News from the Land Down Under

Hey all!

Happy American Thanksgiving! We hope this update finds each of you well. We know that there is hardship of various kinds for all of us, but we believe God continues to be consistently good through every one of our circumstances.

Since our last update, the September DTS has finished their lecture phase and has just been sent off on their outreach with two of our staff leading them! It was a very small school, 5 students (the smallest we have ever had at our base actually) but was still a great group of students and an awesome lecture phase full of learning, growing, and God’s work in each person’s life.

As we discussed in our last update, we have had much less of a direct role in this DTS. Our focus has shifted much more to developing and caring for the staff team here as well as the DTS ministry as a whole. This has been an absolute joy as our team has grown since the last DTS and each person has really committed themselves to loving God and loving others in this unique context. We also wanted to give you a look into some of the other things that have been occupying us over the last couple months and a peek into the future as well!

In the last update, Karis shared how she had felt God ask her to start something called Kings Kids at our YWAM base. This program focuses on teaching the littles to hear His voice! Well, it has started up and has been going very well. Karis has a few people helping her, and specifically one fellow staff who really has been a massive help, praying through and planning the weeks with her. We have 10 kids whose ages range from 4-11 years old in the Kings Kids program. The parents have been so amazing and releasing their children into our care each Monday morning and trusting us as we teach them. It has been an absolute blast and we have received really good feedback! The kids are loving it and excited to come back each week. We wanted to share a small testimony from one of the times. After spending some weeks going over the foundations of God speaking to us and learning more about His character so we know how to recognize His voice, we had our first ‘hearing activity’. We all prayed and asked God to speak to us, to show us a picture in our minds and we began to draw what we felt He showed us. There were a few kids at each table and a staff at each table. At Karis’ table, one of the girls began to draw but felt confused because she had no idea what she was drawing. Karis and her prayed and asked God to show her more so she continued to draw even though she didn’t know what it was. After a little while, she felt it was all finished, but still didn’t understand. Karis explained the importance of taking time to pray and advised her to keep asking God over the next week and to pray with her parents as well. Then suddenly she flipped it upside down and it was clear as day a monkey hanging by its two arms from a big vine—there was even a face! She was ecstatic, seeing the picture. Soon after, her little sister then ran over from another table to show Karis what God showed her. It was a jungle filled with vines! They both were so excited seeing that their pictures from God had connection even though they were at separate tables. They went home and prayed more with their mom about the meanings and came back the next week sharing that they felt it had meaning for a home but were praying into more understanding as a family! The Holy Spirit does not give kids a mini version of Himself. Karis has loved being with the kids, watching God speak to them and learning from their faith (God tells us to have childlike faith!). There are moments it’s total chaos and moments every kid seems to be ‘missing it’, but it’s worthwhile for the one that is dancing before the Lord singing her little heart out, encountering God in worship. Every week is an exercise in trusting God as each kid is impacted by something different. Karis is loving learning from this and can’t wait for it to continue and mold into whatever God has in store!

Another thing Karis has been excited about in this season has been one of the previous backpackers she has been continuing to meet with. For her privacy, we will call her B. B is from Brazil and was a backpacker at the Waves House (where our students live but now also have backpackers live alongside us too!). She moved out a year ago, but Karis has been continuing to see her from time to time and grow in friendship. A few months ago, B opened up to Karis that she sees that Karis has something different—a joy and fullness she sees that Karis has that she, herself, doesn’t. B knows Karis is a Christian but up until recently, there has never been much openness. With tears in her eyes, B asked Karis more about what it was she saw in her. Karis was then able to share what Jesus has done for her and how that has completely transformed her life. Karis explained how the Holy Spirit now lives inside of her, and how His friendship and a life with Him is available to her as well. B was so open to talking and being prayed for as she felt the peace of God’s presence. Recently, B came over to make dinner with Karis and Karis was able to share the gospel with her as she had never heard it fully. Since then, she is much more open and asking so many questions. Karis and her began to go through the gospels and B got her first Bible! She has begun to pray and ask God to reveal himself to her also. Please join us in praying that B would experience His goodness and Lordship and come into full relationship with Him.

