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 :)

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.