ChristmasCarols... Singapore style!

For you Singaporeans out there (or those interested in the Singapore 'culture' and 'language'), check this out! Who is Carol? (Thanks to our friends from Singapore Youth For Christ)

The Lion shall lie with the Lamb... musings about feeling (un)safe

A couple of friends came over today and we introduced them to a couple of our 'kids' (i.e. our stuffed toys are affectionately called our 'kids'): A lion called 'Nici' and a Lamb called 'Ba..aa..arbara'. This friend playfully had the lion and the lamb lying side by side and made an allusion to this verse:
Isaiah 11:6 (ESV)
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.

Then in the evening, Faith and I went for a stroll down King Street in Newtown. We had a conversation that went something like this:
Me: "I wish we were having a stroll like this in Melbourne, or even in Brisbane..."
Faith: "Why is that?"
Me: "It just never feels safe here in Sydney."

In light of the racial riots going on at the moment, but even before these events (did you know the police caught some dude with a grenade near Newtown today... how crazy is that???), I've never really enjoyed going out at nights here in Sydney. It's kinda scary.

But then again, I guess even though I prefer walking around the streets of Melbourne and Brisbane, it's not exactly safe either is it? It's all relative. It especially makes me think of the picture in Isaiah 11, the picture of our 'kids', the Lion 'Nici' and the Lamb 'Barbara' lying down together in our lounge - a picture of true safety, peace and security. Relative to this image in the Scriptures, living in this world should cause us to long for that better world.

Feeling safe and secure? I guess we're never meant to truly feel that in this creation. If you're anything like me, you've forgotten to look forward to the new heavens and the new earth. I'm thankful that even in the ickiness of this world, of this city I find myself living in for the moment, I can be reminded to cast my eyes forward to a better place where I want to keep longing for. I pray you keep longing for that place too.

P.s. photos of our 'kids' (Jossy, Solly, Quinny, Tigger, Nici, Barbara, Melchi and Gigi) will be posted after I do a 'photo-shoot' for them. Stay tuned!

Long Time No Write...

5 days National Training Event...
5 Days 'Mission' @ The Anglican Parish of Greater Queanbeyan...
1 week rest (which included helping out at Faith's sister's 21st Birthday party)...

It's been a while since my last post! Really needed the break after a long couple of months, even a break from blogging - even this requires a fair degree of mental output!

Would love to write a whole report on NTE and Mission, but will save that for next week I think. For now, here's one of my favourite photos from the conference.

Note to Supporters...

For those of you who would like to pray for us and for the ministry we are involved with, we have just updated the ministry blog with prayer points for December. Please click on our ministry blog link!

FOCUS/ESF End of Year Activities!

This is the time of the year for farewells and post-exam fun and fellowship! I'll be trying to upload the hundreds of photos from all the different events. For now, I've uploaded the photos from ESF Farewell Party @ Harry's Woolloomooloo and Karaoke @ Greenbox. Click here! Here's a few samples...Enjoying some good ol' Bundaberg Ginger Beer...

Doing the 'hand sway' thing!

That familiar old feeling...

It's been a good 5 years since I finished uni and I'd almost forgotten that 'after-exam' feeling of immense relief and pure joy trying to burst out from beneath the piles of stress that have built up over weeks of long, arduous and frustrating studies.

Well, the feeling is back! And at the moment, I'm just way too tired and drained to soak it in, but let me tell you, it'll kick in very soon! I'm not sure I've ever had to study this hard before, but I think this says more about me in the past than the course itself! Second year at Moore College is meant to be on another level yet again... and I don't mean 'down' either!

One thing I have learnt through this year is that I want to have a different mindset about college studies for the next few years. The years of schooling and uni had 'taught' me to get through exams, trying to do as well as possible with as little effort as possible. But I don't want Bible college to be like that. I didn't want it to be like that since the start of the year, but old habits die hard. And so these last 5-6 weeks have been somewhat of a major cram...

The aim for next year is to do the learning as the year progresses and not worry so much about getting good marks, but more on really learning things and cementing it through constant exposure and revision. I've got a couple of guys who are thinking the same way and as a group we hope to be able to work together and encourage each other as the 'spirit grows weak'!

If you could spare us a moment of your prayer time, please pray that these years at college for me and all my classmates will be years of great and long-lasting learning, so that we will be faithful teachers of God's word, rightly handling the word of Truth.

For now, the 'holidays' begin... well, not quite... lots going on for the next few weeks, but it's all good. It's great to be 'finished' with studies and be able to devote our energies to other equally worthwhile things, especially catching up with old and new friends!

Asakusa

This place rocks! Cheap and good Jap food. Minutes walk from our place. What do you do after an exam and don't feel like cooking? You go to Asakusa! Well... we do anyway. Come with us sometime!

Quad Lunch Photos are up!

Here's a sample of the photos! I've got them under 3 categories: Random group photos, people photos and babies!

Enjoy and leave some comments for others! Click here