Saturday, July 5, The Brazzell Family (Quakers Hill, Queensland)
Alex has been a blessing to the team and as a team veteran (YOM Team Philippines ’24/YOM Team Australia ’25) has helped provide leadership and insight. We appreciate Alex’s update on our first day in Sydney!
Because yesterday (Friday) was quite the long (and hungry) day after traveling from camp to the Brisbane airport, flying from Brisbane to Sydney, getting our 12-passenger van, and then getting all our people (who traveled by train) and luggage (which traveled in our van) over to our two homes, and then having a very late dinner (…classic words of Josh when asked if he was hungry, “I’m not going to lie, but I’m starving!”), the team was very grateful for the Saturday morning brekkie (aka breakfast) follow-up.
After brekkie, we then jumped into our 12-passenger van and headed to meet the Brazzell family for a morning of letterboxing. Simeon and Brettnay Brazzell are our newest missionary family to join Team Australia’s ministry opportunities as they’ve been ministering in Australia since 2023 (see http://brazzellstoaustralia.com/ for more information). After letterboxing we went back to the Brazell’s home to enjoy a meal and to present them with gifts for “Christmas in July.” We quickly packed back into the vans and took the opportunity to see some of God’s beautiful creation, seeing such gorgeous locations including Cahills Lookout and Katoomba Falls. At the falls we had the opportunity to interact with a flock of wild cockatoos. We held are hands out and the birds flew onto our arms, sometimes two at a time! The missionary’s then took us to a famous teapot museum where we enjoyed English tea and scones as a team.
We ended the day on an outing with Ben Jackey (YOM Team Australia ’19 who currently teaches in Sydney at a Christian school) and afterwards going to an old train tunnel and seeing bioluminescent worms (aka glow worms) found only in Australia and New Zealand. Even though we didn’t get back to our homes until around 11:30 pm, the team enjoyed their time with the Brazzell family as well as with Ben Jackey. Our team has really begun to bond, and each day we feel more and more like a family. With only 2 weeks left in this country we look forward to the continual opportunities God will present us with to share and demonstrate the gospel to the Australian people and to one another. Thank you for your prayers as tomorrow (Sunday) will be “full-on” as we will be ministering to three different churches!
