God in Every Season: The Season of Singing Birds Has Come
By Sarah Houston, Drop-in Centre Activity Coordinator
Look! The winter has passed; the winter rains are over and gone. (well not quite!)
The flowers are springing up; the season of singing birds has come.”
Song of Solomon 2:11-12
Collage photos of Term 3 activities at the Drop-In Centre, featuring Carey Baptist students, artist Alan Smith with his butterfly painting, Matt Gould from World Vision, and fun games day at Drop In.
Praise God once again for his faithfulness that got us through the winter months at the Drop-In centre. We give thanks for Di Willis who suffered a terrible virus. She was away from the centre for a very long time. We rallied together upholding Di in prayer, along with others who were also unwell with winter illness. I was forced to take some time off this term due to a health issue. I am so grateful for everyone who stepped in to help run the program in my absence.
Once again, our wonderful volunteers were on hand to serve and make sure everything ran smoothly.
Throughout the term we have had some inspiring visitors. At the start of term 3 we welcomed 5 Carey Baptist students over 3 weeks. They shared a little about themselves and what God was doing in their lives. Watching them chatting and helping was a thrill as they readily participated in all the fun and games. The only downside is that the weeks went too quickly, and it was time to say goodbye. Our prayer is that spending time at Elevate will have changed their outlook on being around people with disabilities. More importantly, God has a perfect plan for each of us, He’s not looking at our disability but our availability to serve Him.
We had a visit from Matt Gould from World Vision, we heard about the tremendous work they do supporting over 100 countries worldwide. Mark Grantham brought along chocolates he sells to support several World Vision children, and I’m pleased to say Mark sold quite a few chocolate bars.
Patricia Harding’s Pastor, James Siau, visited us. He gave his testimony and told us about the church that he pastors. We were greatly encouraged, and Pastor James went away blessed after spending the morning with us. He intends to come back to visit and bring some of his church members with him.
While I was away, we had 2 rather unusual guests come along to meet everyone, Barnaby and Wannabe. Who would be called such names? Two lambs were our guests on both the Tuesday and Wednesday. They had been hand raised as their mother had abandoned them at birth. Not often do you get to pat, cuddle or give a lamb a bottle, which was a new experience for many.
The last week of the term we had a visit from an artist, a friend of Dianne Green. Alan Smith came along armed with many of his paintings and set them up on easels for us to enjoy. He shared a bit of his life story from being a school principal for many years, then taking up art at a later stage in his life. We all were amazed at his artistic talent as he shared his testimony and how he came to pick up a paint brush knowing absolutely nothing about drawing. This gives me hope it’s never too late to try something new!
Yet again, the term has raced by, I think I can say on behalf of the Drop In we didn’t get the ‘winter blues’ even with all the sickness, rain, wind and some very cold days that we experienced. Our hearts were warmed as we came along to encourage one another, pray, have fun, share and worship together.