Rivers Baptist Church - Christ alone - and Him crucified

Greetings once again from Townsville,

It has been 12 weeks and the time in sunny Townsville has almost come to a close. In a week and a half Tegan and I will fly to Sulewesi in Indonesia. Our trip is quite a long one involving 4 flights and a five hour ferry ride, though it is exciting none the less. The time up here in Townsville has been a time of learning about ourselves, others and God. Each week I have learnt something new from the many subjects, though I would have to say that I have mostly enjoyed Spiritual Disciplines, God’s heart for the world, community work and Basic Counselling.

God’s heart for the world has really opened my eyes to global missions and what happens on that front. The ethics and Doctrine classes have been interesting, characterised by some healthy discussions/debates. The most challenging thing for me has been delivering chapel talks. Public speaking is not my forte! This Sunday Lauren and I have a 5 minute slot in the church service. That will be a huge challenge for me speaking in front of a congregation of about 400!

Living at the Lodge has been challenging at times, but on the most part fantastic. It is such an experience in itself living with 14 people. The lodge is characterised by silly random rules, chocolate feasts, constant drop ins, 2am D and M conversations (if your up that late) and the worst part is the dishwasher…it never stops filling up!!! While in Indonesia I’m sure that I will miss all of the other ‘lodgies.’ Speaking of Indonesia, if you don’t already know Tegan and I will take on the role of teachers (great for the public speaking) and teach English in the Uni that Margaret is in. We are excited about this new challenge.

Other happenings and highlights in Townsville have been:

• Women’s day at the Church; a day of pampering, massage and relaxation. It was a great time to refresh.
• Serving at the Cowboys games with SU. Walking around selling pies and drinks. I tell you my legs were sore the next day after walking up and down those stairs.
• Magnetic Island, Castle Hill and the Strand; the tourist spots.
• Impact World Tour; 5 nights of entertainment and preaching for the young people of Townsville. Being an Usher was a lot of fun.
• Discovering that a friend I haven’t seen in years is at the Army Base up here. It has certainly been great to catch up with him.
• The friendships with the other students and others within the church. I have to say I really enjoy the 2am conversations (not every night.)
• The greatest thing and reason that I’m here has been learning more about God, His word and His heart!!! I hope and pray that this will continue while overseas.

Thankyou again for your support and prayers! I look forward to catching up with many of you when we are back form overseas! Enjoy the photos!

Prayer Points

I thank each and every one of you who has been faithfully praying for all of us. Our visas, passports and vaccinations have been finalised and our studies are pretty much up to date ready to leave for overseas. The last 5 weeks or so has been a fantastic time of learning and building relationships, so we thankyou for your prayers in that area. It has been fantastic for me to really build a close friendship with one of the girls here in particular, which in itself was an answer to prayer. Below I have listed some things that we would appreciate prayer for as we head overseas. One of the many things that we have been learning here is the importance of prayer within a missions context, as well as the power of prayer to really transform lives.

• Please pray for safe travel to our destinations and safety in our countries. The first of us leaves on Monday, and Tegan and I are the last to go next Saturday 23rd September. Please pray for Tegan as she is anxious about being separated from her family.
• Please pray for the people groups whom we will be going to. Haydn and Myles –Chinese (Buddhists/Muslims/Christians), Lauren and Sarah- Kazakhs (mostly Muslim), Megan and Sally – Thai ( Buddhists) , Tegan and I – Indonesians (mostly Muslim)
• Please pray for the people we will be staying with overseas; our mentors (mine is Margaret) and the permanent workers.
• Please pray for our families as we are separated.
• Please pray that this will be a time of significant growth in our walks with God and that each of us will be open to hearing His voice and leading. Pray that at all times we would continue to seek Him and His will.

As I’m in Indonesia until late November I will not be accessing my hotmail account or this account above. Some of you may receive an email from a new email set up in Indonesia, because of security issues please try to limit who has our email address. Because the country that we are going to is a Muslim country it is important that certain things are not written in the emails. If you intend to email, please read the attachment below. Thankyou

Careful Communication

THANK YOU for communicating care. Please communicate with your friends overseas, they will appreciate your care and concern when they hear from you – by mail, email or phone.

PLEASE communicate with care. It is important to be careful what you write or say to people living and serving overseas.

The primary reason for this is to show respect for the countries and cultures in which staffs serve and the people with whom they work.

It may also be important for SFI staff’s long-term involvement in the country. Unwise communication could, in some circumstances, make it difficult for them to renew their visas.Lack of care may also put at risk the lives of friends or colleagues of the staff. In one country in Asia, in 1999, a young indigenous man was tortured and killed because of a suspected relationship with an expatriate living in the country.

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES….
The communication medium

• Use plain paper and envelopes when writing letters (there won’t be time for me to receive any, I will be back before they get there!)

• Remember mail, emails and phone calls may be monitored

No Political comment

• Make no comment about the politics or political issues in the country which the worker is serving

• Avoid commenting about Australian overseas policies
• Don’t write or speak about national or international policies

No Religious comment

• Avoid all religious terms – e.g. church, mission, evangelism, Bible, God, Jesus, prayer, Christian, etc.

• Do not include any religious titles, stickers, videos, tapes, booklets, newsletters or magazines
• Do not include any negative comments about the religion of the people of the differing culture.

No names

• It is wise to avoid including the names of national friends.

There is still much to write about!
Yourself, family, friends and activities
Australian weather and lifestyle
Sporting events
Birthday greetings, Christmas greetings (with care!)

Sorry it this seems to be an overreaction – however it is better to be safe than sorry!