The 2010 New Year Okerrance!

Happy New Year! 

Well its just under three months since our last update – THREE months already! At least an attempt at keeping up with you quarterly is not too awry! We trust that you are remaining faithful in Christ as this New Year begins, whatever your circumstances, and that Christ is proclaimed through word and deed in your lives.

When we last wrote we had only been in Australia for about six weeks and we were deciding what to do about work. As most of you know, we decided to commit to FOCUS AFES, beginning 2010, and James is now in the midst of preparing the plan for the year! Do pray for James for wisdom and sensitivity to suit the yearly plan to those we are ministering to. It is quite a different environment, different students and different team to be doing ministry amongst this year, so there are many changes to cope with for James. The only constant of course, is the living and enduring word of God that will not change or pass away! Pray that James will remain faithful in life and doctrine amid the changes.

Much of the last few months have been spent doing our level best to settle into our new home in fixing, repairing, buying, organizing, etc before work and school start in 2010! We feel as though we now need a holiday again, but of course it’s time to start work! James’ parents have been in Australia since the end of November last year, so we spent Christmas with them. It was nice to spend some of the Christmas period with Maria’s sister’s family for the first time too.

FOCUSsing in

I am only just getting started at FOCUS and having only visited the Thursday weekly meetings twice last year, I am still orientating myself to the people and environment at Wollongong University. Still, in that time, I have had the great joy of sharing the Gospel with nearly every International student I have met. Most are from China, and most have a genuine interest to investigate just who this man Jesus is as they have the opportunity to investigate God. After about 15 minutes of chatting with one of these students about all sorts of things during a thanksgiving dinner, he turned to me unprompted and said, ‘does Jesus judge people’. I sat there in stunned silence thinking, ‘I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it! how often do I get an opportunity like this? No prompting, no need to ‘turn’ the conversation towards the Gospel.’ Amazing as that was to me then, I have been here a few months now, and having spoken to past and present staff, I’ve realized this happens nearly every week. This is the value of the FOCUS work. Pray that this window of opportunity to reach out to other nationals will bear fruit as they come to hear of Christ the Lord and Saviour! At the moment FOCUS has an Indonesian fellowship, a Mandarin fellowship, an Indian fellowship and an English speaking group. We also have Japanese speakers at FOCUS, so they can always have a Japanese fellowship when the need arises!

I am so blessed to be amongst a godly team of people this year at FOCUS. Matthew Meek is my supervisor, he being the FOCUS national director (overseeing the FOCUS work across the country). He has been with FOCUS for over ten years, and I am looking forward to learning loads from him. I am also full of joy to have another co-worker, John Baird. John is one of the ministry trainees at Wollongong University, serving at FOCUS on a full time basis this year and it is great to have him around. We are also very blessed to have a female FOCUS ministry trainee, Phuong. Phuong is from Vietnam, but was converted and has grown as a Christian here in Wollongong. Please do pray for us as a team, that we will grow in love and service of each other, as we love and serve the students, especially since nearly all of us are new this year. Many of the team have moved on since last year, leaving gaping holes. But, God is sovereign so pray that he will use us to serve his Kingdom faithfully.

At the moment, we are in the throes of identifying and training students to take on the roles of leadership at FOCUS. With so many International students here for such a short time (perhaps on average 2 years), and leaving to return home or move onto other parts of Australia, this makes the task quite tough! International students find it tough to find work in Wollongong, due to the difficult economic environment down here. Humanly speaking, this process is important, and takes lots of time thinking through and prayer. We need to choose the right people from a biblical stand point, so please do pray that as far a possible we will be faithful, and that God will intervene if we are making the wrong choices. We thank God for the many volunteers (both students and workers alike) who have given time to serve at FOCUS in both big and small ways. Keep praying that our Lord will provide student servants for this ministry who can stay around Wollongong long enough to facilitate stability in the leadership.

I look forward to reporting more about FOCUS in the coming months, so watch this space. We will let you know how things are going…

Maria

The last move of 2009!

After 6 weeks of great generosity & patience from my sister’s family in housing us, the Jacaranda trees were swaying their goodbyes to us as we vacated Jacaranda Ave. The noise levels went down a few notches in the lovely suburb of Figtree and a whirlwind of activity & noise descended upon Cordeaux, the next suburb down. Our new neighours were regularly greeted with “Excuse me! Whats your name? My name is Jessica!” as our little girl shouted with excitement across the yard.

Our humble abode

The whirlwind continued - unpacking, shifting, cleaning, sorting, washing, shopping, doing admin and running errands through the months of November and December 09. Although the lists of jobs & boxes are still staring at us, the calm has arrived and we are 90% settled into the lovely home that God has provided for us. We are very thankful to God for a place which is close to family and schools, and big enough to be able to host visiting guests!

