Ernest & Carmen

August Newsletter

2010-08-25T17:36:00.000+10:00

Haven't posted anything lately because things are a bit of a mess. I'd rather not talk about it here, but you can read about it in our latest newsletter. In the meantime, this blog will probably be quiet for a little while.

Holidays at the Hunter Valley

2010-08-05T10:08:00.001+10:00

We're off to the Hunter Valley for a few days - yay! =D

Coming to Australia

2010-07-28T14:27:00.003+10:00

I have often been told that the number of Cantonese speakers coming to Australia is decreasing, whereas Mandarin speakers are constantly on the rise. This seems to be supported by the languages spoken at home as well.

So I was a little bit surprised when I looked up the stats for this and realised that the number of Mandarin speakers coming to Australia have also started to decrease. The graph below is for the South, but the stats for NSW is similar (click on the image for a larger version):

This graph is a good reflection of the history of Chinese migration to Australia and some of the events behind it:

Prior to 1973, Chinese migration was very difficult under the White Australia Policy, which came about largely as a reaction to the many Chinese who came to Victoria during the Victoria Gold Rush in the 1850s and 60s.
Under Gough Whitlam, the White Australia Policy was abolished in 1973, followed by a series of laws and acts in the 70s and 80s which slowly opened the doors of immigration to Australia.
I'm not sure of the reason behind the sharp increase of Chinese migrants in 1987. Perhaps it's to do with the stock market crash known as Black Monday.
Chinese migration reached its peak in 1989 as a result of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. For the first time there were more Mandarin speakers coming to South Sydney than Cantonese speakers, partly because the Australian government under Bob Hawke granted Chinese students a four year amnesty to stay in Australia.
Over the next few years, Chinese migration went back to pre-1987 levels (with a slight increase). But the year before the Hong Kong handover, a number of Cantonese speakers people made a last minute dash to come to Australia.
In the meantime, migration among Mandarin speakers begins to increase dramatically from 1995 onwards. Many of these are students from China coming over to study. I found an interesting research paper done back in 2004 on the history of Chinese students studying overseas and why Australia has become such a popular choice in the last 15 years.
I don't have the stats for 2007-2010 (yet), so it's hard to say whether the migration of Mandarin speakers is declining or whether 2006 was just a particularly bad year. This article says that Chinese people coming to study in Australian university is definitely dropping.

I don't know much about history and politics, so if anyone can shed more light on the reasons behind these migration patterns please leave a comment below.

From the pie chart on the right, we can see that those coming from China and Hong Kong make up 80% of the Chinese population in the South. The rest are the 2^nd generation Australian Born Chinese (ABCs). About 2% of these ABCs have one or both parents who were born in Australia, meaning they are 3^rd generation (or more) ABCs.

What this means for gospel work is not only the need for Cantonese and Mandarin ministries, but also the need to understand the background, mindset and culture of Chinese migrants and their children (which I might write about at another time).

Give thanks that the changes in immigration/migration policy in Australia that has allowed many Chinese people to come to Australia, to a place where there are more open opportunities to hear the gospel. Pray that Christians will be sensitive to their needs and know how to best reach out to them.

Recovering from a MASSIVE Week!

2010-07-21T21:21:00.003+10:00

I survived a mammoth 70 hour week last week and have just had 2 days off to recover. Thanks to everyone who have been praying for us regarding the holiday kids club and the BHCBC camp. Let me tell you how things went.

The kids club was a blast! Over the 4 days, 132 different kids turned up, and at least a third to half of them were not from church backgrounds. The first day was a bit chaotic because there were so many things that were unknown and unpredictable. I got roped in at the last minute to lead one of the groups for kids in Year 3-6.

Some of the boys in my group	Crazy game with pool noodles
Drama	Craft time

Each day we sang, memorised Scripture, played games, ate, heard a testimony, and made crafts. The 2 girls from my church did a fabulous job (as did all the other volunteers from other churches) and I was very impressed with them. They took the initative to do things without being told and despite the early morning start I never heard a word of complaint from them (I was the one moaning about the early mornings).

In the end, everything came together and it was a huge success (from a human point of view). It was totally exhausting, but totally worth it.

Praise God for the many kids and parents who we had contact with last week. Give thanks also for all the leaders and volunteers who put so much effort into organising this kids club. Pray that some of those unchurched families will end up in a church where they can be followed up.

My preparation for the camp talks, however, did not go so smoothly. Being a topical series, I had a hard time deciding which passages and which aspects of evangelism I wanted to speak on. Even though I had chosen my main points several weeks ago, my thoughts kept drifting to other points as I write.

And because I had to jump in to help out at the kids club, I had less time and a lot less energy throughout the week. There were times where I was sitting in front of the computer for ages and I couldn't write a thing. My thoughts were all jumbled up and I couldn't put them together in a logical sequence. It got so bad I actually felt a sense of panic!

I worked right up to the wire and somehow managed to get it done. I'm reasonably happy with the end product, but definitely don't want to cut it so fine again.

Other than that, I had a good time at the camp. Had several good conversations with people about ministry, and hung out with the youth playing Werewolf (an advanced version of Mafia). We came back on Sunday morning and went to church as usual, then crashed afterwards.

Thank God for getting me through a long week and finishing the talks. Pray that the brothers and sisters at BHCBC were challenged about their evangelism efforts despite my imperfections and weaknesses.

Countdown

2010-07-09T15:48:00.000+10:00

The next 9 days will be chaotic!

Only 4 more days until the Holiday Kids Club begins. We have just under 100 kids coming at the moment, and likely more with those who just turn up on the day without pre-registration.

That afternoon on the same day, I am having a Masterchef-themed social with my girls.

Then right after the Holiday Kids Club finishes, I will be off to Kiah Ridge Conference Centre in the Southern Highlands to speak at the camp for Beverly Hills Chinese Baptist Church. The theme is Mission: Possible (as in evangelism in general, not overseas missions). I will be giving 2 talks plus a workshop.

It’s my first time speaking at a camp, and I’m not very confident as a preacher. So I’m working extra hard to put together some biblical, applicable and engaging sermons.

Pray that God will use me to challenge the saints at this camp to be passionate and active in preaching the good news. Pray also that I will be able to prepare well especially since I will be busy with the kids club beforehand.

Ethnic Groups in the South

2010-07-07T15:51:00.000+10:00

My recent post on the Holiday Kid's Club got me thinking about the proportion of Chinese people in all different age groups. But first, I thought I'd have a look at the different ethnic groups that make up the area. In the chart below, I have indicated in brackets the 2 largest nationalities in each ethnic group (click on the image for a larger version):

As I've mentioned before, 15% of the South population are Chinese (in Hurstville that percentage is ridiculously lopsided!). Other significant groups are the Europeans, the Arabs, and of course the Anglo-Saxons.

Break that down into age groups and we get (note the age groups are not all the same size):

A few observations and speculations, plus some information about their religion:

The Chinese population (red) is fairly evenly spread out amongst all the age groups under 60, hovering around 15% or so with a slightly higher percentage in the 18-29 and 40-49 brackets. But in the 60+ age group, it drops significantly, showing the relatively recent migration from the late 1980s.
The British (orange) are weighted more heavily in the 40+ age group, and moreso the further along to the right you go. This perhaps reflect the history of early Australian settlement. The main religions in this group are Anglican (35%), Catholic (24%) and "No Religion" (13%).
The Australians (yellow) are weighted more heavily in the under 18s, which might mean that Australian families have more children. The main religions in this group are Catholic (31%), Anglican (28%) and "No Religion" (12%).
The South Eastern Europeans have a slight peak in the 30-39 and 60-69 age groups, possibly reflecting their earlier migration in the 1950s. The main religion in this group is Eastern Orthodox (85%).

From the census data, it would seem that there are lots of Christians in the area. But this report back in 2001 shows that only 5% of Anglicans and 15% of Catholics actually go to church (no info on Eastern Orthodox churches). And this report shows that church attendance in Anglican and Catholic churches have dropped by 7% and 13% respectively in the 10 years between 1991 and 2001. Admittedly, all this information is very dated and one would hope that the trend is changing. But this gives us a rough idea of the religious landscape in the South.

This obviously has implications for ministry across all the age groups, which I won't go into. But I'll simply say that for those seeking to create a multi-ethnic church which reflects the community, expect it to still be a predominately white church. The challenge will be to make sure that the culture and style of the church will not be one that only attracts white people whilst excluding the other ethnic groups.

Pray for the many nominal Christians who are under the false assumption that they are right with God that God may wake them up to their dilemma. Pray also for the churches in the South that are seeking to reach non-Chinese people that they may know how to best evangelise and disciple these people.

Having Difficult Conversations

2010-07-05T12:14:00.000+10:00

Two weeks ago, I preached on Joshua 22. The 2½ tribes of Israel on the East side of the Jordan had built an altar near the Jordan river. Fearing that they had turned away from God, all of the Western tribes took up arms and went to confront them.

This may seem like a rather dramatic (over)reaction. But it shows how concerned they were for holiness among the people of God. They kept each other accountable and were willing to deal with sin by confronting people directly.

If you want to find out what happened next, you'll have to go and read the passage. But the reason I mention this is because yesterday I had to put my money where my mouth is. I had on good authority that one of my girls was indulging in sinful behaviour. I dreaded having to say something, but after preaching on this passage, I knew couldn't ignore it. I fretted over it for the next few days and couldn't think of a 'good' way to do it except to 'go to war' - i.e. speak to her directly and say it like it is.

So that's what I did yesterday before church started. I expected it to go badly - she might palm it off, or get angry, or side step the issue, or...

She denied it.

What should I do? I had no first hand knowledge to confront her with. I could ask my source to come with me, but that would back her into a corner with no way out...and that could get messy. Was there another way?

I couldn't think of a solution, but God had one planned already. After church she came and spoke to me. She admitted that there was a problem in the past but in recent months have tried to deal with it. She still struggles with temptation and asked for my prayer and support.

Later that night, she also sent me a email revealing some slightly deeper issues. I was pleasantly surprised by this and grateful that she was willing to talk about it. It would be great if there was a female leader who could follow her up, but for now I will have to do.

Give thanks that she has been willing to open up and talk about some of the issues. Pray for me that I will have wisdom to know how to help her in this time and that the Holy Spirit will bring transformation in her life. Pray also that God will teach me to be more courageous when I have to have difficult conversations in the future.

June Newsletter

2010-07-03T16:17:00.000+10:00

Our latest prayer letter has just been sent. Coming to an inbox near you!

31 Facts about China

2010-06-23T13:39:00.001+10:00

Came across these today, from here and here. I've highlighted a few that I thought were useful for ministry. Check out the original links because some of them have interesting pictures.

By 2025, China will build TEN New York-sized cities.
By 2030, China will add more new city-dwellers than the entire U.S. population.
China already consumes twice as much steel as the US, Europe and Japan combined.
If the Chinese, one day, use as much oil per person as Americans, then the world will need seven more Saudi Arabias to meet their demand.
There are already more Christians in China than Italy, and China is on track to become the largest center of Christianity in the world.
Chinese are far more likely to believe in evolution than Americans.
Chinese internet users are five times as likely to have blogs as Americans.
China has 150% more soldiers than America does, plus a high tech 'Kill Weapon' the U.S. can't deal with.
China still hasn't rid itself of Europe's medieval plague.
40% of Chinese small businesses went bust or almost went bust during the world financial crisis.
China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world COMBINED... and uses mobile execution vans for efficiency.
China averages 274 protests PER DAY.
When you buy Chinese stocks, you are basically financing the Chinese government. Eight of Shanghai's top ten stocks are state-controlled arms of the government.
50% of counterfeit goods come from China. (not surprisingly)
The majority of Chinese drink polluted water.
Chinese GDP could overtake the U.S. as soon as the early 2020s.
Chinese men outnumber women by 39 million -- over ten times the population of Los Angeles.
China has the world's biggest mall... but it's been 99% empty since 2005.
Nearly 10,000 Chinese citizens each year are sucked into unsanctioned 'black jails'.
If he spent his ENTIRE YEARLY INCOME on housing, the average Beijing resident could buy 10 square feet of residential property.
Home resales have increased 350% in the past three years.
China's economy grew by 11.9% in the past year and its GDP chart 'has gone vertical':
China has more pigs than the next 43 pork producing countries combined.
Chinese consume 3 million cigarettes every minute.
80% of US toys are made in China.
Shanghai built 1,500 miles of road in the past decade. That's three Manhattan's worth of streets.
China is planning a train system that will link London to Beijing in two days, traveling 200mph.
China's enormous Gobi Desert is the size of Peru and expanding 1,400 square miles per year due to water source depletion, over-foresting, and over-grazing. That's 60 Manhattans every year.
Sizzling is an understatement for some Chinese property markets -- home prices in Haikou have jumped 54% in the past year.
Beijing held the most expensive Olympics ever at a cost of $40 billion. This summer's Shanghai Expo costs even more -- $45 billion.
There are 292 individual languages still spoken in China. This is even more than the 175 languages spoken in the world's melting pot, America.

Pray that God will do a mighty work in China. Pray that the Christians will be grounded in the gospel and be fervent in evangelism, despite the government's stance on religious freedom. Pray also for the government that God may humble them to acknowledge him as he did with Nebuchadnezzar.

Holiday Kids Club

2010-06-21T13:03:00.001+10:00

Coming up in 3 weeks, I am partnering with Grace Chinese Christian Church Kogarah and Word of Life to run a holiday kids club. We are hoping to have at least 100 primary school kids come along to have fun, play games, sing songs, make crafts, and most importantly, hear about Jesus.

If you know people in the area who have young children, send them along! See this website for details.

This has prompted me to look at the number of primary-aged children (which I'll define as age 5-11) in the South (click on the graph for a larger version):

There are over 18,000 primary-aged kids in the South, and 17% of those are from a Chinese background. It shouldn't be too hard to get 100 kids along, right?

Pray for us as we prepare for this kids club, especially as neither church has organised something like this before. Pray that God will bring many children and their parents into contact with us so that they can meet Jesus.

Updates to Old Posts

2010-06-17T22:34:00.001+10:00

I have made some significant updates to my posts on the language spoken at home and the proficiency of spoken English. I've added maps to show where Cantonese and Mandarin speakers live so that you know where to find them.

I also combined my post earlier today with an older post on the Chinese population in Hurstville.

Rather than putting all this information in 3 new posts, I feel that they belong better with those older posts. So check them out!

Board Games Club

2010-06-16T16:41:00.000+10:00

I enjoy playing board games, particularly games originating from Europe. They are very different to games like Monopoly and Risk, and far more enjoyable. These games are often not found in mainstream toy stores but only in specialised game stores. Their popularity has really picked up (at least amongst my group of friends) in the last few years.

So as a way to try and meet new people in the area, I started a weekly board games club a few months ago. So far it has been attended by all Christian friends, with 2-3 regulars each week, and a few others here and there. I recently created a static website with details of where and when we meet. I'd really like to create some flyers, but my design skills (or lackthereof) leaves much to be desired.

Whilst it's fun, it's not achieving my main purpose of meeting new people. So several times I've considered whether I should decrease the frequency, or even cancel the group altogether. But each time I think that, I get an email from a stranger who found out about us and shows some interest. But each time their interest has failed to turn into action.

This week I got another email from a someone who might come in 2 weeks' time. Hopefully this time we will actually get to meet.

