Update

My goodness, is that the time! Here's a short update on what's been happening:

• Exams and assignments were pretty tough towards the end of the semester, but Steph and I were able to make it through with His grace and achieved well :) We also learnt so much and really enjoyed our SWOT-VAC studies and exam preparation!
• The 3-week holiday was jam packed with activities including preparations for workshops, days out and Steph heading down to Sydney for a week to catch up with the girls
• For the past three weeks I've preached my way through the minor Prophet, Amos in preparation for giving the talks at the Brisbane Cantonese Christian Church Camp in October
• RICE Brisbane has come and gone. You can find photos of the RICE Big Day Out here and photos of the RICE Rally here.

Upcoming stuff:

• Mark Dever, author of 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, is coming to QTC to give a series of lectures. Come check it out!
• Brisbane Leadership Training Plus is on again, registration closes this Friday. I'll be giving a seminar on 'How to pastor the Pastor'
• CIA-SALT Camp is also coming up in the September holidays; and
  
• as mentioned before, I'll be the guest speaker at the Brisbane Cantonese Christian Church Camp in October

So lots happening, lots to pray for, and even more to give thanks and praise to God for!

QTC Missions 2009 - Atherton, QLD (lowdown!)

So, here are the reasons this blog hasn't been updated in a while:

- Assessment: essays and exams have been flowing in thick and fast since the mid-semester break. But Praise God that I seem to be getting through them relatively ok and despite failing a recent Greek Paradigm (tables) test, I'm still joyful :)

- Illness: I personally have been trying to shake a sore throat for the better part of a fortnight now. Steph has had some pretty bad days with tiredness and colds. Many people at College are getting sick and classes are noticeably less-full than at the start of the semester. I think the relatively quick change in weather as well as longer hours/less sleep has built up. I also think that many of us have been spiritually targeted at this particular time when assessment has started to pile up. Tactically this is what I would have done as well.

With that out of the way, here is a short summary of the activities we participated in during our short missions trip to Atherton over the break.

The trip lasted for a week. We arrived at Cairns airport bright and early with fellow QTC'ers. Our mini reunion was short as our teams headed into three different directions soon after - one team stayed in Cairns, another team went South to Gordonvale/Babinda and our team headed off to Atherton.

Cameron Wills is the pastor for the Presbyterian church in Atherton. I forgot that I had met him before at a number of QTC events in the past.

The activies we were involved with included:

• short talks - I gave one to a nursing home and a youth talk to the teens group
• doorknocking - for the first couple of days we spent our time doorknocking the local area in and around Atherton to help raise awareness of the church and its activities. Karl and I had a great experience with one particular guy who accepted 'A Fresh Start - John Chapman' from us. Please pray for him as he reads through the book.
• kids club - the church holds a weekly kids club involving, primarily, non-Christian primary aged school kids from the community. It was a great time of fun and joy to meet with these kids and share with them the Gospel!
• Nursing home visit - as I mentioned before we visited a nursing home where three of the guys (myself included) gave short talks. It was great to meet some of the folks there - I met a gentleman named 'Richard' who shared with me some fantastic war stories :)
• Youth Group - on the Saturday night we helped with their small teens group playing games and sharing the bible with them. I gave a short talk on 'Who is the Greatest?'
• Church - we also helped out with the two church services. Reading the bible, sharing our testimonies and prayer points and preaching

All up it was an encouraging time away in a relativley different culture to our own. I was excited to see the work of God in a different part of the country and also grew in fellowship with other students. I was also challenged to think through what it would be like to minister in an area such as Atherton.

For those who have missed them, here are some photos of our time away. Feel free to leave a comment :)

Get Real! - St Lucia English Church Camp

Have you registered yet??



Steph and I won't be able to make it being on College Mission.

QTC Missions 2009 - Atherton, QLD

Tomorrow (Monday) morning Steph and I fly out to Cairns to join a small team from QTC on a missions trip to the Atherton Tablelands. The whole college is going on a 1 week rural mission - half the team (and the rest of the CCCB'ers/5:17church'ers) will be going to Rockhampton. The Cairns team has been further split into three - one staying in Cairns, one going to Atherton and one heading to Gordonvale/Babinda.

For those in the habit, please pray for Steph and I whilst we're gone. In particular please pray for the following:

• Praise and thank God for His gospel of grace and mercy!
• Pray for a fruitful time away for all the QTC teams
• Pray for me (Steven) - I'm giving two talks - one to a youthrgoup (on Matthew 20:20-28, 'serving others') and a short talk to a nursing home (probably on Mark 8).
• Pray for courage and fruitful discussion as we go doorknocking on Wednesday and Thursday
• Pray for energy and health in our time away - I came down with a small cold last night, but feeling better this morning.

Thank you! Update and plenty of photos when we get back.

Half-way before the half-way of 1st year at QTC!

Or in other words, we've just finished Term 1 (7 weeks) at QTC and are on holidays. We've got a two week break (which will be filled with some fun, study and essay writing) before Steph and I head to Atherton for a college missions trip.

It's been a great start to the year. We've learnt so much (I often boast that my Hebrew and Greek are far better than my Chinese) and have been challenged with much. Steph initially found the study hard going - it's a very different style of thinking that we are being confronted with and a lot of our presuppositions are being challenged. But we are growing in our love for studying God's word and are very appreciative of the prayers and guidance we receive from wonderful lecturers.

Please pray for us during this particular time - that we would be resting, but also that we would be able to keep on top of our studies during these next two weeks. Also pray for our upcoming missions trip which will be in regional Queensland - a place utterly unfamiliar to both Steph and I. Pray that we'll be able to serve well during the week, that we are faithful in the work we do and that God would do a mighty work in and through us to the community in Atherton.

Sad moment for SALT tonight

Tonight we did our fifth study in the '10 Commandments' series in 'More studies to go'. It was on commandment #5 - honouring our fathers and mothers. Because we're a predominantly Asian youth group I felt this particular study needed to stress that the reason we are obedient to our parents is not so that we score marks in being 'gwai' - but because it pleases God (cf Colossians 3:20)

On the way home I dropped off a couple of teens. Here's a snippet of the conversation I had with them in the car ride:

Me: Can I ask you a question and get an honest answer?

Teen: Sure!

Me: What are you afraid of most - dissappointing God or dissappointing your parents?

Teen: ... God...?

Me: Really...?

Teen: ...no... my parents...

Pray for the families in our church - that they would not only be counter cultural, but thoroughly Gospel centred.

QTC - Prayer Request

To those friends who read this blog and are in the habit of praying...

A number of things have happened lately at the College Steph and I are attending. A few students have had to pull out of studies for various reasons beyond their control and some other students seem to be looking more run down than usual and sickness has hit some of the first year students. Please pray for these situations and pray especially that God would bind Satan and his minions from doing further harm.

Thank you :)