Moore College

Equipping men and women to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ

Maitland Mission 2021 Day 5

Maitland Mission 2021 Day 5

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On Thursday night, a few of our women joined with MEC for their ‘Holy Guacamole’ women’s outreach event.

We met at a Mexican restaurant in town and had a blast with tacos, Mexican themed activities, and great conversation. Along with a woman from MEC, Zaneta and Marian were interviewed about where they find true joy – ultimately, in Christ.

We were encouraged by how eagerly the MEC women invited their friends. Of 50 women, 15 were not from a church background. One MEC woman brought along two work friends who were eager to ask more questions about Christianity. Another woman brought a uni friend who found one of the interviews really resonated with her life, and realised she wants to find out more about Jesus.

Praise God for women taking their next step with Jesus!
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Normanhurst Mission Day 5

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Today the SRE team rolled on to Normanhurst West Public School to share about the empty tomb and Jesus being raised from the dead! Another great Easter Assembly full of interaction and songs making it clear that Christ is better than Easter eggs and hot cross buns. Jesus is alive!

Praise God for the encouragement and time in God’s word at the women’s bible study.

Praise God for all the conversations and people invited to the SSNAC Easter Services during door-knocking and manning the Anglicare food collection table.

Prayer:

  • Pray that all those invited would take up the invitations to the Easter Services to hear about the fresh start Jesus offers.
  • Pray for more opportunities for gospel conversations as we continue door-knocking and inviting people to Easter Services.
  • Pray that the youth will grow in deeper conviction to serve Jesus at tomorrow night’s youth training seminar. Pray that our team members will provide encouragement as they share their lives and experiences with the youth.

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Asquith Mission 2021 Day 5

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Walk-up

Making the best use of the sun the entire team made its way into Hornsby Westfield fountain to have a go trying to engage with the local community.

The local markets made for lots of traffic as we tried to share the good news of Jesus with the community! Please praise God for the conversations we were able to have and ask that God might call them to repent and believe his Gospel.

Pray

Please pray that for the conversation Tara had with a woman who was interested in coming to church and investigate the claims of Jesus. Pray she might be connected well with the local church, hear the Gospel and believe.

Please pray for A who is currently connected to a church where she doesn’t understand what is said from the front but loves the community there. Pray God might convict her of the need to hear and understand and that she might find a church where she is able to not only connect with the community but hear and believe the Gospel.

Kids Club

Kids ask some incredibly curly, creative questions (“why is the sky blue?”, “why does cement smell weird after it has rained?”). They also ask the deeper questions of life: “what happens when you die?”.

This week at St John’s Asquith, a Moore College Mission team has been helping run the kids club. It’s great fun – crazy games, colourful craft, a lot of silliness and laughter. But it’s also a great opportunity for kids in upper-primary school to ask the big questions.

This week we explored the question: “who is Jesus?”. We explored Jesus’ power to heal, his power over nature, his power to forgive, his power to die for our sin and rise again.

Pray

Praise God that at such a formative time in the kids’ lives, there’s a team of leaders at Asquith working hard to help the kids learn about God in a fun, friendly environment. Pray for the kids, that they would know and trust Jesus, and for the leaders, that they would be encouraged and energised as they help the kids explore the big questions

Men’s Event

What do you get when you combine a message, men, meat and machines, in one tin shed?

Over at the Men’s Shed in Asquith over 50 men bonded together in a big tin shed to see how big machines turn big bits of wood, into little ones. In one hand a snag, and in the other an ice cream.

Kevin gave a great talk on Jesus being the bread that satisfied and called us to see that true satisfaction is only found in Jesus. Some 30 men not from the church were there, praise God!

Pray

Thank god for the evangelistic zeal of many of the members of the church. Some brought 2 or 3 mates along! Pray that God would soften their hearts to who Jesus is and that they might repent and believe in him, feeding on the bread of life and fine real satisfaction.
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Asquith Mission 2021 Day 4

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During the first few days of mission, the women (and even a few of the guys!) were able to be part of a couple of women’s events the church had organised.

On Monday afternoon the women from our team joined the Senior Ladies Fellowship for afternoon tea. The group usually meets every 2 months but had actually put on a special afternoon tea gathering just for mission week! The age range of the group is generally between 60-90 years, and those who come are mixture of women from the church and outside the church.