Pray that God will use this board games club to make contact with people in the area. Pray also that I will have the wisdom to know how to promote this club, and the humility to know when/if I should close it.

Proficiency of Spoken English

2010-06-11T12:25:00.006+10:00

In my last post, I looked at the language spoken by Chinese people at home. And it was clear that a vast majority of people still speak Cantonese and Mandarin. So is there much of a need for English ministry in Chinese churches?

Have a look at this, which shows the proficiency of spoken English amongst those who speak Cantonese and Mandarin at home (click on the graph for a larger image):

	Cantonese	Mandarin
Very Well	5,703	4,012
Well	4,791	5,552
Not Well	3,500	2,744
Not At All	1,322	796

Interestingly, around 70% of both groups have a proficiency level of "Very Well" or "Well". I'm not sure if this matches up with my own experience with Chinese people, or whether they were overly optimistic in their self assessment. But that's what the data says.

If we break this down into age groups as well, we get this (click on the graph for a larger image):

A few observations and reflections for ministry:

Overall, there is a larger percentage of Cantonese people who speak English "Very Well" (blue columns), and a larger percentage of Mandarin people who speak English "Well" (red columns).
In the under 35 age bracket, the English proficiency of Cantonese and Mandarin speakers are roughly the same at 85-95% (blue and red columns combined). So ministry amongst this age group can/should still be conducted in English. And in fact that will be the preference for many, especially those who speak English "Very Well" (blue columns).
In the 20-49 age bracket, there is a large percentage of Mandarin speakers who speak English "Well" (red columns) and "Not Well" (green columns). This may be a good group to target for easy English ministry.
Once we go past the age of 45, English proficiency drops below 60%, and continues to drop rapidly in the 60+ age bracket. Because of age and learning ability, the preference will most likely be for their own mother tongue.

Here are a bunch of maps to compliment these points (note that the scale for each map is different):

These are the Chinese people that speak English at home (left) and those who speak English "Very Well" and "Well" from both Cantonese and Mandarin background (right). It's pretty spread out, with concentration in a 'T' shape. Those are the areas that is good for doing English ministry.

Here we have people that speak English "Well" and "Not Well" from Cantonese (left) and Mandarin (right) background. The Cantonese map has a bit of a '7' shape, whereas the Mandarin map has more heavily concentrated pockets (note the difference in scale). These are the areas for Cantonese, Mandarin and easy English ministry.

Finally, we have people that speak English "Not Well" and "Not At All" from Cantonese (left) and Mandarin (right) background. The Cantonese map is still a '7' shape, though there is not as many in Rockdale and Kogarah. The Mandarin map is also similar to the one before, but with an addition pocket in Riverwood. These areas we need Cantonese and Mandarin ministry.

One other thing I noticed: it's good to see that the existing churches in the South are in the right areas where Chinese people live. But one area that is a bit lacking is Turrella/Wolli Creek. Chinese people are not there in huge numbers, but there is still a fair few there with no Chinese-specific ministry in the area.

There are other reasons why English ministry amongst Chinese people is important. But I will save that for another time.

Pray for churches with English ministry reaching out to Chinese people that they may think broadly about how to reach all different ages (not just young students) who speak reasonable English. Pray that language will not be a barrier for people to hear the gospel, but that everyone will have a chance to meet Jesus.

Language Spoken at Home by Chinese People in the South

2010-06-08T16:48:00.007+10:00

One of the tricky things about ministry to Chinese people is that Chinese people don't speak Chinese. But rather, they speak all sorts of different dialects depending on where they are from. For this post I'll just focus on the 2 main Chinese languages: Cantonese and Mandarin, as well as English.

This is the primary language spoken in the homes of Chinese people (click on the graph for a larger image):

Cantonese	Mandarin	English
15,443	13,206	2,278

A few observations:

The number of Mandarin speakers are catching up to the number of Cantonese speakers. This means we need to put as many resources into Mandarin ministry as Cantonese ministry (if not more).
There are more Mandarin speakers in the 20-34 age range, which reflects the increase in overseas students and young families from China in recent years.
There are more Cantonese speakers in the 5-19 and 40+ age range, which reflects the longer history of migration from Hong Kong.
Only 7.4% of people speak English at home.

From this, it is obvious that churches with Cantonese and/or Mandarin ministries have a big role to play. And this will help in selecting areas to target (click on the map for a larger image):

Where Cantonese speakers live

Where Mandarin speakers live

Both language groups are heavily concentrated in Hurstville, but you can also see that Cantonese speakers are much more spread out, with significant concentration in Kingsgrove, Beverly Hills and Riverwood. On the other hand, Mandarin speakers have less of a spread, with significant concentration in Kogarah, Rockdale and Turrella, and a bit in Riverwood.

Although not many speak English at home, I think that English ministry still has an important role in reaching Chinese people. More on that in my next post.

Pray for the churches who are seeking to reach Chinese people in their mother tongue. Pray that there will be solid preaching of the gospel and strong, biblical discipleship of new believers that will lay a firm foundation for ministry in the long term.

Evangelism Workshop

2010-06-04T09:46:00.000+10:00

Tomorrow I will be running a workshop on evangelism with a large group of leaders at Grace Chinese Christian Church Kogarah (GCCCK). Combining my experience with a number of things I've read & learnt over the years, I am developing my own approach to explaining the gospel. It's nothing revolutionary, but simply a synthesis of what's already out there. If my readers are interested, I might post some of these thoughts on here in the future.

Pray that I will be able to give a clear, engaging and practical presentation. Pray also for the leaders at GCCCK that they will not only be able to understand the information, but that they will be challenged to actually go and evangelise

May Newsletter

2010-06-03T17:06:00.001+10:00

Haven't had a chance to post much lately. Been working on our newsletter which just came out. If you didn't get it, send me an email or leave a comment.

If you're wondering what's the difference between this blog and our newsletter, the answer is not much. The blog has more posts, whereas the newsletter is like a "best of" selection. But the newsletter will go into more specific and personal details that are not mentioned on a public forum like a blog.

Churches in the South

2010-05-24T21:59:00.003+10:00

As I mentioned in previous posts, there are lots of Chinese people in the South, especially in Hurstville. And the vast majority of them are non-Christians. Which means we need lots of churches in the area to be active in reaching out with the gospel.

So how many churches are there in the South?

As far as I know (which admittedly is limited), there are 17 churches in the area that have a ministry to Chinese people (though they are not necessarily a Chinese church). Here is a map of where they are, superimposed on top of the previous map of where Chinese people live (click on the image for a larger version):

It's good to see that most of the churches are located in places where more Chinese people live. One of the exceptions is actually my church in Mortdale. We really want to be in Hurstville, but being a small church we can't afford to rent much (yet).

Now 17 churches may sound like a lot. But some of those churches only cater for one language group. Some of them have no English pastor (or no pastors at all). And each of these churches would need to reach over 12,700 Chinese people! That's a lot of people!

Pray that God would send more pastors and church planters to make disciples and equip Christians in this area. Pray also for my church that we can find a more suitable location to do ministry.

ISCF (Follow Up)

2010-05-20T23:42:00.001+10:00

Here's how things went today:

Spent the whole morning working on my talk. Much of the time was just on packaging since the actual content was stuff I've done before. But because it was packaging, I kept chopping and changing. It was like decorating your house. I would arrange the furniture and move things around. But when I stepped back and had another look, I decided I didn't like it after all. So then I would move things around again...and the cycle continued like that for awhile, until...

...it was 15 mins before it started! I quickly hit the print button, saying a quick prayer under my breath hoping that it was good enough.

I planned to show a short video at the start to introduce the topic. I had already packed into the car a few days earlier the data projector, extension cord and power board. I made sure I remembered to grab the PC speakers from my office.

I jumped in the car and quickly drove off. 10 mins to go! I was about half way there when I realised I forgot a most crucial piece of equipment - my laptop with the video file!!!

My instant reaction was to turn around and go get it. But after a brief attempt at going back, I had to admit that I wouldn't make it in time. So with less than 5 mins to go I quickly continued my way to the school, berating myself for my forgetfulness.

Got there a tiny bit late. No worries - the first 10 mins is just eating and socialising. But walking into the school, the place seemed really empty. There were only a few people around, not the usual crowds you get at lunch time.

I found the classroom and went inside. There were less than 10 people there - half of our usual numbers. It turns out that today was the start of exams, and those who don't have exams don't have to come to school. That kind of changed things, as I had hoped to do some group interaction. But with so few people it wouldn't really work.

So I quickly made some changes on the spot and got started. The students seemed (at least to me) to be listening, and they answered my questions with "safe" answers. The time goes quickly, and before I know it, the end-of-lunch bell had gone. I didn't finish all my material, but I had to wrap it up anyways.

All in all, it could've been better, but it wasn't a wipe-out either. I learnt a few things for next time, and hopefully the students did too.

Thank God for helping me to get everything together and speak clearly today, even though I was nervous and flustered. Pray that the students would not be like the man who looks at the mirror but immediately forgets what he looks like.

Inter-School Christian Fellowship (ISCF)

2010-05-19T14:57:00.000+10:00

One of the things I've been involved with this year is the lunch time ISCF group at one of the local high schools. The group is made up of mainly Aussies. And it's made me realised just how Chinese I am - I don't know how to relate to them at all! It's a bit better with other non-Aussie students, but there's not many of them at this group.

As far as I can tell, most of the students are not Christians, and they come because there's free food. In term 1, I was simplying observing while the regular leaders gave a talk/Bible study. But this term I am trying to get more involved. Tomorrow I will be leading for the first time, and I'm a bit worried about how it'll go, given my inability to relate to them.

Please pray that I will be able to prepare well and engage the students. Pray also that they will listen and be challenged by God's Word.

Religious Affiliation of Chinese People

2010-05-17T12:58:00.001+10:00

One of the most obvious statistics to look at is of course the religious affiliation of Chinese people in the South. Here is the breakdown (click on the pie chart for a larger image):

A number of observations & reflections:

50% of Chinese people identify themselves as having no religion. That's not surprising given the background of communist China.
But from my experience, these Chinese people are not atheists (certainly nothing like Richard Dawkins). They don't necessarily believe in no god(s). They just don't subscribe to an established religion. I find that they are a mix of Taoist beliefs, Confucius mindset and Chinese mythology/animism.
Although 24% of Chinese people identify themselves as Christians, you can see that this is a very broad category that includes cults like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
If we leave out the cults, and separate the Catholics into a separate category (for reasons I'll leave for discussion at another time), we are left with 4,620 Christians (13.77%).
From my contact with churches in the area, I estimate that there are around 2,500 Chinese people who regularly meet with Christians on a weekly basis. Of course, that includes non-Christians and nominal Christians. So I would say that a more realistic estimate is probably around 7% Christians.

Pray for the many who are trapped in Taoism, Confucianism and animism, that the gospel will break through these barriers and speak into their lives.
Pray for the Christians in the South that we may be active in reaching out with the gospel, and also live in such a way that makes people take notice.

Prayer Updates

2010-05-15T14:17:00.001+10:00

Thank you to those who have been praying for us as we deal with the recent events. Let me give you some updates.

Firstly, regarding Carmen's injury. She needs to have a minor surgery done next week which shouldn't be any problems. Mentally and emotionally she's a bit better now, though that may resurface again after the surgery. There's a chance that the medical costs will be covered by the church's public liability insurance. But if not, it'll be a big chunk out of our wallet. Either way, there will also be expensive ongoing medical costs for the rest of her life as well.

Give thanks that there are good medical professionals who are able to help us. Pray that the surgery will go smoothly, and ask that God will provide for our finances (either through insurance or other means).

Secondly, regarding the girl (H) who decided to leave last week (I'll refer to people using first name initial). She plans to keep on coming to youth group on Friday nights. I also hope to continue to disciple her 1-on-2 with the girl (W) who recently became a Christian (though that is not 100% confirmed yet).

Give thanks that H can continue to meet with Christians and get spiritual input on Friday. Pray for me as I disciple H and W that it will be an encouraging and fruitful time. Pray also for me as I continue to deal with ongoing issues in the church.

Age Profile of Chinese People in the South

2010-05-11T11:52:00.003+10:00

We have seen that there are many Chinese people living in Hurstville and in the South. In future posts, I will take a closer look at what these Chinese people are like.

Here is the age breakdown in each region (click on the graph for a larger image):

Here's another version with the bars stacked on top of each other (again, click on the graph for a larger image):

As you can see, there aren't many people in the 60+ age range (only 10%). Many of the people are in the 20-29 and 40-49 age bracket (almost 40%). Yet I have none of those age groups in my congregation. I suppose most of those in the 40-49 bracket would probably prefer to speak Cantonese or Mandarin (I will do a post later about language). But I would really like to reach those in the 20-29 bracket.

Any ideas on how to reach this group?

Pray for wisdom as I think about how to broaden the age spread in my congregation by reaching out into the local community.

Sticks and Stones

2010-05-10T19:40:00.000+10:00

Yesterday, another person in my congregation decided to leave our church because of rumours and gossip in the Cantonese congregation. I've really seen the damaging effects of the tongue lately and feeling quite frustrated, disappointed and helpless. Together with what happened last Friday, I've been a bit down in the dumps and worn out.

This morning I was struggling to pray, so I spent some time mediating on Scripture and using it as stimulus for prayer. It's helped a bit, but I would very much value your prayers for us at this time.

Pray that I can find comfort and refuge in God at this time. Pray against Satan that he may not hinder the work of the gospel but that the Holy Spirit will do a wonderful work of refining me.

Perils of Youth Ministry

2010-05-10T15:28:00.000+10:00

Haven't had a chance to blog about this until now, but last Friday at youth group, Carmen fell and was injured while playing a game. She's mostly ok, though there are a couple of things we have to do to make sure everything's fine. It's a bit of a hassle, and there will be ongoing medical costs, but we're thankful that her injury wasn't worse (it could have been much worse).

Give thanks that Carmen's injury was relatively minor and that we were able to get help for her very quickly. Pray for her as she recovers not only physically but also mentally and emotionally from the shock and the stress.

Preaching at Weddings (Follow Up)

2010-05-09T22:51:00.000+10:00

Thanks to everyone who prayed for my sermon on Saturday. I was so nervous that I had sweaty palms beforehand! But as far as I can tell from a human point of view, it seemed to have gone alright. In my preparation, I struggled to find a good balance between an evangelistic sermon (which the couple wanted) and a wedding sermon. In the end I was happy with the final script, and I think the delivery was what I wanted as well.

In hindsight, I think I found it easier than preaching at my normal church service. With a larger congregation, there's always someone who will laugh at your jokes. Whereas those same jokes may not have gotten to same response on Sunday, I imagine.

Not that humour is the measure of the quality of a sermon. But when people laugh at your jokes, you feel more relaxed as a preacher because you know that the congregation is on the same wave length as you and are therefore following your train of thoughts. Whereas if a joke falls flat, you think, "How can they understand my exposition if they can't even understand my jokes?"

Give thanks to God who enabled me to prepare a clear message which was able to engage the congregation as well as speak to the newlyweds. Pray for the non-Christians (especially the father of the groom) who heard the gospel that God will use that to stir their hearts to seek him.

Preaching at Weddings

2010-05-07T15:29:00.013+10:00

I am preaching my first wedding sermon tomorrow. It's for a good friend, so I'm a bit nervous!

Pray that I will speak clear and faithfully from the Scriptures, and that the message will be relevant to both Christians, non-Christians and the couple getting married.

