Dear Friends, What an incredible journey we have been on these past few months. We were all set to go to England at the beginning of September when Chris' visa was denied. Our plans have not changed, only the timing has. Throughout the process we have been reminded that Father God is looking after us and our prayer for you today is that you too would be encouraged to... "Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths". Prov 3:5-6. So here is the latest from us... Enjoy!! The Foundations for Counselling Ministry school here at YWAM Perth has just completed its first week of teaching. We have been learning about God's intension in creating us and how that is reflected in our Community Counselling. The students are settling in having travelled to Perth from Switzerland, Norway, China, Holland, the USA, Scotland and East Coast Australia. We will assist the school leaders in assessing students progress and in teaching some of the topics in our workshop sessions. We will also be walking with the students at a pastoral level as they journey through the next 12 weeks of lectures. Since last year we are recognising how much we have grown, but also how much we still have to learn. Our weekly schedule: There is never a dull moment here. Each week there is a guest speaker who brings teaching about Christian counselling in specific areas including, Character and Nature of God, Addictions, Grief and bereavement, HIV/AIDS, Abuse, Stress/Anxiety/Depression, Cross-cultural, Family and children, and a model of counselling called 'Plumbline'. Since the FCM is an accredited course the students also have to complete assignments that we assess and grade. The FCM is a practical course, not just theory based. We facilitate weekly workshops where our students learn and practice different types of counselling skills through role plays. In addition each thursday evening our facility hosts an open evening to welcome in people from the local community, and on friday afternoons we head out to take part in community outreach. During the week we also have times together with the rest of the 350 or so people involved with YWAM here. We pray for the nations and worship God together... Somewhere in there we all eat together too! Chris' Visa for the UK: This is at the forefront of our minds and a key point for pray as we pursue a different type of visa for Chris, so we can work with YWAM in Harpenden, UK. We are gathering and completing all the paperwork we need and preparing to submit the application very soon. Along the way we are seeking advice and guidance from people who have knowledge and experience in dealing with immigration. We are aiming now to be in the UK for January. We are not going to give up! We are so grateful. After so many months of prayer and planning we are finally stepping out into what we feel is God's calling on our family. We never dreamt our journey would take us back to Perth, however Father God made the way and is proving faithful. THANK YOU to all who continue to walk with us. Our home. While we are in Perth we are excited that we get to live in the same house that we had last time we were here. Its a two bedroom unit in a small complex which is about 15 minutes walk from the YWAM base. As the temperature increases we are VERY grateful for the air conditioning. Phoebe and Jethro are loving being back in 'our' old house. Phoebe will continue to attend mornings at the YWAM pre-school where she already has lots of friends, and Jethro will join in with his peers around the base having fun while Mum and Dad are in class. Both are thriving with so many great people around us. Jethro has become very chatty, and says "hello" to everyone he knows as we walk around the base. Phoebe is continuing to develop her love for craft and is constantly making cards and little 'gifts' to give to people. She celebrates her 5th Birthday on 29th October! Join us and pray for: • Chris and the visa application process. • Better health - we have all had coughs and colds for the past week. • Rest and family time. We want to be wise and make time in our very busy schedule for each other.
0 Comments
Dear Friends and family, It is with very mixed feelings that we write to you this time. Today we heard that the decision by UK Immigration to deny Chris a visa was upheld. After the review, they determined that Chris' application had insufficient evidence to explain why he is leaving full time employment to undertake voluntary work with YWAM in the UK, and they would not accept Chris' attempts to clarify his previous YWAM experience.
