Happy New Year

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth,

do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:19

Review: Revolution in World Missions

This is by the founder of Gospel For Asia, Y.P. Yohannan. It is a combination of a personal autobiography, the story of Gospel For Asia and the missionaries connected with it, and a wakeup call for those in the West who are living primarily for temporal purposes.

I really enjoyed this book – I found that it had a thoroughly biblical view of the importance of reaching people with the gospel and of combatting poverty, something that a lot of organisations have only one or the other of. It’s wonderful to see that an organisation believes that the gospel is the most important, but that addressing poverty is both a biblical command and that it helps people to be able to listen effectively to the gospel.

It also touches on the effectiveness of missions. Many missionaries are not very effective, especially in areas that are only slightly reached, in part because the unreached can see Christianity as a religion for white people. Native missionaries, something foundational to GFA, are able to more effectively reach others in these areas. They also have the language down (or nearly so, if from a nearby region), and are less likely to make cultural faux pas. Yohannan asks why we are not willing to put more money into things that are effective rather than just continuing with things that are not working as well.

Definitely a worthwhile read – and you can usually get it for free at the GFA website!

Merry Christmas

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Shpping for Christmas - TEAR

With the lead up to Christmas, most people are looking to buy things for their friends and family.  Many of these wan their money to be going to benefit groups and people that they care about, from orphans to missionaries to the poor.


So, this month I'm going to let you know of some organisations that you can get presents from that allow you to give gifts AND help bring people to Christ or make a difference in their lives.

TEAR was the first organisation to start the give a gift that keeps on giving idea.  They work actively for God's justice around the world buy providing animals and tools that assist people to work their way out of poverty.

One of the things that is fairly unique about TEAR is that it is an Australian based group gone international, rather than an international group with an Australian branch.  They have a lot of programs that you can go to that explain their work and issues of poverty, and they have programs that work with Aboriginal Australians (who need a lot of support in a variety of areas for a great many reasons).

This is a great organisation to be supporting this Christmas.

Shopping for Christmas - Compassion

With the lead up to Christmas, most people are looking to buy things for their friends and family.  Many of these wan their money to be going to benefit groups and people that they care about, from orphans to missionaries to the poor.


So, this month I'm going to let you know of some organisations that you can get presents from that allow you to give gifts AND help bring people to Christ or make a difference in their lives.

Today the organisation that I am letting you know about is Compassion.  Compassion works in needy areas and countries, aiming to lift children out of poverty and to educate them and to bring them to Christ.  It works very much the same way that some of the more famous organisations like World Vision does, but it is a lot more explictly Christian.

For Christmas, you can give a variety of Gifts of Compassion.  These gifts are items that are vital for health, especially in 3rd world countries, but often cannot be afforded by those who need them the most.  Items vary from toothbrushes to mosquito nets (malaria is TERRIBLE, and is one of the biggest killers in the world) to chickens to sewing machines to really big ticket items such as playgrounds and wells.

As the site states, "Most of us here in Australia have more than enough “stuff” in our lives, yet each birthday and Christmas we find ourselves cramming more well-intentioned gifts into our cupboards. But what if you could give—and receive—gifts that meant something special to your family and friends, but also to children who have far less stuff than they need?"

Give a worthwhile gift - in Christ's name - this Christmas, and make an eternal difference.

Shopping For Christmas - Voice of the Martyrs

With the lead up to Christmas, most people are looking to buy things for their friends and family.  Many of these wan their money to be going to benefit groups and people that they care about, from orphans to missionaries to the poor.


So, this month I'm going to let you know of some organisations that you can get presents from that allow you to give gifts AND help bring people to Christ or make a difference in their lives.

Today's organisation is Voice of the Martyrs.  VOM works around the world with people who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus, including providing support for the widows and orphans of those who have been martyred, support for families whose breadwinner is imprisioned for their faith, legal representation, medical assistance, education and ministry training and more.

VOM has a variety of things you can do for Christmas.  Their main focus at the moment is their Christmas Care Nigeria packs, which provide materials for Christian children in Nigeria.  Materials include a children's Bible, rice, school supplies and a soccor ball among other things.

They also have other funds, including the providing literature fund, help for families, and equipping the persecuted funds.  All of these are worthwhile.

You can also purchase items from VOM.  Items include devotional materials, books, CDs and DVDs on the reality of life in a hostile country and materials for children.

Definitely worth thinking about for gifts!

Shopping for Christmas - Gospel for Asia

With the lead up to Christmas, most people are looking to buy things for their friends and family.  Many of these wan their money to be going to benefit groups and people that they care about, from orphans to missionaries to the poor.


So, this month I'm going to let you know of some organisations that you can get presents from that allow you to give gifts AND help bring people to Christ or make a difference in their lives.

Today's organisation is Gospel for Asia.  Gospel for Asia is a great organisation, founded by K.P. Yohannan.  It works primarily in India and the surrounding countries, and has a big focus on native missionaries and work done by local people.  This makes massive sense, as native missionaries are able to contextualise to the local population without compromising the gospel messege.

Anyway, they have a Christmas catalogue, which you can order online, of gifts that you can give to further the advance of the gospel.  Categories include animals (from chickens or rabbits to water buffalos!) to gifts for the poor (things like sewing machines or rickshaws, and even wells) to outreach materials like Bibles and New Testaments, to tools that help missionaries go further (like bicyles).

Having ordered in the past from their paper catalogue, you get a card with a photo of the gift selected to give to your friend.

