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.