We are knocked a bit by the decision. We know that so many people have been praying throughout this process, however we remain steadfast in the fact that Father God is faithful and able to do immeasurably more with our situation than we can ever imagine. So, we head to YWAM Perth on Tuesday in the knowledge that we will now be able to staff the whole of the 12 week lecture phase. We will continue to pray about and pursue our move to the UK as we really do feel that it is the word from Father God to us. It would seem from our correspondence with YWAM Harpenden that they are facing difficulties regarding the tightening of Immigration to the UK in light of current world situations. We assume that any visa application with the word 'Religion' in the title may naturally be coming in for more scrutiny now. We will keep you on the same page as us, as and when we begin the application process again. We now have a greater understanding of the system and what it requires. We thank you again for all your prayers and support. There were no assurances that this journey was ever going to be easy, however it sure is exciting and keeping us in a place where we know we must rest in the promises of Father God. Every blessing Chris, Carol, Phoebe and Jethro Dear Friends and Family,
As you will have guessed from our silence we are still waiting on news of UK Immigration’s review of their decision to deny Chris a visa. All advice says it can take anywhere from 15 -28 working days. So far it has been 15 working days. In the waiting period we have been reflecting on all that Father God has been showing us and teaching us in this past year, and on the words He has given to us throughout this whole process of heading into full time ministry with YWAM. Again and again we have been reminded that He is a faithful Father who is true to His word and He is in the midst of this process, even though we don’t understand exactly all the details on His part. We have been reminded from scriptures to: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding: In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Prov 3 especially vs 5-6 Although this has been a difficult time; having everything packed and ready to go waiting and then waiting some more, we have had incredible peace that we are in this with Father God. There are things happening here for reasons we don’t yet know. We have also been able to serve the base here at YWAM Canberra and spend precious time with family and friends which we were not expecting to get. As we prayed through the appeal process with our YWAM Leaders here in Canberra our start date for YWAM Harpenden, the 8th September came and went. Their next staff intake and orientation/training week at Harpenden is at the beginning of January 2015, this is the date we are now focusing on. Should Chris get his visa approved he will have 90 days in which to enter the UK before it is void. This restricts us somewhat as far as commitments go from here, since we don't yet know when/if that 90 days begins. Since we have some time to wait regardless of the outcome of the visa appeal, it was suggested to us by our base leader here that we might apply to be staff on the Foundations for Counselling ministry school that we attended as students this time last year at YWAM Perth. As we prayed about this possibility we really felt that this was God’s timing. The lecture phase starts at the beginning of October and ends around Christmas week. So we have applied to join the school staff for the 12 week lecture phase (although it is possible we will not be able to stay the whole 12 weeks). This will give us an opportunity for further training and equipping for our longer-term roles in YWAM UK and serve YWAM Perth and the FCM in the process. So we are now waiting to hear back from UK immigration and YWAM Perth. If you told us a few months ago this was all going to happen we would never have believed you... These are very trying, crazy days for our family... Please pray for us in this process. The day to day waiting and uncertainty is often difficult. However Father God remains our rock, fortress, refuge and strong tower! Please feel free to contact us. We’d love to hear from you. Thank you all so much for the prayers and support you are already giving! We will tell you more as soon as we get word... Blessings Chris, Carol, Phoebe and Jethro 14th June 2014
Dear All As you know our family has been on an incredible journey of growth and stepping out into new things with Father God this past year. We had a life transforming time studying on the six month Foundations for Counselling Ministry School that we attended at YWAM Perth. While there we earnestly began to seek Father God about our future as a family. As we prayed we felt that a return to the UK to continue working with YWAM was the direction He was taking us in. So we have been preparing to leave Australia to join YWAM Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Their letter accepting our application ended with the line: “We strongly believe that your presence will be a great asset and blessing to this base” Our involvement with YWAM UK will begin with at the beginning of September with a week of orientation in Harpenden, followed by their annual staff conference week. Then, for the first three months or so, we will just serve the base; Chris, putting to use his carpentry skills in the property maintenance department, and Carol probably working with admin, hospitality, kitchen etc while also looking after the kids. Phoebe is due to start school in September so we’ll need to make that transition a happy one for her too. Following