JW.ORG mags

Just a quick post here - a cool eperience to relate!

The kids started at the brand new school with state of the art computers and WIFI, just down the road from our place last week and it got me thinking. New school new principle and all new teachers so I decided to make an appointment to see the principle. When I met with him I explained that we are Jehovahs Witnesses and that there were a number of children within the community who attend the school who are also Jehovahs' Witnesses (from our cong!)

I asked if he knew much about us. He related he knew very little so I proceeded to present the January 2014 AWAKE! edition - JW.ORG - A Unique Web Site. I said quite often people have misconceptions of who we are and what we beleive they just know we dont celebrate XMAS birthdays and Easter  ect but they don't know why. I mentioned that this website would enable the teachers to research why we dont participate in certain celebrations but in addition understand what we actually teach in our own families.
I then took my IPAD out and said I would quickly demonstrate who easy it was to navigate and showed him a sample of the articles. He then interupted and said, can I just click on this one? -he clicked on "How to deal with Tantrums" and proceeded to read the article, I then highlighted some of the suggestions in the article like "Stay Calm"... and explained that each is backed up with a bible scripture as we base all our beliefs on the bible.
He said this information was good and was something a professional in the field would suggest. He then says " Is it at all possible I can keep this copy, in fact I would like to give one out to every teacher and suggest they use the site as a resource". If possible I would like 16 copies and I will present it to them on Tuesday at the staff meeting".....

So that was yesterday and after a few phone calls and scavanging frantically at the group this morning I collected 16 copies and delivered them with this letter this afternoon.

Dear Mr xxxxxxx,

Thank you for your time yesterday and for allowing me to demonstrate the JW.ORG website.

Just a quick reminder under the section About Us you will notice a section on the left hand side “Frequently Asked Questions” - this is where you will find many answers to questions such as “Why Don’t You Celebrate Christmas” and other common questions.

Some of the topics featured in the teenager section of the website have been extremely popular featuring articles such as “What if I am being Bullied” and a whiteboard animation entitled “Beat a Bully without using your fists” which offer practical and tried methods.

With over 890,000 unique visitors everyday around the world I encourage you and your staff to explore it regularly as it is updated constantly with new and interesting topics based on the bible and offered for free.

If you should have any other questions or require additional copies, please let me know.

Best Regards

How cool was that!  

It's all in the planning!

Finally! The kids went back to school - and believe it or not I miss them out in the ministry with me. I know crazy huh? But a few older brothers and sisters have come up to me this week and asked where they were and actually missed them too! At dinner I passed on their sentiments to Axel and Mikalya and they assured me that they plan to be out next holidays.

Needless to say I'm moving along in the planning stage so the next couple of months I will be playing catch up. Speaking of planning I have been researching (PINTEREST) ideas for Melbourne International Convention and cute gifts for delegates - see some of my hand made ideas here http://www.pinterest.com/urbanfresh/hand-made-gifts/

If you dont have pinterest check out some of these ideas!

Cookies! Everybody loves cookies!

I liked this too - could do seasoned salts....

Other ideas were map bangles/necklace or magnets I also like the idea of a luggage tag with a note inside and the Convention details printed on it.... I also saw fabric tract holders for our new tracts! My girfriend Blanche is making handmade soap and wrapping it in delighteful paper! So many ideas must have the sisters around and have a crafting session and make a plan...

So remember my call Joan? Ok well I called back on her and her house is under offer so she will be moving! I know! Anyway I took the goodnews brochure and said to her that she will need some reading material as she travels around Australia for 6 months before deciding where to live. I said "You know Joan Jehovahs Witnesses are everywhere and they will find you if you want to be found," and she replied "I know Kris I know"... It was then we some how got on the subject of blood and this is the experience she related to me..

