Way behind!

Hey all... I haven't died, disappeared or got a tropical disease... I'm still here. Just got a lot of things that I'm juggling right now. Thanks for your prayers and emails, I appreciate keeping in contact! Soon, I'm going to give you all an update on what's been happening... here is what you can expect:

• A song that God allowed me to write with a friend to express our pastor's journey
• Passion Mexico City - wow! how amazing is our God!
• Yes, I'm feeling better... but still laying off the tacos ahhh!
• Lots planned for uni students here in Queretaro

In the middle of all that is going on, I have a distinct peace in Jesus that He has everything in control and is looking after the busyness of life here. He has a purpose and a plan for me here and he is showing me how much is mercies are new EVERY morning and His faithfulness is MASSIVE!

Ok... going to help one of the young people paint their apartment... see ya soon!

Busy

Hey all,

I haven't forgotten my blog, just pretty busy keeping up with things at the moment. Passion Mexico City is in 9 days and getting ready for that is keeping me very busy and a little stressed trying to get everything under control with logistics (I think I am the ideas person and need someone around me who is really good at organising events). The IT Adviser in me made a cool spreadsheet to work out the costs though... Matt O'Keefe would be proud...
Got a cool God story to share about the weekend, but will have to wait for the moment. Been a bit sick in the stomach over the weekend and until Monday but feeling better now.

Will keep in touch!

God’s Way Camp

Cruising down the highway for Cuernavarca, I didn't have any idea of how fantastic the weekend would be. After a quick stop-off in the city of Cuernavarca for the comida, and following some of the organisers down the wrong road (they were collecting the signs they had put on the road giving incorrect directions to the camp hehe), we arrived at Camp Kikoten.

Camp Kikoten is just out of Cuernavarca which is about 45 minutes or a bit more south of Mexico City. The theme of the camp was 1 Timothy 4:12 - Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

One of the most impacting times for me was in the Friday night session when we had a time of worship and we sang (in Spanish) the song "Lord I Give You My Heart". This song was the song I chose for my baptism just about 10 years ago. It connected with me in a new way as I remembered how God has brought me through so many things to arrive here and that he has much more in store for my life. I can't believe that I'm here in Mexico, serving Him, being used to impact the lives of others. God is growing me lots and in that moment I remembered once again that I have to leave everything in God's hands, let go of my own pride and let God work. After I spent a little time reflecting and writing some things down that I wanted to say to God, I felt so much joy and freedom! I wanted to shout out how good God is! It was something really cool for me and another step in my journey with God.

The rest of the weekend was awesome also – a great balance of fun activities and great bible teaching. My favourite was a talk on love and purity by Jaime Foote (www.semillacuerna.com) which was very relevant and impacting for us blokes.

Check out some of the photos!

Interesting article about Mexico

Check it out... it even has a picture of Guanajuato where I plan to do language study...

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,23483,22730077-27977,00.html

Bad blogger

Ok, so I've been a bad blogger and not updated this blog for a little while. I'm putting up a couple of posts in a row now to get back on top of things. I'll try and update a little more regularly as the time is fast approaching that I'll be heading off to Mexico.

It's starting to really hit home that my planned departure is less than five months away! I've got so much to do! But at the same time, I'm trying really hard to spend time out and enjoy life - particularly enjoying the company of my friends and taking time to do the important things like watching sunsets, hanging with the family, drinking coffee with friends and going out to the country (with the Wild Brumbies... see to the right).

I've been really challenged lately about God's kingdom - the central message of Jesus. I've been challenged about how it looks when God is in charge of everything and also what it looks like when you come to Christ, becoming part of God's kingdom and aligning yourself to a new way of life. I actually preached at my home church, Balwyn, just over a week ago about the kingdom of God. It challenged me to continue to study, to grapple and to challenge how I understand God as he reveals Himself in his word - the Bible. God is a loving king, a king who is above everything and is mighty and powerful, yet humbled himself to come to earth in Jesus and offer us relationship, forgiveness, freedom and connection with the king.

Wow!