Speedy Christmas

Here is a quirky summary of the Christmas story I Found

Carols and readings

This Sunday at TenAM we are celebrating Christmas with our carols and readings service. Feel free to invite family and friends to carol with us and celebrate the significance of the birth of Jesus.
8am and 5pm are also having Carols and Readings.

Unichurch are having Carols in the sunken gardens
6:00pm for picnic dinner and 7:00 pm for carols.

We wish you a merry Christmas......

PYLC 2009: Future Proof

Perth Youth Leadership Conference

Jan Mon 19- Thurs 22, 2009

Future Proof

preparing youth for the end

Allan Chapple on the Book of Revelation

Steve Jeffrey on the book of Ezekiel

Click here for more info and online rego !

GP

NEW: St. Matthew's youth blog

Hi All,

As Matt promised he has created a new St. Matt's youth Blog.

Matt plans to have some things happening in the holiday period.

Stay tuned!



Click here for NEW St. Matt's Youth Blog


Cheers

GP

An opportunity to serve at TenAM

Paul uses the picture of a human body to describe the interdependant relationships in a church family. It is a good picture to apply to TenAM. We have opportunities to serve as we make a move to Rosalie. 1 Corinthians 12 says:

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand... there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it...

Everyone has a part to play in the life on TenAM church. Everyone has a part to play in our move to Rosalie School. We have smoothed out the details of the move to Rosalie with the School. Have got the final green light. We are purchasing the chairs, We are purchasing the PA, We advancing the carpet, We are advancing signage.

We need to work together to transform our present serving ministries into this new context.
We need to work together to plan the way we will connect with our local community and yours.
We need to work together in our administration. Perhaps some of you could help behind the scenes producing powerpoints and participating in pastoral care, assisting our admin.

We need to work together to prepare the undercover area for Sunday. We want to roster all our abled bodied adults in teams of 5 or 6 to set up chairs. This way each team would only have to set up chairs once a term or a block of one month a year. This way we can sustain our effort and share the load. From our Christmas experience it takes 5 people 40 mins to put out chairs. If you are able bodied we need your help to share the load. We need help with our music and our PA. We want to train up more people to set up PA.

We need to work together in our hospitality at Rosalie. We need to work together on our resources and publications and communications, If you have time or expertise in such things please let us know. We need to work together in growing our small groups and our small group leaders.

This move is an opportunity to extend our service to each other and the local community to
We are moving to Rosalie on a permanent basis on the 18th of January. This will be a soft launch to give us time to adjust to the new regime of set up.

At Easter we will do a “hard launch” Promoting Easter, Rosalie, and Autumn Fest.

Please pray, please get involved, please help us to serve our community

GP

Did you want to catch a talk you missed?

Did you want to catch a talk you missed? Or forward a talk to a friend?

check out our online talk catalogue

Click Below for the link!

Click here to find our Talk Downloads

Cheers

Gavin

Family Christmas Service this Week 14th December

Hello TenAM,

This is a reminder that TenAM is having the Christmas Family Service 10am this Sunday. It is a chance for us to celebrate with the children and youth of our church family through their presence and participation.

Please stay for a sausage !

Gavin

Foxfires heads UP

Hi all,

Again another massive year has passed for the Foxfire Ministry.

Though I would love to tell you some of the amazing stories of God’s provision, of hardship overcome and the courage and faith of our teams, the PowerPoint would go forever.

For some of our Foxfires it has been an enormously hard year. At points of the year we were wondering if the guys would make it and yet, I have been told of amazing stories of perseverance, reconciliation and God’s love prevailing. Ministry in Africa especially to young people is so challenging. We are blessed to have every opportunity.

Please find attached our humble report, I had hoped for a second piece of video but the footage could not be caught.

I trust you’re blessed this Christmas and we would be honoured if you would join with us again next year following the Foxfires ministry.

Every blessing

Ant

Anthony Sell
Director of Ministry Development


2G/5 Byfield Street, Macquarie Park NSW 2113, AustraliaMob: 0424 442 850
Skype: sellyaesyd
Tel: +61 2 9889 1799 ext 12
Fax: +61 2 9889 1733anthony.sell@africanenterprise.com.auhttp://www.africanenterprise.com.au/

Hospitality: Part 2

What does hospitality look like for us at TenAM?What will hospitality look like for us at Rosalie ? In our church family, hospitality is part of our pastoral care of each other. Formally, with our welcoming team. Formally through morning teas and hospitality lunches. Formally with our network of small groups and through church events. Formally through playgroup, ESL, CRE etc.. Informally we show hospitality all over the place.

Hospitality is also an instrument of outreach. Hospitality is not about the food. Hospitality is about the relationships. I want to encourage you to get together with a couple of other TenAM people or families and host a breakfast, or host a brunch, or a BBQ, or an afternoon tea, or a meal, or a lunch, or a picnic. Bring your church family together with people in your network of relationships. We are calling people to be deliberate with their hospitality next year. Being deliberate with your invites and deliberate with your conversations. Imagine if we all did it once a term how many people we could bring into the orbit of our God and his church family.

Be deliberate about your diary
Be deliberate about your invitations
Be deliberate about your prayer
Be deliberate about your conversations
Be deliberate about your teamwork

GP

Hospitality Part 1

1. Hospitality & God’s heart

All through the Bible, God loves the stranger. All through the Bible God encourages his people to love the stranger. for example Leviticus 19:34 says ”‘When a stranger lives with you in your land, do not mistreat them.  The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. In the NT the word translated 'hospitality' literally means love the stranger. We read "Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality:. Romans 12; "Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13. "We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth." 3 John etc.

As we work towards moving TenAM to Rosalie:

We want to be a community that loves as God has loved us.
We want to be a community that welcomes as God had welcomed us
We want to be a community that loves the stranger as God loves the stranger.
Sometimes that is uncomfortable, I was part of a small growing church where one of the old regulars grumbled to me “the new people don’t talk to me..” but The God of the Bible is a God of Hospitality. We are called to do likewise

GP

It's beggining to feel a lot like Christmas

Christmas at St. Matt's is coming !

