urgent prayer request!

I don't know how many of you will read this before we know something, but We have found out that I may not be able to keep my job at the salon. See, as we've said through Robert I am only cleared for 20hrs. per week. Well, I had a conversation with my boss last night and if I can't work full time then they don't want to hire me. So I called immigration to explore our options once again. They said I can apply for a 457 work visa however in this, I must be sponsored by my employee and there are regulations and obligations. Basically my job would have to up my pay from, $15.37/hr to 19.20/hr. and they would have to let me work 42 hrs. instead of 38. This is only to even apply for this visa and both my employer and I have to apply and pay fees. Basically, it will be alot of work for them to employ me but it is my only option. So, please please pray that they agree to work with me on this form of visa and if they do then we have to pray that I get approved for it .But, honestly if they agree to it, it would be a miracle and then I wouldn't even worry about getting approved because God has it in the bag.
I have been praying all morning. I know God has the power to make it happen, and I feel for this whole process of even finding this job has been such a God thing. I have see his hand in it so much already and I just wouldn't understand the reasoning for shutting it all down now just so I can go job searching all over again and have another month with no income! as you can see I am passionate. haha but I will trust in God and his will for us. I know he is mighty and that his favor is on us. We will keep you updated and thank you for your prayers.

Lessons from a stranger

Hey everyone, it's me April again. You might be hearing from me more often these days as Robert has begun school and is presently preparing for his audition. Finally he is on the other end auditioning and not screening others who are auditioning. I know it will be good for him and that he will do great!
So we had a great church service again last night, I find this the highlight of my week as I have still not started my job and we don't have many friends yet. Now, back to church, we had an amazing service of worship and a message from Pastor Brian. Robert and I were worshiping down in the front and then we came back to our seats to hear the message and there was a woman sitting next to me. She seemed very pleasant and throughout the service she was laughing and enjoying herself as was I and everyone else. However, something struck me about this woman. She was alone; she was somewhat plain and seemed to be someone who didn't have alot going for her. Not to sound mean, she could have been thinking the same thing about me, but this is just how my brain works, i think so much about silly and unimportant things. Anyway, it's just that I saw so much joy coming from her, I don't think she was married and I didn't see any children. These are things that most of us concern ourselves so much over. Myself included, jeez I used to get so worried about not finding a husband and I would dread the idea of God ever calling me to a life of singleness. But, that is just what this lady had and she was overflowing with joy and gratitude for our savior, and I thought, "man that's what it's about, Being complete in Christ even if by the world's standards we are not successful or we do not have much". This humbled me because so many times even with all the blessings that the Lord has given to me and that I have a wonderful husband who loves me and that he has given me a great gift to be able to create art for his glory. I still find myself griping because we can't afford a puppy or because I don't get to buy more clothes or because we can't afford to go out to a nice dinner. I have so much to be thankful for even if it is only my salvation that I can claim, because salvation is the best possession over anything that this world could give me.
With all of this said, as the service continued on this woman Lee, placed her hand on my shoulder during a session of prayer during the service. After the service was through, she looked at my boots and she asked me if I was an artist. I replied yes and she said, "So am I, and God wants you to reach the world". Instantly I was filled with joy almost overflowing with it because I felt like it was a reminder from God of his mission and desire for me and the art that he has given me. I was so excited of God's plans for us. I then introduced myself and the woman gave me a hug and quickly left. I will never forget her.
So immigration finally got back to the salon and cleared me to work for the 20hrs/week. I am anxious to start and hopefully it will be tomorrow. Also, I don't know if I mentioned it before but we have a lead on a job for Robert, it is a construction type work for $20/hr. Some of the guys from school are working there and basically he can work whenever he wants for how many hours he wants. It's flexible which is great for his schedule. So please pray that that all comes through. It's just so funny because we didn't know how we were going to make it financially and I feel like God has given us an answer. So he should be able to work saturday as long as the forms he has to fill out all go through fine. If it does come through, I worked the budget and we should be able to meet our bills each month with money to save!! God is so true to his word, that if we give him our first fruits he will open the floodgates and pour out his blessing on us. Also, please pray for our car, we have had to go through a new inspection process and basically re-register the car which is going to cost a bit of money, but it's just another way to see God work in our lives!
We love everyone and miss you all, I pray that we can come home for Christmas!!!

