Off to South of France

We are back home after our 2-week house sitting in Lockerbie, Scotland.

It was a good time. The scenery around there is really fabulous and the animals that we were there to look after were lovely. No trouble at all.

We were blessed and so were the home owners who were able to enjoy a holiday that they could not have managed if they had needed to pay someone to look after their house and pets.

God therefore blessed both us and them.

We are now home for a couple of weeks and then on the 2^nd of November we begin another house sitting assignment. This will last for the whole of November and is in the South of France very near to Toulouse.

Here we will be staying in a 3-bedroom house set in 8 acres of land. I have seen the pictures and it looks lovely. In return for the free accommodation we will be taking care of 3 cats.

That means that we will be free to have a holiday and explore the area.

I was chatting to a friend a couple of days ago. Well actually in addition to being a friend he is also a local Pastor and we were chatting because I will be preaching at his church next week. He commented about our trip to the South of France by saying, jokingly, “How the other half live”

He is right but the other half is not the rich but rather the members of Christian House Sitters. We are able to experience holidays to places that we could only dream about if we had to pay rent.

I invite you to join us and experience the blessing for yourself.

God bless you,

Ray

www.christian-housesitters.com

House Sitting made Simple

The concept of House Sitting is new to a lot of people. As a result we have received many emails at Christian House Sitters asking us to explain the system.

In essence it is very simple.

A House Sitter moves into your home while you are away on holiday. They look after your home and pets for you and in return they receive a rent free holiday in your home.

The house owner saves money by not having to pay anyone to look after their home and pets.

They have the security of knowing that their home and pets are being looked after by a responsible Christian.

The House Sitter gets to travel and stay in lovely homes rather than an expensive and often characterless hotel room.

For example recently Marilyn & I spent a couple of months living in France. It was something we could not have afforded without being house sitters. We became part of the local community and had a lovely time. In return we looked after a beautiful house and their dogs and cats.

Can I charge rent?

No. The rent you receive is having someone look after your property and pets. They are normally expected to pay their own phone bills, food etc. If it is a long-term house sit then naturally you can reach an agreement about utility bills. However if there are animals to be looked after please remember what it would have cost to hire someone. So if there are animals we do not advise charging even if it is a long term house sit.

Is it safe?

Naturally one has to take precautions. We strongly advise all our sitters and home owners to get references before entering into any agreement. As this is a Christian site and all members list their church connection we suggest a reference be obtained from their church leaders.

We also include a general outline of anagreement for both parties to sign. Note this is a general draft and you will need to adapt it to your specific situation.

Will people know my details?

Only if you tell them. On the site it does not list your email address or address details.

Can You Guarantee a House Sit?

Sadly not. The list of available properties is constantly changing. New houses are added and existing properties find sitters. We are facilitators and have no idea what houses or sitters are going to become available in the future. We never know from one day to the next what is coming and what is going to be removed. For example we had a message from someone asking about a house in Florida. We wrote back saying that we did not have any. The very next day we got a house 5 minutes from Disney World available for 2 months. God is in control. We trust that He will provide the right match between owners and sitters.

To find out more visit our site  www.christian-housesitters.com and feel free to use the Contact Us link that you will find there.

Bless you,

Ray

On Holiday in Scotland

Hi,

This blog entry is being written with a distinctly Scottish accent. Although to be honest you may not notice it when you read.

Why Scottish?  Well Marilyn and I are on a farm in Dalton near Lockerbie in Scotland. We arrived here yesterday and will be here for another 9 days. We are House Sitting for a lovely family who needed a holiday. They joined Christian House Sitters and listed their house a couple of months ago but for some very odd reason nobody wanted it. I can only assume that folk thought Scotland would be cold in October. They were wrong!

Because these people really needed a holiday Marilyn and I felt God wanted us to do the house sit for them if nobody else offered.

So here we are. As I look out the window I see farm fields with cows grazing. In the other direction there are fields with sheep and horses. Surrounding us is some absolutely beautiful scenery.

It really feels as if we are on holiday.

Do we have a lot of work to do here? No not much. They have 2 delightful and very loving boxer dogs who go for a short walk. Short because both dogs are getting old so can’t go too far. In addition there are 3 beautiful, friendly cats, a hampster and 2 chickens. We could easily do all our work in an hour leaving the rest of the time free to relax, see the area and have a country holiday.

There are so many other fabulous holidays available on the Christian House Sitters web site. Come and look around. You may find your ideal holiday rent free. Some do not even have any pets to look after.

Ray

www.Christian-housesitters.com

Please help us to spread the message

Hi,

I realise that this may be a slightly unusual blog entry but I am hoping that some of my readers may be able to assist me.

