(Blog 4 Entry 02 March 2011)
Welcome back. Here’s what I mean by “I’ve come a long way from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria and now to the Ends of the Earth.” At my official farewell from the last church, where I had served for 10+ years (after completing the 3rd of three-3 year contracts plus a year at a branch church) I stated that I was about to embark on a ‘Samarian’ experience and it would be tough. I had earlier mentioned that I viewed the church that I was about to leave as ‘my Judea’ and an earlier 2 year sojourn as youth pastor in a Presbyterian church as ‘my Jerusalem’. The part statement, of course comes from Acts 1:8b, for those who are more familiar with the bible.
True to my remark, my ‘Samarian’ experience proved to be tough in the sense that I did not have a church where I could really call ‘home’ for 5 years. I was able though to do some itinerant preaching in not so many churches. It was an opportunity also to take a hard look at the church from the outside. On the upside, I had ample time to reflect on ministry besides being exposed to the ‘real world’ as sessional ESL teacher at various TAFE Colleges and Universities. The exposure to the ‘real world’ which consisted mostly of adult migrants only added to the urgent need to proclaim the gospel to such people.
By God’s grace and having been called to the C.A.C.V., I now see it as a ‘last call’ to ministry. The English Congregation of about 40 people is made up mostly of young and eager hearts and minds with great potential to ‘Make a Difference’ for God. Many are ABCs and there are a few older adults. I consider my call into the C&MA through the C.A.C.V. as a last call to “the Ends of the Earth”. After all, the C&MA, as I have stated in an earlier blog, started off as a missions’ organisation in the latter half of the 1800s and has since spread to almost every corner of the globe. I look forward to vast future opportunities to join with what God is doing in the missions’ field.
So, that’s I how I arrived at the statement “…from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the Ends of the Earth.”
2 comments:
Will your focus be on discipleship? What's your ministry vision for this year?
Well done on embarking on this final call to ministry :)
Focus will be on "Establishing relationships". With that I have offered to visit every member of the English Congreg. plus families this year. The church theme of "Respond to the Call, Make a Difference" will also feature prominently in my sermons and teaching. So it will be more like sit back, listen and observe. No big vision. at least till next year.
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