Ernest & Carmen

And so it begins...

A year of my observations and thoughts are about to be analysed, discussed, reviewed, questioned, and basically torn to shreds and reassembled. I've had numerous thoughts on the structure and program of the english ministries at Rockdale since I've been there. Many of them have laid dormant so as to not seem like a usurper leading a solo takeover. But it seems that people are slowly starting to catch onto some of my ideas and my vision for the church. The deacons I work with have always been a bit more adventerous than most conservative asians, but when up against a controversial, radical and naive young man, it still takes a bit of time to gel.

Currently, the typical Sunday is something like this:
9:00am-10:00am English Service
10:00am-10:30am Morning Tea
10:30am-11:30am Sunday School
11:30am-12:30pm Teens' Group
12:30pm- 2:00pm Lunch*
2:00pm- ?? Meeting(s) - most weeks
(*everything always goes over time, so realistically lunch starts at 1pm for us.)

This makes for a rather long day for everyone, especially the kids who have to sit down for 3 Bible teaching sessions. We're also planning to create a coherent 2 year syllabus that will cover Old Testament, New Testament, topics, and training (some of which are sorely lacking at the moment). There are a number of other things that makes this program not effective for the growth of the gospel, and so we're hoping to improve on all that.

So basically, lots of exciting things happening in the next 6 months!!

<< Thank God for the open-mindedness of the deacons and minister to see a long-term, gospel-focused vision for the church. At such an important turning point, pray that we may be united in spirit and purpose, being dependent upon God at all time in our thinking and decision making. Pray that we can improve things so that Christ will be glorified in and through our ministries. >>

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ...stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith fo the gospel... (Philippians 1:27)