Sibley Update - Zagreb, Croatia (March)
We spent about 5 weeks in the states in February. During this time we completed selection process for a Board of Advisors for the Institute. Tom and Mike Armor, director of Eastern European Missions, wrote the by laws for the board and with the help of Tim Hunter got them submitted to the state of Texas and approved. So this was a very productive trip and we will have the first meeting of the board at Pepperdine University on the 5th of May. Tim Hunter will be on the board as the representative for the Round Rock Church. In addition to this work we spent a great deal of time working on a proposal to Cascade College in Portland, OR asking them to consider donating part of their library to the Institute. Please pray for us in this. I am sure this would be a great benefit to our work and this year – our tenth year – will be devoted to the development of the library. The development of the library is essential for the Masters of Ministry program.
Five days after our return from the states Dr. Mark Hamilton arrived from ACU to teach a course in Theology of the Old Testament. We had students from Croatia, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The students were very enriched by this course and we continue to be thankful to ACU for the spiritual depth of the program, the robust curriculum and the quality of instruction.
Read more: Sibley Update - Zagreb, Croatia (March)
Bogle Update - Jinja, Uganda
Bogle Update - Jinja, Uganda
It is now March and the rainy season is a bit late. We are patiently waiting for the rains to come, and we have high hopes, for Emily and I have planted our garden in our yard. Each season our garden seems to get a bit bigger in congruence with our hopes as Emily and I gain more experience in this endeavor. This season we have planted tomatoes, onions, cilantro, spinach, carrots, and a taste of home with a bed of jalapeno peppers. We also have a bunch of bananas that should be ready this month and guava that are ripening on the tree outside our bedroom window. We are not the only ones excited about the production of our garden, unfortunately. There is a family of about twenty vervet monkeys that has recently discovered the bounty of plot 36 Kiira Road. Apparently, they make a daily peregrination from the banks of the Nile about half a kilometer into our residential area, where our compound is a prime stop. At first this was a blithe novelty to see them jump from tree to tree. However, the novelty has worn off and we are now at war to keep them from destroying everything that we have planted.
One aspect that we love about having a garden is that it tunes our senses to the realities that determine the situation for the families with whom we work. Over 90% of the families with whom we are working are farmers, depending on the balance of rain and sunshine to nurture the planted seeds in the cultivated soil to the production of a meal that will sustain them. All of them are waiting with higher expectations than ours for the coming rainy season. Most of them have problems with monkeys as well.
Read more: Bogle Update - Jinja, Uganda
Last Updated on 02 April 2009
Aussie Monthly 2
Becoming Local Carers
“ . . . so this is part of my ministry . . .”
Since the last newsletter, our mission has been to focus on becoming locals. As we become locals we still tell people: we moved here because we wanted to plant new churches in Wollongong.
Here are some of the things we do in order to become locals:
1. Read the newspapers.
2. Visit the local shopkeepers.
3. Attend community classes (e.g., Nicole and Ella attend Music with Mummy)
4. Practice adventure sports (e.g., Jason climbs in local rock climbing gym).
5. Serve through ecological restoration (in anticipation of the new creation begun in Christ (Jason pulls weeds and and dialogues with creation carers).
6. Serve through tutoring kids and/or refugees (Nicole is signed up for this community service).
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