Over the last three months, Sam’s work has been far more to the administrative side. He has been working to set up the DTS department to potentially be international again, working with some of the staff as they take an assessor certification course, helping to recreate the Sunny Coast staff courses, as well as a variety of other things. This is definitely a new pace for Sam. He has grown accustomed to the highly relationship-oriented style of ministry that YWAM and DTS in particular prioritize, with administration usually on the back burner. While Sam has been finding he has a bit of a knack for administration in general, he has had to make a shift in his attitude to do even that for the Lord. At first, it was easy to feel unimportant or insignificant to the whole, but as Sam shifted his attitude and beliefs, he started to find significance and a new sense of sacredness in the things he has been doing. As some of the fruit of the work becomes apparent, Sam is encouraged to press on serving in any capacity. We hope that those of you who may often feel the burden of obscurity or the discouragement of working without a thank you can sense the pleasure of the Father in everything that is done unto Him. Philippians 2 talks of the unexpected humility of Christ and the resultant exaltation and glory. With this perspective, there can be ever-increasing joy at the prospect of being a servant, as He was, for the sake of love. As we learn this more in both of our roles and responsibilities, everything we do can be informed and transformed by Christ’s humility. We want to recognize those of you who take on this call to lowliness and service as He did. We are thankful for everything you do to love God and love your neighbour.

Outside of the typical staff development, care, and discipleship, Sam has also had the chance, as you know, to participate in religious instruction in public schools. This is a unique opportunity in Australia to teach about Jesus and the Christian faith for 30 minutes each week per class. Sam has been teaching the 6th grade classes at a nearby primary school for the last year (Australian school years go from January to December). As the school year wrapped up for RI this last week, Sam has had a chance to reflect on everything God has done in the 6th graders. Since RI ends in 6th grade, this will be the last regular exposure that many of the students will have. While there is grief in this, Sam is praying that the Holy Spirit will remind the students of God’s love and the truth in the coming years. There are countless testimonies of God using RI in people’s lives, even many years after they are out of school. After his last class, a student approached Sam and recounted a dream she had a few nights before where she saw Jesus. As she described His face and His eyes, Sam was convinced this wasn’t made up—this young girl encountered Jesus in her dream. Sam was able to tell her that Jesus loves her and wants relationship with her (this was following a lesson on the cross). There’s no telling how God will pursue these children, but we know that He wants us all to know Him. This has left Sam excited for the next year of teaching the crazy, chaotic, and beloved 6th graders!

Now, while the current DTS is away on outreach throughout Queensland, we are continuing in these things as well as many renovations at the Waves House. The hostel we have is old and needing regular upkeep. It has been cool to see God’s provision in making the hostel a home for all who live there. God has even prompted members of the community to give money for certain projects. We have been painting, adding fans and lights, and even some new floors! A new shower is in the works too. We are preparing for the next DTS which starts in the beginning of February. There is lots of excitement as the prospect of the borders opening for international students becomes more possible as well.

We personally are doing very good, are in good health, and enjoying the season of life we are in! We have had a few rhythms this last season we set in place for ourselves to continue to prioritise and value our marriage that have been very sweet. We have really found it beneficial asking God every time our schedule shifts on what our time together outside of ministry should look like. It’s fun putting different things in place we hear Him say not knowing why and then, at the end, seeing the sweetness and fruit from those times. We will have a break for 3 weeks over Christmas which will be very sweet--keen to have some down time and rest together before things come full swing again in January.

We did recently find out that our apartment was sold to a developer. This was initially a bit stressful as housing here in QLD, especially Sunny Coast, is extremely difficult to find right now. There are many people that have not been able to find housing here, so the prospect of loosing out apartment was not good. Praise the Lord though! The new owner came to look at it and told us he is behind on his other projects and gave us another 12 month lease. We are grateful to be promised another year here!

As always, we miss all of you who we have not seen for some time. Thank you for continuing to follow along with us, pray for us, and support us. We love all of you!

Samuel and Karis

Lamentations 3: 21-24 “But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.”

1. We were able to go camping for a weekend just Sam Karis & indie after we sent the school off on outreach with their staff.

2. Some of our staff teaching during staff training in August

3. Doing projects around the wave house also mean lots of laundry at the laundry mat!

4. This last school and our staff (sam and matt both weren't there for the photo so there in the phone picture being help up haha)

5. some of the students praying for a speaker they had

6. Kings Kids

7. Kings Kids

8. One of the poems one of the Kids wrote during worship time at Kings Kids

9. One of Karis & Sam's very close friends had their first baby! Karis, Bailey & baby Arabella!

10. Hanging out at the picnic table at the wavehouse, always turns into the gathering spot!

11. Sam cooking home aide Indian Roti on our front porch using our camping stove, we were missing traveling haha.

12. Karis set up an outdoor movie for the school and backpackers at the wave house!

13. Our camping trip!

14. camping trip

15. Just us (:

** ALSO, we realised in our last update we never attached the video that the other staff who led outreach with Sam and I made! This is from the outreach we led for two months May - June (the last two updates were about that school and outreach).

Go to the VIDEOS tab on this website and watch the latest video called "YWAM sunshine coast Jan 21"

OR

**copy and paste the link below to watch the video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OJS0IRP8FN4&feature=youtu.be