Issue 3
Just click on the link above to read all the exciting things that have been going on.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Update
It has been a while since my last update. Things have been very busy and there are a lot of things to talk about. However you will all be getting a newsletter very soon so I thought I'd just dot point everything that's been going on:
- MTS training has started
- JOLT has started
- Gave a lesson to a year 9 class at Abbotsleigh
- Organising Wahroonga parish newsletter
- Bush School Easter Assembly
- 6:30 and the Vine Weekend Away
Monday, March 14, 2011
JOLT
JOLT (Jesus Over Lunch Time) is the Christian lunch time group at the Bush School. We had our first meeting last Thursday and I was greatly encouraged by it.
Although there were only 6 kids there for the first meeting, there were many kids who popped their heads in to see what was going on. A lot of them said that they would come next week.
At JOLT we introduced ourselves to each other, made up cool nicknames, played some games, read the Bible and prayed. A few of the kids there had never read a passage in the Bible before so I had to teach them about the chapter and verse numbers. I also had to teach them what a Bible study was and how to answer questions. At first they weren't answering questions by looking at the passage but by the end of the session they had gotten the hang of it. What a great opportunity to be able to teach kids how to read the Bible for themselves. I am really excited about opening up the Bible with these kids every week.
For our first Bible study we asked the question "Who is God?" From looking at Acts 17:22-31 we saw that God is bigger and greater than us, however he is not far from us and wants to be our friend. This week we will be asking the question "Who is Man?" We will see that there is no one righteous, not even one. But God has provided a way for us to be in a relationship with him even though we do not meet his standards.
Although there were only 6 kids there for the first meeting, there were many kids who popped their heads in to see what was going on. A lot of them said that they would come next week.
At JOLT we introduced ourselves to each other, made up cool nicknames, played some games, read the Bible and prayed. A few of the kids there had never read a passage in the Bible before so I had to teach them about the chapter and verse numbers. I also had to teach them what a Bible study was and how to answer questions. At first they weren't answering questions by looking at the passage but by the end of the session they had gotten the hang of it. What a great opportunity to be able to teach kids how to read the Bible for themselves. I am really excited about opening up the Bible with these kids every week.
For our first Bible study we asked the question "Who is God?" From looking at Acts 17:22-31 we saw that God is bigger and greater than us, however he is not far from us and wants to be our friend. This week we will be asking the question "Who is Man?" We will see that there is no one righteous, not even one. But God has provided a way for us to be in a relationship with him even though we do not meet his standards.
- Praise God that JOLT has been able to start again for this year and that there are many kids who are interested in reading the Bible.
- Pray that I would faithfully teach the Bible to these kids and that they would come to trust in Jesus as their Lord.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Women's Brunch
We had our first 6:30 women's event on Saturday. We had a lovely brunch and also had a great time reading through Ephesians 4 together.
- We were reminded that the good/worthy life is not about things that we have but about our attitudes and the way we live.
- We were reminded that as Christians we have been joined with Christ (made in Christ) as well as brought into unity with each other. Because of this we need to maintain the unity (by being humble, gentle, patient and bearing with one another in love) so that we may grow into maturity into Christ.
- We were also reminded that if one part of the body is not working properly, the whole body wont be able to grow. We prayed for each other that we would continue to live a life worthy of our calling (unity with Christ and each other).
Multiple types of tea mmmm
Having discussions in smaller groups
Having fun :)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Issue 2
Here is the link for issue 2 of my newsletter:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1RXda2qcJbUMzgxNDE2MDktOWU1YS00MGU2LWI5OGQtOTU5ZTA1ODhkNDI4&hl=en&authkey=CIq6q5QC
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1RXda2qcJbUMzgxNDE2MDktOWU1YS00MGU2LWI5OGQtOTU5ZTA1ODhkNDI4&hl=en&authkey=CIq6q5QC
Thursday, February 17, 2011
a quick update
This week has been my first full week. I went to Abbotsleigh on Wednesday morning and also started Scripture classes this morning at the Bush School (However JOLT - the lunchtime group - hasn't started yet).
So now I am getting a better understanding of what my weeks will look like which is good. So far so good.
This Saturday I'll be going to the Abbotsleigh Crusader's weekend away. This will be a great opportunity for me to get to know the Christian girls better. I've already seen them on two opportunities at school and I feel that they are opening up to me more. Pray for Tim Clemens who will be giving talks on the topic of faith. Also pray that this will be a beneficial time for me as I meet girls and encourage them in their Christian lives.
So now I am getting a better understanding of what my weeks will look like which is good. So far so good.
This Saturday I'll be going to the Abbotsleigh Crusader's weekend away. This will be a great opportunity for me to get to know the Christian girls better. I've already seen them on two opportunities at school and I feel that they are opening up to me more. Pray for Tim Clemens who will be giving talks on the topic of faith. Also pray that this will be a beneficial time for me as I meet girls and encourage them in their Christian lives.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Excursion!
Yesterday, Philip, Scott and I went to the lanch conference of the Priscilla and Aquila centre. It was a great day out and a great conference. The Priscilla and Aquila centre is “A centre for the encouragement of the ministries of women in partnership with men.”
