Thursday, September 10, 2009

Newsletter July/August 2009

THE MONTHS OF JULY AND AUGUST
The month of July started out with us still in Semarang, Indonesia, teaching in the School of Acts. The 2nd July was especially notable as it was Julia’s 61st birthday (I had to spill the beans). The students gave her four cakes in total, one after the morning classes and three after the evening classes. The kindness and hospitality in Asia is still amazing to us after over thirty years. Besides the cakes she got flowers and a gift, but what really made her day was being taken by one of the brothers (while I was still teaching, I might add) to buy a Liverpool shirt (which she had not been able to find in Malaysia) for our grandson.

One frustration we still encounter in our travels we experienced on our way from and back to Malaysia – delayed flights – Air Asia strikes again. It must be the Lord’s way of teaching us patience, though I must confess to not having fully graduated from this school yet.

The 4th July was also special, the 31st anniversary of our arrival in Malaysia when we first started this missionary journey. It was a good time to remind us of the countless miracles and provisions we have seen from the hand of God.

After getting back to Malaysia I taught for two weeks in the Pastoral Interns Programme in Tung Ling Seminary. The morning topic was Pastoral Ministries and the evening topic was Leadership. I love having input into the lives of future (and current) pastors in this nation.

In July we also had the visit of a family from England, Mike and Joan Riley and their three daughters. They had come over for the wedding of pastor David Ramayah’s daughter, Janeal. The evening before their arrival we tested the aircon in our guest bedrooms, only to find it was not getting cool. We called out an engineer who discovered that someone had stolen the copper piping for the whole system. It cost quite a bit to fix it, but at least it is now ready to receive the missions teams we are expecting in 2010. (When are YOU coming?)

Besides the Bible school teaching, we continued with our Friday ministry in Kuala Terengganu, and our Sunday ministry in various churches. I was taken back in time when I preached in the Tamil Church in Kapar on 19th July. We had a power cut and I ended the meeting hot and hollerin’ – no aircon and no mike – just like it was 30 years ago.

On 29th July we flew home to the UK, going first to Yorkshire for ministry and the birthday celebration of our daughters Paula (40 – she flew in from Texas for the celebration) and Andrea (39) – there I go, spilling the beans again – and then down to our home in Wales.

After preaching in several churches in South Wales plus a trip to London to preach in Full Gospel Tabernacle (FGT) – an outreach from FGT Malaysia (our base church there) and to drop Paula for her return flight to Texas, we had a wonderful final weekend with Aberaman Pentecostal Church (APC) where we spent five very happy years before our return to missions.

Colin is now in Texas. Julia had to stay behind to take care of an urgent family matter – please pray, although we cannot go into details.

PRAYER
Once again, a big thank you to all those who are praying for us – prayer works.

May/June Newsletter, 2009

Delay
We must apologise for not sending out a newsletter at the end of May, but we were so busy that we just didn’t have the time.

THE MONTH OF MAY
The month of May started and ended with church camps. These are always very fruitful events. It is good for the church members to get away from the hum-drum activities of everyday life and spend time together in worship, prayer and the word.
At the beginning of May we were in Malacca at the Sri Malaysia hotel with Pastor Alvin Tan and his church, High Praise Ministries. The fellowship was great, the food was great, the worship was great, and the response to the word was great; in fact you could say we had a great time.
At the end of May we were in Clearwater Sanctuary near Batu Gajah for the family camp with Pastor Ng Wah Lok and his church, Full Gospel Tabernacle from Sri Aman. Clearwater Sanctuary is where the film Anna and the King was made, and we had the privilege of using the suite where Jodie Foster stayed while she was starring in the film. This really was suffering for the gospel.
Another highlight in May was our visit to Chennai (Madras) in India. We arrived on Saturday evening, 16th May and got to bed after midnight on Sunday morning. On the Sunday Colin preached three times in Harvest Christian Assembly, at two Tamil meetings in the morning and the English service in the evening. On Monday he taught in the Harvest Training Institute on the Call of God. On Tuesday and Wednesday the topic was Missionary Principles. On the Tuesday night several were saved when Colin preached at the miracle rally in HCA. On Thursday and Friday the teaching topic was Pastoral Care.
Back again in Malaysia, on Sunday, 24th May, when Colin preached in Full Gospel Tabernacle, it was great to see 45 people being baptized. That afternoon Colin taught two seminars on Anthropology and Hamartiology.

THE MONTH OF JUNE
June saw us involved in lots of ministry again. Colin was scheduled to teach in the School of Acts from 15th-19th June. On Monday night, 8th June, at about 10-30 he received a call to ask if he could teach from Tuesday to Thursday of that week as a church emergency prevented Pastor Raymond Mooi from teaching. What a great time for the two weeks, teaching students from many Asian nations, preparing them for ministry in the harvest. We even had one student from Cuba.
The month of June came to an end with us in Semarang, Indonesia, teaching in the School of Acts (an extension from the Malaysian TSOA) at both morning and evening classes. Students from all over Indonesia, hungry for God’s word, made it a pleasure to teach.
One very fruitful area of ministry here in Malaysia is our relationship with Full Gospel Tabernacle. Besides preaching at the mother church in Subang Jaya, we also had the privilege in June of ministering to the satellite churches in Seremban, where Colin taught seminars on Haggai and Zechariah, Kota Kinabalu (in Sabah on the island of Borneo) where he taught on Preaching Skills, and in Malacca where he preached at the third anniversary of their church building.

PRAYER
Many thanks to all our praying friends out there. We really do feel the strength of your prayer support. Please keep up the good work.