All money goes toward that item - GFA don't take out money to cover admin costs.  That is raised seperately, though you can certainly donate towards that.

You can also sponsor a child or a native missionary through GFA.

If you want to give a more tangible gift, then you can buy books, DVDs, and Indian Shoulder Bags.  I really like the Indian shoulder bags, and have given them in the past several times, including to non-Christians, as they are not Christian materials.  A few of them noticed the label, and asked about it, and it was a good way of explaining the work the GFA does (both evangelical and in terms of helping the poor) and gave me opportunities to present the gospel on some of these occasions.  The books are wonderful, and one (Revolution in World Missions) is going to be reviewed in the near future (and I only review books I love!)

Okay, just reading this is making me go out and do some Christmas shopping (for myself - new books!) so there is HEAPS there for anyone to give this Christmas!

Shopping for Christmas - Orphan Wares

With the lead up to Christmas, most people are looking to buy things for their friends and family.  Many of these wan their money to be going to benefit groups and people that they care about, from orphans to missionaries to the poor.


So, this month I'm going to let you know of some organisations that you can get presents from that allow you to give gifts AND help bring people to Christ or make a difference in their lives.

The organisation that I'm letting you know about today is Orphan Wares, an off-shoot of International Voice of the Orphan, which sells handmade items, with all of the profits going towards their feeding program.

There is some seriously cute stuff, especially for any babies that you are buying for (hint, given the sudden influx of babies in the last few months!)  But they sell Homewares, stationary, accessories, toys, and lots of clothing for children.

All of the money from the item goes to the feeding program in Uganda, the only money taken is the postage costs (all items are donated).

Shopping For Christmas - Bushikori

With the lead up to Christmas, most people are looking to buy things for their friends and family. Many of these wan their money to be going to benefit groups and people that they care about, from orphans to missionaries to the poor. So, this month I'm goign to let you know of some organisations that you can get presents from that allow you to give gifts AND help bring people to Christ or make a difference in their lives.

The first organisation is Bushikori Christian Centre, and its support committee in Australia. Bushikori is the centre that I (Sam) went to for my second trip to Uganda. There are three categories of gifts that you can get from Bushikori:

1. Christmas Cards

There are 5 different cards to choose from, and they are 5 for $10.


2. Gift Cards

Cards a & b are $10 and the money goes to the Gift & Welfare Pool Card c is $20 and supports the Health Centre Card d is $20 goes towards the Tertiary Fund Tax deductible receipts are available for these cards.

3. A CD or DVD Bushikori's new DVD/CDs have just been delivered. The video has footage of the Joshua Primary School Choir and Bushikori church choirs and the CD is a recording of the Joshua Primary School Choir. A great gift for only $15.00 I (Sam) have a copy of the first CD (Bushiglory) that you can listen to if you want an idea of what it is like.

You can order either through Esther from the Bushikori committee (estherc@pipeline.com.au), or in person (or email or text) to Sam, who will pass your order on. This is a great cause that really helps orphans and other needy children in Uganda.

Shopping for Christmas - John Carins

With the lead up to Christmas, most people are looking to buy things for their friends and family.  Many of these wan their money to be going to benefit groups and people that they care about, from orphans to missionaries to the poor.


So, this month I'm going to let you know of some organisations that you can get presents from that allow you to give gifts AND help bring people to Christ or make a difference in their lives.

Okay, this guy shouldn't need much introducing, given that he visits our church a few times every year.  But for those of you who don't know, John Cairns is an itinerant preacher with an international ministry.  He is also involved with missions work, mostly in Kenya, but also in surrounding African countries.

They sell Gifts for Change, gifts that change the lives of people in need in Kenya, and that provide funding for their children's home, and that help fund training for pastors and others doing the work of spreading the gospel.

Gifts like this can really soften people's heart to the gospel.  Most people in Africa know that we don't "have" to give of our own money to provide things that they need - and they can often see from political and business leaders of their own nation that such things are frequently neglected.  Gifts mean that the receiver will often ask "why are you doing this", which is an excellent opportunity to share the gospel.  They also allow those who are doing the work of pastoring and evangalising to focus on their spiritual work and not need to spend as much time working for their "daily bread".

John Cairns also sells a variety of Christian resources - primarily CDs of sermons.  They are well worth it - and a few are on missions, but all are on how to live a life that is more and more reflective of Jesus.

Day Seven: Tuesday 19.06.2012

Breakfast was funny! David joined us, and Anne made him take a lot of supplements to help him get over his infection. (Originally it was thought it was malaria, but it turned out to be something else – a general infection.) She made him take 8 different supplements, with him complaining the whole time, especially as he is a clinical doctor (not a full doctor, but still medically trained) and he knows that omega 3s will not actually reduce his fever. We went to the Bushikori Centre, where we met the chairman of the board. Then I went to speak to Juliana about where they wanted me to help or teach. I am teaching P4 comprehension. My class was not until after lunch, so I sat in the back of the P4 social studies class. Classes here are quite different than in Australia: no group work, lots of reciting by the whole class at once, and memorising of definitions. It need to be like that, especially in bigger classes. Imagine 200 children doing group work? Chaos! My class went quite well, though the children are all trying to imitate my accent and sound like a combination of Fran Dresher and a robot. I bribed them all with a promise of a song if they behaved for the class.

