Dearest Family,
Greetings from Sydney, Australia! On Monday afternoon, October 28th, Elena & I boarded an 11 hour flight from London to Bangkok! After a long 24 hour layover in Bangkok, we flew another 11 hours to Sydney! We arrived in Sydney at 7:30AM on October 31st – Halloween Day! We received a glorious SoldOut Movement Welcome from Joe & Kerry Willis – the Austral-China World Sector Leaders and the vivacious Sydney Disciples! Upon landing, Kerry shared in joy with us that Katrina – a gifted single professional – was baptized the night before!
November is Spring in Sydney and everything was a vivid green with my beloved and multitudinous Jacaranda trees – originally from Brazil – in their full purple bloom! Australians call them the “exam trees” because they bloom at exam time! What a lovely time of year for the Austral-China Missions Conference – LIVING THE DREAM!
Speakers Dinner was at 1:00PM at the Heroes of Waterloo Pub! So awesome to see Chris & Sonja Chloupek of Orlando, Princeton & Joy George of Las Vegas, Joel & Courtney Parlour of Seattle, Mike & Brittany Parlour of Seattle, Nick & Denise Bordieri of Phnom Penh, and Mason & Nathalie Fetelika – members of the Sydney Mission Team! Elena & I were blessed to be seated at the lunch with Chi Leong, and the newlyweds – Dean & Fang Ha! What a terrific time of fellowship!
That evening at 7:00PM was the Church Builders Workshop (CBW) was held in the Tramsheds Event Center!
After a break and a song, I was privileged to preach, DARE TO DREAM!
November is Spring in Sydney and everything was a vivid green with my beloved and multitudinous Jacaranda trees – originally from Brazil – in their full purple bloom! Australians call them the “exam trees” because they bloom at exam time! What a lovely time of year for the Austral-China Missions Conference – LIVING THE DREAM!
Speakers Dinner was at 1:00PM at the Heroes of Waterloo Pub! So awesome to see Chris & Sonja Chloupek of Orlando, Princeton & Joy George of Las Vegas, Joel & Courtney Parlour of Seattle, Mike & Brittany Parlour of Seattle, Nick & Denise Bordieri of Phnom Penh, and Mason & Nathalie Fetelika – members of the Sydney Mission Team! Elena & I were blessed to be seated at the lunch with Chi Leong, and the newlyweds – Dean & Fang Ha! What a terrific time of fellowship!
That evening at 7:00PM was the Church Builders Workshop (CBW) was held in the Tramsheds Event Center!
25 year old American Samoan twins – Anneliese Haleck was in Hilo and Lottie was baptized Honolulu!
Upon entering the trendy Tramsheds Event Hall – where the CBW was held – we were greeted by sisters serving tea and homemade Chinese dumplings by Felice Ma! A very tasty light dinner!
Then came the Cultural Dances by the disciples: A Chinese Drum crew entered and from the back came the dragon (Chi and Amos Du)! A beautiful Chinese Presentation and a Samoan Dance!
Upon entering the trendy Tramsheds Event Hall – where the CBW was held – we were greeted by sisters serving tea and homemade Chinese dumplings by Felice Ma! A very tasty light dinner!
Then came the Cultural Dances by the disciples: A Chinese Drum crew entered and from the back came the dragon (Chi and Amos Du)! A beautiful Chinese Presentation and a Samoan Dance!
Then came the captivating “Haka Dual” between the Samoans led by Scotty Iakopo and the New Zealanders led by Sean Valenzuela! To close, Scotty and Ian Clague of the New Zealanders closed ranks, touched heads, and then the two groups danced as one… only in the Kingdom!
After a break and a song, I was privileged to preach, DARE TO DREAM!
Following another break, five short charges were given: Vision To Pray Like Jesus – Chi, Vision To Write Powerfully – Elena, Vision To Make Deans Reality – the Georges, Vision To Mend Broken Dreams – Chris, and Vision To Change Your Character – Mason!
Then the evening closed with Mike leading the song, “Men Who Dream” with Star doing the beginning solo! I can always tell where a church or a conference is at by the singing! This closing song was sung deafeningly loud, so I knew that first night was a “home run!”
