Eulogy

Conducting a funeral of a close friend tomorrow. Here is a snap shot of some of things we loved about our friend Heidi:

When Prue met up with her she would often come home with mixed emotions. Sadness at times, because things were obviously so tough for Heidi, that we could not understand fully, but at the same time there was always something to laugh about, rejoice in, be excited about, and reasons to give thanks to God for Heidi.

Her recent phase was scrabble. Everyone she hung out with in the last few weeks of her life were probably subjected to the game of scrabble. A text message from Heidi was always extravagant and conveyed love for life and people, not just facts. She loved a cup of tea, a live gig at the view factory, she loved a good movie but had no idea how to use a computer or the internet.

She loved her little house and took great delight in making it home with crazy art stuff and interesting fabrics covering the old furniture she had managed to get together from friends and family. She loved to swim at the beach. She dressed in a funky a way that reflected her personality. And all of these things were things we loved in Heidi.

Church planting movement in Australia heating up

with SGM landing on the shores of NSW and now this from Mikey Lynch (who is a blogging machine at present.  Worth reading though) at the ACTS 29 Network international connference…

We will lead an independent, Australian church planting network, with warm friendship and support from Acts 29. We are building to a launch in Melbourne and Sydney in late November 2009. We’re agreed to move ahead with it and Acts 29 are keen to give their support to us.

… it looks like exciting days ahead for the gospel.  are you praying for a national revival?  Get to it if you are not!  A be ready for persecution if you are!

Tim Chester on Spirituality

Biblical spirituality is about:

• Bible meditation, not mystical silence
• Passionate engagement, not rural retreat
• Growing together, not individual solitude

Myanmar Reflections

A few reflections on our time in Myanmar:

Cyrus (a lecturer at RBI) and his wife outside their home...

• Hope Myanmar Partnership is an organisation that is worth supporting. Check out their website for info about all the different ministries the organisation supports.  It was awesome to meet first hand the Myanmar family (Lincoln & Leah) who lead the ministry in Myanmar.  They have a great heart for the gospel to affect and change the lives of people in their nation and great integrity as they go about their work.

  Additionally, Myanmar is a country that is very closed to foreigners.  Even as a tourist your movements are recorded by the authorities.  As a result the Myanmar locals are the best people to reach the locals.  HMP is committed to supporting pastors and training indigenous pastors for the work of the gospel thorughout Myanmar.   
   

• The theoretical social gospel versus word ministry debate that takes place in Australia is a fruitless argument in their context. It makes no sense to them to be one or the other.  They have to be both, preaching the gospel and affecting the community around them with gospel works, like education, helping the poor and needy, looking after the orphans etc.  Without these works the good news of Jesus falls on deaf ears.
   
• Young men and women are committed to the gospel and seeing it bear fruit all over Myanmar from an early age. RBI (Restoration Bible Institute) is full of students in their late teens and early twenties.   They live on 2 meals a day, they sleep in small dormitory style accommodation (some of them behind a curtain at the back of the lecture hall) and most of them are looking to move to remote parts of their country to minister to and evangelise villages and towns where persecution and hardship is a common part of daily life. This devotion at a young age amazes me as I return to Australia and am again confronted with apathy in the lives of Christian people and an unwillingness to shoulder responsibility.

More thoughts later….

Jesus: All about Life.

Got an email in my inbox in the early hours of this morning that said:

Dear Friends,

Please read the following attachment to find out about exciting new
developments in the Jesus. All about life Hunter campaign!!!

Bless you

From the JAAL Hunter Team

The exciting news they had for us was that they have decided to cancel the April kick-off for JAAL in the Hunter Region and post-pone it until the state-wide campaign launches on sometime later in the year.

How is this exciting news? I am still trying to answer that question. Surely, just over a month out is too late to cancel something on that scale. We (and I imagine other churches also) have been working towards making the most of this opportunity for the better part of 4 months… in fact our church preaching calendar revolves around the campaign.

Myanmar – Day 6

What’s been going on in Myanmar:

- Bible Teaching:  for the past 2 days I have been teaching the Bible through a translator to around 40-50 pastors in Myanmar.  It has been a great experience.  I think I now understand what Paul was talking about when he said to the Romans that he was looking forward to mutual encouragement as he went to Rome to preach the gospel.  I have one more day of teaching and then I am speaking at the Bible School Graduation also.  There will be around 250 guests at that last event… so pray for me and the translator.

- Pre-school:  one of the ministries that HMP supports is a pre-school in Myanmar.  It has been great to see the church reach out to the community through education. The community really appreciates the work they do and this work has been a powerful testimony to the gospel.  The girls on team have been loving hanging out with the Myanmar kids & teaching them some English.

- Spending time with Christians:  it ahs been lovely to be on the other side of the world and to live out the fellowship we have in Jesus with the people of Myanmar.  We look forward to mor of this as we go a short mission trip next week. 

Hopefully i will post again soon but the net is notroiously slow here.

Was trying to put a picture on but topo slow… have to just cope with words….. doh!

Here are some pictures now I am back in Oz…

Dress-ups at Pre-School

Ice Cream wafer sandwiches in Singapore.

Singapore Airport

“Singapore Airport is so clean you could eat off the floors” – Marg Hilton
“When you go to the Bathroom you feel like you are making the place dirty” – Prue Hilton
We are currently waiting for a flight to Yangon, Myanmar. We’ve had a day and night in Singapore, which is exceedingly hot an muggy, and just about ,to make the final leg of our journey into Myanmar.
Tonight we will spend some time with our friends Lincoln and Leah and tomorrow spend the day preparing for the Pastors Conference that is being put on. I am looking forward to speaking God’s word to the pastors in Myanmar. I have been nervous about the content of the material I had prepared but after speaking with Lincolns daughter Ruth in Singapore I feel as though God has helped me to preapre material that will help the local pastors… keep praying for us all as we work together as a team in a foreign and hot place.

Night Zoo in Singapore

Where are in the airport in Singapore. Couldn’t get photos to upload from my phone but this is where we are…

todays plan… food, roam around singapore and night safari at the zoo tonight…. forgot my safari suit though

Leaving on a Jetplane

We’re leaving on a jetplane… heading to Myanmar tomorrow morning.

Please pray for:
- safety
- the talks I am giving at pastors conference and the graduation ceremony
- thank God for the money provided to be able to train around 50 pastors from country areas of Myanmar.

Keep tuning in for updates and photos… maybe!  As long as we can get web access.

Hunter Bible Church

The tech team at Hunter Bible Church are trying to get the new website up and running.  Here is the new introductory video with Greg Lee.

Greg Lee, pastor at Hunter Bible Church from David Moore on Vimeo.