A few months ago I had the opportunity to interview Glen and Rachael Connor who serve at the Talua Ministry Training Centre in Vanuatu. This video provides some insight into life for a western family in Vanuatu and need for the gospel.

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link or download it by right-clicking on the file.

Glen and Rachael Connor

Martin Eagle was in Sydney and so I took the chance to interview him and see how his first year has been.

You can listen to the interview with Martin by right-clicking here.

Kevin Murray

You can now download the November 2011 edition of our Partnership newsletter here.

It has updates on ministry in Timor Leste, ministry among Aboriginals in Mount Druitt, Sydney and an article about our orphanage in Malawi.

Please email this around your congregation. Why not run some off and give a page or two to someone who might be interested?

Kevin Murray

We still have vacancies for Youthpartners 2012 so here is a re-post

28th December – 18th January, 2012 inclusive

Liro, Paama Island, Vanuatu

The Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu has chosen the town of Liro on Paama Island as the site of our next Youthpartners and Tradespartners project. The Church on Paama needs a building to use for offices, a meeting place and as a focal point for the Presbytery. Like our previous projects this will take a few years to complete. Please note there are only 10 places available.

Who can go? committed young Christians aged 18 to 25.

Cost: $2,000

Closing date for applications: A soon as possible. Download an application form here.

More details: Mission Partners 02-97921373

national@missionpartners.org.au

We take for granted the ease with which can walk into a bookshop and buy a Bible. For we in Australia Bibles are relatively inexpensive. But imagine that when you wanted to buy a Bible you had to go to say Adelaide or Canberra. That’s what it’s like for many of the people of Vanuatu. Vanuatu is a chain of 83 islands and one of the biggest hurdles the nation faces is distance and lack of affordable transport. I recently interviewed Pastor Laliman Kalso from Ambrym and asked him how available the Bible is in Vanuatu.

Thank you to everyone who made a donation to our “New Testaments for Vanuatu” appeal. We collected over $22,000 and we are now in the process of working with our partners and the Bible Society to commence printing as soon as possible.

You can download the interview by right-clicking on the link below.

Kevin Murray

Pastor Laliman

Rob Duncanson writes:

When People Think Christians are Bad Omens
“I have not changed religion, I follow Jesus!
Some of the people in the village think that Joao is a type of bad omen because he is a Christian. Despite our modern age, some people think that when a person dies or becomes ill that Joao is guilty because he has changed religion.

When they accuse him of changing religion he says, “I have not changed religion, I follow Jesus!”

With eyes full of tears, John tells his story and has asked that people pray for him and his family so that they can hold on firm in the difficulties and stay with firm faith in Jesus. Will you pray?

(Translated from Portuguese and Reprinted from Newsletter of Marcos and Priscila Napoli – Brazilian missionaries in Timor Leste from the Presbyterian Church of Brazil)”

NOTE: Joao, his wife and 7 children do a remarkable job of caring for the needy in their village, and pray that one day there will be a Presbyterian Church there. They are actively and vigorously working for the Kingdom of God. (We hope to update and fill out their story in coming weeks – we’ll keep you posted.)

Teaching Seminars 2011 (Mon 7th Nov – Fri 11th Nov.)
This Saturday a team of 5 will travel to Liquica (30 mins from Dili) for a week of teaching with the Church leaders from the IEP TL (Igreja Evangelica Presbyteriana – Timor Leste).

We will work through the book of Titus with special emphasis on its implications for Godly leadership in the church in Timor Leste, and on preaching God’s Word.

The team is:
Robert Benn
Brian Wong
Mike and Crystal Durrell
Rob Duncanson

We greatly value your prayers for this time.

Points for Prayer
1. For Joao and Paulina (his wife) and their family, that they would have safety, grace and strength in the face of very strong opposition. Also pray for many others in TL and other places who face similar pressures.

2. For the Teaching Seminars
• Wisdom for the team.
• Effective cross language communication.
• The work of the Holy Spirit to bring greater transformation in the lives of these leaders so that they will be more effective in ministry.

Mission happens wherever Christians find themselves. Pilgrim Hill is an example of a very creative approach to reaching people with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pilgrim Hill, which is not yet opened, will be a family-run hostel for travellers in Tasmania’s Huon Valley. It will offer inexpensive, sustainable accommodation for 18-24 guests, in an architect-designed retreat set among 25 acres of native forrest, located in the hills between Lucaston and Crabtree.

Its mission is to minister through hospitality to the First World, to a people often called ‘Post-Christian.’ Its work will combine practical care for physical needs with an open witness to all who come, secular and Christian alike.