The Christian House Sitters service is becoming well known in a lot of the English speaking countries. Places like the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. For obvious reasons it is much harder getting known in the countries where the main language is not English.

If, therefore, you have any contacts would you mind telling them about us?

Naturally feel free to spread the word to Christians and churches in English speaking countries as well.

At the moment we are really needing more houses in Europe. So if you have contact with Christians or churches please pass on the news.

Not sure what to say?

Here is a suggestion:

Christian House Sitters is an internet based service.
Christians who want to take a holiday and need someone to look after their home and or pets can register.
Christians who need a break can register.
Christian House Sitters will bring the two halves together.
This way many Christians who could not afford a holiday will be enabled to take a break and see other countries.

HOUSE SITTERS
Will benefit by being able to have short or long breaks in their own country or abroad.
Their only expense will be the actual cost of travelling to and from the destination.
They will know that they are helping another Christian and that when they arrive they will be introduced to the home owners Church and Christian friends.

HOUSE OWNERS
Will benefit from being able to leave their home and animals in the care of a Christian having confidence that they will love the animals and care for the property honestly.
They will also know that you are helping another Christian to have a holiday.
They have the added security of being able to ask prospective House Sitters for a reference from their Church leaders.
Their only expenses are the normal gas and electricity charges
House Sitters normally cover their own telephone costs
Using someone from this site means that they will save money.
In the UK having someone to look after pets costs an average of £200 per week.
The majority of us can’t afford that.
Also if one hires a sitter through an agency they select the person. You have no idea who you are letting into your home.
The site includes a suggested agreement for the parties to sign. This offers additional security.
Using this service they are able to make contact with potential sitters and prayerfully select the right person or people. 

Full Details: www.christian-housesitters.com

Email:  manager@christian-housesitters.com

Houses come in groups. Most Odd.

People often say that you can wait ages for a bus then four arrive at the same time.

I did not realise that the same principal applied to houses. They seem to go through fashions. For a period we seemed to only get houses in the UK. Then for no apparent reason this changed to the USA. Now we are in our Down Under phase.

We have had a whole bunch of people list their houses in Australia and in New Zealand. 

In fact the last 2 houses we listed on the site came from the same town in New Zealand. Most odd.

I am not complaining there are some really fabulous properties. If it was not so expensive to get there from England I must admit that I would be very tempted to take some of them myself.

We have got houses near the Great Barrier Reef, houses with magnificent views, houses where the owners are even saying that they will leave a car for the house sitters to use, houses with pets and again some houses with no pets to look after.

Naturally we are still getting houses elsewhere. I have just looked at the site to double check because naturally the list changes almost daily. New properties are added and existing places find a suitable house sitter.

Today we have properties in, as I said, New Zealand and Australia but also in South Africa, America, Spain, England and Scotland.

Why not come over to the site and have a look around.

We may be able to help you find a sitter for your home when you next have a holiday or we may be able to help you have a rent free holiday somewhere nice.

Ray

Christian House Sitters

www.christian-housesitters.com

The world is full of odd people

I thought that I would share some of the strange requests and questions that we have received at Christian House Sitters.

These all came from people who had visited our web site and sent their messages from the site.

If I am doing Christian House Sitting will they still insist that I get a passport to travel to ……….(name of country)?

I was tempted to reply by saying. No all the world govenrments know me and so they do not expect a passport from anyone I have approved.

Your house sitters look after pets as well. Please can you find me a puppy for my son? It is his birthday next week. 

I was tempted to ask if they wanted me to get one of our sitters to steal a puppy.

How many houses will you have in ……….(name of country) next August?

I was tempted to reply. Sorry but my prophetic  powers do not extend to that

Can you help me get a job in America?

This person wanted me to arrange a Green Card, and then get her a job. When I asked why she had approached me she replied that it was because she is  Christian.

There have been loads more but this small selection will give you the flavour. In some ways these messages are great. They provide Marilyn and I with a good laugh in the middle of an often busy day. The tricky part is crafting a suitable reply without upsetting the person who sent us the question.

Having said all this I am delighted to say that 99% of the folk who contact us are great. We have, as a result, got some wonderful houses all over the world.

God bless you,

Ray

www.christian-housesitters.com

Australia. House Sit.

Once again it is a pleasure to highlight yet another house on the Christian House Sitters website.

Just think what it would cost to rent somewhere like this for your holiday. Then realise it is available fre of charge as are so many other fabulous houses.

