Life's been a tough balancing act lately...too many new things on my plate at the moment.

College
College started 3 weeks ago, and for most of that time, I've spent most of my time working in the bookshop than I have studying or doing ministry. SMBC only has a very small bookshop, and managing it isn't all that much work - except at the beginning of the year. Everyone is rushing to get books, and I need to get lots and lots of stock. I have a new team of people to run the bookshop, but most of them needs to be trained (and during the early stages, there are a lot of mistakes...guess who has to fix them up). Things are starting to settle down now, so hopefully I'll be able to get stuck into some studying soon.

<< Thank God for the refreshing break over the holidays and for the start of another year at SMBC. Pray that I can quickly get into a good routine of study and rest so that I can make full use of what I'm learning. >>

Church
I've been at ND now for over 2 months, but I'm still feeling very new there. Still lots of faces I don't know yet. ND's new youth group - 180 - kicked off last Friday night with a big bang. I'm working with a team of 8 other leaders to run this high school youth group. Most of them haven't had much experience with youth or with teaching the Bible, so it's been hard work the past few weeks leading up to the launch.

By God's grace we had 36 kids turn up. But at this stage, it's hard to tell whether they came because of all they hype and out of curiosity. Hopefully they'll stick around for the year, especially all the many Yr 12 kids we have.

I'm also preaching my very first sermon at ND in 2 Sundays' time. I've been mulling over it for quite some time now, but still not too sure how to approach it. Yikes!!

<< Praise God for the great start 180 has had. Pray that the kids will be commited to the youth group and grow into maturity, and pray that it will attract non-Christians as well. Pray for the team of leaders and our relationship with one another. Pray that I can be sensitive and humble as it's the first time I've been part of a team (as opposed to leading one) for some time. And pray also for my sermon that the Holy Spirit may work in and through me to preach His Word clearly so that lives are changed for God. >>

South Events
Lastly, I've been doing a little bit of work for various South training and evangelistic events. It's a stressful load on top of everything else I'm doing, even though it's only at the back of my mind. Perhaps it's because that it's always at the back of my mind that it's so stressful. I'll talk about these more when the time comes. For now, just pray for my sanity!! ;P

PS Have you prayed for me yet? Don't just read it, but commit it to God!