The OZ oKERRance

We’ve been gone from Singapore for a month now and we are settling pretty smoothly back into life in Oz. Thank you for all your prayers!
Within the first week, we bought a car. Within the second week, Josiah started school. And by the third week we bought a house! The last part of the ‘settling-in’ jigsaw is now to find a suitable position for James. More about that in a minute…

Leaving Singapore…

Since we last wrote in about July it has been a mad rush to get lots of bits and pieces done as you would expect. Selling our house, moving households, selling the car, and then living out of a suitcase for a few months has been exhausting! But, we were so blessed in our last few weeks in Singapore to be able to spend them in the households of dear brothers and sisters in Christ - the Foos and the Divyanathans. We crowded their houses, ate their food and kept them up late – but enjoyed every minute of the fellowship we have in Jesus (we did anyway!). Through someone’s generosity, we were even able to enjoy the luxury of the Fullerton Hotel for a night in those last few weeks – awesome! NOT something we should get used to though! We were so thankful to everyone who has provided for us in the last few months both in their prayers, in giving and in their kind words. Although it is sad to leave brothers and sisters in Singapore and the ministries we have to each other, it is encouraging to know that we continue in partnership wherever we are. Thank God for all our brothers and sisters in Singapore and how he has worked in our lives over the years!

And arriving in… Wollongong!

We eventually left Singapore on the 9th September VERY early in the morning (Thank you to those weary souls who pitched up to see us off - you know who you are), and we have been at Maria’s sister’s house ever since. It was important in our minds to settle as many things as we could, as quickly as we could. Thankfully were able to do that by God’s financial provision through the generosity of brothers and sisters in the last few months. From the proceeds of the sale of our apartment in Singapore, we were able to buy a place here in Wollongong, about a 10 minute walk from Josiah’s school. We are about a 10 minute drive to wonderful beaches, so all ye Singapore city dwellers, come and visit us in the ‘Gong! We ourselves had a chance to take a break recently from all our running around and went up to the Blue Mountains. It was cold, but at the same time breathtaking.

Wollon…where?

Many of you might not know much about Wollongong so this section is to keep you up to date with about as much as we know!
Wollongong is about 1 ½ hrs south of the city of Sydney, either by car or by train and is part of the beautiful Illawara region. It is the 3rd largest city in New South Wales and 9th largest in Australia. It has pretty much always been an industrial town, coal mining and steel production being two of its biggest assets. The coast line is fantastic with excellent beaches and good rollers (for those of you who want to learn to surf!). The pace of life in Wollongong is far slower than in Sydney and the residents are really friendly too!
The demographic of Wollongong has a large proportion of immigrants from far and wide – Greece, Cyprus, Britain, Italy etc. etc. and the list goes on. Many settled in the region in the post war period, attracted by the job opportunities at the mines and at the steel works. There is also a significant multi-cultural feel to the university in Wollongong too with about 30% of students coming from overseas (China, Malaysia, Iran etc). I’ll come back to this in a minute too…

The church situation in Wollongong is pretty ‘steely’ too with a number of solid evangelical churches in the region. We haven’t yet settled on which one to go to yet (it depends on what position James gets) but we hope to in the coming week or so.

So what is James going to do?

Good question. There have a been a few positions opening in churches whilst we’ve been here (mostly Anglican), and I am still investigating one or two of those. However, very soon after arriving in Australia, the AFES (Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students) offered me a position with FOCUS (FOCUS stands for Fellowship of Overseas Evangelical Christian University Students). FOCUS is a fellowship within the AFES that aims to reach out to International students (whether they be from Singapore, India, China, Malaysia etc), disciple them and train them to make Christ known in their home nations. It is a hugely worthwhile ministry and at the moment a growing ministry, particularly to those from the PRC. There are many international students who are now right on our doorstep eager to hear the truth about God. Please do pray for James as he decides whether to take this position or to pursue other possible parish positions.

Overall, thank you brothers and sisters for praying for us in our time of transition. We know our great God is behind all that we do and he is in control even of the tiniest details. And so because of that, keep praying that we keep holding on to his trustworthy word, wherever we are and whatever we are doing, as we will for you.

