I've been everywhere man

Wow, it has just been a total whirlwind since I arrived. The people we met at Church on Sunday were so welcoming and loving. It really has been a flood of faces. It's taken me till now to really get a handle on all of the names I'm learning. One thing's for sure. I love my host family. Colin and Karen are a riot. We have a lot of great laughs at the dinner table and over games of "Footie" (Rugby or Australian rules football). They are hospitable in every way but not afraid to take a poke at my accent or times when I mess up an Aussie phrase. They Australian rules football has a big event every year where all of the pros go back to their home states no matter who they play for so they can play state v state. They call it the State of Origin game. I guess because I'm a typical American in that we don't pay much attention to other country's sports, I called it the State of the Union game. I don't think I'll ever hear the end of that.

They are so many here in the 15-20 age range that just need direction and purpose. Unlike the states, where you can leave home at 18, in Australia it's 15. It's not that unusual for a misbehaving 15 year old to be kicked out of the house. It's these kinds of kids I'll be working with in and out of schools to try and provide some stability and guidance for. Because we'll only be here for 3 months I'm going to try to move them towards a church or church member who can continue the work after we leave. There is so much opportunity for us to get plugged in to the high school age community through schools. Schools here have chaplains who work as social workers/ guidance councilors. They can't be paid by the school and officially they are like military chaplains in that they can't advocate a certain brand of religion. Fortunately there is a Christian organization called Scripture Union that trains and sends out these chaplains. So most of them actually are Christian and the ones we've talked to have no problem talking about Jesus in the schools because so many Chaplains are Christian it's almost assumed. Next Monday we start working in a public school where we'll be a Christian presence, influence and hopefully friend. I'm excited. Although I can always use prayers. Mostly that God breaks down my inhibitions that stop me from being bold in my faith. Thanks, love you all.

-Robert