On Friday morning, we arose early to be close to the Lord, as today was a very full day! After several phone calls and emails in the morning, we had a very encouraging lunch with Princeton & Joy and Mason & Nathalie! Nathalie worked as Elena & my assistant and as the co-editor of the Good News Email for two years! She is a daughter to us and Mason is my “Uso!”
Then we spent the next three hours with Joe & Kerry discussing future plans in the Austral -China World Sector, as well as how they and us were doing spiritually. After arriving at the site for the Austral-China Missions Conference, we quickly readied ourselves for dinner at 6:00PM and the evening program that started at 7:30PM!
From the first song, the singing was awesome… And through the evening, the volume kept going up! Following came the Welcome and Flag Presentation of all of the countries in the Austral-China all overseen by Dean & Fang Ha!
After a tremendous Video about the Austral-China World Sector, Elena & I shared Good News From Around The World!
Following our half an hour presentation, Kerry appointed two Women’s Ministry Leaders! Of note, as Audrey Lam was expressing her appreciation for all who had impacted her to go into the ministry! When she thanked her husband, Audrey spoke in Mandarin as Dean is Chinese! Then we sang, We Love You With The Love Of The Lord” to the sisters! (The other sister must remain anonymous as she is our Crouching Dragon #2 WML… our first Chinese WML!)
After a short break, Scotty Iakopo preached on, “Is Jesus’ Dream Your Dream?” His two
points were: 1) A Dream Out Of Our Minds and 2) A Dream For All! Scotty shared in-depth about when he was a baby Christian that “going into the ministry” was burden because he had lost his gratitude for his baptism, and he wanted to keep “his dreams“ more than Jesus’ dream!
Then we spent the next three hours with Joe & Kerry discussing future plans in the Austral -China World Sector, as well as how they and us were doing spiritually. After arriving at the site for the Austral-China Missions Conference, we quickly readied ourselves for dinner at 6:00PM and the evening program that started at 7:30PM!
From the first song, the singing was awesome… And through the evening, the volume kept going up! Following came the Welcome and Flag Presentation of all of the countries in the Austral-China all overseen by Dean & Fang Ha!
After a tremendous Video about the Austral-China World Sector, Elena & I shared Good News From Around The World!
Following our half an hour presentation, Kerry appointed two Women’s Ministry Leaders! Of note, as Audrey Lam was expressing her appreciation for all who had impacted her to go into the ministry! When she thanked her husband, Audrey spoke in Mandarin as Dean is Chinese! Then we sang, We Love You With The Love Of The Lord” to the sisters! (The other sister must remain anonymous as she is our Crouching Dragon #2 WML… our first Chinese WML!)
After a short break, Scotty Iakopo preached on, “Is Jesus’ Dream Your Dream?” His two
points were: 1) A Dream Out Of Our Minds and 2) A Dream For All! Scotty shared in-depth about when he was a baby Christian that “going into the ministry” was burden because he had lost his gratitude for his baptism, and he wanted to keep “his dreams“ more than Jesus’ dream!
Following his fantastic lesson, the Prayer War Room opened in the Banksia Office!
Saturday, we awoke afresh and ready for the days events! However, I received a message from Cory Blackwell that our dear sister and his precious mom was on the brink of the Jordan. We cried as we prayed over the phone.
Saturday, we awoke afresh and ready for the days events! However, I received a message from Cory Blackwell that our dear sister and his precious mom was on the brink of the Jordan. We cried as we prayed over the phone.
At 9:00AM were the Men’s and Women’s Programs! Both had the same structure: An opening speech on WHY ARE YOU AFRAID TO DREAM? This lessons was preached by Mike Underhill and Kerry Willis respectively! I heard terrific comments from Elena about Kerry’s speech! I was blessed to hear Mike Underhill’s lesson! His three points were: 1) FACE THE DREAM, 2) EMBRACE THE DREAM, and 3) DON’T WASTE THE DREAM! His main text was 2 Kings 4 – about the Shunammite Woman and her miraculous child! Mike concluded his “catchy” lesson with the bottom line: “F” from FACE, “E” from EMBRACE, and “W” from WASTE – FEW – Few truly dream God’s dream! So true!
After a break, 6 Admonitions were delivered on varying titles from Bible Study That Gives Vision to Finding The One To Dream With!
The close out speech was DREAM NEW DREAMS by Dean and Elena!
Then came lunch with the Valenzuelas! At 2:00PM, Elena & I were privileged to meet with the Crouching Tiger #2 Mission Team!
