Back to Reality

Well we have returned safely! We left on Saturday morning and were home by the evening, in time to see Australia beat the South Africans.

What a great week. We're all tired. Some of us are already back at work this week - trying to shake off the post mission blues and re-orientate our lives to the day to day grind.

It would be nice to list all the things we have learnt in this post but it doesn't feel like we have had enough time to process it all. The mission aspect was absolutely fantastic. We had 55 kids attend over the week. The parents gave some really positive feedback about the new theme and they kids (particularly the high schoolers) were so encouraging to lead.

The team time was amazing - probably the best week of fellowship many of us have experienced. It was great to study the bible together and really grapple with the idea of Holy Living for People Who Sin. Many of us came away challenged by the messages of the bible and the reality that God has chosen us to bear fruit - fruit that will last.

We'll post a couple more time this week with some pictures as well and then call this blog to an end.

Tune in later this week for our final thoughts.

Thirsty Thursday

Just a quick report to say all has been going well.

God has been blessing us richly this week.

Please pray that God will be energising us for the last two days of mission. Pray that the Kids might be moved powerfully to honour and serve our Lord and Saviour.

We look forward to seeing many of you soon.

Terrific Tuesday!!!

Well its Tuesday night, mision is already four days old - we're technically halfway through. It's amazing how quickly the week has gone.

The first two days have been great. Monday and Tuesday has seen 45 and 44 kids turn up -very encourgaing!!! Andrew Spalding's talks have been great and Stephen Mugridge has been challenging the younger group as he talks about the choices that have been made by the biblical heroes in response to God great choice on the cross.

The Emmerson's the family we live with are wonderful - they share their house, their dirt/weed tennis court and of course the spare house they have with us. It has been great spending time with them after mision - we've fought some fierce games of soccer on the dirt/weed tennis court. Hannah Emmerson is currently avoiding washing up but Mark's (her dad) just given her the tally ho and she's on the way to the sink!

Seriously its been an encouraging week where we have seen God working powerfully. We praise God for that. Our devotion times have also been really encouraging as we grapple with the reality of being sinners who have been saved by God and chosen to live holy lives.

Hannah is now back - oh no she hasn't finished the washing up yet so she has again been given a fatherly giddy up.

Please keep praying for us. We have three days of mission to go. We are tired but excited about how God is working. Pray that we might remain energised and passionate about the message we are bringing. Pray for our relationships within the team and pray that we might be inspired by the awesome nature of God's glory.

Super Sunday

Well the trip up was great! We left at 9:30 and were into Tambar's main street by 3:45 - pretty good time and and we brought some rain with us too.

Today we went to church with the rest of the Tambar Community. It was an immensely encouraging experience for us all. It's a great time to touch base with some of the more regular families at Tambar and hear how the year has treated them. The church was packed today. They seem to be a growing community which is so great to hear.

Tonight we had a great devotion time thinking about the reality of sin and we were all convicted about the reality of our ongoing struggle with sin. Pray that we might continue to learn, be challenged and grow.

Tomorrow is the first day of mission. Please pray that it might all go well. It seems like God is working really powerfully in the team and we pray that he might do the same in the kids.

Please pray that the weather during mission time would remain fine so we have enough space to run our activities. Please also pray that many kids come to hear our message.

On a slightly less important note Emily Hammond and Andrew Spalding have asked that their families would tape Lost and Prison Break.

We're off

Well it's Friday night - the planning is over, albeit for a night of sleep ( We hope!! ) and we leave tomorrow. We're excited, some are nervous, some are apathetic - well hopefully no one is really feeling that.

Pray that our packing and preparation on Saturday morning goes well. So much stuff to get into a very limited space - but we keep trusting God.

We'll write on Sunday after our service at Tambar - pray that we have a safe trip up tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers
The Tambar Team.

Impending Excitement

Well the time has nearly arrived for mission. We're all pretty excited but the reality of city life - work and uni exams - still fills our horizon. It will be great when Friday afternoon arrives. At that time the whole team will be able to start really focussing on the week away.

The word on the street is that temperatures in Tambar are in the 1-8 degrees celcius range some days! It looks like thermals will be a good investment for all team members. Will we see these images at Tambar this year?? Doubt it but we can only wish...

The reality is that the lead up to this mission has been a Jeckyl & Hyde experience. It's been pretty tough at times - many of the team have been bogged down in a ridiculous number of exams (my arts student background says "no uni student should have more than one exam"). On top of that some of us have really struggled spiritually at times. But the Hyde side has been the encouragement of a team that has been focussed on God and serving each other. Prasie God for those blessings!!!!

We also want to convey a really big thank you to all those people who have cooked or bought food for us. We will certainly not go hungry this year. It's wonderful to be able to share the mission challenge throughout the church and feel like we are supported and cared for. Thank you.

To all those who are praying for us - grace and peace to you. We will need all your prayers next week. It is when God works that miracles happen. We want to see miracles on mission, we want to be reminded how awesome and great is the God we love and serve.

Prayer Points for the next few days:

• For our safety and logistical needs as we travel up on Saturday


• For enough room for our remaining luggage and food stock.


• Praise God for the generosity of the Emmersons, who not only will be housing us for the week but also took a trailer load of our stuff up


• For the health of each of our team members - may we not get sick in the lead up to and over the week of mission


• Pray that many children may come over the week - especially some new families and non church families.

Stay tuned for more over the next few days

Update

Perhaps read the post below this post before you read on...

Well the last day or so has been good - an opportunity to submerge myself in the scriptures and come to God in prayer. I write this not to give you an ongoing personal account of my travels but to encourage those who are praying that God is hearing and delivering.

Last night as I talked through the realities of struggling through faith with my youth minister I was reminded of the reality that God uses all things to bring about his good purpose. For me it's refreshing my understanding of grace. I don't know what it will be for the others in the team.

Mission planning is going well - we seem directed and focussed on the goal ahead. I think we are all excited about the week. But I guess the reality is that when you preach the Gospel you will come up with resistance - sometimes the resistance is in the form of physical things (lack of money, cars breaking down, people being injured, people being abused) and sometimes that resistance comes in a spiritual form. Take Job for instance, a man who clearly suffered on earth because a greater and more titanic struggle in spritual realms was taking place.

Our only hope is that in God we are more than conquerors. He will take us quite far in our troubles but never too far.

Can we continue to encourage you to pray for the week of mission. May the testing times that lie ahead for the team be times which grow us in our knowledge and love of God.