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Keep reaching out.
It occurred to me recently that there are so many people in our very own communities who are full of confusion and questions about life and are needing people to sit with them one on one and talk through things, ask their questions, be reassured, guided, loved for who they are. We can’t stop reaching out!
If you are a Christian who has even just a little bit of Bible knowledge, there are people out there in your neighbourhood who you can get alongside and encourage and teach what you know. Don’t think that you don’t have something to offer. Sometimes we assume that people know what we have known for years, basic Bible stories (eg; Creation, Noah & the flood, Joseph, Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, etc.). I have found when doing Bible study with women in this area that we might be talking through some basic stories and they don’t know them, or they have them mixed up with the only knowledge of them being from snippets of movies they have seen (like “The Prince of Egypt”). Another thing many people don’t know, even though they are open to learning more about God, is how to look passages up in the Bible. They need someone patiently sitting along side them to show them how to navigate through the most important book in the world, the Holy Bible.
Do you have people in your area who you could reach out to? Pray that the Lord would open your eyes to the searching ones and give you opportunities to get to know them. And please, don’t think that you have to be a pastor or a trained Christian worker to do any good. God wants to use His ordinary, humble children relying on His Holy Spirit to just be one step ahead of someone who is searching.
“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:38
“So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” Colossians 2:10
“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13
Ministry in time of COVID-19
Yesterday we had a Zoom call with a supporting church in Victoria. They asked us to tell them some of our unexpected positives and challenges during the COVID-19 restrictions. The Kimberley has been shut off from the rest of Western Australia and (because of the vulnerable Aboriginal communities) each of the Shires within the Kimberley have been closed. It has been both a blessing and a challenge in many ways because it has meant that the Kimberley has remained relatively COVID-19 free (apart from 17 cases which were contained and now recovered). It has been quiet, but peaceful with reduced crime and most people going about their business, even though some things are put on hold, such as the playgroup Linda usually attends and our home church meetings. Recently with the number of people allowed to meet going from 2 to 10, our home church group has started to meet outside, on our local jetty. Since we are a small group, this is workable for us (last Sunday we had just 9 of us).
Greg has been allowed to continue his role at the Mowanjum Community Resource Centre as tech/managing support twice/week. This has been a privilege because the community is locked down to outsiders (except for essential workers).
Community lockdown has meant that Linda is currently not able to visit Mowanjum for ladies Bible study or art group. In the interim I (Linda) have started an online Bible study group for women from all over the Kimberley. Twenty three ladies have joined the group, but not all have engaged. Even so it has been an encouraging time with some from afar joining in most weekdays and learning (some for the first time) about the Bible. It has been great to see some with more Christian experience encouraging those who are just starting to learn. Now that term 2 has started quite a few ladies from the group are back at work and are not free during the daytime to join. Being flexible and available for the times when people are open and free seems to be key.