After my class was library time. P4 had the story of David vs Goal-leth for their shared book. They are mostly reading early readers for their own reading. I went even before school finished, as my ride was going. They dropped me and Esther at the Internet Café, and I sent a few emails. The internet is still slow, especially for emails, and I have some urgent ones to send, which I just keep delaying. I will go back tomorrow as well to get more done. At dinner we discussed Constantine and his effect on the church, which was really interesting. I really enjoy history! Oh, I forgot to say about our discussions with Linus at lunchtime! We told him about the weather around the world, and how in Antarctica it is dark for half the year and sunny for the other half. He was so amazed at that. Because Uganda is on the equator the days and nights are always about even. Esther told him about how in Sweden they all take a holiday for a month because it is so light until 2AM, so they all just have parties and visit each other. Linus thought that was amazing, and how that would take a lot of planning. So Esther told him about squirrels and bears and how they prepare for winter. I told him about the penguins in Antarctica, and how the boy penguins carry the eggs on their feet while the female penguins fish. Again, he thought they were the funniest things he had ever heard.

Review: Let The Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions

This book by John Piper is one of the few that is not available for free on his website. But do go out and buy it, because it’s brilliant!

This book goes through the reason why God is supreme over all missions, working through them, through worship, prayer, and suffering. It then moves on to how God is sovereign over all nations and how faith in Christ is absolutely necessary for salvation (which he also expounds in his book, Jesus: The Only Way to God, reviewed HERE). Both these doctrines are under attack within the church, and Piper does an admirable job of defending them.

The bit I found most informative was the prayer part – the part where Piper discusses the effectiveness of prayer upon world missions, and how viewing God as sovereign should motivate us to pray all the more for the lost. As this is one aspect of missions and theology that is often critiqued, I found it really useful to have a Biblically sound response to these objections.

This book is fairly heavy; not light reading, but it IS really worthwhile.

Soup Kitchen

As believers we are called to reach out beyond the four walls of the church, to impact and bless our local community, that's why Caulfield LG is proud to be participating in Soup Kitchen!

Once every three months on thursday evenings, partnering with a local church, 6-8 of us head out to Boronia Bellbird Senior Citizens Hall to cook up a 3 course meal for 30-40 people. We are tasked to plan our own menu, timed at 45 minutes to cook our meals as dinner has to start on time at 6:30pm! By 6:15pm, the hall is filled with people of all ages, elderly people seeping their teas/cordless and kids running around the hall.

Part of the Soup kitchen experience also involved washing dishes for 30-40 people with hands, no dishwashing machine! Depending on the man power available, it takes about 45 minutes to wash up after dessert is served. At the end of the day, though the team is physically tired but very much refreshed at our hearts knowing that at the end of the day, we have made a difference!

Review: Reasoning from the Scriptures: Muslims

This book was a good analysis of similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity. I didn’t find it to be as useful as the same book about Jehovah’s Witnesses, but it was still a very interesting book.

It covers the core beliefs of Islam, the history of Islam, and the similarities and differences, and how they view certain terminology completely differently. This is really important when we are having conversations with our Muslim friends – the same thing can mean very different things to each of us, and so we can be completely miscommunicating if we are not careful. This book is one that is really clear as to these different things are – and I know that it has made spiritual conversations with Muslims easier.

If you have regular interactions with Muslims and want to be better able to influence them for Christ, this is a very useful book for you to read.

Day Six Extra Photos

Again, some extra photos for you to enjoy!

Review: Faithful Women, Extraordinary God

This book is by Noel Piper, the wife of the famous neo-Calvinist preacher John Piper. It traces the lives of five famous women of the faith, and how they trusted in God and how He used them to transform the world.

Not all of these women were missionaries. Sarah Edwards was the wife of a preacher (Jonathan Edwards), and Esther Ahn Kim was a persecuted Christian. Gladys Alyward, Lilias Trotter, Helen Roseveare were all missionaries.

I enjoyed this book. One of the things I liked best was that it emphasized the missionary work that women have through the acts that many consider to be minor – such as the bearing and raising of children to being a major act that can advance Christ’s kingdom. It was also a great introduction to the lives of these five women, not all of whom I had heard of before.

It’s a fairly small book, and so each section can be read in one or two sittings (depending on your reading speed), and can be downloaded for free at the Desiring God website.

Day Six: Monday 18.06.2012

We went to the Joshua Primary School, and helped out in the classes. I managed to get into P2, and so got lots of opportunity to see my Shamim. She is a very conscientious student, not the fastest in the class, but very thorough in her work. She is also quite shy, and so she didn’t push to be in photos like many of the children. She smiled at me a lot, a serious smile, especially as the day went on.



We had lunch in the library, and the school gave us a lot of the more expensive food – meat, rice and matoke – while the students had posho and beans. While I love rice and matoke, I would have preferred the cheap beans to the meat. We only had the meat sauce, and left the chunks for Linus and Dan.



After lunch I stayed in the library for two library sessions with P1 and P2 (prep and year 1). P2 is one of the biggest classes in the school, with 55 students. They start with around 30 in P1, but children sometimes fail and repeat, or drop out and start a few years later when they have money (or are sponsored). Sponsor children are the most likely to actually finish primary school because all their fees are paid, so unless their sponsorship stops and they can’t get another sponsor, they continue as long as they are willing to stick at their education.


Library time was interesting – it was a combination of a story, a drawing activity, and free ‘reading’ of the different Picture Story Books. I read a few books to the children, which was great. I also wrote the first draft of a grant proposal for a building extension for the library. The library is a public library and a school library, but it is difficult for both groups to use the library at the same time due to distractions (for both the kids and the adults!)