Pray also for the newlyweds that their love for each other would be modeled on the love between Christ and the church.

HSC Forum

2010-05-06T11:13:00.000+10:00

This is something my church is organising for students in Year 11 & 12 and their parents. It's not a Christian event (though all the presenters are Christians), but simply an opportunity to contribute something to the community.

Pray for the presenters that the seminars will be helpful to students who are anxious about their HSC. Pray also that this event will help raise the profile/awareness of our church in the community, and that in the midst of helping people with their earthly problems that there may be opportunities to deal with deeper spiritual problems.

One week to go! Registrations close this Sunday.

The Real Chinatown of Australia

2010-05-05T12:40:00.010+10:00

In my previous post, we saw that many Chinese people live in the South, particularly in Hurstville. In fact, there are more Chinese people living in suburb of Hurstville than anywhere else in Australia. Here is the breakdown of the top 10 suburbs populated by Chinese people in NSW (click the image for a larger version):

As you can see, Hurstville is way out on top by a large margin! And on top of that, Chinese people make up a staggering 44% (10,269 out of 23,333 people) of the population in Hurstville! - even higher than Haymarket.

And not only is Hurstville full of Chinese people who live there, but it is also the gathering place for Chinese people. I have no official statistics to prove this, but walk through the main road on any day of the week and you can see that's where lots of Chinese people of all ages gather. It's the real Chinatown of Australia!!

Hurstville also has good public transport (at least by Australian standards). On weekdays, there are trains to the City on average every 4 mins in peak hour and every 8 mins in off-peak time. Plus there are 18 bus routes that services this suburb.

Add all that together and you can see that Hurstville is a great place to do ministry!

Pray for the many Chinese people who live in this suburb and the surrounding areas that God may have mercy upon them. Pray that their hearts will be prepared to hear the gospel and that God may bring them into contact with Christians who will introduce them to Jesus.

PS Andrew Hong had already posted these same statistics a few months back. But I thought it'd be good to do it again since it's directly relevant to my ministry.

Ups and Downs of Ministry

2010-05-03T11:45:00.000+10:00

Had an "interesting" day at church yesterday.

UP: Found out one of my youth group girls became a Christian on Saturday night at the Yeah Show. Everyone was very happy to hear the news and welcomed her into the family.

Praise God for bringing her to a saving knowledge of his Son Jesus. Pray that she will crave spiritual milk as a newborn and that we as a church community will help her to grow and mature as she begins her new life.

DOWN: There has been a number of rumours in the Cantonese congregation stemming from money issues that has caused a division in the church and one family to leave us. There was a meeting yesterday and what I hope was the start of a peaceful resolution.

Pray for a spirit of unity amongst all the members such that the gates of Hades may not prevail against it. Pray that we will entrust our worries about money to God who richly provides us with everything we need. Pray also for the pastors and leaders as we seek to heal the hurt and find a way forward.

Chinese Population in the South

2010-05-03T11:10:00.016+10:00

Here are some interesting statistics from the 2006 census that I found on the Australian Bureau of Statistics(ABS) website:

There were 4 million people living in Sydney in 2006.
6.8% (281,305) of those were Chinese.
15.4% (33,568) of those live in the St. George Region (SGR) - what I call 'the South' (sorry Shire friends).

The ABS census collects data in 3 regions (technically called Statistical Local Areas): Hurstville, Kogarah and Rockdale. Don't confuse these regions with the suburbs. This is how many Chinese people live in each region (click for larger image):

Hurstville Region: 15,169	Kogarah Region: 9,221
Rockdale Region: 9,178

Here is a composite image:

As you can see, many of them live in the suburb of Hurstville. More on this later.

Pray for this rich harvest field that there would be more workers sent out to preach the good news.

April Newsletter

2010-04-30T12:43:00.001+10:00

Finally finished my prayer letter! Took me 2 months!

If you would like to receive it, but didn't, please let me know.

Modified Calvin & Hobbes (Part 4)

2006-11-03T16:41:00.003+11:00

Just handed in my essay for the year - in fact, my last essay for my Bachelor degree! It was hard going right up to the end. Now I have 2 exams to go before I finally graduate. My 3 years here has gone by so quick. In many ways I'll miss this place. But I'm definitely looking forward to the end of essay writing! :)

Give thanks for 3 wonderful years of training at SMBC. Pray for me as I prepare for these final exams that I'll continue to learn heaps from the Bible. Pray also for next year as I look for work in an ABC church.

Modified Calvin & Hobbes (Part 3)

2006-10-05T23:49:00.001+10:00

Modified Calvin & Hobbes (Part 2)

2006-09-17T21:51:00.001+10:00

Modified Calvin & Hobbes (Part 1)

2006-09-04T18:47:00.001+10:00

Two weeks ago I was up in Queensland for Brisbane Leadership Training (BLT). It's kinda like a SCCCA Training Day, but for a whole weekend. I ran 2 workshops, one on Shortcuts to Writing Better Bible Studies, which mainly focussed on using Bible study guides. And the second one was on Systematic Theology - Doctrine of Scripture.

The 2nd workshop was quite hard to prepare because there was lots of material and the contents were quite dense. So in order to break it into bit-sized chunks, I edited a few comics from my favourite Calvin & Hobbes. I will post a few of them here. See if you can work out what the point I was trying to make (note: little Calvin doesn't always get his theology right).
(I own a copy of all the comics, but I don't know if this violates any copyright laws...)

Give thanks for the Chinese churches up in Brisbane who are striving hard to preach Christ. Pray that the leaders will continue to grow in godly character and mature understanding. Pray that God will send workers to help lead and teach his people in QLD.

Language Barrier for Missionaries

2006-08-12T09:34:00.001+10:00

At youth group, we've been looking at different aspects of mission. It's been quite fun (well, at least for me). Last night we looked at one of the biggest challenges that missionaries go through - language!

One of our simulation activities was to break up into groups and make up a few phrases in a new language, and then teach it to people from another group - without using English of course! (though people didn't stick strictly to that rule...)

Here is some footage of a few of the groups. It looks very random to anyone who wasn't there on the night. But see if you can work out what they are saying. :D

Give thanks that we have such ready access to the Bible in our own language, such that we have too many choices when we go to a Christian bookstore. Pray for missionaries working overseas, especially those in the work of Bible translation. Pray that God may give them great patience and endurance as they seek to communicate the great news of Jesus Christ to a foreign people.

The Beginning of the End

2006-07-17T16:53:00.001+10:00

This blog has been gathering dust once again...

The past few months since I've been back from India have been extremely busy/stressful. Had loads of assignments to do, and zero motivation. But somehow I managed to write 7,000 words in 2 weeks (a HUGE achievement for me) for 3 essays, and still pass all my exams.

Just finished having a relaxing break, and today's the first day back at college. Another semester ahead - my last one!

Give thanks that God enabled me to pass 1st semester despite my failings. Pray that I will make the most of my time in the last few months of my college training.

Back from India

2006-04-23T20:05:00.002+10:00

I'm back!! Alive and (mostly) well.

Lots to tell about India. I kept a journal on the trip, so I'll be back-posting some of those here with photos. The journal entries are only a record of what happened on the trip, without much reflections. I'm still thinking through the things I saw and experienced in India and working out how it applies to my life and ministry.

In the meantime, I have stackloads of stuff to catch up on. If you look at my schedule for May, it's jam-packed!! Aiya! :S

Give thanks for a safe journey and the chance to see what God is doing in North India. Pray for the Muslims, Hindus, and other spiritual-seekers in India that they may find the truth in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Day 1: Eating and Shopping

2006-04-01T23:30:00.001+11:00

Banana Leaf Restaurant

Introductions in the morning, and then lunch at a restaurant called Banana Leaf in Connaught Place.

Masala Dosa

Shopping for clothes in the arvo (the girls got some fantastic salwas). A brief nap, and then off to dinner at a (relatively) expensive restaurant.

Girls shopping

By this time I'm so thoroughly exhausted. I could write about all the things I've seen and heard and smelled, but I'm going to be in deep sleep before my head even hits the pillow.

Day 1: April Fool

2006-04-01T09:00:00.001+11:00

After some brekkie and a shower I'm feeling a bit better.

What had happened was that Phil & Dave had planned to come and meet me at the airport at 2am. They had asked Tim to arrange a taxi for them to go pick me up. But a bit of miscommunication here. Tim got the idea that they just wanted a taxi to go get me. So he sends a taxi driver with my name on a sign to stand at the arrivals area. Phil & Dave are waiting at the hostel, and finally realises that the taxi is not coming to take them to the airport. After consulting with Tim, they go to bed thinking that everything is fine.

Meanwhile at the airport I was doing a great job of ignoring all the taxi drivers - because in our preparation in Sydney, we were told that we would get swamped by beggers, hawkers and taxi drivers, and the best way to deal with them is to ignore them. And so I did.

The poor guy was probably trying to get my attention and see if it's my name on his sign, but I would've totally ignored him. Afterall I was only expecting Phil or someone I knew. Not my name on a sign. And so I sat at the airport and waited. And so did that taxi driver. Apparently he was there till 5am.

It wasn't until some of the guys from my team woke up at around 5am that they realised I hadn't arrived. The girls and married couples were in different rooms, so they were totally oblivous to my plight.

Later on, we joked that this was a greak April Fool's surprise...

Day 1: I'm Saved!!

2006-04-01T07:27:00.001+11:00

Yes!! Someone picks up the phone!! A voice says, "Hello, this is Tim speaking. " YES!! I'm saved! A wave of relief washes over me.

It's too cumbersome to tell in detail what happened next. But after a few phone calls by Tim, and me calling Tim back each time (costing me Rs30-40 per call, and each time my Asian stingy mind instinctively crying out in protest until I remember that this is getting me out of the airport, and it's only AUD$3), Phil and Pierre are now on their way over to pick me up.

Day 1: Someone Please Pick Up the Phone!

2006-04-01T06:00:00.001+11:00

It’s been 3 hrs since I arrived. The place has emptied over the last few hrs, but it’s slowing filling up again as the sun rises.

Now I am starting to get anxious.

I see a number of rusty yellow public phones around. It looks like it takes Rs1 (1 rupee) coin for a call.

Problem #1: The smallest amount I have is a Rs1000 note.

There are a few shops around. I try and buy a bottle of water (Rs20), but the shopkeeper can't change such a large note. Fortunately there’s a taxi driver nearby who broke it up for me (of course he also wanted my business as well). But that still left me with a bunch of notes and no coins. So I asked the shopkeeper if he could break the Rs10 note into coins. I told him I needed it for a phone call. He didn’t have enough coins, but he took pity on me and gave me a Rs1 coin.

Ok. I got my coin. Now I can make a call.

Problem #2: Who do I call?

We had been given a few numbers to call depending on where we were and who we wanted to contact. In Delhi I had the number for the hostel we were staying at. So that would be the most logical place to call.

Problem #3: Would anyone be awake to take my call at this time of the morning? Would they speak English? How do I get them to put me through to my team mates since I don’t know what room they’re in?

Problem #4: What number do I dial? I.e. on our list of contact numbers, the instructions were to dial 011-91 first. Is that an international prefix? Or a local area code?

Problem #5: I only have 1 coin. That means only 1 chance to get this right. If I stuff up and dial the wrong number & prefix, then I’d be stuck here.

Problem #6: I’m getting quite stressed now.

Maybe I should try something else. Perhaps the best thing is to call our local contact Tim. He should be able to contact Pierre and/or get me out of here.

Problem #7: I have his house number which is in Lucknow. And I have his mobile number. Does that mean he’s still currently in Lucknow? Or has he come to Delhi to meet the team? Can I actually call Lucknow with Rs1 coin, or is that an interstate call? How do I call Lucknow? Do I need a different prefix? I still hadn’t answer problem #4. Do I need to dial 011-91 as well? What if I get through but he’s not there? I could try his mobile, but the same problem all over again.

Gee, I though having all these numbers were supposed to solve my problems. Good thing I didn’t work this out early when I first arrived, or else I would’ve panicked!

Maybe I should’ve called earlier. What if they stayed up all night worrying about me? Oh why didn’t I call earlier? Then I wouldn’t have had to spend the night here at the airport without sleep.

Oh, hang on. I still don’t know what number to call.

I see 2 airport security guys around. So I go over to see if they can help me with this. After much confused discussion, I worked out that 011-91 is the international prefix. I also found that that the prefix to Lucknow is 0522, and to dial a mobile I need to first press 0. And nope, I can’t dial to Lucknow or to a mobile with only Rs1.

I still I didn’t like my chance of calling the hostel in Delhi. So I was back to square 1.

Problem #8: By now I’m really stressed!! And I need to pee. There are no toilets in sight – how can there be no toilets in an airport!?!?

As I looked around for the toilet my eyes fell on this funny phone booth for international calls. I saw this earlier but didn’t pay any attention to it, thinking that I don’t have the coins to call Australia, nor do I know the prefix.

But when I saw the phone booth this time, I realised that there’s an old man who’s been sitting next to it for some time. Maybe he wasn’t just sitting there reading his paper. Maybe he knows how to operate the phone.

It turns out that the international phone is not a coin-operated phone. It’s a normal LAN phone with a timer hooked up to it and this man charges you for your call. And better still, not only can he do international calls, but he can also call Lucknow.

So I ask him ho much it’d cost to call Tim’s house in Lucknow. Answer – Rs10! That’s 10 times the cost of a payphone for a local call. But then I reminded myself that the exchange rate is AUD$1=Rs30. So this phone call is only AUD$0.33.

I make the call. But no one answers.

Maybe they’re still asleep. I let it ring for a bit longer...BRRRING BRRRING...

Still no answer. D’oh!!

I hang up and ask to dial Tim’s mobile.

Day 1: Stranded in India

2006-04-01T03:42:00.002+11:00

Location: Delhi

Delhi by night from the plane

I’ve finally arrived in Delhi after many hrs of flying. I’ve lost track of how long I’ve spent sitting. I was expected to arrive at 2am, but the plane was ½ hr late, and my luggage was one of the last to come out. Now I’m ready to catch a few hrs of sleep before we hit our first big day in India.

But one slight problem...I’m stranded here at the airport.

Phil (or someone from the team) is supposed to meet me here. Maybe they got tired of waiting. Maybe they can’t get here for some reason. Maybe they forgot!!

I have some contact numbers, so I guess if no one turns up, I can give them a call. I keep looking around in hope that they’re just sitting down somewhere and we haven’t seen each other. Good thing I have some biscuits and water to give me some energy. But getting a nap is a bit hard.

I’ve only slept an hr or two since I left SMBC over 24 hrs ago. But I don’t feel that tired. Or anxious. I even have the patience to put up with pests like mossies and taxi drivers.

Most of the flight to HK was spent watching movies and occasionally chatting with Taiwan team people. Suzanna had really bad air-sickness. I decided to watch movies from HK to Delhi as well, not because there was anything good on, nor to get my money’s worth, but so I could make myself tired and adjust to Indian sleeping hrs.

While transiting in HK for 7 hrs I did some shopping. Bought 2 pairs of pants for HK$50. A cheap watch for HK$20. And an umbrella (HK$15) just in case. Then had a nice jap dinner with parents before going back to the airport.

...

Spent 20mins writing up this entry. But still no one has turned up…

Leaving for India

2006-03-31T01:48:00.001+11:00

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, hence my absence from this blog. People who blog all the time must have nothing to do, or have lots to say. I'm neither.