Josiah and Jessica

Josiah has now been at Illawarra Christian School (ICS) for a few weeks and enjoying it. His classmates gave him a very warm welcome and were very excited to have a new friend from Singapore! His second day at school took him on a Zoo excursion to Sydney which was really fun and an opportunity to get to know new friends. He loves the idea of having a packed lunch from home and seeing what ‘surprises’ Mummy puts into his lunchbox each day. Josiah is very much an outdoors person so he is enjoying the beautiful Illawarra beaches and the long bushwalks.

Jessica has been playing hard with her cousins – Rosie (who is nearly 3yrs) and Oscar (nearly 4 yrs). She is still waiting to be fully immunized before she can go into Pre-school. She is a very relational person by nature so she is really missing her friends & teachers from Singapore and talks about them often.

Thank you for your prayers for our kids, please continue to pray that they would be more settled as time passes and as routines set in – especially once we move into our new home (hopefully in 3-4 weeks time), and they get to go to school and activities on a weekly basis.

Maria’s news

God has really provided a wonderful place for our relocation back to Australia. Wollongong is a lovely city with a small town feel. We have received warm welcomes and friendly gestures along with great natural environment and no ‘QUEUE’s and hardly any traffic jams! The welcome has made adjusting back a lot easier than expected and we really thank God for that.

We have been visiting some churches and have been encouraged by their Word centred ministries. A lot of the churches in Sydney and the Illawarra have been joining together in trying to promote Gospel conversations with the communities around them by putting up banners, advertising & holding evangelistic outreach activities. Although the responses from the communities has been mixed, the churches thank God that it has created opportunities to engage others in talking about Christ. We went to a ‘Playtime service’ where they had a Circus theme. Lots of young families were invited to this Circus carnival (where lots of circus activities were set up) and it ended with a guest speaker Magician who performed amazing tricks and delivered the Gospel message at the same time! It was very encouraging to see the effort & commitment put in from a lot of members of the congregation to make the outreach happen. The good food, the craft & activities, the decorations, the dressing ups, the face painting, balloons… it transformed an ordinary church hall into an amazing Circus carnival atmosphere! This event personally challenged me of how much effort I put into making Christ known to people who don’t know Christ. Sometimes I feel that I am so busy with my own lot that I can’t possibly do that much more! But as with everything, we will make an effort and set time aside for things that we consider important.

The next month is filled with anticipation as we look forward to moving into our new home by the end of November. Do pray for godly responses during a busy time and to be able to discern what is more important at a time where there are LOTs to do. We really appreciate your care and prayers.

Mid yearly Okerrance (or thereabouts)

Dear Friends,

We want to begin this update by thanking all of you who have been actively supporting this Gospel ministry at SMUCF, whether in prayer or financially over the last three years. Your generosity in both these areas is much appreciated. We haven’t been in touch for quite a while, and thought it about time to update you.

Picture (right) - James with some SMU Graduates from CF

As many of you already know, we have been making plans to move on from the SMUCF position here in Singapore. It was not a decision that we wanted to make, but after many months of considering and praying, and with all things considered, we made the decision to move back to Australia to be closer to Maria’s sister in Wollongong, Australia. This news may come as a surprise to some of you – if it does, apologies for not having contacted you sooner to let you know. We will only be too happy to share why we have decided to move back if you want to know more.

As it stands, our moving date will be 9th September 09– only two months from now. We have sold our apartment here in Singapore already, and are actively looking for accommodation in Wollongong as well as a ministry position for James. There are positions open in Wollongong, so its just whether James will be the right ‘fit’ for the positions that are going. Please do keep us in prayer so that we can settle swiftly by finding accommodation and a suitable position. We are also in the process of organizing ourselves for the move back to Australia, so do just pray that serving Jesus and the Gospel would continue to be our priority for the next two months. Pray that James would keep focused on the task of establishing the students in a firm relationship with Jesus and that the transition of staff workers would go well.

