Farewell dinner

I've organised my farewell dinner for Saturday the 18th of February @ 7pm. It's at Montezuma's Mexican Restaurant in Bridge Rd Richmond. RSVP is essential so that I can confirm numbers with the restaurant. I would love to catch up before I head off and share some Mexican food!

Great is Thy Faithfulness

It has been really good to be back home for the weekend and I have had the opportunity to catch up with many of my friends which has been a real blessing!

I find it amazing how God knows us so well that he even knows our thoughts and emotions. This morning at church I was feeling a bit distracted with lots of things flying through my mind. At one stage I was thinking about the money that I still needed to get to meet the costs of my mission to Mexico, when someone asked that we sing Great is Thy Faithfulness. After we had finished, a lady sitting in front of me turned around and said "That song is especially for you!" Right then it just made sense to me, I thought of the words to the chorus that I had just been singing:

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Right then I remembered how faithful God has been to me in the past and that I didn't need to worry because God will provide for me. I felt a great peace and I was able to focus on worshipping God. Praise God for his amazing goodness!

Having said that, I still do need to raise further support to pay for the costs of my trip. I still need approximately $1000 to go towards the cost of airfares and living expenses whilst I am over there. If you are able to assist with this as God enables, please see me or drop me an email.

Thanks to everyone for your continued encouragement and support!

In Him,

Phil

PS - I'm back to Sydney in the morning with work, however, I will be back for all the weekends from now until I go. Only 21 days to go!

PPS - For those that may have missed exact dates, I will be leaving Melbourne on the 19th of February and returning on the 2nd of April.

Humbling support from my church

Today I was really blessed to be able to return to my home church at Balywn Gospel Chapel after being away for three weeks. It was so good to catch up with everyone!

I had an opportunity to update the church on the International Teams training I attended last week and how things are going with getting to Mexico.

Some great praise points already:

• I gained a lot from the training;
• My flights and connections have been booked and paid for (yesterday); and
• I am able to return to Melbourne on weekends whilst working in Sydney over the next several weeks.

I have recruited a prayer team, anyone still wishing to be a part of the prayer team, please let me know via email or phone.

I was really humbled and encouraged today by the support shown by my church family. The interest and support that people gave me this morning blew me away. I have already received some more financial support which is great and to have lots of people sign up for the prayer team is fantastic. I continue to see God provide for me in real, tangible and amazing ways!

Thanks so much to all those at Balwyn who are praying, encouraging and supporting me - I really, really appreciate it and I pray that God will bless you as you contribute to HIS work!

A map of Queretaro's location in Mexico (courtesy of Google Earth - copyright etc.)

The Summer Teams ready to head off!

Answered prayer!

How great is our God!

I was reading this morning from Romans 8:28-32 and was reminded how God is always working for the good of his people. He has come through for me again and has sorted out arrangements for me to return to Melbourne on weekends during the time I am working in Sydney! Praise God for his provision in this way and for making my work so flexible and accomodating, that's a big relief.

Don't forget to pray for the iTeams summer teams that left today - most will be just arriving somewhere now (maybe in transit), or still travelling!

I'm watching a Spanish movie on SBS tonight - trying to brush up on my espanol a bit... ;-)

-Phil

All trained up with nowhere to go!

I have just finished iTeams Summer Teams training - three days of training and equipping for short-term overseas mission. The summer teams are off tomorrow to Honduras, Bolivia, Thailand and Ukraine! All the best guys and God Bless!

For me, I have a several weeks before I leave for Queretaro, Mexico, so I am all trained up, but not yet leaving the country.

We covered so many things at the training and it was a truly engaging and challenging few days. We were challenged by interactive activities, real-life scenarios, cultural learning and new experiences. I think that even over the past few days many of us have grown closer to God and been able to understand a bit more what it is like to put our trust and reliance on Him in a variety of situations.

A particularly good verse that we shared at the training was Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

As we go out on this short-term mission experience, it's so good to remember that I'm created by God for a purpose - his workmanship in fact, and that he's planned and prepared the work for me to do.

I think that two particular personal lessons I learnt from the training were:

• To be more observant, both of other people and of the environment I am in; and
• To let others have a go and not always be the first to jump in even when I know I could potential do something better, or I think I know about something.

Please pray for me over the next few weeks as I am in Sydney with my work and seeking to get things for my trip organised remotely. Also pray for consistency in my walk with God over the next few weeks to keep the momentum gained from the great times we have had at training.

Be sure to check out the blogs of the summer teams (links in the links section!)

Shake it like a salsa dancer.

-Phil