thoughts from April

So I knew that I wanted to post some but Robert has done most of the posting, I will try to keep it brief although I have a head full of things to say. First of all I want to thank every single person who has been praying for us. I KNOW you are praying because I can just feel God's presence. I'll tell you being here has really brought me back to my savior. It's like in the states we were so comfortable because we were doing ministry and we had school or a job at the time with no bills but still felt God's presence, like we were doing okay. But here, man it has brought me back to my knees. It's like I've had to depend on God in a whole new way. I have also had to refocus my brain to our purpose here. First when we had the desire to come we thought, "Oh this will be so awesome to be trained at Hillsong for God to prepare us for ministry to travel and lead worship for students all over, blah blah blah" and I really felt it at the time, with no doubt or fear that this dream would ever not come true. And then time carries on and you think, jeez should I get a "real" job, maybe I need a back up plan, when I knew from the very beginning that God shared with me clearer than ever that, "I didn't need a back up plan, because that just meant that I didn't fully trust in God's dream for me, that I hadn't really received this revelation of what GOd had for me. And now, two years from the first excitement about this I have to hold onto that promise that God gave me of not needing a back up plan.

Sigh, with all that said (and I'm sorry if you're getting bored of reading). There was a message at church sunday night that truly spoke to me of this thought. the pastor was talking about warning signs in the Bible and how we should learn from them. The best example given(for me) was of Benjamin's disobedience to God in Judges 1:21 "The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites". This passage itself might not make sense. But the pastor spoke of how before this time God had given the Benjamites power over the jebusites, they just had to take it. BUt they failed to take it and so they were living with these people forever as a reminder of what they were too scared to take.
So then, the pastor asked us what Jebusites we had in our life, what was something that was holding us back from our destiny? Well, for me I knew right away what it was. It was that fear, that our dreams for God wouldn't come true. That because of fear we would fail to make the dream that GOd has given us a reality. That for whatever reason I would sink into a regular job for security. I know that that is NOT what God has for me. He has brought us here to prepare for a great ministry that he has in store for us. The pastor said that the God of the universe lives in us (which I knew, but it really made sense when He said it) and that our Jebusites must leave because of GOd's power. I just had to believe it and claim it in Jesus name. I had to remember that the same power that conquered the grave lives in me! THat is CRAZY power, but I have to allow God to use it in me.
I guess I want to remind us all that if God has called us to something, that we must allow God to make it happen in us. Our destiny for him, is ours if we believe it and allow GOd to guide us. Don't live with your jebusites forever in regret. We must get rid of them.
That's what I learned...I thought maybe i should share. Also if you could just keep us in prayer for finances and a job for Robert. to keep it short, I can't work full time because of the Visa. So robert wil have to get a job, or maybe another job for me under the table, BUt i know God will take care of us. Just pray. THanks so much for reading this far! I love everyone and miss you all so much. May you receive GOd's abundant blessing today. xoxo

God is Amazing!!!

So i really don't know what blessings and praises to start with!! I haven't started school yet, which has helped us to get settled into our new place. Just so that everyone knows, enrollment is next Wednesday, the 23rd of July! I am so excited to start school.

So as far as blessings. I will make a list because God is just confirming time after time that this is what he had in store for us!! We know we are supposed to be here because of everything that He is helping to fall into place!
1. Ran into a garage sale where the family was moving away and had to sell everything in the house! We got a bed set (bed frame and 2 night stands, a couch and chair, and a dining table with 4 chairs). By the way we had NOTHING when we got here!
2. We got an amazing deal on a great car. A 1992 Honda Civic with only 96k miles on it and it runs great! Just a dent in one side and a few cosmetic issues, but mechanically is awesome.
3. The JOB!! APRIL GOT THE JOB. She will now be working full time at a salon and spa (Pure Hair Pure Body) as the Salon Coordinator. Basically she will be booking appointments, taking inventory, and any other responsibilities that come with the job. She is so excited!
4. The PHONE: We got a cell phone and all we had to do was take over a contract from one of the other students that was leaving. What a great deal!! Now we are able to call home every now and then.
5. This one is small, but cool. We were able to get a garage door opener for our apartment complex from a student that used to live there. These usually cost about $100. This will keep our car off the street and safe near our apartment. we have access to it from our apartment!

