tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88761727261592671472024-03-13T11:16:08.325-07:00Sean and Sam SchwarzeSean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-20597849430153782372013-01-20T20:55:00.000-08:002013-01-20T21:07:26.651-08:00Coming Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT';"><span style="line-height: 114%;"> As our two years are drawing to a close in Australia, </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">we have</span><span style="line-height: 114%;"> been praying a lot about what the next step will be for our family. </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">We have</span><span style="line-height: 114%;"> learned so much in our time here and have grown spiritually, emotionally, and numerically! We have formed relationships with wonderful people in our church and have loved getting to know the children and youth. With God’s help, we were able to continue our youth program and form a leadership team to take over when we are gone. I (Sam) was able to work in the children’s ministry and share God’s Word with many children. Sean has loved being a part of the worship team. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;">It was been a great year and a half in </span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;">Australia!</span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;">As individuals we have been challenged and stretched to do things that we never thought we would do.</span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;">We have both grown deeper in our walks with the Lord.</span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;">As a couple, we have grown closer together and have had some of the best times in our marriage.</span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;">We feel incredibly blessed to have</span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;">welcomed Rylan into our lives.</span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT'; line-height: 114%;"> After a lot of prayer, we have decided that we are going to return to the United States when our visa expires in April. As for what we will do? We still don't know! What we do know is that God is faithful and that He will lead and guide us to where He wants us to go. We have so much peace knowing that this is where the Lord wanted us to serve for the past year and a half. It is a bit overwhelming to look ahead and not know where the Lord has us, but we trust that He has a plan for our family. I have been studying the life of David lately. Towards the end of his life, he was making preparations for Solomon to take over as king and he was instructing other leaders on how to help Solomon. I love what he said to them in 1 Chronicles 22 verse 19, “Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.” As I read that I thought, that is exactly what Sean and I want to do. We are devoted to following after the Lord and seeking Him with all that we are. We have no idea what lies ahead for us but we simply want to follow Him. Please pray for us as we finish our last 5 weeks in Australia. Please pray that we could stay focused and finish strong. As we look ahead, pray that we would do what God wants us to do and that we would trust Him with all of the unknowns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Gill Sans MT;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Recently we received a gift from one of our supporting churches. It was a prayer pillow case! All of the hand prints on the pillow are from people who are praying for Rylan. What a blessing! We cannot tell you how much the prayers and support of people around us have meant to us. Thank you for each prayer and every penny spent on supporting us!! </span></span></div>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-20092096284070631412012-12-20T17:12:00.001-08:002012-12-20T17:45:33.941-08:00Christmas dinner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our church held a Christmas dinner last weekend. It was so fun! It started off with burgers then the night continued with Christmas carols. We had the first appearance of the Yeppoon Wesleyan Methodist Church choir which was fantastic! They led the church in carols then there were individuals or small groups who did special items. The night ended with the Sister Act 2 rendition of "Joyful, Joyful!" All of the money raised on the night went towards our women's ministry. There was also a cake auction which of course Sean decided to take part in! What a great night! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean's red velvet present cake</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of the cakes! I know it's sideways...sorry about that. Just turn your head a bit :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church Choir</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean and Jess singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joyful, Joyful!</td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-73307948294187125622012-12-12T22:42:00.004-08:002012-12-20T17:56:36.902-08:00Christmas Caroling!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Studying the music in her sleep :)</td></tr>
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On Sunday night we went Christmas caroling around Yeppoon. It was so fun. Even Rylan joined the fun! There were a group of singers and musicians as well as 2 groups of people that went house to house. A lot of people came out of their houses to listen to the music. We invited people to come to the church this coming Saturday for our Christmas dinner and carols night. Below are some pictures from the night. Soon I'll be posting about the Christmas dinner. The worship team has a special song planned and hopefully I'll be able to get a video of it! Have a Merry Christmas! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole group</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few of our lovely singers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our worship leader</td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-65200774968792244222012-11-04T19:05:00.000-08:002012-11-04T19:28:13.167-08:00Worship Dinner<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rylan was decked out and ready to go!</td></tr>
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Saturday night the worship team at our church held a dinner. It was SO fun! The night was filled with musical entertainment, games, a delicious 3-course dinner and a cake auction! The members of the worship team made cakes in the shape of musical instruments. They all looked <i>amazing</i>! There were cakes in the shape of a guitar, piano, drums, tambourine, a music note, microphone and a sound board. I had no idea our worship team was so talented in making cakes. Sean was up for the challenge and made the piano cake. Take a look down below to see it. It was amazing. Who knew Sean was such a talented cake maker??? <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The piano cake! Way to go Sean!!</td></tr>
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Rylan had a good time as well. She wanted to stand on my legs and do a little dance. Half way through the night though she decided she was sleepy and passed out for the night. All of the money raised on the night is going toward new equipment for the worship ministry. The worship team will he holding another dinner for Christmas and Easter. We are all looking forward to them! I wonder if they are going to make Christmas themed cakes... <br />
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Here are a few more pictures from the night. It was tricky holding a baby and taking pictures...I'm not that talented yet! <br />
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-90159718462915225802012-11-01T18:12:00.002-07:002012-11-01T18:12:41.794-07:00Getting back into thingsWe have not been good about updating our blog lately. Sorry! Things are just a bit crazy around here these days! Sean is enjoying getting back into the swing of things at work. Youth has started back up for the last school term of the year. Boy this year has flown by! The first 2 weeks have gone really well! To check out a video from our first week back click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PYjZ5TCYqmI" target="_blank">here</a>. Right now they are learning about dating and how to wait on God's timing. Tonight we are splitting up between guys and girls. The guys are heading to one of the youth leader's houses and they are going to be playing video games while the girls are having a girly night painting nails, baking and watching a movie. I'm hoping that Rylan and I will be able to make it! It's a bit tricky to tag along to things with a little one now. I am really missing being a part of youth, but I am enjoying spending time with the girls one-on-one. <br />
