Week 4: Diversity in Marriage

Here is the final talk in the You, Sex and Society Series.

Phillip Jensen - Six in the City Talk #4 from Audio Advice on Vimeo.

Sholla: Novermber 2009

News from our CMS link missionaries Peter and Sarah Sholl, with Karina, Miriam and Lucy in Monteray, Mexico.

The joy of partnership
We are very appreciative of your partnership with us in the gospel. We feel well loved by your emails, prayers, interest and giving to CMS.

In this Sholla we want to tell you about Adriana so that you can know not just our partnership with her, but feel your partnership with her as well.

We met Adriana and Vicente when we visited Monterrey in 2007. They have been very supportive of us and we attend the same church and school. We gave them some books in Spanish including Two Ways to Live. Then for Halloween, Adriana translated the children’s version of 2WTL and used it to evangelise her neighbours as they came past her garage.

Now Grahame and Patty Scarratt are going to publish her translation so it will be widely available throughout Latin America. Our pastor already is keen to use it in our church.

Our church has also been using Christianity Explored (introduced in Mexico by Rico Tice and the Scarratts in May). Sarah asked Adriana to invite some of her school friends to do the course but they could not do it at that time.

Now Adriana has decided that she can run a course for women from school.

Sarah and Adriana have invited about 12 women to meet together to read Mark and discuss who Jesus is, what his mission is and how he wants us to respond. It looks like 2 or 3 guests will join Sarah and Adriana in our house on Wednesday afternoons. Pete will run a kids club downstairs (with 8 or 9 primary age kids) and another lady will mind the pre-schoolers. We think Pete will certainly have the most difficult task!

We are excited to see the way God is working in our relationships with people here, and the doors that God is opening at just the right time.

Church update
We have been able to make the Scarratt’s books available to people here. (Spanish translations of ‘Nothing in my hand I bring’ by Ray Galea and ‘God’s Big Picture’ by Vaughan Roberts). People are appreciative and interest is growing. Thanks for your prayers about church. Pete has had more opportunity to get to know the young adults. He has joined a course that Augustine leads and he has run an evening to teach them the Swedish Bible reading method.

Please Pray
๏ Thanks that God prepares our good works.
๏ Thanks for the joy of partnership with brothers and sisters in Mexico and Australia.
๏ Thanks for Adriana’s enthusiasm to proclaim Jesus.
๏ Pray for Adriana as she leads the Mark group. Also pray for her as she is very pressured by her work at the moment.
๏ Pray for the women to have soft hearts to see the truth about Jesus, and that they will all keep coming.
๏ Pray for Pete as he runs the kids club (in Spanish)
๏ Pray for the kids to have fun learning about Jesus.
๏ Pray for ongoing gospel conversations Sarah is having with friends.
๏ Pray for Grahame and Patty in the publishing work (and MOCLAM).

Bible Verse - Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

You, Sex and Society - Week 3: Unity in Marriage

Phillip Jensen - Six in the City Talk #3 from Audio Advice on Vimeo.

If you missed last Sunday, or would like to revisit it before tomorrow night, here it is!

THE GILLHAM GAZETTE

November 2009 Edition

If you would like to support us financially, please give to CMS. You can find out more details about how to do this at http://www.cms.org.au/give/money .

Our contact details:

Post:

c/- NETS, P.O. Box 158, Windhoek, Namibia

Blog:

www.gillhamgazette.blogspot.com

Dear friends and supporters,

A s the 2009 year draw s to a close, w e are very aware that we would not be here, and could not have endured without your prayers and support. Thank you!

This month it’s my (Simon) turn to w rite and tell you a little of what we are up to and what we would like you to pray for.

Yet will I rejoice in the LORD!

Last month I led a mission team including nine students and one other lecturer from N ET S to the Osire Refugee Cam p about 3 hours drive north east of Windhoek. We stayed for two nights and spent the three days meeting with Christian people from some of the most war ravaged countries in Africa. On the Saturday w e repeated the ‘Word Alive’ program that w e had run in September in Windhoek. More than 140 people cam e for the w hole day as we explored the book of Habakkuk and its implication for our lives together. If you and I can resonate with Habakkuk’s complaint that the LORD seem to be allowing injustice and godlessness go unpunished in the world (Hab. 1:1-4)– imagine how powerfully that com plaint connects with those w ho have watched their loved ones slaughtered and have been driven from their homes! More powerfully still comes the assurance that God will bring about justice and righteousness and that one day the know ledge of his glory w ill cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). In the midst of terrible pain and deprivation, the love and joy that these Christian brothers and sisters demonstrate in their lives (not to mention their singing and dancing), is clear evidence that they are prepared to rejoice in the LORD even when ‘the fig tree does not blossom ’(H ab. 3:17). We went to teach and bless, and returned having been taught and blessed by the faithfulness of God’s people. Osire Refugee Camp currently holds 8000 people, and they

have no formally trained pastors or Bible teachers. There are allsorts of problems within the churches – but still there is a joy and trust in the LO RD that we could all do w ell to learn from.

