News Prayer & Praise for May 2014

News from the Walsh Family

Well it’s been a long time since we updated our blog, and for that we apologise. Sometimes the pace of ministry and the extent of the need just seems to be all-consuming. I know it seems an excuse but it is also a reality for us too. A few highlights from the last six months: A great family Christmas, gatecrashed by a bunch of students who lived with us during the break. Great missions conference in California, snow in New Jersey and wedding in the sun one day later in California.

It is now a full  year since back surgery, I am very pleased to report that the back is holding up very well, (I have flown over 100,000 km for ministry since August 1), I’m very grateful for the success of the surgery which to a great extent has given me my life back. Thank you for your prayers and concern during what was a very difficult period for me personally and for us as a family. Please continue to pray for good health across the family as we continue to have quite a strenuous schedule. Speaking strenuous schedule, much against my better judgement and without any consideration for my aged frame, I joined 15 of our students walking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing during the semester. This is a 20 km trek across several live volcanoes, walking alongside the volcanoes Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe, more commonly popularised as “Mount Doom” in the Lord of the Rings. It was a long day, but a good day in which the students got to experience the great beauty of this land in which we serve. They say wisdom comes with age, clearly in my case I am an exception to the rule.

The family is well, this year Jordan, who is completing his degree at Auckland University, will turn 21 years old, in the same year Becky will turn 18 years old and is making plans to study nursing at Massey University in Wellington, with a view to gaining a practical skill which you can use the mission field. Gwyn is well and continues to be mother to the world, which we all enjoy deeply. In July, I will be travelling to the Senior Pastors conference in California. Please pray this is a fruitful time and that I will hear the Lord’s voice. Upon my return, ( within a few hours of arrival) Gwyn will then fly to the UK to visit family and friends, please pray for travelling mercies and that the Lord would bless with rest, refreshment and the renewal of friendship with friends and family.

In terms of the Ministry, we  continue thank the Lord for your love care and support as we minster together truly, it would be impossible to serve in this ministry in this beautiful land without your prayers and the support you provide in so many ways. We have just completed another semester, and it has been a great semester. The first time we met our 15 students from this semester, I must confess wondering how things would work, but God is good, He’s gracious and His mercy endures forever. It is proving to be one of the most blessed and rich semesters that we have ever had. It’s been great to see growth in so many ways as the Lord has touched the student body. We have continued to serve alongside the ministries of Calvary Chapel Hamilton and Shoreline church in Tauranga. Each Sunday is a long day of service with teams travelling into different directions and covering over 350 km, we serving children’s ministry, in worship, in setup and teardown. a. Though long days, they are fruitful days that we get to uphold the arms of the local body and encourage them. This semester we had outreach teams serving in Perth, Australia, Nelson, New Zealand and in Auckland. A great deal of the Ministry was based around serving the local church and encouraging them as they serve the Lord in their own community. One great piece of news is that one of the pastors on staff with us here at CCBI, Pastor Michael Montgomery, will be moving to Northland in New Zealand to Pastor Calvary Chapel Whangarei, this is an exciting and encouraging move as we are glad to see Mike step out in faith to go and strengthen the church in New Zealand. This leaves us with a significant gap in our pastoral staff and we look to the Lord to bring others along to step into that gap.

CCBI semester September 2014.

We are already underway making preparations for the upcoming semester which will start at the end of August 2014. We currently have in the region of 25 students who will be joining us from all over the world to study, serve, work for the Lord and grow as disciples. Please keep us in prayer as we prepare for the semester, in preparation the eldership the leadership team of the Bible College is having a prayer retreat from Friday, 27 June until Saturday, 28 June, please pray that we would hear the Lord’s voice. I will be teaching “IBS and ministering the word”, a class designed to help people study of the Bible and teaching. I will also be teaching a class a “1 Samuel & 2 Samuel”, looking at the life of Samuel Saul and David, there are some great lessons for us to learn. Gwyn will be teaching a lady’s class, in which they will be studying through the book of Philippians. Please pray for the provision of additional accommodation, in which to house the growing number of students and staff.

Prayer and Praise

We thank the Lord and covet your prayers for the following items:

• Please pray for the resources to fix our car, we currently have an old Honda Odyssey, the transmission has broken and needs to be replaced, and ultimately we will need to replace the vehicle. Please pray that we will be able to find a transmission and fix the car. This is especially important to us so much of our ministry in New Zealand requires us to travel and ultimately we need something that is reliable. Just to give you an idea we have driven over 160,000 km in the last four years :-). We are still going but unfortunately the car is not 🙂
• Praise the Lord for calling Pastor Mike Montgomery to go and serve with Calvary Chapel Whangarei, praise the Lord for his provision of Visa for them, please pray with us and the Lord to meet their needs to encourage them and to bless them as they step out in this venture of faith.
• Praise the Lord for providing a two-year visa for Sam Stockill, so that he may serve here at CCBI before stepping out to plant a church in New Zealand. Please pray that the Lord would provide for them, direct them, and help them with all the practicalities in moving a family of five from England to New Zealand in the next few months. Please pray that the Lord would direct Sam as he seeks towards will in where to plant a church.
• Please pray for the upcoming semester, at this stage we will have something like 25 students from all over the world. Please pray the Lord would bring who he desires and that you would do a great work in all our lives.
• please pray for Jordan as he completes his degree in biomedical sciences and really applies into postgraduate medicine. Please pray the Lord would direct and provide for him.
• Please pray for Becky as she completes her final year of high school and seeks the Lord’s direction whilst applying for nursing with a view to missions work with children.

Thank you can once again for your support, love and care, is a joy to serve as co-labourers with you, seeking an inheritance Messiah in the South Pacific Rim.

M&G