jenlee's week 4
hi family and friends,
I've been in Brisbane for exactly one month today! As I look back on my first four weeks here, I'm thankful that I've been able to share the journey with you.
Here are the highlights of the past week, along with prayer requests:
1. Last Wed I went to a video screening of a debate between atheist author Richard Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion, and his Oxford colleague John Lennox, who defended the Christian faith in light of Dawkin's proposition that science displaces the need for God. After the video, there was a Q+A session with three UQ professors (a biologist, a physicist and an engineer) who said that their Christian faith has never been threatened by science, in fact it has been enhanced when they learn more about God's design through scientific methods of inquiry.
It was great to hear them take a stand and share their convictions. I had invited my coursemates to go but when none of them came, I asked God to lead me to someone with whom I can befriend and share about being a Christian. I saw this Chinese guy come into the lecture theatre on his own and I felt prompted to go sit with him. We ended up having a great conversation after the session about all sorts of things and he accepted my invitation to come to church on Sunday.
After service, he hung out with my lifegroup for dinner and then we had a pretty in-depth discussion about Christianity during which I also had the opportunity to share my testimony. He said he wanted to understand how the other religions looked at the world, so I invited him to another church service this sun because the message is going to be on Jesus talking to Buddha and Muhammad. He said he would come if he was free, so pls pray that he will be free and that my lifegroup and I can continue to engage him. One open door is his love for basketball, some guys in my lifegroup got his number so they should be playing together some time.
His name is Sun, pls pray for his salvation.
2. On Thursday I was having lunch with a coursemate and she revealed that she has been in an affair with a married man for the past year. She feels she needs to be in a relationship in order to be happy, although she admits that her current situation has no future. "I cry every day", she said. She let me pray for her and I prayed that she would meet Jesus and find true joy in being whole in Him. Today I prayed for her because she had not been feeling well. She was very appreciative.
Pls pray with me and ask God to guide me in showing love to her in such a way that she will be drawn to Jesus.
3. The lifegroup that I've decided to be settled in is called Judah 2 (J2). On Friday I went for my first Fri lifegroup and it was a blessed time. The girls have a separate discussion group from the guys and we talked about how to respond in a Godly manner to stress. The next day, we met up for a salad lunch and to watch rented DVDs. Monster-in-Law, starring Jane Fonda and J Lo, was our movie of choice and it was pretty good. After the movie, we had BBQ with the guys. After BBQ, we sat around playing games like Speed, Heart Attack and Monopoly Deal.
I was pretty wiped out by the end and I started thinking whether I could really find that kind of youthful energy to engage the people in J2, all of whom are quite a lot younger than me. The more I thought about this, the more I missed my close friends and cell group in Singapore. I asked a few friends online to pray for me and I called my sister to do the same. While talking to her, I started crying. Maybe I was just tired from the day's activities, or maybe it was an accumulation of emotion. I guess I was also concerned that if I didn't have the energy to engage the people, I would not have a network of support to count on if my depressive cycle returns in April/May.
But after praying, I felt much better and the next day at service, the pastor preached on friendship through the passage in Ecc 4:9-12. I was assured that close, supportive friendship is God's idea and just as He had provided for me in Singapore, He will do the same for me here. I have no need to fear. I went forward for altar call to commit myself to be a good friend to others instead of just focusing on wanting to have good friends. I have since shared this with a few sisters in J2 and I am thankful for their understanding, support and prayer. By God's grace, I know that our friendship will deepen in His time. Indeed, the process has already begun! :)
Please pray that I will get rooted in J2 and be able to grow and serve together with my brothers and sisters there.
4. My housemates, Vanessa and Jesslyn, and I have decided to pray for each other every week and yesterday was our first time doing that. I happened to have this bible study guide called "surviving the storms of stress" and the two of them agreed to use it as the basis of our weekly sessions, so that as we pray, we can also be strengthened in His word. The verse that the guide talked about in the first chapter, which identified sources of stress, was 1 Tim 6:6-8. Godliness with contentment is great gain. We had a good time of sharing and praying.
Please pray that we can continue to encourage each other in our walk with Jesus and also to be a blessing and testimony to Xing Ting, our housemate, and our neighbours who are pre-believers.
Okay that's all for me this week. My dive trip last week got cancelled due to prediction of adverse conditions (4-metre high winds, that type of thing) so I didn't get to see real manta rays. I did attend a talk by a phd student on manta ray research, it was interesting. Ah...the joys of being in university where all sorts of interesting research is taking place :) I'm going to be embarking on some school projects myself, both individual and group work.
Pls pray that God will help me to do my best and work well with others. Especially important to be able to read scholarly articles and absorb what is being said, QUICKLY.
That's all from me this week. Replies are not expected, but always a nice surprise :) Prayer requests are also welcome, even as you pray for me, I would like to pray for you :)
Take care, God bless!
In-Christ,
jenlee
I've been in Brisbane for exactly one month today! As I look back on my first four weeks here, I'm thankful that I've been able to share the journey with you.