We went home and had dinner. Anne came home after we had finished, and told us about a boy who had written a book in his library time, and Anne was wandering if it would be possible to get it bound for the Commissioning Day. I told her it wouldn’t be possible for then, but that we could announce it at the Commissioning Day, and get it done afterwards. We could also look at getting it published, either privately or professionally, to encourage the children and to let people know more about the work that is happening here at Bushikori. I will view the book tomorrow and that will give me a better idea about how to proceed with this.

Above: Ivan, the author.

The other big this that happened was that a little after 4PM, when the younger children had gone home, and just the P6 and P7 were still at school, one of the P7 students, who comes from a family know for its occult activities snapped and screamed for about 20minutes before they were able to calm him with prayer and praise songs. It isn’t the first time (either with him or generally in the school) and it serves as a reminder of the spiritual forces at work in Uganda. Truly, we do not war against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of darkness.

Review: Orphaned

This book is about the work of Haregewoin Teferra, an Ethiopian woman who loses her daughter to HIV/AIDS, and shortly afterwards is asked by her church to take in two children who have been orphaned by the disease. She agrees, and the number of orphans in her care quickly grows as the orphan crisis grows larger and larger.

This book isn’t about missions – but it is about those serving God during the crisis of their country, and the challenges and successes that they have.

Given the ongoing crisis that HIV/AIDS is, in many countries all over the world (most obviously in developing world countries, but there are many sufferers in developed countries as well), it is vital that those who wish to be involved in missions understand the challenges that these countries face, and the ways that these countries are dealing with these crisis, and how well they are working (or not working).

The other aspect of this book I found valuable was the detailed chronicling of the legal difficulties and smear campaign that Haregewoin faced along with her success. Especially as Christians, we kind of expect that when we are doing the right thing people will applaud us, or at worst, ignore us. This is not the case – we are in a battle for the nations, and it is a battle. We need to realise this, and the chronicling of the difficulties that Haregewoin faced was a reminder of that.

If you are interested in missions in Africa, or in countries affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis, this is a great book to read.

Day 8 (15 Dec 2011)

Hi, it's been a wonderful journey in the Philippines. Our mission is coming to an end. I must say, this last day is probably the most exciting of them all! Why, you ask? Because we landed in prison! Shockers! Horrors! Shall we start from the beginning?

We were supposed to wake up early at 4am, but we missed the alarm and woke up at 5pm instead. Thankfully, we completed most of our packing yesterday night. I said goodbye to our apartment and to the security guard (before leaving a farewell gift with him). Henry was waiting for us in his four wheel drive Sportivo downstairs. He wasn't even going to be involved in the plan today. Kudos to him for waking up early to send us off. We, of course, bugged him to tell us his story of how he and Hani got together, as we drove all the way to Las Pinas. Why the early rush? My flight from Manila was around 2.30pm and Allan had to leave early at 11am, so we had a tight schedule to keep. We looked for a landmark (SM shopping centre) and got down at McDonalds. Upon inspection, Henry realised he had a flat tyre. From here onwards, we said goodbye to our last contact from Hope Manila, and he left to fix his tyre. At McDonalds, we had a Big Breakfast. I drew a card for the Brisbane team.

After giving it to them, they also encouraged me to draw something for the couple missionaries, Alvin and Jace. Oh yes, we were waiting at McDonalds for Alvin and Jace to pick us up and drop us off at a nearby church. They had to do it in several rounds because we had luggage as well. We talked with a pastor there.

Okay, our last item on the agenda was to visit a prison and do a Christmas blessing for the prisoners. It was basically a prison outreach. Got you worried there, didn't I? :P Anyway, we could the prison from the church.

It was literally in our backyard. We then walked to the prison armed with only a guitar, some PA equipment, our Christmas get-up and scripts, and a lot of soap. The prison was an unusual building. It was three stories high, the ground floor was the police station, the floor above it were the prison cells for ladies, and the top floor was the men's. On the top floor there were only three cells, each able to house 194, 150 and 130 prisoners each. They mostly slept on the floors but some who were rich could buy a bunk bed attached to the wall. The toilets and showers were all on one side of the wall. The ladies' cells were the same but more...pink. The justice system is quite corrupt, or not efficient at all. Some did not deserve to be in prison but were only held up there because their case was still being processed, and they have been waiting for a long time. Some had no visits from their relatives at all. In a way, our visit to them was a blessing to them. I didn't mean it to sound arrogant, but from the feedback, the prisoners were thankful we came and visited them.

We sang carols to start the program off.

Review: 6th Inn of Happiness

This is a movie about Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China. It’s a good introduction to her life, but as is to be expected from a movie, it’s rather Hollywood-afied. The ending isn’t quite the same as her real life (in the movie she gets the guy and lives happily ever after, whereas in real life she broke up with the guy and had pretty bad health for the rest of her years).

The biggest problem I had with this movie was not the romance (which was in her real life, they just overplayed it, and besides, IT’S A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE, OF COURSE THEY AMP UP THE ROMANCE) but the underplaying of Aylward’s Christian values. Aylward goes to China… well, just because she thinks she needs to go there. She stops foot binding… because it’s the right thing to do. She goes into the prison thinking how God actually won’t keep her safe because “it doesn’t work like that”. And most annoying to me was the fact that on the march they don’t sing hymns, or any other Christian music, but instead sing “This Old Man Came Rolling Home.”

