Back from the Nock
The mission to Cessnock was a roaring success! Thanks for your prayers.
The Church
The high school visit went really well. We got to setup in the playground at lunchtime. Now someone had the brilliant idea of setting up a big sign saying "Don't Talk to Me" - gotta love reverse psychology. Anyway, under the sign a couple of us would silently write out bible verses, and give them out. Then the rest of us would 'pounce' on the kids, asking them to read out their verse and have a go at explaining it.
The Mission Timetable
It was a great way to instantly start talking about Jesus and the gospel. I was saddened and distressed however at how little most of the kids knew - they couldn't even tell me what year Jesus was born in, let alone what he did!
We often think that you need to go to deepest darkest Africa to find people who don't know about Jesus - but no, there is an entire generation of kids right here in NSW that have never heard the gospel. Please continue to pray for the kids of Mount View High School - particularly the few I spoke to who seemed interested in learning more about Jesus.
Angie and Jodi on the Radio
Next up on Friday was the radio station, which we hijacked for 2 hours. I gave a short talk on the Resurrection which seemed to go ok - I got all excited and started doing hand motions in front of the microphone, even though I knew that no-one could see me - except for Jodi, Greg and Angie of course, who must have found it quite strange! You can read my talk here. I'd greatly appreciate any comments you might have.
Notes on the Resurrection
As for my testimony, that was a little more interesting. After spending the whole of Saturday afternoon typing it up, I was struck with a drastic problem - the printer didn't work! With no time to fix the damn thing, I gave up and headed off to the carol service. But praise be to God - somehow I managed to calm down, say a prayer, and speak noteless, off-the-cuff!
Carols in the Hunter Valley Gardens
Looking back on the mission, it's easy to see how God worked through me, and the rest of the team - enabling us to step out of our comfort zones and do the seemingly impossible. Please continue to pray for Cessnock - that God will be at work in that town to bring people back to himself.
Team Cessnock