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!

Accepted!

On 25 September I received my formal acceptance letter from International Teams to serve God in Queretaro, Mexico for two years.

I'm very excited to finally have this confirmed. I have felt God's encouragement to keep moving forward and depending on Him.

I'm still working full-time (until Christmas) but I'm moving into an important time in my preparation where I need to form my partnership team. I believe that God has this under control and he will touch people's hearts to pray, encourage and give financially. I'm feeling quite comfortable that God will provide all my needs, but I am struggling to make the time to do the organisation and preparation required to get out there and catch up with people and churches.

If you're a praying person, I would love it if you would pray that God would help me to balance and prioritise over the next few weeks to get these things organised.

Brooke Fraser

Tonight I had the privilege of seeing Brooke Fraser in concert. I went to the Atheneum Theatre in Melbourne with some friends and had a fantastic night. It was really refreshing to see an artist who is very real and candid on stage!

Brooke sings an amazing song called Albertine which she wrote after spending time in Rwanda. I find this song really moving as it tells the story of a person she met in Rwanda and how this has changed her.

Now that I have seen, I am responsible, faith without deeds is dead...

This song always brings me back to the compassionate and loving heart of Jesus - the one who loves me and calls me to love others...without limit...

Oh...and I want to marry Brooke Fraser. Brooke, if you read this... call me!

Encouraging and challenging words

I am taking on a bit of a challenge to read through the bible in roughly a year (I say roughly because I'm using an online reading plan which means that when I'm away from internet connectivity, I have to go back to my offline copy of the Bible... i.e. the book version hehe).

Anyway, I was reading through 1 Corinthians 4 this morning and was both encouraged and challenged by these words:
Verse 20 - For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God's power.

These words challenged me... do I talk lots about the Kingdom of God, about Jesus, about the Bible, whilst failing to live day-by-day by God's power? Sometimes the answer is yes. It's much easier to have lots of fancy talk, but to really rest in Christ and live by God's power is more challenging. It involves letting go of myself and my own desires and choosing to let God take the drivers seat. I think that when we are following Jesus, we constantly need to remember this - to daily let go of our own desires and live by God's power.

I was also reminded of the verse in James where it says "Do not merely listen to the word [of God], and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

Thankfully God is full of grace and promises to give us his Spirit to help us. So if you catch me speaking lots of fancy talk and not living by God's power... tell me to be quiet and take a minute to seek God to get things back in balance ;-)

Continuing the journey

Last week I had an exciting week completing the Partnership Development workshop out at Wycliffe. I really enjoyed getting to know the others on the workshop and had a real sense of God confirming to me that He is going before me on the journey.

I'm back at work now, but excited about the journey ahead.

There's more to come, watch this space...

MILL's done!

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your prayers and interest in my journey. God continues to be faithful and loving even when life gets hectic and full on - how great is our God! I was encouraged last week to get a note from one of the team members in Queretaro saying that they were looking forward to March next year when I would be in Mexico - wow!

I've just completed the eight day Maximum Impact Language Learning course out at Equip Training in Kangaroo Ground. This course provided some great tools and techniques to assist with language learning as well as being good fun. I had a great time during the course catching up with other International Teams missionaries and meeting a stack of great people going out to other places around the world. I had fun talking Spanish with one of the course leaders and sharing some stories of the funny language faux pais (spelling?) I had made whilst in Mexico last year. It was particularly cool to share and pray for one another on the final day of the course.

I also had Friday off work (following the course) and went snowboarding at Mount Buller with some friends. It was great to get away and have a day of "real" leave as I've been using all my holidays to attend training courses lately!

I'm back at work on Monday to face the intensity and busyness of corporate life again so I would appreciate your prayers for strength and focus particularly over the next week. The next step in my preparation is to attend the Partnership Development workshop from July 9 - 13, again at Kangaroo Ground.

I'd love you to pray specifically for:

• My transition back into work in the coming week
• Continued focus on God and the journey ahead in the midst of work pressures
• The Shift missions event on July 22 that I'm responsible for organising - that things would come together for this
• Me to be consistently shining a light in my workplace, particularly over the next six months as people see me prepare to serve God overseas

Thanks again for journeying with me. I do find it really encouraging to have people interested and praying for me - it really excites me when I'm asked how things are going or to get an email letting me know some news about your journey wherever that may be.

God bless,
Phil

The next step - MILL

Ok, so what's MILL - it stands for Maximum Impact Language Learning. For me, this is the next step on my journey as I work towards serving in Mexico. On Tuesday I'll commence the MILL course run by Equip Training (Wycliffe) for two weeks. This course will equip me with tools and techniques to learn language effectively.

Since I last blogged, life has been pretty hectic with LOTS on at work that has been keeping me very busy. I've been travelling up to Sydney a fair bit which has been interesting but also kept me fairly tired.

I look forward to taking a couple of weeks to really focus on learning and preparation for my time of mission service and I'm praying that God will really challenge, stretch and equip me over the next couple of weeks.

It's been exciting to hear stories from another International Teams intern from Australia who just returned from spending three months in Queretaro. She absolutely loved Mexico and God used her to be a blessing over there.

Please continue to pray for my journey and I look forward to catching up with you over the coming weeks and months.