In the past there have (apparently) been many groups formed which have a more negative spin on teaching how men and women should work together, often putting things negatively such as "women are NOT allowed to preach" whereas this centre aims to encourage positively ways in which women CAN work with men.
We started the day with a 3 hour look at Genesis 1-3 by Peter Jensen, being reminded that men and women are both made in the image of God are therefore in essence the same being. However there is a difference in responsibility between the male and female as seen in how sin came into the world and the consequent punishments.
We also had electives. The two electives I went to were:
Working with men (run by Kara Gilbert and Tracey Gowing)
-recognising that men are men, so we shouldn't try and make them act female
-honouring the role of men as leaders and teachers with greater responsibility
-not seeking value or affirmation from your senior ministers but rather from God alone
Working with women (run by Phil Wheeler, Joshua Ng, Rick Smith and Paul Dale)
-a panel of 4 men discussing why they chose to have women on their team
-the benefits of having women on staff: mission, opportunities, pastoral care, etc
-the difficulties with having female staff: often transient working with women because of different their different life stages (single, married, children, etc)
I was really encouraged to see so many men there who were making the effort to think through how to work in partnership with women. It was also really encouraging to be at the launch of this conference which I am sure will do great things. It will be worthwhile for you to browse through their website to find out more.
Prayer note: I seem to have caught what I call the "crazy weather cold." My immune system has been finding it hard to cope with the unbearable heat-wave followed by the massive cool change. Please pray that I would have a speedy recovery and that it would not affect my work.
In the past there have (apparently) been many groups formed which have a more negative spin on teaching how men and women should work together, often putting things negatively such as "women are NOT allowed to preach" whereas this centre aims to encourage positively ways in which women CAN work with men.
We started the day with a 3 hour look at Genesis 1-3 by Peter Jensen, being reminded that men and women are both made in the image of God are therefore in essence the same being. However there is a difference in responsibility between the male and female as seen in how sin came into the world and the consequent punishments.
We also had electives. The two electives I went to were:
Working with men (run by Kara Gilbert and Tracey Gowing)
-recognising that men are men, so we shouldn't try and make them act female
-honouring the role of men as leaders and teachers with greater responsibility
-not seeking value or affirmation from your senior ministers but rather from God alone
Working with women (run by Phil Wheeler, Joshua Ng, Rick Smith and Paul Dale)
-a panel of 4 men discussing why they chose to have women on their team
-the benefits of having women on staff: mission, opportunities, pastoral care, etc
-the difficulties with having female staff: often transient working with women because of different their different life stages (single, married, children, etc)
I was really encouraged to see so many men there who were making the effort to think through how to work in partnership with women. It was also really encouraging to be at the launch of this conference which I am sure will do great things. It will be worthwhile for you to browse through their website to find out more.
Prayer note: I seem to have caught what I call the "crazy weather cold." My immune system has been finding it hard to cope with the unbearable heat-wave followed by the massive cool change. Please pray that I would have a speedy recovery and that it would not affect my work.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
it's hot!
It is really hot! Which can make it hard to concentrate during the day. I have a slight tendency to be lazy and do nothing. So you could pray that either I would
- have better luck concentrating during the day
- be motivated to do more work in the evenings when it is cooler.
Monday, January 31, 2011
My First Newsletter!
Issue 1
Thank you to all those who came to my supporters afternoon tea on Saturday. It was very encouraging to see you all there.
If you would like to give financially to help support me during the next two years, you may now do so as the accounts have been organised. The information in the newsletter is wrong. The correct information is as follows:
BSB: 704-998
Account no.: 100 009 869
Thank you to all those who came to my supporters afternoon tea on Saturday. It was very encouraging to see you all there.
If you would like to give financially to help support me during the next two years, you may now do so as the accounts have been organised. The information in the newsletter is wrong. The correct information is as follows:
BSB: 704-998
Account no.: 100 009 869
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Week 2?
I went to the doctor at the end of last week with a violent cough. The doctor suspected that it might be whooping cough, took a blood test and gave me the required antibiotics.
This was a bit of a damper on my second week on the job as it meant that I had to stay away from people. I had to keep away from church and the office for a whole week to make sure that I didn't infect anyone. The coughing at night also got me feeling quite tired during the day. I unfortunately had to cancel a few meetings with women which was sad as I was really looking forward to it.
Thankfully, the antibiotics have worked and I haven't been coughing at night anymore. I am also past the contagious stage so I can hang out with people again.
Thank you to all those people who prayed for me. I know a number of people from church had been praying that I would get better quickly and I am feeling heaps better now.
This was a bit of a damper on my second week on the job as it meant that I had to stay away from people. I had to keep away from church and the office for a whole week to make sure that I didn't infect anyone. The coughing at night also got me feeling quite tired during the day. I unfortunately had to cancel a few meetings with women which was sad as I was really looking forward to it.
Thankfully, the antibiotics have worked and I haven't been coughing at night anymore. I am also past the contagious stage so I can hang out with people again.
Thank you to all those people who prayed for me. I know a number of people from church had been praying that I would get better quickly and I am feeling heaps better now.
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