Here are the highlights of the past week, along with prayer requests:
1. Last Wed I went to a video screening of a debate between atheist author Richard Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion, and his Oxford colleague John Lennox, who defended the Christian faith in light of Dawkin's proposition that science displaces the need for God. After the video, there was a Q+A session with three UQ professors (a biologist, a physicist and an engineer) who said that their Christian faith has never been threatened by science, in fact it has been enhanced when they learn more about God's design through scientific methods of inquiry.
It was great to hear them take a stand and share their convictions. I had invited my coursemates to go but when none of them came, I asked God to lead me to someone with whom I can befriend and share about being a Christian. I saw this Chinese guy come into the lecture theatre on his own and I felt prompted to go sit with him. We ended up having a great conversation after the session about all sorts of things and he accepted my invitation to come to church on Sunday.
After service, he hung out with my lifegroup for dinner and then we had a pretty in-depth discussion about Christianity during which I also had the opportunity to share my testimony. He said he wanted to understand how the other religions looked at the world, so I invited him to another church service this sun because the message is going to be on Jesus talking to Buddha and Muhammad. He said he would come if he was free, so pls pray that he will be free and that my lifegroup and I can continue to engage him. One open door is his love for basketball, some guys in my lifegroup got his number so they should be playing together some time.
His name is Sun, pls pray for his salvation.
2. On Thursday I was having lunch with a coursemate and she revealed that she has been in an affair with a married man for the past year. She feels she needs to be in a relationship in order to be happy, although she admits that her current situation has no future. "I cry every day", she said. She let me pray for her and I prayed that she would meet Jesus and find true joy in being whole in Him. Today I prayed for her because she had not been feeling well. She was very appreciative.
Pls pray with me and ask God to guide me in showing love to her in such a way that she will be drawn to Jesus.
3. The lifegroup that I've decided to be settled in is called Judah 2 (J2). On Friday I went for my first Fri lifegroup and it was a blessed time. The girls have a separate discussion group from the guys and we talked about how to respond in a Godly manner to stress. The next day, we met up for a salad lunch and to watch rented DVDs. Monster-in-Law, starring Jane Fonda and J Lo, was our movie of choice and it was pretty good. After the movie, we had BBQ with the guys. After BBQ, we sat around playing games like Speed, Heart Attack and Monopoly Deal.
I was pretty wiped out by the end and I started thinking whether I could really find that kind of youthful energy to engage the people in J2, all of whom are quite a lot younger than me. The more I thought about this, the more I missed my close friends and cell group in Singapore. I asked a few friends online to pray for me and I called my sister to do the same. While talking to her, I started crying. Maybe I was just tired from the day's activities, or maybe it was an accumulation of emotion. I guess I was also concerned that if I didn't have the energy to engage the people, I would not have a network of support to count on if my depressive cycle returns in April/May.
But after praying, I felt much better and the next day at service, the pastor preached on friendship through the passage in Ecc 4:9-12. I was assured that close, supportive friendship is God's idea and just as He had provided for me in Singapore, He will do the same for me here. I have no need to fear. I went forward for altar call to commit myself to be a good friend to others instead of just focusing on wanting to have good friends. I have since shared this with a few sisters in J2 and I am thankful for their understanding, support and prayer. By God's grace, I know that our friendship will deepen in His time. Indeed, the process has already begun! :)
Please pray that I will get rooted in J2 and be able to grow and serve together with my brothers and sisters there.
4. My housemates, Vanessa and Jesslyn, and I have decided to pray for each other every week and yesterday was our first time doing that. I happened to have this bible study guide called "surviving the storms of stress" and the two of them agreed to use it as the basis of our weekly sessions, so that as we pray, we can also be strengthened in His word. The verse that the guide talked about in the first chapter, which identified sources of stress, was 1 Tim 6:6-8. Godliness with contentment is great gain. We had a good time of sharing and praying.
Please pray that we can continue to encourage each other in our walk with Jesus and also to be a blessing and testimony to Xing Ting, our housemate, and our neighbours who are pre-believers.
Okay that's all for me this week. My dive trip last week got cancelled due to prediction of adverse conditions (4-metre high winds, that type of thing) so I didn't get to see real manta rays. I did attend a talk by a phd student on manta ray research, it was interesting. Ah...the joys of being in university where all sorts of interesting research is taking place :) I'm going to be embarking on some school projects myself, both individual and group work.
Pls pray that God will help me to do my best and work well with others. Especially important to be able to read scholarly articles and absorb what is being said, QUICKLY.
That's all from me this week. Replies are not expected, but always a nice surprise :) Prayer requests are also welcome, even as you pray for me, I would like to pray for you :)
Take care, God bless!
In-Christ,
jenlee
posted by thejenlee at 7:11 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Jen Lee,
I'm really glad to have you as part of Judah2! Awesome times ahead :) Greatly encouraged by you.
Keep up the great work!
Love,
Cassy
Post a Comment
<< Home