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Well...I think that's about it for now. Just thought we'd send a quick update :) Tomorrow night the worship team is putting on a dinner concert. I will make sure to take lots of pictures and blog about that soon! Take care!Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-2922336915839682842012-10-17T22:06:00.001-07:002012-10-17T22:43:51.137-07:00Adjusting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With this new little addition to our lives, we are learning how to adjust. Learning how to adjust to being a family of 3, less sleep, constant bottle washing, lots of laundry, new routine (or somewhat of a routine), new ministry life....new everything! Rylan has definitely changed our life around and we are loving it. Sean was sitting on the couch having some good Rylan cuddles and he said, "I kinda like this whole being a dad thing." We are head over heels in love with our little one and each day as we learn what life is going to be like now, we love being parents even more. <br />
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What's life going to look like now? We're not too sure...but we're figuring it out! Before Rylan was born we hadn't actually talked to our Pastor about how my role was going to change. Would I go on a few month maternity leave then come back? Or would I just stay home with Rylan? The tricky thing is, our visa expires in April and we are heading home. I was able to hand over my responsibilities at work at the end of my pregnancy and it almost seems silly to go back to what I was doing to just have to hand it over again in a few months. On Monday I went into the church and had a really good talk with our Pastor. We decided that I am going to stay out of my leadership roles for Youth and XLR8 but I am willing to help if ever needed. My goal right now is to focus on learning how to be a new mommy as well as pour into our youth on a one-on-one basis. I've always preferred meeting with the girls in small groups or one-on-one and now I have an opportunity to do that more often! Towards the end of my pregnancy, since we were busy and I was SO tired all the time, I didn't have much time or energy to meet with the kids outside of youth or bible study and I've really missed that. So now I'm really looking forward to being able to spend time with them :) <br />
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I've also felt like God is putting on my heart to meet with the women in the community. I love the way Rylan has opened the door for me to do this! I am looking to join a mom's group and meet with other new mom's once a week. Since we've been so busy with things going on at the church most nights, we haven't had much opportunity to be in the community and meet people who don't go to our church. I want to be able to share Christ's love with these other new moms. Will you please pray that God would open up doors for me to do so? <br />
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Most other things have stayed the same. Sean is still involved in all of his same ministries and is doing great. I still go to my Monday night Bible study and Sean gets some daddy-daughter time and we go to young adult Bible study on Tuesday. We really appreciate all of your prayers up until now and we ask that you would continue to pray for us as we adjust to our new life with little Rylan. <br />
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Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-32233545765275095972012-08-23T17:07:00.001-07:002012-08-23T17:25:03.504-07:00Small Groups<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One thing that Sean and I have enjoyed since we've been here is our young adult group. We meet everyone Tuesday night for Bible study and then we will do things on weekends together sometimes. In the beginning, we were meeting in one large group which was often between 12-15 people each week. This term we decided to split into 2 smaller groups so we can have better conversations and to help people feel more open because there are not as many people. We started studying the book <i>Experiencing God</i> by Henry Blackaby and we're really enjoying it. We're each challenged by the lessons each week. It's a great place to have fellowship with other believers our age. </div>
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Our group is led by a couple, Matt and Gemma and they do a great job. Recently, it was Matt's birthday so we decided a celebration was in order. Sean found a delicious looking cake on the internet and we wanted an excuse to make it. We decided Matt's birthday was the perfect time. Below are some pictures of our group. Sadly a few are missing for various reasons, but you can see some of them!!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our group minus 3</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Birthday Matt!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doesn't that look delicious?! It was a layer of cookie dough, cheesecake and devil's food cake. <br />
We were all a bit too ambitious with our portion sizes and got sugar highs!! </td></tr>
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Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-25726758782779418102012-08-19T20:06:00.001-07:002012-08-19T20:10:04.617-07:00Trivia Night<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This weekend we held our 3rd annual Trivia Night Fundraiser. This fundraiser helps raise money for Chaplaincy in the schools. There is a Chaplain in each school and they are like counselors for the students. From our understanding (we'll need an Australian to correct us), they aren't allowed to talk about God with the students unless the students bring it up. They play a really important role in the lives of the students. We just finished adding up all the money and the night raised a little over $1600! </div>
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A trivia night is exactly what it sounds like! A night where people come and play trivia! The night starts off with delicious soups. About 6-8 people from the church make very yummy soups. Then after everyone has finished eating and everything settles down, we start the first round of trivia. Everyone from the table works together to try to answer all the questions in 10 minutes. There are 4 rounds total. In between each round there are games for kids and other trivia that you can do to earn prizes. Later on in the evening we have delicious desserts. </div>
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We had about 100 people show up for the night and we had a great time! Sean won a prize for winning the "google question." For this one they give you a question that you have to look up on your phone or ipod, then you have to text the answer. Sean was the speediest. There were lots of other prizes that were donated by local businesses. It was a great night of fellowship and fun :) </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole gang</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our table won the table decorating contest! </td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-39908302522743362002012-08-08T19:58:00.003-07:002012-08-08T21:55:28.064-07:00What Next? So much has happened over the last year! Can you believe that we've been living in Yeppoon for 14 months now? We sure can't! It's amazing because we feel so at home that it feels like we've been here forever, but it also feels like time has flown. We have enjoyed every second of our time here and are looking forward to the next 9 months as well. Things are starting to look a bit different as we make adjustments for the baby. Although I (Sam) am still at work everyday and attending the children's and youth programs, I am slowly starting to hand off some of my responsibilities. We can't believe that the baby will be here in about 5 weeks! This pregnancy has really flown by quickly even though this last bit seems to be moving in slow motion. <br />
We really have no idea what these next 9 months are going to look like. Our job now is to work ourselves out of a job...we've never had to do that before! By the end of the year we'd like to have handed over most of our large responsibilities and be a mentor to those who are taking over. It's difficult to not start thinking too far into the future. A lot of people have asked us what we're doing after this and we can honestly say we have no idea! It kinda feels like that's been the motto for our whole marriage! We just kind of take it as it goes and go where God wants us to go. So far it's worked out pretty well for us. We've thought through a few options for after this but we don't feel like God is showing us one way or another. <br />
