I'm Off to the Land Down Under!

For sometime, my sister, Jean Foote, of Cairns, Australia, has been battling cancer. In recent months, she has digressed to the point that chemotherapy has ceased and she is not expected to recover. With this in mind, my mother, Dorothy, recently asked me to travel on behalf of the family to Australia and to spend sometime with Jean. However, an extended stay is not in Jean's best interest given her condition. In other words, while she does want me to come, she does not want me to stay more than a day or two. So what was I to do?

Around this same time, I began to receive emails from pastors and ministry leaders in Australia and also in New Zealand in response to my book. Further correspondence led to opportunities for ministry among them and, therefore, after much discussion and prayer, I will be making a trip to both Australia and New Zealand at the end of this month. Again, this trip was first proposed by my mother and in the end, has been made possible by her heart for my sister and for the Lord's work, the expansion of the multi-ethnic church throughout the world to the glory of God.

With this in mind, I ask for your prayers in the coming weeks on behalf of my sister, Jean, her husband, Bob, and for our coming time together; time I hope will be a source of strength and encouragement to both of them.

In addition, I ask for your prayers for my wife, Linda, and for my family while I am away. With four kids at home, she will be shouldering much on my behalf in support of this trip. Pray specifically for her strength and stamina.

Finally, I ask you to pray for and through the following itinerary, for all that God might do in and through me on this trip, and for the expansion of contacts on behalf of the Mosaix Global Network.

Here's my itinerary and if you have any thoughts or suggestions, contacts I should know about or connections I should make while I'm overseas, etc., just let me know.

1. Thursday, January 31 - Leave Little Rock for Sydney, Australia via LAX;
2. Saturday, February 2 - Arrive in Sydney and connect with David Boyd of NewLife International and meet with ministry leaders;
3. Sunday morning, February 3 - Connect with Mathew Kuruvilla and speak at Parkside Church
4. Sunday evening, February 3, connect again with David Boyd and speak at Jesus Family Centre;
5. Monday, February 4, fly from Sydney to Cairns to visit my sister, Jean, and her husband, Bob;
6. Wednesday, February 6, fly from Cairns to Brisbane to connect with David and Jeannie Mok of the International City Church and speak at a prayer meeting that night, their Bible College the next day, etc.;
7. Friday, February 8, fly from Brisbane to Christchurch, New Zealand to connect with Max Palmer and Andrew Wilson, et al. for the weekend;
8. Saturday, February 9, late morning/early afternoon - Conduct a Mosaix Global Network seminar for churches in Christchurch hosted by the Bible College of New Zealand which is a multi-denominational Bible College; dinner with ministry leaders that evening;
9. Sunday morning, February 10, speak at the Chinese Church at the Mandarin congregation (the service is English w/ Mandarin translation);
10. Sunday evening, February 10, preach at Andrew's new congregation, the Mosaic Christian Community, 5:00 p.m.
11. Monday, February 11, leave for the US from Christchurch and arrive in Little Rock at 8 p.m. that same night!