Praise Report on Hope Waverley Christmas Brunch 2012

As families were busy with cooking up a storm for Christmas lunches and dinners, Hope Waverley prepared a fully subsidised two-course brunch for the Brentwood community. Church members were already at Brentwood Secondary College Gym at 8am, each lending their hand to setup and decorate the place. Some were awake since 6am to prepare roast and dessert for the event.

 

Event started with caroling, followed by the main course, which consist of roast meats and vegetables. Just before having dessert, Sam Rawson and Daniel Tsang each presented a song, where the former presented an acapella soprano solo ‘O Holy night’, and old time favourite Christmas carol, and the latter performed his very own composed song, titled “Don’t forget to love”, which speaks about our response towards the Jesus’ love.

 

Pastor Ian Foley, the senior pastor of Hope Waverley took over after that and gave a heartfelt sharing about the true meaning of Jesus’ love, reminding us the reason for the season. At least 120 people were already present when pastor shared about the Good news, and seeds were sown on that day to people of all ages. The event ended with caroling, led by our Christmas4you* choir and a thanksgiving draw, where prizes were given to the ones whose thanksgiving cards randomly picked by pastor. This activity was done to encourage the culture of counting and writing the blessings that God has given to them.

 

Overall, people were not only fed physically, but they each went away, having heard the true story of Christmas. Whether they have heard it the first time, or multiple times, we believe and pray that God will work according to His own unique perfect way, in every lives that were present in the event.

Day Eleven: Saturday 23.06.2012 Extra Photos - Offical Stuff

Day Eleven: Saturday 23.06.2012 Extra Photos - The Street Kids Watch

Review: Reckless Abandon

This is a combination book of the inspiring life story of David Sitton and an intensive call to missions.  It succeeds on both these fronts.

Sitton was a missionary to PNG, where he worked at great personal risk to establish churches amongst unreached, often violent people groups.  The stories of his missionary adventures are really the same as the more famous missionaries of the past such as Livingstone or Hudson Taylor.

Not only that, but he writes in such a way that it encourages the reader to want to be involved in missions in a greater way, and points them to different ways that they can do so, whether it be by staying or going.

But I think what I liked best about this book was its radicalism.  These days, we hear a lot about balance, and about how we need to make sure that everything is in perspective, that we aren’t becoming obsessed, etc etc.  My response to that, both to secular and Christian people is that balanced people don’t change the world or set world records, obsessed people do.  And Sitton exemplifies this, both personally and in his writing.  In being obsessed with spreading the Good News about Jesus to peoples who otherwise would die without having heard of Him, Sitton has changed the world for God.

And his book will inspire you to do the same!

Day Eleven: Saturday 23.06.2012 Extra Photos - The March

David Sitton

“When people ask me how to pray for missionaries, I tell them that they need to be remembered daily, because these kinds of stresses are everyday realities.  Pray for the big things: that the gospel will advance through their efforts; that they will be sustained through loneliness; that the Lord will provide financial partnerships; and that He will protect them from illness and those who would do them harm.  But also remember to pray for the everyday things: transportation to the market, strength to do tasks such as washing clothes and making meals, finding correct boundaries in relation to possessions and privacy, and enduring the stress of long periods of separation.  Pray for the Lord to sustain their relationship with Him and with one another.  And, particularly, pray for their children.”

From Reckless Abandon, pgs 64-65

Day Eleven: Saturday 23.06.2012 (Part 2)

Then we cut the different ribbons.  Ivan and I managed to see the 1^st and 3^rd ribbon cut, and then Linus ran up to tell me that I was cutting the staff room ribbon, did I know?  I did not, but I was happy to do it, and made a speech about how important it was to have a staff room so that the teachers can do a good job of teaching.  Then I cut the ribbon.

Esther and the LC5 chairman (local council 5 chairman – kind of like your state political representative) both planted trees near the staff room, then we headed back t the tented area to have more speeches, including Esther’s.

Then it was time for lunch – only 1 ½ hours late!  I got to eat the food from the “privileged guests” area, but unlike most of them I got my food and left.  Then I spotted some of the children who were from the slum village.  They were sneaking through a hole in the fence in the hopes of getting some food.  But all the food for the general guests was already gone.  So I went back into the privileged area and got another plate of food for them to eat, then a second, then a third.  It was so wonderful to be able to give them a little food – many of them would only be eating one small meal a day, at night.

We stayed at the centre until quite late, talking to the different guests, BCC staff and sponsored children.  It’s wonderful to talk to the children, especially the ones at uni, and hear what a different BCC has made to their lives.

An ex-sponsored child (now an adult and graduated, with a good job) drove us back home as Anne needed to stay at Bushikori for a bit later.  It was interesting driving in his car, as it was so low and the roads here are so bad!  We almost got stuck on a speed bump!

Pretty much as soon as we got home we all tumbled into bed, all very worn out.

David Sitton

“If you have never considered the possibility that God loves you and may have a wonderful plan for your death, perhaps you should.  He had a wonderful plan for the death of His Son.  He had a wonderful plan for the Ecuador Five who were slaughtered in the jungle of Ecuador – a plan that resulted in the Waodani tribe responding to the gospel en mass and launching two generations of tens of thousands of new missionaries over the last fifty years to some of the toughest unreached regions in the world.”

From Reckless Abandon, pg 201

Day Eleven: Saturday 23.06.2012 (Part 1)

What a massive day!  We arrived for the Commissioning, and I looked for Ivan.  He wasn’t there, and people weren’t sure that he was coming.  Dan sent someone to get him, and then they had to hunt up a uniform for him, because his was in the wash.

While we were searching for Ivan, the march was ready to begin.  We marched along after the marching band (the Mbale school band) and the JPS students.  We marched through a slum village, and all the children (and many of the adults) came out to look and march alongside us.  The contrast between them with their ragged and dirty clothes and the JPS students (many of whom live in this village or other similar ones nearby) could hardly be greater.  Afterwards, they all waited, crowded at the fence, to watch the proceedings…

Which didn’t start for another 2 hours.  I read a few chapters of my book and I entertained Ivan, and chatted to more of the invited guests.  Parents and community members were still arriving over an hour AFTER we started.

There were a lot of speeches, I made a short one (one of the few short speeches!) about Ivan and his book, then presented it to him.  Lots of people made a big fuss of him afterwards for having done such a great thing.  Someone was convinced that he was the youngest child writer in Africa, if not the whole world.