Everything just seems to be falling into place and it is awesome. We do have one HUGE Prayer request though...MY GUITAR!!

So it got into customs and now they want me to pay another $226 just for a tax and for them to release it to me! This is crazy as i already paid $150 to ship and insure it. Just because i insured it for $1000 and not $999, they are giving me a hard time about it. Just Pray that God would give favor because I would be paying more than i actually paid for the guitar in the first place!!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. We will keep you posted. If you don't have it already, you should look into getting skype! It is a free service to where you can talk to us on the computer! Just go to www.skype.com and download it. You do have to have a webcam/microphone though! Love you guys!

Robert and April
Phone: +61 0420869264

Maybe you are asking..."How are you going?"

Well, we are fine thanks for using a traditional Australian phrase!! Actually everything is going great for us right now.

So let's start with Sunday! Sunday afternoon, we got our car! It is a 1992 Honda Civic Silver and it is manual which let me tell you is tons of fun in such a "hilly" area!
Oh yeah, not to mention the fact that the driver's seat is on the right side of the car and the shifter is on the left side!! Oh and you have to drive on the opposite side of the road! Needless to say, i am still getting used to it...so with new things, come new stories.

Sunday night we got to go to service which was awesome. Mike Pilavachi, the co-founder and leader of Soul Survivor in Watford, UK spoke and was awesome. The real adventure started after church as we did some grocery shopping, took Jionte home, and then decided to drive home. Now remember this is the first day of having the car and we are trying to get home at NIGHT (while driving on the wrong side of the road)!

So on our way home, i decided to first of all not see that our turn arrow was red, then proceeded to turn into the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD (which is the correct side in the states!) So i pulled a quick u-turn and we made it home safe and sound!

Just to let you know, i have gotten much better about it in only 2 days but still have to focus on driving on the left side of the road. I am constantly saying to myself, "stay in the left lane" while driving.

So we will be getting a cell phone tomorrow and April will know if she got the job at the salon on Thursday so please keep that in your prayers!! We love you guys and will keep you posted on all that is going on here.

Robert and April

Here are where you can see our pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/robertknight85
Or also on facebook!!

Praise the Lord

So definite praise report. We have been praying for a job for April soon so that we can support ourselves while we are here in Australia. This past week April visited many businesses and handed out about 15 resume's. Well, yesterday she had a phone interview with a retail store here and she had a live interview with a salon right up the street from our apartment!! April is so excited because she really wants to work in a salon. They asked her to come in today and just observe and check things out for a couple of hours which is a really good sign. She doesn't necessarily have the job, but i think by them asking her to come in for a couple of hours is an awesome sign.

We really want April to get the job that God has for her. We are trusting that God will provide for us because we don't even know if this job will be full time or even if the pay will be good enough to pay our bills and expenses! We know that God has us here on purpose and this is His plan, so we are moving on His command and know that He will provide every step of the way.

Another good thing is that the Hillsong conference finished last night so we will have some people to hang out with now. Jill and Jionte should be finished as well so we can finally hang out with them. We are planning to go to the city again next week with them so that should be cool.

I have been trying to post more pictures on Facebook, but the Internet is terrible here and i just can't get them up!! Hopefully we will have internet in our apartment by next week and we can put more pics and videos up then.

Well, we look forward to hearing from everyone. drop us an e-mail and let us know how you are doing and once again, please pass this on to anyone who may not be getting it.

In Christ's Never-Ceasing Love,
Robert and April

We are Getting Their

So after waiting so patiently at our apartment yesterday, we finally got a washer and refrigerator. The rental company told us that they would deliver between 10am and 4pm and sure enough they showed up at 4:20pm!!! so we basically sat at the house all day. We did finally get some dinner last night and since we had no food, we ate at good ole' McDonald's!! The prices aren't too bad as we paid $12.00 for 2 large value meals. I had a Big Mac of course and April had the hamburger meal.
So we are getting their. By next week we should have a phone, internet at our apartment and maybe even a car that we are getting a REALLY good deal on. Things surely are coming together now!

After dinner we decided to go grocery shopping. We didn't get it yet, but they sell kangaroo meat here! We are definitely going to try it sometime. Also, lamb meat seems to be very popular as well. We decided that we are going to make our own fajitas tonight with steak!

