Last December – 2024 – Cindy and I left Brisbane and the Nazarene Theological College (NTC) in Thornlands area to drive to Perth by Christmas.
By the beginning of LENT in March 2025 we drove North from Perth to get to Broome, where there was interest in planting a church. Over the months we have been working with several strong leaders with Aboriginal roots to connect and build a foundation for the Broome Church of the Nazarene.
We departed Broome on the first of December to work our way back to NTC Brisbane by the 15th, which was the date our kids were to arrive (Jordan, Quinn and Amanda) for a Christmas holiday (see below for details). We were able to depart the Kimberleys just as Cyclone Fina was slamming the northwest coast near Darwin. Thankfully we were able to strategically plan for missing most of the cyclone flooding, which could have been an issue leaving us stranded mid-route. We knew we were cutting it close before the summer rains were to arrive in the Kimberleys, along with high heat and humidity.
God provided as we made the trek from Broome on the West Coast to the East Coast of Queensland in just 6 days. This meant pulling the caravan for 6-10 hours each day and also dealing with some very high temperatures of over 104 degrees on a few days. We are grateful for the prayers you were lifting up on our behalf during the journey.
Many of you followed us as we posted daily updates to let people know how to pray. We definitely saw God’s hand of protection and care on the road. See Rob’s Facebook page for the details if you missed it and want to learn more.
Once we reached the east coast of Queensland, we had the privilege of meeting with each of the pastors of the churches in the Northern part of the District.
Our hope was to fellowship, encourage and pray for each of them as we visited the towns where they minister.
See below for pictures and names of the churches they pastor.
MACKAY
Pastor Robin Long
BILOELA
Pastor Annette Hammill
MARYBOROUGH
Pastor Cam (Jo) Batkin
MARYBOROUGH
Pastor John (Sheila) Smith
HERVEY BAY
Pastor Derek (Margo) Lawton
BUNDABERG
Pastor Kelvin (Petrina) Rowland
The holidays are always best when spent with FAMILY!!!!
Jordan, Quinn and Amanda arrived on 15 December to celebrate Cindy’s Birthday on the 17th and Christmas with us, before leaving back for the US on Boxing Day (26 DEC 2025). It was a joy to be able to share Australia with our children for twelve days and celebrate Christmas Day with them at the NTC campus.
