Moving on to the actual point of this article would be to let you know that we are moving back to Australia! If you got around to reading our last ministry email, our tickets are booked for September for what we first thought would just be a visit back home, 3.5 years later! We’d been getting some of those God-nudges, so spent a considerable about of time praying as to whether September would be just a visit OR a move back. The latter it is and Adelaide it will be!

When God first called us here to Calgary we never had a sense that it would be forever. We are glad in so many ways that we did not have a time frame as it really gave us the opportunity for settling.

Being so far from my family and knowing that we were only getting our first visit back this year (after 3.5 yrs of being out of Australia) has been tough. God has told us it’s time and so with His leading and direction we are starting the transition back Down Under!

Bill will be able to continue in the exact same role and capacity in YWAM when we move, but this time from a different ministry location than previously. We are so thankful for this and know that God’s hand is very much in it.

From a practical point of view, there is MUCH to do! September is not that far away, but as each day rolls around we take one step at a time focusing on trying to get our house on the market, working out the logistics of another BIG international move (which also includes securing treatment for Caleb with his Cecostomy care) as well as a gazillion other things. And yes, ‘gazillion’ is a word that gets used when moving to the other side of the world.

We’ll keep you updated as best as we can along the way. For now though, we would love to ask for some prayer. Energy, God’s wisdom in how to best prioritise all that needs to get done, successful selling of the possessions (and of course our house) that we won’t be able to bring with us, and our emotions would be a good place to start. We’d really appreciate that!

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Elijah is an absolute joy to have in the family. He is smiling, babbling away and lately has learned to stick out his tongue at his siblings and mum and dad. A few weeks ago he started to roll from his tummy to back, which brought squeals of excitement from Caleb and Jessica, and a look of shock to Elijah.

Although Elijah seems to be reaching all his milestones, there are a few areas of concern with him. At the moment Elijah is not on the charts for his weight. Even though he is over 5-months old, Elijah is very under weight and only a little heavier than a newborn. There are also some anomalies in his recent blood tests that we are monitoring with his Paediatrician.

We are finding that life with three children is definitely more hectic than with two. Both of us are feeling a little run down and could probably do with a little “refreshing”.

Bill is continuing in his international communications role in Youth With A Mission. The YWAM Podcast has currently been downloaded in 124 different countries around the world and the audience is continuing to grow. Bill also continues to help publish the International YWAMer every two months, with an audience of over 4000 people.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, Caleb has started his own blog called The Adventures of The Aussie Rocket.

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After about 44-hours of Tamara being in pre-labour with irregular contractions, and four hours of second stage labour, Elijah was born on April 29 at 12:27 am. He weighed 8.76 pounds and was 52cm long. We left the hospital in the midst of snow flurries and Mum and Elijah were safe at home resting about 4-hours after he was born.

Elijah is settling into the family and we all love the new addition. The kids are absolutely smitten with him. Both the kids are taking well to their new roles as big brother and big sister. Jessica especially loves doting over him and Caleb is looking forward to a soccer match in the near future.

Keep your eyes on this web-site for some major changes, including a new header to include the new addition to our family.

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We serve in Youth With A Mission (YWAM) out of a love for, and obedience to, Jesus, who we have accepted as our personal Lord and Saviour. He is why we do what we do in YWAM, not out of obligation, but out of love and reverence to Him. 

Caleb Surgery Update

Caleb recovered quite quickly from surgery last month. He bounced back and within a few weeks was back running around and went back to school right after spring break finished.

We’ve started his treatments now that the area where the tube has been inserted has healed up. It takes us about 1.5 hours, three times a week to do his treatment. So far it’s going well, but spending 1.5 hours sitting on a toilet isn’t exactly “fun” for him.

Financially we’re still working on meeting what we need to continue his treatment every week. None of the medicine, dressings or even the tube that needs to be replaced at least once a year is covered by Alberta Health or by our insurance. It’s a challenge since we are having to cover those costs out of our own pocket.

Baby Update

By this time next week, if baby arrives on time, we will have a new baby in the house. He’s due on April 30 and we feel like we should be ready for him to arrive. The kids are very excited and are planning to make a big welcome sign for him this week.

We will definitely be keeping you up to date with all the goings on, and you can always check back for more photos and news.

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Last week we learned that Caleb will most likely need bowel surgery. We will be meeting with the surgeon in the next few weeks to have more explained to us. We’ll be able to go into more details about this possible surgery after we have met with him. We do know that if this surgery does take place, there will also be quite a bit of ‘at home care’ to do for Caleb.