However, it is an interesting movie, and there are a lot of moving scenes from her life – such as her rejection from missionary agencies, her trip overland to China and the different dramas it entailed, and the prison scenes. It’s well made, mostly consistent with Aylward’s life (except for the examples I’ve already specified), and very watchable. I recommend it, especially as a movie for young Christians or pre-believers to get them interested in missions and missionaries.

Day 7 (14 Dec 2011) Part 2

After the second evax walk, we assembled and gave a short account of our evax walk. Apparently, the president in one of  the universities had received a death threat, hence they enforced strict rules regarding visitors onto the campus. So, the reason we couldn't get into the university is kind of spiritual in a sense. We had to then immediately head towards our respective lifegroups, 'cos it was evening already. Me and Nilla, who were in one group, couldn't join Lala's lifegroup and had to split up. I joined Allan, Myrna and Judith's lifegroup while Nilla went with Paul and Florence to a different location. My group quickly hopped to a supermarket to buy snacks for the lifegroup before taking the super-crowded LRT back to the Technological University of the Phillipines, the same area where we did the evax walk in the morning. Yep, no time to shower. All part of doing missions, people. Yeah!

The lifegroup was held in Saint John United Methodist Church from 6pm onwards. Our objective for the evax walk that morning was to invite the students we talked to to come for evening lifegroup that same day. So, we waited outside the church building until it became dark, for a few reasons (1) Waiting patiently for our invited contacts to come (2) The caretaker who was meant to open the church up for us was late. In the end, none of the new contacts came. But hey, the seeds have been sown and God will make it grow. In the meantime, let's start lifegroup!

So, there was me, Allan, Myrna and Judith, and there were the Filipino students: Cor, Ruffa, Paula, Jolibee (wut?) and Chino. Chino did the icebreaker, Cor shared her life testimony, Ruffa conducted the worship (I even remember the songs, King of Majesty, Nothing in Impossible, Our God, All the Heavens), Allan and Judith both shared a testimony, me and Myrna...well...because of the way things turned out, didn't do much. I happily munched on snacks.

Here's the group in all its pixelated glory!

p.s. Please don't ask me why I was making that face.
p.p.s. I looked at the photo again and asked myself, where was Allan? And I was like...ohhhh...

The church was being used by another group at the same time so we couldn't stay for long. Going to the toilet was interesting, because there were no lights in the area. Anyway, I saw a swing reminiscent of the ones I saw in my childhood in many Malaysian houses. And these guys got to it before me.

We headed back to the LRT after saying our goodbyes to the students. Go Chino! He was the only guy at lifegroup that day. We hadn't had a proper dinner, so I was a bit hungry. Well, fast forward until we met up with the other group and shared our experiences. Well, I was a tad jealous. Why, you say?

Well, it's not so much they had their lifegroup on the rooftop of a building, but it's because their pictures aren't pixelated. Okay, maybe having lifegroup on a rooftop (Level 41) is pretty cool.

That's the last time we will work with Hope Manila. As much as we have encouraged them, I think we were even more encouraged. All these students had exams coming up during that time, and they were so close to one another, people with simple faith. There were times where it seemed discouraging but still they pressed on, winning souls for Jesus. Please keep Hope Manila (and perhaps the whole church in general) in prayer and God will open doors for those who believe and persevere. Amen!

Next, final chapter! We go to jail, do not pass 'Go' and do not collect $200! Gasp!

Review: A Passion for the Fatherless

A Passion for the Fatherless by Daniel J Bennet was a wonderful book on developing a ministry towards those whom God has commanded us to take care of (James 1:27). This is an area of ministry that many people today overlook, which is appalling, especially as the number of orphans in the world is staggering – currently estimated at 163 million. That number is horrific – but it is a number that we can improve – and this book goes through many ways this can occur.

Many of those who care passionately about taking care of orphans are usually focused on adoption, and while this is important, and makes up a significant proportion of this book, Bennet goes through the fact that caring for orphans is not just limited to adoption and that our ministry to orphans should not just be limited to adoption, but involves supporting those in other areas, including prayer, mission trips, fostering, and financial support for those caring for orphans in any of these areas.

The other part of this book that I found really useful was theological aspect of orphan care. This is often overlooked. We are spiritual orphans, but have been adopted into the family of God. Orphan care, especially in regards to adoption, is a picture of this to a lost world.

If you are interested in missions, especially in regards to orphan care, then this is an essential book for you!

Compassion Friday

Thank God for Compassion Film 58 event on 18 August in Monash Clayton Campus Cinema.

The film inspired us to do more for the poor and how the church can change the lives of others. Even in developed countries, believers can play a part to fight child poverty. We might not be able to go there physically, but we can certainly contribute our money and spend time to pray for those children.

After hearing the testimony from Megan and Jeremy, I realize how these events can impact the lives of our church members and the children they chose to sponsor. I love to hear how our members grow in their relationship with the sponsored child and how the money gives hope to the children. Personally I am a supporter of Compassion child survival program. After reading the letter, I am delighted to hear stories of how the mothers in Uganda are touched by the love of Jesus, as well as the improved health conditions in the community. I learned that each child is provided with a God-given destiny in their lives. Sadly many died before they turned 5 and never realize the potentials inside them. In the movie, I find myself staring at the eyes of many children who are miserable and lost. There is no joy in them.

