Richard's blog

A very important day. I spent the day assisting my wife run an orientation for kids whose parents are going overseas as missionaries, church planters to the unreached. It must be a strange to have such parents, so in love with God that they are willing to go to the strangest places in faraway countries to tell others about the Lord Jesus.

Christine just phoned. She works long hours with people from refugee backgrounds. People from Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq. She has a normal job, does normal things with them, they work together because they have to get the job done. Christine has a deep love for people from the Middle east and often prays that God would help her show Christ to her fellow work friends.

It is with great sadness that we report that the family of Betel volunteer Bian Tan do not believe she will be found alive. They are proceeding with a memorial service this week. Our prayers and thoughts are with them and the Betel family.

The fire also destroyed the Betel property in Marysville. Thankfully two families and seven residents escaped and are now temporarily housed in Melbourne.

Betel (www.betel.org), a church planting field of WEC focusing on substance abusers, has suffered in the recent massive bushfires in Victoria. On Saturday evening the leaders, their families and the men in the program were forced to suddenly evacuate the Betel property north-east of Melbourne, in the face of fires which went on to destroy the nearby town.