Joan said" I must tell you something Kris, when I was in the hospital giving birth to Denella, it got complicated and I had to have a Ceasa and I lost a lot of blood... All I remember the Dr saying was what ever you do don't give her a blood transfusion (in a typical aussie accent) coz shes a Jehovahs' Witness. Well later when the nurse asked me she said I didnt know you where a Jehovahs' Witness - I said I'm not" ... I think there's something in that Kris "
Im going to miss Joan but we've promised to keep in touch via email - hopefully our friendship will pave a way for Appolos to water and Jehovah to make it grow - it may not happen over night but it will happen, it's all in the planning......

Hot weather, kids and issues.........

Where has the month gone? It's been busy here with the kids on summer holidays (in Australia kids finish late december and start the school year - 3rd Feb) and it's been a challenge for the ministry.
It's summer and it's hot! Last week it was a continuos 110 for 6 days - too hot for door to door especially with Axel and Mikayla but on the cooler days they have been doing really well, even if it's just for an hour or two and Mikayla is now my nominated scribe to take NAH's.

A couple of other things have popped up including organising assistance for my mum who has early stages of Alzeheimers. I live 45 minutes away and I am the only one of my sibblings in the truth hence there is an added dimesion to her care. We are trying to get her to stay as long as we can in her home, which she is still quite capable of doing but we know that the disease gets worse, hence are starting to prepare ourselves and mum. So she will have some one pop in a couple of days a week, and help run errands and be in the garden with her, and if I know mum it will give her an opportunity to witness informally!

This month was also very special as my best friends daughter (15yrs) was baptized, I watched how her mum sobbed with joy - certainly there is no greater joy than seeing your child make a dedication to Jehovah and I am so proud of my two older sons.

My highlight this month was our pioneer meeting with the elders today... I've kind of been a little down because I'm behind in my hours and actually had a melt down this morning. Thanks to my ever patient husband he reassured me that Jehovah was not concerned with how many hours I had but the difference I was making to the lives of people I was meeting that otherwise would not have met if I had not pioneered. This point was reiterated at the meeting this afternoon when the elder said he'd was given all our hours for review. I had to fight back the tears when he said that he did not feel it encouraging or of any benefit to discuss hours as we all had issues we are all dealing with and that he was personally encouraged by each of our efforts and Jehovah knows all our circumstances and what we have been facing.

So as much as I loved taking the kids out in the ministry with me, I am looking forward to getting back into a routine when they start school on the 3rd!!

Part of the Crew

Just thought I would post some pics taken today out witnessing - we had 10 out in our group which consisted of 5 pioneers.

Here is a view of our typical territory...

And then of course we live on the coast so we couldn't help take some snap shots as we did Rv's

He's a pic of me and Joel ( my son)

and Darren Curtis and Joel

Who knew?

It's December and it's my fourth month of regular pioneering... So hows it all going you ask well to tell you the honest truth it's harder than I thought. I'm a pretty organized and determined sort of person I knew there where going to be challenges but never in my wildest dreams! Think back to the first six months after you got baptized and now multiply it by ten. Welcome to pioneering - this is the stuff they dont warn you about.

When I think about it, all the things that I thought could be a problem, haven't been, and all the things that I thought were under control have been my biggest hurdles. Take for instance maintaining home /  life balance. It was something that Shannon was concerned about,  but I have not had a problem with housework, shopping, cooking, cleaning and attending to kids needs - done and enjoying it!

Ok had some pain on my left side - I thought I had kidney problems. After an MRI and test shows that I have facet joint degeneration in 6 spots in my spine (my mum is 72 and has it in 5 spots and has to have steroid injections for the pain) WOW what a blow all my dreams and aspirations of need greating out the window, when my husband looks at me and says "well you had the same thing last week and you still went out" So after an evening of feeling sorry for myself thought thats right, I just need to listen to my body rest when I'm feeling overloaded and have been working on my core strength and exercise.