We are doing a study in our small group called <i>Experiencing God </i>by Henry Blackaby. We were both reminded this week that we need to be focused on what God's doing here and now and how we can be a part of it rather than looking too far into the future. We have a precious little baby that will be joining us any time now and we have a church full of youth to minister to. Please pray for us as we welcome Baby Schwarze into our family. Also pray that God would help us to focus on the youth right now. We want to continue to build strong relationships with them and serve them. Pray that we would be focused on our tasks at hand here! Thanks for all of your love, support and prayers over the last year :)Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-78387341655308527972012-07-29T20:14:00.000-07:002012-07-29T20:22:08.433-07:00Olympics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A random fact about me (Sam) is that I LOVE the Olympics! I have been anxiously awaiting July 27th when the Olympics would start! I don't know if they have the same promotion in the US, but here if you go to McDonalds and buy a large value meal you get a free Olympic Coke glass. Sean and I went right away and got our Olympic coke glasses and we've been enjoying drinking out of them while watching the Olympics...yes, we are a bit nerdy! It's really strange to watch the Olympics in another country. It just seems funny to see all of the Australian teams highlighted and talked about and we don't hear about all of the American athletes that we're used to. It's to be expected of course, but I just never thought about it. It's really exciting when we're able to watch a match between the US and Australia. On Sunday morning I got to watch the women's beach volleyball match between the US and Australia. It was so great! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEZbMGt3SsDtF_hQm_dDlngZSB1qS2nFD1ePf-wlr6UKr2YvLoo4-hgHjhZkRB82wiTJAWmCaX2VqUZak2vVvwaOu-ugU8RVU4zZrkf8mbwPngUgv1FoO9EQtfsXrPhu14974ZBGTXR2Z/s1600/IMG_0332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEZbMGt3SsDtF_hQm_dDlngZSB1qS2nFD1ePf-wlr6UKr2YvLoo4-hgHjhZkRB82wiTJAWmCaX2VqUZak2vVvwaOu-ugU8RVU4zZrkf8mbwPngUgv1FoO9EQtfsXrPhu14974ZBGTXR2Z/s320/IMG_0332.JPG" width="240" /></a>For XLR8 this term we decided to make our theme the Olympics! On the right you can see the signs that some of our leaders made to decorate the room for this term! We have been talking to the kids about the passage in Hebrews that teaches about running the race of life. In 1 Corinthians 9:25 (CEV) it says, "Athletes work hard to win a crown that won't last, but we do it for a crown that lasts forever." We've been teaching the kids about running the race of life and persevering so we can spend eternity in heaven with God. They have been doing an awesome job and are really excited about everything we've done! Our first week we made Olympic torches and the second week we made a "crown of life." In a few weeks we are having a guest speaker come who is a local surf teacher who is going to teach the kids about working hard and being dedicated. He is a local chaplain so he is also going to share about his faith. There is a man in Yeppoon that got to carry the Olympic torch for the 2000 Sydney games, so we are hoping to get him to come on the same day! Below are some pictures from this term! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids with their torches!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working on their crowns</td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-77070259661023217312012-07-09T18:31:00.000-07:002012-07-09T18:38:50.112-07:00Youth Camp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We had an AWESOME week at camp! Thank you so much for all of your prayers leading up to camp and during camp! It was such a blessing to have the team here from Eastview Wesleyan in Gas City, Indiana. Mark was our camp speaker and did a wonderful job. He talked to us about Pharaoh in Exodus 8 when he chose to spend one more night with the frogs rather than getting rid of the frog plague. He related it to how sometimes we get "comfortable" in our sins and choose to spend "one more night with the frogs" instead of working on the sin that is messing up our lives. He then encouraged the kids by talking about how God can use them no matter how "small" they are. The kids were very challenged and we saw some very positive growth in our youth! </div>
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The other 3 from the American team helped lead activities and small groups. The kids LOVED having them here and we appreciate all of their help. Sean did an awesome job leading the activities. It has been really exciting to see Sean grow in his role as a leader and he is doing such a great job. He lost his voice by the end of camp from talking so much! </div>
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Please continue to pray for the youth and any commitments that were made at camp! Below are a few pictures from camp!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a game called electricity. The kids got to pour water on each other. It was a great time!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tug-o-war! The rope was oiled up and there was a tarp in the middle that was covered in oil and water</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole gang</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evening rally</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the wonderful team from America. Mark, Phil, Becky and April!</td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-13688540292032335492012-06-17T19:42:00.002-07:002012-06-17T20:44:56.725-07:00Purity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've been so excited about writing this blog post, but I have been waiting until the event was over so I could tell you ALL about it! I've mentioned in a few previous blogs that I was helping plan a purity event for high school girls. This is something that the Lord laid on my heart sometime last year. I started planning but it seemed like it wouldn't work out. I pushed it out of my mind at that point and was slightly relieved because I knew it'd be such a big undertaking. A few months ago though, someone asked me about it and I felt like the Lord was telling me that I needed to do this. I went back to planning and asked two friends who are passionate about purity if they'd like to help. After many weeks of planning, the event is finally over. We have been blown away by the way the Lord worked in the hearts of these young girls. It was such a blessing to be a part of. Over the past few days I've been reflecting over the joy of being obedient to what the Lord asks even when I feel so inadequate. I know that we did not do this by our own strength, but with His help. </div>
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I'd love to tell you a little bit about the event! It was spread out over 3 days. The first two nights were "seminars." The first night we talked about the lies that the world feeds us. Girls often struggle with lies that say they're not pretty enough, they're not skinny enough, if only they were like ______then their life would be easier, if they aren't perfect and getting all A's then they're a failure and so on. We talked about how if we believe these lies then we can't actually be the person that God created us to be. We broke up into discussion groups and were completely amazed at the girls vulnerability and willingness to share what they struggled with. We ended the night with the girls writing down the biggest lie that they believe and nailing them to the cross. We told them that they no longer have to believe these because we know that the Bible is our source of Truth and tells us how we are created perfectly and for a purpose. We shared that they don't have to live up to the way the world wants them to, but that they should look to the Bible to help them defeat these lies and live a life of freedom. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the cross that the girls nailed their lies to. </td></tr>
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The second night we talked about what it means to be a woman and what a blessing that is. We talked about male's roles and what our roles are. Jakki, one of the other leaders, did a beautiful job of sharing her own story and what she discovered it meant to be a woman of God. Then, we talked about what it means to be pure with our mind, heart and body. Many of the girls had never been told what it means to pure and how we can practically live that out today. We also had a discussion panel where the girls were allowed to ask any question they wanted. The questions ranged from dating, what does it mean that God knows us and how can we live a life that honors God. It was amazing to see the way the Lord was working in these girls hearts and to see the great questions they were asking. <br />
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The final night of the purity event was a dinner in the girl's honor. We are so proud of the 13 girls who came to this event and expressed the desire to learn what it means to live a life of purity. We wanted to serve them and show them how precious each one of them are! All of the girls got dressed up and we had the meal catered. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of the girls ready for dinner!</td></tr>