As one part of this work, guests will be invited each night to join together in the Great Hall for a shared dinner and an after dinner talk or event. Events will range from lectures and film nights, to concerts, dances, and exhibitions, each accompanied by a short talk and used to show the Christian faith as a comprehensive worldview, which transforms every area of life. Kind of like a Tasmanian L’Abri

Pilgrim Hill will be managed by Peirce + Christina Baehr. The Baehrs will live on site and work together with a small staff and church volunteers to run the hostel.

After the initial construction and establishment costs, Pilgrim Hill is designed to be financially self-sustaining and ecologically sustainable.

You can find out more at www.pilgrimhill.org and watch the excellent video!

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all peoples! (Psalm 96:3)

Roger Bannister, Alan Clarkson & Gavin & Sandy Megaw travelled to Timor Leste on Friday 7th October as the first working party from the Mt Gambier Presbyterian Church to Timor Leste. 8 wonderful days were spent in the congregation of Samaria which is in the village of Remexio, in the sub-district of Aileu.

“Our arrival was greeted with much excitement from the children – our hands were shaken and the children all bent over our hands and kissed them. A very emotional greeting indeed! Our hearts were lost in those first few minutes!

We were introduced to our interpreter, Celestinos, but immediately he wanted to be called by his ‘nickname’ Dino. Dino is completely self taught in English and has also been teaching English to all the children in the area. We were given time to unpack and make up our bedrooms in our hut. For the coming week we were to live in our little stone hut alongside all the Samaria people.

Our evening meal set the scene for the many meals to come. The women would bring the food into our hut, place it on the table and then they would sit on the far wall on the bench seat with some of the men and children and everyone would watch us eat. It was very important that they watch our enjoyment of their food! Pastor Mario (the village pastor) would join us for most meals as well as Dino, but the onlookers never ate with us until our last night there!

Some of the tasks completed over the course of our week were; a new cement floor was laid in the church office, lessons in how to wire up for 240v, setting up their keyboard & speakers for a more efficient operation and endless English-Tetun lessons.

Over the week God threw many challenges our way! The main one being learning another language! Not only do they speak Tetun, but then their second language is Bahasa Indonesia, third is Portugese and now the children are learning English as their fourth language! And they tend to incorporate the first 3 languages listed into everything they say!! The language barrier can make communication difficult at times, but when all else fails signs and drawings work very well!

Sometimes you don’t always understand at the time why a certain situation happens. But afterwards all is revealed to you by God. We all shared a harrowing experience on the Friday of our week in Samaria. There are really 4 separate stories to the one event, but the outcome of the day was a very special bonding between the four of us and the entire Samaria people. They are beautiful people in spirit & character and their love for all of us shone over that day. We all became closer in our love for the Lord and for each other.

The Monday morning that we had to leave them and head back to Dili was a heart-wrenching day. We hugged…we cried…they cried. We have returned with ideas for how we can help these people in the future and they have since come up with some proposals for us, as to what they need in the future from our church here in Australia. Was the trip successful? Yes, in more ways than one. Nai Maromak Diak (The Lord God is Good)”

(reprinted with permission from Connexions – Growing God’s Family, Newsletter of the Mt Gambier Presbyterian Church; http: //www. mgpc. org. au/connexions_nov_11. pdf)

Each Christmas many of us ask the question “What do you give the person who has everything?” and we often think of friends and family who have seen many Christmases and birthdays. But that’s really most of us who are reading this. When we give and receive gifts they are often just to make our lives more comfortable than they really are.

Last year we commenced with our first Christmas Catalogue for Myanmar and we’re pleased to announce that it’s being offered again this year. The idea is simple. You purchase from us the ‘gift’ you would like — some mosquito nets or some school supplies or some books for a Bible College student etc. We’ll send you a card that you can give out for Christmas to tell the person that on their behalf you have bought something to help someone in another country who doesn’t enjoy the relative luxury that we have every day.

Please click here to download this years catalogue and order form.

Kevin Murray

Here is a post from Kevin Deyoung of The Gospel Coalition.

“If you haven’t heard of David Sitton or the work of To Every Tribe Ministries, do yourself a favor and pick up David’s new book, Reckless Abandon: A Modern-Day Gospel Pioneer’s Exploits Among the Most Difficult to Reach Peoples.

There are a lot of amazing stories in the book, but the chapter from David’s wife on the mundane aspects of missionary life was one of my favorite. After talking about the trials of learning a language, adapting to a new culture, finding the right balance between compassion and creating dependency, setting boundaries with our personal life and still caring for people, and handling the “fish bowl” experience of being rich white people in a strange land, Tommi Sitton offers this advice on how to pray for missionaries:

When people ask me how to pray for missionaries, I tell them 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. (64-65)

Read the whole book. And pray for your missionaries.”

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/10/20/how-to-pray-for-missionaries/