Allbutt Journalings
What have we been doing in recent days
An online web journal (weblog) of Mike & Vanessa Allbutt. (Updated as often as we remember to.)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Change in Seasons
Greetings to everyone. Many things have been happening in the past few months, so sorry this is a lengthy newsletter. But we trust you enjoy the read!
Family Updates
We recently celebrated Priscila's third birthday with a party. Priscila had been asking for a pink and yellow party for months before hand, so that is what she got! We also organised a jumping castle for the event, which was a huge success with all ages.
Now that she is three, Priscila has started to attend Kinda two mornings a week. She has taken to it like a duck to water, and always comes out with a big smile and with stories of dancing, singing, playing and coloring. She has also picked up a lot more Spanish. The first words I noticed were: 'It's mine!'
We also enjoyed two weeks with Mike's sister and brother in law, who were able to stock up our supplies of veggimite and beetroot (among many other things!). We travelled with them to the states' capital of Oaxaca, and visited ruins, museums and craft shops. We also spent considerable time relaxing by the pool.
We visited El Tule tree, which is the biggest tree in the continent. During the visit, Joel went for a trip and landed with his forehead on the corner of the metal bench. But after the shock of seeing all the blood and the screams, and the great care of the local medical center, he returned to his normal self.
Our biggest event for the year will occur in late October, when we expect the arrival of our third baby. Vanessa is currently five months pregnant, and after surviving the first three months of nausea and horrible home sickness, she now only has to deal with the increasing size and uncomfortableness.
It's rainy season! This means it actually gets fresh when the sun doesn't shine. It also means it gets very muggy when it does shine. With all the water falling down, we have discovered all the holes in our ceiling. So Mike has been working hard to patch it up and clear the property so water can drain away quickly. It has been an eye opener to see the amount of water that can fall in 24 hours. And the season has only just started!!
Mike has arranged for a private tutor to commence formal language learning. This way Mike can learn at his own pace. He has reached a point in his Spanish where he can communicate what he needs, but using incorrect tenses. He feels ready now to take the next step.
Ministry Updates
We continue to attend the Thursday night Bible studies, building relationships and encouraging those we meet. Mike continues to go to the beach most mornings for a surf or catch up. He seems to have been made for this job, as he is able to start up conversations with so many people, seeking to bless them and help them.
He has also been spending some time practically helping friends in the surfing community with their needs, such as building a web page for a small business, setting up a website business for a family to run, translating menus and designing logos for a new business. He seeks to use these opportunities and his skills to further relationships and be an encouragement to our friends.
We recently attended a skate contest, the second oneorganised by our fellow workers, Mando and Myra. The aim of it was to build relationships with the local kids from the area, to encourage them and share God's love with them. It was a good time, with plenty of food and laughs.
Vanessa continues to attend a ladies Bible study every Wednesday night. It has really grown into a support group, with many of them struggling with relationship problems or facing decisions or changes in their lives. Vanessa continues to pray for guidance in terms of setting up a mothers group.
As it is summer now there are more tourists around, as well as community activities. There are two mission teams from the churches that Mando and Myra are affiliated with who will be visiting in the coming weeks. They will be running evangelism and beach ministries while here, and we hope to get involved with the work they do.
Other Updates
We continue to wait regarding visas. We are currently 'in process' and haven't heard anything negative so far. We are grateful for the provision of a lawyer based in Mexico City, affiliated with our local Baptist church, who is completing the entire process on our behalf.
We have entered into an agreement to purchase some land here in Puerto Escondido. It is a thriving community, quickly growing into a very popular tourist destination. Because of this, land value continues to grow. We have found a block of land close to town and the beach, with great views and the sea breeze. Our aim is to sell Mike's website business once the current contract ends. We trust the sale will bring in enough to cover the remaining cost, as well as provide some left over money towards building a suitable house for us.