So we also have found from walking every morning that their common birds here are all different kinds of parrots. This one looks very cool and is outside our apartment everyday. Wish i could take it as a pet, but that is probably illegal!
We are going to the city today so that should be cool. We will make sure and tell you all about it afterwards. Until then, have a wonderful day. Oh yeah, April gave out about 15 resume's to different places and now we are just waiting to hear back, so keep that in your prayers b/c we have no income right now but should be okay for another couple of weeks. Thanks everyone! We love you guys.

Learning the Lingo

Well, i decided that since April and I are having to learn some new terms, that all of you might be interested in learning with us! We have found that many normal words that we use are different here. Here are a few that we have learned so far.

The States
1. Sidewalk
2. Raisins
3. Shrimp
4. Restroom
5. Receipt
6. Shopping Cart

Australia
1. Footpath
2. Sultanas
3. Prawns
4. Toilets
5. Docket
6. Trolley

I will add more later, but that is all i can think of right now.

Yesterday, we tried to get internet at the apartment, but we weren't able to because we found out that our place does NOT have a phone line (landline) installed in it so we have to get that done first. Hopefully we will have a refrigerator and washer today because we need to do laundry and have no place to store our food!!! Keep us in your prayers. April took her resume to 10 different hair salons yesterday so hopefully one of them will contact her back. Thanks.

Our Beginnings Down Under

Well, we have arrived safely and what an adventure it has been so far!! The first day we got here, we picked up our mattress from Jionte because he had an extra in his house. The funny thing, as you can see from the picture, is that the mattress was bigger than the car. The first person we met was Bastian, who picked us up from the airport and helped us take the mattress to our completely bare apartment. We are still adjusting to the time difference as April and I keep waking up at like 5AM which is way too early for us, but we just can't get back to sleep!!

We got to go to UNITED on Friday night and it was so AWESOME!! It is so surreal being here after seeing the DVD's and listening to the music, but actually being at Hillsong is such an amazing experience. Most of the songs they did were from their newest album which is not out in the states yet, but it is awesome!!

We have met so many amazing people here already! Everyone here is very nice and will do anything for you! For those of you that thought April and I dress weird, skinny jeans, tights, and crazy hair are extremely normal and very fashionable here so we fit right in.

Because April is so witty in her writing style, i am going to give you a rundown of our first few adventures with her journal entry:
"Last night was our first night in australia. This whole thing seems pretty surreal. I thought getting into the country would be the hard part, but we found it even harder to get into our apartment. First Robert lost the key and after searching high and low, he found it under the seat of our new friend Bastian's car. He picked us up from the airport with Jionte. Once we found the apartment complex, we followed the signs for #34 however, it was nowhere to be found. We asked several people who gave us wrong instructions and then finally Robert hopped over a fence and through a garden to be greeted finally by #34!

Little did we know that the accomodation person gave us and our roommate keys that do not fit the locks on our door. Robert then jumped another fence to go through our sliding door and open the front door of our new apartment.
The apartment is probably the nicest in the complex. We have two very nice patio areas and a large living room area that is connected to our kitchen. We do have a few bummers however. We came to find that our apartment was completely unfurnished besides a dryer! not even a refrigerator! So whenever we get a fridge to keep food in, i will then be able to cook in our oven which Robert will be grateful for. However we have no dishes or pots and pans so it may be a while before the dream of using my new appliances comes true!!""

Just so that everyone knows, God totally blessed us yesterday as i decided for some reason to walk a different way home!! We encountered a garage sale and decided to stop by. In amazement, we found that the owner of the home was moving with his family to Egypt and needed to sell everything in the house!! Needless to say, we purchased furniture and other items for our home as you can see in the pictures.

We are getting settled in just fine and as long as we find April a job, we should be financially stable. Speaking of, we have an amazing opportunity to purchase a car for only $600. It is a good condition honda accord and the insurance and registration is paid until February. It would be a great investment as we live about 20 minutes from school.

***Our prayer focus right now is for a job for April. She wants to get the job that God has in store for her. We need her to find a full time job so that she can support both of us.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support. It is much appreciated. Here is our address and a phone number is soon to come.

Robert and April Knight
U-34/1-11 Rosa Crescent
Castle Hill, NSW 2154
Australia