1. 14 Dec TenAM Christmas Family Service

2. 21 Dec TenAM Carols and Readings

3. 22-24 Dec Christmas Kids Workshop 9:00am to 12:00pm For Primary School aged Children Yr 1-6

4. 24 Dec 6:00pm Kids 'n' Carols At Rosalie School

5. 24 Dec 11:00pm Traditional Christmas Service

6. 25 Dec 8:00am Christmas Communion Service at Church

7. 25 Dec 9:30am Family Christmas Service at Rosalie School


You might have family, friends, and neighbours that you could invite to one of our Christmas events to celebrate with us and hear of Jesus.

See you there !

Gavin

David and Goliath for the visual learners

David and Goliath for the visual learner !

There will be blood!

GP

Postcard for GWC

Our M4M today focuses on the strategic work being done in the area of theological education by George Whitfield College in Cape Town, South Africa, David Seccombe has been Principal of this College since 1993 and is here with his wife Lorraine this morning. After 15 very full years, they are on leave at the moment but plan to return on December 31st. In 1993 there was a small student body . Do you notice anything significant? Yes, all the students are white! David's longing was that that imbalance be rectified. Better facilities were a must and real progress was made with the purchase of a property at Muizenberg. Other properties were acquired for student accommodation. By 2007 the student body had more than quadrupled. Praise the Lord for the increase in the number of African students. For those of you who have been praying for the person standing in for David in his absence, here is Mark Dickson, the Vice Principal. A big step forward was taken with the appointment of the first full-time African faculty member, Rev. Siegfried Ngubane. He is in charge of training students in African church planting . Then Jomo Mchumu )came from the Sudan and Ben Shikwati from Kenya. They are only able to access this training because of the generosity of people who are providing bursaries. But what a way to help the growth of the church in Africa. We all know how pivotal a library is for a theological training institution - and how expensive it is to build it up!! African Inland Mission has loaned one of its experienced missionary to be the chief librarian . But the library needs to expand to meet the needs of the newly established Post Graduate Programme. The first group studying at advanced level numbers ten and are mostly African. Ben Dean has just moved from UK with his wife and family to head up this programme. An option has been purchased on a house for him and his family but funding is needed to purchase it .
With all the growth that has happened over the past 15 years, GWC hopes to have a student body of 200 with a faculty of 16. This is a grand vision but under God we can look to seeing it happen. Let us pray that God will continue to lead David and his expanding team to respond in faith - and that we will know what part we can play to help make it happen.

BT

Scholarships for George Whitfield College

Dear TenAM,

I am in the process of establishing a scholarship for a student in South Africa to train up as a minister and wondered if you would be interested in supporting this initiative.

George Whitfield College in Cape Town is run by David Seccombe who was the previous minister at St Matthews Anglican Church here in Shenton Park. I have had the privilege of spending time with David here in Perth while he is here on sabbatical. He is a man of enormous vision, integrity and deep faith who has chosen to devote the past 15 years to leading the college. I also visited the College in Muizenburg many years ago when a friend who studied her LLB with me at UCT went on to study there.

The college trains ministers from all over Africa who then return to their communities and found churches, provide hope through faith for the desperate, sick and dying as well as perform many other functions like training about community issues, health etc. Further information on the college can be found on their website www.gwc.ac.za.

I feel passionately that by helping a disadvantaged student train to become a minister, he will in turn impact and uplift so many more lives in far flung communities - a significant multiplier effect.

The course runs over three years. Both the College and student will correspond periodically with the donors here in Perth and we will be able to form a relationship which is supportive and encouraging rather than purely anonymous. If we manage to raise the full amount, the scholarship will cover tuition, accommodation and books for three years.

I am hoping to attract 50 donors, each making a contribution of $150 per annum for three years which is fully tax deductible.

We will be launching the scholarship on Sunday, 30th November at my place. David Seccombe will be presenting a slide presentation and talk on the college and will provide further details on the scholarship and what it covers. I have asked another minister who is also on sabbatical in Perth and who is based in the Southern Sudan to talk to us about the impact a trained minister has in that war torn and poverty stricken community. Each donor will then be presented with a portfolio with details of George Whitfield College and the scholarship. The selection process for the scholarship recipient will commence and the student will begin studies in 2009.

Please let me know if you are interested in becoming a donor and if you have any other people you feel I can approach. I believe this scholarship is a significant way we as Christian Australians can make a meaningful contribution to Africa.


Many thanks
Katerina Paizes

alkapet@bigpond.com

A need for chaplains at Shenton College

Applications are invited for

2 Full Time CHAPLAINCY POSITIONS 2009
(1 Position Interim)

SHENTON COLLEGE Shenton Park W.A.


Applicants should complete and submit:

· Chaplaincy Pool Application Packon www.youthcare.org.au
· Working with Children Check Card
· Department of Education W.A. Police Clearance

Initial Enquiries: Shenton Christian CouncilPO Box 627, NEDLANDS W.A. 6909 0438 868587

POST APPLICATIONS TO:
YouthCARE, PO Box 482, Morley WA 6490
or Email: employment @youthcare.org.au
Phone: 9286 0280/9376 5000Attention: Stephen Bradfield

CLOSING DATE: FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2008

The Langham Partnership

Here at St Matt's we benefit greatly from the splendid standard of Biblical preaching. This comes to us, not only because of the natural gifts of those who preach, but also because of the training in expository preaching they have received. We long for this training to be made available to all those who stand in pulpits each week. To rightly communicate the message of the Bible is the best way to prepare the world to face up to its huge problems.

John Stott has that vision. Now in his late eighties, he established Langham Partnership with that aim in view over a decade ago. The aim is to provide scholarships, textbooks and preaching skills to the enthusiastic preachers of the Majority World. It is a grand vision currently being carried on by people like Jonathan Lamb and Christopher Wright. (Jonathan Lamb by the way is speaking at the Belgrave Heights Convention over New Year)

To give you an idea of the scope of these Preaching Seminars let me quickly list some of the countries where they are being held in this current six month period - Chile, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand, Rwanda, Burundi, Bolivia, Ecuador, Croatia, Panama, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Ghana, Myanmar, Tanzania, Brazil, Zambia, Vanuatu, Nigeria, Kyrgystan, Colombia. It is quite breathtaking isn't it.

But the people who are organising these events, realize that preachers who are being trained need to get together and encourage each other. To that end, Preaching Clubs are being developed in towns and villages in various African and South American countries to provide pastoral support for those who are ministering despite huge logistical problems. One church in Oxford, UK is providing bikes for preachers so that they can meet together to study together and encourage one another.