Anyways, I'll be off to India for college mission in a few hours. I really should be in bed, because my flight leaves at 8:30am, which means I have to get to the airport by 6:30am, which means I have to leave by 6:00am, which then means I have to wake up at...?

Those who are interested in praying for me should have already received prayer points, so I won't put them here. If for some reason you missed out, then email me and I'll pass on the prayer points.

I don't know how often I'll have net access in India. I'll try and update whenever possible. I'll be keeping a journal, so it should be easy to just type out some of those when I get into an Internet Cafe. Might not have time to upload photos, but I'll see.

See you when I get back (hopefully in one healthy piece!).

Preaching on Romans 3:21-31 - Help!

2006-03-06T16:23:00.001+11:00

Rom 3:21-31 - the most important passage of Romans, and perhaps, also the hardest. I finished writing the sermon at 3:30am on Sunday morning, slept for a few hours, read over it and touched it up a bit, and preached it.

The lateness of my preparation is not (entirely) due to the lack of work beforehand. It was just that there were so many things to cover in the passage. Things that I needed to explain include:

Context of this passage in relation to Romans 1-3, and also the latter part of the book
Righteousness of God
How this righteousness is apart from the law, and yet the law and the prophets testify to it
Faith
Fall short of the glory of God
Justification (declare righteous)
Grace
Redemption
Sacrifice of atonement (propitiation) & blood
God's justice past and present
Relationship between faith and law/obedience
How the law is not nullified by faith but rather upheld

How's that for a jam-packed passage?!? 12 things! Plus there's the whole legal metaphor throughout Romans 2 onwards culminating in this passage. For example, look at my own translation of Rom 3:21-26:

²¹ But now apart from the law a righteousness of God has been revealed to which the law and the prophets testify, ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no difference, ²³ for all sinned and fall short of the glory of God ²⁴ and are declared righteous freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God presented as a propitiation through faith in his blood, to demonstrate his righteousness - because the sins of the past were overlooked ²⁶ in the forbearance of God - to the demonstration of his righteousness in the present time, so that he might be righteous and declaring righteous the one who is of the faith of Jesus.

It's a very wooden translation (i.e. rigid and not flowy English), but I've underlined all the words which are related to righteous. If you compare it with the NIV, it's translated using different words, so you don't see the repetition.It's the antithesis of Rom 3:20 ("Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law;" NIV). What is not possible by law is possible by faith. We can now be legally declared righteous because of Jesus' death and resurrection.I don't know how people found the sermon. But I'm just relieved that it's over now. If you are interested in the transcript, you can download it here. There's a small possibility of an audio version for download as well. If so, I'll post the link here when I get it.

Praise God for his mercy in justifying us (declaring us as righteous) through the work of his Son Jesus. Pray that those who heard the sermon will put their trust (faith) in him and not their personal goodness. Give thanks that God was able to use me to bring such an important message to his people.

Now onto to essays...

Start of my Final Year

2006-02-17T17:00:00.001+11:00

I'm back! Finally! I've been back at college for a few weeks now, but I've only just recently got internet access back. Plus the first few weeks are kinda chaotic so I didn't get around to blogging. I've still got some photos to upload from 180FM last year and a weekend away over the new year.

The start of the year is so stressful. And it doesn't help that I've been housesitting for my uncle in Granville. He's got 3 Maltese terriers that I need to look after. They wake me up every morning at 7am - arrghh! That 2 hours too early for me...

College work is quickly piling up. You can see that March will be a packed month for me. College bookshop is also going crazy, but that should hopefully slow down soon. Then there's mission preparation. Plus 180FM has started for another year. Leading the team is quite hard work, and sometimes it feels like I'm doing all the work (of course that's not true). And I've got some crazy Yr 7 boys!

So pray for my sanity! I can't be bothered writing out prayer points, but I think there's plenty there in the post for you to construct your own prayer points. ;)

Holidays are Here!

2005-11-28T12:22:00.001+11:00

For those of you who regularly check my blogs (and hopefully pray for me as well), I won't be able to update regularly till Feb. That's because I'll have limited internet access over the holidays. Check here occasionally, but don't be disappointed if there's no new post.

A number of things you can pray for over the next 2 months:

Pray that I will have a relaxing break and be refreshed for my last year of Bible college.

My mum is coming over to visit! Pray we can spend quality time together. But pray also that there will be opportunities for her to hear the gospel again and be challenged to follow Jesus.

I am preaching 5 times over this holidays (2 new sermons, 2 "recycled" sermons). Pray that God will use me to reach people with his Word.

Pray also as I start planning for 180FM next year, that I will be able to improve on this already excellent ministry. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know!

That's all for now. Please do pray for me and those whom I serve. Hope to catch up with some of you in the near future.

Sons of Korah

2005-11-22T11:40:00.001+11:00

Last Sat, as a mini-break from studying, I went to a Christian concert with some friends. This is the latest album by Sons of Korah. They are an Australian Christian band (like Revive) who put the Bible (mainly Psalms) to contemporary music. Their music is very cool and they've got a good range of styles (ballads, rock, celtic, etc). I especially liked the song they wrote to Psalm 147a, which was in a Latin American style. It won't be available commerically until their next album is released. I hope it's soon. :)

I'm preaching on Psalms next year, so I'll probably play some of the their songs in English Service. I think it's a great way to mediate on God's Word, and it helps in memorising it too!

Give thanks for the ministry of Sons of Korah and for renewing my enjoyment of the Bible. Pray that they may continue to serve God through music and songs.

Finished my last exam yesterday. Overall I think I did ok. Friday's exam on Wisdom Literature (Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs) was probably the worst, but hopefully I'll pass.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for me and spoke words of encouragement.

Over the holidays I'll be housesitting for Phil & Fiona. For those not at ND, Fiona is our Children's Worker. Phil is her husband, who is also studying at SMBC with me. They'll be going away for 2 months to visit friends and relatives in the UK.

I still don't have much planned yet for the holidays. I have work to do, like sermons, KYLC prep, and a little bit of Greek translation. I'll probably catch up with a bunch of friends. Oh, and I'm long overdue for another newsletter. So that should be coming in the next few weeks.

Give thanks for the chance to relax and enjoy the company of friends. Thank God also for the provision of a house to stay in. And pray that I'll be productive (even if it's only a little bit) in the holidays.

Exam on Gospel of Luke

2005-11-14T13:58:00.002+11:00

1 down, 3 to go.

Just had my first, and probably hardest exam today. It was on the Gospel of Luke. Thankfully it wasn't as hard as I expected (yes - mercy!). I didn't manage to study enough topics, BUT, everything I studied was in there! Yippee!

Well, I still don't expect any D or HD of course, but a C will be fine. :)

Now onto the next exam...

Bookshop

2005-11-10T22:01:00.001+11:00

Students obviously need books, and my college has it's own bookshop. Some of you might know that I've been managing this bookshop this year, with a team of 9 staff (everyone has a duty to do at college in order to keep fees down and to encourage people to serve). My duty is not the easiest to do, but I was warmly encouraged today when my team bought me a present to say thank you.

Here it is. The Guinness World Records 2006. Lots of very interesting (and weird!) facts in there. Some that I found were (yes, I was procrastinating from my studies):

Strangest Diet: Michael Lotito has eaten 9 tonnes of metal over 38 years (but bananas and hard-boiled eggs make him sick!)
Most people wearing balloon hats: 1,039 in Singapore on 13th March 2004
Longest kiss: 30hr 59min 27sec (ewww...!)
Most dominoes toppled by a group: 3,992,397 by 81 people on Domino Day 2004 in the Netherlands
Most expensive ice-cream sundae: The Serendipity Golden Opulence Sundae in New York City, costing US$1,000
Largest mobile phone: The Maxi Handy Mobile, measuring 2.05 x 0.83 x 0.45m
Largest permanent cinema Screen: the IMAX!!

Anyways, that's enough time wasted. Back to my studies...

Give thanks for the encouragement from my bookshop friends at college.

I'm on the Radio!

2005-11-05T00:18:00.001+11:00

My 2 sec of fame on Australian radio...

For those of you who are really bored this Sat arvo (5th Nov), you can catch me on 90.5FM being interview some time between 2-4pm for Weekly Wrap. It will be part of a series on "Life after the HSC".

I must say, I normally find talk show radio boring. And I'm afraid my impromtu interview will do nothing to change that. In fact, if you decide to tune in to it, you'll come away all the more certain that talk show radio is boring. If I had time to prepare what I was going to say, I'd try to be funny, or at least interesting. But as it is, it will be neither of them. Bleh! At least they play nice jazz music.

In other news, I've finally finished all my essays - YAY!! Sorry I didn't blog much in Oct. I'll try to pick it up again this month. I've really found it hard writing essays this semester. But it's not the end yet. I have 4 exams coming up, and that will involve around 10 essays. *sigh*

Pray that I may be diligent in my exam preparation. Pray that God will help me to learn from his Word and to actually remember it!

Can't wait till holidays!! - even if I haven't got anything planned (yet).

Essay...Again!

2005-10-20T21:16:00.002+10:00

Hey pplz, sorry for the lack of updates. As you can see, I'm very far behind in an essay. I'm desperately trying to get it done, but it's going along ever so slowly...

Please pray that I'll get it done soon. Then I'll put up photos from baptism and Zone 3.

Challenge Conference

2005-10-04T12:55:00.001+10:00

Just came back from MTS Challenge Conference (formerly known as Club 5). It's a conference that challenges people to think about doing full-time paid ministry. It's been an awesome weekend catching up with old friends, making new friends, thinking about ministry, and being challenged by God's Word.

Some things I was challenged about/reminded of:

We are the Elect Exiles - chosen by God, but currently away from my home in heaven.
The path to glory is suffering. Jesus models this for us as he suffers on the cross on the way to glory with the Father. We need to have the same attitude.
It is better to choose to do good, and suffer for it, than to do wrong. We often choose to sin in order to avoid suffering.
We can only live differenly if we see things differently - if we see that suffering is the way to glory.
Christian service is about accompaniment, not performance.
Timing is important. Need to understand the time that we live in - it's time for God's judgement of the world, beginning with his people.
A good leader leads people where they don't want to go. That takes courage. And it's a shame when the women lead in place of the men, because it says that the men are gutless.
Count the cost of following Jesus, but don't worry about it. The cost will be nothing compared to the unfading crown of glory.

It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.~ 1Peter 3:17 ~A number of my friends will be doing MTS next year (a 2 year minitry training apprenticeship) or going into Bible college. Very exciting to see the next generation of gospel workers being raised up.

Give thanks for the time to talk to people about ministry and learning from the Bible. Pray for those who will be in training next year, that they can be growing in knowledge, skill, and most of all, in godliness.

Amir Mesrinejad

2005-09-30T10:07:00.001+10:00

This is Amir Mesrinejad. He is an asylum seeker from Iran who has been detained in Villawood Detention Centre over the past 4-5 years. During that time, he converted from Islam to Christianity, and has shown remarkable growth in his faith. He has even complete a number of correspondence subjects at Moore Theological College. He fears that he will be killed if he is deported back to Iran.

After a long struggle, Amir has finally been granted permanent residency in Australia earlier this month. He has also been offered a MTS position with St Paul's Anglican Carlingford starting next year.

Praise God for the freedom given to Amir - as an Australia resident, and also as a child of God. Pray for him as he adjusts to life in Sydney, and as he takes up a ministry position at church. Pray that he will continue to grow in knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus and be able to reach out to Iranian people in our country.

For Amir's full story, go here and here and here (or here for older reports).

Guess Who? (Solution)

2005-09-27T21:44:00.001+10:00

And the solution is... (Roll your mouse over the picture)
123
456
789
If you want to make your own Southpark characters, go here.
Now what would be really cool is if someone made an manga version of this! =D

Give thanks that God gives creativity and fun for us to enjoy!!

When was the last time you gave thanks for the "mundane" and "ordinary" things in life. It's so easy to take them for granted, but without them, life would be so boring!

180FM Party!!

2005-09-24T17:53:00.001+10:00

Yesterday was the last 180 for the term, and it was sooooo COOL! The youth all got together to organise a surprise for all the leaders. They ran the entire night, and we just had to sit back and enjoy. =)

The hall was decked out with ballons and streamers. There was some really good videos and powerpoint presentations. Some of them made speeches, and there was a massive 180 sign/card that everyone signed. And lots of food for supper too!

It's so hard to put into words, but I know all the leaders really really appreciated it. This term has been very busy, but this has encouraged us to keep going with youth ministry.

Thank God for the 180 youths and the effort they put into last night to encourage us leaders. Pray that we can continue to lead them in godliness and to grow in faith and love for the Lord Jesus. Pray also as we plan for next term, that we will get a clear idea of what we're doing for the rest of the year.

I would've put some photos up...except...there was an accident...and I lost all the photos!! D'oh!! :(

Did anyone else have photos from last night?

[edit] Yay! Simon has photos and he has put them up on his MSN space. I'll put them up on my Mementos Blog as well.

Predestination | Guess Who?

2005-09-19T21:15:00.001+10:00

It seems like the predestination discussion has come to a halt. Well, even if it's not very clear in your head yet, what we can be certain of is this: God chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. And he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - how AWESOME is that!?! When I'm struggling with sin in my life, this reminds me that I have been chosen for holiness. It's not something I have to work at on my own, but it's what I'm destined for! That is the destiny for all who are in Christ Jesus.

Cool, isn't it?

All praise and glory to God, who out of his enormous mercy chose us to be his children. Pray that this idea of predestination will not only puzzle me, but instead overwhelm me with astounding thankfulness to our God and Savious, so that I will long to respond in loving obedience.

180 + Southpark = ???
123
456
789
Can you identify each of the 180 leaders? (The last one is a giveaway)

Give thanks for this team of leaders I have been able to work with. It has been a difficult & tiring term for all of us. Pray that we can all get some much needed rest during the holidays and to be ready to serve God and serve the youth in term 4 - hopefully in a more balanced way this time. =)

Discussion on Predestination

2005-09-13T16:15:00.001+10:00

There’s been a very interesting discussion happening in the comments on my post back on Monday 5th Sept. I thought I’d draw your attention to it, so you can contribute your 2c worth (and also cuz it’s a pain to scroll down all the time).

The discussion was about predestination - but not your average, deep, theological debate - it was on BGR! I’ll just cut ‘n’ paste (with minor edits) for your perusal.

Someone said that you don't need to worry about who you're gonna go out with, cause God has already chosen someone for you.

What do you reckon?

~Emz~ said...
Well technically we shouldn't be worrying about anything at all! :P
6/9/05 9:45 PM

Ernie said...
Hahaha...yes, so true.

Ok, wrong choice of words perhaps. Do we need to do anything to find the right bf/gf? Or not, since it's already chosen for you?
6/9/05 11:17 PM

Phil said...
Need to do the hard yakka I believe. If everything's planned, I guess I'd let that CEO job come to me. Not that I'm comparing a bf/gf with a job. Orrr am I?
8/9/05 2:00 AM

Ernie said...
Jobs and bf/gf...hmm...well, the hard yakka bit is sure true! Girls...I mean relationships, are hard work.

But if we're working hard to find the right person, where does God fit into the picture?
8/9/05 7:51 AM

kitzetic said...
we're kinda short on experiences..^^ i guess it depends on your attitude?
8/9/05 8:38 PM

Ernie said...
How much of our understanding of predestination can be based on experience?