Needless to say, we are feeling pretty overwhelmed right now. To add to this, Tamara is still not able to stand up or move around for long periods at a time without being short of breath, dizzy or nauseous, so we are all feeling pretty drained. I guess we should add that prayer need in as well while we’re at it. So thankful though for this new addition to our family.

One thing we DO know is that God will continue to pour His grace into our family. We would just love people to surround us with some much needed prayer at this time.

Thanks so much. We’ll keep you posted.

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The new addition to our family is expected in April next year! This is going to mean some pretty big changes to our family over the next 12-months…

The kids were absolutely glowing when we told them the news that they were to be a big sister for the first time and a big brother again.

Tamara’s health has not improved since our last update. Her fatigue has been the worst we have experienced, even before she became pregnant, and since becoming pregnant she has been suffering terribly with morning sickness. Your prayers would be appreciated.

YWAM Ministry Update

The YWAM News Audio Program / Podcast that we launched at the beginning of this year is now on the 27th episode. It has been downloaded over 3,000 times in 41 different countries since we started. The audience and reach of the program continues to grow with each episode. We have recently switched from a weekly to a fortnightly (every two week) schedule for the program so that I can begin to look at developing more content for some of our other YWAM web-sites.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the program you can listen on the YWAM Podcast Web-site.

The International YWAMer web-site, which I built and now produce the audio version for, is also going really well. Since we updated the web-site we have gained a lot more listeners and there has been a lot more interaction in the comments on the web-site. We are also distributing the International YWAMer in four different languages via e-mail, and are working on building the web-site to include multiple languages in the near future as well.

You can see the International YWAMer web-site, and hear me present the audio version, on the International YWAMer Web-site.

YWAM Turns 50

It has been an exciting time recently for Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Internationally. This year YWAM turns 50-years old and there have been many celebrations around the world for this momentous year. YWAM was featured this month in the widely circulated magazine, Charisma Magazine, where it talks of some of what God has done in and through the mission in the last 50-years. You can read the full article here.

Telling the Kids About the New Baby

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That was the question that I read out loud in our kid’s devotional last Friday night. Tamara looked at me and asked me if that was really what the question said. I think she thought I was pulling her leg given what we’ve done in the last 16 months.

The story we were listening to was about the story of Esther. It focused on the fact that “God Has a Plan for Our Lives”. The key verse was Psalm 9:10:

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. (Psalm 9:10)

Moving to Canada has been a big step of faith for us as we continue to walk out what He has for us while here. We’ve been reminded lately that God’s plan is always the best plan, and that He knows what’s He’s up to, even when we don’t have all the answers. The transition to Canada has been more challenging than we had expected in a few ways:

• Our house is needing a lot of maintenance and updating that we were not planning on
• None of our health, except Jessica’s, is as good as we would like
• It’s been harder than we expected to build and grow our relationships here
• The high cost of living in Calgary is still a shock to us
• Canadian culture and language is different than Australia
• Calgary’s cold and dry climate is a huge change from living in the tropics
• Caleb was at four different schools in only nine months
• We have to drive on the other side of the road in Canada

God is proving to be faithful to us as we work through the challenges that have come our way since getting here. Sometimes it’s the little things, like our weekly family devotionals or a comment from the kids, that remind us of the life that God has called us to and that He is in control.

My Work With YWAM

It’s been fun working with the Youth With A Mission International Chairman’s Team (YWAM ICT) on communication projects that have such a wide audience and possible impact. It’s been a big transition for me working remotely with the team, rather than being in the same office, but we have seen some good things happen since getting here.

Here are some of the different projects that we have worked on so far this year with the ICT:

• Launched the new Youth With A Mission International Web-Site at www.ywam.org
• Launched the new site for the International YWAMer (Online YWAM Magazine) and audio version at internationalywamer.org
• Launched a weekly YWAM News Radio Show / Podcast at ywampodcast.com
• Continuing to grow the YWAM network on Facebook and Twitter

We are now working on building a resource site for YWAM teaching and information that we plan to launch by the end of this year.

Thank you for taking this journey with us. We appreciate your prayers, support, friendship and trust as we continue on the path that God has for our lives, wherever it leads…

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

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It has only been recently that we have been grieving in a whole new way, the loss of Caleb’s twin that happened in the womb. It has been a special “God journey” for our family to say the least.