Prayer Points:
- Health for Vanessa, as she has struggled with pain in her pelvis while lifting Joel
- For continued protection and development of the baby
- For a smooth completion to the visa process
- For the right outcome to the sale of Mike's business, which will be available in July
- That Mike will quickly understand and learn Spanish grammar
- For the community we seek to reach, for spiritual breakthroughs in individual's lives as well as the community as a whole
- Visiting summer mission teams
- Guidance as we continue to spend time with a couple with marriage difficulties, as they are currently considering divorce
- That we will continue to support each other in our marriage
Praise Points:
- For a good relationship with fellow workers Mando and Myra
- For the amazing continual support we have received from home, both financially and prayerfully
- That Vanessa has a good friendship with a local lady also with young children, and they are able to spend time together for the children to play as well as encourage each other with everyday frustrations and challenges that come with raising children and keeping a home.
Thanks again for your interest, support and correspondance.
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila and Joel
P.S. On Sunday just gone, we celebrated 6 years of marriage.
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[By Mike 8:21 AM ] +
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
4 months in
Life
The days just seem to fly by. Mike's day consists of going to the beach in the mornings for a surf and/or chat with the people he meets. He continues to practice and learn more Spanish during the day. He hasn't started formal classes as yet, as he finds it more helpful to keep his own pace.
We continue to attend the weekly Thursday night surfers Bible study. Mike has lead it a few times, and Vanessa contributes with meals every second week. Through this study we continue to build relationships with the young people that attend, as well as be encouraged to keep Jesus at the centre of everything we do.
Every fortnight we also meet with Mando and Mayra, the other family we work with. We meet to encourage each other and pray for the town and the ministry. The beach front continues to be a spiritually dark and oppressed place, with many christians slipping into old habits.
Vanessa has also just started to attend a small ladies Bible study group on Monday evenings. This has been an excellent opportunity to encourage younger women in Christ. Many struggle with non-christian or luke-warm christian husbands, all of whom are part of the local surfing community.
We have also found ourselves spending time with a young married couple who have really struggled in their relationship. Due partly to the culture and partly to the local church, we have found very little resources and support for these situations. We really want to help them to sort out their difficulties and share our own experience, but without taking over their decisions and life.
Our family has grown, from two children to four (no, we have not adopted twins!). We have taken in two street pups, who have given us just as much work, if not more, than two babies. The children adore them, and slowly they are learning not to pull on tails or ears, or grab them or throw them. The pups are getting bigger now, so they are learning to fight back with their sharp nails and teeth.
The children continue to settle in. Priscila spends time with the workers here, and she has surprised us with the number of Spanish words she has learned. She hasn't started kinder as yet, as we feel she isn't quite ready.
Joel has a larger range of sounds and even says the word 'mama'. We are now entering the stage of continual fighting between the children, as they both learn to play together and to share their toys.
Where to from now?
Our biggest priority right now is to change our visas from tourist to a more permanent volunteer-worker one (called an FM3). We don't anticipate any problems, but it may take a long time, depending on who we deal with.
The vision of the Thursday night bible study group ('El Faro': the Lighthouse) is to start free surf lessons for the local kids who have no resources, and thus exposing them to a friendly christian environment. Many of them are exposed to negative lifestyles at home and grow up doing following the same paterns if they aren't shown another way to live. This vision for surf lessons also includes surf and skate contests throughout the year.
Vanessa also has a vision to start some kind of playgroup/mothers group later in the year, as she knows there is very little support and activities for mums and children.
One of Mike's priorities is to continue to learn the language. He is aiming to finish the current courses/books he is doing before taking on formal lessons soon.
Prayer points:
- quick and easy visa application process
- provision of surfing boards for the surf lessons
- wisdom in helping our young friends in their marriage
- wisdom in knowing the timing for this mother group and the resources required
- for speed in language learning and continued motivation
We can't thank you enough for all your continued support, prayers and communication. It is such a joy to see photos, hear news, even receive packages! as well as know we are in your prayers. We feel so close to home because of these things. So THANKS!