James’ parents were our very first visiting house guests shortly after we moved in. This year marks the first year both James & I could spend the Christmas season with family from both sides of the family! December was also a month packed full of family birthdays, so lots of celebrating and eating. Although busy, it was nice that we could end our year on the beach and watched a beautiful display of fireworks by Wollongong Harbour – the first time of its kind in Wollongong! 2009 was indeed a very memorable & busy year for us.

Boxing Day with Kerrs & Finleys

I am entering 2010 with a lot of excitement for the year ahead. I am looking forward to forming new relationships both with overseas students at FOCUS and also with members of St Michael’s Cathedral Wollongong. I will also look forward to the arrival of a new niece/nephew in the next week and the lovely opportunity to be geographically closer to my sister & her family. Due to our different ministry commitments, circumstances and geographical locations the past 15 years, we have not been able to support each other in practical ways. So it is really nice to have the opportunity to do so now.

Please join me in giving thanks to God for all the above. We are so grateful that He provided abundantly every step of the way. Pray also that in the year ahead, we will seize opportunities in our relationships with those whom we come into contact with.

Josiah

Moving and Grooving with Fluffy!

The last school term of 2009 was a very active one for Josiah. Dancing practice for a ‘Moove & Groove’ event, twice a week after school sports of soccer and basketball, a 2 week intensive swimming programme AND Saturday morning cricket! This will probably not be a typical term for Josiah, but it certainly helped him eat like a horse & sleep like a baby. He loves being able to do so much sport, and is especially taken with the game of Cricket.

Jos grooving away

Jos' 8th B'day

Josiah has also been asking persistently for a pet, specifically for a dog. We finally gave in to the pet idea but negotiated a dwarf rabbit instead. So for Josiah’s 8th birthday, Fluffy the rabbit joined our family.

Fluffy

Jessica

Theres no place like home…

Jess with cousin Rosie

It took Jessica a longer time to settle as she had to wait for all her immunizations to be administered before she could enroll into pre-school. She finally started school in October, two days a week. It is now 3 months into her new school and she is starting to enjoy it a lot more.

She is also a very ‘homely’ girl, she loves being at home and playing with all her toys. So after moving in & being reunited with all her usual belongings, it made her feel a lot more settled and secure. She is now enjoying her own PINK room and hopes to have her cousin Rosie to sleep over soon.

Just before we left Singapore, Jessica showed an exponential interest in swimming. So we decided to seize the moment and found a lesson she could join. To our great surprise, she was swimming confidently by the third lesson! She continues to swim every week and is making good progress.

Jessica the Rocket

Thank you for all your prayers for our kids in settling into their new home, surrounding and routines. Their moods improved leaps and bounds when we finally moved into our own home. They are also having A LOT of fun here with so many community programmes/ initiatives towards children and their growth. As I am writing this, Josiah is enjoying a Mecanno building workshop organized by the local library.

Please continue to pray that they will learn more about Jesus every day, commit to Him and submit under His authority in their lives. Pray too that we as parents will commit to being godly examples daily.

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.

A Christmas Okerrance

Greetings to everyone! We thought it about time to get another Okerrance to you before the Christmas holidays to update you what has been happening with us since we last wrote (a long time ago… Ahem).

We are in the throes of the final weeks of term as I write this, and it has been an exhausting time for us over the last 6 months or so. When I last wrote, it was just before the summer, and I was looking forward to the summer bible studies in both the books of Mark and Romans at the CF, as well as our leader’s training. The summer is also a time to plan and prepare for the following year. However, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as we planned over the summer because I got a bit burnt out and sick. I had committed to a number of outside speaking engagements for the holidays to keep me busy and sharp, but I don’t think I realized how much I needed a break by the end of term! Maria has had a tough time with reoccurring bacterial infections and her health, ever since returning to Singapore (I’ll let her fill you in on that in a minute). I have therefore been spending a considerable amount of time looking after both her and the children, as well as trying to continue the work at SMUCF. So, by the end of June, although I had completed those outside engagements, and many of the students had gone away for their holidays, I still felt as though the fuel gauge was running on empty and damage had already been done to the engine! This meant that both preparations and the amount of discipling I could do over the summer and into this first term have been severely hindered as I tried to recover from my exhaustion. I am feeling better now, but my doctor said I will need perhaps up to 6 months of cutting back on how much I am able to do. Please do pray with me in this, that our Loving Lord will restore both Maria’s and my health.

Now, having said all that, we do have much to give thanks for at SMUCF, because the work has been ongoing, even though I have been limited!

