Noosh News : January 07
Welcome to "Noosh News" where you will get to read all about what God has been doing in my life over the month. January 2007 began with closure and a new beginning. The closure signalled the end of a chapter in my secular working life and the beginning of a life living by faith. I flew to Adelaide on Sunday, 7 Jan 07 with Jenna to commence a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) - "Member Care" Course (MCC) for 4 weeks. Our "home" was the YWAM base in the hills of Norton Summit. The course was run by a South African lady with many years of experience in missions and member care. There were 14 students from 5 different mission organizations, covering 4 nationalities - South Africa, New Zealand, Philippines and Australia and age ranged from 23 to 76 years with missionary experience from zero to 30+ years on the field. I really felt spiritually mentored as I gained many insights, inspirations and encouragements from their stories of God's faithfulness, mind-blowing God moments and answers to prayer on the mission field.
Jenna and I were blessed to share Bek's little 2-room unit on the base. We had a separate lounge area for TV and relaxing and a bedroom with 4 huge bunk beds - with the highest ceilings I've ever seen!! We spent the next 4 weeks learning about how to care for missionaries and I really believe that God placed me there for all the right reasons. The course was also a foundational grounding for understanding what issues and pitfalls missionaries face and how to deal with them. We covered topics including Attrition, Dysfunctional Families, Missionary Kids & Families, Contingency Planning, Financial Support Raising & Budgeting, Self Care, Selection & Screening, Newsletters, Sending Cells, Debriefing & Counselling, Grief, Miscarriage of Vision, Moral Failure, Re-entry, Culture Shock, Intercession, Team Work, Confrontation and Singleness.
A typical day on the course started at 7.00am for showers & brekkie, then worship time at 8.30am or work duties (cleaning the base!) on Mon & Thurs mornings, 9.00am - 12.30pm was class time, and lunch was served promptly at 12.30pm. After lunch, we had free time and then class started again from 2.30pm - 5.30pm. During the week, dinner was served at 6.00pm. Everyone ate together in the dining room and then retired for the evening to either go for a walk around the base and the vineyards, or to spend some quiet time meditating on the Word and praying or watching a bit of TV and heading to bed! Weekends were free time to ourselves. I attended 2 different churches, had OM dinner commitments, explored the city, went to the central markets and I spent one weekend on Kangaroo Island which was fantastic. It was a treat to be amongst amazing wildlife - penguins, sea lions, wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, seals, dolphins and heaps of birds. I also saw the Remarkable Rocks and the Admiral's Arch as well, both of which were beautiful natural formations.
We had regular small group sessions where we talked and prayed for one another. We also had 3 tests, which we passed with flying colours. In addition, we had lots of debriefing to ensure that we were tracking okay and to deal with any issues that may have arisen or needed to be dealt whether in the present or the past. I found these times were real opportunities of spiritual strengthening when someone genuinely listened to everything that I said without any judgments or attempts to find quick resolve. We also had incredible intercessory prayer as we waited on God to minister, prophesy and provide spiritual guidance. It was so evident to me that there was a very healthy interdependence on one another yet a complete dependence on God in all things and acknowledgment that without Jesus we cannot do anything by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We celebrated the end with a "Love Feast"!!
All in all, I strengthened my faith, learned heaps about Member Care and missionary preparation, had amazing intercessory prayers spoken over my life and had confirmation that God has me exactly where he wants me to be! Please email me your prayer requests and news - would love to hear from you! Thanks for taking the time to read my news - will be in touch next month!
I fly to Melbourne on Friday, 9 Feb 07 for the OM Orientation so please pray that God will guide me on the time frames for going to the ship - Thx!
Praise & Prayer Focus
Please take a minute of your time to lift up these praise & prayer points on my behalf. Thank you for your prayers!
