Our first week has been spent in Mingoola area, staying on farm with friends we have made here. We helped out a single woman farmer with an 89 year old father, she is running a very large property with mostly sheep and a few cattle. She has 36 potty lambs to feed each morning and evening so Jean was delighted to help her with this task. The smallest lamb seemed to think that Jean was her mother, and Jean seemed to like it as we'll, the farmer said she could take it for the grandchildren but Peter wouldn’t let her take it home to destroy the new lawn.
Each evening we came back to the van early to prepare a nutritious meal for us and the farmers. This proved to be a huge help to the farmer, as she doesn’t get in until after dark every evening and then starts preparing dinner for them, sometimes eating after 9.30pm
One night we shared over dinner with the farmer and her father, cleaned up the dinner dishes then went to yet another farm to farm-sit for the night for a couple who had to go to Toowoomba for medical tests and would be away for two days.
The opportunity has arisen to help several farmers with their feral animal problems. We have shot several deer and other feral animals and have dressed a couple of the deer and put them in the chiller for a week or so before we cut them up for the freezer, they are good eating I have heard!
We drove out this morning after helping with the lambs, to visit one of our farmers who has a tumor on the brain, he has had surgery and chemo which has extended his time but he is staying hopeful and has a positive attitude, they allowed us to pray with them before we left, what a privilege and blessing.
Next we visited a farm where we found the wife driving the tractor and doing the ploughing before the hoped for and much needed rains came, her husband has had to go off farm to Roma to get work so they don’t loose the farm. We had to convince her to stop work and make us a cuppa so she would have something to eat, it was past lunch time and she hadn’t eaten at all today, they have three young children who come home from school and have to help mum with the farm work and cattle before doing home work and getting the dinner ready; city folk have no idea what farm life is like these days for some families.
We had to drive into Tenterfield to get some medication for Peter and do some grocery shopping, on our way back we called into yet another farming couple only to discover that on this farm also, the husband has left the farm to go to Newcastle to work whilst the wife tends the farm.
Today is an unusual day for us, Peter is helping a couple of farmers to cut up three beasts in his cool room, his butchering skills have come in handy. Jean joined the ladies at the community hall for a craft day, they are all quilting, it was a great opportunity for both of us to get alongside people in a relaxed atmosphere and chat about life.
We arrived back at the van just in time for the feeding of the lambs and to prepare dinner. Tonight will be our last dinner with this couple and as we sat to the meal the old farmer reminded Peter that he was to say grace as he had each night previously, God moves in His own special way to enlighten people to Himself and we are so privileged to be a part of what He is doing in the lives of these precious people.
We called into two more farms one of which has a son in the military and has just heard that he is being deployed to Afghanistan in the next deployment, he will be in the same platoon as Nathanial Gallagher, he was the young soldier who was killed in the helicopter accident last month. It is a privilege to sit and listen to the concerns of the parents.
The other couple who have become dear friends thought they should let us know, just as we were leaving, that their relationship is falling apart and they are thinking of separating, we stayed longer and talked them through some issues hopefully giving them some encouragement and desire to keep working on their relationship, it is in the tough times that we need each other the most.
We headed to Lismore to lead the meeting for chaplaincy month, we set up at the caravan park before going to the Officers home for dinner, fellowship and a last minute tweak of the meeting lead due to musical hitches.
We conducted the Service around the Chaplaincy theme and had a wonderful time. The COs and some of the Corps folk took us to Lake Ainsworth for the afternoon for fish and chips dinner; it was a lovely time of fellowship and relaxation we don’t do this every day, a rare treat indeed!
Before leaving Lismore We met with a retired journalist at MacDonald’s for breakfast to discuss ways to advertise The upcoming Rural Base Camp in 2013. It was a very rewarding meeting although breakfast wasn’t all that good! We got back late to the caravan park to pack up and leave but the manager of the park was kind and didn’t charge us any extra.
Our journeys are always full of phone calls, on our journey home Jean had a phone call from a farmer in Bundarra, he had been in hospital for three weeks in ICU and nearly died due to incorrect medication given to him. While in hospital his son and daughter-in-law were going through a separation with no prior warning. He was devastated, weak and emotionally fragile so the conversation was heavy going and lasted for at least 45mins.
Later in the afternoon Jean received another phone call this time from the wife of the farmer at Bundarra who was also devastated and asked when we were able to visit as she needed one of my hugs, I was not able to give her a visitation date but assured her of our prayer support and sent love and a hug through the phone.
