my home away from home.

As some of you may already know, I spent a few months in Australia doing mission work in 2007. The Lord incredibly blessed me while I was there by giving me some beautiful friendships that I know will last for the rest of my life. I refer to my Australian friends as my "Australian family" and there is very seldom a day that passes where I do not miss them dearly. I have longed and longed to return to Australia ever since I left, and Ryan promises me one day that he'll take me back there.

If you've listened to the news lately, then you've probably heard about the devastating flood that has swept through Queensland and the city of Brisbane, which is the city my "family" lives in and the city where I did my mission work. I received an e-mail from one of my sweet friends that I wanted to share with you. I don't think she'll mind! :)

In case you have seen the news reports in the USA, I wanted to let you know that we are all OK as we are on the coast away from the Brisbane River. In 1974, Brisbane had the worst flood its ever seen. This flood is nearly as worse but unfortunately the population has quadrupled since 1974! They are saying that 20000 homes will be inundated in Brisbane alone. Brisbane and Ipswich, actually Queensland, are facing the biggest natural disaster ever seen in Australia.

The floods are not only confined to Brisbane. 75% of Queensland is flood affected. All over the state, communities have been evacuated. Some have been evacuated twice! And the wet season has only started as we typically get rain all through January and February.

Our hearts go out to the families in the Lockyer valley (just west of Brisbane). They were hit with a wall of water from a huge storm on the range. Whole families are missing and houses just swept away off their foundations. 12 are dead and 75 still missing.

It all seems so surreal that this is all happening in our state and just a few miles away. There will be so much opportunity to help our fellow queenslanders. The debris and muck that can be seen everywhere is going to take a lot of work to clear.

Please pray for all the people affected by this disaster and also pray that those of us who are not affected can reach out to those in need. Please also pray that the rain will abate for a couple of weeks to allow the water to go down and the clean up to begin. Lastly, please pray for all those families in the Lockyer valley who are awaiting news of their loved ones who are still missing.

A few pictures from the flood:

houses almost completely covered by water:

The Suncorp Stadium filled with the murky waters from the flood:

I encourage you to pray for the families who have been affected by this flood. Pray that the body of Christ in Australia will have opportunities to share His name through ministering to these people who have lost everything. I can not imagine how people deal with catastrophes like these if they don't know the Lord.