some pics from our visit in Charleston!

me and my new niece McKenna Elaine

We miss this delicacy very much in Australia

some of our best couples!!

Overdue blog!

I know we haven't posted in a while and I'm sure everyone is on the edge of their seat to know how we are doing! haha, I'm sure this isn't the case but we shall give you an update anyway! First of all and most importantly I have a job!!! You may all now rejoice with us as this has been a trying time of unemployment and little faith at times! But as always God is faithful to us and we have prevailed among our trials. So......I am a waitress, go figure. For some of you who knew already, waitressing was about the only thing I had said I didn't want to do while I was over here and I made that clear to God, however God has in return made it clear to me that waitressing is what I shall do. It is funny because, once I decided that I would apply to be a waitress I had four job offers in one week. For the whole month and a half prior I had only one job offer that didn't even come through. So I know for now I am called to be a waitress, so I will bear my cross...haha. The great thing about the job is that the pay is great and my bosses are working with me on my visa limitations. They are letting me work more than 20hrs. but working it out on my check that I am still taxed for my wages. This means that I am doing it in a semi-legal way, the government still gets their money and my mom can sleep better knowing that I am not working illegally.
I never knew what a blessing it was to actually have a job until I couldn't find one and we were running out of money to pay the bills. God has made it clear to us in this time that we should be thankful for the blessings we have even when we so often do not count them as blessings, but burdens like, "oh man I have to go to work again!". I know I've said that many times.
I am so happy to say that we are really starting to love it here (not enough to stay here, only enough to enjoy it until we get to come back). Things are coming around and we are finally starting to feel adjusted and part of our new church family.
Yesterday we went into the city with a couple friends to visit the city campus of Hillsong church. It is run similar to the way Seacoast does their services but there is a live speaker at the campus. It is much smaller than the Hills campus, the auditorium seats probably about 500 or so, but they have something like 5 services each week. The message was awesome! I will give you a tidbit if you'd like (if not just read ahead). So the pastor spoke on Hebrews 5:11-6:3. In this passage the writer of Hebrews is speaking on spiritual maturity. He scolding the Hebrews that they are not mature enough to receive the solid food of God, that they must be taught the elementary truths of God's word all over again. In the beginning of Chapter six the writer lists the 6 foundations of the Christian life: repentance, faith, baptism, the laying on of hands, resurrection and eternal judgment. The pastor challenged us to see these things as essential for our life in Christ however he also reminded us that just because we know the foundational truths doesn't mean that we are living like Christ. Probably my favorite part was when he addressed a situation that he said sometimes happens at Hillsong. I thought it was so great. He said sometimes a member will come to him and say, "we are going to leave the church because we want to go somewhere where we can get a deeper message". saying, the messages aren't deep enough or exigetical enough. The pastor had the best response to it, He said on average the messages that we hear at Hillsong are not super deep, not so intense that they would maybe stump someone to the point that they would need to get the CD to hear it again because it was packed so full of intense biblical teaching. But more so it is not about what you know or how deep your teaching is but it is about how your life is lived. Does your life reflect the life of Christ, are you living like Jesus did, because if you're not then all your knowledge is to waste. If we are not living out what we already know then we don't need to learn anything else anyway. None of us have mastered the scriptures that we do know to live by, so why demand to know a deeper truth. Our purpose is to become more and more like Christ and live like he lived. I feel like God has been wanting to teach me that recently. That my mission is not to be a famous worship artist to give God glory, but it is to live each day more like Christ. For our lives are not just here on earth but they are eternal. Our work here is only preparation for our work in Heaven, we are preparing for the future. This has been quite difficult for me to grasp, because for the past few years, I have felt that worship art was God's mission for me to reach youth with a call to creative expression of worship. And in certain ways I still feel like it is.... however if my foundation is not a daily expression of Christ in my life, then my mission for art is void.
I don't know how much sense this has made, but it is my heart. Once again thank you so much for reading to the bottom! some day I should figure out how to leave a prize for everyone who reads the whole thing.
We pray blessings over your lives, may you receive God's love anew today. We love you all, and thank you for your support. ~April

Back to the Island

Well, we have arrived safely in Australia again! We had an amazing time in Charleston seeing all of our friends and family. Thanks to all of you that made our time so special. We really believe this past week has given us the "boost" of passion and energy to come back and finish strong!! We love you guys and as much as we want to be back home, God is teaching us so much from the experiences here. We love you and miss you already.

