Once again – thank you, dear partner, for your continued partnership! Thank you for reaching out to Helen and myself, and letting us know you are praying for us.
Highlights
As you probably know all too well, the month of July meant a lot of re-learning how to do church online. Having growth groups on zoom/MS teams, watching church on Facebook live, brushing the dust off my studio recording equipment! I think the silver lining off this all is the fact that it has given us another crack at learning ministry in a lockdown environment (yes – very optimistic of me!). One particular highlight was running a training session with Helen for our growth group leaders. We ran through some short, practical tools on how to gather in growth groups online, how to care for people in our groups, and how to help our groups with bible study application. I’m really thankful for the opportunity to be able to learn serve together as husband and wife! Another highlight has been reviewing the past 6 months with my trainer, David. I found it very useful to reflect on my strengths and learn from ministry experiences. I am very thankful for how David has gently guided me over the past 6 months, but especially even more now as we adjust to this new environment.
Reflections As I look back on the month of July (which feels so long ago now!), I think it has been characterised by a lot of uncertainty and waiting. By the time you’re reading this in mid August, we know that here in Sydney, we’re in lockdown for the forseeable future. But back in July, I would often anxiously wait upon the new cases at 11am each day. It was suffocating to be holding my breath to so long, waiting to see whether the city would open back up, or we would be in for another week of lockdown. I think in this time, God has been teaching me to make the most of the time in prayer. In one of my 1-to-1s, we have been going through 1 Timothy, and this particular verse struck me: The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. (1 Timothy 5:5) I feel but a fraction of a widow’s pressure and grief, but I found her response incredibly striking – to continue to ask God for help day and night. Please pray for me that I would learn from this attitude, especially in these times of anxiety and helplessness. Please do let me know how might be praying for you as well, dear friend 🙂
The Marsden Fund 