At our Freshman’s orientation camp in July this year, there was an extremely enthusiastic bunch of freshers who came to see what we get up to at CF. I gave four talks from the book of Colossians, and many of them were encouraged to come back and hear the word some more (which they have). We followed through with a series of talks on 2 Peter, with ‘the knowledge that matters’ being our central theme over the first half of term. Since then, I have been doing a four talk series entitled ‘knowing God’, of course stressing that unless God makes himself known to us, then we can’t possibly know him! Whilst I have been giving those talks, the bible study groups have been training in the use of ‘2 Ways to live’, which has challenged some to think more about evangelism, but has encouraged others to know the Gospel that they believe in better! We have recently had one of our three camps for the year – the December Bible Camp – and we are really glad to have Andrew Cheah (another Moore College Graduate and now at St Mary’s Anglican Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), speak on ‘Sin: How bad can it be?’ Pray that the we will all understand both ourselves better, and our great God who has acted mercifully in the Gospel towards us.

Not that numbers are a reliable indication on how the work is going at the CF, but we were encouraged and thankful to see the average attendance for the first half of term at 90+, keen to get stuck into studying the scriptures. Since the second half of term, that figure fell to about 60+, with increased academic rigour amongst other things causing the fallout. We have been very thankful that the students continue to bring their friends along to our evangelistic lunchtime talks that we had in weeks 10 & 11. We decided upon a ‘If I were God’ series at the start of the year for our evangelistic lunchtime talks. Christopher Ash (director of Cornhill training course in the UK) did a talk on ‘If I were God, I wouldn’t allow all this suffering’. We had about 6-10 newcomers, many of who had not heard the Gospel before. And the following week I did a talk entitled ‘If I were God, everyone would know who I am’, with a similar number not yet confessing the faith. On this occasion some with different faiths heard the good news, and have since been in follow up conversations and studies learning more about Jesus. Please do pray with us that they might repent and believe that Jesus is the Lord, the only way, truth and the life!

Thank you for keeping up with us, and praying for this very precious work.

Maria’s update

Greetings! Below is an attempt to give you a brief overview of the past half year!

Health
Just prior to writing our last newsletter, I had not been in good shape physically for quite a period of time – tiredness, lethargy, monthly re-occurring sicknesses – I often felt so weak that I had to stay in bed. After a thorough checkup, found out that it could have been a re-occurring bladder infection & that my stress levels were way too high. So naturally, I was hoping to concentrate on managing my stress levels & concentrate on getting back to health in the months that followed. However the month of April brought the full spectrum of emotions as we confronted news of pregnancy & then news of miscarriage. At the time, the knowledge that our God is good & is unchanging in both good times & bad times is always a comfort to me, but what I struggled with most was trusting God regarding my poor health over the long period of time. Being sick & weak, not only could I not help serve my family, I also was hindering James’ ability to do SMU work & to rest. It has been indeed a very testing time for me, but God has His purposes & they are good. (If you would like to chat more with me regarding this, I would be happy to.)

Thank God for kind & generous doctor friends in Christ who helped me through this period, please continue to pray for improvements in my health so I can continue to serve God in roles given to me.

Josiah
Even though primary one has been tough & full of school work, exams, assessments and so on, Josiah has been enjoying new friendships at school. When school ended in November, he was thrilled to have the chance to celebrate his birthday early with his school friends at an indoor playground nearby.

above left - Jos & some school friends at his party

below right - Jess enjoying the company of her two cousins from Australia

Jessica
Jessica is into all things pink & girly. Ballet, fairies, princesses, dress-ups, you name it, she likes it! She has been whirling & twirling away in our living room, asking for ballet lessons. She still thinks her brother is Number One, and is his greatest Fan!

Thank God for bringing the kids through the past year, helping them grow up physically, emotionally & mentally. Please pray that they would grow in understanding of the love of our Saviour.

SMU girls
Have really enjoyed keeping up & praying with some of the female graduates & students this past half year, they have all been a real encouragement to me in wanting to see their friends grow up in knowledge of Christ & in love for each other. Before school started in August, we also managed to go through with the female co-leaders a series of seven studies to help with knowing & explaining the Gospel & with what Gospel living looks like.

Thank God that He who started the good work in these girls will Himself carry it through to completion. Praise God for their growth & their enthusiasm!

Generous Gift
We have also been very thankful to generous brothers & sisters in Christ who contributed to the gift of a car for our use. We managed to purchase a car in September & it has been a tremendous practical help to us as a family.

Please join us in thanking our generous God for the generous hearts in God’s household.

