Ghents sighted AGAIN!

As I waited for the big hand ton the clock to strike 5 pm today, as per usual, I sat around church catching up with my brothers and sisters when I saw Sharon come with Martin and Ruth! Talk about a surprise! It was so exciting seeing them again. I seriously can't wait until I go now, even though I still can't get into the groove of everything.

Not to say the Ghents were not in my good books, but they have recently just ranked themselves pretty high on the-Ranks-in-Nat-Wan's-Good-Book!

They gave me a HI-5 today! I felt so loved

Another really exciting thing regarding the mission occured today. The whole church community at GracePoint prayed for us! It was so encouraging to see everyone pray for this common goal! It really struck a chord with me as Mark prayed for unity, having heard it consistently, I think it really hit me this time. The people in our team are so different in character, its going to be fun/hard/challenging/interesting, to see how we all get along.

Will keep you guys posted Nat Wan

Meet the Ghents 2.0

The whole team got to meet Martin and Ruth Ghent...and as a surprise we also go to Skype Naomi and Micah Ghent (two of their four children) too!

here's the photographic evidence:

cheeeezu!

We had a good ol' fashioned Aussie Barbie with Kangaroo sausages and then got to know each other. Then we went outside and took photos with the Jacarandas in my street (trying not to get run over!)

Skillfully shot by Ruth Ghent=)

that's a keeper!

Meet the Ghents

Judy and my trip to Koorong today was met with an unexpected surprise. Martin and Ruth Ghent (the missionaries we will be serving in Japan) were shopping around with Sharon (a church friend who has been to Japan on mission before)!  So random lol. Our team is meeting up with the Ghents for lunch this coming Saturday after a prayer meeting at the OMF office in Epping. Really looking forward to it!

Things I learnt about them:

• Ruth is from America and Martin is from Canada
• It is better to hit a deer than a moose (in a car)
• They went down to Kiama to see the blow-hole and the rainforest, where they saw a kangaroo
• They try to read the bible cover to cover each year and to keep it from becoming too boring, they choose a different translation each year
• They're both really friendly and down to earth people!

random video for your enjoyment (=

みんあさん、こにちは！(Hello everyone!)

So in preparation before we leave for Japan we have been sharing at our churches (Gracepoint and CCC) a little about why we are going as well as the need over in Japan for the gospel. I made a short video to show last Sunday at my church (CCC) just as a bit of fun to communicate a few different takes on Christianity, God and Sin in Japanese Anime. I thought I'd just share it in case you missed it or were at church but couldn't read the subtitles. Enjoy! =)

dave

P.S. I do not own any of the material in this video:

Anime used (in order of appearance):
Angel Beats!
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Death Note
Appleseed (movie)
Mai-HiMe
Pokemon

Song: Starfield - The Saving One

the beginnings of aomori20ten.

welcome to aomori20ten :)

if you didn't know, we're a team of six sent by OMF and heading to Aomori, North Japan for ~3weeks. we'll be settling at Tsugaru Church from 30th Nov to 21st Dec to help the local missionaries to reach out to their community with the gospel.

L to R: Nat, Judy, Pete, Dave, Danny & Roy

Note: Pete is our team leader

we will mostly be providing manpower to help the local missionaries in whatever they need to do, e.g. cooking, cleaning, holding christmas outreach events...and also to be a source of encouragement to them :)

there is just twelve days before we leave!

it doesn't really feel that close as a few of us are still in the midst of work and exams. and for me i'm still writing and editing my thesis :(

but do come back here to find updates on what we're doing, how we're going and how you can be praying for us whilst we are on mission!

we look forward to partnering with you in the gospel :)

judy & the aomori20ten team.