Month: March 2010

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Rwanda – Battling for safe drinking water

“We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.” (Kofi Anna – Former United Nations Secretary General – World Day for Water, March 2005).

What does the world need most? Forgiveness of sin that comes only through trusting in the death and resurrection of Jesus. BUT the book of James makes it clear that for followers of Jesus, real faith is shown in action.

GOOD NEWS: In a small way, readers of dmdc have put their faith into action and raised $1741 to help provide safe drinking water in the developing world. This is $200 more than the original target! Read the first 3 posts: one, two, three.

The money will go towards a fantastic Compassion project in Rwanda. The aim of the project is to contribute to the reduction of water-borne diseases among Compassion assisted children by supplying 20 Compassion child development centres with safe drinking water to meet their basic needs. I’m really impressed with Compassion’s work in Rwanda and I’m glad that this water project fits into a larger ongoing strategy.

Expected Project Outcomes

  • At least 75 per cent of Compassion assisted children are supplied with a basic amount of clean water per day (60 litres per household).
  • Water shortages in beneficiary villages are reduced.
  • Families in the vicinity of the church partner property have regular access to water supplied by the tanks.
  • Each church planter is trained in the use and maintenance of the water tanks and has taken over financial and operational responsibilities of the water tank.

Thanks to those who have contributed. Praise God for the generosity of his people!

If you want more info on the project, I can send you a detailed PDF. Likewise, if you want to contribute to the project, let me know or contact Compassion directly.

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I’ve now recovered from all-you-can-eat

It’s taken 6 days, but I’ve now recovered from all-you-can-eat at the Merrylands’ Men’s Fight Night last week! It seemed like a good idea at the time, but 10 different types of meat with next to no vegetables really wasn’t a brilliant idea. Excessive food consumption aside, partnering with Merrylands Anglican Church was a joy for our team of Moore College students.

If you missed our posts during mission – they are listed below the jump:

Continue reading “I’ve now recovered from all-you-can-eat”

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Shout out to Timmy B

Row and Sam weren’t able to come to the Riverina Youth Convention. So Tim Blomfield joined me for the road trip. The air con wasn’t working in the car – so it was crazy hot on the way down, and fairly hot on the way back. But that didn’t get in the way of good times and lots of good conversation.

My theory in taking someone was that it would be good to:

  • have company for the 10 hours of driving
  • spend informal time encouraging and training a young punk
  • have absolutely no opportunities to scoop fire (see v27)

So shout out to Tim!

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Riverina Youth Convention – Talk MP3s

I’ve spent the last few days near Wagga Wagga at the Riverina Youth Convention. I really liked the country-fresh cow manure smell. I really loved the 80 or so young people from across the Riverina. The program was full on with 4 talks, 2 workshops and 1 q&a in just over 24 hours. Yet, these young people loved being challenged from God’s word.

God in his kindness brought a number of people from death to life!! And a few more recommitted their lives to following Jesus. Richard Wilson (AFES Wagga Wagga) and a fantastic bunch of youth leaders from across the Riverina did a great job at organising the event. Below are the MP3s from my 4 Living the Revolution talks:

If you were there, feel free to leave comments on how you were challenged and/or encouraged from God’s word over the weekend…

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Cross Cultural Fail

Realising that the man only spoke Arabic, plan B kicked into action. I reached for the green Arabic copy of Luke’s gospel. Proudly I held it up the right way. My cultural savviness was paying off; I know that this language reverses the reading direction. This is going well! Simultaneously he began closing the door as he said ‘Islam’. The conversation quickly progressed to plan C.

Yeah-soos?? Yeah-soos?? Yeah???

As the door closed, the smile on Robbo’s face said it all. Yes. I said Jesús in Spanish instead of Arabic.

I could justify my cultural faux pas by explaining to you that my mission team is very Anglo-Christian. It does include 3 Dave’s, 3 Matt’s, 2 Andrew’s and 2 Daniel’s. Or maybe I just need to work harder at understanding people and cultures…

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.

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Can you really say there’s only one true religion?

We’ve sent a number of advance troops out to leaflet commuters at Merrylands Station each morning. If you’ve spent much time catching trains around Sydney City, you’ll realise that commuters are willing to read any trash you put in their hands. MX is the prime example. Trashy journalism at it’s best, or worst. Yet everyone reads it!

Merrylands Anglican Church and/or Moore College don’t have the budget to produce glossy glossy publications every day, but we figure that we can provide some content that’s less trashy and hopefully a little more thought-provoking.

It works. People take it. People read it. Here is tomorrow morning’s edition: Can you really say there’s only one true religion? (PDF)

I think this is an evangelism/engagement strategy that churches could use once a week. If you’re near a busy train station or bus stop, here’s what you do:

  1. get someone with basic skills* in design to provide a simple template
  2. write a brief article with a thought provoking/provocative title
  3. advertise church and/or some upcoming events
  4. throw in a puzzle and some pictures
  5. print it A5 double sided
  6. give it to people thursday (or whenever) morning each week

Hey presto!

Does anyone know of churches/ministries doing this regularly??

*basic skills = knowing that Comic Sans is a bad font!

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.

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I played chicken with my host

I met my host family tonight. Lovely family. We spent about 4 hours chatting! Around midnight the family of 4 had dwindled down to 1. So it was just the father and me left. I was getting tired. But I didn’t want to be the one to break off the conversation. So in my head I thought I’d play chicken with him. Last one left standing wins.

By 1am I realised that I needed to call it off. But I couldn’t. I had to win. I thought if I just held out for another minute or two, he’d say “good night” first. He didn’t. I did. He wins. I lose. That’s okay.

I miss my family already, but here are 3 reasons why being billeted is gold:

  1. A tangible way of showing our gospel partnership
  2. A glimpse into the culture of the family, the local church and the local community
  3. An encouragement hearing of God’s work in their lives

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.