Well, greetings from Down Under once again. I've been here almost two weeks now, and things are starting to get a little more sane. I've actually started to get into a routine of some sort, which is good. It almost feels like home...but still not really. We may be allies, but this is definitely not the U.S.

In many cases, there is actually a lot of anti-American sentiment. And everybody, I mean EVERYBODY hates George Bush. In most cases they are just trying to get you going, or just plain make an argument out of nothing. I've finally learned how to diffuse the situation though. Whenever someone asks me whether I like George Bush or not, I simply reply, "The Bible states that we should respect those that are placed in authority over us. President Bush is in authority over me, therefore I will respect him." This seems to end the arguments for two reasons. One, they are Christians and they realize I am standing on the immovable rock of Scripture; or two, they absolutely hate Christians and they think I am nuts for qouting a useless book. Either way though, it gets the job done.

God has still been faithful in not only my prayers for rain, but in all other things as well. The last time I prayed for rain, it rained for two days straight. He is just overflowing in His blessings while I am here. It makes sense though. You know what Hebrews says. "Without faith it is impossible to please God."

For a while I was a little depressed. It actually wasn't homesickness or anything like that, but something else entirely. In my arrogance, I thought that I wasn't being used like I should be. I felt like I should have been at the forefront of the ministry I was involved in. I felt like maybe I wasn't doing important things. I was doing stuff like cleaning the worship rooms, organizing slides for the powerpoint during services, and helping with RE in the primary schools. I really felt like I wasn't doing what God had me here for. Then, it was as if God leaned down and spoke to me with that "still small voice". I realized then that God was teaching me how to appreciate the little things. Yes, I wasn't doing anything in the lime light, but I was doing the things that needed to be done. God was humbling me, and showing me that I should be content in whatever He had for me to do. When I finally realized this, my anxiety left me instantly. I am now totally committed to serving Him in whatever way He has for me while I am here. In fact, I am convinced that this is the reason tonight's youth event went so well. I felt like we were on the verge of a good conversation (which is a good thing for these kids).

I do have a few prayer requests for you guys. The main thing we have going on right now is just lack of any biblical knowledge. It is amazing how little these guys know about the Bible. This is to be expected, and is therefore not really all that suprising. The problem then is that they are just not hungry for the Word. They've lost that new-found eagerness of accepting the faith, and they are now very weak in what they believe. Just please pray that they would start to care. Pray that somehow God would plant a need for the Word within their hearts, so they will begin to desire Him. If they'll just get hungry, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to feed them. Also, I will be preaching this Sunday night at 6:00. Pray that God will speak through me as I attempt to impart the passion that I have for Christ. (Don't forget that 6:00 on Sunday night for me is 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning for you. So don't pray late! ha ha). Lastly, just pray that God will open up opportunities for me to share the gospel with people. The ground here is very hard, so many of the gospel seeds have fallen by the wayside. Continue to pray that God would give His harvester success in the field. I love you all and I continue to desire your love and prayers. Thanks to everyone who has been posting to encourage me. It means a lot.

Servant of Christ,

Andrew