A Rare oKerrence

Hello! We trust that this latest oKerrance finds you well. It about 4 months since we last wrote, so the attempt to keep up our news every two months has failed miserably. As a result, we have a lot of news in this letter, which we will try and keep abbreviated!

As you may have read in our last newsletter, it was a great privilege to be able to visit South Africa with James’ family in December last year, and which was kindly paid for by them. We all had a great time, travelling within the Western Cape Provence. The scenery was spectacular, as was, of course, the wildlife. It was a real eye opener for us to see the polarity between the poverty of the townships and the wealth of the suburbs in Cape Town. Pray for that country that the Good news of the Lord Jesus would continue to grow as it has been doing, and that justice and mercy would prevail.

This coming June sees us take some leave to visit Batam (Indonesia) for our annual ORPC church camp and Malaysia (for a week long family break). Pray that we will be challenged and refreshed to serve our Lord Jesus ever more fervently as we do what we do this Summer.

The Labour that springs from Love at SMUCF (1 Thess 1:3)

We have just finished our corporate meetings for this year at the CF (which will start again in August), although that doesn’t mean we will stop meeting over the Summer! As you may vaguely remember in our last update and the calendar of events, we had a five week series on Love, Sex & Marriage in January - February, which was (of course!) well attended. This gave me an opportunity to tackle this topic in depth, spelling out the Biblical truths and the practical implications for the student’s lives. It spurred on many conversations and it was encouraging to see the students thinking through the issues. Give thanks that many were challenged to think through implications, and pray that the word that was preached is imprinted on their hearts.

The day after Valentine’s Day saw the CF hold an evangelistic dinner at ‘Surf and Turf’ in the Funan Centre (an IT mall here in Singapore). The event went off well, with the talk provocatively titled, ‘Freedom for Sex’, which followed on from our series on Love, sex and marriage.

We were very glad to have Richard Chin, the national director of Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students join us to give the talk, and a number of people expressed an interest to find out more about Christianity. We have since begun a group for those interested to find out more about Jesus Christ, through the ‘Christianity Explored’ series in Mark’s Gospel. A number of international students are attending the course so please do pray for both the teachers (to proclaim clearly the Truth) and for those students (local and international) who do not yet know the Lord, that they would come to understand, know and believe in Jesus.

Following the busyness of the opening two months, we have been studying 1 Thessalonians (our series was entitled, ‘Turn, Serve & Wait’). Its an encouraging letter, challenging us to ‘Keep on Keeping on’ in faith, love and Hope in readiness for Jesus’ return. Pray for the students who are graduating, that they will persevere in their desire to serve Christ at a time when their focus on the return of Christ can be lost by the worries of the world, either as they look for prestigious jobs or are become obsessed with success.

Below are some things to be praying for as we enter into the mid year holidays,

*Pray for those who have been attending the ‘Christianity Explored’ Group

*April Bible Camp – ‘How to be a fool’: Studies from 1 Cor 1-4, challenging us to the heart of ministry and life (21st- 24th April. Speaker: Foo Yuk Yee)

*Annual General Meeting – pray as we vote in our new EXCO – that we would be faithful and responsible to the Biblical truths regarding who we should vote for and why (26th April).

*Pray for our Potential leader’s training, that those invited would be challenged to understand, and live biblically as well as be trained to present the truth clearly in their teaching (May – June).

*Summertime Mark Bible Studies (Tuesday & Thursday evenings)

*Summertime Romans Studies (Tuesday evenings)

*Pray for the planning and organization of the Freshman Orientation Camp, as well as the planning for the year with the new EXCO (June / July)

*And lastly, pray for me (James) that I would be faithful, bold and clear in preaching and teaching at various youth fellowships and churches over the summer and at SMUCF.

From Maria,…

New things for the New Year

Whats new?

Josiah & Jessica starting Primary 1/pre-nursery at schools that are new to them, new teachers, new classmates, new schedules & routines, new school bus rides, new swimming class, new uniforms, new books, new bag, new shoes,…etc etc

I thought both Josiah & Jessica would be overwhelmed by it all, but it turns out that to get on top of all their ins & outs, all the scheduling & logistics & administration, I was more overwhelmed than they were! I think it took me a good month into the year to think through how I could juggle Jos’ timing with Jess’ timing, when I could do… when I could go… when I could bring… when I could attend…

Although overwhelming to start, this year’s schedules has seen a lot of answered prayers from last year.

Please join me in praise & thanksgiving to our Lord for the below!

Praise God that this year’s schedule allows me to have a 2 hour break during weekday lunchtimes to pray, to read & meditate on the bible, to prepare studies & some days to exercise & grocery shop! It’s a much needed time for me, a nice break since Jessica was born!