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila and Joel
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[By Mike 6:45 AM ] +
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Happy Year New
Welcome to our (late) Christmas edition. First we wanted to thank all of you who replied to our previous newsletter. If we didn't respond to your enquiry, it's because we are still working our way though the many responses. We felt so encouraged by all your emails and news. Thanks so much for keeping in touch with us.
Settling In
We are finally feeling more and more at home. The house and yard are looking much cleaner. We hadn't seen any scorpions for a couple of weeks, and I (Vanessa) was feeling more relaxed, thinking that with all the cleaning and fumigating, we must have gotten rid of them. Then Mike found a rather large one in OUR bedroom, just under the backpack, and it had 45 babies on it's back! We are yet to find the male, which shouldn't be too far away and which should be bigger than the female. I no longer feel too relaxed!!
Christmas
This has been our first Christmas without extended family. We have done our best to make it Christmassy, getting a tree and a few decorations. We celebrated with a roast lunch and cheesecake, and even had a pinata for the children. Although it is winter here, it is still hot where we are, so it isn't too different to home. We have enjoyed the lack of advertising and materialism since the season still seems to be very much a religious occasion.
Address
Many of you have enquired about an address. The house where we live has no street number, so a friend has lent us their business address. Mail is more likely to arrive there, since it is a well known address. Here it is:
Bikini Brasil
Ale Noguera/ Mike y Vanessa Allbutt
Calle Del Morro S/N Esq. Bajada Las Brisas
Edificio Pacifico Surf 150
Puerto Escondido
Oaxaca, 71980
Mexico
Finances
Many of you have also inquired about making a financial contribution. Please pass these on to the Pioneers Office in Australia. They are able to better manage our finances for tax reasons. You can contact them on 1800 78 78 89.
Thank you again for your emails and news, we trust you had a lovely Christmas and a good start to the new year.
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila and Joel
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[By Mike 6:43 AM ] +
Monday, November 26, 2007
We've arrived!
Greetings everyone, and welcome to our new edition, live from Puerto Escondido, Mexico.
Travel
After leaving Melbourne, we spent a week in Tassie resting and catching up with family. It was a much needed break. We then flew 14 hours to Los Angeles. We didn't get much sleep, but it was quite a peaceful flight. We stayed in San Diego for a week, adjusting to the new time zone.
We then headed to Florida (about two days before the big fires started in San Diego!) for the US Christian Surfers conference, and we stayed on with the regional coordinator of CS for a few days.
Then the big day arrived. We left Orlando at 6 am and arrived at our new home that afternoon. Praise God, all our travel went well, and all our suitcases arrived intact. The children travelled extremely well, considering all the different connections we had to catch.
Our new home
After three weeks on the move, and sleeping in eight different beds, we finally arrived home. The view from this house is simply breathtaking. We look down to a small beach in a cove. We get the beautiful ocean breeze to cool the house down, and we fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing. We feel so blessed to be able to live here.
The house had been empty for three years, so it needed a lot of work. We've trimmed, cleaned, fixed, moved and painted. There is still more work to do, but it is now at a stage where we can live in it comfortably.
We have been so blessed to have very supportive friends, both locals from the church and expats, who have helped in so many ways. The only problem with this house is that it is removed from town, so there are no buses or 'collectivos' (utes that carry people on the tray). So we invested in a car, to help us get around without relying on taxis.
Mike
Mike has waited months and months to get here, to where there is a perfect wave almost every day. But he hasn't gone surfing too often yet, as he has put in many hours into fixing the house and purchasing a car.
There are still a few big jobs that need doing around the home, and once these are done, he will start to settle into a routine, which will include surfing, meeting the local guys, and learning the language.
Vanessa
The first few weeks haven't been easy for Vanessa. It was hard trying to clean, prepare meals with foreign ingredients, be a mum to unsettled and unhappy children, adjust to the humidity and heat, and unpack. Things are settling down a lot now. It helps knowing your way around, having a car to go shopping in, and knowing what ingredients to get where. The house is also feeling more like home.