Langham Partnership is a cause very worthy of our support. If you are interested in getting more information there will be a brochure on the table in the foyer and you can follow up details of the website and their regular Newsletters.

Pray for Langham Partnership

BT

God Saves: 1 Samuel 17& 18 Study Book

At Church we are doing a 5 week series in 1 Samuel 17 & 18.
It will invites us to see that God is King and rescues those who trust in Him. We produced a study Guide to help you think it through a bit more. You could use it on your own, or as part of a group, or as part of a family reading this incident together and applying the implications to our present life.

Please click on the link below to down load the PDF version

gavin_-_1_samuel_17-18_bible_study_2 1.02 Mb

The talks will be available on the website.

GP

A postcard from Liberia

Several weeks ago we were greatly helped by a M4M presentation from Ian and Jenny Gilmour who were preparing to go for the second time with Mercy Ships. For those who may have missed out on hearing them let me say that Ian is an anaesthetist and Jenny is a nurse and they are serving on a ship which will be in Liberia serving the medical needs of the local people. Since they left they have kept us well informed of their activities and are now half-way through their four week stint. They write as follows:

"This week Iain and I have been working in the same OR with a Spanish surgeon, a Scottish anaesthetist and 2 theatre nurses from Canada and Holland. We are working well as a team but the surgeon I think is Africa's Mercy's equivalent of Manuel in Fawlty Towers. He looks a bit like him and his English is certainly not the greatest. But despite all the communication problems, he is a good surgeon and is helping a lot of sick people.

Do pray for ongoing healing for children who swallow caustic soda. Their parents make soap for a living and the children mistakenly drink the solution thinking it is water. The results are heartbreaking. The children are usually between 1 and 4 years and are terrified of the procedure. Because they are often malnourished Iain is finding it difficult to get an IV in, sometimes taking 1.5 hours to do it. Many operations are necessary to dilate the oesophagus and make eating possible. Let us pray for all those involved in this process.

Iain and Jenny say that they are sleeping well, and are having some time off to call home and take a break. They are challenged to live out their faith in a very international team, in cramped and noisy conditions and continually confronted with the huge needs of patients from a poor country whose needs are so vast. Let us pray for them as they continue to demonstrate their love for Christ in this sacrificial way. Blodwyn Timms

Lord’s Prayer survives attacks

Here is an article from the Australian Chrstian Lobby:

The place of the Lord’s Prayer at the start of Federal parliamentary proceedings each day seems secure following strong support for it from Australia’s two main political leaders.
Both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull emphatically declared their support for the retention of the Lord’s Prayer earlier this week following a call for a debate over whether it should be axed.
On the weekend, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Harry Jenkins suggested replacing the Lord’s Prayer with an acknowledgement of Australia's traditional Aboriginal owners. The Australian Greens later weighed in by saying they want the prayer replaced with a period of reflection and a conscience vote in both houses on the issue. Please click here and here for details.
Christianity has had a profound impact on shaping Australia’s laws, system of parliamentary democracy and culture, and it is entirely appropriate that we open Parliament with the Lord’s Prayer.
We welcome the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader’s commitment to retaining the prayer which is in line with the written commitments their parties gave to the ACL prior to last year’s Federal election.

Please click here to read ACL’s media release on the issue put out on Sunday.

GP

Prayer for persecuted Church

Today Christians around the world are being asked to pray for over 100 million suffering Christians during the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This Day of Prayer has grown to be one of the biggest prayer events in the world since its inception in 1996.

This year we focus particular attention on NORTH KOREA where presently over 100,000 Christians languish in the most atrocious conditions in political prisons and suffer the most heinous of tortures. North Korea has been No 1 for the past six years for the country where persecution is the most severe. Public executions are presently being used to intimidate.

IRAN stands at No 3 where persecution is most severe. On September the Iranian government passed a bill by 196-7 to make apostasy from Islam a capital crime. Unless there is huge international pressure, this bill will soon be ratified. Christians and Baha'i will be worst affected.

IRAQ The church in Iraq is under fierce attack at the moment with 10,000 Christians
leaving the city of Mosul because of terrorism specifically targeting Christians. Terrorists dressed like policemen recently asked a Christian for his ID and when it revealed he was a Christian, he was shot right on the spot. At least 15 Christians have been killed in Mosul in the past month.

However 618 Christians in Iraq recently met in their fourth national prayer conference
to pray for their country. This included 50 Kurdish believers as well as 10 Muslim background believers. Special testimony was given by some who have experienced great blessing as a result of their turning to Christ.

INDIA We continue to pray for the Christians in Orissa where at least 60 people have been killed in the last two months. 14 districts of the State have ben affected by Hindu extremists and 50,000 people have been made homeless. Many have fled to the hills for safety.

Let us pray for the persecuted church.

Click here for more information: The Voice of the martyrs website

BT

John's Gospel for Groote

We have taken up a small project to help the indigenous church on Groote Eylandt.

THIS Tuesday 28th of October 12:00pm on, we are manually collating and binding 50 copies of John's Gospel in thelocal language, anindilyakwa. We need some more help if you are free and able.

We are not sure how long this will take us. This is a small we we can help the local groote people get john in their own language

let me know if you can help

Gavin

Mark this week in history

Mark this week in history

Susan and I hit 20 years of marriage.

(I told you we were married art the age of 6)

22nd October 1988 : A bicentennial project

Phew !

PS I am the skinny guy in the middle

STmatts at Rosalie update

Things are falling into place for the TenAM to move to Rosalie .

Rosalie School has confirmed and greenlighted the move on a couple of fronts. We can leave chairs set up through the Christmas holidays. The School anticipates the P&C storage shed will be built by the end of the holidays where we can store chairs from then on.

Khim Harris is advancing the purchase of chairs, the research on sound equipment needed, and the minor upgrades, in conversation with the relevant parties.

We will use the undercover area for our Christmas events, and start on the 18th of January for the permanent move.

In the next few weeks we will roll out more information on our vision for the change, and the practical ways you can help make it happen through prayer, participation, and generosity. look for the booklet and discussions at church.

