It's been pretty quiet around here since the team left. Rachel and I have run a few errands since but mostly we've just been enjoying the time left we have with the wonderful people we've met. I think the last time the church building was painted was 30 years ago. The interns have done some of that but we wanted to get the teens involved to so I'm excited to paint with them on Saturday. Tonight we say goodbye to Greg the ACU intern. It's strange to think that he's really leaving after spending three months with them. That means we don't have much time left either. Rachel and I had dinner at Paul La Spina's house last night. We such a good time with him and the family that lives there. The little boy named Bradly was so excited to show me his ring tones on his Mobile and the tricks he could do on his trampoline. We had a good time jumping on it in the dark and playing crack the egg. Paul and I had some good talks about the church and where it's going and where it's not. He has such a heart for people deepening their relationship with God. We are too often easily contented with that relationship but we can never be close enough to the Father. My own walk has been a bit of a roller coaster this summer. With so little consistency in my schedule it's been hard to keep disciplines regular. But God has been faithful any way and this trip has been incredible so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of the time I have spend with the people I have come to love so much.

-Robert

What a great day. It started off at Cavendish Road. We got to meet once again with the encouraging group of students who want to make a difference in their school. We get to talk to them about their dreams for the school and pray together. Today there was a youth worker there from another church named Ben who gave a testimony about his experience doing mission work in the Philippines. Afterwards we talked to Gary the chaplain about hooking him up with Holland Park church so he'd have another place to pool volunteers from when he needed them. We want to make more opportunities for the church to get involved in the community, especially after Rachel and I leave. It's a shame so few people live within a half hour of the church building, that always makes things trickier.
After Cav Road I got the opportunity to get a quote for the slight damage I did to the front of my car when I didn't stop fast enough in traffic. Let's just say the damage is worth more than the car. Oh well, it's only stuff, God is taking care of all things. Another blessing God has given me lately is an extra portion of joy. I've been really excited about life and the work God's given me here. I really want to make the most of these last couple weeks and I have no doubt that's what God has in store.
Meghan has her knee surgery in a few hours. It's a repeated injury and there's a 50/50 chance they'll either remove the torn meniscus or repair it. We're hoping for repair because it means she'll be able to keep more function in the knee and not have such a high risk of arthritis. But God knows what he's doing so his will be done. Prayers always help. I am so grateful for the constant encouragement and support she showers on me. Her faith never ceases to inspire me. Even through chronic pain assorted ailments she raises her head and praises God. I am blessed.
I'm not sure what the rest of the week has in store but I'm ready for it. What good things our God does. How faithful is He always! I pray God opens our eyes to see all he's doing around us. I don't want to miss a thing.

Peace, love

-Robert

Hello again. I'm sorry it's been so long. The team set sail for home yesterday so I've had time to breath and now to blog some. There is much to go over so I'll get right into it.

After some adjusting the team started mixing with the locals quite well. After week one we headed off to Camp Orion for some wonderful encouraging times. While run by Christians Camp Orion is not set up like a Christian camp. It is set up as an out reach camp to unchurched kids. Therefore there isn't singing, or devos but everything is designed to develop relationships between the Aussie teens and the Lipscomb team members. It's a high ropes camp so there's lots of fun activities that challenge the kids to get out of their comfort zone and do things they didn't believe they were capable of. Each team member has one camper that's their buddy for the week. After dinner there is built in one on one time for us to spend with that person to grow friendships. My buddy was a lot of fun and we had a good bit in common but it was had to spend time with him one on one because he was invited by his best friend and they spend all their time together. But over all the camp was a great success. At night we had speakers come and talk about their life stories and how they were shaped and formed. God wasn't explicitly mentioned but implied and I think they really spoke to the kids. Nothing speaks to this generation like a good story. The relationships we build there spilled into spending time together outside of camp.

After Orion we spend a day sight seeing at the beautiful Stradborough island. A few of the kids from camp came along which was a huge encouragement. Its amazing to watch how quickly friendships were formed between the Lipscombers and the Aussie kids. I'm excited to be the one staying behind to keep those connections going. The kids have such amazing hearts and a few are really searching. The real point was to form friendships so that we can show people love and that would allow people to see the way we live and ask questions. The Lipscomb team did and excellent job at that. Now that their gone Rachel and I have lots of shoes to fill.

Camp Connect came next. The director of the camp Brad Johnson said it was maybe the best year they've had. Connect is more of a disciple ship