So then throw in some financial stress - I get offered a great job in Sydney, didn't blink an eye thankyou but no thanks. But then throw a puppy that broke it's leg and required $650 emergency fees and ongoing weekly vet visits, stress levels go up a notch, and you start to wonder did I make the right decision.
Then I remembered the zone visit talk about how we can prayer to Jehovah (about a financial worries) and then suddenly get offered a job. The point I remembered is its not always to our advantage and that we should not be making full use of this world. In additional for me personally is keeping Matthew 6:33 in mind. If it's going to deter me from seeking the kingdom first because Jehovah has PROMISED that all these other things will be added to me.

What I have found the hardest is the emotional side. Dealing with the problems of your RV's as well as your own. Personality clashes and calling on the sick or elderly has taken a toll on me. This is when after you have exhausted all avenues you turn to Jehovah and say "I simply cant fix this and I need to unload". So after doing so the other night I popped into see a  family in cong who I had some suits for their boys. Anyway out of the blue they gave me so much encouragement and then said "We have such a great ministry in our territory reaping amazing results and with you and Joel pioneering Satan must be mad as". I had never thought about it that way but he must be and he knows if we can get on each others nerves with our quirks he will cause divisions. Alot of our emotional reactions are also due to ourselves personally, how we were brought up and past experiences and so I liked the comments made from one of the Gilead graduates when she said that "Sometimes we set our own limitations on how much kindness we can offer" because the natural tendency is to want something back but Jehovah is not like that. Jehovah does not have a limit.

I was reinvigorated again and had a great day out on Friday and wanted to relate this experience to you.  
We had just stopped for Mango Thickshakes and I was ready to drop the other sisters off as I had to pick the kids up from school when I noticed I had a missed call and I didn't recognise the number.  They didn't leave as message so I called the number and a women answered I explained I was just calling back as I noticed the missed call and she said " Hi Kris it's Joan"  (My mind is a sieve and I'm racking my brain and could not for the life of me remember who this woman is. She then said "you used to call on me"......

Ok so back track 7 months I used to call on Joan. When I first contacted her at the door she said she was interested. I politely asked why and she said god had done nothing to her or her family. Her 34 year old daughter was a Cocaine addict since she was 15 and was in a relationship with another woman. I sympathised and explained that I had known someone very close who also got mixed up in drugs and she started to open up and cried. I cried too. My heart went out to this poor 70yr old woman whos heart was breaking, I read a scripture and said I would return and that I did every friday for the next 2 months She gave me updates and on how things were worsening while I showed her from the bible Jehovahs comfort. Then one day I turned up and she said to me never to call again, with sobs she said not because she didnt like me or our discussions but she said to me no one could help her or her daughter. I gave her a hug and cried myself. All I could think of was the scripture in Matthew 14:14 when Jesus felt pity for them.

After pouring my heart out o Jehovah I felt the need to write her a letter, with scriptures and assuring her of my friendship. I left her with my phone number and said I would not call on her again but if she could call me if she felt the desire to..

I went and saw Joan and she proceeded to tell me that her daughter and partner have been  off the drugs for 3 months and have moved to Byron Bay NSW. She said that she had read my letter a few times and decided to get the courage to call me and share her happiness because I had showed her so much kindness. After some catching up I showed her the new website and asked her to watch the video "Why study the bible" after I left . I said to her "what if the answers where there all along" She said she would watch it and I said I will ask her a question when I see her next. Do you know what question I will ask her?

My poor Mississippi - aka "Missi"

There is a need every where....

So much has happened in the last week, where do I start?

Ok, so have you ever visited somewhere new and someone asks you where you are from and you tell them and them they ask you if know such and such?? (we always get asked if we know someone in Sydney - although we have never lived in Sydney!) So we never ask anyone if they know any one.