Praise God too that the timing allows me to join a bible study group which consists mostly of stay-home ministry mums. Although our kids are around, we are still able to get through our bible study & to pray & support one another. This group has been a real blessing to me, after having felt rather isolated for the past 2 years.

Praise God that both Josiah & Jessica have settled into their school & routines happily. Jessica took 3 weeks to ‘let go’ of me, but now she asks for school everyday!

Josiah (18th Dec 2001)

Josiah had a smashing time holidaying with his grandparents & aunty in South Africa last December. He loves the sand & the sea, he loves seeing & interacting with lots of different animals, and he loves the fact that there are more people (besides mummy & daddy) to spend time talking to & doing things with. He even got the chance to celebrate his birthday together with grandma!

Thank God for the continuing relationship building with his grandparents & aunty & a safe & fun holiday for Josiah.

Josiah is enjoying Primary 1 so far. He was happy that his friend Nicholas was going to be in the same school as him, & he was happy his Chinese teacher took time in the beginning to explained things to him in English when he did not understand what was going on. His favourite subject is PE (Physical education) & he looks forward to Recess (half an hour’s break) at 3pm. He gets on the school bus at 1130am for 1230pm start at school, & he returns home at 7pm. School has been good for him as there is routine & predictability & a good outlet for his youthful energies! He will have exams coming up in April-May period, which means more hard work will be needed in the study of the Chinese language.

Thank God that Josiah is enjoying school, please pray that he will be more motivated in things that require more hard work when he grows in the knowledge of Jesus.

Jessica (5th Aug 2005)

Jessica works on ‘trust’ when it comes to adults. As a baby, she would only be held by anyone who ‘fed’ her - she trusted them as they looked after her need for food. Growing up, building trust took more than just giving her food. It meant playing alongside her, talking to her, dressing her, & doing just about everything with her. So naturally, having been away from grandparents & aunties, it took her a while to trust them last December. It took about 2 & a half weeks of staying under the same roof to ‘warm up’ to them & by the time she was happy to be with them alone, it was time for us to leave! Similarly with pre-nursery school, 3 weeks were needed for her to trust her teachers. But once you are on her ‘good side’, you will be able to enjoy lots of affection & lovely smiles. Needless to say, mummy gets lots of hugs & kisses along with lots of ‘I want Mummy’s echoing in the background on most days!

Thank God that as a result of a good transition into pre-nursery school, Jessica has also been able to go to Kids’ church by herself, freeing mummy & daddy to listen to Sunday sermons together after 2 long years!

Thank You for your Support

SMUCF is completely independent and self supported. If you are able to be involved in our work in giving financially either to us individually or the organization, please do contact Lee Keng Yi at (65) 97692360 or at kengyi@gmail.com . Thanks : )

Another oKerrence!

Its about two months since we last wrote (or thereabouts!) and we have had the joy of getting in touch with a number of old friends through ‘facebook’. Its great to be back in touch after all these years and getting to know what you are doing. We’ve found ourselves dealing with the usual rounds of sicknesses over the last couple of months, although there was a six week stretch where we were bug free for a while! Through all of it we continue to rejoice at the undeserved Grace that has been shown to us through Jesus, who has paid the price for our sin. Please do continue to uphold us in prayer, that individually and as a family we would learn to serve and honour the Lord and that both Josiah and Jessica would grow up to know him day by day.

We are off to South Africa in December, to meet James’ family. We are greatly looking forward to the trip, spending the most time in the Southern Cape. Please pray for a refreshing time, and also to take every opportunity to honour God in our lives, whether in word or deed. Pray for safety and health in a country which hasn’t had a great record recently.

The Ongoing work at SMU

Since last time we wrote, our term has started and in fact has almost finished! We are into week 11 out of 15 and we have much to give thanks for.

Our first three weeks was spent looking at the first four chapters of the Gospel of John. The aim of this was to introduce Jesus to any non Christians who were there and his claim to eternal life and secondly to challenge those who knew Christ to live for him. We had about 80+ people come for the first week, mostly to check out SMUCF and our activities. Traditionally, numbers settle about 30+ - 40 in a our larger meetings (60-70 in our bible studies) as the busyness of Uni life eats into the student’s free time (and believe me it is unbelievably busy!).

