We are 32 days from our baby boy's due date!

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and some things are different...

The last 5+ months have been filled with: moving across the country, to Nashville, TN; looking for work; gestating our baby; finding out it is a boy!; Shawn working at Gibson USA just long enough to be there when the feds shut them down and when Fox news and CNN did stories there; Sarah working as a temp (for only one more week!), filing medical records at St. Thomas Heart at Baptist Hospital; Shawn very recently landing a great new role as the Youth Ministries Director at Hillsboro Presbyterian Church; living temporarily with Shawn's grandma, Sarah's sister, Sarah's grandparents, then Sarah's parents and finally... getting our first place of our very own just before our 2nd anniversary! The official Cothran residence: 2820 Hazelwood Dr. Apt A-12 Nashville, TN 37212

All this to say that God has been good to us. We are around 6 weeks from having our little boy. And we appreciate all of your support through our time in missions, relying on you and God for finances and practical needs. Things are always changing with us, and being here now is nothing but incredible!

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AND...

are you picking up the subtlety?

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http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC374LL/A?mco=MTgxMzM0Mjc

I have been praying about it, asking the Lord, re-prioritizing, and feel like this is the tool I should be working towards.
This computer has an unrivaled battery life that will last me a very long time for study, research, music recording, etc.,
separate audio input and output so i can record music and continue in my calling that way,
definitely does not overheat like my last computer,
and is the cheapest of its kind with a guarantee of being reliable and not a rip off.

I have raised $660  of $999 so far, would you pray or consider donating towards this investment that will last for years? Every bit helps! Donate HERE

Thanks! Love.

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This is my laptop. It is broken.

And has been for over a year. Now I'm struggling to do any work on it. We have been trying to save for a new one for a while, but the school fees took priority.

Consider whether you could . $550 will cover it all!

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We spent all of November through Thanksgiving with Shawn's family in Ventura, CA. Being with his side of the family and connecting with them was cherished and tons of fun! The very day after Thanksgiving we headed over to Nashville, TN and joined up with Sarah's family where we spent a week with cute little cousins, Sarah's wonderful grandparents and her hilarious aunt and uncle. We even got to meet up with some long time friends of Shawn's that have moved there over the years! From Nashville, we drove up to Columbus, OH to stay with Sarah's parents. The first weekend up here we had the chance to go to Pittsburgh for a wedding. We had a great time seeing friends and church family from MLUPC. Since being here in Ohio we've gotten to experience SNOW!!! It's going to be awesome having Shawn's first white Christmas, let alone our first Christmas in the states in 4 years!

January 4th we head out to Tijuana for our long awaited Children at Risk School! So far we've seen $3,114 provided towards our school lecture fees through you guys, our wonderful partners and supporters. We still need $3,086 by January 6th, so now is the time to act if you feel led to join us in this adventure with God, sharing in our victories through prayerful financial partnership. Click here to donate!

We pray that you all have a great Christmas celebrating our awesome Lord with your families and loved ones!

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Tasty Fun!

Hear great things from the last 3 years serving in Australia and our next big step, moving to Tijuana in January. This is your chance to join our story and even give your support!

CLICK THIS INVITATION!

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The scary unknown!

She awoke in a dark room... 2am, with no understanding of why or how. Little did she know... she had been afflicted with a sinister illness... JET LAG! Her husband next to her, sound asleep? NOPE! Jet lag had taken hold of him as well. Suffice to say we haven't had the best sleep since our BIG tiring move from Newcastle to Ventura. But we finished strong!

Family is part of God's plan, and we are blessed to be in USA visiting our family (in which we include our friends). We don't have tons of time so pursue us, we want to see you, promise! Ventura, CA area from now til Nov. 26th; Eastern USA from Nov. 26th to Jan 2nd! Visit shawnandsarah.com/contact to reach us via phone, email, skype, twitter, aim, facebook, etc!

Not For Sale Campaign ran the 2010 Global Forum on Human Trafficking, in Yorba Linda, CA, the day after we arrived in LA. We attended both days, networking with other abolitionists, learning more about how we can be effective, and gaining more of God's heart for the more than 100 million enslaved and exploited people in the world today. Looking forward to being on the front lines of abolition to bring rescue, redemption and love to the exploited kids of Tijuana!

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It's hard to believe that this is going to be our last update from Australia. What a journey we've been on!

The biggest happening since our last update was our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary AKA Sarah's 22nd birthday! To celebrate, we went down to Sydney, stayed in the Westin hotel, explored the city and enjoyed some Mexican food. It was a great 2 day getaway! We can't believe it's been a year, a whirlwind one to say the least, but God is good and He's been consistent even when our circumstances have seemed otherwise.