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We asked women who were also passionate about purity to come along side the girls and support them. The women served the girls dinner and two women shared their testimonies as well as encouraging words for the girls. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One woman encouraging the girls to live a life of purity even though it's difficult.</td></tr>
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We then presented purity pledges to the girls. We didn't want them to sign them right there because we didn't want the girls to feel pressured to do them. The pledges were personalized to each girl. We encouraged the girls to take them home and pray over them and then decide if they wanted to make a pledge to stay pure. The women then surrounded the girls and prayed over them. Some of the girls were left in tears because they felt so loved. <br />
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We finished off the night with dessert! My baking buddy made this beautiful cake that was a heart wrapped in a bow to represent how special these girl's hearts and they shouldn't give them away to just anyone. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How amazing is this cake?!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8D4WFwn04L3POPS1cfAkys6p6-T8N5wYy4R2plxSWYvhuIazmaYcMZph2E2DvGt5rW7Bi7eWNnZkgCcYrdpsHedwAmJYjIF2khi2xGyZYN-lTSszAELFNjaTqBj7CBWoMAXVwhU1tpcs9/s1600/IMG_8383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8D4WFwn04L3POPS1cfAkys6p6-T8N5wYy4R2plxSWYvhuIazmaYcMZph2E2DvGt5rW7Bi7eWNnZkgCcYrdpsHedwAmJYjIF2khi2xGyZYN-lTSszAELFNjaTqBj7CBWoMAXVwhU1tpcs9/s320/IMG_8383.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of the girls that were a part of the event!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYo1NgH-rfk5ZbLN6zvirQLRf0Vk63Yzkk-gBOJstX_XIrvFKZGRRzN7ugNMjxBj5cJFdLQU4AFLqY2NNbxlud_ExHrH63UkvfVtF1_3p6He5rjrbk8v-g6l1BH6dblTxL26hOqnLfXPM/s1600/IMG_8398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYo1NgH-rfk5ZbLN6zvirQLRf0Vk63Yzkk-gBOJstX_XIrvFKZGRRzN7ugNMjxBj5cJFdLQU4AFLqY2NNbxlud_ExHrH63UkvfVtF1_3p6He5rjrbk8v-g6l1BH6dblTxL26hOqnLfXPM/s320/IMG_8398.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my wonderful friend Gemma who helped plan the event! I definitely couldn't have done it without her help!!</td></tr>
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What an amazing couple weeks. If you are at all interested in doing something similar, I would highly recommend the book <i>Culture Shock: Igniting an Integrity and Purity Revolution</i> by Julie Hiramine. We used this to form the outline of the event and then changed it a bit to fit our group of girls. Thanks for all of your prayers for this even!<br />
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<br /></div>Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-16658378010652348982012-05-27T22:35:00.000-07:002012-05-27T23:22:38.296-07:00XLR8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Things have been going so well at XLR8! It seems like each week we're seeing new faces and the kids are loving it. One XLR8 parent told me that his daughter didn't want to go to a fair that was in town because she would miss XLR8. She had tears in her eyes because she was so sad that she would disappoint her dad. It's encouraging to see how dedicated the kids are! This term we are working through some of the parables that Jesus taught. Below are a few pictures of what we've been up to. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEing40v9tn_CWwy5lTmoU2ueeZPCi_SIXLiGYk-jiPwXwImvSZVz3fyO4CxqcPapgXZNw_8YFm_c-OiXX-Bn4PliSnaM7tvnF33QF5pj6NQOy-mwnv9g7dTyr6ixzAl8KlALcT16mZE9uZg/s1600/DSCF0117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEing40v9tn_CWwy5lTmoU2ueeZPCi_SIXLiGYk-jiPwXwImvSZVz3fyO4CxqcPapgXZNw_8YFm_c-OiXX-Bn4PliSnaM7tvnF33QF5pj6NQOy-mwnv9g7dTyr6ixzAl8KlALcT16mZE9uZg/s400/DSCF0117.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working on a craft...we made a really big mess this day!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUF5_aUvNrXrcInoC7LRzQmxHp17VNU5bwqwgC9O-79mzmWsOqP22N_jt11INcD6r69uNw9ZscAsljGRK3Ehe_DwAzeCA8C-qX0Fqn95vbDUEHkptOXqDJ9_9ojNLoN3hYLfjN2CP9byH/s1600/DSCF0122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUF5_aUvNrXrcInoC7LRzQmxHp17VNU5bwqwgC9O-79mzmWsOqP22N_jt11INcD6r69uNw9ZscAsljGRK3Ehe_DwAzeCA8C-qX0Fqn95vbDUEHkptOXqDJ9_9ojNLoN3hYLfjN2CP9byH/s400/DSCF0122.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We learned about the parable of the Good Samaritan. We had the kids put band-aids on a picture of a hurt person. Some of them decided to decorate themselves as well!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGIOUbDhMKQA9ryQnNMfKsVzXiJAB5tGDEaKZJjZsJLhvpphwmSpoRvh9qkKquzDOTVuTl9VhkDg9NUNekAbdJ1OBlJz-f6ZNxhjez3m8sGqp5qHuKWWEiVK0bRw2p5WIO47woHOntDNj/s1600/DSCF0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGIOUbDhMKQA9ryQnNMfKsVzXiJAB5tGDEaKZJjZsJLhvpphwmSpoRvh9qkKquzDOTVuTl9VhkDg9NUNekAbdJ1OBlJz-f6ZNxhjez3m8sGqp5qHuKWWEiVK0bRw2p5WIO47woHOntDNj/s400/DSCF0126.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of their favorite games is a one where we have a race to see who can put together the Bible verse the quickest. Each word is written on a notecard. One by one the kids run down and grab a notecard. Once them have them all, they have to assemble it in the correct order. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRP4M6K9FyahUjI4PKawgMz9vnvpve5ZFWxxwkGdcgjnm7FEPsSsgZhWOK8xPL54OWKe_5gQsxNEhra_ohhbzZ3Bb7AfURtJiq5x_EjK1MuX-gQrRqfjwH-Bb7AcSmzQSiC0j15mWbx0Js/s1600/DSCF0133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRP4M6K9FyahUjI4PKawgMz9vnvpve5ZFWxxwkGdcgjnm7FEPsSsgZhWOK8xPL54OWKe_5gQsxNEhra_ohhbzZ3Bb7AfURtJiq5x_EjK1MuX-gQrRqfjwH-Bb7AcSmzQSiC0j15mWbx0Js/s400/DSCF0133.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Putting the notecards in order</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7KB8iIfvQCrVlaTYxL3_N3e3_FeGJvZ4dkcRuuu_0NMa6SMOIut6Gf7AaiKkqMH4l_BqPg6MlbT8rLssMz3zi_vH2qhyNmxtBhz-FIafdHrRcaWQkt7QSC32rQXB2LjdZasd2wuSPBU6/s1600/DSCF0145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7KB8iIfvQCrVlaTYxL3_N3e3_FeGJvZ4dkcRuuu_0NMa6SMOIut6Gf7AaiKkqMH4l_BqPg6MlbT8rLssMz3zi_vH2qhyNmxtBhz-FIafdHrRcaWQkt7QSC32rQXB2LjdZasd2wuSPBU6/s400/DSCF0145.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teaching the kiddos</td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-88660110533741369302012-05-23T22:46:00.000-07:002012-05-23T23:35:59.408-07:00A Few Things to Pray For<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbxv-dJlfmC1Fc71p66PuNQ9stVkzrgWKqAm0Ep0fwKhe5MDebOgoBYN8QEVGdD3G9lserrGZYXFUgcpj0euN-RBxgidIYI5mKfJX2aAUWtk_YP1t4cxsA3bWhz6LVrsv_5fdaQkVCbE8/s1600/Photo_5DB0B98C-A907-028D-5056-8021BA7D4A89.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbxv-dJlfmC1Fc71p66PuNQ9stVkzrgWKqAm0Ep0fwKhe5MDebOgoBYN8QEVGdD3G9lserrGZYXFUgcpj0euN-RBxgidIYI5mKfJX2aAUWtk_YP1t4cxsA3bWhz6LVrsv_5fdaQkVCbE8/s320/Photo_5DB0B98C-A907-028D-5056-8021BA7D4A89.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqlFeT0M7VsAUf-9WqC3pxOJaWZDNnZTN2u2nPRAGPCg0J75wj6Jizic6-qoUtDaABcJUG2nuV-am4vvnQDY4iu1tHnuYX10ZR5yqcv_R_oUR_LZ5uCn-LKxMwsih0uMlZwYZ2khhghvd/s1600/IMAG0381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqlFeT0M7VsAUf-9WqC3pxOJaWZDNnZTN2u2nPRAGPCg0J75wj6Jizic6-qoUtDaABcJUG2nuV-am4vvnQDY4iu1tHnuYX10ZR5yqcv_R_oUR_LZ5uCn-LKxMwsih0uMlZwYZ2khhghvd/s320/IMAG0381.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the cars had a dead bat on the front of it! This brave girl picked it off!!</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;"> Youth is in full swing and we have lots going on. Currently we are busy planning fundraisers and getting ready for camp in July! Last weekend we held a car wash/bake sale and raised $620! The money that we raised will help reduce the cost of camp for the students. It was a beautiful day to be outside and we were so excited about the number of people that came by. Usually the car wash begins to wind down around noon, but cars kept rolling in! We almost didn't have enough car washers. But the kids did a great job and we praise God for the money that we raised! June 2nd we are holding a dinner at the church. Youth will be serving dinner, running games in between dinner courses and providing live entertainment. Please pray for the dinner next weekend. Pray that a lot of people from the church would turn up for the event and that it would be a great night. Also, pray for camp as we are planning!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhgA8TCmhxY8Hu6zzoPeXC8uze0pcopSK32VzHi8aHCbOJUcbUGpIjYXIzbLwBauXikco9l2TO4zWA6PX_hocZnWebruACDOQkpEIyhe2ygI-9uN7HPOx3WthNs_6xt5EJWcfiBUgVTl2/s1600/Purity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhgA8TCmhxY8Hu6zzoPeXC8uze0pcopSK32VzHi8aHCbOJUcbUGpIjYXIzbLwBauXikco9l2TO4zWA6PX_hocZnWebruACDOQkpEIyhe2ygI-9uN7HPOx3WthNs_6xt5EJWcfiBUgVTl2/s320/Purity.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean designed this for me. I think he did such a great job!</td></tr>
