I came to Australia with only 2 contacts. A college professor gave me the email address of a man at a church in Sydney. His name is Peter Gray and he and his wife Marina so generously poured out their love and gave us a home for our last 2 nights in Sydney so that we didn't need a hostel.
We went to a Bible study one night with their son, Andrew, and somehow it came up that I go to the Village Church in Dallas and get this, they had heard sermons from my preacher over the internet! They gave us the phone number of a preacher in Brisbane named Mick Porter.We arrive in Brisbane and stay the night with my new friend, Gionata Nencini. "Johnny" as I like to call him, is this wonderful Italian, about our age, who is touring the world on his motorcycle.
He has already ridden from Italy across Asia and been saving up money here in Australia for 1 year in order to ship his bike to Chile and begin his ride up through Canada. Keep an eye out for this guy. He will probably write a book about his adventures and be famous one day. Aside from all this he was the sweetest, most thoughtful host ever. He took great care of us for 2 nights and we are blessed to know him.While we were staying with him, Shasta and I were definitely feeling the pressure to get an apartment fast. So after exhausting heaps of time on the internet, and one failed attempt, we set out to meet a real estate agent to have a look at flat. We got lost, walked all day, in the cold and rain, our feet wet, miserable, pathetic, feeling hopeless and unsure about the territory this place was in. We were killing time before our appointment to look at this place when we stopped in a coffee shop. Remember, this was a horrible, no good, very bad day for us so we decided to pray. We prayed for a place to live, and long story short...the agent never showed up, we took it as a sign from God, and we gave up and went back to Johnny's place. We got to soak up some deep conversation with Johnny and I was able to forget the day and decided to worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.
That night I got a phone call from Andrea Porter, Mick Porter's wife. Not only did she offer to keep us until we found an apartment...she offered us the self-contained flat they own underneath their house to live in through December! It is a spacious apartment complete with bathroom, shower, bedrooms and kitchen. Not only is it a great place, but we are incredibly excited to go to church with this couple who has read all the same books we have, with the same views on the poor and the Gospel as us...and on top of that, I think Andrea will be my new best friend. We are alike in a thousand different ways.....It's amazing how I've been blessed with family all over the world. I have "family" in Costa Rica that took me in as their own, "family" in L.A., Haiti, Deep Ellum, you name it. I think we focus so much on the negative in the world that we no longer notice the goodness in people, and we can find that with an mustard-seed of trust.
For the sake of space I've left out several little stories and 'coincidences' from our last two weeks, but in a nutshell...God has taken what little faith I was clinging to and showed up around every corner. I am blessed, I've teared up several times today...and not just because I'm an emotional person, but because God has overwhelmed me. Just when you doubt and wonder if He listens or cares, He talks back. Don't be afraid to ask Him. Don't be too prideful to depend on Him for your next meal or your next place to sleep. Everything comes from God whether a lot or a little. The clothes, bed, food you have...He gave that to you, and He's more than willing to provide. Coming here was a good idea mom, you'll see.
Several of you have left comments and I miss you! However, I dont have all your email addresses since I left work so please feel free to write my hotmail and I will respond.
carissekay@hotmail.com
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably MORE than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen................Eph 3:20