We “thought” our grieving process had been completed for the loss we endured close to 8 years ago, but we are learning that the emotions of one’s loss never leave completely. We have come to learn that grief has many faces. Those faces can change as the years roll by, but loss is NEVER forgotten.

Caleb turned 7 in October. We were never able to find out if his twin was another son for us or a daughter. We never learned why our baby got sick. We don’t know why his twin is not living here on earth with us…possibly sharing a room with Caleb, playing with him and Jessica. Caleb’s twin is called Jordan. Jordan was only recently named. We sought God on what name He would want for our child, just as we had done so for Caleb and also Jessica.

It was only this month that we sat down and shared with Caleb about Jordan and how Jordan got sick in Mummy’s tummy. The time had come to share with Caleb about him being a twin. It was hard. It was sad. It was special. It was bonding. It was a lesson on God still being GOD!

Caleb has such faith in God and we know that when God formed him in the womb and Jordan right next to him, that He was also preparing him for this night of sharing…for Caleb to learn the news of being a twin.

Jordan is a gender-neutral name. We love the significance it has in the history of Caleb and Joshua leading the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. Jesus was also baptised in the Jordan River.

We talk about Jordan a lot now. It is no secret. It is no shame. It is real and we talk about the joy it will be to one day meet Jordan in Heaven. Jordan is not sick any more and as Jessica likes to remind us….”Jordan all better now. Jordan in Heaven with God!”

Caleb has an ultrasound image in his bedroom of himself and Jordan. We are blessed that we were allowed the opportunity of that keepsake.

We would love your prayers as we continue to walk this journey of grieving as a family. We do find comfort to know that God is grieving with us and we are not alone. Please pray for Caleb as we follow God’s prompting in how to help him process all of this…Jessica also.

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I must admit that I was quite blown away by the support that we received for this project. Over 45 people donated towards the computer. It was quite humbling to see so many people partner with us and we want to say “Thank You” for all that support.

Part of me didn’t know what to expect when we sent out those messages. You might call it a lack of faith, but I really did not expect to see the full $2500 raised in only a weekend!

Personally it was quite an affirmation about what God has us doing in Youth With A Mission. It’s been a challenging year for us as we have moved from the other side of the world and began working in a different ministry environment and a different role with YWAM.

So again, we want to extend our heart felt thank you for your prayers and support for us on this project and in our continued ministry as full-time volunteers in YWAM.

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YWAM’s International Chairman’s Team, which Bill is a part of, have just released the new “YWAM International” website. It is fresh, it is newsy and it’s wonderfully easy to navigate. I (Tamara writing here…) have quickly come to appreciate the hard work that often goes unseen when new websites are birthed. We are delivered a plethora of information, stories that are visually captivating through creative design concepts, and tools that can train and equip us via the click of a button right in our homes or work places.

The team laboured for many months, making sure the site looked wonderful, was easy to navigate and truly expressed the heart of Youth With a Mission and it’s wonderful work throughout the nations.  It sure is exciting to be a part of a team that delivers such a useful tool for others to use and enjoy. It’s a fantastic resource for YWAM’ers, alumni, families, supporters, churches or anyone interested in learning more about the wonderful mission we are a part of. Be sure to check it out: www.ywam.org

Bill is also working on the “International YWAM’er” website. This is the YWAM Magazine (called an E-zine) produced once every 2 months that has recently been made available online, opening it up for more people to be able to access around the globe. It is a great tool for YWAM’ers around the world to be kept up to date with the latest news from the mission. You can check it out here: www.internationalywamer.org

An audio version of each edition, called a podcast, will also be produced making the delivery of the news even more accessible to those who prefer to receive news in this format. A wonderful resource we think for commuters or people working out at the gym or even doing housework.

Once these projects are underway a little further, a vision has been birthed to create a website for future, current and past YWAM’ers – a site to deliver relevant teaching, YWAM documents and share stories amongst the many YWAM training centres around the nations. We’re really looking forward to seeing this come to fruition.

Back in December we had a great friend and YWAM colleague (all the way from the UK) come and spend a few days with us here in Calgary. David Couper is also a part of YWAM’s International Chairman’s Team and he and Bill worked late into the evenings on many of these projects. It was so great to have them work together in the same office for a few days instead of on the ‘virtual’ basis the geographical distance throws them. (Thanks Dave for coming all this way. We loved having you here!)

It  is an absolute privilege to be a part of these projects….to bridge the gap between the nations via communications.

Make sure you let us know if you wish to know further about these projects. We love sharing about what God has us doing.

Thanks for dropping by to read about what we’ve been up to.

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