Food for thought...

Remember this event:

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."

Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.

"Bring them here to me," he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave hanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples ave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Pretty amazing event isn't it. Can you imagine what the disciples must have been thinking? There's five loaves of bread and two fishes for five thousand. Imagine trying to cut the fish into bits small enough to feed 50 let alone 5,000. And Jesus says no don't send them away! But the most astounding thing is what happens next.

I only wish I could have been there to see that happen. What happened to the fish? Did they just suddenly multiply like some single cell organism continually dividing in half. Perhaps the baskets were like the Tim Tam packet that never runs out - it gets to a critically low level of two fish and the next thing its full again.

Just imagine what the disciples must have thought - running excitedly through the crowd spreading the food, looking at each other and back at their master in awe.

God provides so much, so easily, so often. And yet we doubt he will provide the simple things in life.

This year at mission we are cutting our budget - trying to reduce our spending and keep mission affordable. It means cutting some "luxury items" from the list - a sacrifice we are happy to make. But despite the cuts it seems hopeless at times, petrol is going up and we want to do so much at mission but know that somethings are out of the price range. The challenge for us is to trust our Lord that he can feed, inspire and guide not only the disciples and the five thousand but also the 16 of us. And he will.

Please pray for us this week:

• For Tammie as she plans our food for the week. Help her not to be stressed but give her insight and peace as she deals with what could be a stressful job.


• Pray for Laura as she begins writing the drama and for the others in the team who will help her over the next few weeks.


• For Marika as she takes over the follow up role from one of our previous team members (thanks Jill for all your great work!)


• For Stephen and Andrew as they continue to grapple with how best to teach the concept of choice while ensuring that the doctrine of God's unending grace is maintained.