Craig and Debbie Rayner

Craig — We have now returned to Kazakhstan after travelling to Australia and Hong Kong. We spent three weeks in Australia, enjoy the late summer weather and then three weeks in Hong Kong, in the hope of an early spring. We came out of Kazakhstan with very short notice. A decision on when to move the school that we work at was the basis of our time away, but it was always was going to be Australia with the birth of our first grandchild to my daughter Cassandra. Just because you have not enjoyed the step of mother, does not exclude you from being a grand-mother, so Debbie enjoyed the cuddle time. Although a little tender about being called grandma, one look at Isaac was enough to rub the thought of names completely from Debbie's mind; "just let me have a cuddle" being her only concern. Brilliant!

We have also been talking to groups in Australia and have a number of talks set up with groups in Hong Kong. We have been talking about being a worker in the place you find yourself. We have been saying that we need to live a lifestyle of listening and obedience, listening to the MD all the time and willing to step into the things he has for us to do today. We find in doing so that we have the freedom to be much more that we ever hoped or imagined. We find a freedom to be the very best we can be and we are able to show the love to people in ways that we never dreamt possible. Our friend Paul once struggled to describe this type of love. He used the example of marriage to demonstrate how we are loved by the MD, and how that love transforms us, evoking our beauty, rescuing us and returning our sanctity. Who would have thought to look for freedom in a place of obedience. What an amazing concept of the MD's wisdom.

Debbie — One of the tasks on our list for the trip was for me to have a full medical check. We promised the clinic in Kazakhstan that we would check everything before trying to get pregnant again. We choose a hospital in Hong Kong and felt relived at being looked after by a doctor used to women over 35 years old having children, all the tests came back normal in terms of general health. However, we also needed to check to see if the blood clot I had had in 2009 was situational (a one off) or recurring. It turns out that I have the recurring type, and so also high risk of miscarriage and a bunch of other things during pregnancy. This news took us a bit by surprise, but means that if I where to get pregnant I would need to leave our home and be in Hong Kong immediately. Knowing that surprises for us, are not surprises to the MD and that the call to serve here had not changed; we have decided to see what other doors open to us in terms of parenting. I am amazed at how refocusing on what the MD has called us to is a great source of comfort, for we also trust that His plans are the best ones.

Knowing what I know now… I shopped like a trooper in both Australia as well as Hong Kong. We left with underweight bags – one full of gifts, thinking that 20 kilos would be enough.. From stationery to dresses to DVDs to computer stuff and spice packets… oh my the bags coming home where full of pleasure. 55 kilos of fun, and then 15 kilos in my hand carry – and that without Craig’s computer bag – also full of a few more things… and the camera bag… with a few little things added in. All in all we paid nothing in HK and under $75 when we had to recheck in for the fight in Beijing (changing terminals caught us). All that to say thank you for everyone who helped with shopping notably Anne Marie, Daniel (our Queanbeyan taxi driver), Rajni and Sushma. Thank you MD for providing transport and funding!

We loved catching up with so many people during our trip, it was great to get to know you and hear your news as well as share our lives. We both felt very loved and welcomed everywhere we went. Of course a great highlight was meeting our grandson Isaac. We did run short of time in HK and I know there are people we missed hugging. Thank you all for your outpouring of support and love for both us and the work being done in Kazakhstan. Looking forward to sharing what the MD does next.

Contact Details

Our E-Mail Addresses: and

Current (Kazakhstan) Postal Address:
PO Box 10, Post Office Branch 36,
Almaty, 050036,
Republic of Kazakhstan
Home Phone: +7 727 299 5288

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Contact details were last updated on the 9^th August 2011.