One of the women on our team had planned to give an evangelistic talk but unfortunately was unwell on the day (praise God she is feeling better now!). Instead, our chaplain Tara briefly interviewed three of the women from our team about our time at college and we had the opportunity to share our testimonies. We finished our up-front time with the question to discuss over afternoon tea: What did you learn about God from these stories?

It was encouraging to see that the church is keen for these women to hear from God’s word every time they meet and to hear the gospel. Also, what a joy to see women persevering in their faith through many years and through many challenges. Please pray that the women who heard about who God is would consider for themselves what it means to be Christian, and that they might put their trust in Jesus. Pray that it would continue to be a place where senior ladies can build relationships with one another and continue to hear God’s word.

On Tuesday night the church had organised a Dessert & Dough Night. Two of the ladies from church gave a demonstration on the basics of making & baking sourdough (as well as how to keep a sourdough starter alive…) and one of our women on the team gave an evangelistic talk. The hope was that the women there could chew on something deeper for the night – if Jesus, the innocent one, has taken the guilty verdict (and punishment) for sinners, what does this mean for you?

This is an event where a few of the men from our team and from our church served us by helping out in the kitchen – serving desserts, washing up, bringing around food for us all! It was a great way for the women to be freed up to join the tables and conversations for the night. Almost a quarter of the women who joined were not from the church. Praise God for the women who came along and for the conversations we had throughout the night. Please pray that the women would continue to consider what it means for Jesus to take the guilty verdict on their behalf, and that they could continue conversations about Jesus with the friends who invited them.
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Church @ the Peak 2021 Day 5

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Today was supposed to be our day off but turned into a day of things we didn’t get to do because of the weather. Today, our team split into two teams. The first team spent the morning at our Coffee Cart where we were able to meet many people in the community who have contemplated coming to a church but were looking for a reason. Many people were invited to our Grill the Pastor session on Saturday or to church this Sunday and all were sounding keen to come along. Either that or their enthusiasm was from the free coffee we were offering them.

Please pray that people would take this opportunity that God has given them to engage with the church and the Gospel – many for the first time. Thank God for all the contacts and connections that were made over a coffee. Pray particularly for the Vietnamese women that Sheila met and was able to share the Gospel with them in their native language. Pray that they would take what Sheila said seriously and that they would continue thinking about the Gospel in their lives with their common Christian friend. Pray that God would bless Sheila for being bold in sharing her faith.

The second half of our team went door-knocking in the afternoon to continue to get to know the neighbourhood and invite them to these community events. Some of our team struggled with the negativity that some of the residents were showing. Others made beautiful connections with people who had experienced faith in one way or another but never dived in fully into a church community and fully accepted Christ. We were struck by people’s desire to come to our events and their desire to invite their friends to come along.

Particularly, our Moore College team acutely felt the footprint that Church @ the Peak had in the community. Their perseverance in the community over the last 13 years has meant that almost everyone in the community can recall a positive experience that they’ve had with the church.

Thank God and pray that he would bless Stu and Liana Maze for the intentional Gospel work they have been doing for so long and for the beautiful way they have invested into the Peakhurst community. Praise God for the firstfruits we are experiencing alongside Church @ the Peak and pray that the harvest of the community coming to hear about Jesus would be abundant.

Praise God for those a part of the church community who joined us and felt encouraged by the mission work they were involved with. Pray that God would nurture their heart for the lost to take up the torch long after we’re gone.

Prayer points to keep in mind for the rest of the week:

  • Our major events are coming up this weekend. Particularly, Grill the Pastor on Saturday night and Life After COVID on Sunday morning. Pray that those who come would hear the Gospel and join into the beautiful community that is growing exponentially in Peakhurst.
  • Pray for those who are joining in the mission work alongside us that they would be spurred on to bring Jesus’ Gospel to all in this community.
  • Pray for those who have demonstrated hostility during our door knocking and coffee cart. Pray that God would protect the hearts of those who experienced the hostility but also pray that God would soften the hardened hearts and help them see the need for community and for a Saviour from their brokenness.

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Armidale Mission 2021 Day 5

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Thursday was the team rest day. Thank God for a time of rest and refreshment together as a team including:

  • Going out to Dangar Waterfall was particularly impressive after all the rain that’s fallen in the area!
  • Visiting nearby Uralla for the play equipment, pie shops and Thunderbolts Rock!
  • Visiting a farm for a tour, chatting with the farmers and BBQ Lamb.
  • Team Dinner at the Bowlo, then watching a school production of Sweeney Todd.

 
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