Queenslanders

So…we are back in our Southern Hemisphere home. Many of you are under the impression that we own a place in Brisbane. We do not. The hospital rents a very small 2-room (plus bathroom) furnished unit for us in the inner city (Central Business District), which is also walking distance to the hospital.
Our unit is on the third floor with no elevator, etc. but we always choose #37 for the view. We would love to have visitors, but would need to temporarily swap with friends for a house in the ‘burbs…not a problem though. Just let us know when you’re coming and we’ll put the kettle on and we’ll all have tea!
(rare thunder storm—taken from our balcony in January ’07)
(sunrise from our balcony)
The hospital also provides us with a car and all the petrol we use ($1.19/Liter)—no matter the destination. Traffic is heavy at times in the city and I am left-lane challenged, so I walk or take public transportation wherever I go. When I get lost on foot, it’s kind of a “drama”, so when we arrived this time we bought a Tom Tom One XL which is a hand-held GPS system—it even has “walking path” directions. We chose an Australian voice because he directs in the metric system.
A fact or two:
Queensland (the state where we live) is growing by 1600 people/week. Brisbane, our city of 2 million) is the second fastest growing city in the western world (next only to Phoenix, AZ), and receives approx 1000 of those new residents. Many are coming up from the southern state of New South Wales (where Sydney is) because it’s a bit cheaper here. The locals call them “Mexicans”. J

Gene is in full swing at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. He’s been here enough (5 times) that he sort of hits the ground running. He does exclusively Anatomic Pathology (no Clinical) and especially enjoys teaching Pathology registrars (residents). We tentatively plan to return to the States late October and come back here mid January through early April.
Gene has also been asked to sit in on the church’s session meetings and will be teaching/discipling a few men on Monday nights. I will be teaching The Beatitudes/ Sermon On The Mount inductively weekly to a group of ladies as well as a smaller evening discipleship class. Our desire and prayer is that God would use us to encourage the saints here as well as effectively share the gospel message with the lost…(and there are many). We will be officially joining Christ Community Church (PCA church plant) in an associate capacity this Sunday. This church began 3 ½ years ago as an outgrowth of a “uni” ministry and because there was a change in vision within the previous one. We attended CCC for the first time just 3 months after it began, so have watched it grow. (below is a picture of “morning tea” which is held between the singing part of worship and the sermon.)
By the way, Jerry Bridges was here for a conference was such a blessing! Thank you for praying. He is such a humble, godly man! When I first studied Trusting God, I began highlighting in pink places in my Bible where I saw God’s sovereignty. Now I have a pink Bible! J What a privilege we have to call God our Father!

We are here in AU’s winter. My brain can understand a cold July and Aug, but has a hard time getting around actually calling it “Winter”. Never-the-less, it seems our most recent visit (Jan to early April) was AU’s hottest summer in 50 years and now we’re experiencing their coldest winter. It’s gotten to about 2 C some nights—mid thirties F. The air is dry but the gusts are chilly. Many of the Queenslander homes don’t have any heat or air, so I’m sure people living in them are quite uncomfortable.
”Queenslanders” usually have no insulation, are on stilts, and have only the floor boards between their feet and the outside air. They were designed for the hot summer days—not for chilly winters. Winter day-time temperatures are very comfortable—55-75 range. Please pray for rain…worst drought in recorded history. The government has said 150 Liters of water/person/household/day, and there is a significant fine for excess usage. The City Council has even sent little 4 minute “egg timers” to each household to be used when taking showers. The shower heads are designed to put out lots of spray using a minimum of water, and some even recycle the water within the shower system or washer rinse cycle so it gets double use. Our bathroom has no vent, so the bathroom window is permanently open about 4-6” at the top. I am not inclined to shut off the water whilst I soap up and/or lather my hair because there’s a lot of cold air moving around in there! Pretty wimpy compared to those who have no heat in any room.
The water “catchments” (dams) for Brisbane are now down to 17%…so it is getting quite serious.

Regarding seasons, 5 year old grandson Chandler told us goodbye and that he’d see us soon. I was trying to explain that it was summer now (in the States). Did he know what season came next? “Yes, fall!” I was pleased and surprised that he knew his seasons. Since we won’t see each other until Thanksgiving, I asked him if he knew what came after Fall. “Yes!” he beamed, “Flood!” I laughed and laughed and decided the “Walk Through The Old Testament” (Creation; Fall; Flood….) was much more significant than knowing the seasons. J
Well, good on ya!