At 3:00PM was a special Married Session entitled, Dream Marriages by Chris & Sonja! Though we were planning on attending, Joe asked if Elena & I could meet with Pete Wade’s mom!
A delicious Dinner was served promptly at 6:00PM! At 7:00PM was MERCY Night! This was highlighted by the MERCY Video of the CSW MERCY Oroganage in Phnom Penh immediately followed by the MERCY Moment given by Nick & Denise – the heroes of the faith that are the Directors of the MERCY Orphanage!
That night, we heard Sean preach the Word in HOW TO KEEP DREAMING!
Then we heard a short but incredible concert from Joe’s & Kerry’s son – Luke – and his band, the Lucid Hoops!
The glorious Sunday Worship Service began at 9:00AM with angelic singing, an enthusiastic Welcome by Dean & Fang, an International Prayer, and a Flag Ceremony of the Austral-China Nations! There were 146 in attendance!
The touching Communion was given by Scotty & Jenna Iakopo and the Contribution Charge was inspirationally delivered by Sean & Teigan! Sean emphatically stated, “Contribution fuels dreams!”
Following, Joe Willis preached one of the most insightful and convicting sermons that I have ever heard entitled, TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM! His premise of God and God alone is enough for us was ironically illustrated through the life of Judas! Joe’s points were: 1) Judas – A Man For Whom God’s Love Was Never Enough, 2) Judas – A Man For Whom God’s Comfort Was Never Enough, and 3) Judas – A Man For Whom God’s Comfort Was Never Enough! Joe went on to hypothesize that since Judas was the only Apostle not from Galilee, he was God’s first choice to be the Apostle to the Gentiles!
To close the service, Nick & I had the immense privilege to pray over the Crouching Tiger #2 Mission Team as the Spirit sent it off to Mainland China!
That evening at 7:00PM was the much anticipated Kingdom Banquet Ship Cruise of breath-taking Sydney Harbor!
The evening was filled with delightful fellowship, an incredible seafood feast, pure dancing and a closing devotional of songs and prayer! We docked at 11:00PMsharp!
Monday, Elena & I met with the Bordieris to plan the 2020 Projects for the MERCY CSW Orphanage in Phnom Penh! Then we had a wrap up meeting with the Willises over lunch! Immediately before dinner, we met one more time with our dear friends Mason & Nathalie! That night, Elena & I enjoyed a quiet dinner and reminisced about the phenomenal 2019 ACMC! And to God be the glory!
UNSW is the key campus to converting so many Chinese students in Sydney!
GLOBAL GOOD NEWS
Alfredo Anuch – Lead Evangelist of Santiago: It has been very difficult days here in Santiago de Chile! The country has become very violent and insecure. The disciples are all faithful, and through MERCY, we have been able to help by cleaning the streets after the violent demonstrations, as a sign of peace. On Saturday, we were mentioned in the news reports of the district of Santiago, with our green shirt!
This week, we had 1 soul added here in Santiago, Alize from Haiti!
In the last 4 months, God has given us 32 souls here in Santiago, of which 31 are faithful! I believe with all my heart, that we will close 2019 in a very good way!
Ricky Challinor – Overseeing Evangelist of the Philippines: This week, 1 baptism Davao, 5 baptisms Cebu and 7 baptisms Manila! We are beginning to experience serious persecution! Just one example: We have a campus sister, Mariano “MJ“ on Facebook. She is actual a senior in high school and was baptized a few months ago. Her father is the ex-governor of Marawi, so MJ converted from being Muslim! On Thursday night, some of the campus disciples took her home, at which her brothers came out and physically assaulted one of the brothers to the point of stomping him on the ground. Luckily, security came and stopped it. Her sister then came and began punching our sister in the face and in the process punched Carlos Robielos and his new wife Quennie in the face! Carlos and the disciples have filed police reports, but the family remains aggressive and have sent her to Marawi, where ISIS has control here in the Philippines. We are praying that they bring her back as she starts school next week.
Just earlier, MJ texted Quennie saying, “Ate, I am going to stay faithful! I am grateful to suffer persecution like Jesus did.”
Dearest Family,
So sorry! Again I’m having troubles sending the report with pictures from my phone! Prayerfully, this report will still encourage you!
Much love,
Kip
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