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Also, please keep praying for the purity event that I am planning. Sean and I will be away next week, so this is my last week of planning before the event. It is being held on June 7, 14, 16. We will be talking to the girls about what it means to be pure with their mind, body and heart. Please pray for wisdom for the leaders as we plan and that God would begin to prepare the hearts of the girls. At the end of the event, we would like the girls to make a purity commitment and we are giving them rings. The women's ministry is helping us with the event and they will come along side the girls on the final night when we are holding a special dinner in the girl's honor. It is our goal to have at least 10 girls come to the event and we are up to 7 right now. We would really appreciate your prayers!! </div>
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Here are a few pictures from youth lately that I thought I'd share!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2yUQUMg76MHbc4Ct3BgYdtunfjbX8UUWfJBRDNTJSVsgLfJGgQkJzy73yKcPXqNsiyvRq1Y39fUxINCgNhQ-xD4wBf8m3LUd16rK4WVGVtxl9KQgzQNRTVHObyfOCn0YYJQW8q6yRBD1/s1600/Ninja+Sean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2yUQUMg76MHbc4Ct3BgYdtunfjbX8UUWfJBRDNTJSVsgLfJGgQkJzy73yKcPXqNsiyvRq1Y39fUxINCgNhQ-xD4wBf8m3LUd16rK4WVGVtxl9KQgzQNRTVHObyfOCn0YYJQW8q6yRBD1/s320/Ninja+Sean.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ninja Sean playing jumbo soccer on the beach. <br />
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We had a game night at our house last weekend. We love nights at our house because we feel like we get to spend more one-on-one time with the youth. We had lots of different games going on at one time. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQ8tYhdlFzIwariLECU5Gh2bRP2c1haJ4HrqvZFYdRoefpIqRO7ywYgrMIztY510c0nDYh3Pe5dnfIBXkPH3kgZrcePKWM6_YKfe1x5AUDF4hholwDHqZvXFT41DQfOACgejrzk4oTugu/s1600/IMG_8256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQ8tYhdlFzIwariLECU5Gh2bRP2c1haJ4HrqvZFYdRoefpIqRO7ywYgrMIztY510c0nDYh3Pe5dnfIBXkPH3kgZrcePKWM6_YKfe1x5AUDF4hholwDHqZvXFT41DQfOACgejrzk4oTugu/s320/IMG_8256.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blokus</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVXx8QoeMS1bwX4qzoyO4aRUe77rqusNl1y4R4XZHUNMVrUYzmFOoKkempJtcRfP-NmyBIa5_2WD62PGurSEoBuy_vbGK_au_-oSTurrQeqW1FslpjcAuGEnqPDwpFq-a8mTXgHPdP7iU/s1600/IMG_8257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVXx8QoeMS1bwX4qzoyO4aRUe77rqusNl1y4R4XZHUNMVrUYzmFOoKkempJtcRfP-NmyBIa5_2WD62PGurSEoBuy_vbGK_au_-oSTurrQeqW1FslpjcAuGEnqPDwpFq-a8mTXgHPdP7iU/s320/IMG_8257.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uno (which they pronounce "you-no"...strange right???)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9DSgc4QVdw4uUSlRvFQkyRr8MZE4t7pzrRO6ypCfCFp5oR73Uv_jtlBzQ6WpP8gFI2Jwr4TttK9y5a9Qk0oCHnBb1P1_rzabHBIC2u8LLR0sSCeWDjvPzRrThdjGteXPv7q81BOiPqbZ/s1600/IMG_8258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9DSgc4QVdw4uUSlRvFQkyRr8MZE4t7pzrRO6ypCfCFp5oR73Uv_jtlBzQ6WpP8gFI2Jwr4TttK9y5a9Qk0oCHnBb1P1_rzabHBIC2u8LLR0sSCeWDjvPzRrThdjGteXPv7q81BOiPqbZ/s320/IMG_8258.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chess</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqEsG11sP84kcHpMAoQcZNh_9p1HHYfE6ElxDFff5Pl3POAr-GIz8J7tACCH9Ol-clGJ-uCxSTmbYImIYQcaBq9vfSBJOXUGm-GDmt4MGlM7rdKIfhBZia37Ft3ZqyhKgg0Lj8B2QzJE0/s1600/IMG_8259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqEsG11sP84kcHpMAoQcZNh_9p1HHYfE6ElxDFff5Pl3POAr-GIz8J7tACCH9Ol-clGJ-uCxSTmbYImIYQcaBq9vfSBJOXUGm-GDmt4MGlM7rdKIfhBZia37Ft3ZqyhKgg0Lj8B2QzJE0/s320/IMG_8259.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cluedo</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-64520721074249691392012-05-14T16:18:00.000-07:002012-05-14T16:18:03.748-07:00Filling you in a bit!Boy, lots has been going on and there is so much to update you on. I think I'll do a little bit at a time so that I don't write a book. <br />
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<b>Youth-</b>It has been going really well. We've had a few less kids lately because they are all so busy! We are hoping to see them back soon. We have a youth camp in July so we are busy planning fundraisers to help the kids for camp. We are holding a car wash this coming weekend and on June 2nd we will be having a fundraiser dinner at the church. Sean and I headed down to the venue where we'll be holding the camp in July yesterday and we are SO excited about it! The camp has so much to offer. We will be the only ones at the camp and they are so willing to cater toward exactly what we want. We are in charge of the activities at the camp and we can't wait to get started with the planning!<br />
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Here is a link to one of our youth videos, it's probably one of my favorites!<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=j8mlIWLsdr8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=j8mlIWLsdr8</a>
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I am planning a purity event for the high school girls that I'm really looking forward to. There are 2 other amazing ladies who are helping me plan who have a passion for purity. The event will be held June 7, 14 and 16. Please be praying for this event while we work out the details. I'll keep you updated :)<br />
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<b>Bible study-</b> A while ago I mentioned that I was leading a Beth Moore Bible study for young adult girls on the book of Esther. We finished the study a few weeks ago and we all loved it!! We started a new on by Beth Moore last week called "A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place." It's all about the tabernacle. We're all really excited about this study. The tabernacle is something that none of us have studied before. We'd love your prayers for this study!Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-89041472705623426362012-05-08T01:00:00.002-07:002012-05-08T18:45:28.232-07:00Picture Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Sorry we have been a bit slack about updating lately. We're still here!! There' s just a lot going on and I keep forgetting to update the blog. Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to. We will make sure to fill in a bit more soon. </span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3sfnlKSsFIHNryZaU3RCtPv_oOdSMBX2zqCvmcFvdjqtiBcXp7RVQh3hXn4UrMsqBN2OIZLVQch_Jl3XIYr86EFBgZs0P4E8TrDYPGqdYpXsxpEJzIi6T8NWdpd4FCaoZ0HQV-UtyXn2/s1600/IMG_8244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3sfnlKSsFIHNryZaU3RCtPv_oOdSMBX2zqCvmcFvdjqtiBcXp7RVQh3hXn4UrMsqBN2OIZLVQch_Jl3XIYr86EFBgZs0P4E8TrDYPGqdYpXsxpEJzIi6T8NWdpd4FCaoZ0HQV-UtyXn2/s320/IMG_8244.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made hairy caterpillars in XLR8! I will take a picture soon to show you how much these little guys have grown!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 kiddos with their caterpillars. The kids loved making these!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUxE6LsZRaLyEJ43w7xSDMG4Y4kDrVtLt38qgsHa9ThFrcJEZqxte6nP7iJpVxlNOkqa0D_Xs48fx0b85tVm_Vyu8xk7rtIlqm6_Uae9QIRQzN3XpyBjr15VBtBiQEiIJY4AfdRV2S92Z/s1600/Photo_1122EC76-FE6A-E8CA-46F9-406419EACCB5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUxE6LsZRaLyEJ43w7xSDMG4Y4kDrVtLt38qgsHa9ThFrcJEZqxte6nP7iJpVxlNOkqa0D_Xs48fx0b85tVm_Vyu8xk7rtIlqm6_Uae9QIRQzN3XpyBjr15VBtBiQEiIJY4AfdRV2S92Z/s320/Photo_1122EC76-FE6A-E8CA-46F9-406419EACCB5.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of our youth gave Sean a surfboard for his birthday. Needless to say, he was VERY excited. We went out on Sunday to give it a try. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczyLZAMRHidRyIY534kUdQ3C3t-EWzoMUb1BU357UQHuqkJD8Cl4SIkYHftbeaB7eKpQii93jWxKpHsexTH1rAnEqqTmZ-C9ux9z-Y4YTu2oLl0Es0DY922VtD902Mzm3SiMBL7aUuu_F/s1600/Photo_DDDBAA15-72CE-3E80-A809-DEFE12E16777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczyLZAMRHidRyIY534kUdQ3C3t-EWzoMUb1BU357UQHuqkJD8Cl4SIkYHftbeaB7eKpQii93jWxKpHsexTH1rAnEqqTmZ-C9ux9z-Y4YTu2oLl0Es0DY922VtD902Mzm3SiMBL7aUuu_F/s320/Photo_DDDBAA15-72CE-3E80-A809-DEFE12E16777.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had a beach day with the youth and played some soccer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZLKEdZgGX59YEIHHy3mdUVLAQ3IeEzw9ImllpAB40S2a9EFXslxhQjsKJXujHCaw8VwPpreBT9mIbygfLrErSsTIOK72hEvO9r8uXibx1Sg6f-OEY9i6MI97QMJ-O2JY_pRb3UTBgU8q/s1600/Photo_EFA91D4D-8BD4-A717-2A44-9D2005400364.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZLKEdZgGX59YEIHHy3mdUVLAQ3IeEzw9ImllpAB40S2a9EFXslxhQjsKJXujHCaw8VwPpreBT9mIbygfLrErSsTIOK72hEvO9r8uXibx1Sg6f-OEY9i6MI97QMJ-O2JY_pRb3UTBgU8q/s320/Photo_EFA91D4D-8BD4-A717-2A44-9D2005400364.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We played a game of tag with this doll, who has been named Cynthia. It was really funny to see the kids running around the beach with this strange doll.