We must give back hope to these children in the name of Jesus. Poverty is not just about financial hardship; it also affects people’s emotional and spiritual health. When people encounter Jesus, their whole life transforms. They are no longer slaves in the cycle of oppression, but they are set free to live the life that God has set before them.

The testimonies by various Christians in film 58 challenged me to think bigger beyond my own life circumstances, and encouraged me to take a step further to care for the poor who are suffering in many Third World countries. Things cannot stay the same the way they are, and they don’t have to. The church is called to mission, to partner with different believers around the world to end poverty, to break the chains of injustice as described in Isaiah 58.

The issue is urgent, and the time to act is now.

Review: Go

This was an interesting sequel to the DVD Invisible Children. Invisible Children, among its other work, raises money to help build and set up schools in Uganda, especially in the north (the area most affected by the LRA). They set up a challenge to raise a million dollars in 100 days, and rewarded twenty of the participants with a trip to Uganda. This DVD tracks some of the stories of these people, and the youth in Uganda who they connect with.

This DVD was interesting, mostly in the connections it made between the youth from America and the youth in Uganda. The DVD was keen to point out that in spite of the troubles that the Ugandan youth face, they are very similar to the Americans.

At the same time the DVD does very much highlight the trials that the Ugandan youth face, sometimes to a level that I think is too much (both in terms of manipulating the audience and of not being properly respectful of the Ugandan’s rights for privacy especially in terms of very traumatic events). That said, there are few groups that really highlight the trials that people in similar situations go through, so the Invisible Children organisation is doing a valuable work.

Keep in mind that this DVD is made by Christians, most of the people involved (both American and Ugandan) are Christians, but it is not an exclusively Christian DVD. There is little directly about God. There are a variety of reasons for this, among one is that Uganda does not need evangelisation (it is approximately 80% Christian) but it does need massive discipleship and financial assistance. These are part of our Christian duty as well as preaching the gospel (see James 1:27 for the classic verse on this point), and Go is a useful DVD to think about these issues and how we can help people in Uganda and around the world.

Day Five: Sunday 17.06.2012

After all that worry, I didn’t even give my lesson, just greetings from Australia. The children take part in the second part of the service (the sermon) but they have something for them before hand. They have a similar time at church to what we have: prayer is 9:30-10:00, then the service is officially from 10-12, but usually runs over.

They made a special cake for us all to have, and I just managed to get away with not eating any. I had a Fanta though, which I normally wouldn’t to make up for it.

Afterwards we had lunch at one of the elder’s house’s, with all of the elders there, along with the other visitor, Winnie (from Kampala). I had lots of food, but everyone kept wanting me to eat more. Then Auntie Irene prayed for us.

John picked us up and drove us home, and then we went back into town. Esther needed to get some money out, and I just wanted to see things. It was quiet because it was a Sunday. Esther soon got tired and went back, but I continue on… to receive 1 proposal of marriage from a Congonese man and one offer of ‘friendship’ from a seller of Matoke bananas. Then I headed back on a boda – the first boda ride this trip! It was a lot of fun. I passed Esther on the way and David soon arrived on a boda too, so we walked the last road together.

At dinner we talked a bit about politics. Museveni (their president) was the reason we had difficulty accessing our emails. That’s right, the president blocked my email. I feel important. Anyway, he has been in power for 25 years, and while he isn’t bad, a lot of people have previously voted against him but election results just get ‘recounted’ and he stays in. I told them how we have crooked politicians in Australia – the recent case of one spending millions on things completely unrelated to politics or the good of Australia being an example.

We also discussed the Bushikori clinic. It is extremely important, but it is the biggest cost. Without it though, people can’t get any medical attention, and even if they can afford the hospital, a lot of people (especially poorer people) die waiting. So it needs to stay open, but it is a struggle financially.

Review: Another Man’s War

This is the autobiography of pastor Sam Childers, who is a rather unusual missionary in South Sudan. He is the type of pastor who would have been at home in the more aggressive areas of Reformation Europe, or as a missionary to the Scots and Picts in the early days of Christianity – the pastors who preached with their weapons right next to them ready for the attacks of the enemy.

Childers has had an unusual life, including being a bikie on drugs before turning to Christ and doing construction in Sudan, which lead to his current work there, maintaining an orphanage for children he and others had rescued from the LRA. These children are often in great physical danger, and there is a lot of security and weaponry involved at the orphanage and surrounding areas.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how Childers neither skimmed over his life before Christ nor dwelt on it in a way that was distracting. I found many of his comments from being on the field in South Sudan to be interesting, especially in regards to the activities and movements of the LRA and the different political groups operating in the region.

Obviously this book will appeal more to those who have an interest in Africa, especially Sudan and the surrounding areas, but even if you are not , it’s a great autobiography.

It has been made into a movie, Machine Gun Preacher, which will be reviewed in a future post.

Day Four: Saturday 16.06.2012

We had a slow morning, then went into Mbale to go to an internet café. I sorted my emails, but didn’t do much else with the time, although I should have. I actually have some important emails to send (about uni), so I must do that soon. I only cost ₴1500 (about 75c) for an hour.

I spent most of the afternoon reading. We talked a little about some of the missions work that Esther has done (she’s been to the Massai in Kenya, and on a Mercy Ship for 3 years, but has also done other things around the world).