Following those opening three weeks, we began on the book of James and have been slowly moving our way through ever since. It has been a great challenge to all of us, to live single-mindedly for God, listening to his Wisdom, especially in an environment that screams out the world’s. Most of us have come to realize the plague of ‘double-mindedness’ that James speaks about – the selfish ambition and passions that covets and despises and leads us to ‘Spiritual Adultery’. It has lead all of us to examine our own lives once again. At the same time, we all continue to be amazed by the Grace that God gives in actually giving us a chance to ‘humble’ ourselves before him and humbly accept the implanted word. Whilst he makes his wrath known, he is a generous God, full of Love and Mercy!
Please do pray that the precious truths that we have all been learning will continue to work and energise our lives to be lived in loving obedience to him. SMU is a place where the societal values and Singaporean hopes and dreams are exaggerated, and the Gospel quite often cuts radically across those norms. Give thanks too, that this year we have an enthusiastic bunch of freshers who have been keen and consistent in coming along, boosting our numbers to 50+ on average, even in the busy weeks!

I am involved in reading the bible or other relevant books with a number of the students on a one to one basis. This has been a great source of encouragement to me as we read and pray and see their lives challenged and transformed by the power of the Gospel. Please do pray that we will continue to encourage each other and spur one another on to love and good deeds.

Over the last few weeks, we have been having our Thursday Lunchtime talks, where we can invite our non-believing friends along to hear the Truth. Normally, we have a series of three talks, normally from one of the four Gospels so that we can present a picture of who Christ is and what he has come to do. This series was entitled ‘The Great Big Heart of the Father’ and was faithfully expounded by Rev Philip Sinden from St George’s Anglican Church in Tanglin. He spoke from Luke 15; 23 & 24 about God’s Grace, why Jesus had to die and the ‘good news for the world’. Do give thanks for those who have come along to hear of God’s grace and especially those who have come back and have begun to be involved in evangelistic bible studies. We had hoped to make our advertisement for these events more ‘wide’ but we face significant restrictions in how and when we can advertise our activities at SMU. Both distributing flyers, advertising by poster and mass emailing are not allowed, leaving us dependent on personal invitations (which is of course is still fundamental to his ‘work’). Our advertisement for our freshman’s camp in the freshman’s orientation booklet was also excluded this year making it hard to get the word out about us. But, as is so often the case when we think this will be a hindrance, God has continued his work on campus. Please pray that whatever our circumstances, we will continue to acknowledge that he makes it grow, and so live humbly and dependently on him. At the same time pray that we might continue to be bold in reaching out to our friends whatever the restrictions or circumstances.

Lastly do remember us this December as we hold the December Bible Retreat. This year, we are looking at the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Rev David Burke from Orchard Road Presbyterian Church will be giving the talks. Pray that as we study the Scriptures, we might be clearer on this topic and any misunderstandings or error will be corrected. Please pray too, that as we fellowship around his word, that we might grow in love and service of each other. Here is a diary of events for the coming weeks and the rest of the school year (finishing in April) so that you have an idea of what is going on in the coming months and to be praying for us. We will remind you of what’s happening as we keep going with our updates.

November, 2007

Finishing off James: ‘Get Real’ Evangelistic Lunchtime talk follow up and Bible Studies
University Exams (26th-30th)

December, 2007

December Bible Retreat: Getting a Grip on the Holy Spirit? (4th-7th)
South Africa (7th -2nd Jan)

January, 2008

Topical Series: Love, Sex & Marriage in a Confused World (8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, 5th Feb)

February, 2008

Evangelistic Event: ‘Liberated for sex’, Richard Chin, AFES (15th, set to coincide with Valentine’s Day)
Follow up from ‘Liberated for sex’
1 Thessalonians: Tentatively ‘Final Destination’ (19th Feb- 8th April)
SMUCF Membership Class / Fun Day

March, 2008

Evangelistic Lunchtime Talks: TBD (4th, 11th & 18th)
Lunchtime Talk Follow Up

April, 2008

April Bible Retreat (TBD)

May – July

RML Mark
RML Romans

The Ongoing work at the Kerr’s household

One of the on-going work for me as a mother is to constantly think through what Christian mothering/parenting means as the kids go through various stages of growth & responds according to their little own personalities. Included in the battle is dealing with my own sinfulness first as I face the challenges with my kids.

Please pray that I will constantly ask God for His wisdom & to trust in that wisdom by ‘applying’ it.

I enjoy reading Christian books. I enjoy being able to resource someone else’s brains on their insights & thoughts on particular topics. One of the books I have read recently is Women’s Ministry in the Local Church.** It came about when one of the female students at SMUCF suggested reading it together as she wanted to discuss the book with someone. It was a beneficial read. It reminded us clearly from the bible of the God-given roles of women & how specific women’s ministry is important to teach & apply those roles. It also helped us think through Titus 2 practically, particularly of how we can be teaching the younger generation of women – both in truth & works. Given the phase of life I am in at the moment (as a mother of young kids) it is hard to be very active in ‘official’ ministry. However, it was also the right time to read this book as it keeps me focused & alert in my role as a woman & mother. To be able to think through appropriate responses to situations that I face in these roles so that I can hopefully pass on what I have learnt to the younger generation as I go along.