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7cpZeO8I0K4lfeDAUiNrwr0YSCBBNFlIUDwYWA5Pt5eLYeZQkHKUv3F89ze0xd16gJvVOFR4BWml2FTSwdgdcNhSHFGl0Ie0ZpvOLUDWakmIym3Th6EdE2rqVzlBqzwJ0szK6oZyS2kfZ/s1600/IMG_8249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7cpZeO8I0K4lfeDAUiNrwr0YSCBBNFlIUDwYWA5Pt5eLYeZQkHKUv3F89ze0xd16gJvVOFR4BWml2FTSwdgdcNhSHFGl0Ie0ZpvOLUDWakmIym3Th6EdE2rqVzlBqzwJ0szK6oZyS2kfZ/s320/IMG_8249.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean's birthday cake!! I made a Peanut Butter Buckeye Brownie Cheesecake. It was incredibly rich but very, very delicious!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdhW-e4zyp4MZT1a7VR0iUrzoCcqJLWoZU_V09apb9AKYPBfyYvbArEAV52Fmf0SyebHVtwZveRCOR1xJbB0Qit_xr8oHMr1ipvphx2b1MDOUE9ZMGUonwQXfddvc9mzhrNVxnDYEKFvF/s1600/May+6th+007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdhW-e4zyp4MZT1a7VR0iUrzoCcqJLWoZU_V09apb9AKYPBfyYvbArEAV52Fmf0SyebHVtwZveRCOR1xJbB0Qit_xr8oHMr1ipvphx2b1MDOUE9ZMGUonwQXfddvc9mzhrNVxnDYEKFvF/s320/May+6th+007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The church threw us a little party after church for both of our birthdays. We love our church family! We are getting ready to cut the cake here.</td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-36607650983362341422012-04-24T18:43:00.000-07:002012-04-24T18:47:12.287-07:00Some Every Day StuffToday is a public holiday in Australia, Anzac Day. It is celebrated on April 25th every year and it honors the members of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps who fought in the battle of Gallipoli in WWI. From my understanding, it is a day to also honor all veterans. There was a dawn service this morning at 4:30am that we skipped out on. <br />
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We are using the day to catch up on some stuff around the house and relax a bit before all of our ministries pick back up this week. I also thought we could tell you about some every day stuff that we've been up to.<br />
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First, I celebrated my first birthday in Australia. I can't think of any birthday traditions that are different here than the US. After they sing "Happy Birthday" they yell out "hip, hip, hooray!" 3 times...but that's about it. On my actual birthday we were with the youth camping. They were all very sweet and sang me happy birthday. Sean and I decided to go out and celebrate on Saturday. It turned out to be quite the experience. Fact about Sean and Sam: We LOVE Mexican food!! We heard about a Mexican restaurant a while ago, so we decided to try it out. We looked up their website and it said that we needed to make reservations. Sean called and they said they didn't have any openings until 7 or 7:30. We were hoping to go earlier so we were kind of bummed...but the lady came back and said that she just had an opening and she thought they could squeeze us in at 6. We were excited and said we would take it. This is what the restaurant looked like when we showed up...
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Notice that there is NO ONE in the restaurant. There was another room about the same size (about 10 tables) and there was a 1 couple there. We thought it was so funny that they could "squeeze" us in at 6. Then they took us to our table and it looked like the picture on the left. Do you like the green thing that hung down in front of our table? Random right? This also gave us a good laugh. The rest of the night continued to be entertaining. I don't know if it's Australians in general or just the restaurant, but they were pretty confused about the difference between Mexican and Country Western. They were playing old Country Western movies throughout dinner and playing Country music on the radio. Also, have you ever been to a restaurant where they take your order at the table, but you have to go up to the bar and order your drinks?? Even water and coke? We never had! The food was pretty good. I got my usual quesadillas and Sean got enchiladas. Mine was good, but Sean said that his tasted a little bit like mac n' cheese. Lucky for him, he really likes mac n' cheese!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The yummy quesadillas and chips!!</td></tr>
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Another fact about us: We Love playing games! We recently decided that we wanted the game Scrabble, but we're too cheap to go out and by the game because games are expensive! So we decided to make our own. What do you think?? Someone gave us some black and white tiles, then we used matte board to make the board and our friends also had little holders for us. We've really enjoyed playing! <br />
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Well, that's enough for today. Hope everyone is doing well back home! We love and miss you all!!<br />
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-16917618138120076372012-04-15T18:17:00.000-07:002012-04-15T21:11:50.186-07:00Youth Camp<div style="text-align: left;">
We had a great time at camp last week. Thanks for all of your prayers! This is the first camp that Sean and I have ever planned and led. I would say for our first time, it went pretty well. A very generous couple from our church offered for us to camp on their property. It was so much fun! Our theme for the camp was <i>Be Set Apart</i>. We focused on the passage 1 Timothy 4:12 that says "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." We talked to the kids about how God calls them to be examples to those around them even though they are young. We had devotions at night and in the morning and each time we focused on a different aspect of the verse. After, we got into small groups with the kids and talked through each area. Please pray for those students that made commitments. </div>
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For the games we split the kids into 2 team. Meet our teams below :)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47CirtiTI9eklyzrJM4GtdumNAlqjAcGDKc5PMsNTJPUxbQZg0xeWq01shZVJWyAqWUO1qdO9za5NSizTE9425aZhn283hypkExiQEazgw_iqcu8uJ7iUOtTrG6Zrf7YU4hrc_j8vdawF/s1600/IMG_8212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47CirtiTI9eklyzrJM4GtdumNAlqjAcGDKc5PMsNTJPUxbQZg0xeWq01shZVJWyAqWUO1qdO9za5NSizTE9425aZhn283hypkExiQEazgw_iqcu8uJ7iUOtTrG6Zrf7YU4hrc_j8vdawF/s320/IMG_8212.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team Rome...I like the muscle picture!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cr4bwJM2GaIHUJRj_U0IIebwUd2anTPqDRIToNzDFYgkQaMiwN0JNSUwiSmjMtUtoBNE2cFJaPLt_A9YzBCq3g6nX_zt93G5bghffA0VhNbwEAguYNAQJBwn5-oOwElt-QHkr0zKdeIz/s1600/IMG_8215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cr4bwJM2GaIHUJRj_U0IIebwUd2anTPqDRIToNzDFYgkQaMiwN0JNSUwiSmjMtUtoBNE2cFJaPLt_A9YzBCq3g6nX_zt93G5bghffA0VhNbwEAguYNAQJBwn5-oOwElt-QHkr0zKdeIz/s320/IMG_8215.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team Ephesus. They left their flag out in the rain on the first night. One of our students faithfully stood over the fire for at least an hour to dry it out the next day. This is a pre-rain photo :)</td></tr>
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We had a bit of an Olympic theme. The teams had to work together to complete different tasks or games. At the end of camp, the team with the highest score won. We had a great time with this! Some of the things we did were ultimate frisbee, jumbo soccer, water bomb volleyball, capture the flag at night. We also played a game where we chained 2 team members up and had 3 padlocks on them. The kids had to run into the woods, down to a creek and find a key to unlock their team mate. There were only 3 correct keys and 12 incorrect keys. Here are a couple pictures of the games: <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU42RqpRPtoJ8dYLZwsYRtmOz9_cf9V_WvLrYBu695FJevnFgmrteVfRDKbMZB6IOf2_IXdmSuzfLGuCvKOvTrlLgiGi8zmtmEvWmurkFg004GlpK_vNHuRLzPkZ_x0G25JIyF0vs4YiH/s1600/IMG_8219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU42RqpRPtoJ8dYLZwsYRtmOz9_cf9V_WvLrYBu695FJevnFgmrteVfRDKbMZB6IOf2_IXdmSuzfLGuCvKOvTrlLgiGi8zmtmEvWmurkFg004GlpK_vNHuRLzPkZ_x0G25JIyF0vs4YiH/s320/IMG_8219.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water bomb volleyball. The kids had to work in pairs with a towel and fling a water balloon to the other side. They loved this game! It took them a while to get the hang out it!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQfhL1fs0FB7R737RIK7GZ5kHG-O601cL_KDsl8-IvXDvEeKM_QQe-8EyByBTU6mxQpP6IQBSE17IdBJDCUfeCjsXkaDs2kMArWb80LOG2QpfxfI8JMpM3PGE-PcAy6Zc4w_5DK4lCvoq/s1600/IMG_8193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQfhL1fs0FB7R737RIK7GZ5kHG-O601cL_KDsl8-IvXDvEeKM_QQe-8EyByBTU6mxQpP6IQBSE17IdBJDCUfeCjsXkaDs2kMArWb80LOG2QpfxfI8JMpM3PGE-PcAy6Zc4w_5DK4lCvoq/s320/IMG_8193.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had a game where the kids had to find wooden puzzle pieces in the woods to find out their team name. </td></tr>
