What a lovely rest
Christine and I are so grateful to God for a wonderful holiday in Lombok, Indonesia. We travelled together on a motorbike around the island, went snorkelling, swimming and explored waterfalls. We loved the local food and coffee.
Addressing Spiritual Poverty
On holidays, we had time to read and reflect. I read “Risky Compassion” by Ash Barker who set up a mission living with his family in a slum in Thailand. At the end of the book, he asked about what we can really expect to achieve in ministry. As much as I love starting and running programs, I have to admit it’s not the programs but the Holy Spirit who actually changes people’s lives – from the inside. I read another book which outlined all the programs of a successful church in England. And I ask the question, “What are we really achieving by running programs?” As a result of this reading, prayer and reflection, it seems clear that our focus must continue to be upon addressing spiritual poverty by teaching the children about Jesus.
Working on our VISION
Chritine and I worked on refining our Vision and since coming home, we met with Amber to share these reflections. As a vision statement, we came up with “We teach Corio children about Jesus”. We rely on the Holy Spirit to bring the transformation. We must get better and better at teaching the children about Jesus. It is almost impossible to measure the effectiveness of such an approach, but we must nevertheless make it our highest priority.
Focus on The Lord’s Prayer
This term we will focus on teaching The Lord’s Prayer. We will aim to get all the children to memorise it and we’ll teach the meaning of all the key elements. This will take 7 weeks. To enrich the learning experiences we’ll use music, sign language, choral drilling and bonus questions for those who want to learn more. Children unable to keep up will have easier learning tasks to achieve and the chance to do it again next year.
Acknowledging children’s spiritual journeys
Finally I want to share a key value we have – acknowledging children’s personal journeys. Our teaching is all about empowering children to think, share, try and discuss. Remember, Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” What is it about children which means they are more fit for heaven than us? How can we encourage children to share their thoughts as they encounter Jesus through our teaching? I’m sure sharing such thoughts would be encouraging and instructive for everyone.
I met my granddaughter
As part of our holiday, we dropped in to see my new granddaughter in Darwin. She is now 5 months old!
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