Craig and Debbie Rayner April 2009 Newsletter

April 2009

Hi Cheer Leaders.

As mentioned in previous newsletters, 2009 is to be a year of summer. We have been enjoying the southern hemisphere summer in Australia and New Zealand. We moved our clocks back an hour as daylight savings ended in New Zealand (and Australia) and this is the indicator that the summer is finishing, and like all migratory bird, we are setting our faces towards the north. It is a staged migration, with a stopover in Cairns to visit Craig's brother, Malcolm and his family. Then onto Hong Kong, where we will be catching up with our club for about a month, whilst we wait for summer to warm places even further north.

Catching Up - Australia

Lithgow: Zig Zag Railway

We have had a great time catching up with many cheer leaders and family whilst in Australia and New Zealand. One of the groups that Craig caught up with is the team in Vocational Education at ACOM (Australian College of Ministries.) Craig has been supporting the work of LocalNet (ACOM's vocational education arm) for a number of years, providing an administrative database for the network, capturing data and reporting to the government on compliance with national and state standards. The time spend with this team gave an overview of the current trends in Vocational education and what development would need to happen with the database to keep it current with national standards. This is work that has filled a lot of Craig’s time as we have travelled. (http://www.acom.edu.au, http://localnet.acom.edu.au)

Howard and Mary Jones at the last chance for a hug event.

Part of keeping on top of the technology, an important part of the work for both Central Asia and ACOM, was an upgrade in computer hardware. Debbie is now the proud owner of the fastest machine she has ever owned and Craig is wrestling with Vista 64 bit software.

We farewelled Australia on the 20th March, after a Last Chance for a Hug event held at the Badenhop’s. Thanks A & J for opening your house for this event.

Fong and Maria Au-Young, our hosts at Palmerston North

Why New Zealand

Birthday Thanks

Debbie thanks all of you who have encouraged with Skype, Facebook, e-mail, text message and phone call on her birthday.

New Zealand was added to meet the team at Massey University responsible for another education database. This database is used by Tien Shan International School in Central Asia. This session was a training session on the MUSAC software, and answered a number of question on how the various sections of the program fit together, and on how to get the best out of the program. I am sure Craig will be talking much more with the team from Massey in the future.

Hong Kong Focus

We are looking forward to being back in Hong Kong for a month. Our focus will be to connect with people who are part of our sending club. Please be uplifting us as we want to visit each study group and spend time with families and indivduals who are interested in the work in Central Asia. We are also looking forward to babysitting for the new mom's at Crossroads and doing the Blind Experience as well as catching up with the team. Please let us know if you are in Hong Kong during our visit (April 14th - mid May) we will do our best to see everyone around the club commitments.

Travelling Summary

Australia (Far North Queensland): 6th-14th April 2009
Hong Kong: from the 15th April 2009
England: Some time in May 2009
Canada: Late June ???

Health Up-Date

Debbie continues her medication, with testing of levels happening every month. The last ultra-sound showed that the lower half of her leg had cleared of the DVT, but the upper half of her leg still had blockages. Prognosis is that the DVT will take a total of 6 months to clear, so July before a final scan to confirm that the DVT is cleared. Then stop taking the medication.

Collage of Cheer Leaders we caught up with in March

Craig and Debbie Rayner