Left: Baking in the fire oven

Right: Seedlings that grew – Spring onions, pumpkin, capsicum, eggplant

In addition to the ministry that we are doing, our heart was also to serve the people and the YWAM base here and be available to do whatever is needed.

Last week we the girls and the kids helped to plant 4 different types of seeds – capsicum, spring onion, pumpkin and eggplant. The kids had a great time digging and sprinkling in the seeds. Sophie was so thrilled to see the spring onion and pumpkin sprout out so quickly just after a few days. After we helped plant the seeds in plastic containers, we also helped to plough and made the ground ready for planting. This is the FIRST TIME in my life I’ve ever done anything like that! It was pretty cool.

The men went over to the base director’s house to help to do the piping for the new washing machine they have. You must remember that washing machines are a rare commodity in these parts. There isn’t one on the base so we wash our clothes by hand. Makes us really appreciate the things that we take for granted back in Matamata e.g $2 per washing load. It costs almost S$10-15 per 5kg load in town. Sigh… wonder how our grandparents did it… ? look after 10 kids, wash clothes, cook, bake, garden etc. Faint.

This week we also experienced open fire cooking because the gas stove ran out of gas. Wooah smokey. We didn’t last more than 15 mins. Weak lah. My eyes started smarting after like 5 mins!

We also attempted to bake in the fire oven. Oh, that was really interesting. There was no way of gauging the temperature and no open window to see what was happening in the oven! Try that! But our experienced mother of 6 and super cook, Sue, was brilliant. She managed to whip up cream puffs and even a cake! It was such a treat. As part of our programs, we try to provide a little snack. We’ve been making popcorn and cookies. It’s really much cheaper to bake than buy cookies off the shelves. Things are really expensive here e.g. a box of tissues costs US$2.20.

Dearest Sophie,

Mummy almost forgot that you turned another month older! Good thing we’re still on Babycenter so we get monthly updates on your development!

You’re growing up so fast!

Last week, you accidentally cut your dress and you tried to get your way out of it by saying that Daddy did it which was untrue. When we tried to discipline you and asked you "Tell us the story of what really happened!", and you replied "Once upon a time…" Both Daddy and I burst out laughing! It was so funny coz you looked so serious! As hard as we try to be strict with you, sometimes it’s so hard coz you’re just so cute and funny.

We love you so much little one just the way you are and we’re praying God’s will be done in your life.

Love
Mummy

Playing "Let’s Go" with the neighbourhood kids

The cool thing about being a family team is that the villagers can easily identify with us.

We have a wonderful mix of team members. We have an older couple on the team – Jim and Sue with their youngest child, 11 year old Simon. That gives us inroads to pastors, elders and generally the older folks. In a culture where elders are highly respected, having Jim and Sue with us has been a great advantage. The rest of the couples are the same age as us and we have 5 preschoolers between us – that is a sure way to win the hearts of the villagers!

Some of the women that we spoke with last Sunday at church turned up for the Women’s Group. We had a cooking session where Sue taught the women how to make “No-Bake Oat Cookies”. Gin led the women’s group and got everyone to share a little. We hope to share God stories and conduct some food and culture exchange during this time. Our desire is to share what God thinks of women and how He values us as women. It’s amazing how God is using the way He has gifted us to reach the people. For example with Gin and Sue who enjoy cooking and baking, this is such a great platform for us to reach the women! Our great men did their part by entertaining the children with a Veggie Tales video while the women enjoyed their cooking time.

During our Wednesday village walkabout and prayer time, we had the opportunity to play with the kids. They taught us a local game called “Let’s go!” – super complicated. We had to play it several times before we go it! Watching them play reminded me of my childhood days playing with my cousins. The children really open the door for conversations with the adults as well. Some of the kids we played with that day turned up on Thursday on the base. We originally planned for a Youth Club but looks like we might end up doing a Kids Club instead. One man that we spoke with turned up for the Men’s Devotional Group on Wednesday night.

The Ni-Vans (the locals) are extremely relational people. Everything happens thru relationship. That means that we really need to spend a lot of time talking to people and hanging out with them. It’s not like back home where you advertise for a seminar and loads of people turn up. No one will turn up if they have no idea who you are over here. It’s a change of mindsets but I think we’re getting the hang of things.

God’s been doing some amazing things in our group. Little Elijah Freestone lost his little precious bunny (again!) for about two days and was distraught. He didn’t sleep well at all. He’s had that little bunny since he was born! Anyways we prayed and his older brother Toby prayed a wonderful prayer and the next day the bunny appeared out of nowhere! God listens when little kids pray! The kids are learning to pray.

It’s not been an easy week but it was a good start. Praise the Lord!

P/s: Em and the two boys are down with stomach problems today. Pls do keep them in prayer. The rest of us are well. Also, we’ve uploaded more photos on Flickr and Facebook so do check that out.

The team has been slowly easing in – new food, new culture, new climate, new people, new everything! We’ve had a few battles e.g. sickness, grumpy kids and sometimes adults but overall I think the team has done very well despite of it all.