Please pray that I will continue to take hold of the role that God has given me. I do find it very difficult most times, but rewarding too as I look back on what He has taught me thus far.

** By J. Ligon Duncan & Susan Hunt

Josiah (18th Dec 2001)

Time has flown. Josiah has just had his ‘graduation’ ceremony cum musical a week ago. Graduating from Kindergarten and onto Primary 1 next year! (Yes, unbelievably, they have graduation from Kindergarten) He had the opportunity to be the narrator for his school’s Noah’s Ark musical. The weeks prior to the musical he came down with a virus which caused him to lose his voice & after regaining it to enter into fits of coughs when he tried to use his voice! But thankfully, he recovered in time & was able to narrate clearly despite the blocked nose. He was encouraged to work hard at it as it was ‘his’ opportunity to tell others what God did in the account of Noah. It was encouraging to see him work hard as a result.

Please continue to pray for Josiah’s growth in the Lord & for his love & understanding to increase.

Thank you for your prayers regarding schooling for Jos next year. God has answered our prayers & Josiah was offered a place in a nearby Christian school.

Please join us in thanksgiving to God in His provision of schooling for Josiah.

Jessica (5th Aug 2005)

Fun & exciting things in the life of the parents of a 2 year old are simply seeing them grow & achieve certain milestones. It has been fun to hear Jessica progress in her speech since her second birthday. The ability to communicate better also seems a little surreal at times because it makes you feel like you have a real 2 way relationship going now. Of course you will have to really listen carefully, otherwise you might confuse ‘Tee Vee’ with ‘Wee wee’, or ‘sleep’ with ‘sweet’, or ‘bird’ with ‘bread’ etc. She calls all mothers ‘mummy’ & all kids ‘babies’. When asked what colour mummy’s hair is, the answer is ‘green’. When asked how old Jess is, the answer is ‘2’, jos is ‘3’, mama is ‘4’ & dada is ‘6’.

Another recent highlight is her speed in being potty-trained! James managed to get her pretty much doing all her business in the potty in just one afternoon! So, mummy is happy.

Please join us in praising God for being the creator of our little kids - weird, wonderful & challenging all at the same time!

Thank You for your Support
SMUCF is completely independent and self supported. If you are able to be involved in our work in giving financially either to us individually or the organization, please do contact Lee Keng Yi at kengyi@gmail.com

A Brief History of the Kerr’s…2006-2007

“Anyone heard from James and Maria lately?”

It’s perhaps a question that you have been asking. Or perhaps you haven’t! Perhaps you already know, but have not heard any word from us for the last two years! There is of course never any excuse for not communicating earlier, so all we can say is sorry. It’s only now, after a year into our new job, that we feel ready to actually get a regular news update and prayer letter to you all. It’s long overdue, but here we go…

An overview of the Kerr’s Time (well sort of)…

Many of you wouldn’t have heard from us since we were in Sydney. We graduated from Moore Theological College at the end of 2005, with uncertainties over our future. We considered staying in Australia and finding a ministry position there, but after various options were considered, we returned to Singapore, having been offered a job back here with the Singapore Management University Christian Fellowship (SMUCF).

We arrived in Singapore in early Feb 2006 for a friend’s wedding and were soon applying for the relevant visas for employment back in Singapore! Even though it was a fairly quick decision to return, it took at least 5-6 months for everything to be settled. We saw the rising costs of accommodation here in Singapore (especially rentals) so we decided to buy an apartment. Extra stressors!

Since then (around June, 2006) James has been busy trying to find his footing with the teaching and preaching schedule at SMUCF, and Maria has been trying to find her place in a society which does not really support stay-at-home mums. More from her about that in a while…


James and the Work at SMUCF

SMUCF is an independent organization registered with the Singapore Registry of Societies. That simply means it is an organization that has the freedom to meet publicly and legally and can operate independently. We are one of the two Christian organisations that are allowed to ‘officially’ meet on Campus. In its short history, beginning in 2000 when the University was established, a very strong evangelical foundation has been laid. It was conceived independently from other campus Christian organizations and is still that way today.

Our aim very much stems from Paul’s conviction in Colossians 1:28, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” The foundation of the ministry is therefore the proclamation of the Word of God. My role in particular is to do just that, so that the students will understand, live and proclaim the Gospel.