Stmatts at Rosalie will be different. It is a chance for us to shape what we do to enhance our opportunities for connections with our local community.

We need your prayers and participation in the next phase of our life together.

Please see Kanishka Khim or myself if you have any questions

Gavin

Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child

Caterina Paizes is organising a collection for Operation Christmas.

The idea is to put a shoebox full of goodies together for a boy or a girl and these will be ditributed to children in third world situations.

The information brochures are in the foyer at Church or contact Katerina Paizes 92862026 for more information

DEADLINE Sunday 26th October

Click Here for website information

Gavin

Minute for Orissa State

This Blog turns our attention to India, to the State of Orissa, where a violent Hindu pogrom continues to rage. You may remember several years ago that Graham Staines and his two sons were incinerated in their van while they slept. They were Christian missionaries serving selflessly the poor of that region. A Hindu nationalist group called the BJP aims to rid India of all Christians and their activities have flared again. and has spread throughout nine districts within the State. Reliable sources are reporting that truckloads of militants from other Indian States are in support and have armed themselves with bombs, swords and guns to pounce on defenceless Christians. Recently a mob of around 2000 Hindus attacked a church service in one village. Some fled, others were forced to convert to Hinduism at the point of the sword. The police choose not to intervene. Where Christians are fleeing to refugee camps for safety, militants are seeking to foul the drinking water with poisonous chemicals and stealing the food supplies because they object to Christians 'eating at government expense'. In one particular region, a large mob of local Hindus invaded a Mission Action Prayer Fellowlship, beat the pastor and believers and burnt the church's Bibles, furniture, musical instruments, pulpit and cross. The brought a media team and all the action was telecast live. I could add more details of vicious violence but you can see that what is going on calls for urgent prayer. Let us pray for God's intervention to protect the lives of His people. Let us also pray for the Holy Spirit to bring comfort and grace to those who are grieving the loss of loved ones and for the 50,000 Christians who have been displaced. Let us pray also that the Christians will emerge from this united in brotherly love and faith in Jesus Christ. May God use the shame of this violence to trigger a national awakening in India which will reject Hindu nationalism and provide the Church with an opportunity to share the gospel in new ways.

B T

Climb every mountain

We survived holidays !

and look forward to fourth term and the new year.

You will be glad to know I conquered the Devil's slide,

(in more ways than one...)

We also conquered Bluff Knoll off in the distance...

now my calves hurt......

More Anglican turmoil

The Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt Rev Robert Duncan has said he will not appeal against the ruling, as bishops worldwide condemned the Episcopal Church of the manner of his deposition. He said: “I’m very sad, sad for the Episcopal Church. In 15 days the diocese will determine whether it too wants to be part of the Southern Cone and figure out whether it wants me back as bishop. That is up to the diocese, although I have a sneaking suspicion they will want me back.” “This is of course a very painful moment for Pittsburgh Episcopalians,” the president of the diocesan standing committee the Rev David Wilson said. “The leadership of the Episcopal Church has inserted itself in a most violent manner into the affairs and governance of our diocese.”The Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev Peter Jensen, said: “The unfolding tragedy of the Episcopal Church starkly reveals the folly of the original decision to break with the Bible and centuries of historic Christianity on the issue of human sexuality.”

Click here for the full article

GP

Go the under dog!

Trinity@Night

Greetings

Trinity@Night offers a Certificate in Christian Studies which has been developed by Trinity Theological College to prepare people for effective Christian service. This term we will be offering 2 units in the metro area, the details are below. I would also like to thank you for your willingness to assist us in promoting the upcoming Trinity@Night courses in your church or organisation.

The Term 4 enrolment form has been attached. Simply download, print and fill it in.

Click here for website

Kind Regards

David Mullender
Trinity@Night Co-ordinator
PO Box 115, LEEDERVILLE WA 6902
Level 2, 632-634 Newcastle Street, LeedervillePhone: +61 8 9228 9067Fax: +61 8 9228 3862Web: www.ttc.wa.edu.au
Preparing People for Effective Christian Service

Gafcon, what next ?

Following GAFCON, the organisers write:

"We invite individuals, churches, dioceses, provinces and parachurch organisations who assent to the Jerusalem Declaration to signify their desire to become members of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans...."

Click here for website invitation

.

For snippets on what has been happening in the national, and international Anglican scene....

Click here for ACL Website

.

Pray that people will walk the walk, as well as talk the talk.

GP

Postcard from Cambodia: The Painters CMS

Dear praying friends and supporters

While the Cambodian Church has been growing at a tremendous rate since Cambodia was opened to the world in 1991, in recent years the pace of growth has very much slowed. To help identify the problems with growth, a group has been started, calling itself Mission Kampuchea 2021 (MK2021). Their plan is to see a "transformational church" in every village in Cambodia (13 000 villages) by 2021. At present it is estimated that there is only a Christian presence in about 2600 villages, so this is an ambitious project. They estimate that the number of churches will need to double every four to five years. However, the committee obviously believes that through the power of God it is achievable. Further, some have pointed out, it is in line with the objectives of the government, that wishes to promote "religion" throughout the country. Across the top of all official documents are the words "Nation, Religion, King".

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the branch church of the Anglican Church that we are part of in Phnom Penh. This church is in a town called Tak Kmau, about 20 kilometres away. It was planted by students from Phnom Penh Bible School back in the mid 1990's and handed over to the Anglican Church as part of the partnership that existed.

There were about 25 people meeting together in a room opening out to the street. As a guest, I was placed under the one fan, a position I appreciated as the morning heated up. The sun was beating down upon an iron roof, less than a metre above the head of the Rev. Tit Hieng, the Anglican pastor from Phnom Penh who was preaching that morning. After the meeting I spoke to one of the leaders. He said that this church had no regular pastor for many years, but relied on visiting speakers for their spiritual nourishment. Apparently nobody is willing to come to this place – it being too far out of the city.

Our experience is that the situation with this church at Tak Kmau is a common one. Bible literacy is very low. Churches often depend upon a travelling "expert" who will come out every now and again to share words of wisdom, to only quickly depart and return to their home in the city (I too was about to return there). People here showed that they are eager to learn God's Word, but the opportunities to regularly deepen their understanding are often far and few between.