Is experience the only way to learn about BGR?

What is the right attitude?

Food for thought...
8/9/05 9:29 PM

m said...
i would agree with Phil. You've gotta work for it. If that wasn't the case, i'd just sit here and wait for my 100 UAI. That's the harsh reality of life. Working hard and having the right attitudes gives God more choice on what he can do for you and opens up possibilties for your future paths. However, when life looks grim, God still has his plans, but you gotta work your way around with what you've got at hand.
8/9/05 10:30 PM

Ernie said...
So if u dun work hard, does that limit God in what he can do?
8/9/05 10:36 PM

m said...
Well, in terms of logic- yes. In God's terms- Who knows?
8/9/05 10:42 PM

Ernie said...
If what we do limits what God does, then he can God still predestine things?
8/9/05 10:47 PM

Phil said...
God has planned out everything, we are never out of his plans. I understand that much.

To m's comments regarding giving God more choice if we have the right attitude and work ethic. I think the concept of us doing things or being a certain way determines the "choices" God has, makes God seem so ... powerless? Perhaps it's the other way around? We make the choices, God has done everything and is God the planner.
9/9/05 12:41 AM

m said...
this is utterly confusing!

anyway, so God "planned" us to rebel against him, even though he wanted perfection (or did he?).
9/9/05 4:19 PM

Ernie said...
ahhh...now we're getting into the complexities of the issue...

It's confusing, but you're actually progressing along nicely. =D
9/9/05 4:24 PM

kitzetic said...
i think predestination is sorta both ways...like the dual side rungs of a ladder. You can't have choice without predestination...like God knows and decides and plans what we do yet at the same time, we also have a choice.

in terms of relationships, I guess God knows what is best for us, like he has this perfect guy in mind and we'll just take it as it comes. That doesn't mean we chase after every guy but at the same time it isn't like apathy. It depends on our attitude coz it shoudln't belike i need a guy just coz its cool and everybody has one.
9/9/05 6:28 PM

m said...
good analogy. But, we can't exactly make any
"choice" if the plan is already made for us by God. Can we go out of God's plan?
10/9/05 9:57 PM

kitz said...
i've got a question...

when we say God's plan, is it his active planning of sequence of events or is it just his prior knowledge that these things will happen?
10/9/05 10:17 PM

Ernie said...
This is getting more and more interesting. You're all making some great comments!

Re: kitz
When the Bible talks abt predestination, what does that mean?
10/9/05 10:29 PM

M said...
where does the Bible talk about predestination specifically?
11/9/05 2:31 PM

Ernie said...
Ahhh...finally we are getting to the Bible!

For starters, try:
Acts 13:48
Rom 8:28-30
Eph 1:4-6, 11-12
1Thess 1:4-5
2Thess 2:13
1Pet 1:1; 2:9
11/9/05 5:20 PM

M said...
nice, thanks.
you should put a link to this comment place (if possible). it's getting harder to scroll down to find this post...
11/9/05 6:56 PM

Please feel free to join the discussion, even if you don't know what the answer is. We'd love to hear your opinions as well.

Christian Pick Up...and Break Up Lines

2005-09-10T22:37:00.001+10:00

What a Christian guy might say to a girl...

Nice bible.
I would like to pray with you.
You know Jesus? Me too.
God told me to come talk to you.
I know a church where we could go and talk.
How about a hug, sister?
Do you need help carrying your bible? It looks heavy.
Christians don't shake hands, Christians gotta hug.
Oh you are cold? Read Ecclesiastes 4:11.
Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?
What are your plans for tonight? Feel like a bible study on Song of Songs?
The Bible says "Give drink to those who are thirsty, and feed the hungry." How about dinner? (Read the original context here - Rom 12:20)
You don't have an accountability partner? Me neither.
You want to come over and watch The 10 Commandments tonight?
Is it a sin that you stole my heart?
Would you happen to know a Christian woman that I could love with all my heart and wait on hand and foot?
Nice bracelet. "Who would Jesus date?" I, I, mean "What Would Jesus Do?"
Do you believe in divine appointment?
Have you ever tried praying at a drive in movie before?
Excuse me, I believe one of your ribs belongs to me. (Reference to Gen 2:22)
My friend told me to come and meet you, he said that you are a really nice person. I think you know him. Jesus, yeah, that's his name.
We have to hold hands when we pray so the circle won't be broken. (What the...?)
God has used you to teach me what true love really is. (For real true love see 1John 4:10)
Christians kiss before parting - it's an old Jewish tradition. (Rightttt...)
No, I'm not coveting. I intend to make you mine.
I didn't believe in predestination till I met you.
I'll turn the other cheek for you, if you'll turn yours to me.
Love is patient and kind, you know. If you'll be patient, I'll be kind. (Reference to 1Cor 13:4-8)
Hey...for you I’d work seven years. Oh, yeah, and seven more for your sister! (Reference to Gen 29:15-30)
I just don't feel called to celibacy.
Paul says, "Greet one another with a holy kiss." And Peter says, "Greet one another with a kiss of love.
You have the body of Amy Grant and the soul of Mother Teresa. (Do not get this confused!)
You know, I'm really into relationship evangelism. (Baaaaad idea...)
I'm pretty flexible - I don't think a woman should be submissive on the first date. (Reference to Eph 5:21-33. But read the context!)
Just looking at you makes me feel all ecumenical.
I hear there's going to be a love feast tonight.
Excuse me, is this pew taken?
[At church] Do you come here often?
I've prayed about it and God wants you to go out with me.
Has anyone ever told you, your eyes are like doves and your neck like the tower of David?
I don't speak in tongues, but I kiss that way. (Eww...)
I'd pick you over Satan any day.
An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips...and baby, I never lie.
[Check her shirt tag] Just as I thought...Made in heaven.
Hey, need a ride to church?
God was showing off when he made you.
Do you think "Ask and it will be given to you" is to be taken literally?
You are the answer to my prayers.
I need a helper. Can you give me a hand? (Reference to Gen 2:18)
I practice our mission to "love each other deeply" to the fullest extent.
How do you feel about "It is more blessed to give than to receive"?
When I saw you, I knew the true meaning of "Rejoice and be glad."
Let me pay you my debt of love. (Reference to Rom 13:8)
I didn't know angels flew this low.
If Eve was tempted by a fruit, then you must be my fruit. (Reference to Gen 3:6)
I must be dead and looking at the angel that is going to take me to heaven.
Rom 12:13 says, "Practice hospitality." Can I take you out to dinner?
Can I be your kinsman-redeemer? (Reference to Lev 25:25; Deut 25:5-6; Ruth 4:8-10)
"It is not good for the man to be alone." Can you keep me company?
If you married me, I wouldn't need 700 wives and 300 concubines. (Reference to 1Ki 11:3)
You wanna go clubbing? (Reference to Judg 21:19-25)
I would kill 200 Philistines for your hand in marriage...but since they don't exist anymore we can skip that little formality. (Reference to 1Sam 18:27)
All the girls of King Xerxes's beauty pageant could not compare with you. (Reference to Esther 2:1-4)
You put the "cute" back in persecution!
Honey if you love me, please give me a smile.

(Did you learn much from the Bible? Who would've thought it was so interesting!)What a Christian girl might say in response...

Honey I love you, but I just can't smile.
I'm sorry, I've found someone more spiritual.
I'm sorry, it's just not God's will.
I feel called to the mission field. Very soon and very far from you.
God loves me and must have a better plan for my life.
You know, I feel like I'm dating my brother.
At least I got a lot out of our Bible studies together.
I think we should just be prayer partners. (Baaad idea...)
I do love you, but it's just agape now.
I think I have the gift of singleness.
God must have someone even better prepared for you.

But from that look on her face......it's most likely...GET AWAY FROM ME YOU CREEP!!!See what you miss out on if you don't come to 180!!

Give thanks that we were able to learn about the Christian view of dating and relationships. Pray that we can be godly in how we relate to people of the opposite sex, and that we will seek to build our brothers and sisters up as our primary goal.

(Even if they are majorly corny, which pick-up lines did you find funny?)

Meet Zacchaeus the Puppet

2005-09-09T16:37:00.001+10:00

Name: Zacchaeus
Address: Big house in Jericho
Height: Err...short
Occupation: Chief tax collector
Interests: Extortion, climbing trees
Comments: Shifty eyes
History: Here

One of the best subjects I'm doing this semester is Childrens' Ministry Skills. It's just all the practical stuff of doing kids' ministry - from puppetry, quick sketching, quizzes, games, memory verses, story telling...on and on.

Now you might be wondering what's a Bible college student and youth group leader doing with kids stuff. Here's a number of reasons:

It's "free" (I can choose any number of electives as part of my course).
You get free stuff in class (you can tell I'm a stingy Asian).
I'm a big kid.
I like creative stuff.
I totally suck at creative stuff.

But above all, I reckon that this kinda stuff can be used for all age groups - even adults. Now of course, you gotta tweak it a bit. And if you've been in my 180 group this semester, you'll know that I've already been using some ideas from class in my Bible studies.Dunno what I'll do with puppets yet.

Give thanks for the children's workers out there who work hard at bringing the gospel to kids (it is not easy). Give thanks for the opportunity to learn skills that can help me to teach the Bible. Pray God can help me to adapt what I learn into my own ministries.

Essays and More Essays

2005-09-08T18:49:00.001+10:00

Finally finished the essay! Yay!!! *breathes a sigh of relief*

But...no rest for the wicked, so they say. I have an average of one essay due every two weeks from now till the end of the semester. And since I'm late for the Job essay, it's eating into my time for the other essays.

Gotta catch up!!

Predestination and Relationships

2005-09-05T18:13:00.002+10:00

Sorry to disappoint, but I haven't had much to blog about lately. Still stuck with this overdue essay. I'm currently halfway, but it's really screwing up my schedule. I'm gonna keep falling behind at this rate...

Had an interesting discussion last week about predestination - but not your average, deep, theological debate - it was on BGR!

Someone said that you don't need to worry about who you're gonna go out with, cause God has already chosen someone for you.

What do you reckon?

The Thirst Quencher

2005-08-28T22:12:00.001+10:00

That's what I preached on this morning from John 4:4-26. Not Gatorade, but Jesus the thirst quencher. Actually, the real title was "How to be completely satisfied." But there's no cool picture for that. :P

When I had finished my first draft on Thurs and practiced it with a friend, it wasn't too crash hot. Too long. No structure. Too propositional. My voice croaked. Tones and expressions bland...etc. So I spent Fri and Sat fixing it up (though both those days was taken up with a range of activities like the Deb Fung Concert and the Sports Night).

Generally I was quite happy with the finished product, both in terms of content and presentation. On the day, it usually comes out a little bit better because of the adrenaline. My voice held out thankfully, and the congregation was kind enough to laugh in all the right places. I was planning to put in the RICE themes for the last 2 years ("Where is the Love?" and "There's Gotta be more to Life"). Hehe...that would've been funny.

Pray for the non-Christians (and any nominal Christians) that were there today. Pray that they did not merely enjoy the sermon, but were challenged and rebuke by it in such a way that they will turn in faith and repentance to the Lord Jesus.

It was really good that Phil and Dennis came for a surprise visit. They are 2 of the guys from my last church. We became good friends over the 3 years that I was there. They remembered that I was preaching today and came to encourage me. Thanks guys!! =)

Give thanks for this friendship that God has given me. Pray for these 2 guys that they will continue to grow and mature as men of God. They are both studying, but very eager to serve God and to see his kingdom grow.

Now...back to that 3,000 word essay worth 40%...

Deb Fung @ 180FM

2005-08-27T13:37:00.001+10:00

The Deb Fung Concert last night went well. Nice singing and testimony from Deb. A good turn out, with many of the non-Christians from last week coming back. I think some of them are coming to church this Sun and next Fri. Photos can be found here.

Pray that the newcomers will be interested in studying the Bible and asking questions that will help them to come to know the Lord Jesus. Pray also that we can be welcoming to them and help them to settle in.

As you can see from the "Coming Up" section on the right, I have an OT essay due - YESTERDAY! And I haven't STARTED yet! But I did manage to get an extension cuz I was sick. Though that does push my schedule back for all my other essays (which are all quite hard).

I have Research Week starting Monday, which means no lectures, and instead we're meant to do research for our assignments. Usually, I sleep in a lot and find various ways to procrastinate. But I can't afford to do that next week. Must catch up!

Pray for discipline and concentration as I study God's Word.

Tonight ND is having a pre-evangelistic sports night @ Thornleigh. Normally there's a group that goes there every Sunday night for basketball, badminton and table tennis (I've been going along recently). But tonight we have volleyball!! Yay! It's one of my favourite sports, mainly cuz it's one of the few that I actually know how to play.

Pray that non-Christians will see this as a non threatening event that they can come along to, and to meet Christians who are just as "normal".

I really should blog about these things earlier so people can pray about it. D'oh!

Getting Better

2005-08-26T10:43:00.001+10:00

I'm feeling a bit better today. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me. I finally got out of my room and started attending lectures. I'm not all better yet, but it's getting there. Still need help with my voice.

In other news, ND is having a Deb Fung Concert tonight. I should've posted about this earlier so people can be praying about it. It's the 2nd of our 180° evangelistic events. Deb will be presenting her testimony in between each song.

Please pray for the non-Christians who will be coming. We had a good turn out last week, and hope it'll be even better this week. Pray for Deb as she sings of God's grace in her life.

The leaders have all been working very hard the last few weeks. Still recovering from RICE, everyone's been putting in 110% getting these 2 events together.

Pray that God will sustain us with energy and joy as we serve him. Pray for the various parts we have to play tonight (videos, testimonies, lighting, etc) will help the spread of the gospel somehow. And pray that the leaders will be able to find balance and rest after this Friday.

I'm Sick

2005-08-23T11:06:00.001+10:00

Sunday night, my throat was like sandpaper.
Yesterday, my nose was like Niagra Falls.
Today, my nose is like...someone who hasn't been eating vegetables.

A bit graphic, but that's how I feel - crap.

I've also been aching all over. Dunno if it's because of Sunday night sports (& being generally unfit), or because of this flu.

And I can't think properly cuz my head's filled with mucus. You would've thought I'd have nothing left after the way it was dripping yesterday. Talk about extremes.

Grrr...I hate being sick! x.X

A Few Points of Clarification

2005-08-21T22:31:00.001+10:00

A point of clarification for NDCCC people and other new visitors to my blog:
[1] The reason all my previous posts have no one commenting on them is because my comments were hosted with someone else before. But they died on me, so I set up a new commenting thing recently through Blogger (Blogger didn't have comments when I first started blogging).

[2] The reason I thought that no one would read my posts was because I haven't been blogging regularly (note the dates on each post) cos I haven't had regular internet access. But I do now, so I should hopefully be blogging more.

So thanks if you were a bit concerned about me. I haven't been my best the last few weeks, so your kind words are much appreciated.

And now...back to the original purpose for this blog...

I have just gotten a cold today. Please pray that I'll get better very, very quickly, because I am preaching this Sunday - I need my voice!! And of course, pray that I can explain the gospel through John 4 clearly so that non-Christians who come will believe and be saved.

Zero Motivation

2005-08-15T21:21:00.001+10:00

Something's wrong with me.

I've got a stack loads of work to do, but I feel so...what's the word...fluxmmoned. The dictionary tells me that means confused, or perplexed. I think that's what I'm feeling.