The hard thing to get used to is all the cleaning. Because of all the dirt and sand around the home, the house has to be continually swept and mopped. The constant cleaning also helps minimize the number of the other permanent residents of the house (i.e. scorpions, cocoroaches, ants, gheckos).
To help her out, we have a local lady who comes three days a week. She not only does some cleaning, she is also showing Vanessa how to cook some local dishes.
The children
Both Priscila and Joel are more settled now than they were previously. They both struggled with the heat, and having very different routines. They've also both had very bad nappy rashes, due to constant diahorreah. We're continually reminding them to keep their shoes on (so they don't accidently step on a scorpion) and not to drink the tap water. They both get lots of comments from strangers. People come up to touch their hair and skin, and even pick Joel up without asking.
The children at church are always wanting to play with them and hold their hands. Joel doesn't seem to mind the attention so much, but poor Priscila gets tired of it. She burries her head in my lap and refuses to talk to anyone.
Priscila now says three words in Spanish (Hola, Adios and Gracias). She gets a bit upset in Sunday School because she doesn't understand the language. We are considering sending her to a Christian daycare a few mornings per week, so she gets exposed to the language and children her age. Joel doesn't seem very interested in talking as yet. He doesn't say a single word yet. But he is very good at pointing and grunting!
We wanted to share so much with you, we appologize this is such a long newsletter. Please join us in praising God for the way He has watched over us in our travel, and as we have settled in. We can't thank Him enough. Some prayer points include:
- that the children will continue to settle in,
- getting used to the weather and the language
- that Mike will have opportunities to meet locals as he surfs
- for deeper relationships with people we already know
- that we may be a blessing to our local church and community
We trust you are keeping well, and remember to write often. We love hearing from you, especially now that we are so far away.
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila and Joel
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[By Mike 6:40 AM ] +
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Praise & Pray
We have so many things to praise God for:
- The relatively smooth operation to have Vanessa's wisdom teeth removed, and the speedy recovery
- The provision of the finances to pay for the surgery, as we had to go privately due to our limited time left in Australia
- Accommodation has been arranged for us for some of the time we will be in the US
- The availability of a home in Mexico, fully furnished and close by to the beach and town
- Our finances are almost 100% (we are still trying to finalize the finer details of our budget)
- We have been able to pay off an outstanding loan
- The provision of travel visas for the USA, valid for 12 months, which will allow us to enter the country as needed
- God has even been faithful in providing for the small things, such as us purchasing suitcases at 60% off the original price!
Things are quickly coming together, which is both encouraging and scary. In the next week we travel to Brisbane to farewell family and friends. Then we return to Melbourne to pack up our house. Finally we spend one week in Tasmania with family and friends, prior to flying out of Melbourne to the US.
There are so many things happening, we trust you will be able to pray with us for the following things:
- Safety as we travel backwards and forwards
- That the children will be flexible with so many changes
- For memorable quality times with family and friends
- That we can sell our household belongings quickly and to the right people
- For wisdom in making decisions about visas for Mexico and all the paperwork involved
- That we can finalize our financial situation (and Mike's business arrangements)
- For inner rest in a time of stress and change
We will send another update in a few weeks but since there are less than 44 days left until we leave Australia we better get back to the departure preparations.
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila, Joel.
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[By Mike 6:35 AM ] +
Friday, July 27, 2007
Fond Farewells
Update
We are still working towards leaving on October 10, flying out of Melbourne to LA. Mike has until the end of August to finalize all his websites and find someone to hand his work over to. This is currently a big issue for us, so please pray that he will find the right person to take over his work, that it will be someone we can trust and that will do a good job of it.
Our support level is around 82%, so we continue to trust that the remainder will come in before we leave in 75 days (and counting!)
