Happy Anniversary to Us! We celebrated 9 years on June 13th.

So what do you think, cheesy or romantic?

"Let the cold wind blow and the hard times roll..." (*)

Winter is just around the corner in Australia, and we're finally experiencing cold weather in over a year! We arrived here in October, during Spring in Oz which coincides with the Fall in the U.S. So the last time we were in cold weather was back in the beginning of 2006! Wow!

Although the Winters here are very much like the ones in So Cal, we have been freezing! The problem isn’t when we’re outside as one might assume; we're actually freezing inside the house, day or night! You see, most houses here are made of bricks, and insulation and central air are not so common in most homes, except in some of the new ones. Some houses have fireplaces, but not ours! It gets bone-chilling cold! We literally walk around the house during the day wearing our down jackets. At night we've been sleeping in our flannel PJs, on flannel sheets, covered up with three layers of blankets -and one of them happens to be a Korean mink blanket! We tried to tough it out, but even Jim can't stand the cold. So, we went and got ourselves a portable heater -pretty common here.

The thought of having a portable heater was hilarious for me! I feel like we've gone back in time. I was thinking about how I hadn’t seen one in nearly thirty years, and couldn’t help but think back about my childhood days back in Brazil when our family used to sit around a heater, much similar to the one we just bought, and cook hot dogs over it. Oh, the good ol' days. Thinking about my childhood has brought some warmth to my heart. I just hope this heater does too.

P.S: Thank you to all those who've prayed for us and sent us words of encouragement regarding my last entry. Regardless of the circumstances we’ve begun our weekly fellowship meeting and we’re very excited about our ministry.

(*) lyrics from a Bluegrass song

Looking at the bright side of things

Have you ever lost something (a material possession) that was so valuable to you that you actually grieved over it? Well, the past week while in Perth, Western Australia visiting a couple of churches and fellow MTW missionaries, Jim's laptop was stolen along with his pda, his cell phone, our car and house keys, our passports, and his favorite Bible (they were all in one bag). We were devastated to say the least!

I don't know about the other items that were lost, but Jim went through the five different stages of grief within 24 hours from the incident over the loss of his laptop:
1) Shock and denial – someone broke the driver’s side window of our parked car (borrowed from a church member), popped open the trunk and took the laptop bag! He couldn’t believe it!
2) Anger – Need I explain.
3) Bargaining – Jim was thinking “If only the thief could return at least my laptop…”
4) Depression – He was not himself. He never gets depressed!
5) Acceptance – The next morning he was better. He’s the type of person that does not dwell in the past but moves forward. Actually, the minute he saw that the bag was gone, he was already thinking and planning on what to do next.

It’s not much the loss of the laptop itself that made him upset, but the contents in it. He used it to work on a lot of stuff for many years. I think he had most of its content saved on hard drive, but still… there was a lot of personal stuff, ministry work, etc in it. So, we spent the next few days changing passwords on all our personal info that was managed online. We went to the U.S. consulate to renew our passports. Now we’ve got to get our visas re-issued. It is a bit scary to think that all our personal information is in the hands of a stranger who resorted to crime to satisfy some kind of need s/he had. This was certainly a wake up call to us that we need to be more vigilant and careful at all times no matter where we are.

On the bright side, we were sharing this with the host couple the night of the incident and the guy said “Maybe the person who took your bag will use Jim’s Bible to read God’s Word and come to know Christ.” We agreed and prayed for him/her.

Hot Cross Buns and Easter Bilbiess

I haven't updated in so long! I hope everyone has had a blessed Easter.
We almost missed Good Friday service this year. In Australia it is traditionally held in the morning and we had no idea. The service time was probably announced at the local church we have been attending, but we missed it due to the traveling we've done two weeks prior (to Brisbane, Australia to visit our MTW's East Australia team, and to Canberra, the Capital of Australia where Jim was guest preaching at a church on Palm Sunday). But Friday morning, at 9:30 a.m. I checked the church's website to check the schedule, and to my horror I found out we had to make it to church by 10:00a.m.! Good thing we were up and ready for the day pretty early on.

Mostly, Easter traditions here in Australia are the same as in the U.S., like the Easter eggs and chocolates, the Easter Bunny, etc. But there are other traditions we found out about, like: eating Hot Cross Buns (sweet, spiced buns made with dried fruit and leavened with yeast decorated with a cross, the symbol of Christ, on top of the buns either with pastry or a simple mixture of flour and water) on Good Friday; celebrating Easter with the Easter Bilby, an endangered species that in 1991, the Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation campaigned to replace the Easter Bunny since rabbits are an introduced species in Australia and are unpopular because of the damage they do to the land. Also, Easter in Australia is enjoyed as a four-day holiday weekend starting on Good Friday and ending on Easter Monday. This extra-long weekend is an opportunity for Australians to take a mini-vacation, or get together with family and friends. Easter often coincides with school holidays, so many people incorporate Easter into a longer family vacation, which in turn lowers church attendance. It's almost like the Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S.

