days on end.

Our Gang!

Nickarita, Jai, Trevon, Estella, Nelita, Sylvester

Nickarita (12) is in the red shirt. Jai (17) in white shirt, Trevon (15) black hat
Estella (10) white shirt, Nelita (13) in the back and Sylvester (11) yellow shorts.

We took all the family to the Maitland Steam Fest. This is the first time they had seen steam engines. Most loved it and were fascinated by all the different machines and seeing a real steam train was great. One was not at all interested, and could not get over the smell of the machines!  Well, cant please them all.

Nickarita and Jai are brother and sister. Nelita and Trevon are also brother and sister. Estella is what we would call a cousin to them, but she would call these 'brother and sister'. So in Aboriginal culture, these kids all call each other brother and sister.

Sylvester is related but the other kids call him 'gungu' (grandfather, from the mother's side of the family)

Sylvester is not in our care, he is here with his grandmother. We will explain this when we share about Cheryl and James.

Four of the kids in our care attend St Phillips Christian College in Newcastle. There is a section joined to this school called "DALE". This stands for Dynamic Assisted Learning Environment.

DALE ST Phillips Christian College

This  school caters for students who struggle in mainstream schools. We sent Nelita there 2017 and were so impressed with the way they dealt with both her learning difficulties and anxiety. We felt this type of schooling would help with kids from the Territory. Hence our sudden increase in family.

The four who attend there do struggle with anxiety and are often fearful when exposed to new and strange situations.  We have watched the 3 that came down this year and have watched them blossom

Jai is in year 11. When he arrived, he would not try any thing new in case he could not do it. He was stressing a lot at school, but he has come so far. Last week he did work experience at a coffee shop. He was scared but he faced it and dealt with everything, and maybe, just maybe even enjoyed himself, but not that he would say that! This week he is doing a Christian leadership conference for 2 days through the school. He got up and prepared for it without a problem or voicing any fears.

Jai

Jai is playing AFL and loving it. He plays for Maitland Saints. He has been chosen to play for the regionals.  This is where the kids in his league are chosen to go and represent the league against other areas.

Jai is a gentle boy, and changes when on the footy field. I would not like to be tackled by him...no mercy there!

Trevon

Trevon is in year 8. He did not attend school last year while back in Borroloola. So he is doing year 8, but we cant say he is repeating as it was not done last year.
Trevon came here in the middle of first term. We had a party for all of the kids at the end of 1st term. It was to celebrate them working so hard in a new school, new family, and new culture. But is was also to celebrate the fact that we did not have any phone calls from the Principle wanting to 'have a talk about Trevon' He did not have one suspension from school, not even a warning. This is the kid who previously was suspended about 2-3 times each term.

God is really working in Trevon's heart. Trevon has developed a real hunger for learning about God and what his role is in his life.

Trevon is back playing AFL.He too is in the regionals as well. He is playing in the U17 with Jai. He is such a good player he is better suited to the older age group.

Nelita

Nelita is repeating Year 7. She is really coming out of her shell this year. This year has helped with her learning skills and confidence.

The last 2 years Nelita played soccer as a sport. She enjoyed it but was often too scared to get in and fight for the ball. She was great in training, but too scared during matches with strangers.

One of her teachers at school encouraged her to try out for AFL. We were hesitant as we did not feel she could tackle or handle being tackled.  Any way, with a bit of work, she joined the girls U14 team.  She has never looked back. Her kicking is amazing. If she gets the ball, it usually ends in a goal, or a point. She still struggles to get in to fight for the ball, but her speed and kicking has given her a position in the girls U14 regionals as well.

Nickarita

Nickarita is doing year 7 with Nelita. She struggles to read and write. We found out she needed glasses. It was a surprise to both her and us, how much she could not see. You will not get a photo of her with them on, as she gets shamed. We have her wearing them in class, and sometimes when we go out somewhere. It all takes time.
She excels at woodwork. Her teacher said she is a 'natural' for wood work. He wants her to do this for work experience when it is her time. This teacher was a builder before he started teaching, so I guess he knows what he is saying. At home she is more than comfortable using power tools. We have had her using the jig saw, orbital sander and drop saw.
Unfortunately for Nickarita, she hates AFL. Poor thing, she has to be carted around all day following the others when they play. We have organised some special activities she can do while away, but it is still 'boring' for her. When we are playing on the home field she will often spend the day with our daughter-in-law, Shayna.

Estella with grand daughter, Teulia

Estella is doing year 4. She repeated a year as well when she came last year, as her learning was not up to the required level. She is our 'brainy' one. She loves to learn. She does works hard to achieve. Last year she could hardly put 3 letter words together, this year, she is attacking works and does not give up. She is also our day dreamer. Often she will be standing in the middle of the room thinking about something, and not getting ready for school. It takes her hours to get things done because of her dreaming.
Estella is also playing AFL. At the beginning of the season, she did not want to play. After a while, she showed some interest, so we asked if she could train with Nelita just for something to do. After a couple of weeks, the coach approached us and asked if Estella could play with the girls. As she is 10, she needed special permission. Estella is quite short, but what she lacks in stature, she makes up for in gumption. Nothing stops her. She will tackle, or attempt to, any one. She is not scared of any thing.
This is why Estella does not go to Dale, as she does not have the anxiety issues or learning difficulties the others have. She has been asking to go to a Christian school, so we are looking into seeing if we can get her into a very good local christian school ( finances depending) Maitland Christian School.

