A Great Day Out

Dear supporters



Some friends of ours who own a sailing boat, asked if we would like to spend the day sailing along the Devon coast with them, as a family. Something we have never done before.

How blessed are we ?


My immediate thought was, what if Freddie falls overboard! He can swim, but isn't the worlds most confident child in the water.

My next thought was, what if they get really wet, dirty and cold, they might spend the next week at home with colds and coughs!

Fortunately, I came to my senses very quickly and said that we would love to go sailing for the day.

When the day arrived, the children were so excited they were up, particularly early that day and ready to leave before we had come down to breakfast!

As you can see, Freddie took to the helm and was even feeling confident enough to sail the boat after half an hour!

Georgie was in her element taking care of "Corrie" and loved looking after her !

William managed to fit a quick game of cricket in after lunch, so he was very happy!

...and Alexandra and Daddy enjoyed the whole day, particularly the B-B-Q as you can see!

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We leaped in the dingy and just made it back to the boat without too much trouble.

At one point it did look as if the dingy was going to sink and everyone was going to be fish food! However it made it and we had a really great, day spent with friends.


As we have been raising our prayer and financial support in order to go to Arnhem Land http://www.maf-uk.org/ we have realised just how great it has been to meet new people and begin to develop new friendships . So a big thank you to all of you who are praying for us.





By the end of the day I had had a great time too, but I felt just like Freddie...exhausted!





Don't forget to look out for the invitations to our valedictory service, they will be in the post soon.

Love from The Stockleys

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Aboriginal Bible praise party.

Several people have shown an interest in the bible translation work that has been happening on Elcho Island. Below are just a few photographs that were taken during the weekend celebrations that occurred around the dedication service for the new Aboriginal New Testament bible translation.

What a brilliant work the translation team do. Praise God for their dedication and passion for seeing His word reach the lost. Pray for their continued dedication and wisdom as they persist in this great work.

Love from The Stockleys.

I wish I could have been there it looks like it was great fun!

Waiting

I found this prayer in a book I was reading. It seems to sum up really well how frustrating "waiting" can sometimes be, but just how important it can be for our personal growth and faith!

We recently gave a presentation to a church whose focus was on preparing ourselves as individuals and as a Church for mission work. It could mean; a "calling" abroad, to another part of the country or as individuals within your local community.

This simple pray could be used as prayer of dedication, towards hearing God's direction for your life. We found it really good. Hope you enjoy it!

Love Rachel & Charley

Waiting

Lord, I seem to spend my whole life waiting...

Waiting for the bus or train

Waiting in the queue at the supermarket

Waiting for the traffic lights to change

Waiting for the exam results to come

Waiting for the computer to start

Waiting to see the children's teacher

Waiting to see the doctor

Waiting for the results of hospital tests.

Help me to use my time wisely, to pray for those around me- the supermarket staff, the other passengers on the bus or train,

the local council who try to manage the traffic as best they can;

for teachers, doctors, nurses, all hospital staff... and others in the community who keep things moving.

I want to wait on you, Lord, too, for direction.

Guide my life - in its major directions as well as in the nitty-gritty details.

I put myself at your disposal again, Lord.

I do want to serve you and others with my life, Lord, I pray.

Amen.

Great news...

A lot has happened since our last blog. We have had a weeks holiday at home celebrating Easter, Alexandra's birthday and spending time with Charley's parents who visited us from The Lake District.



I have had a milestone birthday-the big '40' and spent it outdoors at Longleat, in the pouring rain! It was a great day out and everyone had fun, despite the weather.



It was also great preparation for getting used to some of the creepy crawlies we may come across in Arnhem Land.



Alexandra surprised me by wishing to hold, and handle, every kind of creepy crawly she could find. I just hope that we don't see too many snakes and spiders in Australia!

The great news is that we are almost fully supported.

We now have almost 200 on our prayer support list, and if all the financial help that has been promised is given, we will have reached the minimum that we need before we can go.

Praise the Lord!

We are trying to raise a further 10% before we depart as our support level decreases in December, but this isn't going to stop us.

We are off...

We hope to be leaving this country sometime in late June to begin our training in Melbourne. After that, we are to continue our training in Cairns for a week before finally arriving in Gove in August. Our anxiety over school places and start dates have been resolved. All of the children now have places guaranteed for their start dates in August. This is a real answer to pray.
A BIG thank you to ALL of you who we know have been praying for an answer to our children's schooling issues.

It is so humbling to know that you are all praying for us.

More updates soon.

All our Love


Rachel, Charley, William, Alexandra, Georgie & Freddie.

Stop worrying about it!

This was our bible reading for yesterday.(UCB notes)
I found it very encouraging so I thought that it would be nice to share it with you all.
Stop Worrying About It!
Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you... Psalm 55:22
When worry comes knocking on your door, stop it on the doorstep or it will move in and take up residence. 'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you' (1 Peter 5:7 NIV). God cares about the things that worry you and prey upon your thoughts. He cares about them more than you do. Not one nagging, aching, worrisome, gut-wrenching, blood-pressure-raising thought escapes His notice. Because 'you are his personal concern', He watches over you day and night. What qualifies as a worry? Anything that robs you of joy, anything you can't change, anything you're not responsible for, anything you're unable to control, anything that torments you, anything that keeps you awake when you should be asleep. All of that 'stuff' needs to be transferred from your worry list to your prayer list. The Bible says, 'Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace...' (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT). Give each worry, one by one, to God. The more you practise doing this, the more exciting your walk with Him will become. You'll be amazed at how easily He handles things that overwhelm you. Remind yourself that He's able to handle it, willing to handle it, and waiting for you to give it to Him. 'Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.' Those who live worry free are those who keep casting their burdens on the Lord until it becomes as natural to them as breathing!