An arrival we never expected
Hello from Redding, California, USA!
We pray you are all well and full of hope! I will start by apologising that it has taken so long to pen this post, it won't be a long one as I am typing it out on a phone keyboard and we all know that can be challenging!
As I'm sure you have seen on the news, a few days before we were due to leave Australia a huge wildfire (bushfire) broke out just outside of Redding. It made it into the town a day or so later and a thousand plus homes were lost and a few lost their lives too! In God's grace they contained the fire around Redding and now it is still burning but mostly in the national park.
The unit we were due to move into was in an compulsory evacuation area and so our landlords asked if we could put off our arrival a few days but as anyone who has gone overseas knows it was just too hard. So we came but stayed 2 nights in San Francisco to allow a little extra time!
On arrival in Redding it was obvious there was a fire burning, driving on the highway into the smoke cloud that has enveloped the town for almost 2 weeks now! There are signs around the town thanking the fire fighters and first responders and streams of fire engines in the town.
Needless to say it has been a strange arrival and not what we expected! Facemasks outside, church cancelled, moved to other locations and people in a state of shock throughout the town! Chris has had the privilege of volunteering in the distribution centre at Bethel Church and also training and taking part in Ashing out, which is where you sift through the ashes of people's homes and try to find items. He said it was strange what was of value to people in the ashes like cupboard door knobs, small pieces of crockery and weights from a grandfather clock! He is out again this morning and we pray that it is a blessing for the family he is with!
Before we left Australia we were really blessed to have made contact with 2 other Aussie families who were also coming over to BSSM this year. We have been absolutely blown away with how we have all supported each other in this time of change and how the kids have all become great friends! It has been so nice to share info together to be able to leave kids with another mum while you drive 2 1/2 hrs to Sacramento at 2pm in the afternoon to try and buy a car and all that crazy stuff you do when you first arrive in a new country! These families have quickly become long time family friends and we are so super blessed!
What's coming up for us:
Monday coming (20th) the kids start school at Bethel Christian School and they are so excited! What an amazing year they will have. We go to meet their teachers on Thursday afternoon which will be very exciting!
Chris and I will register for school the following Wednesday, then classes start on Thursday. Yesterday we were assigned our revival group Pastor which is a big deal and very exciting!
I will try and blog again soon as to keep you updated, it will be much easier to do once we have a laptop!
Please continue to pray for finances, God has so graciously provided for us up until now and we absolutely know he will continue into the future! Also pray for the Charlee and Declan as they start school, pray they will make some great friends, that they will experience the love of God like never before and they would have a grace to learn everything they need to learn!
Bless you all, Thankyou for your support and love, we feel it every day!
Much love and blessing,
Elle, Chris, Charlee and Declan xxx
Ps I've included some fun photos for you!
We pray you are all well and full of hope! I will start by apologising that it has taken so long to pen this post, it won't be a long one as I am typing it out on a phone keyboard and we all know that can be challenging!
As I'm sure you have seen on the news, a few days before we were due to leave Australia a huge wildfire (bushfire) broke out just outside of Redding. It made it into the town a day or so later and a thousand plus homes were lost and a few lost their lives too! In God's grace they contained the fire around Redding and now it is still burning but mostly in the national park.
The unit we were due to move into was in an compulsory evacuation area and so our landlords asked if we could put off our arrival a few days but as anyone who has gone overseas knows it was just too hard. So we came but stayed 2 nights in San Francisco to allow a little extra time!
On arrival in Redding it was obvious there was a fire burning, driving on the highway into the smoke cloud that has enveloped the town for almost 2 weeks now! There are signs around the town thanking the fire fighters and first responders and streams of fire engines in the town.
Needless to say it has been a strange arrival and not what we expected! Facemasks outside, church cancelled, moved to other locations and people in a state of shock throughout the town! Chris has had the privilege of volunteering in the distribution centre at Bethel Church and also training and taking part in Ashing out, which is where you sift through the ashes of people's homes and try to find items. He said it was strange what was of value to people in the ashes like cupboard door knobs, small pieces of crockery and weights from a grandfather clock! He is out again this morning and we pray that it is a blessing for the family he is with!
Before we left Australia we were really blessed to have made contact with 2 other Aussie families who were also coming over to BSSM this year. We have been absolutely blown away with how we have all supported each other in this time of change and how the kids have all become great friends! It has been so nice to share info together to be able to leave kids with another mum while you drive 2 1/2 hrs to Sacramento at 2pm in the afternoon to try and buy a car and all that crazy stuff you do when you first arrive in a new country! These families have quickly become long time family friends and we are so super blessed!
What's coming up for us:
Monday coming (20th) the kids start school at Bethel Christian School and they are so excited! What an amazing year they will have. We go to meet their teachers on Thursday afternoon which will be very exciting!
Chris and I will register for school the following Wednesday, then classes start on Thursday. Yesterday we were assigned our revival group Pastor which is a big deal and very exciting!
I will try and blog again soon as to keep you updated, it will be much easier to do once we have a laptop!
Please continue to pray for finances, God has so graciously provided for us up until now and we absolutely know he will continue into the future! Also pray for the Charlee and Declan as they start school, pray they will make some great friends, that they will experience the love of God like never before and they would have a grace to learn everything they need to learn!
Bless you all, Thankyou for your support and love, we feel it every day!
Much love and blessing,
Elle, Chris, Charlee and Declan xxx
Ps I've included some fun photos for you!
Charlee at Potem falls
Red sun and smoky sky out the front of our unit
Declan opening his long awaited RC car for his birthday
Upclose of the red sun.