Well, that is the kids we have and a short history. I will add more a little later on.

Cheryl & James

Cheryl

 

We last shared about Cheryl having a heart operation soon after she arrived here.  All is going well with her at the moment. As many of you will know, there is a long time of rehab after such an operation.
Cheryl spends 2 mornings a week at Maitland Hospital doing rehab. This involves exercises and education about keeping herself healthy.
At least once a week, she is off to see some specialist, so she is kept quite busy just getting better.

We have been doing lots of teaching and working on scripts together. We have 2 ready for recording. Our biggest hold up is scripts, and having them checked by GRN. This takes time as it is often hard for the script committee to find time for them all to be together at the same time.

James

James has been working with helping Cheryl get healthy. He also has been getting lots of Bible study, and teaching. James has not done any of the recording work, but has helped us around the property. He laid a lot of pavers for us and we are enjoying the fruits of his labours.

James is the quiet on in the house. While every one else talks 'yells' at the top of their voices, James is the one who remains quiet. Often he must retreat to remove himself from the noise of the house. He also is an avid AFL fan, and always encouraging the kids with their AFL, even to occasionally taking them to the field and helping them with their kicks

Sylvester

Sylvester (11) is Cheryl's grandson. He is in her care, so when Cheryl and James came, Sylvester came too.
 He is attending the same school and class as Estella in Tarro Public School.

He was like Estella and was too scared to try for ALF, but after tagging along with the other kids each training day, he started to train and then was asked if he would like to play with the team.

Sylvester and our grandson Xander get on well together. Xander is always asking if Sylvester can sleep over at his house on the weekends.

Cheryl, James and Sylvester are looking at returning to Borroloola in July sometime. Cheryl is still not allowed to fly yet as she still has some problems with her leg where they cut the vein out for the bypass.

Please pray for them as they  grow and seek to learn what God wants them to do when they go back. It is hard to keep strong, but God is strong. They need to trust him for every thing.
Please pray for them and Christians like them who have no real access to strong biblical teaching and often do not have Christian fellowship on a regular basis.

New Role for Dennis

As we are seeking to serve the Lord, we often have to make hard decisions about what we feel is right for us at this stage in life.


After coming home from Borroloola, we needed a few repairs on the car and van. These would amount to about $10,000.

Another issue is that after having over 20 years as a missionary, we have almost no super and no savings.

Our trips and expenses are covered by ourselves, so they take a lot of money to fund, and to time to save up for the next trip

We have been looking at what we will do with paying our house when retirement arrives. While we do not have a huge mortgage, we still will struggle when we stop working.

With this in mind, we felt, after much prayer and soul searching that Dennis would work part time preaching for 12 months.

He is working part time with Dungog/Clarence Town again for 12 months. He is also working part time for GRN. Because he is preaching, he will not be on the books for GRN.

Glenys will still be working full time for GRN. This will not change. She will still be doing the script work and the translation as before.

This has been a hard decision, but we feel the right one.
We will be able to increase the house payments for 12 months, to greatly reduce the principal. This will reduce the mortgage for the future.

We will be able to have some funds to repair the van, etc.

We will not be traveling as we did last year, but some trips will be made by both of us during the year.

Dennis will be going to a Recorders Training Course later in the year, and Glenys may travel to some communities to test the recordings.

We do ask for your understanding on this, and would value your continued support during this time.
If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us a line...ntoutpost@hotmail.com  0429168638

Upadate on Cheryl

Cheryl, Sylvester & James in hospital

 A couple of weeks ago we asked you to pray for Cheryl as she was to have a triple bypass after having a heart attack while she was with us.
We are happy to say, that she is home with us, and is getting better each day.
The doctors are happy with her progress, she is now getting impatient and wanting to do more things than she should

Cheryl home and happy

 She told us we could share a story about her....
 Dennis was sent in to take a photo of Cheryl in hospital so we could put it on the blog to ask people to pray. The photo was not that great, so he was giving the job of redoing the photo. This he did successfully.

When Glenys went in to visit, Cheryl, cautiously asked why Dennis took so any photos. Glenys explained about the blog and asking people to pray for her.

Her attitude changed dramatically. Glenys asked her a question, "Why were you worried about getting a photo done?"

After some hesitation, Cheryl said she thought we were taking photos of her because we thought she was going to die, and we wanted photos before she died!

Cheryl could not stop laughing when she knew why we wanted several different photos.  Putting photos on a blog was not nearly as dramatic as what she was thinking.