There are so many different things that I want to write about and share, but it's going to have to wait for other posts. You can also read all about what's been going on in our Jungle News which we'll be sending out pretty soon. I'll leave you with this for now and some long overdue pictures. Enjoy.

Our humble and cozy home. We live in an area where a long time ago used to be considered
the "Bible Belt" of Sydney, and is now more like the "Silicon Valley" of Sydney.



Local shopping area near our home w/ grocery store, hardware store,
post office, news agency, video store, bank, bakery, pharmacy, etc.



K-town in Sydney a few suburbs away from us. It's basically one block w/ Korean
restaurants, Korean grocery stores, Korean video stores, etc on both sides of the street.




Here's Jim doing one of his least favorite things: waiting for the bus.
* Notice a slight frown.



Here's Jim doing one of his favorite things: buying food at the grocery store.
* Notice a slight smile. ;-p




Hot Cross Buns

Funny!

Jungle News

Coach Dungy's Faithful Witness

I am not a huge super bowl fan, but I did hear that coach Tony Dungy was a Christian.
A pastor friend sent us these links to the speech coach Dungy gave at a super bowl breakfast.
Powerful testimony!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=T8fEpvdHC40&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K3PUPCR7NFA&mode=related&search=

ASL ("Aussie" as a Second Language)

Many people, especially missionaries, have told us that we were blessed to be in a country where we don't have to learn a new language. Most missionaries spend about two years in formal language school, and many of them tell us of the difficulties and frustrations they go through in trying to minister to the natives in their broken respective languages. Yes, it is true, we feel pretty blessed to not have to be in language school; however, we did/do have to go through our share of minor frustrations when communicating with some Aussies, especially when we drive out of the main Sydney CBD area where the Aussie accent seems to get thicker, and where they use more Aussie slangs. So although we're not being taught a new language in a formal setting, we are learning a lot in a practical way by interacting with Aussies everyday.

Following are some of the basic sayings we have learned:

How you going? - How are you doing?
Heaps - Lots
No worries. - That's all right.
Ta - Thanks
Cuppa - Cup of coffee or tea
She’ll be right! - It’ll be all right!
Bush - Woods
Rubish - Trash/Garbage
I reckon. - I think.
Uni - University
To hire - to rent
Good on 'ya - Good job or good for you
bonnet - hood (of a car)
boot - trunk (of a car)
take away - take out (food)
cash out - cash back (after paying for something with your atm card at the grocery store)

Well, here is an incident that happened to a American expat couple we know. They were at a KFC drive through trying to get his favorite sandwich. Here's how the conversation went:

Aussie: "What would you like, sir?"
Expat: "I'd like the Zinger Burger".
Aussie: " What was that?"
Expat" "The Zinger Burger!" (louder)
Aussie: "What?"
Expat: "The ZING-ER BURG-ER!"
Aussie: "What was that?"
Expat's wife: "Say it like the Aussies!"
Expat: "The ZING-AH BUG-AH!"
Aussie: "Oh, the Zing-ah Bug-ah! Anything else?"
Expat and wife:

Please pray for our language acquisition.

It's a Jungle Out There

After what seemed like months of hectically getting around the busy city to get ourselves situated as dwellers among the other fellow Sydney urbanites, Jim and I decided that we needed to take a break to reorganize our thoughts and refresh our minds by getting away. We decided to take a day trip to the Blue Mountains - about 2 hours west from Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District) by train. It was such a relaxing and refreshing trip! We enjoyed the great weather and the beautiful scenery while taking a walk through some of the many hiking trails. Mostly, we were glad to have been able to get away from the noises and distractions to retreat and spend a day just thanking the Lord for His care for us, revisiting our vision, and reflecting on how wonderful and privileged we feel to be part of God’s plan. On the train ride back home we realized that it was the 1^st of November, exactly one month to the day since our arrival to Sydney, Australia! So, when we got off the train, we went into a café to celebrate. We ordered hot-chocolate and strawberry milk-shake and made a cheerful toast to a “Happy One-Month-on-the-Field Anniversary” ! What a great finish to a lovely day, don’t you think?

Now, you tell me…which of these places seem more like a “jungle”?

Blue Mountains Sydney