Victoria
Christian Surfers Melbourne is putting on a Trivia and Auction Night as a fundraiser to help us. This will be held on the 25th August at Knox. If you'd like more details please talk to us or Paul Lacey on 0423 623 121. It'd be great to see you there!
[Download a printable flyer for the Trivia Night (1.24mb)]
Queensland
To all our Queensland friends and supporters, we are making a final trip to visit you and spend time with family. Since our time is limited, and we hope to see as many of you as possible, we would like to invite you to an afternoon with the Allbutt's. We don't have all the details as yet, but we hope to have an open house (somewhere!) on Saturday the 1st September, so please leave this afternoon/early evening free.
Tasmania
We will return to Melbourne after our Queensland trip, pack up our house, have a commissioning service at our home church on the 30th September, then head to Tassie for a week to recharge and spend time with family. We would also love to catch up with as many friends and supporters from Tassie, so we hope to also have an open house on the Saturday 6th October. More details to come.
Vanessa loosing her wisdom (teeth, that is!)
Vanessa is scheduled to have her wisdom teeth taken out on the 30th July, since she has had some trouble with them lately. Praise God that we can have it done prior to leaving! Please pray that it will all go smoothly, and that it wont disrupt the children (and husband) and their routine too much.
Thanks again for taking an interest in us.
PS: Keep an eye out for the new prayer cards, coming soon!
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[By Mike 7:30 AM ] +
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Start the countdown!
Family Road-trip
You might remember from our previous letter that we were planning a road trip over April. We piled the whole family in the car, along with whatever we could fit in, and drove to Sydney, Brisbane, then back to Nowra, then home to Melbourne - all in a three week period.
We spent Easter weekend at the CS national conference in Sydney's northern beaches. This was a good time to see where CS Australia is heading, as well as to meet other CS members.
Once this was over, we headed to Brisbane to spend time with Mike's family. We had a great week there, and it was special seeing our children get reacquainted with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
We then drove south to Nowra (two hours south of Sydney) to meet up with CS members who are also preparing to move overseas. The most encouraging part of this weekend was seeing that there were other people going through the same situation as ourselves, experiencing the same frustrations and blessings as we are.
Overall, this road-trip was an amazing experience, but not one we would like to repeat too often.
Future Plans
The most exciting news we have to share is that we finally have our airfares booked! Our needed monthly support reached 81% this week, so we went ahead and booked our flights for October 10th 2007.
When we leave (in less than 130 days!) we hope to stay with friends in Los Angeles for a few days, then head to Florida for the USA national CS conference. We trust that this will be a time to make connections with members and leaders of CS there. After this conference, we will make our way down to Puerto Escondido in Mexico.
It is an exciting time, to finally have a date to work towards, however it is also daunting to think of all the things that still need doing in the next few short months.
We still require about 20% of our monthly budget in order to go, so we continue to trust God for the last of the finances as we prepare to leave. 
Mike needs to finalise all the websites that he has been working on, as well as decide what to do with his business. We have to pack, store or sell all our belongings. We would also really like to spend some time with family (in Tasmania and Brisbane) and close friends prior to leaving.
Please pray for us, for wisdom in decision making, as well as for protection and strength as we step out in faith by booking these flights.
More news from us will come shortly but please tell us your news too.
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[By Mike 6:52 PM ] +
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Good Progress!
Happy New Year! We trust you had a safe Christmas and New Years. We apologize for taking so long in updating you with our latest news, but as you probably understand, the end and start of the year is always a busy time!
Christmas 06
We had a lovely time in Brisbane in November for Roz's wedding. We were able to see many family members that we had not seen in a long time. We also enjoyed having both Vanessa's and Mike's parents in Melbourne in December.
Partnership development
As you have probably worked out, we have not left for Mexico as yet. We continue to work towards raising the support needed to live there, particularly financial support. Of the total amount needed every month to live in Mexico, we have 65% covered in pledges from family, friends and our local church. We will book flights once this level reaches 80%, however we will not leave until we have the total monthly amount required.