Since July, we've kept busy. In August our base had it's third annual fundraiser event. This was the best one yet! Before the day of the event arrived we had already received a $6,000 donation! The morning of, we held a business breakfast for local business owners. The Lord Mayor of Newcastle came to share with them. It's so encouraging to have the support of our local government heads! From the breakfast we raised ~ $9,000. For the main event we had a festival showcasing what we've done with the property so far and what we're doing with Youth Street. Four local rugby league players from the Newcastle Knights came to support us and share their testimonies! We had approximately 150 guests in attendance and raised ~ $25,000! We continued to see donations come in for days, and as of now we've been given ~ $50,000! God is SO faithful. With this money we can move ahead with development of our skate park and cafe, as well as get the necessary permits and occupational health and safety procedures established so we can run Youth Street from our warehouse come December!

This is our last week of work on base before heading to the south coast for a few days for some holidays with our housemates (Scott and Tina) to stay with Scott's family. We are looking forward to time with the Lord and good friends, getting refreshed and ready for our BIG move back across the Pacific.

We've put together an information / support letter about our Children at Risk school starting in January. Check it out HERE! Once we're in California we'll be mailing out hard copies. Please let us know if you want one!

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We are back in Newcastle! Our flight got in on the 24th of June. The last week and a half have been spent getting back into the swing of things, hearing God and moving back into roles and into new areas.

Being in the states was really difficult, while also being good in ways. We spent lots of time in Ventura, CA wading through grief, avoidance, reunion, processing, fun, sadness, understanding, brokenness and lots of down time. We were able to visit Sarah's side of the family in Columbus, OH and in Nashville, TN, all the while being blessed and sustained by your kind words and donations. So thank you to everyone who gave prayerfully and financially to us over the last couple months. It was a undeniably necessary and appreciated.

What are we doing now that we're back? Well, mostly picking up where we left off; Shawn is in Creative Department, leading and organising worship, sound, etc. and staffing Youth Street Music Team; I am back planning, organising, and overseeing aspects of Youth Street, various events as well as helping in Lewis House Kitchen feeding lunch to our massive base! A few months ago we began planning to relocate to Tijuana, Mexico in January! I [Sarah] am doing a 9 month school (with YWAM Mexico) called Children at Risk. It focuses on training and equipping for work with kids coming from high risk, traumatic situations (ie: war, poverty, sex trafficking, slavery, etc). I am very, very excited about this. Working with children like this is something that I've become very passionate about over the last couple years and I'm excited to be formally trained in it. What is Shawn doing during that time? He's still praying about attending the school, leading worship, etc... Stay tuned for more!!!

Currently I am helping put together an all day event we are hosting for the Not For Sale organization, a group focused on training and equipping everyday citizens to see the human slave trade abolished! The founder, David Batstone, and one other are coming on July 17 to run workshops and seminars with the people of Newcastle and we have the awesome opportunity to host them. I'm super excited to be working on this because it is so close to my heart!

We're praying and working out what the next few months will look like; at this point, planning to be home in October, spend Thanksgiving with Shawn's family, then head to the east coast for a [hopefully] white Christmas with my family! First holiday season at home in THREE years! We're very excited about it.

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I will always miss you, Mom.

5am Thursday, April 22nd 2010 Newcastle, Australia: I awake to a phone call from my Aunt Shirley. She makes sure I am awake enough to fully understand what she has to say. She then lets me know that my mom has passed away. I don't know what to say. Sarah is there to hold me as I take it in.

Our Base Director, David Stephenson, took us out to breakfast and helped us on our way to greiving as well as sent us off with a blessing. We hopped on a plane that day and flew to California. My family was all at Grandma's house. Grandma was really broken up; her only daughter, who struggled through life to see me succeed, was gone. There is nothing to say or do in the first couple days of grief this intense. Thank you, Lord, for Sarah, Mike, Shirley and all the family around us that made sure things were taken care of.

I didn't cry much until the memorial service. It is taking a long time to realize that my mother is really gone. She was in prison and mental hospitals much of my life, so not being around doesn't suffice. I am beginning to understand, and break, as I wrap my head around her immense absence.

We have been visited and loved on by Sarah's family as some came to California and as we went to them on the east side of USA. We have cried together, I have cried hard with Grandma, I have wailed... wailed so hard, I never knew pain like this until now. But through all of this the promises of God sustain. There is hope. My mom hurt in life, she fought herself, she fought depression, disease, cocaine, heroine, suicidal thoughts, the world, the enemy. In death she glorifies the Lord as she basks in His presence. My King, my Lord, my God... He is not partial, His favor is on those who ask for it. Kathy Rebecca Cothran wanted God in life, but lives with God through death.

As we spend the last couple weeks here in California before heading back to our ministry and calling in Newcastle, I am seeing a counselor a few times, Sarah and I are seeking God over our finances, direction, and thorough processing through the grief. We are grateful for your prayers, letters, emails, donations and cards.

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