this we hope to move into more of a ministry role on the base. The main purpose for which we have felt called to YWAM in the UK is in the area of Pastoral care/counselling. During our 20+ years associated with YWAM in the Asia/Pacific region we have become aware of the many pastoral needs of YWAM’s workers and students, whether in long or short-term mission. YWAM is an incredible organisation that annually has well over 20,000 volunteer workers in more than 1100 locations in over 180 countries all with the focus of Knowing God and making Him known. However, as with any organisation where people are involved there are always issues and needs arising, guidance and counselling required and daily opportunities to listen to, encourage and pray with people. We have several areas of more specific ministry interests that we would like to see developed including grief and trauma counselling, and the sensitive topic that is addiction, specifically to pornography, not only with those in YWAM, but also in our local churches and communities. We also hope to come along side those who are growing in their passion and walk with Father God and disciple them through life issues as He prompts them to go deeper in their relationships with Him. A brief example of where this has already taken place was during our time in YWAM Perth. Carol had the opportunity to spend several hours with a staff member to work though the trauma she experienced from a fatal Jet Ski accident that had taken place 5 years previously. God had begun to highlight for her the need to move on from the accident, but she didn’t know how to begin to process the emotions and memories the accident provoked. During their meetings together God gave Carol keys to bring healing, release and freedom to this beautiful woman. So, why are we sharing all this with you? There are several reasons. Firstly, because we are stepping out into something very new and very exciting for us and we are inviting you to continue journeying with us as you have been doing for some time now. As we have taken these steps of faith forward we have often felt the enemy’s opposition and so have asked people to join with us and pray. This is of primary importance to us we need the rest of the body of believers to stand together with us. So we’d like to ask you to regularly pray for us and send us any words or encouragements that you get. Stand with us daily, weekly or when ever you feel prompted to. Your prayer is vital. Earlier we mentioned that our taking up this role in YWAM Harpenden is conditional. To cover our rent and fees with YWAM, and everyday living costs, and before we can get YWAM sponsorship for Chris’ visa to live in the UK we have to have to have regular financial support of £1200 per month in place. Ideally this needs to be confirmed by a month from now or the end of July at the latest. To this end we are writing to our friends and family throughout the world, asking them to consider supporting us in prayer and with regular monthly or one-off gifts to help us reach this monthly goal. Asking for support is an incredibly humbling experience, but one which Father God is teaching us many things through. So please would you pray about financially supporting us too? An approximate breakdown of the needs of our family of four looks like this: · Rent (2 bedroom YWAM flat) £ 487.22 per month · Council tax £ 100 per month · Food £ 400 · Extras (nappies, clothes, toiletries etc) £200 · Total £1200 (approx) In addition we would like to have a car to visit Carol’s parents regularly and to do the school run and shopping on those cold rainy dark winter days! · Car running costs £200 per month (conservative estimate?) Thank you for taking the time to read through this rather long letter, and thank you in anticipation of your taking the time to pray about and discuss our requests. If you would like to support us financially let us know and we will send you the details of how this can be done. Please contact us with any questions you have, ‘word’s from the Lord’ you get for us, encouragements and anything else. We always love hearing from you. With much love and many blessings, The Hatton Family - Chris, Carol, Phoebe and Jethro Our prayer needs: · That we would continue to hear God through this transitional time. · The kids British Passport applications are caught up in the processing crisis in the UK. We need these before we can apply for Chris’ visa. · Support raising response – We really need to see the total amount pledged monthly · A car for us in the UK and selling our cars in Australia · Chris’ visa process · A school place for Phoebe in the UK · Costs for moving some of our belongings and our flights to the UK Dear Friends, As we arrive home in Canberra we reflect on what has been an incredible time for us during the Foundations for Counselling Ministry School at YWAM Perth. Thank you for journeying with us this past six months. The adventure is really only just beginning as we continue to apply what we have learnt now and into the future. Our last two weeks of outreach were a wonderful experience. Both of us had chances to preach, teach, counsel and share in churches, at Teen Challenge (an alcohol and drug rehab centre), and at the Aborigional Schools where we were based. For both of us, sharing at Teen challenge was a highlight as we got to talk to some courageous, humble people who are fighting addiction and getting their lives back on track. The kids travelled really well in the car and enjoyed making some new friends at a church camp/retreat we ran. Perth to Canberra Our report back and graduation week in Perth was