There are a few things that we would like for you to keep in your prayers. First of all, we still need jobs. As of right now, April and I both need to find jobs as soon as possible working 20 hours/week. Just pray that God provides the job that He wants for us. Also, pray that I am able to catch up in my school work. I am going to diligently work at fulfilling my requirements on time. Ultimately, we need prayer for strength. As you have heard and read, we have had a tough transition here, but we know God will provide. We are strengthened daily by the faith that we feel is required for us in this time. It truly has been amazing.

I want to say a special thanks to everyone who made the memorial service for my dad possible. Ernest, i know that you had an extremely busy week/weekend, but you were more than willing to help my family by planning and performing the ceremony. Darrell and Ashley, thank you so much for throwing a little get together for us while we were there. It was great to see your new home and hang out with all of our friends. And we would not have been able to even come home without the amazing support of the Seacoast church body. thank you so much.

There are so many others, but the list is just so long!! Thanks to all of you that made our visit so great. You know who you are!! We love you and continue to pray for you as well. have a wonderful day and keep in touch!

Much Love always,
Robert and April

Updates and Information

Hello Everyone~
Well it is Saturday evening of the 9th of August here. I wanted to first of all let everyone know that April and I will be coming home tomorrow for about a week, because of unfortunate circumstances. We truly feel that this will be a great time to visit with friends and family and get a "recharge" to come back and continue the good work that God has started in our lives. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and celebrating the joyful life that my dad, Travis Clopton Knight, lived.

Thank you all so much for your continued prayer and support. We know that our hearts are in Charleston and we will be back as soon as God finishes what He is doing with us here. It has been a pretty rough first month here, but we know that we have been attacked a lot by unfortunate circumstances. We know that God has already won on our behalf!!

Over the past few weeks, i know that some people have been asking how they can contribute if they feel led. We want you to know that we are not asking that people give, but if you feel as though God calls you to give to what He is doing through us here, I have made a button below that you can click on to give to our Paypal account. You don't have to have Paypal, just a credit/debit card.

Once again, we appreciate all that you have done for us already. If you need to get in touch with us while we are home, please feel free to e-mail at robertknight85@gmail.com. We will not have a cell phone, but we will get in touch with you as we are able. We will be staying in Charleston from Monday the 11th to Tuesday the 19th. Hope to see you soon!!!

P.S. April and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary yesterday and today in the city! As April's surprise, i took her to the Sydney Aquarium on Friday, then we stayed in the Marriott Downtown, and this morning we went to the Wildlife Center. We saw all sorts of animals and had so much fun! We will make sure to put pics up soon on Facebook and in our Picasa album which you can access here: http://picasaweb.google.com/robertknight85

updates

Hello to everyone! I know I always say thank you for your prayers but I really mean it. It is so awesome to know that we are supported by you all at home. Thank you for allowing God to use you all in prayer support. Now for some updates... well, I didn't get the job which stinks. If you would have asked me two days ago how I felt you would have seen that my world was crumbling and my faith was waivering, but praise the Lord he has given me new strength. I was able to go to chapel at the school with Robert yesterday and they had a time of prayer and intersession for those who felt under attack by the enemy, which was me from a few angles. So a bunch of students gathered around and prayed. There was one man who was praying for me and he then started speaking to me and how he felt God was taking me to a new level spiritually. Then he compared it to altitude and how when mountain climbers go higher the air is thinner. It made so much sense to me. The air is getting thinner, because God is taking me higher, the enemy attacks us because he knows God has much in store for us. All the prayers of those students and leaders helped so much. God renewed me with a strength and trust in him for the best job even still...so I have been applying to different cafes and what not. We will let you know.


