The Refuge

Hey everyone,

Aloha and G'day!

As I begin to write this update I'm in awe of God's grace and mercy; that He continually forgives and transforms our lives is mind-boggling!  James 1:18 says "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

According to God's good pleasure, His will, He brings us out of the kingdom of darkness to present us to the world as a beacon of hope. This He did by the word of truth; when He spoke to you and me, we heard His voice, heeded His call and were then translated from darkness into light so that we might present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice (a kind of firstfruits).  Simply put, God saves us to bring Him pleasure.  In spite of faults and failures we bring God pleasure…amazing!!!

Manly, above the Corso. 
ICMS is the castle top/center, where I work.

So what's happening with us?  The kids have been on school holidays for the past three weeks, they return back to school this week.  We almost made it through the break without incident until Sunday…Malena fractured her ankle in her soccer game.  Bummer!!!  Hopefully it’s a simple break;  she'll see a specialist this week which will tell us the extent of the injury.

Some great news; we've bought our plane tickets to the USA!!  Christy and the kids will be in California for most of December and January.  I'll be arriving a couple days before Christmas and returning mid-January, visiting Maui for a few days on my way back.  We're really stoked to be visiting family and friends as well as familiar comforts of the States. While in the  States we're planning to attend the mission's conference at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in January.

We're praying about bible study options with Christian Surfers, doing a weekly study and when/where to start it.  Please be praying about what God wants us to do as the desire for ministry and burden for people are increasing but nothing is clear at the moment.

A few weeks ago I had a meeting with the founder of the college (the big boss!).  Long story short, he told me he thought I had a great opportunity to share the gospel with students at the college.  Isn't that unreal…the boss has given me the green light to share the gospel on this secular college!!!  So last week I met with a troubled student and shared the gospel with him, he prayed to receive Jesus!  I encouraged him to read the gospel of Mark, rang him the next day and he said he'd read the first four chapters and was liking it.  Please keep him prayer.  An hour after him another student came to see me because she'd been having some troubles.  I shared a passage from the bible and prayed for her.  She arrived in tears and left with a smile…Praise the Lord! And just last night she sent me an email and shared how God had spoken to her over the weekend and given her peace about her situation. I've also been able to share my testimony with some colleagues and talk about the Lord with them.  God is definitely doing some things on the campus.

I've been ministering to this girl (Kate) for the past year at
St Matthews and ICMS.  She's come to faith in Christ and
will likely be the next class president.  Election Day is next week.

A few weeks ago I met with a group of students (nearly 30) and teachers from our kids' school for evangelism training.  Each year their school sends teams to an Aboriginal Community in Northern Australia to preach the gospel and they've asked me to train and prepare them for evangelism.  The feedback from teachers and results from students has been very positive; kids' lives are being transformed as they step out to obey the Lord.  It's really cool!

Christy and Kathy along the shore of Pt Stephens, about 3.5hrs
north of Sydney.  We got away for a weekend and stayed at
Kathy's parents' house with the McLeans.

We're still with only one vehicle and praying for a second.  In the meantime I'm commuting to/from work via the bus which makes for some interesting conversations with people and a good amount of time to read. 

We'd like to thank all of you who pray for us and support us financially; we appreciate your partnering together with us in the work.  Praise the Lord!

Aloha and Blessings,

The Halls

PS, if you're a friend on facebook go to my wall and check out Malena's video she made for her drama class.  It's titled "Let me tell you a story."  You'll be blessed!

Malena having a break in filming.