Hidden Valley Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had a wonderfully joyful and calorie-filled Thanksgiving and are getting merry with all of the festivities that are associated with Christmas, our hearts ache not being able to spend time with our family and friends back in the States but God is consoling us with our new family here in Townsville. Our Thanksgiving was a memorable one for sure, right up there with the Thanksgiving my family endured in the Laguna Mountains of Southern California when my brother Jason and I were kids. I say endured because we were camping and got snowed on overnight (our tent collapsed) after enjoying some teryaki chicken for dinner. It sounds "fowl" but it is actually a very fond memory. Likewise, though there was a hint of enduring in this camping trip, we really enjoyed our time with good friends who shared our appreciation for God's blessings while soaking in the sights and sounds of the Australian bush. Dinner was chili if I remember correctly and we were just recovering from one of many hard downpours which were often occompanied by lots of lively thunder and lightning. Our campsite was the same one that we had visited back in late June and early July for the annual staff camp-out. Located a little over 3000' in elevation and up a road that resembles the tight curves of the seven foot python that I almost ran over on the way up (see photo). It is an easy highway drive about and hour and a half north from Townsville to the turnoff that leads up the afformentioned sickeningly windy road, about 45 minutes of nausea to the sleepy mountain town of Paluma. From there the road mercifully straightens out and the scenery slowly changes from damp tropical rainforest very similar in appearance to the area around Forks, to more open bushland thickly populated with Eucalyptus Trees with various kinds of somewhat familiar looking underbrush and crusty bright orange dirt. When dry this dirt was easy to manage while driving and beautiful but once the thunderstorms moved in and the rain began to fall in buckets, again Forks comes to mind...it turns into an absolute nightmare. This must obviously be where the Aussie phrase, "Quit mucking about!" comes from. From Paluma it's an easy twenty minute drive to Hidden Valley where we set up our little villiage of tents and equipment.

The first week was spent in lectures watching Bible studies projected onto a sheet on one of the walls of the main out-building. Though it was a little hard to see in the day, it was a cool place to sit while the sun radiated its 90 degree heat and dry when the clouds flew in with their bomb-bay doors open to release their watery cargo. Cows constantly wandered through the camp, we even had a couple of bulls knocking their heads together resulting in a couple of tents being trampled and one of the bulls sulking away ashamed. Ants and other bugs are prolific in the bush. Many bite and all are a pain in the neck, especially the scorpions and hand-size centepedes. The kids absolutely went bananas over all the wildlife. Aubry carried the shotgun shell sized, Realtree camo Sacada bugs everywhere and any giant moths that she could find. Ryan managed to find a huge Rhinosarous Beetle and secured it on various parts of his upper body and face (see pictures). Sean was constantly interested in the ants until one of the red ones bit him on the back of his leg while he tried to dig into their nest with the toe of his shoe, I reckon he got off easy. Kay didn't show a lot of interest in the bugs though she patiently spent time scanning the surface of the creek to see the elusive platypus that playfully floats, dives, and surfaces in the early morning and afternoon. One day it rained so long and with such volume that mostly everyones' tents filled with water either from leaks in the ceiling, water seaping up from the floor, or both. Our tent faired pretty well with the ceiling holding up but, with the lack of good drainage in the soil, our tent was enveloped by an evergrowing puddle, or rather a pond, that threatened to soak everything we owned. Good thing we had inflatable mattresses to act as life rafts for our luggage and gear keeping it certain peril. The crazy weather merely added to the fun and adventure with lots of bright flashes of lightning and mostly distant rumbles of thunder both day and night. Apparently, it was unseasonably cool and stormy for this time of year, it was extremely pleasent even slightly cold at night.

The second week a Kiwi man named Mark Parker arrived to lead us in lectures on the "Lordship of Christ". He's full of energy and excitement about the Lord, much more than you'd expect for someone in their mid-50s who's faithfully served the Lord for many decades. For some reason I picture someone like this as being the more mellow sage type but not Mark and though a little "in your face" and some might say offensive in his presentation, the content was golden. I think I can speak for most of us that he was a real blessing to be around and to be taught by. Throughout the camp-out we enjoyed many intimate and often boisterous times of worship and prayer with the students really going for it as they led out using their gifts and talents, what better place to be loud and joyful than in the bush and under God's stary cathedral! As staff, Cameron and I spent much time in conversations with the students, overseeing events, praying for and ministering to the students during "ministry times", all while tag-teaming kid duties. All our kids were active and present during much of the teaching times and worship but Ryan easily got the most out of it. It was amazing to see him take part in the intensive "ministry times" and generally focused and tracking during the teaching and really worshipping during the worship times. What a blessing and privelege to be apart of it all, I must say. We enjoyed a movie night out in the main field under the stars with the movie being shown by projector on a sheet hung off the side of one of the YWAM vans. There was also an amazing talent show with virtually all of the students taking part. Singing, dancing (shake it Aubry!), skits (good on ya Ryan), poetry readings (Cameron going deep), joke telling (silly Aubry), and a few other acts that didn't cease to entertain. Many s'mores were consumed as well as a few Aussie favorites, the names of which escape me at the moment but all were super tasty and fun to prepare and eat. We kept active by dipping in the local creek which also made a great baptismal for a dozen or so students on our last evening, playing a lot of ultimate frizbee, kicking the rugby and soccer balls around and just taking long walks alone with the Lord and in small groups. Practically everyone left the mountain with stories of special intimate times spent with the Lord where He spoke clearly to them and they responded in surrender, worship, and thanksgiving.

It was just the right amount of time to spend out in the bush. Any longer and it would have started to become miserable and a lot of work. As I winge (whine), I am once again reminded and amazed by the courage, faith, and fortitude of the many thousands of families that have, throughout history, travelled across rugged land like the Oregon Trail and the unforgiving outback of Australia to settle and make a life for themselves. We are so fortunate to live in the era that we do and yet even today millions exist and even sometimes thrive with little more than what we went camping with and are happy in their condition. We are spoiled rotten! The weekend was full of transition for us as we made our way back down the mountain barely avoiding blowing chunks on the curvy road. Sunday was spent cleaning the house and doing load after load of washing (we're still doing laundry!) but on Monday we finally had a proper Thanksgiving dinner. Every year the base puts on a grand potluck dinner in honor of God's blessings and provision and this year we were priveleged to be apart of it. Lamb and chicken took the place of the turkey but it was all very lavish and filling and we thuroughly enjoyed ourselves. Ya, it was a memorable Thanksgiving for our family, we hope yours was a blessing as well.

Praise reports:
All are healthy and physically doing well
We're gettting back into our normal routine of homeschool and work at the base
Cameron's receiving more help around the house by DTS students volunteering
God continues to provide amazingly for daily needs
God has blown our minds by providing for many of the staff and students of the DTS who were having trouble paying their school and outreach fees (though there's still some work to be done)
The church van is still available for our use and is running well

Prayer Requests:
Provision and preperation for Ryan and me as we go to Papua New Guinea in less than 3 weeks!!!
Protection and peace for Cameron and the kids while we're away
God's blessing on Ryan as he takes part in a week long youth event at the base called, "Impact Summer"
God's direction in the big decisions that we're going to be making over the next few months regarding our future after our visa runs out.