What can’t be used unless it is broken ?

Strangely enough, this was a comment on an advertising hoarding for an Opticians here in Rotorua. I have no idea of the point they were trying to get across, but the words immediately struck me as significant in the context of the believers walk and desire to used by God.

There is no doubt that there is an element of brokeness that God desires that we might be used by Him and so often my focus is to fix what is broken or to avoid being broken in the first place, not exactly a great spiritual perspective !

This started me thinking along the line of Paul’s comments in Philippians 3 – of the need to press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of us, having a healthy and Holy dissatisfaction and desire for more of God and what He has for us. As Philippians tells us, God is a God of purpose and He laid hold of us with purpose in His Heart and Mind.

We have been here in New Zealand for two years now, traditionally two years has always been point of review. We have seen the Lord’s faithfulness in so many ways. CCBI has come into being out of nothing and we have just completed our second semester. We have seen our first missionary sent out , who we are supporting on the mission field monthly. The first ever Calvary Chapels National Women’s Conference has been and gone , now it is time for women’s weekend. Exciting, yet there is so much more the Lord wants to do , of this Gwyn and I are convinced. I would love to see a South Pacific Rim Missions conference come in to being. Pray with us and for us.

CCBI

We have just completed our second semester and first full year of CCBI, it was great and blessed semester, we had outreach trips to Japan, Christchurch, Melbourne, and served alongside two of the Calvary Chapels in Sydney, Australia. The semester was busy time of service from outreach trips to the woman’s conference which seems so long ago , probably too busy in reality. Every month we are still serving in ladies ministry and worship with the Calvary Chapel in Hamilton and weekly with the Calvary Chapel in Rotorua. In February 2012, there will bea new Calvary Chapel Church plant in Tauranga, which is about 45 minutes away for us here in Rotorua, under the leadership of Pastor Dave Heitman, our heart is to be supportive of this work too. Please pray for wisdom and provision as the Lord puts a team together to serve with Dave in Tauranga.

Our team here at CCBI, has also been developing. We have been blessed to have Jake & Tecla , Josh & Whitney here for the last year. Jake & Tecla are currently back in the USA , awaiting the birth of their first baby, little baby Jade. They are looking to renew their visa and return to serve with us in the long term. Please pray for them, for the safe delivery of baby Jade and for the visa renewal process. They will have substantial financial needs return here with young daughter , but believe the Lord had called them , this too is something we also feel , please pray for the Lords support provision for them as they return here as missionaries to serve with us. Josh also is renewing his visa and we look forward to his return in August.

Over the last year we have been blessed by Whitney ‘s served here at CCBI as registrar, Whitney has higher calling placed on her heart to care for sick relative in the USA. We wish her well and please pray for wisdom, love and courage as she supports those in need a this difficult time. We have often heard the phrase “Where God Guides He provides” – and it remains ever true.

Our small team has just been blessed with the arrival of Pastor Franz Bischoff and his family, a special blessing and gift from CC Modesto. Franz, which is a New Zealand citizen returning home after many years, will be assisting me in the role of registrar and looking after the CCBI Accounts , but more importantly he will be teaching Genesis in the next CCBI Semester. Please pray for Franz and Monica and the kids as they settle in to life here in New Zealand.

CCBI – The Next Semester Aug – Dec 2011

Well as one semester has really just finished , it is time to catch a breath before it all starts again!

We are already excited as more students have signed up for the next semester, we have at least 11 ladies about the half the number of guys!!!

CCBI convent girls school !!, it remains to be seen whether the guys will consider themselves to be blessed or will simply be afraid, it will be joy to watch, as everything unfolds. We are excited to be teaching over 12 live classes, ranging from the book of Revelation to Nehemiah and 1 Corinthians to Genesis and Apologetics. Please pray for anointing on the teachers as we seek to prepare for the classes. I will be teaching Nehemiah, Acts and 1 Corinthians , I would appreciate your prayers for insight and anointing.

As CCBI is growing all our problems are good ones and should really be called opportunities! We are very close to our maximum bed spaces and may well have to turn students away for the first time unless we can secure alternate and additional accommodation. As numbers increase , the need or a vehicle for CCBI , comes into sharper focus. Please pray that the Lord would provide an 8 or 9 seater van for the school so we can move the students around for ministry and outreach. We would like to do more with CC Hamilton which is about 90 minutes drive away and we certainly want to support the new church plant in Tauranga. The current vehicle constraints make this difficult, it is difficult to do ministry with out resources. The Lord has a plan, it will be exciting to see how the Lord works in this.

The Family Walsh

Well time for a little about us. We are all pretty tired especially Gwyn, who plays mum to everyone, so please pray for refreshment for all of us in this season.

Jordan is in his last year at Lakes High and then in February 2012 is planning to start university course in medicine, so he is pulled in many directions at the moment. High school finals, work at Starbucks and his heart for ministry (and tennis too). Please pray for him, for strength and wisdom and discernment for what he can and cannot do.

Becky is currently finding herself, an interesting process in the mind of a 14 year old and borderline scary …. There is nothing like looking forward to the Rapture. Seriously, she is great and has the capacity to adapt very well to seemingly any environment. Please pray for her to grow strong in the Lord and in the strength of His Might. She is one of my best friends, sushi and wasabi friends.

We appreciate your prayers for us as a family and all your love and care. As for me, I will be teaching several classes and look forward to studying as Franz will be taking some of the administrative burden from my shoulders, for which I am grateful. I will be teaching at the Asian Missions conference in September, so please pray for wisdom in regard to what to share and also for provision for the trip. In August I will be ministering with CC Sydney, Australia over weekend sharing on Life in the Spirit , please pray for anointing and wisdom.

There are so many things to share or that could be shared, so please forgive the brevity of this update . The biggest thing impressed upon m y heart is the need to forge ahead and that God has so much more for us and we need to make more and even bigger steps for faith.

In Him

M & G