We also require an amount of money to cover airfares and establishment costs. This amount is also required in full prior to us leaving for Mexico.
Future plans
This time of waiting has been both exciting and somewhat nerve-racking. It is a wonderful experience to see God provide through the people around us, but the uncertainty of departure dates adds stress to everyday life. We continue to trust God however, that we are moving towards the plan He has for us.
In the mean time, we continue everyday life as usual - Mike working full time building websites and Vanessa caring for the children. We continue to share our vision with those around us and pray that God stirs people's hearts and challenges them to serve Him whole heartedly, however that might be.
Christian Surfers Australia is having their annual conference over Easter. This year it will be held in Sydney. We are planning to attend this conference as a family, and hope to head overseas shortly afterwards.
Visible prayer reminders
We still have some Prayer Cards available. If you haven't yet got one and would like us to send you one (or some) then please let us know and we will arrange it. A digital prayer card is also available online.
On our CS Mexico website you can also download a Partnership Invitation Letter or a Partnering Response Form.
PS. Joel is now 150 days old -- and he is growing up well. Priscila is also developing well. At just 675 days old she sure has a lot to say.
PPS. On February 14th Vanessa and Mike are celebrating 5 years since they got engaged in 2002.
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[By Mike 11:02 AM ] +
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Mum's Operation
Mike's mum was down here in Melbourne for Christmas. She was feeling unwell and went to the doctor. She flew home to Brisbane early and was operated on tonight.
[By Mike 9:26 PM ] +
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Profitable Partnerships
We trust you are well and that you have had a blessed year. Here is some recent news.
Our growing family
Our biggest news is that Joel has finally joined our family. He was born at 1.30am on Wednesday the 13th September. It was a quick, straight-forward labour and birth, and he weighed 4.25kg (or 9b 7oz).
Priscila has taken a little time to adjust, but she loves to give Joel lots of kisses and cuddles. She just struggles with the attention mum gives him. But we trust it won't be long before she is used to the new family dynamics.
As for Vanessa, she recovered quickly from the birth and has settled into life as a mother of two. Although some days are hard, she somehow manages to cope OK, even with less sleep.
We would like to thank all those who helped us during this time of adjustment, from family members to friends from church. It was a real blessing to feel so supported and loved.
Departure Preparations
We continue to prepare for our departure to Mexico. We have received "the green light" from Christian Surfers to leave early as we want next year, and we would like to be leaving by February. The time of our departure will depend on the amount of support raised.
We are currently working on partnership development, establishing a support network that will pray for us and support us in the years ahead. We are also working on the practical aspects of leaving, such as setting up insurance and flight details.
CS US continues to work towards having a Board of Directors to oversee the mission in Mexico.
Where to from here?
Our family will be traveling to Brisbane in November to attend the wedding of Mike's twin sister, Ros. We anticipate that it will be a great time to catch up with several family members for the last time before we leave.
As usual, the end of the year will be a busy time for us. When we return from Brisbane, Vanessa's family will be visiting, spending an early Christmas with us. Mike's parents will also be traveling down from Queensland to join us over the Christmas period. We look forward to this time we can spend with our families, as we are unsure when we will be together again.
January is shaping up to be busy as well, as we pack up and prepare to move overseas.
Visible prayer reminders
We still have quite a lot of Prayer Cards available. If you would like us to send you one/some then please let us know and we will arrange it. A digital prayer card is also available online.
On the CS Mexico website you can also download a Partnership Invitation Letter or a Partnering Response Form.
PS. Joel is 50 days old/young this week -- and he is doing well. Priscila is also coming along well at just 575 days old/young.
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[By Mike 5:45 PM ] +
I trust that this Allbutt Journalings helps bring you up to date with what I have been up to recently. If you want to contact me then click here. Thanks for reading some of my thoughts. If you want to read some of the older files then they have been stored in the archives here.