an emotional time looking back on how far we had come in our personal and skills development and of saying goodbye to some wonderful friends that we had made in our six months away. Now we are back in Canberra and finding our feet again. Chris had to find a new job as the old one fell through a week before we were due to return. Phoebe and Jethro are settling back into the routine of pre-school and playgroups, and enjoying rediscovering all the toys they had forgotten they had. At present everyday is Christmas!!! So… what’s next? We’ve been hinting for a while about the ‘next adventure’. It’s all still very much in the early stages of becoming a reality, but we are taking small steps towards moving to live the UK. We have known for a while that we wanted to move to England and we have been increasingly feeling like this move should include working in Youth With A Mission longer term. So we are in the process of looking at where we should go and what we could do when we get there. We also have to consider: · Chris’ visa options to stay in England – We have a couple of options open to us. One has a time restriction of a maximum stay of six years, the other is permanent but has HUGE financial implications. More on this when we have more details ourselves. · Phoebe’s school in England – She should start at Primary school in September so we want to be settle in for the beginning of term so she doesn’t have to start mid term · British Passports for Phoebe and Jethro – both are entitled to them, but we still have to go through the process of applying. · Regular financial support to stay in YWAM – a volunteer organisation where everyone is responsible for raising their own support. We need to have approximately a couple of thousand dollars (just over a thousand pounds) pledged per month. Practically we'll also need a car in the UK. We’ll publish exact amounts when we have them worked out. Small Steps So you can see its all a bit vague, but we are working towards more concrete details. As a start and a step of faith we have begun to sell our belongings. We have sold some things online and recently we had a table at a Kids and Baby Market where we sold about two thirds of the items pictured. We have more garage/car boot sales planned as the weeks go by. Every little helps! So join with us as we pray about our future. And if you’d like to help us out financially either one off or regularly then please let us know. As ever, thank you all for your love and support…
Chris, Carol, Phoebe and Jethro Dear Friends, Now we are well into the New Year, it’s time for another update from us. We have had a very special time some far. We have been privileged to work with some very special people who have such diverse life stories to tell. And each week brings new people across our paths. We hope you enjoy reading about the practical, outreach phase of our course. Our skills have been tested and extended in the seven weeks of outreach we have completed so far. We have been privileged to work with some beautiful people who are walking diverse journeys through life. We have had opportunities to counsel, compulsive hoarders, prostitutes, the elderly, playgroup mums, missionaries, drug addicts and married couples. We have been involved with a number of ministries that YWAM Perth has. Here’s an overview… With Australian Mercy we have been into the homes of drug addicts and compulsive hoarders, families with sick children and those for whom life has become more than they can cope with. We have mainly cleaned and brought some order into their chaos. We have listened their stories and brought a little hope to their lives. Carol’s time with the ministry called 'Priceless' has mainly involved listening to prostitutes share their stories and encouraging them of their worth as individuals regardless of their circumstance. Many of them are Asian and seem to have come to Australia with the promise of good money only to find them selves ending up in brothels. Together with a group of performers from Island Breeze we visited a nursing home. One visit turned into weekly visits where as a family we would sit with the elderly residents for a couple of hours and chat. Many were originally from the UK.. They loved watching Phoebe and Jethro play and reminiscing about life. Our skills have been tested and extended in the seven weeks of outreach we have completed so far. We have been privileged to work with some beautiful people who are walking diverse journeys through life. We have had opportunities to counsel, compulsive hoarders, prostitutes, the elderly, playgroup mums, missionaries, drug addicts and married couples. We have been involved with a number of ministries that YWAM Perth has. Here’s an overview… With Australian Mercy we have been into the homes of drug addicts and compulsive hoarders, families with sick children and those for whom life has become more than they can cope with. We have mainly cleaned and brought some order into their chaos. We have listened their stories and brought a little hope to their lives. Carol’s time with this ministry has mainly involved listening to prostitutes share their stories and encouraging them of their worth as individuals regardless of their circumstance. Many of them are Asian and seem to have come to Australia with the promise of good money only to find them selves ending up in brothels. Together with a group of performers from Island Breeze we visited a nursing home. One visit turned into weekly visits where as a family we would sit with the elderly residents for a couple of hours and chat. Many were originally from the UK.. They loved watching