For some unfortunate news...Robert's dad passed away this afternoon (your time). For those of you who may not be aware he was suffering from lung cancer for about a year now. It's been hard on Robert's mom and brother especially as they were caring for him. We aren't sure of his salvation and I know that is what has been harder for Robert as well. I know God is watching over all who loved him, especially his family so we will trust in the Lord for comfort. I know Robert wouldn't insist on it, but I know he wants to be there with his family. If you would just pray for the finances to be able to send him home, if that's what the Lord would have we would be so grateful. I know it is not a need...like he doesn't HAVE to be there. But I know I would HAVE to be there if it were one of my parents. I know if it is His will God will make a way. Please pray and trust in the Father with us.

Sorry we don't have much good news... but there is some. I was able to help out with the creative team for wildlife which is the high school ministry. On the creative team we do the stage design for each series or season. I was so happy to get involved in it. We were working on the props last night, and they are going to look great. I will take some pictures and post them up next time. Robert is enjoying singing in the choir once a week or so...he is singing this morning for sisterhood, which is the women's ministry.

I know God is stretching us here...it has been hard, but we will press on toward the goal as Paul says. Thanks again we love you all so much!- April

No News Yet

We want to thank everyone for their continued prayers for us. As of right now we have heard nothing about the future of my job. I emailed my work on tuesday like I reported in the last blog and they said that they are discussing it and they will get back to me asap. Well, they have been discussing for almost a week, so I'm hoping the outcome is positive.
On friday we went to a married couples get together at school where we got to meet most of the other married couples who attend the college. It was very nice and also refreshing to meet people who are in the same boat with us. At that meeting Robert had the opportunity to talk to one of the staff members about my job and he said that he would call immigration for us on monday and see what he could do. So we are praying for that and we will keep everyone in the loop. I have truly been learning a new form of patience over this whole thing. Although I have to admit that I have not been doing the best job about thinking positive over things. Robert has been amazing though, just encouraging me with everything and telling me that it will all work out when I am upset about it.
We have decided to try and sell the car that we bought just a couple of weeks ago. I think we've informed everyone somewhat that the registration was bad due to an accident that the previous owner was in. We didn't know this and so now if we want to register it again there is a whole bunch of money that we would have to put into the car which we don't have and honestly isn't worth putting into the car because it is kind of a junker. There is one student at school who is a new friend of ours who might be interested. He has the money to put into it so we are praying that he will give us maybe 400 bucks for it, so we don't lose so bad on it. So it has been a challenge getting to school and work this past week, but as always God has been faithful to provide a way for us each day. If everything works out with my job we will be able to afford to get a car in a few weeks which would be good. We will keep you all updated.
So our one year anniversary is tomorrow and let me tell you it has flown by. I feel like we just got married in a way, but other times I think it has been a while. Robert has school tomorrow so he has planned something for friday on his day off. I have told him that hopefully I will be working friday and he says I better not because he's already paid for something. The sad part is that I probably won't be working by friday. But that will be good too because then we can celebrate.
Tonight at church is the first week that Robert will sing in the choir with the worship team. He is very excited and will go at 2:30 pm for rehearsal and they will sing for the 5pm and 6:30pm services. On friday we went to volunteer at Wildlife which is the highschool service and ministry. It was a wild time and I forgot how loud it is in student ministries! I will be part of the creative team, who designs the stage and theme for each series. I am quite excited for this and we have a meeting this evening after church.
Thanks to everyone who continues to read our blog, we are excited about what God continues to have in store for us here. And as always we are so grateful for your prayers to bring us through the bumps in the road. Love you all- April