In our time in Cambodia, we have learnt that while people may be quick to respond very positively to foreign ideas, friendship, and practical support, unless there is competent, regular Bible teaching in their own language, their worldview generally remains unchallenged. The Buddhist worldview remains largely untouched in a Christian veneer. Often only the only the nature of the religious language and the shape of the building they meet in has transformed. So while there the church here is numerically strong –our understanding is that "the Khmer soul" remains largely untouched.

This week please pray for:
· Dave as he preaches on Sunday to the Khmer congregations at the Anglican churches in Phnom Penh and Tak Kmau.
· Leoni, as she continues working with the ladies of the EFC Women's Commission.
· The Anglican Church – that has just appointed a new minister for the English congregation – Rev. Norman Beale, a former missionary from Nepal.
· Peter Blowes, as he prepares to come for a CMS pastoral visit to Cambodia early next month.
· PPBS – enrolments are disappointingly low this year, with only 14 first year students.
· For our local community – two families have broken up in the last month, (resulting in the departure of one of Grace's playmates).

Back to St. Matts

Dear friends
We're looking forward to our celebration of Back to St Matt's this weekend. About 100 people have already booked in to our Saturday night get together with lots of food, friends and a few surprises. If you are planning to come along on Saturday night and haven't been able to buy your ticket, you will be able to do so on the night - but we need to know now that you are coming so we can advise the caterer of final numbers by Wednesday. We'd love to have your company - please let us know if you are planning to come.

And don't forget the BYO picnic at Shenton Park Lake on Saturday from 11am.

in Christ Kanishka

Postcard from Mexico

I am reposting this comment from Shelley Chapman for your encouragement and action:


Hi Gavin,

Thank you for posting something so clear for people who have adopted a missionary and are supporting them; both "Caring for your Missionary" #1 and #2 are practical and pretty much spot on. We are confident in the knowledge that we are faithfully prayed for at St Matts, but it really does make it special when people tell us so.We also love to receive emails and letters/postcards and are really encouraged by people doing this; it's not always easy to reply as quickly as we would like, but it helps us feel connected.We do enjoy hearing about general news from Australia. It's quite true that Australia doesn't feature much in the news here. And while we COULD just log on to a newspaper website and find out ourselves, it's always more fun to hear it from the more particular perspective of a friend.The church bulletin and sermons are also always welcomed. Especially hearing the Australian accent!!Finally, just a word about phone calls to missionaries. We've received a number of calls from well-meaning friends who thought about us and decided to call us - at 3am our time. At least for us in Mexico, emails are a lot easier!! (And we can cope with attachments.)Hope this missionary perspective is helpful. God bless!

Shelley Chapman

Caring for Your Missionary #3

The apostle Paul was very clear about the importance of caring for each other. He wrote to the church at Galatia: “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”(Gal 6:9) Looking after our adopted missionaries can be difficult because they are so far away. The St Matthew’s Missions Working Group encourages you to think creatively about how to do this. There are many different and special ways that we can care for them. It needn’t take much time or money on your part to spoil your missionary but it will have a big impact on them.

Treat Them

You can help missionaries to feel cared for by sending birthday, Easter or Christmas cards, video recordings, magazines, books, chocolates or things for their children. Missionaries Paul and Sandra King look forward to a yearly ‘Postpak’ of goodies from a link church, and Sue Jaggar, a missionary in the Congo, enjoys receiving chocolate and cheese - rare commodities in Africa. Check first to see what they would like. If you send parcels check first that they won’t have to pay heavy customs duties. Mark your parcel ‘printed matter only’ (if that is what it is), ‘NCV’ (no commercial value) or ‘gift’. Tell them that you are sending the parcel and what is in it.

For missionaries who are departing, try not to give them heavy or bulky gifts to take with them. Small items like cards and photos are a good idea, as they are lightweight and nice mementos of home. If you have the address of where they will be living when they arrive at their posting, send them a small card or gift ahead of time so they will receive it when they arrive. A reminder that people from home care can be a lovely touch when missionaries land in a foreign country.
You could also send resources to help with their work. Missionary Frances Boland said, “It’s most encouraging when link churches send books, ideas and give creative suggestions for reaching activities and presentations for students and children.” Sue Jaggar in Africa welcomes craft things, balls and pencils, as well as puppets to explain Bible stories.
You could also treat them with a visit. A well–planned visit from supporters can be a great encouragement to missionaries. When booking your next business trip or holiday overseas, consider a side-trip that would enable you to call in on your missionary. They will love you for it.

Khim Harris

Caring for Your Missionary #2 Keep in touch

St Matthew’s Mission Working Group was delighted to hear during the week about people who have adopted a missionary and taken the first step to supporting them by praying for them. Today our tip for supporting missionaries is to keep in touch with them.

The writer of Hebrews tells us “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…let us encourage one another” (10:24). The missionary life has particular challenges. As we send out missionaries we have a special responsibility to encourage them because of the work they are involved in. Often missionaries work in physically and spiritually difficult environments. Their life is often very different to what they were used to at home. Take time to consider how you can spur your adopted missionary on toward love and good deeds…and how you can encourage them in their work for the gospel. One important way you can do this is by communicating regularly with them.

Keep in Touch

Write to your missionary. Even though you may not know your missionary very well, writing is a great way to encourage them. First of all introduce yourself and perhaps include a photograph. Let them know what’s been happening in your family, church, neighborhood. Missionaries often say they love hearing about ordinary things at home. Your emails, letters or postcards don’t need to be long. Let them know that you don’t expect a reply so they are not burdened.

In some countries email downloads are charged according to their size (including attachments). Please check before sending any attachments or long messages. In certain countries emails are monitored. Find out if there are topics that you should avoid mentioning for security reasons.

Keep them in the loop! Send the church bulletin occasionally and tell them about what’s going on at church. Keep them up to date with Australian news. Australia doesn’t feature very highly in overseas media.

Send a sound recording. If you prefer talking to writing then send sound recording (tape, CD or electronic – depending upon their preferred format) of you or people at church. You could also send sermon CDs to encourage your missionary.

