Tuesday 26 July 2011

Unreached people groups

Unreached people groups. Less reached people groups. Unengaged people. These are alternative terms used in the study of Christian mission for cultural and language groups who have limited access to the gospel and very few if any Christian communities in their midst. Virtually no-one in these groups have Christian friends who speak their language and understand their culture. According to the Joshua Project, there are still 6870 unreached peoples in the world. That represents approximately 1.7 billion people with very limited access to the gospel message or a church community... When I think of unreached people groups, I am reminded of Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15. When only one sheep out of a hundred was lost, he left his flock and went in search of the one. Unreached did not mean out of reach for Jesus. Today there are at least 1.7 billion people who have never heard of Jesus our shepherd. As representatives of Christ with a shepherd’s heart, I believe we need to continually prioritise seeking out the lost sheep of the world.

By “Andrew” from CityLife’s Acitv8 newsletter, March 2011.

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Guest Speaker

Just to announce that we will be having a guest speaker, Ps TT Quah, at our church on th 31st of July.

Ps TT Quah serves God full time, focusing on being a speaker and a mobiliser for missions. He has been involved with missions in Russia and Mynmar, and around the world. As well as sharing the gospel, these mission trips provide micro-finance opportunities, orphan support and medical checks.

Friday 8 July 2011

Church Presbytery Update

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding three prophetic evenings from Wednesday 27 July to Friday 29 July at 8.00 pm. Currently, the venue is the church office, but this may change if we discover that the space is not large enough. Three prophets will come, John and Monette Jacks and Phil Lowe and they may be supported by two others as well.

The way we will organize these sessions is that on Wednesday night, the prophecies can be given to the students, Thursday night to the young professionals and Friday night to the families and youth. Anyone is encouraged to attend as the words given impact the whole church, but those receiving prophecies should sit to the front whereas others should sit behind.

We want to encourage all of you to pray for God’s leading and blessing to flow from this time. If you are part of the intercessor team, please really seek God for a powerful time of ministry and direction from the Lord.

For more information about John & Monette Jacks' ministry, please visit their blog.

Review: Love Has A Face

Here's another review of a great book for those of you who want something to read!

This was a great book about a missionary woman working in an orphanage (that she runs) in Sudan, as well as talking a bit about her previous work in India. There are a lot of great things to say about this book - there's plenty of real information (like that food is so much cheaper in nearby Uganda - I wonder if it still is due to food price increases there); there are stories of miracles, and other exciting events. (Michele Perry is associated with Heidi and Roland Baker)

But ther best aspect of this book was definitely the constant reminder that the most important aspect of a missionary work, regardless of what country you are in, is definitely LOVE. I know that I at least am prone to forget that.

On the not so great side, the book was a little disjointed. It's a series of episodes (and not in chronological order) rather than a continuous story, which wasn't bad, but just wasn't what I was expecting. There are also occasions where in aiming to encourage others she ends up sounding sorry for herself.

Mostly it's a great book, and I very much recommend reading it!

Like pretty much everyone else on the planet, Michele has a blog. Visit it here.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Hope Oceania Mission Trip (2010)


Hope Oceania's mission blog has posted about the mission trip to Zambia and the Congo! I know that everyone was really moved when we were all told about this trip during the OC.

A concoction of excitement of 'living the dream, childhood visions fulfilled, and mixed fears, brewed within a vibrant team of young, would be missionaries from Hope Oceania.

What made a group of 12 young, busy people carve out copious time, planning, strategizing, and praying for a foreign, potentially dangerous land?

Quite simply it boiled down to one word.....love. Whether it be love for God, love for the intrepid adventure, or the love for putting feet to Matthew 25v40.

Love was indeed leading us.


So hop on over to the Hope Oceania missions blog and read the whole post!

Friday 1 July 2011

Church Presbytery

This isn't exactly missions, but I thought I'd let you all know about it anyway!

We are very excited to announce that John Jacks and his wife, Monette and possibly other prophets will be bringing prophetic words to our church on Wednesday 27 July to Friday 29 July. Please keep these dates free in your diaries and wait for further details.