Extraordinary.

Have you ever spent time with people who are truly extraordinary?

We were invited by some friends- Graeme & Bette Pearson- to spend this past weekend with them. They are the ones who are friends with my parents, and they own the flat in Brighton (up by the city) that they offered us to live in. They're an older couple, with 2 kids that live in the Brighton area, one with 4 kids and one with 3.  My parents (and me I guess) were really close with this family while we lived here before. Graeme is "retired" now, after working his way up a huge company in Australia and becoming CEO. The Pearsons are easily one of the wealthiest families in the country. Currently they have the flat in Brighton, a house down further the Penninsula, in Mt. Martha (about 20 minutes from Mt. Eliza), they're building a new house in Mt. Martha, have a yacht that they charter from the exclusive Whitsunday islands up north (great barrier reef area), and a holiday apartment further down the Queensland coast in a popular vacation spot- Noosa. Plus it's not uncommon for them to be out of the country on holiday for months at a time.. I've never met anyone who has travelled the world as much as these people. Amazing.

And yet, this is not why they are extraordinary. Maybe it's because you would never ever guess all that just by meeting them. They are the most down to earth people I have ever met (besides their ridiculous stories of their world travels). But check this out. Graeme, like I said before, is "retired." Translation: he is currently the chairman of Samaritan's Purse in Australia. He is also the chairman of the Billy Graham Association in Australia. If you chose not to click on that link for Samaritan's Purse, perhaps you have heard of or participated in "Operation Christmas Child" at some point in your life- those shoeboxes that you fill with Christmas presents and ship them off? That's a huge part of their ministry. It was so so cool to hear the stories of the places they've gone to deliver these shoeboxes, or to start schools, or to do various other ministries in places like Cambodia, Mongolia, Vietnam, North Korea, Malaysia... Not long ago they went to Cambodia and sponsored the complete building of a new primary school for kids there. We watched the video, and I think both me and Jen teared up a bit.

Saturday they drove us down the Penninsula, where it's more out in the country, and so so beautiful. There's about a hundred vineyards down there, plus seriously awesome views.

Here we are in front of a vineyard (if only it were summer- it would be so much prettier!) But these vineyards are everywhere, and they all overlook the ocean, and it's just gorgeous. :)

On Sunday after church, a couple joined us for lunch. I had no idea who they were, besides being friends with the Pearsons. As it turns out, he was also an extremely wealthy businessman, who is now the head of Australia's Opportunity International. I had never heard of this organization, but it is a micro-financing organization, and they give out small loans to people in third world countries, helping them to get on their feet and start to be able to make their own money! They also set up banks and "smart card" systems for people to access their accounts etc. Really really fascinating stuff. That lunch conversation was incredibly inspiring- to be in the presence of people really living out the Word, and saving the world with the Gospel and practical helps. Awesome.

The whole weekend was super fun. We spent the evenings watching Samaritans Purse informational DVDs, watching cricket, and watching footy (Australian Rules Football- way different from ours). I think I've pretty much learned almost all the rules to footy- we're going to a game next weekend! And now I also have picked up a lot about cricket too! It's the most bizarre thing I have ever seen though- matches last up to 5 days, and they break for lunch, and afternoon tea! How cute! Haha I hated cricket at first, but I must say that I find it rather interesting now! Oh, also on Saturday night Air Force One was on TV, so we watched that, and I realized that it was kind of ironic that we were watching that movie.. in Australia. 

Well, that's the update for today.. and to say that we are definitely in the planning stages of going up to Queensland and to see the Great Barrier Reef. Ahh I just want to go now! I'm way ready for some warm weather!! :)