Ministry and the Body of Christ #3

'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.'

All things? Does that include where we are living, what church we are worshipping at? The good people of Geelong are spoilt for choice in their city with several churches faithfully proclaiming God's Word. We did not know, on leaving Darwin, where we would be worshipping in Geelong, to what congregation He was sending us. Naturally, I wanted a church that would support me in my ministry. But that wasn't the issue, was it? We have six young children who would like to make friends their own age - but joining a church because of the number of children in the congregation is not mentioned in the Scriptures. In fact, the idea of choosing a church by how it can serve you is to completely miss the point. Should we not be joining a church so that we can be better equipped to serve and worship the King? I think so - so we had to let Him who sent us here, send us where He willed.

So He sent us to Reformed Presbyterian Church, less than 2km from our front door, a dynamic congregation across the generations, with - yes! - lots of young children. Where the Word of God is faithfully preached every Sunday.

'Okay, Jo,' you may ask, 'where does your minsitry fit into all this?' Would you believe me if I told you that today I met a couple in this church who had a deep interest in Timor-Leste  and were passionate about the work of the gospel? Would you believe me if I told you they actually read this blog? Yes, maybe you would, if you believed that this was not mine but God's ministry. Yes, maybe you would if you knew that all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose. Ah, I love talking about His Providence!

The Joy of Books

A move from one end of the country to the other is always a big one, but especially when you move with eight people - and all their books. The removalists grumbled about the number of heavy book boxes they had to carry. They wanted to know if I was a teacher, because teachers always seem to have lots of books. I love books and it is probably more than being a teacher. For me it's genetic. It's in my blood, inherited from my father. For me, books are special. They contain all our stories, our knowledges, our heart - put down as words on paper for future generations. In some cultures, such as Indigenous Australian cultures, this is shared orally, passed down from generation to generation. In my culture, the word is printed, rather than spoken.

But our prayer is that throughout the world, the Word be both printed and spoken. It is so important that the Bible be translated into the languages of the world, and secondary to that, Christian literature be available in peoples' languages. And the Word of God must be spoken, shared in season and out, preached to the people, proclaimed from the hill tops.

The photo on the right is a part of one I have already shared with you, dear reader. But I wanted to share it again. Here is a little girl after my own heart, clutching her precious book. Welcome, little one, to the family of bibliophiles around the world. This may be your first book. I hope it won't be your last....

The Joy of Reading

Recently a small group of men from the PCA (Presbyterian Church of Australia) went to Timor Leste. High up in the mountains outside Dili they found this young man who read 'Miguel Nia Jardin' fluently in both Tetun and Mambae. In fact, according to Rev Robert Benn, he read it 'like a BBC commentator would read!!' Rev Rob Duncanson took the photo.