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It was really nice to spend time with the kids out side of the "Friday Youth Group" atmosphere. We felt like we had a better chance to catch up with the kids. We had 2 other leaders join us and it was so great to have them around to help. Overall, the camp went really well. It rained pretty hard both nights which kept some of us up. Thankfully, everyone was able to stay dry in their tents and we had great weather during the day. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeefaYvivhDW3dU-JfyP7xvtYnwvYKMGY48cpaRXAwMbNpYaQFg_-_tsoIGXq1YWrfW1ym-C43-re2WqhZ_Zpf19-HxVQn7SMOYqWTLnBci6LaB6v7HEvHJGWzW6YCrxV59G3640k4o93P/s1600/IMG_8224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeefaYvivhDW3dU-JfyP7xvtYnwvYKMGY48cpaRXAwMbNpYaQFg_-_tsoIGXq1YWrfW1ym-C43-re2WqhZ_Zpf19-HxVQn7SMOYqWTLnBci6LaB6v7HEvHJGWzW6YCrxV59G3640k4o93P/s320/IMG_8224.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole gang at the end of camp...we haven't showered in a few days. Don't we all look great?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-39034480204914133512012-04-08T20:52:00.002-07:002012-04-08T20:52:28.907-07:00Easter in Australia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Easter in Australia is just a little different. Most things are fairly similar. One thing that we found interesting is that people do not seem to celebrate like people back in the US. From what we found, it didn't seem like a day where families come together and have a big lunch like Thanksgiving and Easter. One thing that we thought was interesting is that they eat hot cross buns here at Easter!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEdjghyphenhyphen-X2v20Bped82Iu5smUOYUrKPVnn4c7_CixRbJJyt2dlj8kl5ThNYJ7NC-5K940SwMmktLAJyi7N95sbDuaj3xI5wtQId-_ZG7Dkw8oLee3h8kkjnsTwvTzOG2VZyf17mhFDhG4/s1600/hot+cross+buns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEdjghyphenhyphen-X2v20Bped82Iu5smUOYUrKPVnn4c7_CixRbJJyt2dlj8kl5ThNYJ7NC-5K940SwMmktLAJyi7N95sbDuaj3xI5wtQId-_ZG7Dkw8oLee3h8kkjnsTwvTzOG2VZyf17mhFDhG4/s1600/hot+cross+buns.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot cross buns</td></tr>
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Up until Friday, the only time that I'd ever heard of hot cross buns was when I learned to play it on the piano in 6th grade. Sean said he knew it on the recorder as well! But here it is a very common Easter food. After church on Good Friday, we were invited over to our Pastor's house for hot cross buns and tea. They were quite delicious and we had a great time being with our church family. We feel so blessed to have them because they make us feel very at home. <div>
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On Sunday we went to church and had a typical Easter service like back home. After church we had a picnic with some church family and had fish and chips...well I had chicken of course. The weather is beautiful this time of year and we enjoyed being outside and spending time with the wonderful people God has blessed us with. After lunch we came home and relaxed for a bit. We played a few games then went for a nice walk on the beach. It was a gorgeous night and there were a lot of people out. <br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmhLPTpVyB6wVDQJxPQWzC9MT8sjTIzksNoMKFKihWiL5ibaJl3ZrIE997sHlthA_eJ_NZ7TI1f9hmDUGwNVnWNmQdZ7cnDnGVYQLUHm1q1eSamPOqpN4QS0T_DEYyVFNx-fK5Seks3Eh/s1600/IMG_8184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmhLPTpVyB6wVDQJxPQWzC9MT8sjTIzksNoMKFKihWiL5ibaJl3ZrIE997sHlthA_eJ_NZ7TI1f9hmDUGwNVnWNmQdZ7cnDnGVYQLUHm1q1eSamPOqpN4QS0T_DEYyVFNx-fK5Seks3Eh/s320/IMG_8184.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the beach</td></tr>
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<br /> We came home and I made Sean's family's traditional holiday meal. Chicken and noodles!! Although they weren't perfect they were much better than last time. I'm getting better!! My father-in-law thinks they would have been perfect because he said he likes his noodles chewy :) But Sean and I had a wonderful dinner, just the two of us, to celebrate that our Lord has risen!! <br />
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Below is an unrelated picture, but I wanted to introduce you to the amazing woman that we live with! On our day off last week, Sonja took us up on top of this hill to see the beautiful view. We enjoyed spending time with her. I just realized we've never shown you a picture of her or her husband. We'll have to get one of John soon as well :) <br />
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We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday!!</div>
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</div>Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-38823971584538667062012-04-01T21:36:00.000-07:002012-04-01T21:44:44.997-07:00Awards Ceremony<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Our 1st term of XLR8 is now done! Boy that flew by quickly! We had a great term learning about Heroes of the Faith. The other leaders that I'm working with are just wonderful. Each week we are acting out the stories and we have so much fun. One day we had one of our girl leaders stuff her sweater with plastic shopping bags to be Goliath and stand on a giant chair. The kids loved it and it was great! Yesterday we held and XLR8 awards ceremony in church and honored all of our kiddos who have done such a fabulous job learning about heroes of the Bible and what faith means! Next term we'll be focusing on parables and I am really looking forward to it! Until then, here are some pictures from XLR8! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our XLR8 family! We had a few missing for this picture. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goliath game. The kids had to throw balls with velcro on them and hit Goliath on the head. The loved it!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crafts! </td></tr>
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Also, here is the link to our latest youth video! We had a records night where the students fought to defend their own records, or beat a previous record. Some of the events were: push-up contest, sit-up contest, who can eat a mintie (a mint candy) the fastest, milk drinking contest and a contest to see who could eat a Popsicle the fastest. I must say the most impressive part of the night was when one of our students drank a liter of milk is 17 seconds. We were all shocked! The same kid put down a Popsicle in 27 seconds! <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkUT3uYyRlg&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkUT3uYyRlg&feature=youtu.be</a>
</div>Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-74753814956472216922012-03-22T16:29:00.003-07:002012-03-22T16:35:34.042-07:00Soaking It All Up!I am finding myself having the same feelings that I had when Sean and I were getting married. I was so excited to be marrying my best friend and I couldn't wait to start a new life with him. At the same time though, I was sad that I no longer would be living with my friends and I would never get to go home to visit my family for months at a time. I did my best to savor my last 6 1/2 months of singleness before we got married and not wish that time away because it was so precious. God was giving me one of his most wonderful blessings, marriage, but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on that extra time with my family and friends before we got married. <br />
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I'm feeling the same thing now...I cannot wait to meet our precious little baby in less than 5 1/2 months, but I want to enjoy ever second of the last time that it will be just Sean and I. These past 9 months that we've spent in Australia have by far been the best time in our marriage. Our marriage has always been strong but coming here and being away from everything we knew we have been forced to rely on each other in ways that we never had to before. It has helped our relationship to grow so much stronger and deeper. I am so proud of the man of God that my husband is and I have never seen him grow so much in his faith. We also get to spend almost all day every day together and we LOVE it!! We sit across the table from each other each day as we work and we are pouring into the same thing, working toward the same goal. It's wonderful. I don't know if we'll ever get an opportunity like this again and I am so grateful for this time before our life will change with the birth of our little one. <br />
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We still are not sure how our ministry is going to change once Baby Schwarze gets here so I am also doing my best to enjoy all of my time with the children and youth. I know that I will still get to work with them and see them often, but I know that things will change. Until then I am planning on soaking up these next 5 1/2 month without wishing them away! We are so grateful for our time here and we are looking forward to the year that we have left. <br />
