Driving in the City

Sooo....tonite for various reasons we had to drive into the city.  We googled directions without tolls, but somehow we ended up on roads with tolls that don't accept cash....and of course we do not yet have an e-tag...oh yeah and Sydney had a blackout which meant the traffic was really congested and the traffic lights were not operating.   On the way home, we talked three of our house mates to adventure home with us.  One received a gift of bird poop on her head, one lead us out of the city with many u-turns, and the other laughed at us trying to drive on the left side of the road.  Matt ran a redlight and I panicked for the whole car.  We are still on the way home...hopefully we will get there soon and safe...

Falling off the face of the ... internet!!

Warning--matt and tiff will probably be too busy/tired over the next few days to be found on skype, facebook, or any other form of telecommunication for the next 7 days.  Do not fear--we will be back!!  Colour Your World Women's Conference starts tomorrow morning.  We will catch a bus at 9 am into the city and return late tomorrow night.  Then get up the next morning and repeat.  Matt is serving as a volunteer caterer and Tiffany is a hostess to all of the visiting women.  The venue (Sydney Entertainment Center) holds 12,500 people and the conference has been sold out since we got here. Wow!!! we are really excited about what God has planned for this week.  The first conference ends on Saturday just in time for us to pack the arena again with our church members for the live album recording on Sunday night.  (Can't wait for you all to hear some of the awesome new songs we have been enjoying) Again, Matt is serving with the team that will minister to New Christians.  The second women's conference starts up on Monday and goes until Wednesday night.  Matt will serve in this conference, but Tiffany is back to work with the kiddies at the childcare center.  Overall, church plans on ministering to over 20,000 women this weekend...so...if you can't find us...you know why...

P.S. We will be checking my e-mail for pics of baby Sanchez.  I assume baby is born by now.  I am anxious to know all about the little one.  Congratulations!!!

Connect group

Every other Tuesday (or once a fortnight) we meet with our connect group which is a mix of married couples and single guys and girls.  We usually have about 20-25 people.  The best part is we host it at our house so we don't have to go anywhere, they all come to us.  This week we had a dinner night and the guys decided to serve the girls as we get ready for our women's conference this weekend.  The guys were so great they did the prep work and served us and (since it was at our house) Matt was the best and did most of the cleanup.  Here are a few pics of our night...

Paychecks!!

Praise the Lord!!! Tiffany got her first Australian payslip today....Yeah!!!

Methuselah

Methuselah=Freedom!!!
Pray that he stay in good spirits and live a looooooong life :)

A NEW CAR!!!!

Ok so it is not really NEW, but it is new to us.  We are so excited that we were able to get a car today. We got a Daihatsu Applause  It is going to be such a help.  We have been relying on the unreliable public transport to get around and hiring taxis to go grocery shopping.  What freedom this will be...Yeah!!! 

Tiffany has also been blessed to be working a bit more.  She has picked up some hours so this week at the Hillsong childcare center as well as violin lesson and tutoring.  That is a huge help.  

We had lunch with a great couple from church on Sunday afternoon.  We enjoyed a nice Aussie barbie.  (No kangaroo meat yet, but I am sure that will come soon.)  And we will have some friends over tomorrow night as well.  Nothing like a few friends to help settle in.  Anyhow,  we are doing really well.  School is still good. Matt is looking for work so please pray that it all works out smoothly and quickly.  We love you all and miss you dearly.  Thanks for all of your love.

Matt's First Day Playing

Here are a few pics of Matt playing for the first time in the Chinese extension service.  Oh yeah, in case you weren't sure I added a picture of some school work getting done.  I had to feed the kids this morning as they were finishing their first assignment.  Enjoy!

To My Chem Students

Thanks so much for your comments...I hope you all continue to work hard like you did when I was there.  I think of you guys often (especially when I am tutoring chemistry :)...unfortunately, she doesn't laugh at my jokes, idk.  You are all lovely and brilliant people.  Continue doing your best and you will aspire to do great things.  Australia is a beautiful country.  I hope you all have the opportunity to visit here sometime in your lifetime. (Oh yeah--all the students in public schools here have to wear uniforms, buy there own textbooks, and they don't all have air conditioners in their schools...you guys have it made--better appreciate it)

Mrs. Scott

Life in Australia

Well we are finally getting settled into life here.  We have had a lot going on this past couple of weeks.  Matt is in full school mode and is learning a lot and has really enjoyed meeting new people who share his passion for worship.  On the weekends we are involved in the Chinese extension service for the church.  It is really interesting as the service is in both English and Mandarin.  We have learned a few new word in the past two weeks.  This week, Matt is on the schedule to play his guitar in the service.  We will also start working with the "Street Teams" which are a group that go to local communities on Saturday mornings to serve the community through relationships and service projects.  

Hillsong is beginning the process of recording a new album, which is really exciting.  There are some great new songs coming your way soon.  We had the first recorded service this past Sunday, and then we will have a large recording on March 29. It has been really neat to see and hear how the album can be used as a tool to reach people that may otherwise be unreachable and the impact it has had on the world.  

Tiffany has enjoyed having a break from work, but is ready to get busy.  She has been tutoring some chemistry, and recently found out that she will be working at the childcare center at the church...which is great!  Tiffany has also been able to get involved in  Sisterhood which is the women's ministry at the church.  This week she went to sisterhood united in the evening where she was able to worship with 2,000 women.  Pretty cool stuff!!

We are starting to find our way around town, and went and test drove a car today...that was an experience.  We are learning a lot...like driving on the left side of the road, registration is like $700 a year (eek--they say it includes pollution inspection etc...but that is crazy), and the cars don't have miles on them...it is in kilometers (is 200,000 kms good or bad?) Anyhow...we are learning.

Anyhow, we are really loving Australia.  We were able to travel a little this past weekend and saw some amazing beautiful places in Australia.  Unfortunately, I forgot our camera :(.  I guess we will have to make the trip again :).  I hope this makes up for my extended blog break.  We love you all and miss you lots.  Loving the comments...