2010

Dear friends and supporters,

We celebrate the marriage of Colleen and Dylan who married on January 23rd, a beautiful day. We thank Colleen for the life and love she has brought to the Whitehouse and look forward to the ways Dylan and Colleen will continue to share themselves in our little community.

In running with the theme, we celebrate the engagement of Ben and Carly! 3 weddings thus far, 4 engagements and a baby! Not a bad effort in our short existence as the Whitehouse community!

We welcome Jules into the community who has brought a brilliant energy and honesty into the house as well as Colin, Paula and little Riley. The Loves have always been part of the heart of soul of the Whitehouse and now they have taken the bold step of immersing themselves entirely in the community by living in the house. They inspire us with their willingness to do the things that other people write-off as impractical or unrealistic and bless us with their incredible gifts, passion and humour.

We farewell Pip who has taken up an exciting job in Pt Lincoln, grieving her absence but delighting in the God-given tasks that lay before her.

We miss and pray for Sam and Kelsey who following their wedding have set off for Germany as a part of Sam's studies.

And we thank God for the way He keeps meeting our needs and filling us with a strange hope.

At the moment we're spending some time focusing on the three major themes of our DNA as a house, Community, Mission and Discipleship. It's been heartwarming to see the way people have taken on board such leadership in different areas from overseeing finance and property matters to overseeing mission initiatives. Everyone contributes something essential to the life of the house and it's exciting to reflect on some of the things that are brewing in our midst. If you'd like to come and be a part of things at all, we welcome people along to our Sunday gatherings at the Whitehouse (they run from 11am until we're so hungry that we can't concentrate any more). We're looking at having a monthly structure that looks something like the following:

Week 1 - TEAR group (The TEAR Group represents the Whitehouse Community’s commitment to social justice issues as we partner closely with TEAR.)

Week 2 - Small groups (A week set aside to encourage prayerful nurture and accountability.)

Week 3 - Teaching (A week of teaching to ensure that the life of the house is infused with the depth and meaning encountered in the scriptures.)

Week 4 - Story Sharing and Commissioning (Story sharing and commissioning helps individuals to become known in community, celebrating their gifts and hopes and helps us to remember what God has done in and through us as we look to the future.)

If you're of the praying persuasion:

There's some rumblings and some conversations about the possibility of working towards having a sister community in the Adelaide Hills, hopefully up and running by the end of the year. It'd be great comfort for all of us who hate having to turn people away in need. Pray for vision, people who hear the call to be involved and a suitable property!

Pray for our young people who are transitioning into independent living, that they'd feel equipped and good living options would become available.

Pray for more funding options as we continue to dig deep to pay the rent.

Thank God for the way he's provided above and beyond with people and resources, we've seen such wonderful commitment, daring and imagination placed on the hearts and minds of the people living in the house who continue to make the house what it is, but always spur each other on so that it can become more.