We also have received word that our friend in Goondiwindi is failing fast. It seems that life is full of pain and hurting people at present;
After hanging up from that conversation the phone rang again, this time it was a farmer friend from Pilliga just catching up with us to say hello and see how we were going, is God good? Most definitely!
The day after we set aside for a day of prayer, Jean has been so overwhelmed by all the sadness of all the phone calls on top of the news she received that her nephew has cancer and only has weeks to live.
On a brighter note our youngest son, Phill, who lives in Forster is doing his first skydive today if the weather permits, needless to say Jean has been praying for rain and strong winds so he wont jump, however at 8am a text message informing us that the weather is fine, sun shinning and right to go. Our daughter, Roxanne went with Phil to watch him jump and sent a blow by blow report of the occasion which we received during the meeting at Narrabri and all the time mum was in tears, what a sook! But she was so relieved when he landed safe on the ground. What a week it has been!
Today has been a mixed day as we left early to visit the mother and family of our friend in Goondiwindi who had just passed away. To say it is a privilege to simply be available is an understatement, in Jesus’ service we are honored every day by him.
Today is Kate’s birthday, one of our grandchildren, four years old today so we had a special birthday breakfast at the local café with her and her little brother Matthew and her Mummy before going back home to give her her present, a two wheeler bike with trainer wheels , amazingly she was able to ride so well around the courtyard without help, the birthday party is in a weeks time.
It was another early start today with last minute packing of the car and making sure we had everything we needed for the weekend since we weren’t taking the caravan. We left for Goondiwindi leaving time for delays with all the road works however when we arrived we had forgotten to factor in the daylight saving time so we had an extra hour up our sleeves and decided to go for coffee. We were astounded to find the owner of the coffee shop was a farmer whom we had met and helped whilst out at Bourke, we had a delicious coffee and a great chat catching up with what he had been up to. Even whilst sitting in the café people were talking about Duncan’s funeral, we have never before experienced an entire community abuzz about the loss of a community member, it was as though the whole town stopped for the occasion. it was standing room only in the large community hall, both primary and secondary schools were in attendance along with parents and friends, teachers. For such a young man he certainly had an incredible influence on many people.
We didn’t drive out of Goondiwindi before 4pm, and were feeling emotionally and physically exhausted and still had a long trip ahead of us to get to Ballina for the night. It started to rain then storm and before we knew it we were driving through the mountains in a hail storm with very low visibility, the rain is a welcome sight but not the hail, it even cracked our windscreen.
After a very comfortable night and a good breakfast we headed down to the citadel to get things ready for the service. Ballina is a laid back (relaxed) Corps and the people are very friendly, we enjoyed leading the service and telling them about our work and worshipping with them, its a great privilege.
We love traveling and meeting people, but sometimes it gets to you. After traveling to Goondiwindi for the funeral and then to Ballina and home again in two days, Peter headed off on Monday morning to attend an Ambulance Chaplains meeting in Dubbo while Jean babysat the grandchildren while our daughter-in-law goes to Tamworth for a number of medical tests. The day after Peter headed for Sydney for a Chaplaincy Strategy meeting at THQ staying overnight at Stanmore. After the Meeting he then drove to Singleton where he stayed the night before heading home. On arriving home at about midday he headed off to Goondiwindi to pick up our van, needless to say he was absolutely exhausted and slept like a baby that night!
We celebrated Kate’s birthday a bit late with a Big birthday party on our newly turfed back yard. Four year olds have lots of friends and when they all bring their young parents, brothers and sisters along, that makes for quite a crowd in our back yard but all had a wonderful time. Our other kids and granddaughter had come from Forster for the celebrations as well and stayed over night so we missed church today and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and catch up with the family until they had to leave to get back home for work tomorrow.
We both have supervision today. Supervision has been a great help for us, we are able to talk through the difficulties of our visits and get specialist help with finding good tools to help us cope with all the emotional trauma we hear and see as we visit farmers.
These last two days have been extremely hot and not at all kind to Peter’s health so we have decided to play it safe and stay indoors and do ministry by telephone and letter.
Wheeewwww! It has been a very full and varied month; it has been hard on us mentally emotionally and physically, so we have deliberately scheduled time into our calendar to rest and relax; we have realized that we are running in a marathon and not a sprint, so we have to pace ourselves to not only reach the finish line but to run the race well.
What a privilege to serve God in the Bush, bring hope to all we meet!
Windmill and cross made by Dianne from Mingoola.