Phoebe and Jethro play and reminiscing about life. Chris together with Shalom, a pastor from Ethiopia, has been counseling a family in crisis each week and has seen tremendous progress in their lives. Tomorrow we leave with the rest of our team (12 people) for two weeks in the outback. We will be staying in Coolgardie and then Esperance. From what we know so far we are working with Aboriginal schools and small churches in both locations. We will likely run seminars on family, discipleship, and offer counseling to the people in these relatively small communities. Please pray for us as we head out… it’s an 8 hour drive tomorrow and the furthest we have been with both kids in the car! We are really excited for the next two weeks and look forward to writing again soon upon our return. Thank you all for your incredible support!!! With all our love Chris, Carol, Phoebe & Jethro You may have noticed a few months have passed since you last heard from us. There's a very good reason. WE HAVE BEEN SO BUSY... Like, crazy busy! So here is October and November in a nutshell… By the time you get this it will probably be the festive season so Merry times to you all! Since our October update we have had lectures on counselling people whose lives have been impacted in various ways by: Grief and Trauma; Abuse in its many different forms; Addictions; Eating disorders and Family Dysfunction. We have also been taking part in weekly workshops where we are learning some of the practical skills of being counsellors. Each day we have work duties so Chris is still getting to use his carpentry skills four days a week and for one day I help out in the kitchen preparing dinner for the 300 or so people that live here. We have had assignments and presentations to prepare and a weekly journal to write and workbook to complete. In our journals we have to summarise the topic for each week in key points, discuss the cross cultural implications for the weekly topic, and write about how what we have learnt has personally impacted us and our values and beliefs. It sounds like so much and sometimes it feels quite overwhelming, but we wouldn't be anywhere else right now. We are LOVING being here and are so thankful to everyone who has been praying for us and supporting us through this adventure. Phoebe and Jethro have had much more time than us to meet new friends both big and small. While we are in class Phoebe is either at Preschool or being looked after by some of our amazing staff. Jethro goes to a playgroup once a week, and on the rest is supervised while he plays with his countless friends around the base. We have a few topics left in the lecture phase, then it's time to put what we have learnt into practice for three months which will be the outreach phase. Our class is heading to Nepal and Myanmar (Burma) for two months and then to the outback in Western Australia for about a month. As a family we are staying in and around Perth, Australia to complete our outreach. We will join our class when they go to the Outback. Just to say this has been an incredibly significant time for the Hatton family, and an incredible way for us to end this year and enter into the next. Our needs heading into 2014 We still need to see finances come in for our fees here in Perth and for our outreach phase of the Foundations in Counselling ministry school. On top of that we are still paying half the rent on our house in Canberra, plus all the daily expenses of having kids. Please prayerfully consider helping us out financially if you would like to. A huge thanks again to all those who have already done so. We have arrived. After many months of planning, a VERY long drive for Chris and two flights for Carol, Phoebe and Jethro we are here in Perth, ready and willing. We have seen provision above and beyond anything we could have asked for and we have only been here a week… Now its down to assignments, workshops and community life! So, read and rejoice with us! A Summary of September, some photos from the past month and Perth … · Jethro’s forearm x-ray showed significant healing of his bones after 6 weeks for the cast to remain off. We hold our breath every time he falls over as re-fracture is a real possibly. · Carol’s Centrelink study fee application has been approved for half of the course, the same as Chris. · Chris had a driving buddy for the epic road trip who also shared costs. Both arrived safely with no dramas. · Another faithful friend gifted $$$ for petrol. October so far… · Flights with Phoebe and Jethro were smooth and almost enjoyable. · We have been billeted in our OWN HOUSE!!! A modest two bedroom unit/flat which a missionary family rent (they are away for 9 months in Africa and India). Considering we were expecting our accommodation to be one or two rooms in a shared house we are feeling very blessed. There are even toys, a cot and cubby house for the kids! · Phoebe has met and adores her pre-school teacher Miss Pam, and has already made new friends who will be in her class. School starts 14th October. · Jethro has made a few little friends too. His group of toddlers run around in a herd when they are allowed to. Very cute to watch. The YWAM base here in Perth has about 350 people involved at any one time. There are several schools run simultaneously. This quarter there are about 90 students taking part in 7 different school.s from 22 different nations. Our school has 8 students from 7 different nations. We are already doing assignments and homework… its a bit of shock to the system! |
Hattons...We're a family of four changing the world starting with ourselves! Archives
February 2018
Categories |