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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