This one is in Austrlia

Location:  AUSTRALIA Near to Mackay Queensland

Dates: 15th Dec to 31st Dec 2007

Brief Details: 

Close to Mackay, Queensland, Australia. This is a 3 bedroom,comfortable house with 10 foot ceilings (3mtrs), tongue and groove walls.
The carport is covered, but not attached to the house.
There is a large kitchen, with a good sized pantry, dish washer, large fridge and plenty of bench space.
The bathroom has a lovely bathtub and plenty of cupboard space for towels/bed linen, etc.
The house is very close to the GORGEOUS Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef situated on an 800m2 block in the heart of the MAGNIFICENT Pioneer Valley, with stunning views of the nearby Great Dividing Range, sugar cane fields and the Pioneer River .
The Pioneer Valley, apart from being one of the richest sugar cane growing areas in Australia, is by far one of the most picturesque valleys in Australia. Travelling through this fertile valley, you will discover a community steeped in pioneering history. The Valley encompasses many quaint townships and Australia’s largest continuous stretch of sub tropical rainforest Eungella National Park.

Know as ‘The Natural Way’, the trip along Eungella road through the Pioneer Valley to Eungella National Park is a unique destination with many varying attractions, activities and townships to view along the way.
Platypus often frolic in the river which is just a hop, skip and a jump from the front door.

NON SMOKERS.
Pet friendly people (They have two dogs and three cats all whom are very affectionate)
Young/retired/families all welcome
 

For full details see www.christian-housesitters.com.

New Zealand

God is continuing to bless the Christian House Sitters web site with fabulous homes. Places where a Christian can enjoy a rent-free holiday.

The featured property this week is in Christchurch New Zealand.

The house is only 5 years old and it is a large sunny 3 bedroomed home, on a hillside in the very small community of Diamond Harbour on Banks Peninsula, overlooking the Port of Lyttelton. It is a 40 min drive from  Christchurch.

The main living area is upstairs along with a double and a single bedroom. Downstairs is rather like a self contained flat with a double bedroom, lounge room , and a shower room/toilet. There are very large windows which allow much sun into the house and offers marvellous views over the sea to the Port of Lyttelton.  There are many ships coming and going into the Port, so it’s great to be able to watch that movement, often aided by either the binoculars or the telescope. The trip to Christchurch city takes about 40 minutes either by car, winding round the harbour which is very picturesque, or the local ferry which runs hourly, taking approximately 7 minutes, and then connecting with the bus into the city.  

There are many native birds around here, including bellbirds and the large wood pigeons. Also there are some walking tracks in the area, and kayaking available in the next bay around the harbour called Purau.

The owner has one sandy coloured cat, who needs company, and this is actually the main reason for wanting a house sitter,although the owner is very happy to share her lovely place with others, and think a house is better lived in than shut up for a season.

Full details on the website

www.christian-housesitters.com

Still Growing

Although I have been less than faithful in maintaining this blog many of you have been very faithful in keeping in contact. Thank you. It is really encouraging to know that there are people all over the world praying for me and for Christian House Sitters.

The site is now becoming very well known. I am astounded when I look at where our visitors come from. When you have a moment visit the site and click on the link Where Visitors are From. This is updated on the site 3 or 4 times a week and shows visitors from almost every country.

Houses are still being added.  Some have pets to look after while others, such as the beautiful place in Granada Spain have no responsibilities other than looking after the home. We have just taken down our last featured house which was just outside London and replaced it with one near Christchurch in New Zealand.

It is exciting to see houses and sitters getting matched up.

Please continue to pray and to make this service known to your friends and church.

 Keep in touch,

God bless you,

Ray

www.christian-housesitters.com

Granada Spain

Once again it is a pleasure for me to highlight another wonderful property made available rent free for Christians to enjoy a holiday.

This week Christian House Sitters  features a home in

Granada Spain

Available 1st to 25th August

Also available for dates in December and February

Gardens of La Alhambra in Granada

Two bedroom Flat (apartment). Kitchen, livingroom, rooftop terrace with bbq. Close to three major bus lines into center of town (10 minutes by bus). 1 Queen size bed and 2 singles. 1bath.

Adorable fully furnished flat with dishwasher, dvd TV, washing machine, rooftop terrace, gas bbq, airconditioning and heat. 10 minutes away from center of town by bus.

Come see the Alhambra and charming downtown of Granada. 10 minutes away from the international Baptist Church (services in Spanish, but many English speakers attend) as well as 60 minutes driving away from the Mediterranean.. We are close to places like Nerja (1 hr 20 min) Malaga (1 hr 30) Sevilla (2 1/2 hrs) Cordoba (2 hrs). Come make Granada your base and enjoy the beach in the summer and the skiing in the winter (Sierra Nevada 45 min).

NO Pets just some plants to take care of! This is actually a three bed flat, but our third bedroom is our office and no room for any guests. We are media missionaries and work out of our home. We will answer any questions about the Alhambra, center, and any other questions. We have books that describe the area in depth to borrow as well.

Full details are available on our website www.christian-housesitters.com