G’day mate! We are writing from the chilly city of Canberra! On Tuesday 13^th September we landed in Australia and briefly explored the sights of Sydney before making our way here, the location of our new adventure with RescueNet.

After Samoa we returned to Fiji with the intention of completing all of the duties and projects that we felt important before our departure for Australia. And so for 2 months we wrote a medical paper, planned future outreaches, managed the accounts, hosted visiting teams, repaired broken equipment, organised medical supplies, wrote guidelines for ethics, computer systems and finances, and various other random tasks. It’s just a part of life in a small organisation that there are many duties but a limited number of people to fulfil them, and so often square pegs go in round holes. At times we would be frustrated at the need to meet responsibilities that we don’t feel equipped for, at other times it would be very satisfying to see the fruits of our labour. But either way we just wanted to make sure that when we moved on we wouldn’t be leaving behind any loose ends.

It was with heavy hearts that we said goodbye to our Marine Reach family. We’ve been so blessed to have been surrounded by men and women of such Godly character over the last two years. From them we’ve learnt much about hospitality, generosity, giving grace to others, trusting God and serving with patience and humility.

From a small location on a Fijian island to the capital of Australia – not surprisingly we’re having to do some adjusting. As we jumped off the bus with nothing more than a little luggage and a bucketful of hope for this new season, we were warmly welcomed by Mark and Robin Cockburn with whom we will be working in RescueNet. They had spent a considerable effort on our room prior to our arrival and have been showing us around these last few days. Despite our northern European roots our first stop was to try and find some warm clothes! The YWAM Canberra base is an old monastery and hosts an admin block, library, meeting rooms, community food bank, work shed and living space for staff and guests. In some ways it feels like we’re back to living in student halls, but it’s a quiet atmosphere with easy access to nearby nature walks.

This week we hope to submit our visa applications, arrange health care, open a bank account, buy SIM cards and set up our desks in the office. Please pray that God will provide us with good friendships and wisdom as we find our feet and look to serve in this new place.

Once we get going in our new roles we’ll write a bit more about our work and life with RescueNet Australia! For now you can check out the (soon to be updated) website at rescuenet.org.au