Old Testament Theology under the bright African sun

Of all the subjects which I have been teaching this year, perhaps the one that has stretched me most has been teaching Old Testament Theology and Themes to the 4th year students. Southern African society and culture bears terrible scars from misunderstandings and misapplication of the Old Testament. From the time that the Calvinist Voertrekkers marched into their ‘new Promised Land’ driving out the nations before them and guarding their national racial purity, until the present day, the Old Testament has been used to justify all sorts of terrible abuses of power. Today one of only three free to air television channels broadcasts false promises of prosperity and ease for the faithful, to some of the world’s poorest and most desperate people, 24 hours a day!

Understanding that Jesus is the goal, climax and fulfillment of the Old Testament is a reality that has the potential to change whole societies in this part of the world.

National Accreditation for NETS

More than a year after submitting our application to the Namibian Government for official accreditation of NETS and its courses, we have just been given two weeks to get ready for a comprehensive inspection and audit. This is due to take place in the week immediately following exams, which makes it very difficult to find the time needed to prepare properly. The inspection will cover everything from the buildings and infrastructure, to the finances and administration, and of course the academic programs and staff.

Please pray for me (Simon) as I head up the team in preparation for this inspection and audit. Pray that God would enable us to be well prepared and to respond well to the extra demands at this time of year. Pray that NETS would be granted accreditation as an institution in its own right, and that our various courses (from certificate to degree level) would be officially recognized.

Looking ahead to the New Year

How will you begin 2010? As a family it has been our happy habit to start every New Year at the CMS Summer School in Katoomba. This will be the second one in a row that we will be missing, and it is honestly one of the hardest things for us about living in Namibia. We would like to take this chance to encourage you to be there if it is at all possible.

NATIONAL ELECTIONS

Please pray for the national elections to be held in Namibia on November 27^th and 28^th. Pray that the ‘hate speech’ of some politicians would not incite more people to violence. Pray that the elections would be free, fair, transparent and peaceful.

For your prayers

° Please pray for students as they sit for exams from November 16. Pray that the exams will continue to be a time of learning and preparation for ministry.

° Pray for the employment of five new Namibian staff for NETS. Pray for wisdom for Simon and the others involved in interviews, that we would choose the people that God has raised for these positions.

° Thank God for applications received already for new students for 2010. Pray that God would draw many more of the right people to study at NETS.

Diversity in Humanity - Phillip Jensen

Phillip Jensen - Six in the City Talk #2 from Audio Advice on Vimeo.

Phillip's talk from last week.

Walk by the Spirit

James M has penned this poem, a reflection of the recent series on The Spirit and the current You, Sex and Society.


Swift as a blink of an eye
It may have been overlooked
Has it sneaked in recently
Surely left unnoticed it will dominate you shortly
And any reflection of this being in the mirror is now ugly
If necessary, search deep in the peace of night within
And thoroughly if you must find this subtle sin
Before it finds you shamefully, spectacularly
It is surely there waiting to be found
Before it festers into rage, anger to cause greater wounds
A hint of pride is like a foot in the door
That opens up a passage to only invite trouble
Careful lest it takes root and harvests bitterness
And the genesis of grieving the Holy Spirit of God
But the blood of Christ can overcome against all odds
Swiftly in forgiving prayers bring to Him again, and no other
Therefore, in your privileged allegiance to the Creator
Stand down any hints of pride, arrogance and bitterness
And show its value is no less than genuine and worthless
It’s no loss for His sakes, the great humble Prince of Peace
To stand down any poisonous traits of sinful nature
Before any of it takes residence within and matures
Remember in nakedness you were once lost in the beneath
But now clothed with Christ and rescued from the jaws of eternal death
Rise to live and walk by the Spirit as a result of being saved by faithfulness

By James M.

Unity in Humanity - Phillip Jensen

Phillip Jensen - Six in the City Talk #1 from Audio Advice on Vimeo.

Big Church Week 3

This Sunday is week 3 of You, Sex and Society.

Phillip will be opening God's word and helping us to understand Unity in Marriage.

Big Church starts at 6pm, with coffee and hot chocolate on the George St side (weather permitting) from 5.30pm. We'll be having dinner together after church as well, in the Upper Chapter House from about 7.45pm for just $5.

So why not join us for church, and then continue conversations over pizza and pasta in the Chapter House?

No Soup for you!

We've all eaten and enjoyed Emma's Lentil, Bean and Bacon Soup ... now you can make it at home.

Ingredients:

2 tspns olive oil

1/2 onion finely chopped

1/2 tspn minced garlic

1 carrot peeled and finely chopped

1 stick celery finely chopped

1 cup canned chopped tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup brown lentils*

150g canned cannellini beans

salt and pepper to taste

2 tblspns grated parmesan

2 rashers bacon (or equiv. ham)†

Method:

Rinse and drain cannellini beans. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and bacon/ham (if using). Cook, while stirring, for 4 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, carrot and celery and cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Stir in the tomato and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Add the lentils, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir through the beans, season with salt and pepper and heat through. Spoon into warm bowls, sprinkle with parmesan and serve with bread rolls. Serves 3

* I actually use red lentils and simmer for less time.

† Optional.

To modify it for vegetarians, you just use a vegetarian stock and omit the bacon.