The first half of the year has seen a slight improvement in Maria’s health, as she has tried to cut back on some ministry commitments and the stress of teaching Josiah Chinese! Praise God for that, but do keep praying for her and the kids’ health. Pray that Maria can get the right help for her health and that the stresses that exasperate her condition will be seen to as well. As is usual with most parents with young children, we both have been struggling with sleep depravation, with a spate of sicknesses and Jessica’s ‘monsters’ that scour her room at night (apparently). Jessica even managed to end up in Hospital with suspected H1N1 flu when we returned from Australia recently, but it turned out to be common virus!

Picture (left)- Jessica with cousin Rosie

Picture (right)- Josiah with cousin Oscar

Josiah continues to keep up at School and has started to take an interest in football. I (James) am trying to convince him that Manchester United is NOT the team to be supporting, but to stick with tradition and root for Tottenham – our family club. I can see some friction developing between us if he continues to go down that path… :) Despite the many friends he has here, he is looking forward now to the move back to Australia. He saw his school when we were there recently and the appeal of more out doors activities was evident. Pray that Josiah can settle quickly and adapt to his new environment.

We are pretty sure that you might have questions for us, so we thought of some that you might ask…

‘As you move away from Singapore, who will be taking over the position at SMUCF?’

Well, in this interim period our dear brother Denesh Divyanathan (who recently returned from studying in the States) will be covering for me whilst we look for a suitable replacement. We hope to bring on perhaps two associate staff workers in the next year, who will be trained under Denesh to carry on the valuable work there. This is in the pipeline but is in no way concrete yet. Do pray for Denesh, that God would give them strength to continue the work at SMU even with all his other ministry commitments and that we can find a more long term replacement.

What has been going on SMUCF for the last six months?

Well, following our return from the UK during Christmas, we started the term with a two week series on ‘Finding God’s Will for my Life’. Not only was this that the students might grow in their knowledge of the Word and to learn how to make godly decisions, but also to prepare us for the evangelistic talk that was taking place in week 3 – God’s plan is to bring all things under Christ, whether in judgement or salvation. At the talk, I preached from Luke 12 and we had a good number of non-believers come. Several indicated that they would like to get to know Jesus more and were followed up. Having the talk at one of the university cafes helped, since many associated the evening with a relaxed environment. For the rest of the term, we got stuck into the first 18 chapters of Exodus which was a great time of learning as we learnt the Gospel afresh in the Old Testament.

And the programme for this summer?

This year has seen Mark’s Gospel continue to be taught by some faithful graduates keen to see SMUCF go from strength to strength under God. We have had a large number of newcomers come to the Mark studies, including many non Christians thankfully. Praise God that the students continue to be enthusiastic to bring along their non-believing friends. Pray that as they find out more about Jesus the Holy Spirit would work to bring them to repentance and faith. Many seniors and graduates continue to come back to learn more deeply about God’s mercy and power in the book of Romans over the summer as well. Both the Romans and Mark studies are designed as 26 week courses, the first half covered on Tuesday, and the second half on Thursdays. Pray that we would all be challenged to rejoice in God’s Grace, and be challenged to live lives worthy of the Gospel in response.

I guess one of the most critical aspects of the Summer, is the planning for next year. We are so glad that nine students stepped forward to join EXCO which will allow us to be more flexible and far reaching in the work that we are doing. We are in the midst of discussing why we do what we do at CF and adjusting schedules and structures where and when they are not serving the Gospel. Denesh has been in the midst of all this and in the planning for next year. Pray that as a team they can carry on the work of proclamation faithfully and unashamedly, continuing to be shining lights in a dark world.

Now that you’re leaving, does that mean the end of the ‘Okerrance’ as we know it?

Simply put, no. We will of course continue to keep you updated even after we leave Singapore. Wherever we end up, we will keep needing your prayer and support. And we will keep telling you what prayer and support we need!

Can we come and visit you in Australia?

We will be in Wollongong! (One & half hours drive from Sydney airport)

Once we have settled somewhere, we would love you to come and visit. We are hoping to get a place big enough so that we can at least have visitors this time! But before we go, I am sure that many of you might have more questions, so please do write to us. Until then, Keep On, Keeping On.