21 October 2010

Over the sea and back again

Matt and I returned from our two week long trip to Australia last week. I say two week long trip, but we were really only in Australia seven days. You heard me right...seven short days. It was a crazy, busy, exciting, exhausting, convicting trip! We met some fantastic people, got some good ideas, learned a lot, and experienced quite a few adventures! Those stories can be shared another time, or you can ask me about some adventures.
We got into Dallas Thursday afternoon, where Matt's dad was. Keep in mind that Matt's dad actually lives in Australia; we stayed in his house while we were there. However, David was in Dallas seeing his new grand baby. It was strange not seeing David in Australia, and instead seeing him in Texas! Matt and I got back to Abilene 12:30am Saturday morning, and have been running ever since. David came to Abilene to see us yesterday and today, and we had a great time showing him around good ol' West Texas. This place is different than any other!
Matt and I would love to slow down, but this weekend will not be any better. For no other reason than the fact that we won't have anymore weekends until well into November, we will be painting the exterior of our house Saturday. That will be quite a chore, but it needs to be done and will really help the house look better. We will also be finalizing some of the details of FSFA. What is FSFA, you ask? Well, I'm glad you did!

FSFA is Fifth Sunday for Australia; it is the fund raiser Matt and I will be hosting on October 31. What we have found in our almost three years of fund raising (yep, three years) is that people are unable to give to long term mission work in Australia...for whatever reason. However, plenty of people are able to give a small, one time donation to our work. We're inviting churches and individuals around the country to participate with us on October 31, and give a one time donation to the work we'll be doing in Australia. We're talking change collected over the course of a month, eating out money saved from the weekend, whatever people have. It's that simple! Give on your own, or get together with your family, friends, and church to combine your gifts to send to us. Checks will be made out to our sponsoring congregation to ensure that gifts are tax deductible.
Join with others around the country as we are a testimony to the world that many members form one body in Jesus Christ. Please visit our website for all the details regarding how to give on FSFA. There you will find specifics on how to make out your check and where to send it. You can also email us to find out more about FSFA, or more about our team in general. We would love to hear from you. Visit our website, www.teamipswichaustralia.com, or email us at info@teamipswichaustralia.com

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