Ring them! Next time you take out a telephone contract, consider signing up for a plan that allows cheap calls to your missionary’s country. Let’s smother our adopted missionary with love and care—they are working for the gospel of Jesus on our behalf.
Khim Harris

Love and respect

Following up our talk on Husbands and wives, we highly recommend Love and Respect By Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. A Focus on the Family Publication

The book takes further our discussion of the Ephesians 5:22-33 passage applying God's blueprint for marriage to real life situations. It explores how married men and women ought to live and is practical in applying good biblical teaching to the reality of marriage in the real world.

A wife longs to feel loved, A husband longs to be respected

"The road to a lasting love and respect marriage is a lifelong one, and there is no way you can travel it in your own strength. The task is overwhelming, and you need the help from your heavenly Father, who knows your heart. if you want to do your marriage as unto Christ, you must ask Christ for help. Remember, Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing...."

Ten AM move to Rosalie Update

You might be wondering where we are at with TenAM’s proposed move to Rosalie. We have been waiting for a number of issues to fall into place at the School side of things. At the School Council Meeting last Thursday, Principal Mike Lasscock confirmed three things:

1. The P& C will build a storage shed funded by them, but with space for 300 chairs for our Sunday use. (We plan to buy the chairs to share with the School)

2. St. Matt’s is welcome to use the undercover area on a Sunday for TenAM. An appropriate written agreement is being drafted.

3. Projects to upgrade the undercover area will be approved by School Council on a project by project basis. We are investigating all purpose carpeting and sealing for weather.

This means our expected financial commitment will be significantly lower than the initial proposal of a jointly funded bricked storage area. December looks the most likely start date when school finishes, which would give us Christmas Holidays to leave the chairs up in the undercover area and settle in.

From our point of view this moves us to phase 2 where we need formalise and finalise our logistics, and more importantly we need to plan our deliberate outreach to the community from this new platform.
A more detailed timetable will be distributed in the next couple of weeks.

We invite you to a planning meeting for TenAM outreach Sunday 14th September 2:00pm-4:00pm.

Please See Gavin or Kanishka or Khim for any questions

Gavin

Workshops for Blokes

We are preaching on marriage and families in the next couple of weeks.

We are having complimentary workshops to follow up the topics for topic and application:

1. How to Love your wife 7:45 pm to 9:30pmish Thursday, 4th September.

2. How to lead your kids 7:45 pm to 9:30pmish Wednesday, 24th September.

RSVP Church office 9381 2640

St Matthew's office@stmattsshentonpark.org.au

Caring for Your Missionary #1 Prayer

We are all members together of the ‘household of Christ’; co-workers and partners in the gospel. “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts to grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Ephesians 4:16, NLT). We therefore bear the obligations to care for each other as we are interdependent on each other. The St Matthew’s Missions Working Group hopes that by now you have chosen a missionary from the board in the foyer to ‘adopt’.

As a sending church we have the privilege of being able to care for our missionaries in partnership with their mission agency and their receiving church. We should take our responsibility seriously and ensure that we support the people we send.

How can we do this? The most important thing we can do is to pray for your missionary. As well as praying for your missionary on your own, you can help by bringing your missionary’s prayer needs before other people.

Here are some prayer ideas:

Include a prayer for your missionary in your family prayer & Bible study.
Distribute their prayer points and newsletters to members of your congregation and small groups.
Pass on prayer points to the Kid’s Church leaders. CMS missionary Sue Jaggar recently received drawings from Sunday School children, and was delighted to know a six year old was praying for her.
Collect email addresses so that the mission agency can email your adopted missionaries’ prayer points directly to individual people.
Join a missions prayer group or start one of your own. St Matthew’s currently has mission prayer groups that meet on a Monday night and every Thursday morning.
Encourage people to take part in mission events, eg CMS’s annual Missionary Awareness Conference.

Check up on recent prayer points on your missionary’s blog or the mission agency’s website. Most agencies offer regular prayer point updates through email subscriptions or RSS feeds. Let missionaries know about your prayers—Russell and Kay Clark, missionaries in Tanzania, said “the best thing is to hear that we are being prayed for”.
Khim Harris

Postcard from Groote:The Anindilyakwa Bible

Dear Gavin

I was so excited to be able to give away this copy of the
Anindilyakwa mini-Bible on behalf of you and the CMS-WA group.
Veronica came around to my place to have some fellowship, supported shyly by her husband who stayed well and truly in the background. We did some practice reading in Kriol and English, because Veronica is a Kriol speaker from Numbulwar. Then she thought she might have a go at Anindilyakwa, but it was very obvious that her language skills were not up to it, and gradually her husband came closer and closer, because he grew up at Angurugu, thought they live over on Bickerton Island now. He could recognise and understand easily, and he started to support her efforts.

I was able to have a talk with him, sensed he was interested in reading more, and decided this was the right time to give away mini- bible no 1.

Since then he has joined the baptism class. Wonderful, huh?

Gavin, I am audaciously asking for help for Linguistics. The Gospel of John has been translated and revised. There are no copies left for the GE Christians to buy. Before I left for holidays I was only able to photocopy some of the Gospel of John in Anindilyakwa, and I really wanted to get that all finished. Do you think there are people in your church who could take what I have done, plus the rest of the masters, and complete the books?? I could get the Linguistics workers to post it all down to you and then you could post all the completed ones back in installments, or lots of them could wait until someone was travelling north. What do you think??


Many blessings

Elizabeth


GP: Let me know if you can help me put some John's Gospels together for the Groote Aboriginals!

Missions – the Ultimate Goal?

Today you can make a simple decision that could have a Kingdom impact. The St Matthew’s Missions Working Group is inviting you to join in God’s mission and ours by adopting a missionary. This is an easy, three step process:
1. Decide who you are going to adopt by checking out the pictures on the walls or reading their biographies at www.stmattsshentonpark.org.au
2. See someone at the Global Gospel Focus Adoption Desk in the foyer today
3. Read the next four editions of the church bulletin to learn how you can care for your adopted missionary including by:
• praying for them;
• keeping in touch with them;
• treating them; and
• looking after their financial needs.

During this month of Global Gospel Focus the St Matthew’s Missions Working Group is on a mission for missions! However, the most crucial issue in missions is the centrality of God in the life of the church. Our main goal is the worship of God. Mission exists because worship doesn’t. Well-known author John Piper puts it this way:

Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice!” (Psalm 97:1). “May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Psalm 67:3–4).

But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the Lord…I will be glad and exult in you, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Psalm 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.