* Praise God for his faithfulness
* Praise God that I learned so much from the MCC course to prepare me for my journey
* Pray that God will continue to raise up committed prayer supporters and a strong sending cell
* Pray that God will speak to the hearts of people who want to willing provide financial support as they are led
* Pray that God will continue to lead me by the power of His Holy Spirit to know the right timing for joining the Ship and that the Global Action Orientation week in Melbourne will be a fruitful time
Food For The Soul
Micah 5:4-5 - Missionary Care
Hebrews 3:13 - Encouragement
Hebrews 11:6 - Faith in God
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - Comfort in Trouble
Deuteronomy 8:3 - Bread of Life
Jenna and I were blessed to share Bek's little 2-room unit on the base. We had a separate lounge area for TV and relaxing and a bedroom with 4 huge bunk beds - with the highest ceilings I've ever seen!! We spent the next 4 weeks learning about how to care for missionaries and I really believe that God placed me there for all the right reasons. The course was also a foundational grounding for understanding what issues and pitfalls missionaries face and how to deal with them. We covered topics including Attrition, Dysfunctional Families, Missionary Kids & Families, Contingency Planning, Financial Support Raising & Budgeting, Self Care, Selection & Screening, Newsletters, Sending Cells, Debriefing & Counselling, Grief, Miscarriage of Vision, Moral Failure, Re-entry, Culture Shock, Intercession, Team Work, Confrontation and Singleness.
A typical day on the course started at 7.00am for showers & brekkie, then worship time at 8.30am or work duties (cleaning the base!) on Mon & Thurs mornings, 9.00am - 12.30pm was class time, and lunch was served promptly at 12.30pm. After lunch, we had free time and then class started again from 2.30pm - 5.30pm. During the week, dinner was served at 6.00pm. Everyone ate together in the dining room and then retired for the evening to either go for a walk around the base and the vineyards, or to spend some quiet time meditating on the Word and praying or watching a bit of TV and heading to bed! Weekends were free time to ourselves. I attended 2 different churches, had OM dinner commitments, explored the city, went to the central markets and I spent one weekend on Kangaroo Island which was fantastic. It was a treat to be amongst amazing wildlife - penguins, sea lions, wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, seals, dolphins and heaps of birds. I also saw the Remarkable Rocks and the Admiral's Arch as well, both of which were beautiful natural formations.
We had regular small group sessions where we talked and prayed for one another. We also had 3 tests, which we passed with flying colours. In addition, we had lots of debriefing to ensure that we were tracking okay and to deal with any issues that may have arisen or needed to be dealt whether in the present or the past. I found these times were real opportunities of spiritual strengthening when someone genuinely listened to everything that I said without any judgments or attempts to find quick resolve. We also had incredible intercessory prayer as we waited on God to minister, prophesy and provide spiritual guidance. It was so evident to me that there was a very healthy interdependence on one another yet a complete dependence on God in all things and acknowledgment that without Jesus we cannot do anything by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We celebrated the end with a "Love Feast"!!
All in all, I strengthened my faith, learned heaps about Member Care and missionary preparation, had amazing intercessory prayers spoken over my life and had confirmation that God has me exactly where he wants me to be! Please email me your prayer requests and news - would love to hear from you! Thanks for taking the time to read my news - will be in touch next month!
I fly to Melbourne on Friday, 9 Feb 07 for the OM Orientation so please pray that God will guide me on the time frames for going to the ship - Thx!
Praise & Prayer Focus
Please take a minute of your time to lift up these praise & prayer points on my behalf. Thank you for your prayers!
* Praise God for his faithfulness
* Praise God that I learned so much from the MCC course to prepare me for my journey
* Pray that God will continue to raise up committed prayer supporters and a strong sending cell
* Pray that God will speak to the hearts of people who want to willing provide financial support as they are led
* Pray that God will continue to lead me by the power of His Holy Spirit to know the right timing for joining the Ship and that the Global Action Orientation week in Melbourne will be a fruitful time
Food For The Soul
Micah 5:4-5 - Missionary Care
Hebrews 3:13 - Encouragement
Hebrews 11:6 - Faith in God
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - Comfort in Trouble
Deuteronomy 8:3 - Bread of Life
posted by Vanoosh at
12:00 pm
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