Ernest & Carmen

On the last day of my holiday, I went with a bunch of friends to The Jenolan Caves to see the River Cave. It was an amazing sight to behold - to see how the caves were formed by a river and how the various formations were caused by dripping water - and to know that this was all carefully carved out by Creator God. Upon exiting the serene and quiescent caves and back into the 'real' world, I was struck by the brightness of the colours and the canorous sounds of nature, mixed in with the repugnant noise of traffic - all in a split second.

That's kinda what the past week has been like. In the weeks of rest, I had lost track of time and place and events and people and all that was familiar. But going back to work now I was quickly reminded of the realities of work and ministry and relationships and the 101 things to do. Good thing I braced myself for it.

One of my main priorities at the moment is to work out the music for the RICE Outreach Night (Fate). Problem is that I can't seem to get hold of the people I need and there's not much time to arrange a practice. Knowing that most people who are in ministry are fairly busy, I'll be hard to find a time where everyone is available as well. But what happens on this night is particularly important because it's where the gospel will be preached and people will be challenged to respond to the cross of Christ. And the music will hopefully work to that goal as well.

<< Pray for the logistics of organising the band that will play on the night. Pray that I can find the right people and a time to practice, and pray especially that the songs we choose will assist in proclaiming Christ. >>

The other main thing is church camp. There may be some complications on the chinese side because our speaker is from Toronto - where the SARS virus is a cause for concern. If they bail out, then the english side will go solo (which might be a good thing), but we'll have to find an alternative campsite. It'll be difficult to find much available with such short notice, and it'd be a shame if we were to cancel it after all the work that's gone into the past month.

<< Please pray that the SARS situation will be resolved soon and that no more people will fall sick and/or die. Pray that we can find a suitable resolution to the camp so that it can continue and be an edifying time for everyone. >>

And I'm also in the process of writing up my second newsletter. Coming your way...