Two weeks ago we had a couple from Vancouver visiting, they were visiting a cousin who is not in the truth but both her and her husband came along to the meeting. I have been making it an earnest goal of mine to talk to visitors and so after the meeting introduced myself and Shannon. Well we started chatting and invited them to dinner during the week. We exchanged numbers and made arrangements.
Audrey called a few days later and had told me that her cousin has a deep love for the bible and was impressed with our meeting and how the children answered. She had hoped that she could encourage her small church to do the same. Anyway we chatted further and I had this urge to ask her if she know this family friend - well it turns out they have been friends since they were teenagers and they know Shannon's parents! So they came arround for dinner and Audrey asked me to call on her cousin when they went back ( they left last week) I said she was technically out of our territory by 4 houses but because of the many "coincidences" including them coming to our meeting, Audrey knowing a family friend... I promised I would take another pioneer sister from our cong and we would pop in.

Well today we called in to see Jenny and Andy and they are just lovely. Jenny was busy knitting dolls for an African project for children and I mentioned that I had a HUGE bag of unwanted wool. After some chatter we managed to turn it into a bible discussion and I left her with the Bible Teach book with a promise of returning with wool and to further our bible discussion!

This month has been super busy with the campaign and we are on a mission to finish of our entire territory (about 65 maps) Some great discussions have arisen.  I had an experience today where I met a young women who grew up in the truth but her family stopped going to meetings when she was about 12. It came up that her father passed away 10 years ago and had been inactive due to "humanly issues" as she put it. I sympathized with her and said there have been many changes in the way things are handled and said that Jehovah uses imperfect people to deliver a perfect message.  I asked her if she believed in the resurrection and she said yes. I then re counted the story of Lazarus and how Jesus gave way to tears - not because Lazarus was dead but because he saw how Martha was grieving and explained that Jehovah is the God of all comfort. She was clearly touched and I asked her if she had a bible. She replied no so I pointed out the JW.org website on the back of the leaflet and said I could come back and show her some of the features including some great videos for the kids which she was excited about (I didn't have my ipad with me!) She then asked me if it had an online bible! I assured her I would be back and we could further our discussion.

Not a bad day in a territory full of "I'm not interested".....

Here's a Picture of our new found friends Audrey and Doug.

With Every Goal, There's A Starting Point

Our family loves to travel and we have had the opportunity to travel to so many places and meet people from all over the world. To us planning the journey is the exciting part, where we are going to go and where we will stay, what we will do and of course what food we will eat!

Life can be considered as a journey and as we make our way through these last days we have an opportunity to view this as exciting times as we look forward to the new system.

There are however many places which we would love to visit and explore and experience. One such place is Cuenca, Ecuador, and it is our goal one day to serve as "needgreaters" even for a short time.

But how do you go from regular family in the cong with jobs and kids to setting your heart and mind to serving where the need is greater?

Have you ever heard the term "virtual tourism"? 

Virtual tourism is the activity of "visiting" sites of interest over the Internet without having to physically travel to them and why would any one want to do that? Well you have to admit, this world is built on glossy mags showcasing the very best the world has to offer - including travel destinations. The internet has provided an opportunity to take a closer look at places that we may never have considered or thought was out of our reach. By looking, reading fist hand travel accounts we get an idea of what it would be like.

The society's website, www.jw.org is an amazing example of how far we have come and how it is helping people from all over the world come to know Jehovah.

Over the past 8 months (since we had that dvd that was shown during the Co's visit) I have been reading about "needgreaters" from all around the world and their wonderful experiences, building up a desire to visit some of the places mentioned.

So even if it may be a far off goal in a far far distant land, our desire only keeps growing everyday. In the mean time we working hard in our own territory finding honest hearted ones and enjoying the rich blessings and ...... we have a starting point.

Here are just some of my favorite blogs  -

http://batesfamilytravels.blogspot.com.au
http://ilynca.blogspot.com.au
http://charlietaniadakota.blogspot.com.au
http://mattnrachprisco.blogspot.com.au
http://jeremynelena.com
http://ofalpacasandothermatters.blogspot.com.au