Murrindindi Shire have entered an agreement to lease the ESA property in order to build a temporary Marysville. The current intention is to house the residents of Marysville on the ESA land while they are rebuilding their homes.
We are pleased to assist the people of Marysville in a small way as they begin to recover.
This also gives us some time to plan the future of the Marysville site.

Ruth Close
Chair
ESA Board

Thanks

The ESA Board are very encouraged by the enthusiasim and generosity of the wide ESA family.The amount and diversity of the gifts and offers of help have been overwhelming. This response has motivated the board to ensure that the vision of ESA continues in an even greater way in the future. We appreciate your offers of help even though many of them we are not able to act on at the moment.
The current situation at the site is the police have completed their inspection and the site will be professionaly cleared by Grocon in the next few days. The Murrindindi Shire will then be able to proceed with their plans in conjunction with ESA.

ESA still has many needs and we are thrilled to hear of the many creative fund raising events which are planned.The following are our on going costs and commitments which need to be met. Insurance will cover some of these costs but certainly not all of them.

1. Ensuring the staff are adequately cared for and have their emotional and material needs met. Several lost their home and all their possessions.
2. The establishment of the new office in Healesville. Ongoing costs for the office which includes staff accommodation.
3. The camping ministy.We lost all canoes ,and outdoor equipment including the ute which had the kitchen set-up for the canoe camps. We hope to replace all of this gear quickly so that the ministry can continue.
4.The wages for the Field workers has previously been heavily supplemented from the income from the site. We want to continue to support our field workers and this will be our greatest on going need.

If you would like to give specifically to one of these needs you can send the information to the office or direct deposit to the bank account.

Thank you for your continued support.
Ruth Close
ruth174@yahoo.com

Fire damage update from the ESA Board.

We praise God for the efficient and safe evacuation of all the staff and the group of 90 campers from the Marysville site on Saturday. Allan Gellert’s quick decisions and actions are commendable. Please continue to pray for the people of Marysville who have lost their homes and all their possessions. Especially pray for God’s comfort for the families who are grieving for those they loved dearly.

As soon as possible we plan to have an office operating in Healsville for the continuing work of ESA. Please pray that we will find a suitable location soon.

As you will understand we are not able to progress with any work at the Marysville site at this stage and no camps will be operating from the site in the near future. We do have insurance cover but the short term needs are great.

The immediate needs are:
a) A full replacement of the camping equipment in order to proceed with the adventure camping program eg. canoes, tents, Lifejackets, outdoor kitchen equipment, canoe trailer, vehicle.
b) All the resources needed for an office set up eg. computer, printer, phone, desk, chair, stationary.

We are grateful for the many offers of help from the amazing team of ESA volunteers but they cannot be accepted just at the moment. If you would like to register your interest so we can utilize your help when the opportunity arises, send an email to Geoff Brown: browngl@tpg.com.au

We look forward to God’s plan for the next stage of the ESA journey and trust that you will pray with the staff and board for God’s leading and direction.
Ruth Close
ESA Board

Donations to ESA

If you would like to make a donation to help the work of ESA to continue, it would be greatly appreciated.
You can make a deposit to ESA’s bank account
NAB 083 672 515818733

ESA’s Ute Appeal

The Ute Appeal is now closed with the ute purchased and already in use on camps. Thank you to all who supported this appeal.

Mail can be addressed to:

ESA Country Ministries,
PO Box 34
Marysville 3779.

Phone Enquiries: 5963 3303