I just can't seem to get started on anything, or to concentrate on it after I've started. I just want to bum around and do nothing all day. I'm getting good at making excuses for why I shouldn't study.

This is what they usually diagnose as "Term 3 blues". I need to get off my butt and get my life into order. Once I sort out my time and am actually motivate to do stuff, I should be ok.

Please pray for me...

...if anyone is reading this...

Overwhelmed

2005-08-01T10:29:00.001+10:00

It's been awhile since I've updated everyone. I've been meaning to finish writing my newsletter, but it's keeps getting delayed. It's not so much that I'm busy at the moment, but that I don't know what I should be doing exactly.

College is looking much busier this semester. The subjects I'm doing are:

Snyoptics Gospels (focusing on Luke)
Doctrine of God and the Work of Christ
Cross Cultural Communications
Wisdom Literature (focusing on Job)
Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
Youth Ministry*
Children's Ministry Skills*
* These subjects I'm auditing - i.e. I attend lectures but don't do any of the assessments

With 5 assessable subjects I've got a stack load of assignments lined up. They all seem to require a fair bit of work. Just looking at them makes me want to go away and do something else.As for church, I've been getting to know the youth quite well lately. The recent church camp helped a lot. But aside from that, I still feel lost as to how I can play a part in the life of the church. Too much to say here, but I don't feel like writing about it right now.

Pray that I can get motivated and organised. Ask that God will instill in me again the joy of studying his word and serving his people

In Limbo

2005-07-24T16:50:00.001+10:00

Sorry for the lack of update. Currently trying to write my next newsletter. In the meantime, here's a new layout to look at.

Oh, and I've created a new photos page (see links). Enjoy the eye-candy.

Lots on My Mind

2005-06-17T18:27:00.001+10:00

Five days till my first exam. I've been working hard to catch up with my NT Greek. I'm starting to be able to translate the Gospel of John reasonably well, but I still often forget my vocab and grammar.

First semester this year has gone by pretty quick. I only have 2 exams, so I can't complain (most people have 4). Then it's 3 weeks of holidays. Don't have much planned for holidays, except to catch up with friends (from new & old church, and also you guys - my supporters). Oh, and there's also 3 weddings during those 3 weeks - all Bible college students. If you think that's bad, there's 3 weddings in Dec all on the same day, and all 3 couples are from SMBC.

I've also got a sermon to preach on Isaiah 6 one week after exams. I don't know if I can write a sermon with only one week. I'm pretty slow at the moment. I suppose I can write one, the question is whether it's any good.

Church-wise, I need to sit down and do some serious thinking about the ministries I'm involved in, especially the youth related stuff. But right now, it's just been pushed to the back of my mind. I feel like I'm not working as effectively as I could and I'm feeling frustrated at myself. Hopefully I can get it all sorted out over the break.

Give thanks for another 6 months of great learning at SMBC. Pray that I can remember all that I've learnt and spill it out in the exams.

Pray also that I'll have a good rest over the holidays and be refreshed to start the second half of the year. Give thanks to God for all those who are supporting me in prayer and with money.

Pray that I can serve more effectively at ND so that the youths can grow in maturity and love for the Lord Jesus.

Essay on Gospel of John

2005-05-24T00:57:00.001+10:00

Discuss the role of the imagery of light in the Fourth Gospel, especially in relation to the person of Jesus (2,250 words).

You know how when you've got something hard to do, everything else that is usually hard becomes an attractive option and you end up doing them instead? I've gotta do this essay on John's Gospel which was due on Monday, but naturally, I have been doing everything else but that.

Right now, my desk looks neat & clean. I've reorganised my drawers. I've backed up my computer. I've even done preparation for a Bible study that is 2 weeks away. Tomorrow I'll probably do my laundry.

This is of course why I'm here blogging as well. None of these activities would've been done (at least not yet) if it weren't for this essay.

Now I just need to find something to do which is harder than this essay. :/

Essay...HELP!

2005-05-03T22:21:00.001+10:00

4 days to go, and I haven't even started...Ack!

Crazy Term 2

2005-04-28T10:34:00.001+10:00

Right now, term 2 has just started and I'm snowed under a pile of work. Over the next 3 weeks, I have 2 essays due, 2 sermons to preach, 2 conference bookshops to manage, and 2 or 3 Bible studies to write for 180. Yikes!!!!

Please pray for me!

At the same time, EYF at my last church (SCAC) is holding an evangelistic event this Fri. Nathan Tasker (!) is coming to perform and preach. It's very exciting, not because Nathan is coming, but because there are 145 people attending - 61 of them non-Christians!!!

Please pray that God will work powerfully through Nathan and through the witness and testimony of all the Christians there on the night.

I don't have time to write up specific prayer points, but I'm sure you can think of things to pray for. Please pray because nothing can happen without God!

College Mission @ Narrabeen

2005-04-15T10:42:00.001+10:00

For some reason, I think my brain only allows me to write 10,000 words a month and no more. That's my limit. My brains kinda just shuts down after that. Most of that limit is taken up with essays and sermons. The remainder is spent generally on emails and administration. That usually means zeros words left for my blog. Therefore, there was no update in March cuz I was writing my newsletter (which is just an extended blog).

Back from college mission and currently half way through my holidays. This mission was probably the most relaxing one I have ever been on, and I don't think any mission in the future will beat it. I was with a team of 12 others up in Narrabeen (if you don't know where that is, it's part of the northern beaches, about 1/2 hr past Manly) for 8 days, from Sun 3rd April to Sun 10th April.

We were part of the Baptist church there and involved with everything that they usually do - ie Sunday School, preaching in church, youth group, home groups, Mums' morning, Kids' Arvo and primary school scripture. Most mornings we had something on, and everyday we had the afternoon free. We were planning to have the day off on Monday and spend it at Palm Beach. But alas, it rained on us and so we ended up doing lots of preparation that day. To make up for it, we went to the beach every other day (except for Sunday).

I must admit, I'm totally not a beach person. It has to be 30 degrees plus before you can get me in the water. But nonetheless, I had a really good time just hanging out with the people in my team and getting to know them. One of the difficulties this year is that I haven't had the opportunity to get to know many of the 1st year students because I'm not in the same lectures as them. So in that regards, mission was really good.

So even though we didn't do much evangelism (perhaps with the exception of school scripture), it was a good mission. More good for us college students than for the church, but still good. :)

<< Give thanks for the time at Narrabeen encouraging the Christians there and learning from the pastors there. Pray for the ongoing ministries at this church, especially the school scripture. Pray that the many kids from non-Christian families who heard the gospel will respond, and that the scripture teachers will be able to follow them up. >>

Balancing Act

2005-02-14T15:39:00.002+11:00

Life's been a tough balancing act lately...too many new things on my plate at the moment.

College
College started 3 weeks ago, and for most of that time, I've spent most of my time working in the bookshop than I have studying or doing ministry. SMBC only has a very small bookshop, and managing it isn't all that much work - except at the beginning of the year. Everyone is rushing to get books, and I need to get lots and lots of stock. I have a new team of people to run the bookshop, but most of them needs to be trained (and during the early stages, there are a lot of mistakes...guess who has to fix them up). Things are starting to settle down now, so hopefully I'll be able to get stuck into some studying soon.

<< Thank God for the refreshing break over the holidays and for the start of another year at SMBC. Pray that I can quickly get into a good routine of study and rest so that I can make full use of what I'm learning. >>

Church
I've been at ND now for over 2 months, but I'm still feeling very new there. Still lots of faces I don't know yet. ND's new youth group - 180 - kicked off last Friday night with a big bang. I'm working with a team of 8 other leaders to run this high school youth group. Most of them haven't had much experience with youth or with teaching the Bible, so it's been hard work the past few weeks leading up to the launch.

By God's grace we had 36 kids turn up. But at this stage, it's hard to tell whether they came because of all they hype and out of curiosity. Hopefully they'll stick around for the year, especially all the many Yr 12 kids we have.

I'm also preaching my very first sermon at ND in 2 Sundays' time. I've been mulling over it for quite some time now, but still not too sure how to approach it. Yikes!!

<< Praise God for the great start 180 has had. Pray that the kids will be commited to the youth group and grow into maturity, and pray that it will attract non-Christians as well.Pray for the team of leaders and our relationship with one another. Pray that I can be sensitive and humble as it's the first time I've been part of a team (as opposed to leading one) for some time.And pray also for my sermon that the Holy Spirit may work in and through me to preach His Word clearly so that lives are changed for God. >>

South Events
Lastly, I've been doing a little bit of work for various South training and evangelistic events. It's a stressful load on top of everything else I'm doing, even though it's only at the back of my mind. Perhaps it's because that it's always at the back of my mind that it's so stressful. I'll talk about these more when the time comes. For now, just pray for my sanity!! ;P

PS Have you prayed for me yet? Don't just read it, but commit it to God!

Back from KYLC

2005-01-14T19:47:00.001+11:00

Just got back from KYLC. A bit sleep deprived, but otherwise feeling great!

The theme this year was Radical Rule and we looked at the Psalms and Colossians. In strand 3 we looked at systematic theology (studying the Bible thematically).

The talks were really good (as usual). I particularly enjoyed the talks from the Psalms. John Woodhouse not only did a great job in expounding the passages, but also gave us a good framework of how to read the Psalms for ourselves. He was also willing to engage with difficult parts of the Psalms, like the bit about dashing babies on the rocks. We saw that the Psalms are not poems that we can use to reflect the joys and tragedies of life, but that they form a very important link between the Old Testament and the New Testament by pointing us to Jesus.

Steven Cree took us through Colossians. We were reminded to continue with Christ as our focus, just as we started with Him and nothing else, and to finish with Him till the end without being distracted by things of this world along the way. I was reminded not to impose rules for behaviour on those around me, but to exhort people to honour Christ in their words and deeds.

The strand groups were so-so for me. Mainly because I've already done that kind of stuff before. But it was funny though because I had Pete as one of my strand group leaders!! And as always I had lots of fun catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones.

One of my main reasons for going was to get to know some of the ND leaders, and that I did. We had some good discussions about the talks and strand materials as well as other interesting questions about Christianity.

<< Give thanks for the great week at KYLC and for the many things I had learnt and was challenged about. Pray that I can continue to build good relationships with the leaders at ND so that I can serve effectively with them as we teach the gospel. >>

This coming week is my last week of holidays before college starts. But it's not really "holidays", cause things for the start of the year has all of a sudden exploded and I've got lots of work to do - for college, for church and for the South region. Some details were in my latest newsletter (email me if you didn't receive it), but more info will be revealed in time.

<< Pray that I can change gear and get stuck into preparations. Pray that I can have the energy and wisdom to do my ministries well so that through me people can have the opportunity to grow in their understanding and relationship with the Lord Jesus. >>

Christmas Carols All Year Around

2004-12-25T21:58:00.001+11:00

It's great singing Christmas carols - well, the Christian ones anyways. The others are just kids songs at best and blasphemy at worst.

But I wonder why we don't sing Christmas carols throughout the year as well. The lyrics of most of them are applicable all year around. For example, imagine singing these on a "normal" Sunday:

Joy to the world! The Lord is come:
let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing.

[...or]

Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconcile.

[...or]

God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas day,
To save us all from Satan's pow'r
When we were gone astray;

[...or]

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Oh come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
come and behold him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

[...or]

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, Love's pure light
radiant beams from Thy Holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

Certainly none of these lyrics would seem astray from what we often sing, and perhaps even better. They are so full of the gospel!! If you are reading this, let me encourage you to ask the musos to sing them at church in a month's time.

Anyways, Christmas has gone for another year, and the New Year is just around the corner. But we shall continue to celebrate the birth of our King all year around.

Spotted!!

2004-12-04T18:39:00.002+11:00

This blog got mentioned on one of my fav Christian websites: Grace not Works.

Check it out here!!

End of Another Year

2004-12-04T17:25:00.001+11:00

Exams have finished and the preliminary results released. I wasn't too confident in any of my 3 exams, but I passed all of them, so all is well. Of course, passing isn't the most important thing when you're studying at Bible college, but it's still nice to pass so you can have an enjoyable holiday.

So now I'm bumming around with not much to do for the next few weeks. Trying to get started on my newsletter to wrap up the year, but...that's kinda work, so I'm procrastinating. :P

I'm house sitting for a family at college over the holidays. They live just down the road from SMBC, so in theory I could go over to the library and be really studious and read up on stuff for next year.

Nah.

You can see what kinda mood I'm in, can't you? (even without looking at the imood thing on the side) I've just been relaxing and sleeping a lot and not much else. Next week I'll start to be a bit more proactive and call/email people for lunch/dinner.

In the meantime...I'll keep vegging. =)

<< Give thanks to God for the past year and for the many things I've learnt at SMBC. Pray that it won't become merely theorectial knowledge but that I can understand it for my own personal growth and for ministry.Pray also that I will get good rest over the holidays and be refreshed for the new year. Pray that I can encourage people as I catch up with them and share with them God's goodness. >>

Almost Missed My Exam!

2004-11-16T18:34:00.001+11:00

One down two to go...

Had my first exam today - Church History. Don't think I did crash hot, but nevertheless, it should be enough to pass. It was a pretty straight forward exam, except the stuff that I studied wasn't exactly in the exam.

I did a silly thing though. Made a grand entrance by turning up just in time. Everyone was wondering where I was and whether I slept in. Well, I didn't. I just kept thinking that the exam starts at 9am - which is true. So I planned to turn up at about 8:50am. Except that I forgot about reading time!! Which starts at 8:50am. Oops!

It is Finished

2004-11-01T16:09:00.001+11:00

Perhaps a bit blasphemous for me to be borrowing these words, but anyways...

Last night for the first time ever, I:

Wrote a 3,000 word essay (previously all my essays have been only 2,000 words)
Stayed up all night to write this essay
Sat in front of the computer for 15 hours straight with only 2 short breaks!
Only got 45min nap before chapel started

Man, I am so thoroughly knackered at the moment! My eyes were going funny when I finished writing the first draft. I could barely read over it. But I had so much trouble writing this essay it was like trying to pull my own teeth out - very agonising! >:|

But at last it's done. I will have to start studying for exams now.

Though not before I have a very long appointment with my pillow first.

...z

...zzz

...zzzzz

...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Back from College Mission

2004-09-28T15:41:00.001+10:00

Ah, it's good to be back home in my own bed again. Got back from college mission just before midnight on Sunday night. Been catching up on some much needed sleep. The family I've been staying with the past week has a little boy who likes to wake up at 5:30am - the problem is that he likes everyone else to be awake with him as well!!

There's so much to tell that I can't be bothered to type it all up. But perhaps a few highlights...

Arriving at my billet's place in the middle of an engagement party. Yummy food. :)
Meeting another Ernie who is an atheist and having a conversation about God.
Teaching scripture class in a public school for the first time and telling them about Jesus.
Meeting kids who have wanted to be a missionary since they were 3 years old!
Going to Girl's Brigade and participating in 'synchronised swimming'.
Making up 'dance moves' to memorise John 3:36 - and the kids looooved it!!
Dancing to Christian kid songs and doing puppet shows.
Hearing that 70 kids became christians at one of the public high schools in 1 day!
Teaching a lesson on justice, mercy and grace, and God providing the perfect opportunity for me to illustrate grace to one particularly naughty boy.
Playing handball for the first time in 7 years and beating all the Yr 5-6 kids. =D
Going to Hyam beach - reputed to have the whitest sand in Aust.
Coming home...

