Launch of Missional Concepts Consulting

Our good friend John Smulo and his mate Phil Wyman have just launched their Missional Concepts Consulting ministry. Here is an excerpt from John's blog about it.

Phil Wyman and I are forming a consulting group called Missional Concepts Consulting. Our vision is to help leaders, non-profit organizations, businesses, churches, and community groups to navigate the difficult to follow and often misunderstood world of New Religious Movements (NRM's), and similarly to help give guidance toward becoming missional in the 21st century.
Missional Concepts Consulting has the following goals:
- Mapping popular trends in the occult and NRMs among youth and adults
- Allaying fears and misunderstandings surrounding unique religious expressions
- Giving sensitivity training toward religiously diverse individuals and groups
- Identifying legitimate concerns attached to occult practices
- Understanding the worldview and the subculture of NRMs
- Creating an effective evangelistic and apologetic model towards the occult and NRMs.

Read more on John's blog.

How am I going?

Well, David and I have been married for 6 mths now, and I think we have ironed out all those initial issues like putting the dirty clothes in the basket and who will do the washing up, so we are getting quite settled with each other now. (It took me about 2 mths to start sleeping properly, getting used to having someone else in my bed, waking as the other stirred or turned over, etc)! :)

Our home is fairly set up now. Of course, there are still things we want to do, like renovate the laundry and repaint two bedrooms. We haven't done any of the garden up to this point, because nothing was growing (not even weeds). Now that the rain has started, I want to get out and start working on the garden beds. We have plans for the yard and need to make some new gardens beds for vegies and the formal and the native areas.

Our guest rooms are set up and have already started being well used! (We delight in having people visit and stay!)

David's teaching is going well and is now also also the Careers Advisor, which he will do very well. We are both working in our Tupperware business and I am now an Associate Manager, with my own team. I love it!

I have started studying again, after a semester off when I moved down here to Melbourne and we started learning how to be married. I am doing two distance subjects through Morling College by distance. I am doing a theology subject and an exegesis subject on Paul and Corinthians. I have never done distance learning before, and am quite nervous about it!

Honestly, how am I going?
I feel very much at home down here (originally from Sydney, for new readers). I love the town I live in and every time I go on a day trip I feel like I am on holidays!!

All the girls down here are very warm and welcoming, but I do yearn for those deep relationships that you have with people you know for years, those who have carried you through your worst and best moments, those who you've lived, laughed, and cried with. I really do miss my girls.

Please pray with me that I find and develop some key relationships here.

Rain, Rain

It has been raining here for about 6 weeks! I think the drought is moving towards breaking - praise God! The rain hasn't been heavy, but it has been most days that is has been sprinkling. I still have cracks in my front yard but the weeds and some grass has started growing! The drive around Melbourne West and towards the airport in Geelong and the drive to Ballarat are now green - no longer bare red earth and a few remnants on golden straw-like grass stubble.

It is an absolute delight to see the heavens open up! I have always loved the rain. I was born in the last major drought 25-30 odd years ago. Mum said when it was raining when I was a toddler I stood at the window for ages trying to figure out what was happening - I had never seen rain before! My grandparents owned a farm, so I know the importance of rain for rural communities.

After reading the Scriptures, I believe that rain is an predominately a blessing from God. He delights to quench the thirst of the land and its inhabitants, and bring new growth. I acknowledge that because of the theology of the fall, the earth groans from the consequences of man and that rain does not always fall in its due season, but when it does, we see God's goodness breaking through.

I love rain, and am joyous as I endure this cold, wet place I call my new home.

:) Jen