We had dinner with Anne, and she asked if I could teach Sunday school tomorrow. The lesson would run for about half an hour, but I don’t know any other details. I said yes, so I will let you know all about it. I found out at 9PM, so I only had a little prep time, but I usually don’t take much time to prepare. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Review: Crazy Love

This is seriously one of the books that has most influenced me in my Christian life. It’s fairly well known – there are lots of reviews of it out there and it makes it onto Koorong’s “long list” of books that every Christian should read.

This book shows us how radical the love of God is for sinners like us, and how we are called to demonstrate that love to those around us.

Many Christians need to be reminded (I know I need to be continually re-reminded) that we are not here for ourselves. We are not here to just have a good time (though believe me, doing God’s will is often, though not always, good fun). We are here to glorify God and to love our neighbour.

One of the best bits about this book was the set of stories towards the end of different people who have lived or are living lives dedicated to serving God. And while some of these people are famous and go rather firmly into the much-better-than-me category, many of them are of “normal” people who are just like us – and several are from circumstances that are far more difficult than ours. These stories remind us that we can truly do this, that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

Seriously, if you one read one Christian book for the next however long (month, year, whatever), it should be this one!

March for the Babies

Okay, this isn't exactly missions. But this is a massive issue in Victoria at the moment.

I would really like to encourage EVERYONE from Hope Church (and anyone else!) to attend this march. This march is to protest the change in the Victorian abortion law, which made our laws the most pro-abortion in the world. Most horrifically, it allows for abortion to happen up til BIRTH. If you want more information about this event, the current abortion law in Victoria, etc, then you can either vistit the March for the Babies site or speak to Sam Rawson. Event: Saturday Oct 13th, Arrive at 1PM (or a little earlier) Meeting at the Treasury Gardens on the corner of Spring St and Wellington Parade. Wear pink or blue! Last year there were heaps of people, but this year we want WAY more. The slogans were dorky, but it is for a fantastic cause - protecting the lives of the unborn!

Day 7 (14 Dec 2011) Part 1

Our quiet time reading begins with Ephesians 4:7-13. I believe it's saying our job is not just share the gospel, but also to build up the body of Christ. Pray that the CCM here in the Philippines will rely on the grace of God (v7) and ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of impartation. We also need to be motivate to reach the fullness of Christ. We can't just be satisfied where we are, however good 'here' is.

Today is our final collaboration with Hope Manila. We've tackled high school students and college students, now it's time for the universities. We planned to visit the Technological University of the Phillipines (TUP)  (I can't remember all the names of the universities but I remember we had to ride the Skyway to access it) in a group, separate into three groups and evangelise in the uni. Unfortunately, we were later informed that we weren't allowed inside. No worries, we can always evax to the students coming in and out of the uni. Unlike Monash Clayton, this uni is very near to nearby coffee shops, so student traffic is high throughout the day, with students coming in and out of uni grounds just to spend time at the coffee shops between lectures.

We split into three groups. Nilla and I were in a group again, together with our student guide. Our first encounter was with two guys happily eating their brunch. We started off pretty well, and were willing to listen to us sharing the A to Z of the Gospel. Turns out they were Catholics. I was about to say good day, when Nilla decided to press on and challenged them whether they had received Christ or not. She wasn't about to leave without making sure. It was a good thing that they were pretty nice guys with lots of free time, 'cos some of the questions we asked them started to make them feel uncomfortable. All the while, I was hoping we weren't overstepping our boundaries. Should we have been adamant to make sure their faith in Jesus was secure? Did we help them cross the line of faith in the end? I wasn't sure. We ended the conversation inviting them for lifegroup, which was happening tonight. We then approached two other guys eating their brunches. One of them was a believer, and his friend wasn't. From what I recalled, because the believer hadn't received Jesus yet, we focused on him rather than his friend with questions about his faith. Then it started to rain, and they both left. I pondered a bit. That was two encounters with Christians that we had that morning, and Nilla's strategy was to keep making sure they put their faith in Christ. I remembered the time when we told that the people here are very eager to listen to missionaries, but very reluctant to commit. I think that was in Nilla's heart, to see that being a predominantly Christian country, should the Christians really have a heart for the Great Commission, the whole country would experience a revival like no other. Instead, the faith has been diluted and people are without conviction. There were beautiful cathedrals all around the city which we were told belonged to cults. Things were serious indeed.

We then headed back to base on the Skyway. We had a simple lunch in a eating place near Hope Church. I remembered that we were supposed to bring a gift that wasn't too expensive to lifegroup later that night, and do a gift exchange, sort of like the ones they do in Christmas office parties. I quickly ran over to a cleverly hidden stationary shop to buy a pen (Seriously, it was hard to find a gift that didn't blew the $1 mark or 13 peso mark).

Our journey then took us to the Technological Institute of the Philippines. It was a cluster of universities located close together, surrounded by a huge wall. We had to take a super-crowded, plenty-of-inappropriate-touching-kind-of-full LRT to the venue. Again, we splitted up into three groups, each to enter a different campus. I think my group got the one that was furthest from the starting point. We walked along the perimeter til we reached the entrance gates. Would you guess it? Again, we were refused entry. That causes some problems. Lala, our student guide from said university, was going to have her lifegroup inside the campus, but we the guests weren't even allowed inside. So, we couldn't join their lifegroup. Sadness to the extreme!