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Here are a couple pictures of us from our time here :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2k4WHkZ80wqbNVaz51O2BuQtwNB2Gt_7Msp2MXFV6W1odR93PgtfYAdtlmIIjjg9iFzsB6bVlyynHsLwcjJYecb3ancRw0hjPXk5K6R0syW49SIbatZWy1xKqLeA7bP1be5N35Uq8D2Y/s1600/IMG_7668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2k4WHkZ80wqbNVaz51O2BuQtwNB2Gt_7Msp2MXFV6W1odR93PgtfYAdtlmIIjjg9iFzsB6bVlyynHsLwcjJYecb3ancRw0hjPXk5K6R0syW49SIbatZWy1xKqLeA7bP1be5N35Uq8D2Y/s320/IMG_7668.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is from our first week in the country!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't we look all grown up now?? Well...at least a little more!</td></tr>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-43411047128263883152012-03-21T16:28:00.003-07:002012-03-21T16:35:48.539-07:00IdentityLast week at youth group, we talked to the students about where they find their identity. Do they allow other people to define them? Do they allow the media to tell them who they need to be? We were studying the life of David as a young boy. Despite many set backs and people telling him that he wasn't worth much, he knew who he was because he knew <i>whose </i>he was. He allowed himself to be defined by God and not the people around him. Our biggest prayer for these youth is that they would come to know the Lord and that they would find their identity in Him! After we talked to them, two students gave their hearts to the Lord! What a wonderful praise!! We are very excited to see how these two grow. Since we don't want to give away student's names on our blog, we'll just ask that you pray for S. and A. Pray that they would grow in their hunger for the Lord and that they would be committed to living for the Lord. Pray that they would find their identity in the Lord! <br />
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We are planning on having a youth camp April 11-13 in Byfield which is about 30ish km up the road. The hopes are to have the camp at a person's house from our church. Unfortunately, we are having a very difficult time getting on contact with the people and we're struggling to plan the camp because we need to see the location. Please pray with us that we can see the location soon!! </div>Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-56171342912947203592012-03-13T19:24:00.000-07:002012-03-13T19:34:59.594-07:00A Good Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We had a very fun-filled weekend :) I thought we'd update you on what we've been up to lately. First of all, the children's program (XLR8) is going really well! We are having so much fun learning about the heroes of faith. We have been teaching the stories through different types of dramas each week and we usually do a craft to remind them of the story. I have been so impressed with all that the children are remembering! Below is a picture from Friday. We learned about the story of Gideon and the kids made trumpets! Please pray for our XLR8 leadership team as we begin to figure out what the transition will look like once the baby comes. We are also loosing another leader because he is going away to college soon. It is our prayer that the Lord would lay it on other people's hearts to come and serve as our group is slowly growing. </div>
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On Sunday we had a baptism at church! After church ended and everyone had morning tea, we headed down to the beach. This baptism was especially close to our hearts because it was a friend that we've been able to spend a lot of time with. She is in our young adult group and she is also a youth leader with us. It has been amazing to watch her grow over the last 9 months and we were so proud of her on Sunday to take the step in obedience to the Lord and be baptized. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here she is giving her testimony with her best friend near by to pray for her when she was done!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here she is being baptized! WOO HOO!!</td></tr>
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Also this weekend Sean learned how to surf! We headed to the beach with 2 of our good friends after our worship class on Saturday. There is one beach nearby that you can drive on and that is where the good surfing is. As we were driving down the beach our friend spotted this little guy!! Sadly he was hooked by a fisherman, dragged in and he died on the beach :( It was really neat to be able to see one up close though!<br />
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The waves weren't too big where we stopped the first time but they were good beginner waves for Sean. After a few hours, we decided to head up the beach a bit to see if we could find bigger waves. Thankfully, we did and we all had much more fun up there! Everyone tried surfing while I paddled around on a boogie board and cheered everyone on :) It was a really great way to spend our Saturday afternoon with good friends!<br />
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-66672522031219622972012-03-06T16:35:00.000-08:002012-03-06T16:35:04.627-08:00Children's Ministry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our children's ministry on Fridays, XLR8, has been going really well. I think I mentioned before that we have a few new people on our leadership team which has been wonderful! We've had a great time getting together every week and teaching the kids about different heroes in the Bible. I think the students are really understanding the stories and enjoying learning about them! After each story we talk about how the Bible character had faith! In the pictures (it's kind of hard to see) you can see the word faith really big on white letters on the wall that the kids decorated. First they wrote what they think it means to have faith and drew pictures. After we discussed what they came up with and we hung it up on the wall as a reminder to always have faith! </div>
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Last week we learned about the characters Caleb and Joshua and how they obeyed the Lord even when everyone else was scared. The leaders had a fun time acting out the story and the kids did a great job listening! We even had some props to help illustrate the story. The boy sitting on the chair is actually a giant and those green and blue sheets are mountains...can't you tell?? </div>
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<br /></div>Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876172726159267147.post-58753063232169865162012-03-04T17:53:00.000-08:002012-03-04T18:04:22.473-08:00An Ocean Adventure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We have some wonderful friends who invited us over last week to go out on their paddleboard. It's kind of like a really big surf board that you stand up on and paddle. I was a bit nervous to try to stand up on it because of the baby so I went out with Gemma and she paddled me along as I sat on the front of the board. It was so peaceful and fun to paddle around and catch up with Gemma. Sean came out a bit later and decided to give it a try. We paddled together for a bit then he tried standing up. He did so well and had so much fun! When it started getting dark and we decided to head in for dinner, Sean was bummed because he was having so much fun. Our friends said that we could come over and borrow it any time that we want. </div>
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Yesterday we decided to take them up on their offer! We came home from church, had lunch and had a few hours before we had to head back to the church for the night service, so we decided it'd be fun to head to the beach! Our friends Matt and Gemma weren't home but said we could grab the board! So we headed down to the beach. We paddled out together at first, just sitting on the board. It was a beautiful sunny day and the waves were just the right size for us beginners! Sean decided to give it a try again on his own while I headed back to the beach to read a book. Sean did such a great job and I had a fun time watching him paddle around out there. He was able to ride a few waves all the way in! I decided to head back out and Sean suggested that I try to stand up on my own. The waves were pretty small and he stood next to me in case I fell. I only fell twice in the very beginning and I made sure to jump off so I didn't land on the board. It was so fun! I was also able to ride a few waves all the way in. </div>
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Next weekend Sean may try to surf. He said that if we keep doing fun things like this then he won't want to come home! We feel so blessed to be here and have so many amazing opportunities to do things that we never have before. We are also so grateful for the friends that God has placed in our lives. God is good isn't he??? Check out a few pictures below from our day at the beach! </div>
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<br />Sean and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14366803693661028401noreply@blogger.com0