We had our first ministry time on Thursday night where the team shared their testimonies at the base community meeting. Gin did so well even after a whole day of stress with the kids. She rose up well to the occasion and it was such a powerful testimony.

We have also been visiting the preschool under the banyan tree. Rachel who runs it just gave birth two months ago and she is still teaching everyday. She has 7 kids of her own plus she operates a free preschool for 20 neighbourhood kids who cannot afford to go to the local preschool. We’ll be helping her out from this week onwards.

This time, we have base duties. We do breakfast cleanup every morning and the base has rostered us for dinner duties twice a week. So far James cooked on Wed and Stuart cooked on Sat.

Jim, the oldest member of our team has been having divine appointments every day! God has just been bringing people to talk to him. Somehow having white hair helps! ? We are really thankful to have him on the team.

We also made some friends at church this morning and invited them to the outreach that we’re having.

We have a full six weeks ahead. We are helping to spearhead YWAM’s community outreach with a women’s group, youth group to teach life skills, youth mini-DTS, men’s group, and the men are going to visit the prisons and do some building work on the base.

Please continue to keep us in prayer.

P/S: Update on team health – Stu and Sue are well now. Evan and Eli were down with fever but they have recovered. Simon is still recovering from flu symptoms. Rest are well, praise the Lord.

It’s so good to be back again in Vanuatu. We love it here. Sophie is behaving like she never left! She commands the stray dogs to go away, kick them and tells her friends to do the same.

It’s so nice to see everyone again and it really helps that we are familiar with the base and the surroundings. When we walk around the villages, it’s nice that people remember us!

Thank you all for praying. Sophie is full well now. The fever was just for a day. However, one other kid is down with fever today and two of our team members have got stomach problems. Pls con’t to keep us in prayer!

Hey everyone!

A quick post for those who have been worried for us. We’ve arrived safely in Vanuatu on Sunday. Some of you might have been aware that there were tremors in the northern part of Vanuatu last Thursday and warning of tsunami. Turned out that the tsunami was only 4cm high and the earthquakes didn’t do damage at all. Still, it’s a point of worry but we’re good. The team is also very positive and trusting God.

We’ll be here for the next 7 weeks. Team is adjusting and we’re seeing God’s grace upon our lives. The weather has been great at 23 degrees, not too hot and humid at all. Sophie got fever today, not sure why but we’re monitoring. Pls do keep her in prayer.

More updates and photos soon!

It’s funny how being away makes me do things I’ve really never done before. I’ve never been much of a baker or cook. Nay. BUT BUT now I do it out of necessity coz I can’t just pick up a phone and call the caterer and buying cakes and pastries is just too inconvenient and expensive!

Over the past 3 mths, I have made honeydew sago, jello, ice lollies, siew yoke, cheesecake, cookies, muffins, even cream puffs! I’ve also been whipping up pancakes from scratch in the mornings before school. It’s SO easy! Of course I only do the easy stuff. I’m quite a random cook. I cook or bake when I feel like it.

I’m seriously thinking of getting an oven when I get back to Singapore. Hiak hiak…

Btw, Wanz, Gin n I have been using your muffin recipe. The girls are so good at making it now that they know what goes in!

School is almost over! In fact, graduation night is tomorrow!

Being staff on a DTS has been quite an adventure, it’s not been an easy walk at all but it’s so encouraging to see how my one on ones have been stretched and have grown!

The next phase is outreach and we’ll be leaving for Vanuatu on Sunday. We’re leading a team of 7 adults (including ourselves) and 6 kids. The kids are mostly under 4! In the past I would have thought – what on earth can young families do on outreach?!? But having been on the last FMS trip, I saw that it is possible and families are SO NEEDED to shine in this world where many struggle to really understand what a family really is. Granted that it’s true that most of the time we’ll be running after our kids but still by just being there, we are showing an example of Christian family life and values that can be non-existent in some cultures.

A few ministry opportunities are open for us – e.g youth work, children ministry, running a mini-DTS, prisons ministry and possible building and construction work.

We’re looking forward to going back to Vanuatu. Miss the people there. This time, we’ll be there for 7 weeks. Pls continue to pray for grace, courage and strength for us. Also pray that Sophie will transit easily.

Last friday, the whole school went out for an outing.

We had lunch picnic at McClaren Falls (about 1/2 hr from the base) and then to the beach at Tauranga for fish & chips in newspapers for dinner.

Having fish and chips wrapped in newspapers is a very kiwi family thing to do apparently. Seems like most kiwi families have fish & chips for dinner on Fridays when they were growing up. It’s like the thing to do.

We gave Sophie’s room a little revamp on her birthday.

Matamata has a lovely kids bookshop called The Storyteller. It’s my retail therapy. In a town where everything seems a little dowdy and unhappening, The Storyteller is such a breathe of fresh air. It’s got the most lovely books and toys. I found an Alison Jay ABC and 123 wall frieze for Sophie. She loves it.

On her birthday, we got her hyped up and switched her from sleeping on the cot to the bed. Got her lovely girly butterflies and flowers beddings from Warehouse, very affordable (something like Kmart). We also removed all the cardboard "toys" that Daddy made for her and replaced it with her new ELC kitchenette.