<< Give praise and glory to our Almighty God for the way in which he used our team to bring the gospel to the people of Nowra. Thank God for the way in which the local church worked alongside with us in many things. Pray for those who are new christians, and also for those who are interested in finding out more. Pray that the christians there will continue to grow and mature and to be active in reaching out to the lost. >>

There's much more that I could talk about, but I'd get really long winded. Let's just say that everything smoothed out and we got our act together (for most things) and God was pleased to use our meagre efforts.

I've been resting yesterday and today. But I'll be off again to Club 5 this long weekend. Look forward to catching up with many old friends and meeting new friends. And especially looking forward to sitting under God's Word and being challenged to serve Him with my whole life.

I've also got to get back into college stuff fairly soon. I've got one last Greek quiz to go, and a major OT essay to write. Then come final year exam!!!!

Anyways, I'll worry about all that in due course. For now, I want to just enjoy the rest of my day off. Ahhhhh...

Off to College Mission

2004-09-17T14:58:00.001+10:00

It's one day before College Mission at the moment. And everyone's kinda in panic mode, doing last minute preparations - or for some, still finishing off essays!!!

I'll be going down South to Nowra for 9 days. I'm in the Primary Section, so I'll be mainly running scripture classes in 3 different public schools. We will be doing "Who is your King?" - the kids version of 2 ways to live. So please pray that many kids will come to put their trust in our Lord Jesus.

We've got a pretty packed program: like a daily devotion with primary kids at the local Christian school; Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade; School Assemblies and church services; some street evangelism and home Bible study groups, etc, etc...

I'm not feel as excited for this mission as I was about Cowra or RICE. But perhaps that's just cause I'm not as prepared... :P

<< Please pray that we can all be faithful and diligent in our preparation so that we can present the gosspel as clearly as possible. Pray that the people in Nowra will hear the gospel and be cut to the heart so that they will turn in faith and repentence. Pray also that the local Christians will be active in inviting their friends and also in doing the evangelism themselves. Pray that we can work well together as a team and to be salt and light to Nowra in our words, thoughts, and actions. >>

Ok, gotta go finish preparations...

PS Yay, less than a month since my last post!!

The Jansens, not Jensens

2004-08-27T22:41:00.001+10:00

Just popping in to let you all know I still exist...though my existence seems pretty boring right now...I'm so sick of writing these days. Ugh! Essays, essays and more essays. :(

Well, hopefully you have received my belated newsletter by now. If not, let me know and I'll send it again.

Right now, I'm busy writing an essay for Church History on Jansenism - that's Jansen, not Jensen. But I'm sure in a few decades, they'll be asking people to "evaluate the impact of the Jensen brothers on the Sydney Anglican church in the 20th and 21st century."

Got research week next week, which means (in theory) that I'll be spend most of the time catching up on my Greek. There's just so much stuff to memorize! After coming back from research week, we have College Mission coming up very quickly. I'll be heading down South to Nowra and teaching the Primary School kids there. I'm looking forward to it, but boy, do we have lots of stuff to do. I'm all snowed under at the moment and I'm desperately wanting to come up for air (sorry for the mixed metaphors).

Lots more stuff I could say, but as I said, I'm sick of writing. If you are interested, then gimme a call and encourage me. But even if you don't there quite a few things I've mentioned there to pray about. All I can say now is...

BLEH!

Start of Semester 2 | End of RICE 04

2004-07-17T15:11:00.001+10:00

Started another college semester. The three weeks of holidays went by so quickly! Got all my exams results back (including the Greek quiz on Tuesday) and everything went ok - yay!

This semester, my subjects will include:
* Exilic Prophecy
* Church History (1550-Modern Day)
* NT Greek
* NT exegesis: Hebrews
* Intro to Theology
* OT: exegesis: Chronicles
* Preaching Workshop
* Expounding Scripture (actually preaching sermons in small groups)

Like everyone else, just trying to ease myself back into study mode. Very lethargic and procrastinating heaps at the moment! Ugh! But at least I have a better idea about college life so hopefully I will re-adjust much faster this time.

<< Thank God for the relaxing break and time to catch up with friends. Pray that I can be a diligent student and not be lazy - especially when it comes to studying and apply God's Word to my life. >>

RICE is finally over for 2004! Phew! I haven't blogged much about it this year, but in short, it all ran very smoothly and the gospel was preached and God was glorified. On the first week at RICEfest I was looking after the jumping castle and horizontal bungee (fun fun fun!). There was a little hiccup at first getting them set up - they refused to be inflated and keep falling down...But in the end it all got sorted and there were many happy kids jumping around. =) I missed most of the gospel talks cuz I was running around doing other misc stuff, but Center Stage seemed very lively and all the feedback I heard about the talks were good.

For the 2nd week of RICE I was involved in the skit team. A very embrassing experience pretending to be a chicken and a superhero in front of 1,000 people. I was also on stage as Dr. Frankenstein doing a mime with voiceover. Hehehe...very funny skit! I had lots of fun doing that as well. All in all, 2 very successful events! And God was gracious and merciful because we had 70 (yes - 70!) kids who prayed the prayer for the first time. Whoa!!

<< Pray for the follow up for all of these kids. Pray that each church/youth group will be faithful in making contact and helping these new believers take their first step. Praise God for the amazing way in which all the leaders worked together over the last 2 months. And praise God for His abundant love for us through His Son Jesus Christ! >>

Holidays Finally!

2004-06-29T14:07:00.001+10:00

Hello!! Yes, I am still alive, even if this blog doesn't seem like it.

Ah it's so nice being on holidays. It's been over a week since I finished exams and after all the essays, I really didn't want to do any more writing - even to blog or to write my newsletter. But I'm slowly getting back into it. And I owe it to you guys to let you know how I've been going.

Exams were quite hard and some of it was completely different to what I studied. *boo hoo* But I have learnt a lot in the last 6 months! But now that I'm holidays I still have to study! :( There's a class quiz for Greek on Tuesday the first week back - and it's on a hard chapter of Greek. So I've been pretty good and doing a little bit of study each day. Hopefully it'll all stick in my mind and not leak out too early...

Other than a little bit of study, I've been spending most of my holidays just relaxing. Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but I AM actually relaxing. *give myself a pat on the back. There's still plenty to do at church and for RICE, but I can spread things out nicely without too much pressure.

Speaking of RICE, that's probably my main prayer point at the moment. If you don't know what that's about, basically, 23 youth groups from around Sydney are getting together to hold 2 evangelistic events hoping to reach about 800+ high school kids - and the first event is a fete this Sat, and then secondly a outreach night next Sat. Please pray that there will be no rain this Sat, and that many non-Christians will come to hear and respond to the gospel.

One of my goals for this holidays is to catch up with as many people for brunch/lunch/arvo tea/dinner/supper as I can (nup, I can't get up early enough to have breakfast). As I said I don't like writing and so I'd rather talk to people in person. Especially while I've been at college I haven't been able to do that at all. So if you're reading this and I haven't met up with you yet, then contact me!

Four Days till Exams

2004-06-07T12:51:00.002+10:00

Counting down...

Today is the first day of stuvac, and my first exam (Pentateuch) is on Friday. This is the exam that I'm probably most unprepared. We had 3 lecturers for this subject focussing on different parts of the first 5 books of the OT. But one of the lecturers I found to be quite hard to follow and I'm disappointed to admit that I didn't learn a whole lot from his lectures. So now I have lots of reading to do to try and patch up the holes in my learning.

My second exam is Church History. That one is a bit of a worry too, 'cause I have no background knowledge of history, so that means I haven't learnt any of it before and I have lots of new information to remember. It's one of my most interesting subjects, but also one that will take a bit of work. But at least I've got good lecture notes for this so I don't have to do any research.

And lastly is my Biblical Theology exam. This one shouldn't be too hard. We have been give half the exam paper already, so we can be really well prepared - but that also means that really good answers will be expected! I probably won't be able to study for it till after my Church History exam. So the 2 days after that will be cram, cram, cram! Not ideal learning, especially since I'm reading God's Word...hope to improve on that in the future.

I've had a few people tell me lately that they have been visiting my blog and actually praying for me. Thanks heaps!!! People have been very faithful in sending financial contributions, and a few other people have also mentioned that they would like to also support me in this way. I haven't been able to thank everyone individually, but I hope you guys know how much of an encouragement that is! =D (I hope you guys are reading this!)

<< Thank God for His love and grace in providing me with so many faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who support me in so many ways - prayer, transport, money, lunch/dinner, accomodation, the odd word of encouragement, even just understanding my limitations in ministry. Pray for these fellow workers in the gospel that God will continue to bless them abundantly in their godliness and understanding of His Word. >>

I doubt if I'll have time to blog again in the next 2 weeks until my exams are over. But I'll try and get started on my newsletter afterwards!

Drowning in Essays and Ministries

2004-05-22T21:12:00.001+10:00

Again, I have failed my readers on this blog. No updates for like a month. It's become a regular habit, isn't it? =(

Even without me telling you, I'm sure you can guess that it's been incredibly busy. If you've been keeping track of my assessment schedule, you'll see that I had a lot of assignments due. And though I really don't like writing essays (still don't after a few months), I am learning heaps through the research and in the lectures.

Especially in church history. I never like history in high school 'cause I didn't want to memorise people and dates and events that were largely irrelevant to me. But I've discovered that history is not irrelevant, and even more so in church history. So much of what has happened in the past still has an impact on us today. And much of the struggles of the church and for the individual christian has been faced in the past and discussed. Very, very interesting to learn about!

I think what's been keep my most busy though is church ministries. I've enjoyed teaching Romans over the past few week (although it's HEAPS of work preparing it and thinking about different ways of leading it). I've been reminded about a lot of things I learnt a few years ago when studying Romans.

Organising SCCCA was another HUGE task! We had two of our seminars pull out on us at the last minute! >:( We almost killed ourselves trying to find someone else to do it. It was also hard to find time to prepare my seminar on Biblical Theology - I mean, how do you cover the whole Bible in 90 mins?!? I don't think I did very well in my seminar, probably 'cause I had too much material. But we had a good turn out on the day and about 30-35 people came. Still thinking about how to improve it for next time...

Well, that's a quick update of what's been happening. The outlook for the next few weeks is much the same. Except that instead of having lots of assignments, I now have lots of exams coming up. And instead of thinking about SCCCA, the next big thing is RICE - more about that in weeks to come.

Stay tuned and keep praying. Forecast for next update is in 2 weeks - right before exams start!

Easter Holiday (Follow Up)

2004-04-23T09:14:00.001+10:00

I've neglected this blog quite a bit lately...sorry! It's hard to get back into writing once you stop. Writing's never been one of my strong points. Esp now when I have to write thousands of words for essays at college. Eek! It's almost like torture for me!

Easter holidays was pretty good for me. I got a lil' bit done the first week before I went to camp. Camp was excellent. I did indeed catch up with some of my old Sunday School kids. It's only been two years, but they've all grown and changed in so many ways. I spent most of my time with the boys, and it was good to be able to hang out with them and not be their teacher anymore. And it was encouraging to see some of them serving now in ministry, some even co-leading Bible studies.

My seminar went pretty well too (from my perspective anyways). People were interested and had lots of questions to ask. I think they got the main idea I was trying to get across to them. The talks from Ephesians were clear too and The food and sleep was decent. But after coming back I've been feeling quite lethargic and unmotivated to work. :(

<< Thank God for the rest over the holidays and for the enjoyable time at church camp. Pray that I can get back into the mood to study. >>

I've got a few essays to work on at the moment and we are starting our Romans studies this Fri at EYF. I've got a talk to prepare for next Fri and the South region SCCCA training day is coming up on 15th May. It's a bit mind boggling at the moment. I'm struggling a bit with it, but just keeping my head above water...

<< Pray that I can continue to enjoy what I am learning at college and to enjoying serving people in ministry. >>

Easter is a Time for...

2004-03-30T17:13:00.001+10:00

Back into the full swing of things...for a week anyways. I didn't do as much work as I had hoped to do last week. But then again, no one ever does. At least I got one essay finished. Had a Greek quiz today and then an ethics quiz tomorrow. After that, I gotta get stuck into my Mark exegesis essay.

We only have lectures for this week, and then we're off on holidays for Easter! Woo hoo! I guess it'll be more like a working holiday, since there's a fair few assessments to get stuck into. And I'll be away at the WS church camp over the long weekend. Other than running a seminar on apologetics (ie answering tough questions about Christianity), it should be a pretty good relaxing time. I especially look forward to catching up with some of the kids I used to teach back in 2000 and 2001.

<< Thank God for Research Week and being able to have time to knock over some assessments. Pray that I can continue to be disciplined over the Easter break. Pray also for my seminar at church camp and pray that I can have a good time to relax and to catch up with people.>>

As usual, Easter is a good time to reachout to friends with the news of the gospel. At church, the Simply Christianity course is coming up to its last week this Friday. I don't know what kind of response to expect from them. But timed nicely together is 2 other evangelistic events right after its conclusion. First up we have the "Trial of Jesus" on 4th April. The church will be set up like a court room and the case is "Is Jesus dead?" Basically we want to show people that there is credible evidence for the resurrection of Christ, and to invite each person to make a decision about it. Then the following week, we have a person from Jews for Jesus coming to speak on the significance of the resurrection for a Jewish Christan.

<< Please pray that all these various events will be able to present the gospel well and encourage people to see the truth and importance of the resurrection. Pray that the hearts of non-Christians will be challenged to respond to this truth rather than just acknowledging (or even rejecting) it. >>

Tomorrow night, I'll also be having dinner with a bunch of high school friends whom I haven't seen for ages. It'll be interesting to see their response when they find out I'm at Bible college. None of them are Christians as far as I know, though one of them has been interested for some time but not willing to make a committment yet. Most are nominal Catholics, quite intelligent (ie 95+ for TER/UAI), career orientiated, and generally uninterested in religious things. But I hope that I can use Easter and Bible college to bring Jesus up in conversation and to challenge them as well.

<< Please pray that God may open opportunities for me to tell the gospel to my friends. Pray that I may be bold and not shy away from the topic of Jesus. Pray that I can be a good witness to them, and that they will be interested in talking about it. >>

Adjusting to College

2004-03-18T11:52:00.001+11:00

By now, all of you should have received my latest newsletter. If not, let me know and I'll send it again. It's actually quite hard to send bulk emails, 'cause there's all these restrictions as to how big your email can be and how many people to send it to at one time. I don't know how spammers manage it!?!

I'm starting to cope a bit better with time here at college now. Not quite there yet, but I'm not procrastinating as much and I'm starting to make use of the small blocks of time. There's regular stream of assessments due now (average of one a week), and I really gotta get stuck into them. At the same time, I don't want to have my head stuck in a book all the time. I need to be spending time with people and serving and encouraging them.

Next week is Research Week - which means that there will be no lectures on and we can focus on getting some of those assignments done. Well, that's the idea anyways...Let's just hope I don't waste it!