We need to be centred on the exultation of the majesty and beauty of God in order to have a desire to “declare his glory among all the nations” (Psalm 96:3). Let us make the worship of God our main focus. Only then will we start to have a global gospel focus. (John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad! Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003, p. 17),

Khim Harris

Pop Quiz for Shenton Christian Council

Shenton Chrisitian Council invites you to

POP Quiz (Not your average Quiz Night...)

Hi Everyone! It's time to get together a table for the annual QUIZ NIGHT in support of ... well, Shane & Myself ! (School Chaplains).
It is also a fun night to relax together and enjoy a bit of rivalry ... (Wed. Week 7)
Either get a team of 8 together (including partners) or just let Steve know you're keen to come and we'll form a team of 'rogue' individuals.

This year promises to be a much more interactive/stimulating POP QUIZ

with Funky QuizMaster Gav - Video & Music challenges! :)
Try and RSVP by the end of next week if you can ...

Steve Ritchie 0421 478 507

Laurel Collin 9381 8095

Cheers Steve Ritchie

Postcard from Dongara

Hi prayer partners,

Thanks again for your partnership in prayer for the Lord’s work in Dongara and Mingenew.
We’re back from holidays and straight into all sorts of opportunities to love Jesus and our community. A few things we’re looking forward to in 2008 include:

• the birth of our third child in July (Tyler and Penny’s second due
in May)
• HOLIDAYFEST mission in April school holidays
(a team from St. Matt’s 5pm service will be helping us)
• beginning a refined ALPHA course after mission

If you want to catch up on more Malcolm family life happenings then check out our blog site at:

malcolmsindongara.blogspot.com

Yours in Christ,

Matt and Corinne Malcolm (and Kate and Sam!)

Give thanks and praise:

• For Corinne and Penny’s pregnancies
• For the new couples, families and other faithful folk at Dongara church – who continue to be a great encouragement in their desire to grow in Christ
• For the faithful few at Mingenew church (services now twice a month)
• For Tyler, Penny and Elijah Swartzentruber – who continue to be a great support and encouragement to us
• For Corinne and Penny making great contacts with young mums through
playgroup
• For Mark’s enthusiasm to get to know and understand Jesus in the
Bible (meeting with Matt each week to read the Bible)
• That family life is lots of fun in the Malcolm household (mainly due
to kid’s sleeping well)

Please ask God:

• That we might be faithful to Jesus and to his gospel truth
• That the little ones forming in Corinne and Penny’s wombs would be
healthy and safe – and that they might know the Lord Jesus and as they grow up
• For help by God’s Spirit to share our lives and his gospel with our community
• For Mark – that he might come to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour
• For HOLIDAYFEST – that many would come and be interested enough to join APLHA
• For the ALPHA course (running on Tues nights in term 2) that people
might become Christian – from in the church and outside it
• For good habits of Bible reading and prayer together as a family and
individually for Matt and Corinne – that Kate and Sam might grow up to know and love Jesus
• For perseverance with the faithful few at Mingenew church
• That the new couples and families at Dongara church might be regular
in attendance and might grow in the truth of the Lord Jesus
• For wisdom and faithfulness as Matt visits the elderly and those with pastoral issues
• For help in our continued meeting of people from the community, that we might be a light among the darkness
• For strength and faithfulness in Tyler as he continues to serve at Geraldton Grammar School
• For faithfulness and perseverance as Matt teaches SRE (Scripture) at Dongara and Mingenew Primary Schools

Matt, Corinne, Kate and Sam Malcolm
Parish of Dongara/Mingenew
PO Box 126
Dongara WA 6525
Wk/Hm - 9927 2107 Fax - 9927 2807
Mobile - 0429 888 984

Postcard from Groote Eylandt

Thank you all so much for upholding us in prayer. We praise God for his gracious love to us. Mike appears to be recovering well, although the chemo has taken its toll. We greatly appreciate your partnership with us in the gospel, especially as we enter this new phase of ministry back at Nungalinya College in Darwin.

Give thanks to God with us for:
Good results for our son Mike thus far. He will have another bone marrow biopsy in about 4 to 6 weeks to get a final clearance.
Renewed interest in becoming followers of Christ from folk in Angurugu and Milyakburra with quite a number asking for baptism.
Chance for a a two week holiday at the beginning of September before leaving Groote.
The Umbakumba church want to take us for a camp at a special place we all love with a final communion service to which both Alyangula, and Angurugu churches have been invited.
A renewed enthusiasm by the deacons at Angurugu as a result of the post ordination training week in June in Darwin. The Alyangula Bible Study group continues to grow and their enthusiasm to study God’s word and pray for their community.
Pray with us for:
Colleen Mamarika, deacon from Umbakumba. She has been having some significant health issues and is back in hospital in Darwin.
Housing at Umbakumba for Kerry McLean and in turn housing for ourselves in Darwin.
Mike and Elisa, Rebekah, Isaac and Hannah, as they adjust to having Mike home from hospital and as he recovers from the chemotherapy. Please pray that his blood levels will continue to increase in the ways they should.
For those families preparing for baptism. That they will understand deeply what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
For two couples to apply to CMS to work on Groote Eylandt, one to work with the Bible translation team and the other to do youth work.
For the Alyangula church without a minister from 26th September. Please pray for a young minister and family to come and work in the Alyangula Parish.
For Derrick Scanlan, new Shire Services Manager at Umbakumba. He is a Christian man and has many difficult issues to deal with as he takes up this new role.

Thank you for your fellowship in the gospel with us. We pray that our loving God will provide all that you need at this time as you seek to serve Him.

With love
Rob and Leanna Haynes
Rob & Leanna HaynesPO Box 723ALYANGULA NT 0885Tel: 08 8987 6421Rob Mob: 0428 811 280Leanna Mob: 0428 912 404Email: rlhaynes@cms.org.au

A Prayer for the Olympics

Prayer for the Olympics:

Everlasting God, giver of joy and source of abundant life, we pray for all who are involved in the Beijing Olympic Games, : We pray for their safe-keeping and well-being; and as we celebrate the skill and resolve of those who compete we pray that, throughout the Games, there would be a striving for excellence, a spirit of humility and fair play, and a respect for others, and that all who wait on you may find their strength renewed in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dr Who? No it's our Dr Dan

And now for something completely different....from the sublime to the ridiculous

Our own Dr. Dan Claughton is competing for Perth's most dreamy Doctor in a tongue in cheek competition with Em & Wippa at 92.9 FM

Click here to vote for him ...you will notice Dr. Alex Fergie too!