For me personally, the first year has felt like a whirlwind. My schedule is centred around the main teaching slots at SMU. On Tuesday evenings, we have evening Bible Studies where the students meet in their small groups. We then have a corporate meeting in a larger group so that we can meet together and sing and pray and listen to his word (which I have the responsibility to expound every week). On Thursday evenings, there is leader’s training, where the student leaders will be trained to understand and apply the Word for the sake of their groups. They may have additional topical and theological issues to think through at that time. Again, my responsibilities are to teach and disciple. Part of that involves training in evangelism (Normally 2 Ways to Live), how to think Theologically about Music, Relationships, Assurance, Money, Work and all sorts of other hot topics! We do a Mark’s Gospel Summer School, where we use ‘Read Mark Learn’ - a 26 week Bible Study Series in Mark’s Gospel produced by St Helen’s Church Bishopsgate, London.

As a new element last year, we introduced Thursday Lunchtime talks into the timetable. These were designed so that the students could have an opportunity to bring their friends to hear the Gospel. And finally, we have three camps per year, of which I normally am involved in teaching at the Freshman’s orientation camp. I will try and engage other like minded ministers to give the main talks at the other two (December and April).

Beginning this year, we have been invited to be involved in an International Student Ministry, in conjunction with other churches in the vicinity of the Campus. We are currently in a planning stage at the moment, but we see it as an opportunity to reach out to those from China, India, Myanmar and the surrounding region. Please pray for our direction in this ministry and the enthusiasm of the students to reach out to those who don’t yet know Jesus.


Please do remember us in prayer for the work at SMUCF…

§ Give thanks for the short number of years of faithful Gospel ministry at SMU and the way it has been used to reach out to Non Christians, and build up the Christian students. Please pray that we will remain faithful to the Gospel and its pure proclamation.

§ Pray for the continuing maturity of the CF members, especially in their home church environments where there may not be a solid Biblical Ministry. Pray for them as they take a stand for the Gospel and the Word of God.

§ Thank God for the word that was preached at a recent evangelistic dinner held in a restaurant at Old Parliament House. Pray for those who responded and would like to know more, that God would soften their hearts to receive Christ. Please pray for the ongoing enthusiasm of the students to invite their friends to our various evangelistic dinners and talks (We’ll update you as they happen!).

§ Pray for the upcoming International Students work at SMU. Pray that we would find opportunities to build relationships with the students from overseas and that opportunities would arise to tell them about the hope that we have.

§ Pray for the upcoming term and our study in the book of James. Pray that the students would humble themselves daily before God and submit to his will as they read and obey his word.


Maria

Singapore’s economic success thrives largely on their ‘human’ resource. As a result, not only are they encouraging more births, but they also encourage mothers to go back to work shortly after giving birth. Children are cared for by grandparents, maids or placed into childcare from 7am-7pm.

Do pray for me - being a stay-home mum in Singapore has many challenges. They range from the small task of grocery shopping, to bigger issues of support & isolation. The help that I once enjoyed such as a use of a car, longer hours of school for Josiah & having easy access to other stay-home mums are no longer readily available.

On the upside, I have been greatly encouraged and enjoyed the weekly sermons at our church. In addition I have been meeting up regularly with some of the students in a 121 capacity, as well as looking for some mutual encouragement from other ladies.

Picture (left) - Josiah & Jessica @ the playground
Josiah

Josiah is currently in K2 (Kindergarten 2), next year he will move to Primary 1. We learnt that registering for P1 is a hot topic amongst parents. Education is perceived as fundamental to kids’ success in the future, so getting into the ‘right’ school is vital. To secure a spot in an envied school might involve relocation near the school or hours of volunteer work.

Being non-PRs we understandably get last choice in choosing schools but our hope & prayer is that the school will firstly be close in distance, secondly for the teachers to genuinely care for the kids & help them learn in a not so pressured environment.

In K2 school is 3 hours consisting mostly of classroom work in English, Mandarin & Math. Coming into this environment takes a lot of getting used to. It does mean that Josiah has less friends to hang out & play with (a lot of them have other enrichment programs or tuitions to attend) & of course more work to do. (especially in learning mandarin!)

Jessica

Jessica has just turned 2 (5th August)! You know what they say about the terrible… oh, I mean terrific 2s! ;-) Jessica adores her brother, she mimics everything he does - she almost idolizes him! Her latest obsessions are ‘Bob the Builder’ & ‘Thomas & Friends’.

In the area of health, Jess has been sick every month since Jan 2007- averaging about 2 times a month. As a result, our family has been sick a lot due to the ‘sharing’ effect. So, please pray for health & strength for us all.

Do drop Maria an email (mazkerr@gmail.com) or look her up on Facebook if you would like to chat or for more details/photos of the kids. She would be more than happy to reply when she gets a chance!