<< Thank God that I'm slowly adjusting to college life and improving in my time management. Pray that I can be disciplined next week and use my time well to complete my essays. Pray also that I can be continually spending personal time with God in my quiet times. Pray especially that I will be able to keep building relationships with my the staff and with fellow students and not be forever hidden in my room. >>

An update on the Simply Christianity course I'm running at EYF. Tomorrow will be the 3rd week of the course. So far, we've had 2 non-Christians who've come both weeks, and 3 who have come for only one of the two weeks. Hopefully we'll have all 5 of them this time. A pat on the back for those who've been bold enough to invite their friends. =)

Generally, I think it's going ok. It's always hard to tell with a new group. People are a bit shy and awkward. And they hardly ever (or never) go to church. They all have fairly different backgrounds. They don't seem to have a lot of questions at this stage, which I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. But at least they don't seem to have a lot of pre-conceived ideas and are pretty open to the material I present to them. But I do hope that they are understanding it all and that God will use it to change their hearts.

This week we're looking at Jesus' mission - to seek and save the lost.

<< Praise God for these people who've turned up to learn about Jesus. Pray that I can be clear and faithful in explaining the gospel, and that God will move them to be challenged and in reponse turn and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour. >>

End of Week 3

2004-03-04T17:46:00.001+11:00

It's towards the end of week 3 here at college. Assessments are starting to pile up now and my schedule is filling up with stuff. I've started a new section on the left with some of the upcoming stuff so you can pray for me.

<< Give thanks to our God that I am really enjoying my time at SMBC. Pray that as I start to write essays and do exams that this will not become an academic exericse but instead a life changing one as God's Word lives in me. >>

Every year, SMBC is involved with a number of different missions around Australia and even overseas. Just found out that I'll be involved with a large mission in Nowra in September. I have no idea what the place is like and what we'll be doing, but I look forward to getting to know my team of 20 and working together for the gospel.

<< Pray that I can get to know the people on my mission team and that we can work well together. Pray for the lost in Nowra that God may prepare their hearts now so that they will be ready to receive the good news of our Lord Jesus christ. >>

At church we are starting a 5 week Simply Christianity course this Friday! It's a very exciting time for EYF as it is the follow up to our first outreach event a few months ago. I'll be leading the non-Christian group while Jeremy leads the Christian in doing some training for evangelism.

<< Please pray for the hearts of the non-Christians as they come to know Jesus through the Gospel of Luke. Pray that they will be teachable and will ask good questions. And pray for me too that I may teach the Word of God faithfully and clearly so that these non-Chrsitians will have an opportunity to understand and respond to the gospel. >>

Thanks for Praying!

2004-02-20T16:27:00.001+11:00

As expected, it's been a hectic week! With church ministries and college lectures & assessments, I hardly have time for anything else right now.

Thanks to everyone who've asked me how I'm going and have been praying for me. You have been an invaluable source of encouragement. I'm enjoying everything so far and staying awake in lectures! :P But I just need to organise my time a bit better and prioritise things.

Especially with my church ministries as well. It's still kinda the start of term so there's a few Bible studies & related stuff I gotta sort out. And in particular I'm trying to do more personal ministry with the leaders, but it's much harder to find a time that works well with my college timetable and is good for them too.

And I haven't even made a start on my newsletter yet! Ack! >:(

<< Thank God for my faithful brothers and sisters who are in partnership in the gospel with me. Please pray for strength and wisdom as I try to manage my time and work load. Pray also for my relationships with people at church that I won't be too focused on things to do and end up neglecting them. >>

And just a gentle reminder: if you've been reading this blog but you haven't been praying for me - please pray for me! I need God's help! :)

Internet, Assessments & Accommodation

2004-02-10T23:48:00.001+11:00

One of the worst thing about adjusting to college life must be the internet - or there lackof. It's quite expensive and slow compared, of course, to the unlimited cable that I've been used to. So I'm afraid that updates on this blog, plus replies to any emails might be a bit slow. :(

But other than that, college hasn't been too bad. Believe it or not, we had our first assessment on Monday (yesterday) already worth 5%. It has been most intensive learning NT Greek the past 4 days. We crammed about 6 weeks of work into 4 days. I *think* I understand most of the ideas, but just have a lot of vocab (nouns, verbs and adjectives) and stuff to learn.

Been meeting lots of people as well, and basically forgetting everything due to sheer volume. So everytime I talk to people, we all have to introduce ourselves again. But I think I'm starting to match names to faces now at least.

This week will be a bit more laid back, doing just orientation and things. But I think I'm going to keep working hard on the Greek so I can be ready to go when lectures start next week. So as usual, not much rest of me.

I've met the rest of my housemates, and they're all pretty easy to get along with. In particular, John is an overseas student from Korea here to learn English for the purpose of further theological studies. Very friendly and polite guy. I should have no problems getting along with all of them. Unfortunately, we rotate every 6 or 12 months, and so I'm most likely going to move come June (which is actually only 4 months away - drats!). But that just means more opportunity to get to know the other fellas.

Anyways, they say time is money, and this internet at college is costing me. I'll really really try to update at least every fornight, or even every week. But please keep praying for me!!

<< Thank God for the great housemates and for the many great people I've met over this past week. Pray that as I learn Greek and other subjects that it will not be purely a academic exercise, but that it will be a life changing experience as I get to know God more through His Word and as I fellowship with those around me. >>

2004-02-03T18:19:00.000+11:00

Bye bye Wongside and hello SMBC!

I've been spending the last 2 days packing and moving into my new home at SMBC. I was expecting to move into a little room shared with another person. But instead, I'm living in one of the houses owned by SMBC with 3 other guys. I haven't met my new housemates yet, but I must say, it's very much like Brightside all over again.

The house is a little bit old, but all the bedrooms have been renovated and looks pretty good. Except for the kitchen and bathroom which is a bit old. But I guess you can't expect to have everything. I've got a living-room-turned-bedroom and it's almost 3 times my bedroom in Wongside! =) We've all been provided a nice wardrobe, book shelf, desk & chair, and bed and mattress. Everything's in pretty good condition. No old saggy beds or decrepid furniture.

Nice.

Tomorrow I'll be starting my first day of New Testament greek. Looking forward to finally starting college so that I can get some routine back into my life.

<< Thank God for my new home and for the providing such a nice place. Pray that as I get started at college that I can settle into the place and get a routine going so that I can be an effective and effecient servant for God. >>

Last night us guys spent a bit of time sharing and praying, which was a very nice gesture. These guys have been my family for the past 3 years and they've been very generous and encouraging to me. It's been a great time living with them and getting to know them and I'm sure I'll be back to visit often (like those who've gone before me :P).

<< Thank God for the providing these guys in my life and the way in which they've served and supported me. Pray that Wongside will continue to be a place of ministry where the people and the house can be used to bring glory to God. >>

I'll miss you guys! :'|

2004-01-27T11:12:00.000+11:00

Aaaaahhhh....good to be back home again. Been surviving on camp food and sleeping on crappy beds cocooned in my narrow sleeping bag. There's no place like home. =)

Firstly, here's a run down on...

Cowra Summer Breakout
To describe it in one word - AWESOME!!! (keke...in joke as well) I was great fun working with my team of leaders in JBs (Jumping Beans) section and teaching Kindy to Year 2 kids. Each day we'd start off in Concert Time with Club 35 (Year 3-Year) kids singing songs and watching Dr. Kaboom blow something up!! Then we'd break up into our sections and have some games, a skit, memory verse, more songs, and crafts.

Our main point was that Jesus is God's Son, and we need to believe/trust/have faith in Him for life. in response, we repent from living the wrong way and live God's way.

I must admit that I was often clueless as to what to do and how to do it. Having never taught little kids before, I didn't know how to discipline them or give appropriate attention to them. But the other members in my section were great! I learnt lots of things from them and they were patient with me. It's hard to put down what I learnt, because it's often just a bunch of little quirky things. But I wanna go back again next year to have another go.

Jen has put up some Mission Reflections and there's a really cool story about two of the JB kids and how they were influenced by the things we taught them.

We also did some visitations - ie visit the parents of the non-church kids and try to invite them to some of the evening events. We had a sports arvo/evening with the kids and it was sooo tiring running around with them I was sore for two days afterwards (hmm...is this a sign I'm getting old...???). Other events included a (swimming) pool night, ladies' dessert night, men's breakfast & darts, BGR night, movie (Matrix) night and a Nathan Tasker concert!

It all ended with the Big Bash on Saturday where there was free face painting, hair spray & wraps, balloon animals, lolly guessing comp, sponge throwing, etc. Some sections also performed songs they had learnt. We had lots and lots (and lots and lots - excuse the pun :P ) of fun performing the Son of Man song.

I also had to preach on Phil 3 twice while I was there - once to my mission team and a second time at the local Baptist church. I didn't get a lot of feedback except to say that the illustrations and applications were good and appropriate. I tried to contextualise it as best as I could and I kept adding and changing things throughout the week with my experiences of Cowra. The only thing I could pick up on myself to work on is making eye contact and using my voice better - esp making sure I slow down and pronounce big words clearly.

I preached at the Baptist church on our second Sunday there (which was also our last day before going home). Towards the last 5 mins of my sermon, I started to feel really tired and I could hear my voice starting to drone. I really had to struggle to just lift myself and to keep going. Which was a bit ironic, since my point was to tell people to keep going in their Christian walk, and in particular to keep going in evangelism and their partnership in the gospel - and here I was losing steam!! :|

A most exhausting trip, but definitely most enjoyable and worthwhile. I had some really good conversations with other team members and got to know a few of them. Look forward to the reunion on Feb 14th (hmm...the date is a bit...awkward...). Though funnily enough, we've already had a mini reunion at KYC 'cause lots of them were there in Katoomba.

<< Praise God for the opportunity to serve in gospel partnership with so many other Christians both from Sydney and in Cowra. Pray for those who have been touched by God's Word and pray that the seed planted in them will come to bear fruit one day as they come to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Thank God also for the team and especially the members in JBs section. Thank God for the way in which we bonded and worked well together and supported each other. Also thank God for the many things they taught me and pray that I can use it in the future to minister to others. >>

Enough ranting for now. I'll write about the other stuff later.

2004-01-09T15:18:00.000+11:00

Ack! Lack of posts and updates again! And the drought is doomed to continue.

I've been flat out preparing for Cowra Summer Breakout. And in particular for a sermon on Phil 3. I've finished it, but I don't feel 100% about it. Need to practice it a LOT and to probably touch up on things here and there.

Busy, busy, busy. Rush, rush, rush! Ahhhhh! I'm sure I've forgotten to pack something!

I'm leaving in a matter of minutes, and I'm starting to feel excited and nervous. My first mission! Don't know what to expect.

<< Please pray that I can work well with my team as we seek to preach the gospel in Cowra. Pray that I can speak clearly and faithfully from God's Word so that lives are changed for the glory of the gospel. >>

Straight after Cowra, I'll be going to Katoomba for KYLC and KYC back-to-back. So that means I won't be around for almost 20 days! So check this space after Australia Day. I'll tell you all how it went when I come back.

2003-12-29T16:32:00.000+11:00

Alright, no response from you slackers! Either that, or I've lost my small group of readers due to lack of updates.

Ok, my own reflections on the past year (in random order as I remember them):

Highlights

Going overseas for the very first time in 14 years and seeing my parents and relatives and revisiting childhood memoirs.
Going to Beijing and seeing some of the cultural heritage on display there.
Being part of RICE and evangelising to 400+ youths from all over Sydney.
Organising EYF's first ever Dialogue Dinner and having 50+ people turn up!
Learning about the OT from great lecturers at SMBC and surviving all the assessments and exams.
Bringing 2 people from my church to Club 5 with me to consider full time paid ministry.
Going to KYLC for the very first time!
Saltlight Productions "This Way Up" Album launch.
Going to Preaching Conference and learning from some of the greatest preachers of our time.
Church camp up at Apollo Resort with our very own camp T-shirt.
Deciding and being accepted into SMBC for next year.
Having lots of my good friends getting married!
Joining a Street Evangelism team with Ecom.

Whoa, this list is much longer than I expected. There is indeed much to be thankful to God for! I shall be a brief with my other lists.

Lowlights

Leaving work behind, particularly the friendships I've built over the years.
Talking to my parents about Christianity and seeing them in remain in their stubborn and stiff-necked ways in rejecting the gospel.
Being critised and/or unappreciated in my ministries.
Feeling like a one-man-band sometimes in trying to motivate people to be like-minded in how we serve at church.
Sometimes seeing little or no fruits in my ministries.
Seeing those who were at church at the beginning of the year but are now no longer attending anymore.
Anticipating leaving the fellas at Brightside/Wongside/Whiteside.
Not being disciplined with my QTs and prayers at times.
Ungodly actions and attitudes which I made no effort to keep in check.

A lot of the times, these lowlights have become times where God has challenged and taught me things, such as...

Lessons learnt/reminded of

I am human. I need rest.
Resting is good. It's ok not to be working 24/7.
Holidays are fun! (seeing a theme here?)
God is sovereign and is able to use my strengths and weaknesses to achieve His purposes. So even when I stuff up there is no need to despair.
God is faithful and will look after me in the midst of troubles and hardships. I may not understand why, but I only need to trust Him and see what He is teaching me in this time.
Even though I have been a Christian for many years, I still need to humble myself before God and sit under the teaching of His Word. There are still areas of godliness I need to be disciplined in.
I need to stop judging people so harshly and have more realistic expectations of them.
I am the visionary type when it comes to ministry (ie one who likes to plan and strategise) but I need to work on how to impart my visions to my leaders.
I write terrible essays!
I can be impatient at times and easily frustrated.
I don't like bitter melons (yet).
I don't like being dependent on people but need to learn humility in being served by others.
God is faaaaar more patient with me and is slowly molding me into Christ's likeness.

<< Praise God for 2003 and the many, many things that have happened and the things I've learnt. Pray for 2004 that I won't forget these lessons and will continue to press on! >>

2003-12-25T23:49:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. I was able to have a good, quiet, restful, day today just chilling out at home.

Some people (*ahem* you know who you are) have complained that I haven't been writing on my blog. Sorry!!! I've been busy trying to write up my newsletter and get it sent by Christmas. Hopefully you've all got it already - if not, let me know and I'll send it again (there were a few that bounced cuz the account was full).

Only another week of work left to go before I leave the secular workforce. Feeling a mixture of bittersweet. Definitely excited to be starting college soon and leaving my boring job behind, but at the same time, knowing that I'll miss the few friends that I've made while I've been there.

In the past 2.5 years I've been working there, there hasn't been a lot of meaningful relationships...maybe 3-4. Don't know if that comes as a surprise or not. But I find it quite hard because people relate by gossiping, and since I try to stay away from all that, I often get left out in all the conversations and I don't get invited out to lunch and weekend stuff as much. And sometimes their worldly value system is so overwhelming it kinda grosses me out.

You might say that's a good opportunity for evangelism, and that's true to an extent. But it's usually just a few comments in a normal conversation in front of everyone. And whenever I've tried to speak up about it, it either sounds like I'm being self-righteous or I'm taking things too seriously. Is it just that I'm saying things in all the wrong ways? I don't know...but workplace evangelism is quite hard. So for those of you out there who are struggling with it - don't despair, you're not the only one finding it hard. I'm certain that God is at work nevertheless.

<< Thank God for the relationships I've built at work and for the conversations about Christianity. Pray that God will provide other Christians in the lives of these people that one day they too will come to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour. >>

I was having lunch with some of the guys from church today, and we started talking about the past year - highlights, lowlights, what God has been teaching them - and things to work on in the coming year. I'd like to share some of my own reflections on the past year. But I'll save that for my next post.

But in the meantime, I'd like to hear from you guys! Please leave a comment and share with me what God has been doing in your life this past year!