Click here to vote for Dan

Go Dr. Dan!

A call to pray for Aboriginal churches

Australian Christians have been called on to intervene – in prayer – as a crisis faces Aboriginal churches. The call coincides with the launch of One Land, One Saviour, a new book on ministry among Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land. The book is a collection of essays by 13 contributors, who between them represent more than 300 years service among Aboriginal people.
Its release comes at a significant time as recent developments have put Aboriginal issues back on the political agenda, and back in the public consciousness. “Part of the solution is a four-letter word – jobs” says co-editor Steve Etherington who has 30 years of experience in the Top End.
Mr Etherington says the drift of Aboriginal people to urban settings is accelerating and without employable skills, more demeaning dependency is the prospect....

Click here for full article

The Groote Eylandt Report

The Groote Eylandt Report

Following our Groote Eylandt Debrief, We are making available a PDF version of our report for your information, prayers, and action.

Click here for PDF version

Please pray for CMS involvement in Aboriginal missions in the top end

Gavin, Ian, Margaret, Wendy

Lambeth 2008: Success, Failure, or Mexican Standoff

The Lambeth 2008 Conference

It is a bit hard to tell how Lambeth 2008 went from the media commentary surrounding it. Some call it a success with the Archbishop of Canterbury calling for a moratorium on inappropriate practices in the Communion (especially directed to North America on one hand, and inappropriate intervention and oversight by conservatives on the other). Some call it a failure suggesting real difficulties and divisions where not seriously addressed. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It seems more like a 'Mexican stand-0ff'. Conservative Anglican bishops will be more reluctant to accept the rhetoric because of what happened after Lambeth 1998. It seems hard to see revisionist Anglicans being deflected from their agendas.

Click here for a scan of different responses

We will have to wait and see what happens next in "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of Anglican politics.

GP

When too much Sport is barely enough

The 2008 Smith Lecture

The Smith Lecture is a pre-evangelistic opportunity to move your slightly sceptical friends toward giving the gospel a fair hearing. The lecture can provide a topic for further discussion between you and your guests. Consider going out to dinner together afterwards to talk with them further.

The Topic
"I love my sport. Australians love sport. Many of us live for sport-to watch, play and win-because sport seems to promise such great things. The question is how much does it deliver on the dream?" Dr David Rowbottom.

Our Speaker
Dr David Rowbottom has a doctorate in human movement and has worked with some of Australia's elite sports men and women. He is currently the senior pastor of Curtin Community Church.

Details

Thursday 21st August
Time: 5:30pm food & drinks
6:30-7:30pm lecture
Venue: Central Park Building Foyer & Theatrette
Cost: $25 (this doesn't appear on the invitation, so you have the option of paying for your guests).

RSVP: Monday 18th August

The Groote Eylandt Report!

Hello St.Matts friends,
This is a quick reminder that as part of the Global Gospel Focus
We are reporting on the Groote Eylandt Trip and opportunities that St. Matt's may have to partner with aboriginal ministries.

Monday 4th 7:45pm at Church

Here is the rough program:

7:45 Arrive
8:00 CMS 100 years of topend ministry
8:05 Ministry opportunities amongst top-end Aboriginals: Gavin
8:20 Challenges with God's Word and many languages: Ian
8:35 Reflections of the Groote Trip: Wendy
8:40 How can we partner in this ministry?
8:45 Question Time
8:55 Prayer time

Ian Malcolm, Wendy Morris, And Gavin Parsons will be sharing
See you there !
Gavin

A taste of Taiwan

As part of our

Global Gospel Focus

we invite you to

A TASTE of Taiwan

Saturday 9th August, 2008

7:30pm

Featuring

Phil & Irene Nicholson

Join us for food fun and information

on the Nicholson's work in Taiwan

RSVP Office 9381 2640

Lambeth updates

Here are three sources of info on The Lambeth Conference, Click Below:

Perth Diocese Website

The Anglican Church League

Lambeth Website

GP

Perth Women's Convention 16th August 2008

Click here for more info or registration

Perth Men's Convention 13th September 2008

Click Here to Register for more information

GP

"The Smoggiest Games Ever"

At 8 minutes past 8 o'clock on the 8th day of the 8th month the Olympics Games will start in Beijing, China. 8 is a very auspicious number in Chinese culture and the date and time have been set very deliberately.

What China is also very deliberate about is that it wants it to be a very harmonious time. For this reason they are redoubling their efforts to make certain that nothing is allowed to happen to threaten that. This is having a marked effect on the way that Christian ministry can be carried out. Many Christian workers from overseas are being given one-month visas or else are having their visas cancelled altogether. But as these restrictions are being implemented many overseas Christian agencies are planning a strong Christian witness. And this is the focus of today's minute for mission.

In previous Olympics - in Athens and in Sydney - the open Christian witness inside the Olympic Village and at the various venues around the cities brought a lot of enrichment to individuals and to the Church itself. Many found Christ and lives were profoundly changed. But this overt Christian witness is inappropriate in China where severe restrictions still apply as to how Christian belief can be celebrated. The Government is still strongly Communist and atheistic.

The Church in China sees its role as providing loving Christian service to overseas visitors. They are planning home-stay accommodation, community festivals with street artists and entertainers. They are financing outside screens for viewing the events and putting on musical entertainment. They are not aimed to be evangelistic but want to be seen to be a gift from the Church to the community. They are aiming to be discreet and are looking for the long-term benefits of bringing the fragrance of life to different elements of Chinese society. They are walking a delicate tightrope between honouring God and obeying Chinese lat.

On the other hand some overseas Christian agencies are coming with big dreams and visions hoping to bring thousands into the Kingdom by short bursts of evangelistic preaching on street corners . No relationships can be formed or followed up by such methods and are likely to cause unnecessary offence. Let us pray that all who love Jesus Christ in Beijing during the Olympics will be sensitive to the different political climate of China and respectful of the laws of the country they are visiting. Let us pray that the love of Christ will be winsomely and attractively presented.

BT