A New Mission Partner
Over the last few months we have welcomed home a number of our mission partners for the last time. The Rockwells have finished their service with George Whitfield College in South Africa. The Chos have finished their service with OMF in Thailand. The Farrs have finished their service with OMF in Singapore. It has been a delight to have them all with us at church—and indeed on one Sunday we had all three families and the Painters who are on furlough with CMS from Cambodia at the same time.
Gladly, I have been asked by many people—who are we going to support now? As I joined Christ Church last year, I was glad to come to a church committed to sending and supporting mission partners and to discover that 11% of all the money we give in offertory goes to mission. As a church we are committed to sending mission partners to less resourced areas of the world to serve with locals there to build wholehearted disciples of Jesus. That’s what we have always done and that’s what we will continue to do.
So, who are we going to support now?
Well, this week is a really significant time for our mission partnerships in Southeast Asia. On Sunday we held a special lunch to celebrate the work of Ian and Debbie Farr, and to give thanks to God for their 30 years of ministry with OMF.
It’s my joy to announce that we have agreed to a new partnership with CMS to appoint a new mission partner to South East Asia.
Rebekah is a theological lecturer specialising in Systematic Theology and Church History. She has been working in a Bible college in America, but is an Aussie with a heart for mission and has followed her passion into CMS here in NSW. She is well known to Caroline and Di and has just finished her cross cultural training with CMS. She will now spend the next six months building relationships with partner churches before heading to South East Asia in the middle of 2022.
And so while we close one chapter with Southeast Asia, we open up a new one.
And we will be talking more in the New Year about Rebekah, why we are only using her first name and our opportunities to partner with her to build wholehearted disciples in SE Asia. So look forward to that!
While we are on CMS, a short reminder that you can still book in for CMS Summer School online! If you have never been or heard of it and therefore never had a taste of a week when you can be immersed in the Word and the World, can I commend even a day to you between Saturday 8 and Friday 14 January. It is entirely online and only costs $50. I dare you to tune in and see what God will do with your heart as you are challenged by the Word to seek for a World that knows Jesus. You can find out more on their website.
Please do be praying for Rebekah as she visits churches and for our Mission Committee us as we continue to seek more mission partners to take the good news of Jesus across the world.
Amen.