Cheryl is very aware that God was looking after her. He still has a plan for her life. She is wearing the scars on her chest as a memory of how God looked after her by having her down here close to doctors and hospitals when she needed them.

Bus Update

A big thank you to all of those who donated toward the bus. We have achieved our goal.
PTL!!!!!
Dennis spoke to the dealer and told him we had the money. Alas, the bus was not ready. All our kids were getting a bit 'stir crazy' as we did not have enough seats in our vehicles to carry every one.

Glenys said that we all needed to pray, so Sylvester said, 'Well, how about now? So we all sat around in the lounge room to ask God to help us with the bus.

The next day the dealer said we could have a lend of a bus until our bus is ready to be picked up!

We are ow driving around in a 'flash' bus, a $40,000 12 seater. It is a bit sad, because, if we have it too long, we will get used to this one, and the old 1997 one will pale in comparison.

Not really, we are so grateful for the bus, we dont mind if it is a bit old.  We did debate about putting
BLA Crew  on the side.

BLA is short for Borroloola.

Our 'gang' this week

Our youngest son, Benjamin and his family came to stay for 10 short days. So they were included in the 'gang' this week

Starting at the back row is Jai, (16), Benjamin with baby Noah (10 weeks), Max ( 2 years)Jess, James at the very back, Linda, Cheryl.
Front row, Nelita (13), Estella 10, Sylvester 11 and Nickarita, 12.


We did try to get a pic of every one in the bus, but they were not good. When we get a good photo we will post it here.

Thanks again for all who helped both with praying for it and helping with donations.

Transport

As you know, we have Cheryl, James and Sylvester down to help us with the translation and recording of Bible Stories.

When we seek to be efficient and effective, we sometimes come across problems in the execution of those plans.

Let us explain: We have found that the work we feel God has called us to do very important. While we seek to do work in remote places, there are many interruptions and hindrances to this.  Having people down here, is more efficient, (except when people have heart operations!!!!).

People are asking to come to stay with us. It is a great way for them to get intensive bible teaching while doing the recording. Teaching the bible is part of the recording process, as they need to know the Bible story to be able to tell it effectively.

This year, we will have a couple of young people boarding with us to attend school. These kids are from Borroloola. Abstudy covers their fares down here, and covers their school fees.  We decided to do this, as these kids were really trying to get an education in Borroloola. They will be attending DALE, St Phillips Christian College in Newcastle.

Our problem? Transport. Our car is not big enough, as children are a part of the package deal when we get people down here, along with our kids.

We have been praying about another vehicle for a while, and asking God what to do about it. The patrol is too expensive to run around town, and it does not have enough seats.

Dennis found a bus at a car auction a couple of weeks ago. It did not sell, so he decided to have a look at it.

When he was talking to the car dealer, it came up in conversation our reason for wanting the bus.

The dealer said he was very sympathetic to the church work, even though he is not a believer.  As the conversation continued, he mentioned a Christian he had dealt with recently and was very impressed with. It turned out this person stayed with us while he was buying the car from this dealer.

The dealer was even more excited when Dennis said that he knew the couple and knew the wife since she was very tiny.

This made the dealer very excited. He said that he wanted to help us get the best deal we could.

After some talking, he took the car off the market. He will wait until we get the money to buy it. Needless to say, we do not have any to pay for it.

1996  180,000km  13 seater   Toyota Hiace  2.4 EFI

It was suggested that we could put on the side, that the bus was provided by the company, and they would service the car free of charge for the time we had the car in our possession.  He dropped the price and offered to fix up a few things that needed attention free of charge!

Now we have the bus ready to buy. All we need is $7000 to redeem it!



Could you pray that God will raise the funds for us to purchase the bus.

We would like to give Chris Purcell at Valley Motor Auctions thanks for his help with the bus

Cheryl & James

Thank you for praying for Cheryl & James. They arrived here with us a week before Christmas. We spent Christmas together.

For those of you who do not know them, they are a couple from Borroloola. We knew Cheryl while we were in Borroloola, and have continued to work with her over the years.

James recently came to know the Lord. It was a real struggle for them to gain victory over a number of issues in their lives.

They came down to help us with translation work here in Woodberry and to gain a lot of teaching so they could go back home strong and equipped.

We have been doing 2 bible studies a day, and last week we started on the translation work to get Bible Stories recorded.

All was going well, they were getting excited about the things God was doing in their lives.

A major hiccup occurred on Friday.  Cheryl woke up with pain in her chest and arm. Glenys took her to the local hospital.

Long story short, Cheryl is now having a triple heart bypass. She had 3 blockages in her arteries. The doctors said that if she was in Borroloola, she would not have made it to hospital. God is good. He has a plan for her life.

Her recovery will be long, but we are trusting that God will heal her and restore her to full capacity soon.

Cheryl, Sylvester, (grandson) James

Please pray for Cheryl's recovery, and return to good health.
We would value our prayers for the work we will be doing in recording the Bible stories in language for the Indigenous people so hungry for God's word.