We decided to visit the nearby coffee shops, except there weren't many. This was where we spotted one of the biggest vices of Filipino students: Cyber cafés. Florence later shared she identified a stronghold related to computer games. This culture was not at all conducive for learning, and I can just imagine the students caring more for DoTA than their studies. On the plus side, we did talk to a group of students at a coffee shop. A pleasant conversation, I remember. Most expressed interest in lifegroups and they listened intently as we shared our stories and talked about future careers. That was probably the only encounter we had for that leg of the journey. I was fascinated by the murals on the Great Wall surrounding the campuses, each wall must have been decorated by a student, and there must have been hundreds of sections with individual drawings. We walked past a primary school, and I once again remembered the cyber cafés. Please pray that God will deal with this stronghold over the students in Manila.

The day is not done yet. There still lifegroup to go, plus photos! Will anybody among the people we invited during both evax walks come at all? Stay tuned to hear the next chapter of our Manila mission trip!

Underground Reality: Columbia

This documentary is the sequel to the Underground Reality: Vietnam documentary, and follows the same premise. Seven young adults go to Columbia to deepen their understanding of the difficulties that Christians in Columbia face.

There are a few major differences between the situation in Vietnam and the situation in Columbia – basically expressed in that Vietnam is a restricted nation (i.e. the government restricts the activities of Christians, and so most of the persecution comes from the government) and that Columbia is a hostile area (so the government doesn’t persecute the Christians, and even tries to provide some protection, but many of the people do). Columbia is one of the major producers of drugs, and there is a lot of violence and accompanying crime in Columbia. Christians, especially pastors and evangelists, are targeted due to their involvement (both real and perceived) in getting people out of the drug situation and turning their lives around. Those who were previously involved in the drug scene are frequent victims.

This is a great accompaniment to the Vietnam documentary, though I didn’t find it as engaging. It really deepens your understanding of what it means to live a life consecrated to God.

You can buy this documentary from the Voice of the Martyrs website.

Sam is planning to have a parachute making night at her house to make parachutes to help distribute Christian literature and Bibles to areas where people cannot go. Please either comment if you would like to be involved, or email her at samismad [at] hotmail [dot] com

Hobart Mission Trip (Hope Frankston) Part 2

We arrived in Hobart on a Wednesday night and the boys were there to pick us up. The first order of business was to meet our host church and acquaint ourselves with the people we would be serving. We had supper with the Hobart CCM Leaders who are ministering at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) sharing our struggles and successes.

When Thursday came along, Hannah and I were pumped up and ready to do some evangelism. That is exactly what we did. The team met up and had breakfast together as we planned our strategy for the day. As we shared a meal, we prayed, read Scripture and even prophesied over each other.

Our target area: Salamanca market and Elizabeth Street Mall (Equivalent to Bourke Street Mall (MEL), Pitt Street Mall (SYD), Queen Street Mall (BNE)).

Our tools: Tracts, Survey Form designed by Cornerstone Gospel Church in Frankston and prayer.

We started our evangelistic endeavours without much success around the Salamanca market area. Refusing to be disheartened, we pressed on in search of people who would be open to listen to the gospel. Eventually we met up with some CCMers at Elizabeth Street Mall and it was there that we began to see some fruit. We met several people who were open to the gospel and interested to come along for a service or a CCM event. A majority of those who were open were from mainland China. There was also a Japanese exchange student and a handful of Aussies.

After that, we followed David Mounster (Evangelism Leader in Hope Hobart) as he went from street to street with a unique but amazing method of evangelism called “toasting”. David would talk to many young people (primarily rebellious teenagers) and asked if they would like to be ‘toasted’. He describes it as a spiritual experience that is better than the highs of drugs, cigarettes or alcohol. If they agreed, David would lay hands on the youth and ask God to reveal himself. Many youth experienced the touch of God in different ways, such as peace, exhilaration or a current running through their bodies. If anyone was injured, David would pray for healing and there have been many testimonies of youth with injuries (arm in a cast for example) receiving miraculous healing.


To Be Continued...

Review: Invisible Children

This DVD is now pretty famous, after the get rid of Kony twitter/facebook campaign and one of the maker’s going off the rails and running through the streets naked, or something like that. Anyway, this documentary is the start of the Invisible Children organisation.

It’s a very moving piece, and some of the scales of things are immense – seeing the literally hundreds upon hundreds of night commuters in one building is incredible. It seems hard to believe that that many children are all in one place, all without many basic safeguards and amenities.

The extras are interesting (especially the music video that they make – it’s hilarious!).

Things to be aware of with this doco are that most of the information is out of date. Kony is predominately no longer in Uganda (mostly in the DRC), and so night commuting is much less of an issue than it used to be. It’s also a lot more political than other documentaries or books – it really wants the US to get involved an eliminate Kony, which isn’t really a practical solution or what I believe we should be working for as Christians.

But it is a great doco to watch to learn about some of the issues that Uganda and the surrounding countries has faced in the recent past.

Local Mission Trip Opportunity

If you have a passion for young people, and want to go on a mission trip, but have concerns about going overseas or can't make that kind of commitment at present, then you may want to look into being a Red Frog volunteer.

Red Frogs is a chaplaincy group that goes to Schoolies events and acts as a sober person at Schoolies parties. They are extremely vital, as this week (17th to 24th of November) sees a LOT of very hard partying, and the problems that go with such partying. And most of the people involved are teenagers, who aren't known for making the best decisions.

Visit the Red Frog website for more information, or speak to Sam and she'll put put you in touch with people who have done Red Frogs before.

John Stott

"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God."

Day Three - Extra Photos

I thought you might like to see some of my extra photos from this day! I hope you enjoy them!